Hollywood Enlists!

Propaganda Films of World War II

By (author) Ralph Donald

Hardback - £37.00

Publication date:

08 March 2017

Length of book:

274 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN-13: 9781442277267

Frequently referred to as “the Greatest Generation,” Americans of the World War II era were influenced by Hollywood’s depictions of their nation, its role in world affairs, and the virtue of its involvement in the war. Stories of the bravery and heroism of the American military—as well as the moral and political threat posed by the enemy—filled movie screens across the country to garner passionate support for wartime policies.

In
Hollywood Enlists! Propaganda Films of World War II, Ralph Donald explores how the studios supported the war effort and helped shape the attitudes of an entire generation. Through films the studios appealed to the public’s sense of nationalism, demonized the enemy, and stressed that wartime sacrifices would result in triumph. The author contends that American films of the period used sophisticated, but often overlooked, strategies of propaganda to ideologically unite the country. While these strategies have long been associated with political speeches and writings during the war, little in-depth consideration has been given to their use in the era’s cinema.

By examining major motion pictures—including
Casablanca, The Flying Tigers, Mrs. Miniver, Sergeant York, They Were Expendable, and many others—Donald illustrates how various propaganda techniques aligned the nation’s entertainment with government aims. Hollywood Enlists! will appeal to readers with interests in war films and motion picture history, as well as politics and social history.
Donald (Women in War Films), a mass communications professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, returns to a subject he knows well: war films. This study examines propaganda within Hollywood fiction feature films produced during and related to American involvement in WWII. This specific focus omits documentaries, newsreels, and cartoons. After an opening chapter discussing the relationship between the American government and the film industry, Donald breaks down five 'appeals,' categories of Hollywood propaganda. These include the 'guilt appeal,' which stressed that the enemy was the aggressor and dragged our peaceful nation into war; the 'Satanism appeal,' wherein the enemy is defined through negative, dehumanizing characteristics; the 'illusion of victory appeal,' which assures that our victory is predetermined; the 'apocalyptic/Biblical appeals,' the former being a direct invocation of the Biblical books of Revelations and Daniel, and the latter a more general 'God is on our side' message; and the 'territorial appeal,' meant to convince the public that the country itself is at risk.... [This book has] ... some intriguing ideas.