Tomorrow, December 7th, marks the 77th anniversary of the day America stood on the precipice of World War II, and a generation -- now referred to as The Greatest Generation, faced another moment of destiny.
Yesterday, we held a national day of mourning for former President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was our last president to have served in World War II. Characteristically of that generation, he enlisted on his eighteenth birthday.
Here is archival footage of twenty-year-old Lt. J.G. Bush being rescued after being shot down.
To keep faith with that Greatest Generation and the continuing gift of freedom they have left us, we need to remind ourselves of the reasons they had to give up their youth, in many cases, their lives, to a higher purpose.
Hollywood contributed a unique perspective and legacy of that era. We classic film buffs are familiar with the wartime dramas, the musicals, the patriotic messages, as well as the number of actors who left their careers to enter the military and the hundreds of others who supported the nation's war mission by entertaining troops, appearing at bond drives, and volunteering in many ways.
We've discussed in this previous post about the Hollywood Commandos or the FMPU which produced wartime training films. One of the most important projects made by this unit was director Frank Capra's Why We Fight series. This was meant to inform, inspire, and provide the necessary background to the purpose of why the service personnel were required to fight. Training them to use certain weapons, or how to act in certain situations was not the only important education they received in boot camp. The fight against fascism was as intellectual and emotional as it was tactical.
The first film in that series, Prelude to War is up at the top of this post. One hopes that in an era where fascism has found a foothold in our country, and young people know next to nothing about World War II, that an imperfect, decades-old training film, called "propaganda" today, is not so remote that it would not touch even the most stupid and cynical teenager posing for a class photo while giving the Nazi salute, or painting swastika graffiti, or draping a rope noose where it will be noticed.
Requiescat in pace, President Bush. Requiescat in pace, Greatest Generation.
The March of Time short subject Teen-Age Girls (1945) is a window on a societal ripple in postwar America that is, unusually, both dated and prescient. The documentary examines the emergence of teens as a new and important demographic, particularly females in this case, with a lighthearted and even amused attitude, but with a curious reservation—perhaps not unlike the way a parent first notices that a child isn’t a child anymore. This is our final post in this series about how Hollywood depicted children during World War II. The March of Time apparently felt, and perhaps not wrongly, that the dawn of the Teen-Age was as likely to be as influential a force in American society as the nuclear age. The narrator begins: Of all the phenomena in wartime life in the United States, one of the most fascinating and mysterious…has been the emergence of the teenage girl in her own right. This was not something Hollywood evidently considered earlier in the war, when the worldwi...
The Search (1948) is tenderly filmed. The plot of the story carries the weight of the world and the eternal suffering of children during war, but lifts our hearts, though they may be breaking, as if on wings of angels. Those angels are UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation) workers, and a young GI, and even us, if we have taken this movie to heart and take something away from it. This is the fourth post in our series on how Hollywood depicted children during World War II. This time, we leave the well-fed American kids behind, and step back to Europe in the aftermath of war. It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. The final byproduct is refugees. We encounter a small boy, one of the millions of refugees after World War II who have been released from concentration camps. He is brought with nameless others to an UNRRA central tracing bureau to be processed and, if possible, reunited with relatives searching for them. ...
I'd like to shine the spotlight today on two fellow classic film bloggers and their splendid achievements: Raquel Stecher, and John Greco. Raquel pens the Out of the Past blog, which is celebrating a ten-year anniversary. Have a look at her anniversary post here. I've been a regular reader of her blog for many years, and probably among my favorite posts are about her annual participation in the TCM Classic Film Fest. Her exploration of classic movies has brought her on a wonderful journey, which she shares with us with eloquence and enthusiasm. John Greco, who writes the Twenty Four Frames blog likewise shares his passion and knowledge on classic film in very entertaining and informative posts, but John also has other talents: he is a professional photographer (you can peruse and purchase some of his work here at Fine Art America ), and also a writer. John's latest eBook is a collection of short stories called Devious Tales. With a decidedly noir streak and some ve...
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