World War II and the American Film

World War II and the American Film

This is a very interesting journal article about how the American film industry handled the contant changes during World War II. The article explains a lot about the history of the war itself, and what films became focused on throughout this period. First, the author, Lewis Jacobs explains that the American film industry centered on comedies, romances, adventurs, melodramas and westerns (Jacbos 1). As the events of World War II became closer to the United States, the types of films being created changed their focus. Film became focused on military tactics and training. The media became an "inspiration and morale-building journalism which featured scenes of patriotic parades, town meetings, recruits leaving for camp, destroyers being launched, pilots receiving comissions, graduation exercises at West Point and Annapolis" (Jacobs 3). All of the defense preparations were portrayed in not only film, but also other media, as glamorous and fun. During this time, there were very few clips that would show what exactly was happening in the war. Only a few documentaries were able to break the restrictions and create something closer to the war than any other media in the United States.

During the transition into war, films became focused on man hunts, spy plots, escapes, and those members fighting in the army, airforce, and navy; like Flight Command (1940), Dive Bomber (1941), and Navy Blues (1941).

In April of 1941, when the President stated the United States was in a National Emergency, films began to center on helping men and families accept the idea of being drafted. By this time, the majority of movies were focused on the military and war.

This article also discusses details about the history of this time period and how it affected the film making industry. For example, after the evens at Pearl Harbor, the President assigned Lowell Mellet to work with the movie companies in order to show how the industry can help the national defense. There were six themes given by the government. The companies were not forced to follow them, but it was definitely suggested. The six themes were "the issue of war, the nature of the enemy, the United Nations, the production front, the home front, and the fighting forces" (Jacobs 10).

Jacobs then goes by the years of conflict and describes how the war affected the film industry. During the first year, most films were centered on propoganda and entertainment. By the end of the second year, American film had much less compassion. "Film began to serialize the profanity of war" (18).

Towards the end of the war, when the Allied Forces were growing strong and the possiblilty of ending the war became more prevalent, films changed quickly and drastically. All the films focused on the military tactics were either abandoned by the companies, or were finished up and released as quickly as possible. "Hollywood beat all other industries to reconversion" (20).

This article in very informative not only about the film of this time period, but also the history of the war itself. Jacobs clearly shows how the events of World War II affected American film by going more in depth about a few movies from each stage of the constantly changing industry.

This journal article is available in the JSTOR archives.
World War II and the American Film
Lewis Jacobs
Cinema Journal, Vol. 7, (Winter, 1967-1968), pp. 1-21
Published by: University of Texas Press on behalf of the Society for Cinema & Media Studies