The 400 Million (1939)

The 400 Million

1939

Documentary

Synopsis

Joris Ivens’s wartime documentary of China’s resistance to the Japanese invasion, cross-cutting civilian exodus and bombing with the Nationalist state’s mobilization—schools, industry, dispersed war production, foreign relief—and guerrilla fighting. Framing an ancient nation of “400 million,” it contrasts tradition with modernization and closes on the unresolved question of victory.

Credits

Director

John Fernhout

Joris Ivens

Cast

Adelaide Bean as Additional Voice (voice)

Alfred Ryder as Additional Voice (voice)

Fredric March as Narration (voice)

Lai Sek as Himself (archive footage)

Madame Chiang as Herself (archive footage)

Morris Carnovsky as Additional Voice (voice)

Robert Q. Lewis as Additional Voice (voice)