Campus-produced documentary tell story of WWI ambulance corps
The new historical documentary, “Model T’s to War: American Ambulances on the Western Front 1914-1918,” produced by campus filmmakers, will have its premiere television broadcast on WGBY, Channel 57, on Thursday, March 5 at 8 p.m.
The hour-long documentary film was made by Edward Klekowski, professor emeritus of Biology, Elizabeth Wilda of the News Office, and Libby Klekowski. It tells the previously unknown stories of American volunteer ambulance drivers who served during World War I on the Western Front in France from 1914-18. Driving Model T’s, modified to accommodate stretchers, young volunteers, many of whom were college students, served at Verdun and other key battlefields on Western Front. The U.S. entered the war in 1917.
Shot in France in high definition, the film documents the stunning contrast of the peaceful countryside today with images of devastation from the war years. Ed Klekowski shows viewers battle sites where many dangerous war artifacts, including unexploded shells, barbed wire entanglements, tunnels and trenches are still found.
Also included in the film are readings of memoirs that eloquently share first-hand accounts of life and war from 1914-18. Gilbert McCauley, Julian Olf, Julie K. Nelson and Timothy Howd from the Theater Department are among the readers who give dramatic performances in the program. Kenneth Irwin, known for his jazz show on WMUA, the student-run radio station, narrates the documentary.
The project began in 2007 and was completed in this month. Ed Klekowski is well known for his series of educational films on the biology of the Connecticut River and his popular documentary “Under Quabbin.” Klekowski and Wilda have also collaborated on a number of films including the Emmy-nominated “The Great Flood of 1936,” and “Dynamite, Whiskey, & Wood.”
Ed Klekowski researched and wrote the script for this new documentary and Wilda filmed and edited it. Libby Klekowski organized the historical research efforts. This is the fourth documentary this team has collaborated on. Many of their other titles are broadcast nationally with American Public Television. The Florence Gould Foundation, the Alumni Association and WGBY all contributed to the funding of this film.
More Information
View promotional clip
February 23, 2009.
E-mail story to a friend
Printer-friendly version
/more talking points/
