Eternal Jew/Jud Suss Take Home Essay

Reaction paper #8 is now considered a take-home portion of your final exam.

It is due on Thursday, May 1st at 9:00am.

Make sure your essay answers the questions posed, uses the readings on reserve in the library and notes on the blog, and is well-written. The bare minimum is 2 pages, but longer essays (as always) are fine.

Question:
The two best examples of anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda are the movies The Eternal Jew and Jud Suss, but while their message is essentially the same, that Jews are a menace that has hurt Germany for hundreds of years, they do so in different ways. The Eternal Jew is presented as a documentary, presenting "fact" on the history of the Jewish people, while Jud Suss is a more Hollywood-esque feature film, with a rather despicable Jewish character as the antagonist. Which one is more effective? If you were a German citizen sitting in the theater watching these films, what impact do you think they would have on you?

NOTE: You need to have an introduction and a thesis that states which one is more effective, and then you need to present BOTH films, proving why you've selected the one you have, and then a conclusion. You can't just say The Eternal Jew is more effective and then only talk about that one film. It doesn't show any real analysis of both films as propaganda.

Class Announcements

1. We have 3 classes left, Mon, 4/14, Wed, 4/16, and Wed, 4/23. We will not have class on Mon, 4/21. In order to make up for the missed class, we will meet for 30 minutes longer each class. Class will be from 2:30-4:15pm.

2. If you are late for your presentation, we will just skip you and come back to you during that class period. Presentations cannot be rescheduled unless there is a full blown emergency and I know ahead of time. If you miss your presentation, unless you've contacted me and made arrangements, you will receive a ZERO. I also expect everyone to attend all of the presentation days. Missing presentation days, even if it isn't your day, will hurt your grade.

3. Please practice your presentation and time it to make sure you're not too short or too long. I WILL cut you off at 10 minutes. Have a backup if you're going to use media. Media not working is not an excuse to postpone your presentation.

4. The research paper is due on Wednesday, April 23rd. No exceptions.

5. All reaction paper rewrites are due on Wednesday, April 30th. You will need to drop them in the box on the front of my office door. I will have a folder for you to put them in. Please attach your original essay that I graded.

6. Your last reaction paper on the Eternal Jew and Jud Suss is now a take-home final exam essay. Please treat it as such. You MUST answer the questions, you MUST use the readings, and it MUST be well-written. It is due in class on the day of the final exam (Thursday, May 1st at 9:00am).

The Jud Suss notes

Jud Suss (1940)

Watch for these themes:

• Jew as an alien
• everything is fine in Germany until the Jews arrive, then dissent and conflict and exploitation
• manipulation of wealth
• manipulation of lecherous drunken prince
• the Jew as rapist of Aryan maidens
  

Directed by Veit Harlan

set in 18th century Wurttembuerg

Jud Suss Oppenheimer weasels his way in and starts controlling the roads and loans

The Jew is seen as a manipulator, banker, leech

Dresses like a German nobleman

insidious

Kristina Soederbaum is the victim of Jud Suss

she is raped (this is called a "blutschande" or "blood crime" whereby pure Aryan blood is sullied by mixing with Jewish blood)

rather than suffer the shame of having a part-Jewish child, Kristina drowns herself (interesting note: this actress played so many similar roles, and kept drowning herself in each picture that she became known as the Reichswasserleiche, or "Reich Water Corpse)

Goebbels declared that the film was not to be described as anti-semitic

film shown throughout occupied Europe

The Jud Suss is put on trial after the Prince dies.

An eye for an eye is not the German way, the dead girl's father says.

Proclaims his innocence mocking Germans who pitied Jews.

His last pleas: "Ich bin nur ein armer Jude..." ("I am just a poor little Jew")

No pity shown.

As Goebbels said in late 1941, "to be sure their fate is a hard one, but more than deserved"

Jud Suss is hanged in a cage as the snow falls and the Jews are expelled from Wurttemberg

Themes:

• assimilated Jews are more dangerous than Polish Jews depicted in The Eternal Jew
• they are all the same: the modernized Jud Suss allied with the cunning magician rabbi
• blutschande is the highest crime
  

Expulsion of Jews justified in the movie

but other than Suss, who was guilty, no Jew is being harmed

Germans not ready for the full truth

By the time the film was widely released, measures had been taken to exterminate large numbers of Jews.

The film justified expulsion of German Jews, perhaps prepared viewers for larger things to come

Still a huge leap from executing Suss to murdering millions

But a viewer who, like many Germans, wanted to believe that the Jews were being sent to the "East" to "work" might leave the theater feeling better about ugly rumors

The Eternal Jew notes

The Eternal Jew is a masterpiece of hate propaganda released in Germany in 1940.

