The Way of Peace (film)

The Way of Peace (film)
Directed by	Frank Tashlin
Produced by	Wah Ming Chang Blanding Sloan
Written by	Frank Tashlin
Starring	Lew Ayres (narrator)
Music by	Eddison von Ottenfeld
Cinematography	Wah Ming Chang
Edited by	Stuart O'Brien
Production company	Christian Films East West Studio
Distributed by	Wartburg Press
Release dates	23 April 1947
Running time	18 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Way of Peace (1947) is a puppet animation film, financed by the Lutheran Church in America, giving a Christian view of life in the Atomic Age. It was 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".^[1]

Plot

This film is a Christian parable about the end of the world in the Atomic Age told with puppet animation. The film's scope is broad, from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ to the atomic destruction of the Earth. Critics have found the film somewhat preachy, and totally unlike any other film in Tashlin's body of work.

Production background

• 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.^[2]

See also

• National Film Registry

References

1. IMDB entry
2. Library of Congress press release (December 17, 2014)

External links

• The Way of Peace at IMDB
• The Way of Peace at YouTube