John Huston Documentary Double Bill: SAN PIETRO and LET THERE BE LIGHT
March 31st, 2008 by Andre Soares
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ John Huston Lecture on Documentary Film will acknowledge John Huston himself with a special screening of his controversial World War II documentary classics San Pietro (aka The Battle of San Pietro) (above, 1944) and Let There Be Light (1946), on Tuesday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Tony Huston, John’s son, will introduce the films.
As per the Academy’s press release, "these documentaries’ historical significance and current relevance will be among the topics covered in a post-screening panel discussion with Dr. Charles Wolfe, professor of film and media studies, UC Santa Barbara; Dr. Betsy McLane, documentary historian and author; and Richard E. Robbins, producer-director of Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, which was a 2007 Oscar nominee for Documentary Feature."
The release adds that John Huston began shooting documentaries as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1942. His first assignment was to record combat conditions on Adak Island, which led to the "straightforward and uncontroversial" Report from the Aleutians.
San Pietro was produced and directed by Huston for the U.S. War Department. But the problem was that it was deemed too violent and realistic — in other words, too anti-war. Not a good thing. San Pietro was held from release until 1945, when General George Marshall’s endorsement led to the removal of its "classified" status. (Even so, San Pietro suffered severe cuts before reaching U.S. screens.) The print screened at the Academy will be the complete original version.
The War Department also banned Let There Be Light (above), "a naked portrait of the psychological problems suffered by returning veterans," with voice-over narration provided by Walter Huston (John’s father). The ban was finally lifted in December 1980, and the film was released the following year. At that time, the New York Times‘ Vincent Canby called it "a good, slickly made documentary," though he failed to see what the Army’s fuss was all about. (Richard Corliss‘ more passionate Time review can be found here.)
Tickets to the Academy’s John Huston Lecture on Documentary Film may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved. The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.
Photos: Courtesy Academy Film Archive
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“The War Department also banned Let There Be Light”.
As a Vietnam veteran, I did not begin to receive acknowledgement treatment for my psychological injuries until 27 years after the was [for me] had ended.
Early in my treatment, I stumbled onto this film (made two years before I was born), on cable TV, and realized that: “Here is yet another area that the VA has been lying to us …”, during the 70’s and most of the 80’s, we were denied treatment for Combat PTSD by the VA for “Insuficient [New] Evidence”,until such time that (according to an important psychiatric nurse) our numbers could no longer be ignored …
This, very important film, informed me of the lie because it demonstrates the treatment procedures practiced then and denied to following generations of “Walking wounded”.
The treatment of US military veterans is a NATIONAL DISGRACE.
I’m passing this information on to my psychiatrist, therapists, and other veteran’s for their edification: I thank whatever God’s may be …