Army Champions is a 1941 short film (11 minutes) directed by Paul Vogel.
It was produced by Pete Smith as part of his Pete Smith Specialties series of short films. It's a propaganda short released in October of 1941 as war loomed. In this short Pete Smith, who narrates as usual, suggests that American sporting culture, with its emphasis on "speed, teamwork, accuracy" has helped make America's youth ready for war. After some clips of various sports, the film moves on to the main point, which is a series of Army training exercises. The audience is shown infantry in the field, drilling in the use of rifles and machine guns. Next is shown mortars and artillery, as the camera demonstrates the accuracy of Army fire teams. Finally shore batteries are shown, as they are used to sink a derelict ship for target practice.
Tropes:
- Documentary: Like most Pete Smith subjects, a short documentary. In this one Smith shows various Army combat drills.
- Gatling Good: The power of a machine gun is demonstrated by some Army soldiers using one to saw a branch off a tree.
- Narrator: Pete Smith as narrator as usual, keeping up his regular nonstop patter.
- Stock Footage: Stock footage of football games and track meets and such to establish Smith's theme.
- Tank Goodness: Less attention is shown to Army tanks than to other weaponry, but there is a shot of a tank plowing right through a barn, and a bunch of tanks on maneuvers at the very end of the film.
- Title Drop: As the film shows some Army artillery guys firing off a round and hitting their target (an ammunition dump), Smith in narration says "Army champions, indeed!"
- Training Montage: The whole movie, showing Army recruits drilling in the use of rifles, machine guns, mortars, artillery, and shore batteries.
- Undercrank: The action is plainly undercranked to make the soldiers look more impressive as they do stuff like load artillery pieces.
