The 1940s was a watershed decade for American cinema and the nation. At the start of the decade, Hollywood - shaking off the Depression - launched an unprecedented wave of production, generating some of its most memorable classics, including Citizen Kane, Rebecca, The Lady Eve, Sergeant York, and How Green Was My Valley. Hollywood then joined the national war effort with a vengeance, creating a series of patriotic and escapist films, such as Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, The Road to Morocco, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. By the end of the war America was a country transformed. The 1940s closed with the threat of the atom bomb and the beginnings of the Hollywood blacklist. Film Noir reflected the new public mood of pessimism and paranoia. Classic films of betrayal and conflict - Kiss of Death, Force of Evil, Caught, and Apology for Murder - depicted a poisonous universe of femme fatales, crooked lawyers, and corrupt politicians.
CONTENTS Acknowledgments Timeline: The 1940s Wheeler Winston Dixon (University of Nebraska, USA) Introduction: Movies and the 1940s Matthew Bernstein (Emory University, USA) 1940: Movies and the Reassessment of America Sarah Kozloff (Vassar College, USA) 1941: Movies on the Edge of War Steven Jay Schneider (Harvard University and Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, USA) 1942: Movies and the March to War Catherine L. Preston (University of Kansas, USA) 1943: Movies and National Identity Nicholas Spencer (University of Nebraska, USA) 1944: Movies and the Renegotiation of Genre Kristine Butler Karlson (University of Wisconsin-River Falls, USA) 1945: Movies and the March Home Wheeler Winston Dixon (UNiversity of Nebraska, USA) 1946: Movies and Postwar Recovery Tony Williams (Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, USA) 1947: Movies and the "Enemy" Within Joanna Rapf (University of Oklahoma and Dartmouth College, USA) 1948: Movies and the Family Marcia Landy (University of Pittsburgh, USA) 1949: Movies and the Fate of Genre Select Academy Awards, 1940-1949 Works Cited and Consulted Contributors Index
