Appointment in Tokyo (DVD)

Appointment in Tokyo uses newsreels, staged re-enactments, and captured enemy footage to tell the story of General Douglas MacArthur's struggles in the Pacific Theater during World War II -- from his exile from the Philippines in 1942, to his triumphant return in 1944, to the eventual signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on the USS Missouri on September 1, 1945. Over 1,000 cameramen were employed to document such epochal events as the Bataan Death March, the first B-29 air raid on Tokyo, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and the rescue of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers from Japanese prisoner of war camps. Warner Brothers, in association with the War Activities Committee, released Appointment in Tokyo on December 7, 1945, the fourth anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It carried a seal of approval from MacArthur himself. "This is the story of our sons and daughters in the Pacific," the old soldier said, "I know you will be as proud of them as I am."

BONUS: The Fleet That Came to Stay (1945): Produced for the Treasury Department by the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, The Fleet That Came to Stay documents the brutal final engagements with Japan during World War II. The innermost thoughts and fears of American servicemen are laid bare as they approach the foreboding Okinawa Islands. But once the battle begins, fast-moving combat footage reminds us just what's at stake for these brave troops. One cameraman perished capturing the intense bombardments shown in The Fleet That Came to Stay.

• war