Six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbor-in June of 1942-President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt formed the Office of War Information by
Executive Order, ostensibly to educate the American
public on war activity. That same month, OWI
developed the Government Information Manual for the
Motion Picture Industry. The fifth "theme" of this
moviemaking guide was "The Home Front." Here, in a
bifurcated study, the author draws on Manual
directives and relevant contributions from major
Hollywood sources to determine whether "propaganda"
charges are upheld in the film products themselves.
Films...