George Stevens (December 18, 1904 – March 8, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and cinematographer. During World War II, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps and headed a film unit from 1943 to 1946 under General Eisenhower. His unit shot footage documenting D-Day — including the only Allied European Front color film of the war — the liberation of Paris and the meeting of American and Soviet forces at the Elbe River, as well as horrific scenes from the Duben labor camp and the Dachau concentration camp. Stevens also helped prepare the Duben and Dachau footage and other material for presentation during the Nuremberg Trials. In 2008, his footage was entered into the U.S. National Film Registry by the Librarian of Congress as an"essential visual recor" of World War II. The Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU) was placed under the control of the Supreme Headquarters' Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). The SPECOU consists of 45 people: writers like Ivan Moffat, William Saroyan and Irwin Shaw; cameramen like Dick Hoar, Ken Marthey, William Mellor, Jack Muth; sound operators as Bill Hamilton, who comes from Columbia, assistant directors, as Holly Morse, who has worked with Hal Roach.
Sign reads:"Nothing in hell can stop the Timber Wolf Divisio" at Gen. Terry Allen's headquarters at Torgau. He was the leader of the Timber Wolf Division. Shot of troops with American flag and red flag on a jeep and whole series of jeeps driving through town. It is a meeting of Russian and American officers. American two-star General Terry Allen walks up and salutes a Russian officer. They all turn in a three shot and salute a new arrival as the band plays. Sequence of shots of officers listening to band music. American general appears to be pinning a medal on a Russian general. They shake hands, smiling, cut away to Stevens and other members of camera unit including two cameramen (one is Dick Hoar) holding cameras in FG. Everyone is smiling, very happy.
Americans meet Russians