The movies go to war

I was a History major in college, with a concentration on 20th Century American History. So World War II is something that I studied intensively. And one of the most interesting things about that war was how mass media became a player in the war. Actors such as Charlie Chaplin and Carole Lombard would sell war bonds and movie studios would create films that would motivate people into feeling "pro-war". Some may call them propaganda, but that's not something I want to discuss here.

I basically want to talk about this movie I saw On Turner Classic Movies. It's the story(fictional) about nurses during the beginning of the war in the Pacific. It's a well written, entertaining movie with great performances by Paulette Goddard, Claudette Cobert and Veronica Lake, but sometimes out of the blue a character would start giving a speech about freedom and sacrifice. A speech that makes no sense in the middle of a pretty realistic movie. Which makes it a fascinating period piece. One can imagine being in a movie theater in 1943 watching this movie and feeling comforted by the idea that the war was right.

Anyway, this is a fine movie. It plays ocassionally on TCM.