Consider the Role Played by Hollywood Films in Shaping the Perception of World War Two for the American Public. Were They Similar to Propaganda Emanating from Other Countries? in What Ways Did American Films Constitute
Consider the role played by Hollywood films in shaping the perception of World War Two for the American public. Were they similar to propaganda emanating from other countries? In what ways did American films constitute a “democratic” form of propaganda, and how did they meet the needs of propagandists at the OWI? Discuss in relation to at least two films
Until the attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941 the USA had remained out of the war with its isolationist attitude. Pearl Harbour swayed public opinion to a pro war stance like nothing had ever before. Several Hollywood studios and certain directors had been using their films to try and influence the general public for several years before Pearl Harbour, many of which were films of various genres that had a pro war or anti-Nazi message. However in 1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) decided to move all American Propaganda under the umbrella of the newly created Office of War Information (OWI) whose remit it was to organise and control the flow of information form the government to the people regarding the war, who they were fighting and the allies the army was fighting with. This new body was headed up by renowned radio presented Elmer Davis who used his remit in the OWI to focus Hollywood towards the war as he thought it would be the best way for their message to reach the general public, “the easiest way to propagandize people is to let a propaganda theme go in through an entertainment picture when people do not realize they are being propagandized.”
Many of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers got involved with the OWI and were instrumental in the propaganda that was produced during the war, not only the Hollywood films but newsreels, documentaries and pictures. One of the finest examples of a Hollywood director being involved in war propaganda that was not a Hollywood film was Frank Capra’s, ‘Why We Fight,’ series of seven documentaries, the first of which, ‘A Prelude to War,’ tried to show the
Until the attack on Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941 the USA had remained out of the war with its isolationist attitude. Pearl Harbour swayed public opinion to a pro war stance like nothing had ever before. Several Hollywood studios and certain directors had been using their films to try and influence the general public for several years before Pearl Harbour, many of which were films of various genres that had a pro war or anti-Nazi message. However in 1942 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) decided to move all American Propaganda under the umbrella of the newly created Office of War Information (OWI) whose remit it was to organise and control the flow of information form the government to the people regarding the war, who they were fighting and the allies the army was fighting with. This new body was headed up by renowned radio presented Elmer Davis who used his remit in the OWI to focus Hollywood towards the war as he thought it would be the best way for their message to reach the general public, “the easiest way to propagandize people is to let a propaganda theme go in through an entertainment picture when people do not realize they are being propagandized.”
Many of Hollywood’s finest filmmakers got involved with the OWI and were instrumental in the propaganda that was produced during the war, not only the Hollywood films but newsreels, documentaries and pictures. One of the finest examples of a Hollywood director being involved in war propaganda that was not a Hollywood film was Frank Capra’s, ‘Why We Fight,’ series of seven documentaries, the first of which, ‘A Prelude to War,’ tried to show the
Bibliography: 3. Crowther,Bosley,‘The Man I Married (1940)’ The New York Times 3 August 1940. 4. Hughes-Warrington, Marnie, ‘History Goes to the Movies’ (Routledge, 2007) p.146 5 6. Ebert,Roger, ‘Casablanca’ September 15, 1996 (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19960915%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010308%2F1023) accessed 18/11/2012. 9. Bennett,Todd, Culture, Power, and Mission to Moscow: Film and Soviet-American Relations during World War II, the Journal of American History, Vol. 88, No. 2. (Sept., 2001) 10 2. Battle of Midway, Dir. John Ford (United States Navy, 1942). 3. Casablanca, Dir. Michael Curtiz (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1943). 4. Guadalcanal Diary, Dir. Lewis Seiler (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1943). 5. Mission to Moscow, Dir. Michael Curtiz (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1943). 6. The Man I Married, Dir. Irving Pichel (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1940). 7. Triumph of Will, Dir. Leni Riefenstahl (Leni Riefenstahl-Produktion, Reichspropagandaleitung der NSDAP, 1935). 8. Why We Fight, Dir. Frank Capra (U.S. War Department, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), U.S. Army Special Service Division, 1943). [ 2 ]. Frank Capra. The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1971) p. 325 [ 3 ] [ 4 ]. Marnie Hughes-Warrington ‘History Goes to the Movies’ (Routledge, 2007) p.146 [ 5 ] [ 6 ]. Roger Ebert, ‘Casablanca’ September 15, 1996 (http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19960915%2FREVIEWS08%2F401010308%2F1023) accessed 18/11/2012. [ 7 ]. Matt Jalbert, Hollywood: the Propaganda Machine of US in WWII (http://www.hollywoodism.net/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=150:hollywood-the-propaganda-machine-of-us-in-wwii&Itemid=116&lang=en accessed on 18/11/2012). [ 10 ]. David A. Cook, A History of Narrative Film, (W.W. Norton & Company, Fourth Edition, 2004) p.371