You all know the rules.
Posted on 06/22/2004 10:32:50 PM PDT by kattracks
Once upon a time, there were people in Hollywood who loved America. And when America came under attack from enemies abroad, these actors, producers, screenwriters and directors put aside their partisan differences and created movies that -- unlike Michael Moore's new schlockumentary, "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- made all moviegoers proud to be Americans.
During World War II, Tinseltown roused the country's fighting spirit instead of trying to stifle it. In February 1941, the entertainment industry convened an extraordinary Academy Awards ceremony. The president of the Motion Picture Association, independent movie mogul and World War I pilot and intelligence officer Walter Wanger, went out of his way to use the Academy Award ceremony to support the war effort. Wanger invited President Roosevelt to address the crowd.
In an unprecedented radio speech simulcast on all three major networks at the time, FDR praised Hollywood for its wartime fundraising efforts and thanked filmmakers for "sanctifying the American way of life."
Can you imagine Hollywood extending such an invitation to President Bush today? Can you imagine CBS, ABC and NBC agreeing to simulcast such an event? And can you imagine the howling from the ACLU, ethnic groups, Barbra Streisand and Sean Penn if President Bush were allowed to appear at the Academy Awards to speak in support of "sanctifying the American way of life"?
The best actor award in 1942 went to Gary Cooper, for his morale-boosting performance as the deeply religious backwoods Tennessee Cumberland Mountains farmer and World War I hero Sergeant Alvin C. York in Howard Hawks' patriotic movie, "Sergeant York."
Can you imagine anyone in the entertainment industry (besides Mel Gibson) making a movie about a deeply religious backwoods farmer-turned-soldier today that didn't denigrate the character's born-again Christian background and conservative values?
Hollywood celebrities of the past didn't just play soldiers in front of the cameras. They volunteered to put their lives on the line for America. Clark Gable joined the Army Air Corps at 41, became a B-17 air gunner, and earned the Air Medal and Distinguished Flying Cross. Jimmy Stewart led B-24 bombing raids over Germany. They both appeared in pro-America documentaries, produced by the military-operated First Motion Picture Unit, when not in combat. Director Frank Capra made films for the U.S. government, including the seven-part "Why We Fight (1942-44)." Big-band leader Glenn Miller led the U.S. Army Air Force band in Europe and died for his country when his plane went down in the English Channel.
Can you imagine George Clooney putting down the basketball and picking up an M-4? Or Chris Rock and Jon Stewart cracking codes instead of jokes? Or Brad Pitt wearing combat boots for real combat instead of a Vanity Fair photo shoot? Or Spike Lee directing films defending the War on Terror? Or Eminem marching in step with the Army Air Force band?
Those who stayed behind during World War II starred in countless films -- "Action in the North Atlantic," "Arise, My Love," "All Through the Night," "Bataan," "The Battle of Midway," "Captains of the Clouds," "Desperate Journey," "Destination Tokyo," "Escape," "Flying Tigers," "Foreign Correspondent," "The Great Dictator," "Gung Ho!" "The Mortal Storm," "One of Our Aircraft Is Missing," "So Proudly We Hail!" "Wake Island," and "Yankee Doodle Dandy," to name just a few -- which rallied Americans through the long, dark days of the war to support the Allied cause. The movies depicted good and evil in stark terms. And there was no politically correct revisionism about who our enemies were.
By contrast, even tough-guy Arnold Schwarzenegger failed to stand up to Hollywood mushies who were afraid to depict Arab terrorists in his post-Sept. 11 movie, "Collateral Damage." Instead of encouraging Americans to confront the true face and nature of the Islamist threat, Schwarzenegger and his producers turned the Arab terrorists into Colombian terrorists so no one would complain about "racial profiling." Similarly, Steven Spielberg's new movie about an asylum-seeker, "The Terminal," indulges in weak-willed liberal escapism by demonizing Department of Homeland Security officials just trying to do their jobs.
Box-office patriotism is dead. And so I ask: If Hollywood refuses to support America, why should we support Hollywood?
Michelle Malkin is a syndicated columnist and maintains her weblog at michellemalkin.com
©2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc.
bttt
And the most distressing thing about the present attitude of Hollywood - that the Islamic jihadists have full moral equivalence with the Western ideals - Hollywood would be one of the FIRST targets of Islamic fundamentalism should they get any foothold in the US. They may already be a target and don't realize it.
I think I was confused over the two films. Sorry for the confusion.
Well you're right about that. And I dare say the international popularity of "beheading videos" may be the Islamic porn.
Wasn't the attack on Pearl Harbor not until DECEMBER '41? What war effort was this guy supporting?
Bible Study guides? I've never heard of this movie.
Trailer looks cool. But... Disney? Mellencamp?
Be afraid.
Dan
Beheading videos are recruitment tapes. They are also sent to the media (which airs them) to scare opponents from speaking out ("your next!").
Even before we entered the war, there was "support" for England. Somewhere I have a matchbook with a slogan to that effect.
Enough said.........
Walt Disney on the Front Lines
Disc 1:
Propaganda & Entertainment Shorts
Donald Gets Drafted, The Army Mascot, The Vanishing Private, Sky Trooper, Private Pluto, Fall Out; Fall In, Victory Vehicles, The Old Army Game, Home Defense, How to be a Sailor, Commando DuckEducational Shorts
Thrifty Pig, Seven Wise Dwarfs, Food Will Win the War, Out of the Frying Pan and into the Firing Line, Donald's Decision, All Together, The New Spirit, The Spirit of '43, The Winged Scourge, Defense Against Invasion, The Grain that Built a Hemisphere, Cleanliness Brings Health, The Unseen Enemy (What is Disease?), Planning for Good EatingFrom the Vault
Der Fuehrer's Face, Education for Death, Reason and Emotion, Chicken LittleDisc 2: Victory Through Air Power (1943 feature film)
Training Shorts: Four Methods of Flush Riveting, Stop That Tank, Training Film Montage
Bonus Features: On the Set of V.T.A.P., Theatrical Trailer, Galleries, Conversations
Running Time: 383 Minutes (218 on Disc One) / Rating: Not Rated 1.33:1 Fullscreen (Original Ratio) / Dolby Digital Mono (English) Originally Released between 1941 and 1945
Subtitles: English; Closed Captioned / DVD Release Date: May 18, 2004
Two single-sided, dual-layered discs (DVD-9); Suggested Retail Price: $32.99
A well made set hosted by Leonard Maltin. This set was postponed twice and Disney Inc. has long withheld many of these shorts from the public (including a complete Der Fuerher's Face and the feature Victory Through Air Power).
A synopsis/review of the contents can be found here:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/onthefrontlines.html
Then again, Hollywood supported communism over America's constitution and form of government as well.
When Stewart returned home, he forbade any use of his service record to publicize his movies. Jimmy Stewart was a patriot with a capital P.
You'd think that with the success of The Passion of the Christ the entertainment industry would get a clue and stop pandering (literally!) to the Fringe Left and losing a boatload of money along the way. 
I mean, think about the biggest moneymakers from the movies in the past 15 years--almost NONE of them blatantly espouse a Leftist view. The Hollywood Left must be on a self-indulgent ego trip, to say the least.
There are people who put country before career/self.
The last time I saw Ted Williams was on the eve of the 1992 election when he spoke at a rally to re-elect George HW Bush.
Bump. Ok, I won't complain as loudly when you want to watch old B&W movies anymore... ;-)
Nothing else to offer my money for them.
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