mvail Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Hi! Looking for WWII films made during the war focusing on "the homefront" (US or British) during WWII. I will be teaching a college course in propaganda as persuasion and want to use this as the theme for the course. I'm also interested in films from 1946-47 dealing with GI's returning home after the war (e.g., The Best Years of Our Lives). Here's the list I've complied so far: Mrs. Miniver Hail the Conquering Hero Since You Went Away The Human Comedy Till the End of Time Stage Door Canteen Pin Up Girl Thanks for any help you can provide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue19 Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 Don't know if this one fits *Homecoming* (1948) Clark Gable comes back after the war as a changed man. If you extend the years at any point there's *The Man In The Gray Flannel Suit* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 TILL THE END OF TIME was about soldiers coming home AFTER the war, like THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. TENDER COMRADE was also a homefront movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 >Looking for WWII films made during the war focusing on "the homefront" (US or British) during WWII. I will be teaching a college course in propaganda as persuasion and want to use this as the theme for the course. These homefront films are about US and British people who had loved-ones engaged in the war. Why would you consider these kinds of films to be propaganda? Wouldn't propaganda be more like "Triumph of the Will" and the 1943 German version of "Titanic"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 THE MORTAL STORM could be considered a "propoganda" film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket_Man Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 SUNDAY DINNER WITH A SOLDIER THE SULLIVANS THE CLOCK THE MORE, THE MERRIER THE 49th PARALLEL IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 You put a , in the title of THE MORE THE MERRIER that doesn't belong there. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Faiola Posted December 27, 2011 Share Posted December 27, 2011 ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT and TRAMP, TRAMP, TRAMP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slaytonf Posted December 28, 2011 Share Posted December 28, 2011 A good way to find movies is to go to IMDB or other movie database and search actors' filmographies for movies they made during and after the war. You will find numerous titles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvail Posted December 28, 2011 Author Share Posted December 28, 2011 First, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions so far. Will certainly check them out. RE FredCDobbs post: I'm using "propaganda" in its broadest sense here. Propaganda is not inherently bad or evil, although we generally think of it in those terms. Propaganda is a concerted, organized effort to persuasively communicate a particular political ideology. These homefront films had a decidely political aim, namely encouraging Americans' continued support of the war effort at home. I hope I didn't offend you or others here by using the term. Personally, I love these homefront films. I think The Human Comedy is a terrifically effective film and one of Mickey Rooney's finest roles. The final scene in Mrs. Miniver in the bombed out church still puts a lump in my throat even though I've seen the film numerous times. As does the scene in The Best Years of Our Lives when Harold Russell is first reunited with his family on the front lawn of their home, and he can't bring himself to embrace his girlfriend. Powerful. Again, thanks to all who have contributed. Keep the suggestions coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket_Man Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 >You put a , in the title of THE MORE THE MERRIER that doesn't belong there. Irrespective of whether it belongs there or not, the , is called a comma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted December 29, 2011 Share Posted December 29, 2011 So THAT'S what it's called! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hlywdkjk Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 *" Keep the suggestions coming."* - mvail I am late to the thread but I hope you see these suggestions. Two WB films to consider released before the US entered WWII - *Confessions Of A Nazi Spy* (1939) *Sergeant York* (1941) Both made by Warner Brothers expressly to motivate the American people into supporting US involvement in WWII. Titles I gathered for a past online project. Selected "Homefront" titles - What A Blonde (1945) 72m RKO Doughgirls (1944) 102m, WB Swing Shift Maisie (1943) 87m, MGM Rationing (1944) 94m, MGM War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942) 86m, MGM Priorities On Parade (1942) 79m, Paramount B-Movie/Franchise Film "Anti-Nazi" titles - The Lone Wolf Passport To Suez (1943) 72m, Columbia The Saint The Saint's Vacation(1941) 61m RKO Tarzan Tarzan Triumphs (1943) 77m, RKO East Side Kids Ghosts On The Loose (1943) 65m, Monogram The Falcon The Falcon's Brother (1942) 64m, RKO Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes and the Voice Of Terror (1942) 65m, Universal Lassie 03:00pm Son Of Lassie (1945) 100m, MGM ------------------------- If you are open to considering radio programming, here are some programs which you might find useful. Also gathered for a past online project. Radio Program Broadcast Sunday Evening, December 7th (Pearl Harbor Day) - *Gulf Screen Guild Theater - "Between Americans"* (30min) - 13.6MB http://www.archive.org/download/OrsonWellesWartimeBroadcasts/411207GulfScreenGuildTheater-BetweenAmericans.mp3 In response to the events of that afternoon, the program presents the Norman Corwin radio play "Between Americans" with Orson Welles. Radio Broadcast, Monday Evening, December 15th *"We Hold These Truths"* (60min) - 13.6MB http://www.archive.org/download/OrsonWellesWartimeBroadcasts/411215WeHoldTheseTruths.mp3 Originally written as a celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the ratification of the US Constitution on December 15th 1941, this Norman Corwin radio production became a declaration to the American people of what the country was fighting for. At the request of the White House. the program was broadcast on the nation's four major radio networks simultaneously and transmitted by shortwave to all U.S. territories and military bases worldwide. There are other examples from vintage radio programs - especially episodic series like "Fibber McGee And Molly" and "The Great Gildersleeve" - that I can direct you to if you are interested. These would "dramatize" homefront issues like rationing, scrap drives, civil defense, volunteer work and war bond sales. Hope this is useful. Kyle In Hollywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValentineXavier Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 TCM showed one a year or two ago, called *The Bells Go Down*, about the British WWII Auxiliary Fire Service, in London, IIRC. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035671/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 >So THAT'S what it's called! Everyone knew you were talking about a comma. The guy just likes to find ways to dig at people and insult them. Nothing is ever his fault, so he says. According to him, every one else is stupid but him. It's sociopathic behavior. Have you noticed he's always correcting people, correcting their spelling, telling them that they don't know what he knows about the movies and that only he knows the truth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audreyforever Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 > {quote:title=mvail wrote:}{quote} I will be teaching a college course in propaganda as persuasion and want to use this as the theme for the course. Cool! That sounds like a fun class! If I may, what college are you teaching at? I'm in the middle of my college application process... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts