During World War II, the Hollywood movie industry worked closely with the government to help the government’s war-related propaganda effort. Following the declaration of war on Japan, the government established the Bureau of Motion Picture Affairs to coordinate the production of patriotic, morale-boosting entertainment features with themes and messages about the ‘American way of life,’ the enemy and allies, civilian responsibility at home, and the fighting forces themselves.
With titles like The Devil with Hitler and Blondie for Victory (both 1942), Hollywood’s wartime pictures began as crude vehicles for xenophobia and jingoism, but as the war progressed, they became more serious.
Several Hollywood directors made documentaries for government and military agencies in addition to commercial films. Frank Capra’s seven-part series Why We Fight (1942–44), John Ford’s The Battle of Midway (1942), William Wyler’s The Memphis Belle (1944), and John Huston’s The Battle of San Pietro (1944) are among the best-known of these films, which were aimed to explain the war to both servicemen and civilians. The last three were shot on location, and their immediacy added to their impact.
When WWII ended, the American film industry appeared to be in a good place. Domestically, full-scale mobilization had ended the Depression, while victory in the war-torn economies of Western Europe and Japan had opened large, uncontested markets.
Furthermore, from 1942 to 1945, Hollywood had its most stable and profitable three years in its history, with the studios earning record-breaking earnings in 1946 when two-thirds of the American populace attended the movies at least once a week.