Using American films and other sources, the film demonizes Jews as cheats, polluters of culture, murderers of innocent animals, and spreaders of disease and crime.

Made by Fritz Hippler, a high ranking official in the Goebbels' film propaganda effort, The Eternal Jew portrays the Jew as a culture-destroyer against whom Germany is fighting.

Does the film suggest a genocidal solution?

for week of 4/7-4/9

For Mon, 4/7

• reaction paper #7 due--Reaction paper #7 is due on Mon, 4/7--topic: Return to our first readings out of History Goes to the Movies that discusses how Leni Riefenstahl denied that Triumph of the Will was not propaganda. Now that you've seen the film, what do you think? If you agree with Riefenstahl's assessment of her film, then support her answer using the film. If you believe that it IS propaganda, then use the film to argue with her. In essence, I want you to tell me whether Triumph of the Will is or isn't propaganda, but make sure you use the readings (esp. History Goes to the Movies) in your response.
• read: blognotes on The Eternal Jew and readings on reserve on The Eternal Jew

For Wed, 4/9

• read: blognotes on The Jud Suss and readings on reserve on The Jud Suss
  

Readings for week of 3/31-4/2

For Mon, 3/31
-reread section of Hollywood Goes to the Movies that deals with Leni Riefenstahl's response to her film Triumph of the Will being called propaganda


For Wed, 4/2
--Negro Soldier reaction paper due
--read David B. Hinton, "Triumph of the Will: Document or Artifice?" Cinema Journal, 15:1 (Autumn 1975), 48-57. (available on Jstor)
--read Martha J. Feldman, "Totalitarianism without Pain: Teaching Communism and Fascism with Film," The History Teacher 29:1 (Nov 1995), 51-61. (available on Jstor)

note on Negro Soldier paper

Be sure to include the two Jstor articles by Sklaroff and Cripps in your Negro Soldier paper.

Negro Soldier reaction paper due Mon, March 31

The film The Negro Soldier is yet another Frank Capra propaganda film. It was shown to both black and white audiences, but, on the whole, both races liked it. How does the film work to instill racial pride in African Americans to convince them to enlist and fight, but not upset white audiences that might be averse to the idea of blacks fighting in the war? How does the film use (but distort) history to tell the story of black accomplishments? Is it an effective piece of propaganda?

Negro Soldier (1943) notes

THE NEGRO SOLDIER GEN MARSHALL AND THE AMERICAN WAR EFFORT

War ends the Great Depression; Fed budget goes from $9 billion in 39 to $100 billion; GNP from 91 billion to $166 billion in 45. 17,000,000 new jobs; average family income rises in NYC by about 48%... Work week lengthened from 40.6 hrs in 41 to 45.2 in 44; cost of living went up 28% from 40 to 45, but weekly wages went up about 70%.

People had incomes 65% above Depression by 43, looking to buy things; fear of inflation. Many items scarce, though meat prod up 50% over Depression .

Blacks mostly living in the South, despite emigration northward during WWI. The migration picks up steadily from 1940 with important social and political consequences.

Segregation in place since the 1890s. No civil rights laws between 1870s and long after WWII.

Blacks had often benefitted from New Deal measures, but FDR refused to endorse federal anti-lynching legislation or any other targeted civil rights bills. FDR depended on southern Senators, and couldn’t afford to upset them with backing bills supporting blacks.

Eleanor Roosevelt was more sympathetic to blacks. She posed with black ROTC cadets at Howard University. A photo that scandalized many whites in the South.

Blacks had traditionally voted Republican (the party of Lincoln), but that changes sharply in 1936, despite segregationist control of the US Senate by Democrats. Became an important voting black in the North for the New Deal by 1938

Black leaders determined that WWII would not turn out like WWI.

After that war, black soldiers returned home to lynchings and riots in 1919-1921; the new Klan very strong in the Midwest.

After 1939 defense industries revved up and offered good paying jobs, especially in the North around Detroit, Chicago, Gary and Pittsburgh. Blacks wanted some of these jobs. Move northward. Then came the peacetime draft in 1940 and war mobilization in 1941, which changed a lot of things. FDR vague on whether federal government would insist upon fair employment by defense contractors

A. Philip Randolph, president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (black union), insisted that defense contractors integrate their work forces. Told FDR that if government didn’t take action to prevent discrimination in wartime industry, there would be a massive 100,000-man march on Washington in 1941. FDR doesn’t want the march (would make govt look REALLY bad), and conceded, passing the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) to investigate discrimination in war industries.

