NFR Project: 'The Way of Peace' (1947)

 

NFR Project: “The Way of Peace”

Dir: Frank Tashlin

Scr: Frank Tashlin

Pho: Wah Ming Chang

Ed: Stuart O’Brien

Premiere: April 23, 1947

18 min.

This short puppet animation was commissioned by the American Lutheran Church. It sought to inculcate Christian values in its viewers. Frank Tashlin, its director, started out as an animator; he would shortly move into making live-action comedy features, many starring Jerry Lewis.

The movie tells a theological pocket story of mankind – how man was once one with God, and how that relationship has been destroyed by people putting up walls between themselves and Godlike attributes such as justice and mercy. It retails the story of man exploiting and mistreating his fellow man.

The movie ends with a prolonged sequence showing the world destroyed by atomic missiles. This pessimistic conclusion is meant to serve as a warning. The dangers of atomic combat were just beginning to sink into the collective consciousness, and the anxiety-provoking spectacle of cities destroyed forms an unsettling coda to the project.

The NFR is one writer’s attempt to review all the films listed in the National Film Registry in chronological order. Next time: Cab Calloway’s home movies.