Hollywood and the Military Bureaucracy

Through a century of movies, the U.S. military held sway over war and service-oriented films. Influenced by the armed forces and their public relations units, Hollywood presented moviegoers with images of a faultless American fighting machine led by heroic commanders.

This book examines this cooperation with detailed narratives of military blunders and unfit officers that were whitewashed to be presented in a more favorable light. Drawing on production files, correspondence between bureaucrats and filmmakers, and contemporary critical reviews, the author reveals the behind-the-scenes political maneuvers that led to the rewriting of history on-screen.

Writer, actor and comedian Bob Herzberg is the author of scholarly books and Western novels. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Bob Herzberg
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 198
Bibliographic Info: 36 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7848-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4188-1
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments  vi
Introduction: Evasive Action  1
I—Forward March: 1917–1931  5
II—Covering Fire: 1932–1940  24
III—Collateral Damage: 1941–1945  44
IV—Section 8: 1946–1959  78
V—Lockdown: 1960–1970  123
VI—Ceasefire: A Quick Look at the 1970s and Beyond  167
Chapter Notes  181
Bibliography  185
Index  187