Randolph organized the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942, forced DC restaurants to serve blacks in 1944, staged sit-ins and demonstrations in movie theatres, recruited James Farmer and Bayard Rustin (will be important for civil rights in 1950s and 60s).

Migration from rural south to industrial cities and plants, 1.6 million move out of south, 5 million relocate within South. Fears by whites of Eleanor Clubs, that black domestic help will go on strike in the South; race riots near Polish neighborhood in Detroit in 43, 34 dead. Battles over housing.

Henry Luce’s Time and Life magazine fight for racial equality. Time kept track of lynchings and Life promotes stories about black soldiers and civilians in a favorable light…but stereotypes still appear however.

Life was honest in portraying the racial troubles in the Detroit area, aggravating the govt.

African Americans were barred from the Marine Corps and Army Air Forces. When they could serve in the Navy and Army, they were always segregated, and generally given menial jobs (in Navy, could be cooks and work in the laundry). By the end of WWII, 700,000 served, and war training camps were integrated, more black units sent to combat; some riots and tensions...

Back in the US, the entire South was legally segregated, and so were many border states and even beyond (such as Kansas)

In WWI, blacks drafted in to segregated units commanded by whites

The US Officer Corps before 1940 was largely southern (so white southern officers training/commanding black units)

No blacks in Congress until WWII

The problem was clear: in WWI, Wilson had talked about democracy and self-determination, but was at heart, a southern segregationist. Democrats relied upon the solid south eleven states' electoral votes..

FDR was more circumspect, but still had to rely on the solid South for support.

But this World War was a war, at least in part, against racism in Germany and Japan. How could we fight against imperialism and racism abroad and not at home? Some framed the issue that way, but FDR was more cautious. His Four Freedoms speech in 1941 did not mention race (freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom from want, freedom from fear)

Walter White (head of the NAACP) saw

Walter White head of the NAACP founded before WWI saw black advance in context of worldwide majority of colored peoples...

Supreme Court rules against all-white primaries in the South 1944.

Wartime racial turbulence not restricted to issues of housing and black soldiers in southern towns:

Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall much concerned with black issues…a Virginian, he favored the recruitment of black officers though not necessarily commensurate with the number of black troops.

Marshall insisted black officers be qualified…had helped to train Illinois National Guard years earliers…

Marshall thought leadership by officers was vital. Felt vindicated by heroic black performance under Ike in Battle of the Bulge in late 1944

Marshall supported Tuskegee Institute ROTC plan. Later added pre-flight training, which would result in the famous squadron.

Marshall was a gradualist. Admired Booker T. Washington

Favored southern training bases like Fort Jackson (in South Carolina). Cost less and had more outdoor training. He admitted later that he had not figured in how this environment would affect northern blacks

Performance of segregated units was mixed in the Pacific. Later Marshall as Sec. of Defense presided over the final integration of the armed forces in 1950-51, which left very few segregated behind.

By 1943, Marshall wanted a high level information campaign favorable to Negro troops, because hundreds of thousands of blacks drafted by 1943, and the Army was concerned about racial incidents in the South and North; he wanted to combat ugly stereotypes, that Negro troops had not fought bravely, etc.

For this Marshall turned to Frank Capra, an unlikely but necessary choice

Making a film was imposed upon Capra.

He was an immigrant with few black friends or contacts.

His imagined world of America was a white world with a few black stereotypes as in “Prelude to War”

His heroes were white individualists who fought against big business or big government. Jimmy Stewart or Gary Cooper type roles…He admitted he knew little about black America.

In fact, Capra was not alone in his puzzlement about a changing society.

Both black leaders and entertainers and the media giants were uncertain about this new era.

Black stereotypes persisted: cooks, maids, chauffeurs, piano players…but these were lucrative roles for the performers who were loath to surrender them, and how far should white producers go in introducing more nuanced black characters to Hollywood audiences?

Hollywood not making many movies showing blacks as individuals equal to whites…Casablanca is a partial exception: Sam speaks his mind to Ilsa and Rick, but is there to serve and ultimately a “yes man”…half out of the stereotype

Hollywood could stall and look away, but the War Department had a more pressing problem: educating soldiers about race, unity, and (perhaps) equality

Marshall was a southerner educated at VMI, but he agreed on the need for a major film

Capra did NOT want to make The Negro Soldier

Army wanted blacks to see this kind of film, then wanted all GIs to see it, paving the way for later integration. Black writer Carlton Moss played a key role in the script and narrative. The War Dept wanted to write the film, but some feared it would be a kind of bland superficial film

Showed black becoming an officer and gave a short history lesson on the contributions of blacks to the building of America and the winning of America’s wars, but leaves out a considerable amount (no mention of slavery for example)

No reference to segregation in the armed forces. Praise lavished upon the film by the War Dept and Army…Moss later exposed as a communist and Capra alleged he had to tone down the radicalism of the original script (Moss denied)

Film screened late in 1943 for Stimson and Marshall. Capra present. Black journalists impressed, hoped that whites would see it too.

