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FROM HUBRIS TO HORROR: THE AMERICAN WARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND HOW THEIR DEPICTION IN FILM EITHER REFLECTED OR INFLUENCED PUBLIC OPINION ____________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Dominguez Hills ____________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Humanities ____________ by Michael Drake Fall 2019 THESIS: FROM HUBRIS TO HORROR: THE AMERICAN WARS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY AND HOW THEIR DEPICTION IN FILM EITHER REFLECTED OR INFLUENCED PUBLIC OPINION AUTHOR: MICHAEL DRAKE APPROVED: _______________________________________ Matthew Luckett, Ph.D Thesis Committee Chair _______________________________________ Tim Caron, Ph.D Committee Member _______________________________________ Jacqueline Shannon, DMA Committee Member Dedicated to the men and women of the American Armed Forces who proudly served and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in World Wars I and II and Vietnam. PREFACE The study of the evolution of warfare, and especially the great wars of the twentieth century, along with their depiction in film, combined several passions for me personally. I have been a student of military history since childhood and have a vast collection of books on the subject. I am also a veteran with twenty-five years of military service and a deployment overseas during one of the last century’s conflicts. As long as I can remember I have also been a fan of movies and fondly remember the days when twenty-five cents got you a ticket to the Wildey Theatre in the small southern Illinois town where I grew up. I remember well when my father, a veteran of World War II, took me to see The Longest Day, and the impact it had on me. This passion for movies ultimately led to work in film production. For a final project I wanted to combine these lifelong interests of military history and film. More specifically, I wanted to examine how warfare and in particular how the various combatants were depicted in films of the twentieth century. I wanted to determine how films embedded with propaganda messages correlated to public opinion, and how films of the great wars either reflected or influenced public opinion of the time. I wanted to explore why the great pendulum swings in public opinion toward war and our military shifted the way they did and the influence film had upon those changes. Soldiers, sailors and Marines returning from World Wars I and II were welcomed home as heroes and feted in victory parades across America, while those returning from Vietnam were often met with public disdain and open hostility, spat upon, and called horrific names. Many customarily discarded their uniforms at the airports where they landed before venturing out in public to avoid this public scorn. Then less than twenty years following the withdrawal of troops iv from Vietnam, those returning from another overseas conflict, Operation Desert Storm, found themselves once again being cheered as they proudly marched in victory parades down Main Street America. However, leading off many of these parades were the Vietnam vets with service ribbons and medals and even the silver and blue Combat Infantryman Badge pinned to their tattered and battle-worn fatigues. They were much older now than in the Polaroid pictures taken when they were “in country.” The years had passed, but they finally, got their own “welcome home.” The pendulum of public opinion had shifted once again, Today, despite United States involvement in two more overseas conflicts, one now going on eighteen years, public attitudes have for the most part remained positive. Men and women in uniform are frequently approached by strangers and thanked for their service with hearty handshakes. Returning from overseas, they are greeted in airports with placards, banners and applause. In restaurants those in uniform are often treated to free meals by anonymous strangers (examples taken from personal experience). This thesis, culminating in several years of work, not only gave me greater insight into the major conflicts of the twentieth century, but also how film reflected, and often influenced public attitudes toward warfare and our returning veterans. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE………………………….……………..…………………………………………….. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS……….…..……………..…………………….……………….…….. VI ABSTRACT………...…………………………………………………………………………..VII 1. INTRODUCTION…...………………………..….…………………….…………………….. 1 2. WAR AND MASS MEDIA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY…………….….………….. 3 3. WORLD WAR I……………….………………………….………………………………….. 9 Hubris to Horror……………….………………………………………………….…….. 10 The Advent of War in Cinema………………………………………………………….. 15 The Pendulum Shift…….……………………………………………………………….. 23 4. WORLD WAR II Nationalism and Forgotten Horrors……………………………………………………. 24 Winning the Hearts and Minds…………………...………………………......………… 29 The War in Film: Hollywood Enlists………………………...…………………………. 33 The War in the Pacific…………………………………….……………………………. 34 The War in Europe……………………………………………………………………… 58 Duty, Honor, Sacrifice: The Story of G.I. Joe …..……………………………………... 67 5. VIETNAM Into the Quagmire……….…………………...……………………………….………… 73 Oh, The Horror………………………………..………………………………….…..…. 76 6. SUMMARY Pendulum Swings of Public Opinion ……………….……………………….…………. 81 vi ABSTRACT This paper examines the evolution of warfare in the twentieth century, its depiction in film, and how motion pictures of the century’s wars either reflected or influenced public opinion. It explores the pendulum shifts in public attitudes toward United States involvement in overseas conflicts starting with World War I, through World War II and ultimately Vietnam. It discusses the differences in these conflicts, specifically changes in weaponry and tactics, how they were depicted in film, and the role film played in shaping public attitudes. It explores how films about World War I depicted the absolute horror of the battlefield, while films produced during World War II portrayed the valor of the American warrior fighting for a just cause, and how the films about Vietnam once again showed the horror and insanity of an unpopular war. Research for this project included an extensive personal collection of books on warfare and specifically the major conflicts of the twentieth century. Authors range from John Keegan, to Henry Kissinger, and David Kennedy, and from Anthony Beevor to E. B. Sledge, author of With the Old Breed. Additional research included viewing and a comprehensive analysis of many of the films made during or shortly after the conflicts they portray. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Warfare has been an integral part of history since early man began assembling in tribes and ultimately nation states. The evolution in warfare and especially weaponry ranges from stones and spears to cruise missiles capable of hitting targets hundreds of miles distant with pinpoint accuracy and atomic weapons capable of destroying entire cities. Propaganda has been an integral part of warfare and is as old as organized warfare itself. The ancient Egyptians and Maya carved images of their rulers standing over their defeated enemies. The Romans painted images of bloody-beaked Roman eagles and legionnaires standing victorious over their decapitated enemies on stone slabs along the Antonine Wall in northern England in the mid- second century CE. In the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Temüjin, later known as Gengis Khan, sent messengers ahead of his advancing Mongol armies warning of the horrible fate that lay ahead for those who resisted. As warfare evolved with more sophisticated and deadly weapons, so did the means of propaganda, ultimately expanding to film and other mass media in the twentieth century. While warfare is older than the pyramids, film has had an evolutionary process of barely more than a century. Since Georges Méliès stuck a rocket in the face of the moon in his 1902 short, A Trip to the Moon, film has been a major source of entertainment for millions. Before the advent of television, film also served as a source of news and information, as well as a major source of propaganda in wartime. Propaganda took many forms during both world wars. Mass media, to include posters, newspapers, and film, portrayed the enemy as barbarous, bloodthirsty and evil, while the 2 American fighting man was depicted as brave and heroic, fighting for a just cause with ultimate victory assured. Hollywood, working with the Office of War Information during World War II, incorporated other messages in its films in support of the war. In addition to supporting our troops, these messages included incentives to work in factories producing munitions and armaments, compliance with rationing, and buying war bonds. Although reluctant to become involved in overseas conflicts initially, the American public ultimately supported the war effort in both world wars. The question then arises, what influence did war films of the twentieth century have on public opinion? Did these war films shape public opinion, or reflect existing sentiment? What influence did film have in the pendulum swings of public opinion in support of or opposition to war? These are questions that have special significance today, especially in light of the dramatic changes in attitudes that have taken place toward our military and our nation’s involvement in conflicts overseas. Veterans returning from World Wars I and II were considered heroes while those who were fortunate enough to return from Vietnam were often met with public contempt. In the twentieth century, the pendulum of public opinion toward warfare shifted back