Hollywood's Second World War

The read

It runs a compact 1h 30m.

Synopsis

For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.

Ratings

Key crew

• Jascha HannoverDirector
• Jascha HannoverWriter

Cast

• Volker SchlöndorffSelf
• George Stevens Jr.Self
• Catherine WylerSelf
• Anatole LitvakSelf (archive footage)
• William WylerSelf (archive footage)
• Frank CapraSelf (archive footage)
• Billy WilderSelf (archive footage)
• George StevensSelf (archive footage)
• Charlie ChaplinAdenoid Hynkel (archive footage)

Stills