Black recruits like it and 67% of white soldiers did too. Modest success commercially in shortened form.

Blacks shown as “integrated” in some sense into the wider society military or civilian. Implication…why not integrate the armed forces?

Aspects of The Negro Soldier (1944)

Setting was a black church with a middle class aura. Religiosity and patriotism combine in this stirring film.

The tenor is a sergeant in the Army. A mother is proud her son is in Officer Candidate School (OCS) and will graduate an officer.

Symbols: blacks die in American battles since 1770

NO USE OF THE WORDS SEGREGATION, LYNCHING, RACISM, OR SLAVERY—Why not??

Joe Louis knocking out German Max Schmeling. Metaphor for global struggle

Typical Capra formula of slavery vs. freedom, us vs. them, good vs. evil

Fear that blacks might be seduced by line that this was a war between whites, or the Japanese favored the colored peoples: anti-black quotes from Mein Kampf

“half ape” “criminal madness”

only one mention of Jews in the film: a dead soldier named Levine.

Never mentions that blacks fought in segregated units in WWI

Arlington Cemetary…blacks in battle in WWI decorated by French…no mention of race riots after 1918

celebration of black achievements: Carver, Washington, Marian Anderson…no mention of struggle for equal rights (no NAACP, WEB DuBois, Marcus Garvey, etc)…unity is the theme,

Great clips of blacks beating Germans in front of Hitler at 1936 Olympics. White Americans cheering madly.

Many blacks from outside South sent to segregated southern training camps. Several incidents, but not mentioned in the film

Welcome center for GIs integrated, but then a subtle unmentioned change takes place…suddenly black recruits appear in all-black units…shows harsh training made milder by dances, church, and cultural events

Does not name number of black offices, but says three times as many as WWI. Thanks to ROTC and West Point

Tuskegee pilots mentioned

Men of all races fighting together: cooperation not integration implied…nothing about the Navy because it was the most segregated and least black.

Possible conclusions from film:

§ Marshall: wanted to commission more black officers, but never seemed to assault the segregationist system

§ The Nazis and Japanese were bad news for all Americans (white and black)

§ The black stake in American victory

§ Cooperation is possible within a segregated system

§ Christian themes as a uniting factor in the war effort

Sense of black progress, but very vague. What is the goal? Defeating Hitler and Japan and saving American freedom…and then?

Is this as extreme as a film that shows black America only in terms of lynchings, slavery, and segregation?

Couldn’t offend the South and segregationists

No mention of threatened March on Washington in 1941 by A. Philip Randolph

In the movie, blacks singled out for prominent roles often middle class and light-skinned. Why?

Blacks lauded by the film are Washington, Carver, etc, not rebels and not even the NAACP

Instead of lauding black progress despite slavery and oppression, the film selected black fighters in American battles, and praised them. (Crispus Attucks). Almost as if blacks were a parallel minority solidly lodged in the American society of 1770 or 1944...

A slice of history carefully prepared…why the caution? Race riots had occurred in Harlem and Detroit in 1943…so the film wanted to be upbeat, optimistic, down the middle: progress, victory, unity

Remember the film was to be shown to black and white recruits and possibly to general audiences…a cynic might argue that blacks were shown happily helping a white cause triumph. On the other hand, one might conclude that blacks and whites both had a stake in destroying Hitlerism and Japanese militarism so that future generations might be spared…and more progress can occur on the racial front.

changes to syllabus for week of 3/24-26

Due to the technical difficulties that I had with the cartoons on Monday, I have made the following changes to the syllabus

for Wed, 3/12
--we will watch the cartoons originally scheduled for Mon, 3/10
--reaction paper #5 is now due on Mon, March 24
--disregard readings on syllabus for Wed 3/12

for Mon, 3/24
--reaction paper #5 on the cartoons due (see previous blog post for specific assignment)
--readings: Lauren Sklaroff article, "Constructing G.I. Joe Louis: Cultural Solutions to the 'Negro Problem' during World War II," Journal of American History (Dec 2002), pp.958-983. Available on Jstor.
--NOTE: I know there are times where I assign readings more for your reflection in reaction papers and we don't discuss them in class, and I also know that some of you aren't doing them as a result. Fair warning...we WILL talk about this article on Monday and I expect you to come to class prepared to do so.

