Hollywood’s Unofficial Film Corps: American Jewish Moviemakers and the War Effort

Berkowitz (modern Jewish history, Univ. Coll. London; The Crime of My Very Existence: Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality) highlights contributions of Jewish Americans, such as Leo Rosten, Budd Schulberg, Jesse Lasky, Jr., Garson Kanin, George Cukor, and Stanley Kramer, toward refining socially conscious films during World War II. Avoiding singularly Jewish themes when focusing on the perils of prejudice in the U.S., these filmmakers sought to universalize the plight of Jewish people during a war against multiple evils. Unlike World War I’s heavy-handed Creel Committee on Public Information, but assisted by FDR’s Office of War Information, the communications community worked on several fronts. Berkowitz presents a portrait of Hollywood filmmaking during the 1930s and 1940s and recognizes the efforts of those who honed skills later used in the postwar industry. Readers learn that war fervor after Pearl Harbor was less ardent than subsequent generations believe, but films subtly fostered greater enthusiasm for joining WWII. Because of an emphasis on teamwork rather than individual achievement and to avoid a too-public face in response to malicious charges of Jewish influence, musicians, editors, and scriptwriters, in particular, accepted anonymity and attribution to other colleagues.