# Design for Death

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1947 film

Design for Death Theatrical poster Directed by Richard Fleischer Written by Theodor S. Geisel Helen Palmer Produced by Sid Rogell Theron Warth Narrated by Kent Smith Hans Conried Edited by Marston Fay Elmo Williams Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures Release date 1947 (1947) Running time 48 minutes Country United States Language English

***Design for Death*** is a 1947 American [documentary film](/source/Documentary_film) that won the [Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature](/source/Academy_Award_for_Best_Documentary_Feature).[1] It was based on a shorter U.S. Army training film, *[Our Job in Japan](/source/Our_Job_in_Japan)*, that had been produced in 1945–1946 for the soldiers occupying [Japan](/source/Japan) after [World War II](/source/World_War_II). Both films dealt with Japanese culture and the origins of the war.

Following the war, Peter Rathvon at [RKO](/source/RKO), who had seen *Our Job in Japan* during his own military service, decided to produce a commercial version of the film.[2] He hired the original writer and editor to work on the new project. Theodor S. Geisel, better known by his pen name [Dr. Seuss](/source/Dr._Seuss), co-authored *Design for Death* with his wife [Helen Palmer Geisel](/source/Helen_Palmer_Geisel). [Elmo Williams](/source/Elmo_Williams) was the editor for both films. Subsequently, Sid Rogell replaced Rathvon, and became the film's producer.

The film was given wide release in January 1948; a review in *[Daily Variety](/source/Variety_(magazine))* characterized it as "a documentary of fabulous proportions ... one of the most interesting screen presentations of the year".[3] [Bosley Crowther](/source/Bosley_Crowther), writing in *The New York Times*, was not complimentary; he wrote that the film "makes the general point that too much control by a few people is a dangerous – a '[racketeering](/source/Racketeering)' – thing and that another world war can be prevented only by the development of responsible, representative governments throughout the world. That is a valid message, but the weakness with which it is put forth in a melange of faked and factual pictures and in a ponderous narration does not render it very forceful".[4]

In his memoir, Elmo Williams maintains that he and Geisel created *Design for Death* nearly in its entirety, and that the credits for Fleischer and Warth were nominal ones.[2] Rogell, Fleischer, and Warth received the Academy Awards for the film.

Copies of *Design for Death* are apparently rare. Geisel thought that they had all been destroyed.[3] However, the [Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences](/source/Academy_of_Motion_Picture_Arts_and_Sciences) sponsored a screening in October 2005,[5] and parts of the film were included in the documentary *[The Political Dr. Seuss](/source/The_Political_Dr._Seuss)*.[6] Some materials related to *Design for Death*, including its script, are in an archive of Geisel's papers at the [University of California, San Diego](/source/University_of_California%2C_San_Diego).[7]