for Wed, 3/26
--film: The Negro Soldier
--readings: Thomas Cripps and David Culbert article "The Negro Soldier (1944): Film Propaganda in Black and White," American Quarterly --email research paper progress report/rough draft by 5:00pm. Please do so as attachment.

for Week 8 (3/3-3/5)

for Mon, 3/3
--read blognotes on China and Battle of China

for Wed, 3/5
--reaction paper #4 due: Both the Battle of China and China are meant to inform American audiences of the ongoing struggle of our Chinese allies against the Japanese. How do these films broach the difficult question of supporting our Chinese allies, while defiling our Japanese enemies, which is mostly based on race/ethnicity? In other words, how do Hollywood and the OWI make the Chinese into "good Asians," but the Japanese "bad Asians." Which form is more effective (Hollywood drama or more documentary government films)?

Battle of China notes

Stalwart China Losing the War

Our troubled Chinese ally…seen by Henry Luce and Frank Capra

China: burden or ally?

Alliance with China during WWII.

Leader of Free China—Chiang Kai Shek

Long history of American intervention in China.

Missionaries active since 1860s.

dreams of a vast market of 400,000,000 people

We favored the Chinese Republic set up by Sun Yat Sen before WWI

American support for respecting China’s territorial integrity in Washington Conference under President Harding.

Thousands of missionaries active; many Chinese coming to US to study.

But China was a troubled country…part modernizing, very poor, its culture battered by foreign influences: Christiantiy, technology, liberalism, communism

American investment and trade limited, but in the 1930s, Americans were horrified by Japanese attacks on Chinese civilians.

The great voice for Chiang’s China was Henry R. Luce of Time

Born in China of missionary parents

His media emphasized Chiang Kai Shek as a Christian and a modernizer (pro-American)

Truth is more complicated

Chiang’s armies huge, but corrupt. Society run by landlords and bankers connected to regime.

And in the North, a powerful communist army led by Mao Tse Tung controlled 90,000,000 people by the end of WWII.

Chiang hated the Reds more than he did the Japanese. Thought the US would beat Japan and then he could annihilate the Reds.

How do you explain the growth of communism in China and its support by millions of peasants to US civilians?

Frank Capra and Henry Luce told Americans that Chiang’s Free China was a fighting ally

There was some fighting, but Japanese were winning in China by 1944.

Capra portrays an ancient peaceful culture that never attacked anyone.

Inventive and good people.

Japan evil and a conqueror.

Sun Yat Sen as a George Washington trying to unite China. Chiang carries on his work.

Resistance to Japanese evil since 1931.

Japan’s Tanaka Memorandum out to conquer the world. China next, then the US.

No mention of European imperialism in China.

no mention of the communist problem.

Brutal Japanese bombardment of Shanghai.

Rape of Nanking in 1937 shown. Hope to break the will of Chinese.

But film shows determined Chinese disassembling factories and everything they can carry to the interior to set up new capital in Chungking.

Implies that they stopped Japan. Celebrates Chinese victory at Changsha.

But Japanese have huge areas to cover and have conquered much of China. Bogged down…not defeated.

China had manpower and space on its side, but no air power. Weak armies were poorly led.

Could never defeat Japan alone.

Not shown: Chiang’s blockade of Red with 200,000 troops. Implication that Chungking was like London.

No mentioned of famine…of killing thousands of Chinese in bombing raids in a shelter Chungking…of black market trade with Japan across the lines…of corruption—rich exempted from the draft…ruinous inflation

Madame Chiang an American heroine: Wellesley College graduate

So the implication is that we are doing well and China is resisting…no Reds.

Americans who saw Battle of China early in 1944 thought the Chinese were stronger than they were, and were shocked by her defeats in the summer of 1944. No sense of rise of communism either. Capra omitted it. We were betting on Chiang, and we were wrong.

China notes

China (1943)

China by Paramount Pictures starring Alan Ladd, Loretta Young, and William Bendix.

Is this film about China or about Americans in China?

Themes to watch for:

· Japanese atrocities

· A cynical American oil trader who changes his mind about neutrality

· A missionary educator: the American mission to China

· Praise for Chiang Kai Shek and his new China

The time is November 1941, before Pearl Harbor. But remember…the movie was release in 1943…

At this point, American audiences had cheered Madame Chiang on her US tour. We thought Chinese were shaping up and were united and fighting the “Japs”

Jones sells oil to Japan to make a buck. War is not is business. Just like Rick in Casablanca…

American oil embargo was hurting Japan.

