Movies by Mark Daniels

Main Street on the March!
This Best Short Subject Academy Award winning film begins in the spring of 1940, just before the Nazi occupation of the Benelux countries, and ends immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It chronicles how the people of "Main Street America", the country's military forces, and its industrial base were completely transformed when the decision was made to gear up for war. Original footage is interspersed with contemporary newsreels and stock footage.

Of Pups and Puzzles
This short film shows how the war department utilizes a Ph.D., a chimp, and three dogs to help design aptitude tests for men applying for work.

The Woman in the House
This short looks at the illness anthropophobia, the fear of people. In 1901, young Catherine Starr, who lives in a small English coastal town, has an argument with her fiancé. He leaves her house, goes off to serve in the Boer War, and dies of malaria. Catherine blames herself for his death and fears others will also blame her. She does not leave her house for forty years. Groceries are delivered to the house, but no one sees who retrieves them. When the Nazis bomb her house in September 1941, she is forced to cope with the outside world.

We Do It Because
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking hands, kissing, and why ships are christened.

Freshman Year
A budding entrepreneur nearly loses everything after his get-rich quick scheme selling "flunk" insurance to his fellow students goes terribly awry.

For the Common Defense!
This Crime Does Not Pay short shows how cooperation among all the nations of the Americas helps the war effort. In this case, a US government agent travels to Chile and Colombia. He works with local authorities to try to thwart an Axis plan to ship stolen ammunition.
Calling All Kids
An Our Gang salute to the armed forces finds the gang performing a revue honoring the U.S. military. Amidst such highlights as a "recruiting office" sketch featuring the duo of Mickey and Froggy, and a closing ensemble piece with lyrics that rhyme "Taxes" with "Axis," the film features an extended celebrity-impression routine, with Buckwheat imitating Eddie "Rochester" Anderson and other kids posing as Judy Garland, Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire, Carmen Miranda, and Virginia O'Brien.