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Victory at Sea, a 26-episode series on World War II, premiered on the last Sunday of October 1952, and subsequent episodes played each Sunday afternoon (with two exceptions) through May 1953. Each half-hour installment dealt with some aspect of World War II naval warfare and highlighted each of the sea war's major campaigns: the Battle of the North Atlantic, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway, antisubmarine patrol in the South Atlantic, the Leyte Gulf campaign, etc. Each episode was composed of archival footage originally accumulated by the U.S., British, Japanese or German navies. The footage was originally shot mostly in color but was carefully edited and organized to ameliorate the viciousness of war. The drama of the production was enhanced by the Leonard Graves driving voice-over narration and by Richard Rodgers's musical score.(score was arranged by Robert Russell Bennett who also was the conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra for this production)
Compiled from over 60 million feet of combat and newsreel footage, Victory at Sea won instant praise and loyal viewers. Television critics greeted it as a breakthrough for the young television industry. An entertaining documentary series that still provided a vivid record of recent history. The New York Times praised the series for its "rare power"; The New Yorker pronounced the combat footage "beyond compare"; and Harper's proclaimed that "Victory at Sea created a new art form." It eventually garnered 13 industry awards, including a Peabody and a special Emmy. (the series has been criticized for some of it's historical accuracy and objectivity, but remembering that it is from the 50's, only seven years after the end of the war, you can give it a little leeway on that issue, Most of it still plays very well after all these years)
This release comes from my rip of the Embassy Home Entertainment VHS tapes, second release (1986 6 tape set. Very few people paid 20.00 per tape for the 1982 first 26 tape release). It is coded in x264 and AAC sound at 960x720p (4x3) resolution. It is duotone B&W just like the original TV broadcast back in 1952 and I have done no alteration to the video or sound except for removing the Embassy VHS headers and trailers and converting the Mono soundtrack to Stereo..
Episode 3: Sealing the Breach
Aired on November 9, 1952
Episode Three, covers Anti-submarine warfare, 1941-1943. With war now declared by the U.S., naval forces throughout the states have joined to bring convoys of supplies across the Atlantic Ocean to the Allies in England. German U-Boat wolf packs prey on the convoys but they steam valiantly onward despite terrible losses.
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