The American Way segment from Army-Navy Screen Magazine, No. 45

This segment from the Army-Navy Screen Magazine, No. 45 called "The American Way," shows citizens voting in the United States and servicemen casting ballots overseas. This segment continues on the second reel of this film (see the second reel).

The Army-Navy Screen Magazine was a biweekly news, information, and entertainment series of short films designed for servicemen. It was shown before the feature film in all military motion picture theaters during the World War II. The series was produced by the Signal Corps’ Army Pictorial Service under the supervision of Frank Capra.

While the purpose of the series was primarily to educate, the producers recognized that they must also succeed in entertaining a paying GI audience who had come to see a first-run Hollywood feature. Typically, each 20-minute episode consisted of four or five segments featuring stories about the home front, news about major events of the war, an animated cartoon, and a variety show with entertainers like Bob Hope, Judy Garland, and Lena Horne.

The series became the eyes and ears of its soldier audience as it covered such news events as D-Day, Germany’s surrender, the death of FDR, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.