Johnny adopts a cute pathetic Chinese “warphan” or “war orphan”. Americans donated millions to United China Relief and other Chinese organizations. Remember this photograph that reminded Americans of the “warphan” situation and the atrocities of the Japanese

Miss Grant is the teacher/missionary type favored by Henry Luce.

Then we get references to the Japanese rapists and killers in Nanking.

Jones agrees to transport some of Miss Grant’s Chinese students. She compares the New China to our founding fathers. A constant reference in these Chinese films. Sun Yat Sen and Chiang kai Shek like George Washington, etc.

This film worked on two levels: pity for the Chinese youth, but admiration for the fighting China of Chiang kai Shek.

You may wonder about a few improbables…how come all the girls all speak perfect English? And how did Johnny and Jones become such heroic soldiers since they were civilians? Remember this if fictional…

Miss Grant compares Jones the cynic to her father, who later converted to serving Chiang kai Shek and China.

We see Chinese guerrillas never identified as communists bring down a Japanese plane. Reference to Fifth Route Army reminds one of communist Eighth Route Army…but no mention of the reds, only of United, Fighting China.

Jones, like Americans in 1941, is being drawn into a war he doesn’t want, slowly but inexorable.

And he enjoys killing Japanese rapists. This is the world of 1943, and brutal fighting in the southwest Pacific.

With Jones, Chinese improvise and blow up important bridge.

Jones seems to fall for the war, China, and Miss Grant, all in one. Their embrace implies things that could be shown in 1943.

In the end, the Japanese officer schooled in America gloats about Pearl Harbor. Notice that Pearl Harbor is invoked in many of the movies we have seen.

The Japanese say that the “new order” will destroy the democracies.

Jones expresses faith in the “little guys” people’s war.

And the Japanese are blown apart in the bridge over the ravine.

Symbol of Japanese arrogance and coming American victory.

So Jones forgets his isolationist ignorance, defeats the Japanese, and gets the girl!

Remember this was made in 1943 when our belief in Free Fighting China was at its innocent peak.

changes to syllabus and reaction paper topics

I have made a few adjustments to our schedule as listed on the syllabus. Please make note of them. I've also tried to outline the reaction papers a little better and give you the topics (I might tweak them a bit as we go along, but it at least lets you see where we're going)

Reaction paper #4 is due on Wed, 3/5--topic: Battle of China and China films. Question: Both of these films are meant to inform American audiences of the ongoing struggle of our Chinese allies against the Japanese. How do these films broach the difficult question of supporting our Chinese allies, while defiling our Japanese enemies, which is mostly based on race/ethnicity? In other words, how do Hollywood and the OWI make the Chinese into "good Asians," but the Japanese "bad Asians."

Reaction paper #5 is due on Wed, 3/12--topic: Discuss the medium of animated shorts in informing the American public as to the war effort and our enemies. How do they take the very serious and make it into humorous (at times) cartoons? What is the value of these cartoons? Do you see any difference in representation of our enemy between companies (Disney, Warner Bros., etc)? How do cartoons stack up to other moving images that we've seen? What is their purpose?

Reaction paper #6 is due on Mon, 3/31--topic: The film The Negro Soldier is yet another Frank Capra propaganda film. It was shown to both black and white audiences, but, on the whole, both races liked it. How does the film work to instill racial pride in African Americans to convince them to enlist and fight, but not upset white audiences that might be averse to the idea of blacks fighting in the war? How does the film use (but distort) history to tell the story of black accomplishments? Is it an effective piece of propaganda?

Reaction paper #7 is due on Mon, 4/7--topic: Return to our first readings out of History Goes to the Movies that discusses how Leni Riefenstahl denied that Triumph of the Will was not propaganda. Now that you've seen the film, what do you think? If you agree with Riefenstahl's assessment of her film, then support her answer using the film. If you believe that it IS propaganda, then use the film to argue with her. In essence, I want you to tell me whether Triumph of the Will is or isn't propaganda, but make sure you use the readings (esp. History Goes to the Movies) in your response.

Reaction paper #8 is due on Mon, 4/21--topic: The two best examples of anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda are the movies The Eternal Jew and Jud Suss, but while their message is essentially the same, that Jews are a menace that has hurt Germany for hundreds of years, they do so in different ways. The Eternal Jew is presented as a documentary, presenting "fact" on the history of the Jewish people, while Jud Suss is a more Hollywood-esque feature film, with a rather despicable Jewish character as the antagonist. Which one is more effective? If you were a German citizen sitting in the theater watching these films, what impact do you think they would have on you? Warning---I think that you will need far more than 2 pages for this paper. Once you've seen them, I don't think it will take much for you to write, and write, and write (students normally find them VERY interesting, and are eager to discuss), so please don't feel constricted to 2 pages.

