Why am I passionate about this?
My husband, Robert McLaughlin, and I taught at Illinois State University for over thirty years. Our fathers both served in World War II (one in the Army Air Forces and one in the Navy) but would never talk about it. That spurred our interest in the war and what it was like. One way to know about it was through the popular culture of the time, such as movies, plays, radio, and books. As we watched more and more movies and gave presentations on them (we’re English professors by trade), we realized how these movies still affect how we think about the war.
Sally's book list on WWII movies and their influence on the homefront
Why did Sally love this book?
If you’re interested in movies made in Hollywood during World War II and about the war, this reference book is for you.
It was invaluable as we were compiling what movies to use for our own book. There are intelligent overviews of movies by topic, such as the crisis abroad, spies, fascism, humor, and postwar planning.
What is even more valuable is the filmography, which lists the movies made by year, with the genre, setting, themes, studio, and how relevant it is to the war.
1 author picked Hollywood War Films, 1937-1945 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
From 1937 through 1945, Hollywood produced over 1,000 films relating to the war. This enormous and exhaustive reference work first analyzes the war films as sociopolitical documents. Part one, entitled ""The Crisis Abroad, 1937-1941,"" focuses on movies that reflected America's increasing uneasiness. Part two, ""Waging War, 1942-1945,"" reveals that many movies made from 1942 through 1945 included at least some allusion to World War II.