Hollywood Goes to War

The United States entered World War II with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and Hollywood came to play a critical role in the war effort. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, studio executives, filmmakers, actors, and directors understood the power of movies to boost morale at home and abroad and invested time and resources to bring new stories to the silver screen. Join Dr. Catherine Lewis as she examines how Hollywood marshalled its time, talents, and treasure to promote wartime service and patriotism on the home front through newsreels, military combat footage, informative short films, cartoons, and full-length features like Foreign Correspondent (1940), Casablanca (1942), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), and Since You Went Away (1944).