Mixing film history with social history, Reel Patriotism   examines the role played by the American film industry during World War   I and the effects of the industrys pragmatic patriotism in the decade   following the war. Looking at such films as Joan the Woman and Wings   and at the war-time activities of Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin,   film distributors, including George Kleine, and the National   Association of the Motion Picture Industry, this book shows how heavily   publicized gestures of patriotism benefited the reputation and profits   of the movie business.  Leslie Midkiff DeBauche shows how the United   States governments need to garner public support for the war, conserve   food, raise money, and enlist soldiers was met by the film industry.   Throughout the nineteen months of American involvement in World War I,   film studios supported the war effort through the production of short   instructional films, public speaking activities of movie stars, the   civic forum provided by movie theaters, and the National Association of   the Motion Picture Industrys provision of administrative personnel to   work directly with government agencies. While feature films about the   war itself never dominated the release schedules of film distributors,   they did become a staple film industry offering throughout the late   1910s and 1920s.  The film industry had much to gain, DeBauche   demonstrates, from working closely with the U.S. government. Though the   war posed a direct challenge to the conduct of business as usual, the   industry successfully weathered the war years. After the war, film   producers, distributors, and exhibitors were able to capitalize on the   good will of the movie-goer and the government that the industrys war   work created. It provided a buffer against national censorship when   movie stars became embroiled in scandal, and it served as a selling   point in the 1920s when major film companies began to trade their stock   on Wall Street.

Reel Patriotism: The Movies and World War I (Wisconsin Studies in Film) PDF

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