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Robert L. McLaughlin
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We'll Always Have the Movies: American Cinema During World War II Kindle Edition

by Robert L. McLaughlin (Author), Sally E. Parry (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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An “essential” study of what Americans watched during wartime, and how films shaped their understanding of events (Publishers Weekly).

During the highly charged years of World War II, movies perhaps best communicated to Americans who they were and why they were fighting. These films were more than just an explanation of historical events: they asked audiences to consider the Nazi threat; they put a face on both our enemies and allies, and they explored changing wartime gender roles.

We’ll Always Have the Movies shows how film after film repeated the narratives, character types, and rhetoric that made the war and each American’s role in it comprehensible. Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry have watched more than six hundred films made between 1937 and 1946—including many never before discussed in this context—and have analyzed the cultural and historical importance of these films in explaining the war to moviegoers. This extensive study shows how filmmakers made the chaotic elements of wartime familiar, while actual events became film history, and film history became myth.

“A terrific book that explores not only the themes of hundreds of films but also their impact on patriotism and national will in a time of war.” —WWII History

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  1. Print length
    380 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    The University Press of Kentucky
  5. Publication date
    March 3, 2006
  6. File size
    5410 KB
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hollywood's WWII films played a vital role in helping average Americans understand the nations, conflicts and values involved. Their plots and images were often subject to government censorship, military recommendations and studio biases, but the movies brought to life distant battlefields, American allies and foreign enemies. To discuss the cultural meanings and impact of such films as Casablanca, Lifeboat and Thirty Seconds over Tokyo, Illinois State University professor McLaughlin and dean Parry viewed more than 600 movies made between 1937 and 1946. Their essential volume explores "the process by which actual events become film history and by which film history becomes myth." The authors chronologically discuss the interplay of historical fact, narrative storytelling and cultural stereotypes. Analyzing films, including such pre–Pearl Harbor works as Chaplin's The Great Dictator (1940) and postwar films like The Courage of Lassie (1946), they identify recurring cinematic formulas used for depicting heroism, gender roles and juvenile delinquency. Whether dealing with famous flicks or lesser known titles, McLaughlin and Parry maintain a scholarly tone, treating blockbusters and B-movies with equal rigor, but never forgetting the view from the peanut gallery or the history and movie buffs among them. Photos. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Whether dealing with famous flicks or lesser known titles, McLaughlin and Parry maintain a scholarly tone, treating blockbusters and B-movies with equal rigor, but never forgetting the view from the peanut gallery or the history and movie buffs among them."―Publishers Weekly

"Addresses many probing questions pertaining to the wartime movies. . . . Enjoyable reading."―America in WWII

"Surveying the wide, diversified field of WWII films, the authors . . . examine how many films went beyond simply evoking patriotism to maintaining support for the War on the 'home front' and to forming perspectives and expectations on it and characterizing the enemy."―Antiques Today

"Provides and excellent analysis of the many wartime motion pictures that Hollywood produced. It is recommended not only to the many film buffs who still enjoy watching classics . . . but also to those who seek a greater understanding of America's home front during the war."―Journal of America's Military Past

"A terrific book that explores not only the themes of hundreds of films but also their impact on patriotism and national will in a time of war."―WWII History

"Hollywood films from 1937 to 1946 are rearticulated as myth-making propaganda. . . . [This book] opens the window to a vanished and deeply interesting world that these pages recover with a sense of sympathetic understanding."―Journal of America & Culture

"Even the most devout cinemaphile should be able to discover at least one new treasure in the filmography of this volume. McLaughlin and Parry present a rather exhaustive survey of the Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946."―Ron Briley, History News Network

"A compelling appraisal- aesthetic and cultural- of films (including Casablanca) that eventually would form a mythic history of World War II A masterful study of film narrativity."―The Historian

"This book is a wonderful addition to insights of how the media plays a role in the life of Everyman."―Gerald F. Kreyche, USA Today, Society for the Advancement of Education

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0078XFSR2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The University Press of Kentucky (March 3, 2006)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 3, 2006
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5410 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 380 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

About the author

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Robert L. McLaughlin

Robert L. McLaughlin

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Robert L. McLaughlin, Professor of English at Illinois State University, earned his Ph. D. at Fordham University in New York City. He is the author most recently of Stephen Sondheim and the Reinvention of the American Musical (UP of Mississippi, 2016). With Sally E. Parry he wrote We'll Always Have the Movies: American Cinema during World War II (UP of Kentucky, 2006). He has published many articles on postmodern fiction, especially the work of Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace. He has edited a fiction collection, Innovations: An Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Fiction (Dalkey Archive Press, 1998). From 1993 to 2005 he was editor of the Review of Contemporary Fiction. With Sally E. Parry, he is currently completing a study of Broadway plays during World War II.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
15 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Theo monk
5.0 out of 5 stars With Excellent analysis of several films
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2014
Verified Purchase
Outstanding analysis and interpretation of WWIi films. It illuminates the extent to which Hollywood developed our American narrative about the necessity for war with Germany and Japan. With Excellent analysis of several films, you want to go out and watch several films you never heard of. Try "This Above All" among others.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael Samerdyke
5.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting New Look
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2012
There have been many books on Hollywood films of the 1939-45 era, but "We'll Always Have the Movies" looks at this familiar subject with fresh eyes. One of they ways the authors do this is to see Hollywood films as trying to present different corners of the world in such a way so Americans could identify with these non-American places. Thus films like "The Moon is Down" and "This Land is Mine," in which Norwegians and Frenchmen deal with being occupied by Nazis, are really to encourage Americans to think about what they would do in such a situation.

A fascinating chapter of the book is to look at films that don't completely conform to the "Hollywood WWII movie" stereotype: films about juvenille deliquency in particular or films by Preston Sturges or Alfred Hitchcock that poke at trouble spots in American culture.

Even if you have read several books on Hollywood at war, "We'll Always Have the Movies" will give you something to think about and make you revisit some old films.
6 people found this helpful
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Henry Berry
5.0 out of 5 stars cultural study of wide-ranging influence and effects of American WWII movies
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2006
World War II films have always been recognized as quintessential patriotic movies. There are anecdotes of young men going directly from movies such as "Salute to the Marines" and "Fighting Seabees" to military recruiters. But the co-authors take a more analytic look at the broad category of American popular movies during the World War II years. They find that the category was more diverse than generally realized, and that its purposes and effects were more subtle than seen in the inspiring films of military exploits. For example, the movie "Casablanca," for all its film noirish intrigue and memorable performances, "presented [the Germans] not only as bad but also as defeatable." This was undoubtedly an important message for the American public in the early days of the War when the Germans appeared invincible in their conquest of the nations of Europe. Surveying the wide, diversified field of WWII films, the authors with academic backgrounds in literature at Illinois State U. examine how many films went beyond simply evoking patriotism to maintaining support for the War on the "home front" and to forming perspectives and expectations on it and characterizing the enemy. The wartime films dealt with all significant aspects of the War, including portrayals of Russians, British, and other allies. The cycle of the films in relation to the course of the War is a thread of the wide-ranging, multidisciplinary study in a readable style appealing to film-lovers as well as ones interested in popular culture, social history, and cultural studies. Preston Sturges' June 1944 release "Hail the Conquering Hero" coming near the end of the body of wartime films deals with the adjustment of servicemen returning to civilian life.
10 people found this helpful
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