WWII Doc ‘761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers’ From Revelations Entertainment Sets Hulu + Live TV Launch

Matt Grobar
·2 min read
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The documentary 761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers, featuring Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, is set to stream on Hulu + Live TV on February 22nd.

Produced by Freeman and Lori McCreary’s Revelations Entertainment, in association with GroupM Motion Entertainment, the documentary tells the true story of the 761st Tank Battalion, the first Black tank unit to serve in combat during WWII, and the major battles they faced both overseas while in combat and back home in the United States.

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Better known as the first Black Panthers, this was the only Black tank unit to see combat in World War II. Formed in the spring of 1942, the 761st played a significant role in military operations during the war against Nazi Germany. However, while the majority Black battalion was fighting one battle overseas, they were simultaneously fighting another in their home country – against racism, segregation, and inequality. Despite facing unprecedented adversity, these brave men lived up to their tenacious motto “Come Out Fighting” and became one of the most accomplished tank battalions is U.S. military history.

In the film, Freeman interviews one of the last surviving members of the 761st Battalion, as well as the current and first Black Secretary of Defense, Secretary Lloyd Austin, alongside new and archival interviews, period footage, still photographs and new commentary and stories from family and relatives of the Black Panther soldiers. The documentary will also feature insights and opinions of prominent historians on WWII and experts on race and inequality in America.

761st Tank Battalion: The Original Black Panthers is directed by Phil Bertelsen, who exec produced alongside James Younger, McCreary, and Kelly Mendelsohn for Revelations Entertainment, as well as Richard Foster and Chet Fenster for GroupM, and Eli Lehrer and Jennifer Wagman for The History Channel.

Freeman, McCreary, and Revelations are represented by CAA and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.

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