The Cinema and Propaganda in the Second World War
The Cinema and Propaganda in the Second World War
More than one billion cinema tickets were sold in the UK in 1939, and attendance rose throughout the war, peaking at 1.06 billion in 1946. Cinemas shut briefly after war broke out, but quickly reopened. In the USA, admissions were more than three times higher, which reflected the larger population. In Germany, films were equally popular. With audiences of that scale, film studios, film-makers, and governments all used movies for propaganda. Radio and print played their parts too.
Two of the worst films I have seen are unabashed flag-wavers: Big Jim McLain (1952) and The Green Berets (1968). Neither is set in WWII—one belongs to the McCarthy era, the other to Vietnam—and both starred John Wayne. That an Oscar-winning actor (True Grit, 1969), superb in Stagecoach (1939), The Quiet Man (1952), and The Searchers (1956), could appear in such material is hard to comprehend. Most propaganda films are turkeys. Some are exceptional. I confess I missed the true quality of a few when I first saw them many years ago.
Went the Day Well? (1942)
Directed in Britain by the Brazilian-born Alberto Cavalcanti from a story by Graham Greene, Went the Day Well? imagines a quiet English village infiltrated by German soldiers disguised as British troops on exercise. The invaders first seem decent; once they reveal themselves, they are vicious and remorseless. Worse is the exposure of an English collaborator, previously a respected villager. The locals respond with courage and resourcefulness. Audiences left convinced of Nazi evil, alert to fifth columnists, and confident that British character would help win the war.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
Entirely different yet no less effective is Yankee Doodle Dandy. I long assumed it was a model of Hollywood’s Golden Age: great songs, dazzling choreography, and an Oscar-winning performance by James Cagney. There is more. The film traces the life of George M. Cohan—born on the Fourth of July—whose patriotic energy dominated early 20th-century American musical theatre. In a pivotal scene, Cagney plays the piano as troops in Northern France, 1917 sing Cohan’s “Over There.” The number returns at the end as American soldiers march to win the war against Germany and Japan. Shooting began just after Pearl Harbor (7 December 1941), and the studio rushed completion by May 1942 to lift morale as the US entered a war many had wished to avoid.
Joseph Goebbels and Ufa
Germany naturally pressed cinema into service. The Ufa studio had crafted inter-war masterpieces such as Metropolis (1927) and The Blue Angel (1930), yet figures like Fritz Lang and Marlene Dietrich left as the Nazi threat grew. Under Joseph Goebbels, the regime tightened control and quality declined. As war neared, German screens filled with cheap, quick productions where Aryan heroes confronted Jewish villains.
During the war Goebbels pushed films aimed squarely at enemy nations. A clear example is Titanic (1943). The plot blames the White Star Line’s owners for pressuring the captain to set a speed record, while a German First Officer is the voice of caution and the film’s hero during the sinking. The ship’s Jewish engineer is scapegoated. The film saw limited release in occupied Europe but was not shown in the