The Battle of Russia notes

WHY WE FIGHT SERIES: THE BATTLE OF RUSSIA BY FRANK CAPRA

The Battle of Russia…Capra later denied he had anything to do with it, but he did.

Our heroic Soviet ally.

Need for the Red Army to kill Germans and for Russians appear more like Americans for the American audience. How do you do that?...Ignore communism.

How to address: the Hitler-Stalin pact? The Great Purges of the 1930s? Invasion of Poland? Apologize for Stalin?

In 1943, films like Mission to Moscow and The North Star (I tried, and tried, and tried to find copies for us to watch, but no luck so far L ) were sold as pro-American and pro-Ally. So was Capra’s movie.

FDR hoped that the Soviets would become more open, more liberal, would need western aid after the war.

Capra risked wrath of FBI: He had dealt directly with the Soviet embassy to obtain footage.

Stalin ordered the film shown in Soviet theaters with his own introduction.

Capra later hounded about these facts once we were out of WWII and in the Cold War, this time against the Soviets.

for Week 5 (2/11-13)

for Mon, 2/11
-no new reading assignments. Just make sure you've done the Capra readings from 2/6

for Wed, 2/13
-read blog notes on Battle of Russia (no notes for Battle of Britain)
-reaction paper #3 due--The Why We Fight series is the most significant piece of government-sponsored propaganda of the Second World War. What methods/tools/themes/images/music/etc does Frank Capra use to convince the new recruits (and later the public) as to why we fight?

Note: I expect you to begin to incorporate the readings into your reaction papers, not simply write it from the viewing of the film. While it is possible to answer the question without the readings, papers that neglect to discuss them in some way, shape or form--even simply quoting--cannot earn top grades on the paper. You need only discuss the 2 films we watched on Wed, Feb 6th. If you would like to discuss the first part Prelude to War that we viewed the second day of class, that is fine, but not necessary.

Remember that we will not meet formally on Monday, February 18th. In lieu of class, you should begin/continue working on your research paper proposal, or take the time to review some of the films that are on reserve in preparation for the midterm exam.

Why We Fight notes

Frank Capra and “Why We Fight” America’s greatest propaganda films? Capra, an Italian immigrant…at first insecure and unhappy in America. Later he became a famous Hollywood director making “Capraesque” films, musicals, escapist films, little man challenges the big shots…very popular stuff during the Depression of the 1930s (like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) War Dept and General Marshall needed to tell recruiters why we were fighting this war. Decided to recruit Capra Happy to serve, followed orders. Proud of his work and received the Legion of Merit for it. Pamphlets not enough, needed films. Americans in 1917 had faith, and needed it again now. Marshall was media savvy. Liked movies and knew the power of pictures in Life Magazine. Signal Corps resented Capra. They had been making training films and did not want to release Nazi films to him. Information Division houses Capra under Marshall, not in the Signal Corps. 8 officers and 35 enlisted men later total of 150. $400,000 spent on Why We Fight, a fraction of War Department film budget Capra wary of communist writers on his staff, but some of his footage you will see was sympathetic to our communist ally Russia and to the Reds fighting Japanese in China. But Capra had to fill out reports on his writers and John Sanford was barred as a Red or premature anti-fascist, but later worked on The Battle of Russia. Capra not politically involved. Wanted to win the war. Disliked Hollywood Reds. Trouble during McCarthy era. Capra had allowed some apologies for the Hitler-Stalin Pact into the series…did not want to undermine our ally Russia. Made Russia sign the pact to buy time for the inevitable onslaught by the Nazis. Capra was impressed by Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. Nazi propaganda rally from 1934 scared Capra. He suppressed his earlier admiration for Mussolini common among Italian-Americans before the war. Capra uses footage from the enemy in order to work against them. “Let their own films kill them” Capra came up with the brilliant idea of destroying fascism by showing its own propaganda: arrogant, aggressive, crude, submissive, totalitarian…fanatic lunacy. Contrasting this with his imagined America: religious, family oriented, tolerant, patriotic. Series conceived in the summer of 1942…slavery vs. freedom and decency Capra focuses blame on Nazis, not German people, but no so with the “Japs” FDR : WAR FOR SURVIVAL Films were simplistic, but powerful. Made for average GI, many of whom had never graduated from high school. Why We Fight had seven parts: Prelude to War (which we’ve already watched), The Nazis Strike, The Battle of Russia, The Battle of Britain, The Battle of China, etc. Capra produced the films and helped assemble the footage and rework the scripts. Marshall and Stimson had to approve the films. FDR meddled too. Films made in Hollywood to be able to work without interference from Washington, at least somewhat. Prelude to War won an Oscar in 1943 OWI (Office of War Information) war of showing the film in theaters: backlash claiming it was FDR reelection propaganda, and OWI had promised Hollywood that the government would not compete with its production. Fear for budgets in Congress. Postwar survey of GIs who had seen the films showed mixed reactions…some knowledge useful but some war of staged scenes and one-sided presentations, but War Department convinced of its value…millions saw them.

