During the 1940s, film became a growing part of American culture. Films especially in the early 40s were mostly about boosting moral for soldiers and on the home front.
GUADALCANAL DIARY
This movie is more of a documentary than a movie. It follows a squad of fictional marines through the Battle of Guadalcanal. It's a documentary in some form because it puts in the squad in real scenes and battles, but it is also fiction because it also follows the backstory of the marines. It is also the movie version of the book by the same name. This film was directed by Lewis Seiler and was produced by Brian Foy (also produced PT 109) and was first shown in 1943. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Guadalcanal_Diary_1943_poster.jpg
In 1941, shortly after Pearl Harbor, Lt. Ryan (John Wayne) is demonstrating PT Boats (Patrol Torpedo) to officers in the Philippines, but they seem to think that the boats are useless. Just before Ryan is transferred, word comes of Pearl Harbor and Lt. Ryan gets permission to use the PT Boats in combat. He meets up with Lt. Brickley and begins operations in the Pacific. Most of the movie shows the battle scenes between the Japanese and the boats, but stops here and there to show the romance between Ryan and an Army nurse stationed in the Philippines. Toward the end of the movie, Ryan and the last pieces of his team are rescued from battle. Impressed with the actions of Ryan and Brickley, US command orders them stateside to train new PT Boat crews. This movie was directed by John Ford and was first shown in 1945. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/They_Were_Expendable_poster.jpg
Film Today
Lots of film today are based on the movies above, such as these here.
WORLD WAR 2 IN COLOR
This is a documentary shown on the Military Channel. It brings together hours of footage from World War 2 and is added with color. The series follows the war from the invasion of Poland to tank battles in North Africa, from the D-day landings to the dropping of the atomic bombs. It is a great series for learning about the war. http://military.discovery.com/videos/ww2-in-color/
PEARL HARBOR
A famous movie produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Michal Bay in 2001, this film reenacts the famous Pearl Harbor attack. Although very action packed, there are several flaws with the movie. Altogether, the movie is just Hollywood. For example, Japanese Zero fighters were painted bright green instead of dark green. Secondly, the movie shows dogfighting at wave height, which could not happen without crashing into the water. Lastly, the scene where the USS Arizona gets destroyed is completely false. It shows the bomb dropping into the ship, then a crew member gets several seconds to look at it before blowing up with the ship. In real life, the actual bomb that destroyed the Arizona blew up as soon as it fell inside the ship. Although the movie is mostly fiction, it is still a great movie to go see for the action and for the famous actors Ben Affleck, Alec Baldwin, and Kate Beckinsale. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3c/Pearl_harbor_movie_poster.jpg
KELLY'S HEROES
Although more of a comedy than a war movie, it follows Kelly (Clint Eastwood), who learns about 14,000 bars of gold in a nearby bank under Nazi control. Kelly gets together a team of soldiers and go AWOL (Absent WithOut Leave) to get the gold. Even though it was made in the 80's, it still is a classic by today's standards. It regularly comes on the Military Channel's "an officer and a movie" and may have been one of the ideas to the 1999 war movie, THREE KINGS. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/83/Kelly%27s_Heroes_movie.jpg
BAMBI 2
This film was sort of a sequel to Bambi. Instead of taking place after the movie, it takes place in between the movie where "The King of the Forest" teaches Bambi how to grow up. Just like in the first Bambi, Man plays the ultimate antagonist, while Thumper and Flower are also in the film. Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bambi_II.jpg
Comparison
War movies in the 40s were serious, while some movies today are comedies, such as KELLY'S HEROES and THREE KINGS. But movies and films today are also very serious, such as PEARL HARBOR and WORLD WAR 2 IN COLOR. Both movies show the horrific parts of war just like in the 40s. There is also the romance in those movies, just like today. Today, sequals have been made to 40s movies, like BAMBI 2. In my opinion, the originals are way better than the sequals.
Music in the 1940s
Music in the 40s was filled with Blues, Jazz, and many other lively music that made great for dancing.
