Movies have always been able to start a conversation, but can they start a movement, as well? In the early 1940s, Americans were not sure they should join the war in Europe. Some wanted to intervene, but not many people knew about the Nazis and the atrocities that were being committed. They knew they stopped getting letters from loved ones, and they knew that many Jewish families were fleeing persecution. But a little movie called Casablanca changed that. The film, which hit the silver screen on Nov. 26, 1942, was released right after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. We were already fighting on one front and the sentiment was low for the war in Europe. But Casablanca changed the public perception of the fight. The OWI, or Office of War Information, was set up to help this effort. Its director Elmer Davis—formerly a reporter with the New York Times and CBS—made this key observation: "The easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people’s minds is to let it go in through the medium of an entertainment picture when they do not realize they are being propagandized." Read More...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Thursday, 22 October, 2020