Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.
Major Daniel Kirby takes command of a squadron of Marine fliers just before they are about to go into combat. While the men are well meaning, he finds them undisciplined and prone to always finding excuses to do what is easy rather than what is necessary. The root of the problem is the second in command, Capt. Carl 'Griff' Griffin. Griff is the best flier in the group but Kirby finds him a poor commander who is not prepared to make the difficult decision that all commanders have to make - to put men in harm's way knowing that they may be killed.
During the winter of 1943, the German Army halted the American advance in the mountains of Italy; back-and-forth combat decimates Joe Peterson's platoon. On leave in Naples, Joe meets WAC lieutenant Eleanor MacKay; initially cool, she begins to melt during a bombing raid. Their romance develops despite Joe's periodic returns to the front. But whether he'll come back in the end becomes more than doubtful.
1930s, Jiangxi Soviet Area. Jiang Mengzi bids farewell to his newlywed wife Xiang Wu'er and joins the main force of the Red Army on the Long March. Xiao Zhenkui, the leader of the "Communist Removal Group", took the opportunity to return to the countryside to launch a white terror. Mengzi's father, chairman of the Township Soviet, and his sister were killed at the same time. The pregnant Wu'er gave birth to a child on the way to escape. Wu'er is found out hiding and forced to work as a wet nurse. Will Mengzi return in time to save his family?
A group of boys decide to form a guerrilla unit in order to sabotage and spy on the American enemy after one of the communist-controlled cities falls to them.
Alain Resnais & Robert Hessen use the famous Picasso mural "Guernica" in combination with newspaper headlines in an anti-war cry against the Spanish Civil War. Narration by Jacques Pruvost highlights the Guernica atrocity of April 1937, followed by a poem by Paul Eluard read by María Casares to a discordant score by Guy Bernard.
Crown of Castile, 1520. The Comuneros rise up against Charles I, king of Castile and Aragon and emperor of the Hispanic Monarchy. While Juan de Padilla, leader of the uprising, and his captains, Juan Bravo and Francisco Maldonado, fight against the imperial armies, his wife, María de Pacheco, rules the city of Toledo, capital of the rebels.
A Newfoundland fishingboat comes to the aid of a wrecked Danish sailing ship and tows it to a small village, but eventually the captain of the fishingboat realises that it's a U-boat supply ship in disguise, loaded with torpedoes. So, together with his crew and a group of villagers he sets about a plan to blow the ship as well as any U-boats that approach it. Based on the novel "The Gaunt Woman" by Edmund Gilligan.
In November of 1942, the French submarine, the "Casabianca,", escapes from German-held Toulon, and, upon joining the Free French forces at Algiers, is sent on a secret mission to Corsica to take two secret-service agents to make contact with the underground there. The agents contact the Marquis resistance forces, and learn they are ready to revolt but lack the needed arms and ammunition. The submarine is sent back to Corscia with the necessary weapons for the resistance-fighters, and also returns with trained troops to assist the resistance forces in attacking the Germans.
1939 : what a beautiful year for Claudia and Jerôme. No sooner do they meet that they are under each other's spell. 1939 : what a horrible year for the two lovers : war breaks out before they can get married. They meet again after the war but the enchantment has vanished. They decide to marry but it will be for reason, not for love. Miracles only happen once.
A tribute to the U.S. 442nd Regimental Combat Team, formed in 1943 by Presidential permission with Japanese-American volunteers. We follow the training of a platoon under the rueful command of Lt. Mike Grayson who shares common prejudices of the time. The 442nd serve in Italy, then France, distinguishing themselves in skirmishes and battles; gradually and naturally, Grayson's prejudices evaporate with dawning realization that his men are better soldiers than he is.