One of many survival films made during WWII, Castaway shows simple
skills that can be used in the event of an emergency. Reel 1 (featured
here) shows how to survive a bail-out from an aircraft over the ocean,
inflation of a life raft, and navigation to a safe harbor. Along the way
are lessons about distilling water and shark repellant. Reel 2 shows
survival on a tropical island typical of those found in the Pacific
Theater of the war.
Produced by Willard Pictures for the Bureau of Aeronautics in 1944,
“Castaway” is a black-and-white film that opens with the sounds of
aerial dogfight and a pilot parachuting from his aircraft. “You gave ‘em
a big dose of good ol’ American lead. Then that Jap sneaked up and got
you from behind,” a voice-over explains at mark
00:45.
Now that pilot is headed for the water, “to set up housekeeping in the
long, green drink.”
What follows is a dramatic “How To” for any World War II pilot who found
himself unfortunate enough to have been shot down. After safely landing
in the water, our pilot recalls how to properly inflate his life raft
and climbs in (as the narrator chastises his technique and reminds the
pilot — and the audience — of the proper way to enter a raft. The
majority of the film is set on the water, and at mark
04:45 the stranded pilot begins to take inventory of his survival kit. After consulting the kit’s map at mark
06:15 and trying to calculate his position, our pilot attempts to head for
land but a shift in the wind direction stymies his plan and he decides
to rest.
Morning comes at mark
08:20,
and the pilot must contend with sunburn, a parched throat, hunger, and
seemingly diminishing chances of rescue. “But there’s food and drink in
the ocean,” the narrator reminds us at mark
11:55. “Try that first and keep the rations as a last resort. A fishing expedition proves successful and at mark
14:13 the downed pilot is reminded that the meat will provide nutrition and
the fish juice will save his water supply. The sound of an aircraft
lifts his spirits at mark
18:45 as he breaks out a sea marker from his kit but it was an unsuccessful
attempt (a splice conceals the subsequent events) and at mark
19:00 our pilot is in the middle of stormy seas as a storm passes — only to
have a wave tip over his raft and he loses some of his supplies. The
site of a dry island at mark
21:19 gives him renewed hope and he eventually comes ashore and a search for
fresh water begins.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest
historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage
collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available
for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit
http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
