WWII Supplemental Learning Materials: Hollywood Goes to War
Due to the available collection, this separate web page of links provides access to more materials related to World War Two. These are items produced by Hollywood to support the war effort. Viewers are advised some images are racist.
Hollywood Movies Go to War
Sink the Bismarck (1960) Celebrates an early British victory over Germany. Excellent illustration of ship to ship battles in the North Atlantic during WWII and their strategies used. (YouTube video) The film displays the strategies used by the British and German ship captains in a true-life event in early World War II.
Submarine Command (1951). Stars William Holden (YouTube Video) Submarine combat through the eyes of the American submarine crew.
The Fighting Lady (1944). Robert Taylor as narrator. (YouTube Video) Story of the U.S. Yorktown, the first modern aircraft carrier to serve in World War II.
Flat Top (1952). (YouTube Video) Film drama featuring aircraft carriers during Korean War.
Stalag 17. Starring William Holden and Otto Preminger (YouTube Video) WWII drama set in a German Prisoner of War Camp, Served as inspiration for the Hogan's Heroes war comedy. See the article below that describes the harsh conditions inside the German Prisoner of War camps.
Stalag 17 B (PDF) This article from a WWII magazine provides the backstory on the real POW camp the "Stalag 17" was based upon. The real camp was much more brutal than the movie.
Cartoons Go to War
Cartoons were used as propaganda to inspire military service, purchase of war bonds, maintain morale, and often create a racist image of the enemy.
Private SNAFU: Watching out for Spies (1943) These cartoons were produced in cooperation with the U.S. War Department. Often they contain racist images which was typical of propaganda during the war.
The "Why We Fight" films
The U.S. Department of War produced these films as propaganda for the American people to understand why war was necessary and why we should support countries countries previously viewed as the enemy such as the Soviet Union.