The Battle of Russia is one of a series of documentaries made by the US War Department called Why We Fight. The films were made to explain to newly recruited GIs why they were about to risk life and limb fighting a war thousands of miles from home.
When Stalin saw The Battle of Russia, he immediately ordered that every cinema in the Soviet Union show it, even though it was made by Americans. The producer of the documentary series was the prominent Hollywood director Frank Capra.
Capra was born in Sicily, the youngest of seven children. The family emigrated to the US when he was only five. After school he went to college and bummed around for several years, working as a waiter, a cleaner, and playing the banjo.
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