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{{italic title}}
{{Infobox film
| name =Pincer on Axis Europe
| image =Screen Shot Pincer on Axis Europe.png
| image_size =
| caption =Title Frame
| director =
| producer =
| writer =
|narrator =[[Lorne Greene]]
| starring =
| music =[[Lucio Agostini]]
| editing =
| cinematography =
| studio =[[National Film Board of Canada]]
| distributor = {{Plainlist|
* [[National Film Board of Canada]]
* [[Columbia Pictures]] of Canada
}}
| released = {{Film date|1943|02|06}}
| runtime = 20 minutes
| country = Canada
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}

'''''Pincer on Axis Europe''''' is a 20-minute 1943 Canadian [[documentary film]], made by the [[National Film Board of Canada]] as part of the [[World War II|wartime]] ''[[Canada Carries On]]'' series.<ref>Lerner 1987, p. 75.</ref> The film describes the [[Allied invasion of North Africa]] in 1942 during the [[World War II|Second World War]].<ref>Khouri 2007, pp. 132–133.</ref>{{TOC limit|limit=2}}

==Synopsis==
In 1942, the [[Axis powers]] appear to be in ascendence in both eastern Europe and Africa. The ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' attacks in [[Operation Barbarossa]] have been making great advances through the [[Soviet Union]]. In [[North African Campaign|North Africa]], the [[Afrika Korps]], led by ''[[Generalleutnant]]'' [[Erwin Rommel]] have pushed back the Allied forces and begun the [[Siege of Tobruk]], a major garrison. With the success of these two campaigns, [[Nazi Germany]] was poised to push through the Middle East to India, joining Japanese forces striking from China and Burma.

The Soviet Union pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe and open a second [[Front (military)|front]] to reduce the pressure of [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] forces on the [[Red Army|Soviet troops]]. [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] supported an [[North African Campaign|African]] operation. [[Operation Torch]], an attack on French North Africa was proposed, with the objective of driving the Axis powers from North Africa. With weapons and equipment including Canadian-made trucks, supplied from Allied arsenals, a massive invasion force was built up.

In the first of a two-pronged campaign, [[General]] [[Bernard Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein|Bernard Montgomery]], the commander of the [[British 8th Army]] during the [[First Battle of El Alamein|Battles of El Alamein]], repulsed Rommel's attacks and forced an Axis retreat. In applying further pressure on the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] forces, a task force composed of American units, with [[Major General]] [[George S. Patton]] in command. set out for [[Casablanca]], the principal [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] Atlantic naval base after German occupation of the European coast.

In November 1942, Allied forces led by [[Rear Admiral]] [[Henry K. Hewitt]] commenced the [[Naval Battle of Casablanca]]. The rapid surrender of the French forces led to the capture of high-ranking German officials who were sent into internment. With the great British gains in the desert war and the success of the invasion and capitulation of the Vichy French forces at the rear lines, the Afrika Korps was held in a "pincer vice" with no options other than surrender or abandoning North Africa.

In 1943, Allied forces are being assembled for an assault on Italy, with another "pincer" campaign aimed at the heart of [[Axis powers|Axis]]-held Europe.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[General]] [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] as Himself (archival footage)
* General[[George Marshall]] as Herself (archival footage)
* General[[Omar Bradley]] as Himself (archival footage)
* General [[Mark W. Clark]] as Himself (archival footage)
* General [[Bernard Montgomery]] as Himself (archival footage)
* [[Adolf Hitler]] as Himself (archival footage)
* [[Erwin Rommel]] as Himself (archival footage)
* [[Philippe Pétain]] as Himself (archival footage)
* French General [[Henri Giraud]] as Himself (archival footage)
* [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as Himself (archival footage)
* [[Winston Churchill]] as Himself (archival footage)
{{Div col end}}

==Production==
''Pincer on Axis Europe'' was part of the wartime ''Canada Carries On'' [[propaganda film|propaganda]] [[short film]] series, produced with financial backing from the [[Wartime Information Board]] for the Director of Public Information, Herbert Lash.<ref name="Tribune">[https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37352863/ "Recognize leadership of Winnipeg women."]''The Winnipeg Tribune'', April 18, 1941. Retrieved: March 27, 2016.</ref>

Typical of the NFB's series of morale-boosting films, ''Pincer on Axis Europe'' used the format of a [[compilation documentary]], relying heavily on [[newsreel]] material, including "enemy" footage, in order to provide the background to the dialogue. {{#tag:ref|Enemy footage was provided care of the Alien Property Custodian.<ref name="CFE">Morris, Peter. [http://www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp?layid=44&csid1=615&navid=66 "Film Reference Library: Canada Carries On."]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''. Retrieved: March 27, 2016.</ref>|group=Note}}.<ref name="CFE"/>

