'No War, No Hate, No Propaganda' - Promoting Films About European War and Fascism During the Period of American Isolationism

Abstract

Marketing films about European fascism and war to American audiences posed a dilemma for studios during the period 1937 to 1941. Fearful of offending foreign markets or being accused of propagandizing for American intervention, the studios delivered mixed signals and contradictory messages through their films and the marketing campaigns developed to promote them.

Films discussed in the article include "Fire Over England" (1937), "Three Comrades" (1938), "Blockade" (1938), "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" (1939), "Beasts of Berlin" (1939), "The Mortal Storm" (1940), "Four Sons" (1940), "The Man I Married" (1940), "Escape" (1940), "Pastor Hall" (1940), "Arise, My Love" (1940), "Foreign Correspondent" (1940), "The Great Dictator" (1940), "Flight Command" (1941), "One Night in Lisbon" (1941), "Convoy" (1941), "Man at Large" (1941), "Haunted Honeymoon" (1941), "A Yank in the R.A.F." (1941), and "World Premiere" (1941).

Keywords: World War II, isolationism, Nazis, Hitler, Hollywood, films, movies, studios, interventionism, fascism, The Three Comrades, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, Beasts of Berlin, Blockade, The Mortal Storm, Four Sons, The Man I Married, Escape, Pastor Hall, The Great Dictator, A Yank in the R.A.F.