Hollywood Victory
Hollywood went eagerly to war once the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. But despite rising threats from abroad during the preceding years, most of the studios avoided taking any stand, much less make movies critical of the belligerent nations, until the U.S. was pulled into the conflict. The main reason: Germany remained a large market for American movies and the Nazi regime threatened to ban Hollywood products deemed unfavorable to the Reich.
That profit first stance is one of many familiar stories recounted in Hollywood Victory, the latest book by the editor of IndieWire. For anyone utterly unfamiliar with history, the title gives away the happy ending: we won and the American film industry deserved an Oscar for Best Supporting Role.
Hollywood Victory looks at the industry’s contributions to the war effort through a wide lens. Author Christian Blauvelt identifies a slim handful of anti-Nazi movies issued before the U.S. entered the war and explores the less remembered preemptive thrust by Hollywood into Latin America. The southern cultural offensive was at the behest of Franklin D. Roosevelt, worried that the dictators of the Western Hemisphere might line up behind Hitler. As a result, Carmen Miranda became a familiar presence in Hollywood movies.
Blauvelt recounts the industry’s reaction to Pearl Harbor. Several films in production were revamped and screenplays were rewritten to reflect the war. One idea already sitting on producer Hal Wallis’ desk has endured as a classic, Casablanca. The author unearths some little-known facts. Fearing an invasion of the West Coast, the U.S. Army stationed troops at Disney’s studio—“near Los Angeles but not too close to incite panic”—and Disney was given a contract to make films for the Navy.
Hollywood Victory examines director Frank Capra’s series of documentaries directed at G.I.s, “Why We Fight”; follows the stars who fought in uniform such as Jimmy Stewart and Clark Gabel; and summarizes a gaggle of wartime war movies. In the chapter “Fighting for Freedom Abroad with None at Home,” we learn that Roosevelt’s movie industry liaison “told the moguls that they needed to create Black representation in their films.” Stormy Weather must have been one response.
Hollywood Victory: The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II is published by Running Press.
