Page "Propaganda film" Paragraph 20

In the United States during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt recognized that the direct style of propaganda would not win over the American public.

He assigned Lowell Mellett to the post of coordinator of government film.

Although he had no jurisdiction over Hollywood films, he pressured the industry into helping the war effort.

On 13 January 1945 Mellett stated in then-confidential testimony that he was assigned to persuade the movie industry to " insert morale-building and citizenry arousing themes in its films by all means possible.

" Luckily, many directors recognized the necessity ( and likely the commercial success they would reap ) of supporting the battle against fascism as public opinion lay with the war effort.

One such filmmaker, Frank Capra, created a seven-part U. S. government-sponsored series of films to support the war effort entitled Why We Fight ( 1942-5 ).

This series is considered a highlight of the propaganda film genre.

Other propaganda movies, such as Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo ( 1944 ) and Casablanca ( 1942 ), have become so well loved by film viewers that they can stand on their own as dramatic films, apart from their original role as propaganda vehicles.

Charlie Chaplin once again joined the U. S. war effort, creating The Great Dictator ( 1940 ), in which he played the Hitler-like character of ' Adenoid Hynkel.

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