RIDE OF THE VALKYRIES
This famous German opera song was a hit in the first half of the 20th century. It is very instrumental, using an entire orchestra to play it! Today, it is a hit in movies and video games, such as the movie APOCALYPSE NOW, and in the video games BATTLEFIELD VIETNAM and BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY 2: VIETNAM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_of_the_Valkyries
Glenn Miller
Glenn Miller was born on March 1, 1904 and was the leader of a band that performed the song "In the Mood". This song reached in the top 5 hits of 1940. It is a jazz song. Glenn Miller himself went missing in action over the English Channel in December of 1944. The other band members died in 1973 and in 1977. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Glen_miller.jpg
Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby was born on May 3, 1903. As a child, he was on the swim team and won a few medals. When he grew older, he was asked to play in a band on the drums. But when his band mates heard him sing, they loved him. His career truly began when NBC asked him to be a part of the program. During world war 2, he sold many copies of his music, answered letters from soldiers, and bought several war bonds. In 1944, he won an Acadamey Award. He kept making music until the 60s, then focused more on TV. Sadly, Bing died on a golf course in 1977. Later that day, a moment of silence was used in the World Series game between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Picture: http://bingcrosby.com/bing/about-bing
Music Today
Music has greatly evolved from the blues in the 40s to rock and country that we hear today.
King Crimson
King Crimson started in the late 60's, and their music is heavily Jazz and a little classical. King Crimson has had some major band line up changes but the people in the band have been recognized as brilliant in multiple magazines and have had people substitute in like the drummer for porcupine tree a not so well known progressive rock band. King Crimson is not well known and even though they're semi popular they still play bars and small clubs. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/King_Crimson-NY.jpg
Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett was born in 1946. In high school, he played the trombone in the school band. When he graduated collage, he got a bachelor's degree in journalism. He recorded his first album in 1970, which was called "folk rock Down to Earth". The following music he made was mainly a mix of country and coastal, also known as "western and gulf". Buffet has guest starred in a few movies and TV shows. In the movie HOOT, he played as the teacher. Buffet also played in the TV show HAWAII FIVE-O. The TV show SOUTH PARK did make an episode that made fun of Buffet. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Jimmy_Buffett_1.jpg
CCR
CCR is a southern rock band who made songs during the 70's like fortunate son which is still used today when referring to Vietnam music commonly. Each of the four band members were born in 1945. They all met at high school and started their own band there. In 1967, two of the band members were on the draft board. One went into the Army Reserve while the other went into the Coast Guard. Throughout the Vietnam war, they made several songs, including the infamous "Fortunate Son". This particular piece of music is used in Vietnam-era video games, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops, Battlefield Vietnam, and Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam. In 1972, the band broke up, but two of the members met back together in 1995. The "new band" was called Creedence Clearwater Revisited. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ee/Creedence_Clearwater_Revival_1968.jpg
Comparison
Music in the 40s and music today are very different. Music in the 40s was mostly instrumental, while today's has a lot more vocals. Also, the theme of music has changed over time. There are many different themes that have changed, but some have remained the same, especially to war. Songs in the 40s helped motivate troops, just like songs in the 60s and songs today.
