Hollywood's Second World War

Overview

For the USA, World War 2 was an all-out war - to mobilize the masses, the US government launched a huge propaganda campaign and cinema, the medium of the masses, was quite simply their most important weapon. Government authorities monitored the production of feature films and the military itself produced documentaries aimed at rallying the American people to support the troops. This film tells the story of four Hollywood directors of European origin, who returned to the "Old World" during the Second World War to make propaganda documentaries for the US Army at the front: William Wyler from Alsace, Frank Capra from Italy, Anatole Litvak from Ukraine and - in post-war Germany - Billy Wilder from Austria.

Cast

Volker Schlöndorff

Self

George Stevens Jr.

Self

N/A

Catherine Wyler

Self

Anatole Litvak

Self (archive footage)

William Wyler

Self (archive footage)

Frank Capra

Self (archive footage)

Billy Wilder

Self (archive footage)

George Stevens

Self (archive footage)

Charlie Chaplin

Adenoid Hynkel (archive footage)