America, World War II, and the Movies: An Annotated Booklist

Rollins !America, World War II, and the Movies: An Annotated Bibliography Peter C. Rollins Oklahoma State University America, World War II, and the Movies: An Annotated Booklist Introduction The Hollywood films ofWWII were the most significant attempt (up until that time) to manipulate public opinion in a time ofcrisis; since the 1940s, the invasion ofour homes by television and other electronic media has increased our exposure to the tactics employed by filmmakers while provoking our interest in their strategies ofpersuasion. In addition, from 1991 until 1995, Americans took time to reflect on the contribution ofWorld War II veterans to our legacy offreedom. During the 50th anniversary celebrations, the entire country reviewed many ofthe classics ofthe WWII film genre, remembering the sacrifice and—on occasion—recognizing how often-egregious propaganda may have overheated an heroic era. As a result, even the general audience now has questions about the films and their relation to the American temper. For these reasons, the connections between the "reel war" and the real war should be traced with some detail. This guide to sources will outline some ofthe research areas and list the major studies; hopefully, the sources below will send you off to your own discoveries of film in relation to America and World War II. [Format note: The prose segments below give overviews ofthe numbered segments (100, 200, etc) ofthe annotated bibliography that follows.] Credits and facts (100) The audio speakers on our television sets are often small and distort the dialogue; as a result, it is often difficult to discern the proper pronunciation (and spelling) of the names of screen characters. Furthermore, networks and cable channels frequently go to a partial screen at the end of movies— as they promote the shows down the programming stream. As a result, credit information is squeezed off to the side. For all of these reasons, it is very useful to have sources for the production details. Many encyclopedias, handbooks, and guides are available for basic factual information (100). Many young PC owners have Cinemania 96 in their computers for handy reference; I own the more expensive Motion Picture Guide CD-ROM and have benefitted from its detailed credits. (The Parish book has more extensive credits than any other source.) Plot summaries are available from a number of sources in the 100 series. The best, briefsummaries are in the Langman book, but Parish has thoughtful summaries, also. The Motion Picture Guide suffers from an unprofessional summarizing ofthe stories in terms ofthe actors' names—rather than using the names ofthe characters portrayed by the actors. (For example, the anti-hero of The Sands oflwojima is notJohn Wayne, but Sgt Stryker—and this fact is not a silly detail.) These details can fuel the imagination, suggesting directions both to and from the particular film studied. (For example, They Were Expendable is aJohn Wayne film, but it is also very much aJohn Ford story ofservice and sacrifice. The John Ford directorial credit should suggest all kinds of ideas.) 96 I Film & History World War II in Film | Special In-Depth Section Overview perspectives and feature films (200)/ (300)/ (400) The General Overviews (200) are the best, in-depth studies of the Combat Film genre. For the films themselves, Bernard Dick's book is the most subjective and colorful while Jeanine Basinger's is the most analytical. Doherty's study attempts to place the combat film within the context of mass persuasion, thereby linking the activities ofthe 1940s to our own media concerns. The dynamics of Hollywood as a colony of institutions shaped both the content and style of feature films. Koppes and Black examine the interactions between the Office ofWar Information (America's propaganda agency) and Hollywood. With his eye on the impact of institutional organization on movie content, Thomas Schatz has studied the overall production record of the 1940s. Even in wartime, each studio pursued its own special style offilmmaking. Behindthe -scenes dynamics are revealed by Lawrence Suid, a scholar who interviewed the directors, cameramen, actors for the films and tried to account for the resulting product. Steve Rubin also focuses on the film craftsmen and their efforts—in this case, their efforts to be faithful to history. Michael...