War Stories from Another Old Movie Blog

Jacqueline of Another Old Movie Blog has a 3 part series of reviews called "War Stories."
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Hollywood’s interesting conundrum was to address The War through an industry that was largely devoted to fantasy and entertainment. Far from looked upon as good material from which producers could prospect for stories (too much political tightrope walking, too great a risk for offending the public), nevertheless Hollywood was forced to acknowledge the elephant in the room. But the movies interpreted The War on its own terms: the war as melodrama, the war as romance, the war as comedy.

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She reviews Mrs. Miniver (1942), The More The Merrier  (1943) and Love Letters (1945).

Each of these reviews is detailed, encompassing not only the plot but conventions of the time and how they influenced what we see on screen.

The author also compares the three movies against each other, mentioning the perspective of the civilian in a war torn area, eking out survival; the wise cracks of civilians in Washington, D.C. who live in relative safety but must deal with shortages; the tragedies or romances that await in the aftermath of war.

Jacqueline has given me plenty of new stuff to think about.