Eventually, replacement centers all over the United States required their troops to watch "The Negro Soldier". Almost all black Army members and Air Corps members saw the film, and many white soldiers watched the film during orientation programs. Although the film had been made solely for a military audience, Capra and the rest of the film crew wanted to distribute the film commercially all over the United States as well. Many people gave the film great reviews and praised the film very highly; however, the film did not do well commercially as shown in theatres. The 43-minute length of the film made it awkward to show alongside typical films of the time that were longer than one hour. All the while, a filmmaker named Jack Goldberg was suing Capra and "The Negro Soldier" because he believed that the film “competed unfairly” with his own film that dealt with the same race issues. Although Goldberg ended up losing this lawsuit, "The Negro Soldier" was never successful in theaters.