Hollywood Goes to War

by Koppes, Clayton R.; Black, Gregory D.

• ISBN13: 9780520071612
• ISBN10: 0520071611
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1990-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Conflicting interests and conflicting attitudes toward the war characterized the uneasy relationship between Washington and Hollywood during World War II. There was deep disagreement within the film-making community as to the stance towards the war that should be taken by one of America's most lucrative industries.Hollywood Goes to Warreveals the powerful role played by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Office of War Information--staffed by some of America's most famous intellectuals including Elmer Davis, Robert Sherwood, and Archibald MacLeish--in shaping the films that were released during the war years. Ironically, it was the film industry's own self-censorship system, the Hays Office and the Production Code Administration, that paved the way for government censors to cut and shape movies to portray an idealized image of a harmonious American society united in the fight against a common enemy. Clayton R. Koppes and Gregory D. Black reconstruct the power struggles between the legendary producers, writers, directors, stars and politicians all seeking to project their own visions onto the silver screen and thus to affect public perceptions and opinion.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
I. HOLLYWOOD, 1939	1	(16)
II. HOLLYWOOD TURNS INTERVENTIONIST	17	(31)
III. WILL THIS PICTURE HELP WIN THE WAR?	48	(34)
IV. OWI TAKES THE OFFENSIVE	82	(31)
V. SHAKEOUT IN HOLLYWOOD	113	(29)
VI. HOME FRONT: DEFINING AMERICA	142	(43)
VII. PUTTING THE RUSSIANS THROUGH THE WRINGER	185	(37)
VIII. DEMOCRATS OLD AND NEW: "CLASSLESS" BRITAIN AND "MODERN" CHINA	222	(26)
IX. THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE	248	(30)
X. NAZIS, GOOD GERMANS, AND G.I.'s	278	(39)
XI. HOLLYWOOD, 1945	317	(12)
Notes	329	(30)
Bibliographical Essay	359	(6)
Index	365