THE COLD BLUE: A RARE GLIMPSE INTO WWII HISTORY


By akirschbaum
The Cold Blue documentary poster.

In 1944, former U.S. Army Major and legendary Hollywood movie director William Wyler released the movie Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. It is a 45-minute documentary film covering the Nazi occupation in Europe and the life of airmen on the battlefield. At the release, a lot of critics were stunned, even mentioning it as a complete and explicit overview of what happened to the young men who manned those heavy bombers into the heart of Germany. Wyler and his crew have done everything to bring the World War II experience back home, and unfortunately, one crew member - Lt. Harold Tannenbaum, a World War I Veteran- died while shooting the film. That's not all; many challenges were faced during its creation; one was a laboratory technician scratching the negatives, thus making it dusty and faded. With this, the movie is on the verge of being lost forever and will remain in the memories of those who had seen it on screen. But everything changed when The Cold Blue was released.

The Rediscovery of the Lost Tapes

Everyone thought the tapes were kept and had been forgotten for a long time. Everything changed in 2016. Erik Nelson, a filmmaker and amateur student of World War II, accidentally bumped into Wyler's unused raw film while researching color footage in the National Archives. The film's content was sufficient to create a brand new film, and in 2018, he released The Cold Blue using the footage he found. He even restored the movie Memphis Belle.In an interview, Nelson mentioned that to know American films, one should also know William Wyler. He even recalled that he was searching for color footage of World War II when he and his team accidentally uncovered a box of outtakes from the Memphis Belle.This footage did not make it through the film's final cut. Nelson then realized that those could be used and created into a whole new movie; thus, he released The Cold Blue. Since the original tapes lacked sound, Nelson's team added some audio tracks and used real sounds from B-17 bombers to make them more authentic. They even added interviews from 8th Air Force Vets.The public received the movie well, even from critics. The Cold Blue has a current rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The original footage of The Movie Memphis Belle suffered many issues. Blue lines streaked in most of Wyler's best shots, and its colors faded. To preserve and remaster the film, Nelson worked with Catherine Wyler. Lastly, the team used restored footage to recut the original Memphis Belle from the start. Nelson even added in an interview that they removed the scratches and the coal dust to save it.

Uncovering the Movie Memphis Belle

This film is about the last mission of the titular B-17 bomber, a four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the Air Corps. Its final assignment was to Europe. At that time, the 'Memphis Belle' was the first aircraft to make it back safely and the third B-17 to accomplish its mission. The life of bomber units at that time was difficult, and there was no guarantee they would return home. Airmen have 25 missions to complete, and the survival rate is only 25%. During the time of Wyler, he flew aboard the Memphis Belle on five missions between February and May 1943.To let the audience experience real-life combat, Wyler documented Memphis Belle's last successful bombing run. He even caught footage of the multiple combat missions to complete the film.

Up Close With the Cold Blue

The 72-minute movie premiered at the 2018 AFI Documentary Festival and was later broadcast by HBO. The National Review also mentioned that the film showed a high level of heroism. Variety, the American magazine, praised Nelson's efforts in recreating the sounds for the film. One is by tracking down some working B-17 to capture its exact sound for the movie. Image source: IMDb Suggested reads:


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