Entertainment industry during World War II
It's That Man Again garnered substantial influence - up to 40% of the British population listened to this show during World War II.
To further demonstrate the show's influence, two memorial services were held in his honor, with thousands of listeners present at the funeral grounds.
These government films often suggested methods of coping with the loss of families and homes and to inform the audience to caution the presence of enemy spies.
The USA entered the Second World War in December 1941 and the entertainment industry was used to shape opinion and foster support.
[5] The influence of the film industry during the Second World War made it the ideal tool for both explicit and implicit propaganda.
[9] It was shot in under a week showed the brutal treatment of resisting heroes in concentration camps at the hands of vicious Gestapo officers.
[9] In 1941, the US entered the war and more films were made to reinforce an image of the Nazis as "Army officers as impeccable aristocrats, cold, aloof and efficient, Gestapo men as clever and merciless….
and Sahara all displayed the humanitarian principles of the allies in contrast to the brutality of the enemy and gave justification to the public to fight the war.
[10] Propaganda not only was used to create an impression of an evil Nazi enemy but also to instill in the people the justification of the war they were in and Hollywood provided this in its film production.
[12] The agency worked to display the war in a positive light and censored negative content, pictures of American casualties were banned from being published until 1943.
[13] The Bureau of Motion Picture (BMP) also prevented the re-release of Gunga Din due to "glorification of British Imperialsim"[7] that was thought to undermine the unity of the Allied powers.
In 2008, documents published by the National Archives leaked to the public regarding the involvement of numerous Hollywood celebrities with the Office of Strategic Services during World War II.
These celebrities include director John Ford, chef Julia Child and baseball player Moe Berg, who were hired to gather information by the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
[14] The film industry in Britain during World War II was highly important to the country and had a huge impact on the citizens.
Two days after Britain declared war on Germany the government ordered that all public entertainment places to close which included "4300 cinemas".
Therefore, a cinema was a secure and warm place to go to where a person could escape their own homes which often had lodgers living with them and spend their money.
[15] Propaganda was also prevalent in the British film industry movies such as In Which We Serve, The First of the Few, Went the Day Well?, Pastor Hall, One of Our Aircraft Is Missing, Journey Together, The Silver Fleet and The Way Ahead were made.
People did not have televisions during World War II and the only place they would get chances of watching were the film centers and entertainment joints.
The nation's values were disrupted where people were expected to follow the iron fist and what was provided on the films rather than what rotated around their way of life and cultural practices.
The film industry was filled with lies and negative information meant to destroy people's relations and give Nazi more support.
Kirchhoff directed Attack on Baku (1942) which was filmed in Germany intending to show messages against the British while including patriotism.
It was the task of Nazi cinema to strategically target the population, in this case the German nation and convince them to visit theaters.
One of the last movies directed during 1945 was Kolberg, which gained popularity due to the fact it contained the most convincing speeches for the viewers to keep fighting to the end.
[27] After this came, equal categories of supporting the allies and the Homefront followed by the fewest films which covered the reason why America was fighting the war.
[30] Most moviegoers had family members participating in the war and were suffering hardships in their daily lives, and the cinema was an effective form of escapism from reality.
British singer Vera Lynn, or the Forces Sweetheart, sang popular songs such as "We'll Meet Again" and "The White Cliffs of Dover", which restored an optimistic outlook for soldiers and families while uplifting Allied spirits during a time of hardship when Nazi Germany was bombing Britain.
Smith states that only twenty-seven war-themed songs had reached the top ten charts during the span of the war.
[32] Female singers became more prominent by singing songs expressing the war from the woman's point of view, illustrating feelings of separation and loneliness.
Furthermore, as musicians joined the military, larger bands shrunk and often disbanded, creating a trend towards soloists and smaller music groups.
Musician Irving Berlin assisted in the war effort by creating the "This is the Army" musical, which raised millions by playing on Broadway and for the US troops.
