Books in Brief

Film & History Vol. 24, No's. 3-4, 1994 113 BOOK NOTES Movie-Made America: A Cultural History ofAmerican Movies Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies When the Stars Went to War: Hollywood and World War Il Visions ofthe Past: The Challenge ofFilm to Our Idea ofHistory Judgment at the Smithsonian History in Hollywood Books in Brief First published in 1974, Robert Sklar's Movie-Made America: A Cultural History ofAmerican Movies now appears in a revised and updated format (Vintage Books, 1994) that continues to examine Hollywood's Dream Machine. With new information focusing on the Reagan years-those eight years with an actor in the White House-this current edition takes a hard look at the merger between ideology and technology that produced the 1980's style of synergy as cable companies proliferated and VCR's popped up in America's living room. No wonder independent filmmaking, Professor Sklar asserts, "emphasized affinity with multicultural identities." On another issue—the sticky matter of film distortion—Professor Mark C. Carnes has compiled sixty short essays that poke fun, dissect, and list many inaccuracies that punctuate Hollywood's screenplays. Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies (Holt, 1995) notes that "historical films are chiefly important for what they say about the era in which they were made." No matter 114 Books in Brief how many consultants the producers hire to check (and double-check) the facts, Hollywood frequently winds up with egg on its face with its numerous anachronisms , fictions-as-facts, and blatant type castings. Among the complicated personages that photoplays have molded into simplistic ?| £y| ß heroes are Abraham Lincoln, Henry V, Gandhi, CUL _* Julius Caesar, and John F. Kennedy-to name a few. These individual misrepresentations, however, are overshadowed often by larger mistakes in chronology, consequences, and causes. In a change of pace, film buff Ray Hoopes offers a solid study about the motion picture actors and actresses who entertained, sold bonds, and saw combat during World War II. Calling the films of the war years the "industry's most important contribution to the conflict," When the Stars Went to War: Hollywood and World War II (Random House, 1994) documents the public's fascination with anything remotely connected HISTORY with the lives oftheir favorite celebrities-since, in — ACT one way or anotner· hiese role models provided the vicarious thrills that war-weary audiences needed. While John Wayne was blasting Zeroes out of the China skies and Errol Flynn singlehandedly routing the Japanese from Burma, neither man ever saw military service. However, Please see "Books in Brief"x£> on thefollowing page. Hollywood and Verisimilitude: The Chronicle Looks at Historical Truths Most historians agree, according to a recent essay in 77ie Chronicle of Higher Education, that an analysis of Hollywood feature films provides a good explanation of American culture and, to a lesser degree, how motion pictures influence perception. Writing in the December 15th issue, reporter Karen Winkler reiterates some current trends in filmmaking and suggests that maybe movie content and audience understanding ~once thought to be miles apart-are basically the same. Using examples from Professors Mark Carnes, Thomas Prasch, Robert Rosenstone, Natalie Davis, Robert Toplin and others, History in Hollywood suggests that more scholars are considering how films depict history. Does it really matter, Winkler asks, that the popular Civil War drama, Glory, contains numerous mistakes? At least Hollywood revealed some important truths about race relations during the epic struggle. Historians, of course, need to monitor Please see "Chronide"Qj> on thefollowing page. FUm & History Vol. 24, No's. 3-4, 1994 115 Booh in BriefJimmy Stewart, Robert Montgomery, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Tyrone Power, Wayne Morris, Clark Gable, and others volunteered to switch from mufti to khaki while some notables were classified by draft boards as unfit-to include Frank Sinatra (punctured eardrum) Gregory Peck (ruptured disc), John Garfield (heart murmur), and Peter Lawford (bad arm). In another area, Professor Robert A. Rosenstone analyses the relationship between history and film and investigates how a visual medium, subject to the conventions of drama and fiction, relates to the past. Visions ofthe Past: The Challenge ofFilm to Our Idea of History (Harvard University Press, 1995) is a compendium of...