As he had in the narration of many of the ''Canada Carries On'' series, [[Lorne Greene]] was the uncredited narrator on ''Pincer on Axis Europe''.<ref>Bennett 2004, p. 254.</ref> Greene was not only a stage actor, but was also featured on radio broadcasts as a news announcer at ''[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]'' as well as his work at the NFB.<ref name="Rist">Rist 2001, p. 84.</ref> Known as "The Voice of Canada", and to some observers, the "Voice-of-God" or even "The Voice of Doom", listeners often associated his narration to serious topics.<ref>[https://tkmorin.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/bonanzas-canadian-lorne-greene/ "Bonanza's Canadian Lorne Greene."] ''Bite Size Canada''. Retrieved: March 27, 2016.</ref>

==Reception==
An [[intertitle]] identified the importance of ''Pincer on Axis Europe'', announcing in a [[intertitle|title card]] that Canadian troops were involved in the invasion of North Africa.{{#tag:ref|Despite the official declaration of the role of Canadians in Operation Torch, their involvement revolved around 17 [[Royal Canadian Navy]] [[Corvette]]s and small infantry detachment.<ref>Schull 1987, p. 430.</ref>|group=Note}} The film, shot in 35 mm, was rushed to completion to capitalize on the Canadian connection and screened across Canada on February 6, 1943. ''Pincer on Axis Europe'' appeared on the theatrical market as a newsreel accompanying feature films.<ref name="Lepkin">Lepkin, Ben. [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37489596/ "I like the movies."] ''The Winnipeg Tribune'', February 6, 1943. Retrieved: March 27, 2016.</ref> Each film in both the NFB ''[[The World in Action]]'' and ''Canada Carries On'' series was shown over a six-month period as part of the shorts or newsreel segments in approximately 800 theatres across Canada.<ref name="Ohayon 1"/>

The NFB had an arrangement with [[Famous Players theatres]] to ensure that Canadians from coast-to-coast could see them, with further distribution by [[Columbia Pictures]].<ref name="Ellis">Ellis and McLane 2005, p. 122.</ref> After the six-month theatrical tour ended, individual films were made available on 16 mm to schools, libraries, churches and factories, extending the life of these films for another year or two. They were also made available to film libraries operated by university and provincial authorities.<ref name="Ohayon 1">Ohayon, Albert. [http://blog.nfb.ca/2009/07/13/propaganda-cinema/ "Propaganda cinema at the NFB".] ''National Film Board of Canada'', July 13, 2009. Retrieved: March 27, 2016.</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[The Gates of Italy]]'' (1943)

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

===Citations===
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Bennett, Linda Greene. ''My Father's Voice: The Biography of Lorne Greene''. Bloomington, Indiana: iUniverse, Inc., 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-595-33283-0}}.
* Ellis, Jack C. and Betsy A. McLane. ''New History of Documentary Film''. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8264-1750-7}}.
* Khouri, Malek. ''Filming Politics: Communism and the Portrayal of the Working Class at the National Film Board of Canada, 1939-46.'' Calgary, Alberta, Canada: University of Calgary Press, 2007. {{ISBN|978-1-55238-199-1}}.
* Lerner, Loren. ''Canadian Film and Video: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-8020-2988-1}}.
* Rist, Peter. ''Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-3132-9931-5}}.
* Schull, Joseph. ''Far Distant Ships: An Official Account of Canadian Naval Operations in World War II''. Toronto: Stoddart Publishing, 1987, First edition 1952. {{ISBN|0-7737-2160-6}}.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* [http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=17319 ''Pincer on Axis Europe'' at NFB Collections page]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pincer on Axis Europe}}
[[Category:1943 films]]
[[Category:Canadian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Canadian short documentary films]]
[[Category:Quebec films]]
[[Category:Canadian World War II propaganda films]]
[[Category:English-language Canadian films]]
[[Category:National Film Board of Canada documentaries]]
[[Category:1943 documentary films]]
[[Category:Black-and-white documentary films]]
[[Category:North African campaign films]]
[[Category:Films scored by Lucio Agostini]]
[[Category:Canada Carries On]]
[[Category:Columbia Pictures short films]]
[[Category:1940s Canadian films]]

Pincer on Axis Europe - Revision history

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