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...
Six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor-in June of 1942-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt formed the Office of War Information ...