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The Way of Peace (film)

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The Way of Peace
Directed byFrank Tashlin
Written byFrank Tashlin
Produced byWah Ming Chang
Blanding Sloan
StarringLew Ayres (narrator)
CinematographyWah Ming Chang
Edited byStuart O'Brien
Music byEddison von Ottenfeld
Production
companies
Christian Films
East West Studio
Distributed byWartburg Press
Release date
  • 23 April 1947 (1947-04-23)
Running time
18 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Way of Peace is a 1947 puppet animation film, financed by the Lutheran Church in America, giving a Christian view of life in the Atomic Age.[1] It was written and directed by Frank Tashlin, produced by Wah Ming Chang, and narration read by Lew Ayres. In 2014, the film was named to the National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[2]

Premise

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The film is a Christian parable about the end of the world in the Atomic Age told with puppet animation. Its scope is broad, from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ to the atomic destruction of the Earth.

Production background

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  • Producer Wah Ming Chang was a well-known designer, and Lew Ayres was a famous actor who was a conscientious objector during World War II.
  • The Reverend H. K. Rasbach, a frequent adviser on big-budget films such as The Ten Commandments (1956) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), provided technical supervision and story concept.
  • The film premiered at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., with more than 2,700 in attendance, including members of Congress, representatives of the Supreme Court, and 750 leaders from various branches of government.[3]

Television

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This short premiered on WCBS-TV in New York on Easter Sunday, April 6, 1947, at 7:15 p.m.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Film Registry: 2014 additions". www.cbsnews.com. December 17, 2014.
  2. ^ "The Way of Peace (1947); UCLA Film & Television Archive". www.cinema.ucla.edu.
  3. ^ "Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
  4. ^ New York Herald Tribune, Apr. 6, 1947, pg. C9.
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