Images of Women on the Home Front

Six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl§Harbor in June of 1942 President Franklin Delano§Roosevelt formed the Office of War Information by§Executive Order, ostensibly to educate the American§public on war activity. That same month, OWI§developed the Government Information Manual for the§Motion Picture Industry. The fifth theme of this§moviemaking guide was The Home Front. Here, in a§bifurcated study, the author draws on Manual§directives and relevant contributions from major§Hollywood sources to determine whether propaganda §charges are upheld in the film products themselves.§Films analyzed are Selznick''s quintessential Since§You Went Away (1944) starring Claudette Colbert,§Tender Comrade (1943) with Ginger Rogers, and Pin Up§Girl (1944) starring Betty Grable. For fans of§classical Hollywood, as well as those wanting a§closer look at historical issues of propaganda and§collectivism, this book provides an entertaining yet§provocative behind-the-scenes analysis of a country§at war showing how the U.S. federal government and§Hollywood collaborated in creating very specific film§images of women on the World War II home front.