## Cast

- [Kent Smith](/source/Kent_Smith) as Narrator

- [Hans Conried](/source/Hans_Conried) as Narrator

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NY_Times_1-0)** [Crowther, Bosley](/source/Bosley_Crowther) (2009). ["NY Times: Design for Death"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090306185502/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/138625/Design-for-Death/overview). Movies & TV Dept. *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*. Archived from [the original](https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/138625/Design-for-Death/overview) on March 6, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2008.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Williams_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Williams_2-1) Williams, Elmo (2006). [*Elmo Williams: A Hollywood Memoir*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Fk832KXUp9gC&pg=PA70). McFarland. pp. 68–70. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7864-2621-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7864-2621-7).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Morgan_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Morgan_3-1) Morgan, Judith; Morgan, Neil (1995). [*Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel*](https://archive.org/details/drseussmrgeisel00morg/page/119). Random House. pp. [119–120](https://archive.org/details/drseussmrgeisel00morg/page/119). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-679-41686-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-679-41686-2).. Secondary reference; primary reference hasn't yet been confirmed.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Crowther, Bosley (June 11, 1948). ["'Design for Death', Factual Film About the Japanese, Opens at Victoria -- 'Bad Sister' Also Arrives"](https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F00EEDD1338E13ABC4952DFB0668383659EDE). *The New York Times*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Unger, Leslie (October 4, 2005). [""Oscar's Docs" Begin to Shift Focus Beyond WWII"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081122061037/http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.10.04.html). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from [the original](http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.10.04.html) on November 22, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Independent Lens. THE POLITICAL DR. SEUSS. The Film"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090102035632/http://www.ucsd.edu/portal/site/Libraries/menuitem.7974bc238fac0eb7147f6defd34b01ca/?vgnextoid=fd79c70d381c3110VgnVCM10000045b410acRCRD). Public Broadcasting System. Archived from [the original](http://www.ucsd.edu/portal/site/Libraries/menuitem.7974bc238fac0eb7147f6defd34b01ca/?vgnextoid=fd79c70d381c3110VgnVCM10000045b410acRCRD) on January 2, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Dr. Seuss Collection: Films"](http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf1000043t&chunk.id=c02-1.2.9.4.2&brand=oac). Mandeville Special Collections Library, University of California - San Diego. Retrieved December 22, 2008.

## External links

- [*Design for Death*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040285/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e Films directed by Richard Fleischer Child of Divorce (1946) Banjo (1947) Design for Death (1947) So This Is New York (1948) Bodyguard (1948) The Clay Pigeon (1949) Follow Me Quietly (1949) Make Mine Laughs (1949) Trapped (1949) Armored Car Robbery (1950) His Kind of Woman (1951, uncredited) The Narrow Margin (1952) The Happy Time (1952) Arena (1953) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) Violent Saturday (1955) The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing (1955) Bandido (1956) Between Heaven and Hell (1956) The Vikings (1958) Compulsion (1959) These Thousand Hills (1959) Crack in the Mirror (1960) The Big Gamble (1961) Barabbas (1961) Fantastic Voyage (1966) Doctor Dolittle (1967) The Boston Strangler (1968) Che! (1969) Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) 10 Rillington Place (1971) The Last Run (1971) See No Evil (1971) The New Centurions (1972) Soylent Green (1973) The Don Is Dead (1973) The Spikes Gang (1974) Mr. Majestyk (1974) Mandingo (1975) The Incredible Sarah (1976) The Prince and the Pauper (1977) Ashanti (1979) The Jazz Singer (1980) Tough Enough (1983) Amityville 3-D (1983) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Red Sonja (1985) Million Dollar Mystery (1987)

