This is the story of the relationship between Hollywood and the American military as told through the war-time service of Frank Capra, John Ford, George Stevens, William Wyler and John Huston. "They honored their country, risked their lives and created a new visual vocabulary for fictional and factual war movies." Because the men who ran Hollywood were first and second generation Jewish immigrants, fearful of Washington and anti-semitism, they avoided the oncoming catastrophe until 'Confessions of a Nazi Spy' in April 1941. Warner Bros. very happily presented America with a rousing 'Sgt. York' in July, but generally speaking, Hollywood was only dipping its toes in the water until Dec.7, 1941. "Any trepidation the studios felt about making war movies vanished within weeks." Wyler was making 'Mrs. Miniver' before Pearl Harbor and made it even more of a patriotic piece, leading to Churchill's praise and the best picture Oscar. By the spring of 1942, Capra, Ford, Huston and Wyler were in uniform. Stevens followed in early 1943. Capra began making 'Why We Fight', which the author contends was the most important filmed propaganda of the war. I agree. The series of films are over-the-top, but nonetheless brilliant. Ford was the first to shoot actual combat scenes, which he shamelessly embellished in his 18 minute 'Battle of Midway'. When FDR saw it, he turned to his Naval aide and said, " I want every mother in America to see this film". A year later, Wyler flew five combat missions over Germany and filmed the documentary 'Memphis Belle'. For every success, though, there were an equal amount of failed efforts, occasioned by endless bureaucratic infighting, confused strategy, inter-service rivalries and politics. Ford and Stevens were on Omaha Beach on D-Day as part of a major effort to document the momentous landing. Some of what they filmed was so brutal that it wasn't released for fifty years. The work got better and better as the last year of the war played out. Ford actually returned to Hollywood to film 'They Were Expendable' while still on active duty. After Wyler was wounded, Stevens was the last of the major directors in Europe and was the man who filmed the harrowing death camp scenes, particularly the American arrival in Dachau. Long after the war, Stevens turned to his reels of everything he had filmed while preparing to direct 'The Diary of Anne Frank'. After a minute of his 'Eyewitness To Dachau', he returned the film to its box. The directors received medals, commendations and Oscars before they returned to Hollywood. Steven's work was used as evidence at Nuremberg. Wyler had the privilege of making what is generally considered the best post-war movie, 'The Best Years Of Our Lives". The book only tangentially and infrequently mentions the hundreds of movies made in Hollywood about the war and thus for me was a bit of a disappointment .
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