Mamo of Colby

Like the best USIA films, The Wall distills political events into an emotionally clear and compelling ideological "story". In 1962 Walter de Hoog gathered footage from U.S. and German newsreel sources and crafted this taut short film about the first year of the Berlin Wall. Straightforward, keenly balanced narration portrays Berliners as "accepting the wall but never resigned to it". The extraordinary footage of the first escapes was propaganda enough-- His challenge was to make the politics human.

"This film presents rare documentary footage of presidential inaugurations, from William McKinley in 1897 to Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The film conveys the strength, stability, and continuity of the U.S. government. Included in the program are highlights of the 1965 inaugural parade, footage from the inaugural balls, and performances by Carol Channing, Louis Armstrong, Margot Fonteyn, and Rudolf Nureyev. The film was produced by News of the Day, written and directed by Walter de Hoog, narrated by James Cagney, and includes original music by Bruce Herschensohn" (US National Archives).

"This film traces the history of mankind's aspirations to reach the moon, giving credit to the many levels of scientific genius that made the Apollo 11 flight and moonwalks possible. The program documents the Apollo 11 mission, as well as earlier flights, post-flight appearances by astronauts in various countries, and the reactions of people throughout the world as they watched or read about the historic achievement" (US National Archives). The version that the National Archives currently holds is a shortened 60-minute cut, with the original being 92 minutes.