Influential People of the 1940s
There were many people who were influential during the 40s, from Roosevelt's speeches to Walt Disney's animated classics.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Born in 1882, Roosevelt was born in New York. As a young adult, he attended Harvard University and Colombia Law School. In 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt. Throughout the early 1900s, he worked himself into politics and eventually became one of the vice president nominees in 1920. In 1928, he became the governor of New York. In 1932, he became president and helped America get out of the Great Depression. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt gathered Americans and turned the home front into a industrial war machine. Sadly, Roosevelt never lived to see the end of the war, he died in 1945 due to a cerebral hemorrhage (uncontrollable bleeding in the brain). Picture: http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/franklindroosevelt
Walt Disney
Born in 1901, Walt Disney loved to draw as a child. He mainly drew sketches of animals. As a teenager, Disney sold newspapers and soda to travelers on the local train. He even built his own mini train set, which he called the lilly bell. During World War 1, Disney worked with the Red Cross driving an ambulance in France ferrying wounded soldiers from the front lines to a field hospital. After the war, Disney worked to create small cartoons and eventually created Mickey Mouse. In 1937, Disney created his first animated movie, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. During the second world war, Disney created both movies and cartoons to help boost moral on the home front and to the front line troops. Not long after the war, Disneyland opened in California. In 1966, Disney died due to his smoking. Picture: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Walt_disney_portrait.jpg
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor was born in 1884. When she was eight, her mother died from diphtheria (respiratory tract illness). In 1905, she married FDR. When FDR was in office, he became ill and Eleanor temporarily took his place. In the 20s, she taught at Todhunter School for Girls. When FDR went back to office, Eleanor wrote a part of the local newspaper, which was called "My Day". Also, Eleanor fought for black rights at the time. During the second world war, she was very active working on the home front. In 1945, FDR died, but Eleanor remained in Washington. In 1946, she helped create the United Nations and helped write the "Declaration of Human Rights". Throughout her life, Eleanor was awarded 48 medals. In 1960, she was hit by a car and her health slowly declined. She died in her home in 1962.
Influential People Today
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg, arguably one of the best directors in history, was born in 1946. He went to California State University, but then dropped out to persue his film dreams. In 1957, he helped edit the movie WAGON TRAIN. Later in his life, he has directed dozens of classic movies. Some of those include the INDIANA JONES movies, ET: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, JAWS, MEN IN BLACK, and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Steven_Spielberg_2011.jpg
Harrison Ford
A very famous actor, he was born in 1942. As a kid, he was a C student. Just like Spielberg, he dropped out of college to pursue his film dreams. Not too long after, he signed a contract with Colombia and later Universal. He started out as a minor actor, but then gained large popularity for playing as Han Solo in STAR WARS: EPISODE 4-A NEW HOPE. After that, he starred in many of today's classic films, such as the INDIANA JONES movies, STAR WARS: Episodes 5 and 6, THE FUGITIVE, and AIR FORCE ONE. Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harrison_Ford_C%C3%A9sars_2010.jpg
Jerry Bruckheimer
Another famous director, he has directed several famous movies, including BLACK HAWK DOWN, PEARL HARBOR, G FORCE, and CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Born in 1945, he went to high school in Detroit, then moved to Arizona for collage. After collage, Jerry really worked his way up the list when he began making commercials. Soon after that, he began to make over 40 movies. Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jerry_Bruckheimer_at_Prince_of_Persia_panel_at_WonderCon_2010_1.JPG
Comparison
FDR worked hard to give people what they wanted, which is similar to Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer, who makes movies that satisfies peoples wants. Walt Disney made so many different characters, similar to how Harrison Ford filled so many different characters. Eleanor Roosevelt is one of those people who come around every once and a while to do good for the world, which is something that is hard to see today. Lastly, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg both made dozens of movies.
Comics were very big in the 40s, as they still are today. Captain America was made to motivate the troops and the home front. He was the icon of the GIs. Although there aren't many comics of him today, the most classic image of him now is the new movie that came out. Donald Duck was also a big comic star. During the 40s, Donald was mainly used for propaganda. Now, he is just one of the countless comic heroes. Another famous type of "comic" is plane nose art. Pilots first started to use these during the second world war. Now, nose art such as the shark mouth is in pop culture due to air shows. P-51 Mustangs and other older aircraft do amazing tricks in front of a large crowd of people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you can see that there has been great change between the 40s and today. During the 40s, most of your everyday life was devoted to helping the war. Even big companies, such as Disney did the same. Propaganda was also a big thing at the time. Now, we devote our lives elsewhere. With whatever is going on in the world, there is someplace here in America that you can run to and not care about the world around you. That can sometimes be a good thing, but sometimes it's not. Because we devote our lives elsewhere, our soldiers or our companies have lost a little bit of faith in us. I think it is great that people can have something else to do, but because we have changed so much over the years, we have lost control over it. There is little change and big change, and I think that us Americans have had a major change from the 40s and now.