v t e Dr. Seuss Characters The Grinch Horton the Elephant Bartholomew Cubbins Bibliography And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins The King's Stilts The Seven Lady Godivas Horton Hatches the Egg McElligot's Pool Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose Bartholomew and the Oobleck If I Ran the Zoo Scrambled Eggs Super! Horton Hears a Who! On Beyond Zebra! If I Ran the Circus The Cat in the Hat How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Cat in the Hat Comes Back Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories Happy Birthday to You! One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish Green Eggs and Ham The Sneetches and Other Stories Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book Hop on Pop Dr. Seuss's ABC Fox in Socks I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew I Wish That I Had Duck Feet 1 Come over to My House 1 The Foot Book I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today! and Other Stories My Book about ME Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?: Dr. Seuss's Book of Wonderful Noises! The Lorax Marvin K. Mooney Will You Please Go Now! Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? The Shape of Me and Other Stuff There's a Wocket in My Pocket! Great Day for Up! Wacky Wednesday 1 Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! The Cat's Quizzer I Can Read with My Eyes Shut! Oh Say Can You Say? Hunches in Bunches The Butter Battle Book You're Only Old Once! I Am Not Going to Get Up Today! Oh, the Places You'll Go! Daisy-Head Mayzie 2 My Many Colored Days 2 Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! 2 The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories 2 Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories 2 What Pet Should I Get? 2 Horse Museum 2 Sing the 50 United States! 2 Adaptations Television series The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss (1996–1998) Gerald McBoing-Boing (2005–2007) The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! (2010–2018) episodes Green Eggs and Ham (2019–2022) Television specials How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) Horton Hears a Who! (1970) The Cat in the Hat (1971) The Lorax (1972) Dr. Seuss on the Loose (1973) The Hoober-Bloob Highway (1975) Halloween Is Grinch Night (1977) Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (1980) The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat (1982) In Search of Dr. Seuss (1994) Film Horton Hatches the Egg (short; 1942) Gerald McBoing-Boing (short; 1950) How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) The Cat in the Hat (2003) Horton Hears a Who! (2008) The Lorax (2012) The Grinch (2018) The Cat in the Hat (2026; upcoming) Video games Dr. Seuss' Fix-Up the Mix-Up Puzzler (1984) The Grinch Game Boy Color (2000) The Cat in the Hat (2003) Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (2007) Other media Welcome (Russian short film) Seussical (musical) Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (song) The Cat in the Hat (play) The Lorax (musical) Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical Live! (musical) The Cat in the Hat (musical) Dr. Seuss's ABC (musical) Other works Private Snafu The Pocket Book of Boners Your Job in Germany Our Job in Japan Design for Death The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. Hejji Society of Red Tape Cutters Flit Related Helen Palmer (first wife) A Fish Out of Water Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum Beginner Books Dr. Seuss Enters., L.P. v. Penguin Books USA, Inc. Dr. Seuss Goes to War The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss National Memorial Geisel Award Geisel Library Geisel School of Medicine PM Political messages of Dr. Seuss Read Across America Seuss Landing 1 as "Theo. LeSieg". 2 Posthumous.

v t e Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film The Battle of Midway / Kokoda Front Line! / Moscow Strikes Back / Prelude to War (1942) Desert Victory (1943) The Fighting Lady (1944) The True Glory (1945) No Award (1946) Design for Death (1947) The Secret Land (1948) Daybreak in Udi (1949) The Titan: Story of Michelangelo (1950) Kon-Tiki (1951) The Sea Around Us (1952) The Living Desert (1953) The Vanishing Prairie (1954) Helen Keller in Her Story (1955) The Silent World (1956) Albert Schweitzer (1957) White Wilderness (1958) Serengeti Shall Not Die (1959) The Horse with the Flying Tail (1960) Sky Above and Mud Beneath (1961) Black Fox: The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler (1962) Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World (1963) World Without Sun (1964) The Eleanor Roosevelt Story (1965) The War Game (1966) The Anderson Platoon (1967) Journey into Self (1968) Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life (1969) Woodstock (1970) The Hellstrom Chronicle (1971) Marjoe (1972) The Great American Cowboy (1973) Hearts and Minds (1974) The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975) Harlan County, USA (1976) Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? (1977) Scared Straight! (1978) Best Boy (1979) From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1980) Genocide (1981) Just Another Missing Kid (1982) He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin' (1983) The Times of Harvey Milk (1984) Broken Rainbow (1985) Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got / Down and Out in America (1986) The Ten-Year Lunch (1987) Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988) Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989) American Dream (1990) In the Shadow of the Stars (1991) The Panama Deception (1992) I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School (1993) Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision (1994) Anne Frank Remembered (1995) When We Were Kings (1996) The Long Way Home (1997) The Last Days (1998) One Day in September (1999) Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport (2000) Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001) Bowling for Columbine (2002) The Fog of War (2003) Born into Brothels (2004) March of the Penguins (2005) An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Taxi to the Dark Side (2007) Man on Wire (2008) The Cove (2009) Inside Job (2010) Undefeated (2011) Searching for Sugar Man (2012) 20 Feet from Stardom (2013) Citizenfour‎ (2014) Amy (2015) O.J.: Made in America (2016) Icarus (2017) Free Solo (2018) American Factory (2019) My Octopus Teacher (2020) Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021) Navalny (2022) 20 Days in Mariupol (2023) No Other Land (2024) Mr Nobody Against Putin (2025)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Design for Death](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_Death) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_for_Death?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.