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Screen Gems Collection

Outtakes from Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman

Compiled by Brent Pennel, Pauline Testerman, and Amy L. Williams (2003); Pauline Testerman (2007, 2009).


The Screen Gems Collection consists of outtakes created during the production of the film series, Decision: The Conflicts of Harry S. Truman. Included is material created by both Talent Associates, Ltd. and Screen Gems, Inc. Material ranges from informal interviews with Truman, members of his family, and associates, to more formal, scripted readings by Truman. There are a few instances of historical footage from unknown sources that was gathered for use in the production. The subject matter includes Truman's personal life as well as his decisions as president. Sound recordings comprise about 90% of the collection. Formats include 35mm and 16mm black and white film, reel-to-reel tape, and 35mm and 16mm soundtracks.

The outtakes are listed below by accession number, which is the number researchers need when requesting to view or obtain a copy of an outtake. All of the films in the Truman Library's collection are available for viewing at the Library and for copying. The films are not loaned. For additional information about the Screen Gems Collection, please contact the archives staff by telephone at 816-268-8228, by e-mail at truman.reference@nara.gov, or by writing to the Library at 500 West U.S. Highway 24, Independence, Missouri 64050.

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Search Results: 551

Screen Gems Collection

35mm/10 minutes 44 seconds
Description:

Rufus Burrus, lawyer and friend of Harry S. Truman, speaks about Truman's special qualities. Sound only.

35mm/1 minute 2 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman discusses Senator Pat McCarran and the McCarran Bill saying "I didn't like it… I was worried about it." He discusses the consequences of the veto. Sound only.

35mm/2 minutes 28 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman discusses the illness of Franklin D. Roosevelt, indicating he realized the President was very ill but he couldn't share this with anyone.

/4 minutes 35 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman describing his early years. He discusses how he felt when Franklin D. Roosevelt died and he became President. Sound only.

35mm/1 minute 17 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman discusses the Berlin blockade. Sound only.

35mm/5 minutes 49 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman speaks about General Douglas MacArthur, acknowledging his skill as a general until he overstepped the bounds of his authority. He explained that in Korea, probably because of his popularity, MacArthur forgot that as a soldier he was answerable to the civilian president, who is ultimately the commander-in-chief.

/8 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says that being president is full of dilemmas. He is referring to Truman Doctrine aid and Greece in this context.

/10 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says he had to make a hard decision. This was likely in reference to providing aid to Greece and Turkey.

/9 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says that the British asked the United States to help with aid to Greece.

/9 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says we had to stop the chain reaction of Soviet aggression. In this context he is speaking of aid to Greece and the Truman Doctrine.

/6 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says he's not easily bluffed when he has four of a kind, a reference to poker. He is discussing aid to Greece and Turkey in this context.

/14 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman says that Republican Senator Robert Taft asked if he really wanted to pass a WPA (Works Progress Administration) for Greeks, referring to providing Greece with aid after World War II

/12 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman, referring to postwar aid for Greece and Turkey, says he got the impression there was little opposition from a bipartisan group.

35mm/35 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman reading from a script about his reaction to the surrender of Germany four weeks after he took office. Sound only.

/46 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman discusses the inflation after World War II, once price controls were eliminated.

/1 minute 13 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman explains why he vetoed a price control bill that was sent to him by Congress for his signature. He wanted to sign such a bill, but after careful study of this bill, he did not believe it would control prices at all.

/16 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman reads from his statement when he returned an extension of the price control bill back to Congress without his approval.

/23 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman recalls stopping to see his friend Eddie Jacobson in Kansas City a few months after he became president.

/1 minute 44 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman speaks of the need to curb runaway inflation because it would affect the entire United States economy. This segment repeats with a different camera angle.

/30 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman stands in front of a screen with a photo of John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers. Truman talks about the wages of miners going down during the Depression, how all the strikes they called were broken.

/4 minutes 35 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman talks about his early years in politics as a Jackson County judge presiding over roads and bridges appropriations. Sound only.

/1 minute 10 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman recalls his nomination for President in 1948, and when it was all over, believe it or not we won the election.

/52 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman recalls, referring to Thomas Dewey and Henry Wallace, his opponents tried everything possible to make him lose the election. They were the most surprised men in the country when he won the 1948 presidential election.

35mm/21 seconds
Description:

Harry S. Truman's voice: "…mediterranean… and I knew very well they would call me a corrupter of the peace." Sound only.

/54 seconds
Description:

Former president Harry S. Truman recalls Herbert Brownell's efforts to prosecute domestic communists using students to find them. Truman disagreed with this approach, saying the students should be learning about how the US government works so they can be in a position to help, not being taught about communism.