Talk:First Motion Picture Unit

James Stewart
Any proof James Stewart was in the FMPU? His bio says he was in a regular Army unit and IMDB has no credits for him during the war. --Jamoche 18:34, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

The article does not claim that Stewart was assigned to the 1st Motion Picture Unit, it merely states he is connected with a film the unit made. Lineagegeek (talk) 19:48, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Image on infobox
The image of Stewart & Gable was taken in England when we can presume thet had been transferred out of the FMPU and into combat duty. There is a sleeve patch for the 18th Army Air Force, but no indication that the Base Unit wore it. Note that we do not have that insignia on commons. That said, several photos here show personnel wearing the Hop Arnold insignia on their sleeves. I think the Hap Arnold is the best image for the infobox. – Lionel (talk) 02:14, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Please note that there is not nor has there ever been an "18th Army Air Force" The patch shown is claimed for the Eighteenth Air Force. This Numbered Air Force was formed in 1951 after the USAF no longer wore Shoulder Sleeve Insignia and had an emblem approved shortly after it was organized AFHRA Factsheet, Eighteenth Air Force (accessed 26 May 2012). I regard the authenticity of this insignia with strong suspicion. Also, despite the similarity in name, there is no relationship between Eighteenth Air Force and the 18th AAF Base Unit. Lineagegeek (talk) 19:48, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

What Lionelt refers to as the "Hap Arnold insignia" is the approved Shoulder Sleeve Insigne for the Army Air Forces and was worn by all AAF personnel who were not assigned to establishments with their own SSIs (such as Numbered Air Forces) it was worn by literally millions of folks during WW II and is by no means unique to the 1st Motion Picture Unit. Lineagegeek (talk) 20:00, 26 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the clarification. Question: to what does the official designation of FMPU, "18th Army Air Force Base Unit", refer? Were there 17 other "Base Units"? Or were they the Base Unit for the "18th Army Air Force"? And was a Base Unit similar to a station? – Lionel (talk) 01:44, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

There were literally thousands of AAF Base Units. They were created in the US in 1944 to free up manpower for overseas assignment. Essentially, all units in the US that were not programmed to move overseas were disbanded and replaced by bulk authorizations of manpower to the various commands to form units as needed. These were AAF Base Units (the same thing occurred with Army Serice Forces. To prevent duplication, blocks of numbers were allotted to the various commands.  The numbers 1-100 were reserved for units like the 1st MPU that reported directly to Hq, AAF and some of their constituent units.  I'm away from my reference books right now, but essentially what happened in the spring of 1944 was the 1st MPU was disbanded and all of its personnel and equipment transferred to the 18th AAF Base Unit, which was parenthetically (1st Motion Picture Unit).  When I'm back home, I'll probably add a footnote to the article. Lineagegeek (talk) 21:52, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

Sources to add
– Lionel (talk) 23:40, 27 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Betancourt--long article in Air & Space, bonus: 1 pubic domain photo of Clark Gable & another of Reagan
 * Cunningham 2007--short piece, bonus: PD photo!
 * AMPAS--Oral History with Owen Crump. There ia a gallery of 8 photos--the Reagan photo is from the Reagan Library--but not credited--and is in the PD. Maybe there are more?
 * O'Connor--in depth article
 * "During WWII"--info about Hollywood Commandos
 * Anderson-- re: Hollywood Commandos (1997) documentary narrated by Ron Reagan
 * McMurtrie Dr. Seuss
 * King 1997
 * Orr
 * McGee "Cinematography Goes to War"--authoritative (free copy located by GabrielF)
 * Cunningham 2005, scholarly (I have a copy thanks to--you guessed it--GabrielF), still from Men of the Sky
 * Thomas
 * Klein. Celluloid Commandos--his book
 * King 2005
 * Biederman
 * maslowski, Pacific Military Academy used by Replacement Pool (cameramen), rifle range
 * Greenberg-wald, in depth primary source Jul-1946
 * loc pic of James Bray
 * boyle bray's DFC
 * 450th bomb group re: early Ft Roach & combat cameramen -- not RS
 * barrier animation


 * E. J. Fleming's "Carole Landis" has some details on the financial arrangements behind Fort Roach that might be of use--thanks to Hchc2009 – Lionel (talk) 10:42, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Top secret: Project 152
FMPU produced 30 top secret films used in the B-29 bombing runs of Tokyo in 1944. Crucial to the war effort.
 * Nutter
 * Klein
 * Orr (same as above)
 * "Hollywood"
 * Cunningham 2007 (diff. from above) w/ photo!!!

DYK
Article is at 1169 chars. Needs 5845 total chars for 5x expansion. Let's git er done: Talk:First Motion Picture Unit/workpage. – Lionel (talk) 06:34, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Notable personnal
This sample could be expanded with entries from the personnel cat and made into a standalone article:

Pesce, Joseph Salvatore Captain 1905-1963

Does not compute

 * "After conducting extensive research on the topography of Japan, an eighty foot by sixty foot scale model (1 foot = 1 mile) of the country was fabricated.....".

Moriori (talk) 01:00, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Verified against the source . – Lionel (talk) 01:12, 28 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Not so. It says target areas, not the country. I'll change it. Moriori (talk) 01:28, 28 June 2012 (UTC)

Theatrically?
The lead says films "....were released theatrically." Is that meant to convey that there were released in theatres, or surrounded by/part of theatrical goings on? Seems wrong word to me. Comments? Moriori (talk) 00:26, 7 August 2012 (UTC)
 * How about "shown in public cinemas". Simpler language. GraemeLeggett (talk) 05:20, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Mention Reagan in introduction/summary?
In my opinion the units most famous member should be added in the introduction/summary. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.217.115.86 (talk) 09:20, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

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