Casablanca notes

How to depict the French as an ally after the disastrous surrender in 1940? Henry Luce’s March of Time—1942 (which we are not watching…you just have to take my word on it) and Casablanca—1943…both released at t time when allied forces were either preparing to attack French territory in North Africa, or were preparing to invade Europe through France.

The March of Time film “The Fighting French,” made at the same time as Casablanca told Americans that there are two versions of France:

1. The Vichy French—pro-Nazi with Petain and Laval in charge
2. The Free French—resisting Nazi terror with De Gaulle as their leader

1940—France, riddled with fascism and defeatism, surrendered and the Vichys took over

Americans often wept at the news. Paris had never fallen in WWI.

But America recognized the new Vichy French government until April 1942.

By the time Casablanca was released, we had broken with Vichy.

The film shows Capt. Renault abandoning Vichy for the Free French side.

FDR disliked de Gaulle (Free French)—saw him aloof and arrogant (which he was), but Americans preferred de Gaulle to Vichy.

Casablanca is one of the most popular films ever made

The setting is French North Africa. Maybe a year after the fall of France, with the Germans and their agents swarming around the city.

When France surrendered, the German Gestapo was allowed to arrest foreigners in France, so foreigners flee. Our main characters: Rick and Ilsa are in love, fighting against the Nazis, but they have to leave. She is supposed to meet him after they get out of France, but she never does. He goes to Casablanca to set up a bar, convinced he’s getting away from the war…and from the woman he loved.

The French government had surrendered to Germany, with French North Africa in Vichy Hands (like Casablanca)

In North Africa, the French rule and collaborate with the Nazis.

Capt. Louis Renault is a French official, who collaborates with them. He pursues women, bribes, and power, and befriends anyone he can use, but is going to convert in the end to the Free French and symbolically pours out a bottle of Vichy water.

The film is a tribute to the underground resistance, to the Free French, and it came out just in time (late 1942) when the Allies took over French North Africa and de Gaulle installed himself as Free French leader despite FDR’s hostility.

Rick is a cynical American club owner, but we find out he is a secret anti-fascist who ran guns to Ethiopia and helped the Spanish Republic

But some French refuse to go along with the Vichys…They are the Free French loyal to General Charles de Gaulle. The Free French movement’s symbol is the Cross of Lorraine.

The café singer in Rick’s club is one woman who is sympathetic to the Free French movement. One famous scene has the Nazis singing the Watch on the Rhine (famous German patriotic song) at the top of their lungs, but then the French singer and the crown drowns them out.

Major Strasser and the Gestapo want to arrest and torture the head of the Czech resistance, Victor Laszlo.

Ilsa (played by Ingrid Bergman) was married to Laszlo, but thought him dead. They were separated by the events of the war. She met Rick in Paris and they had an affair, but then she’s separated from Rick and doesn’t meet him at the train station. We later find out it’s because she got word that her husband was alive.

Interesting image of Laszlo as a refugee…Americans had been ambivalent about them but this film is a plea for helping him.

Ilsa is trying to help Laszlo to get Lisbon so he can flee to America. At the end of Casablanca, Rick finally embraces decent values and decides to help Laszlo and Ilsa escape, though he still loves her.

Rick awakens and begins to help in the resistance again (notice the line in the movie where Rick wonders if “Americans are still sleeping”—direct reference to right before Pearl Harbor when Americans were ignoring to plight of Europe and trying to stay out) Rick is a metaphor for America awakening from its slumber in late 1941. The conversion to love and anti-fascism comes before Pearl Harbor, but it is validated on December 7, 1941.

Rick’s awakening is selfless. Salvation for the refugee couple (Laszlo and Ilsa). Helps get them a flight to the Congo, and de Gaulee, and presumably to America after Pearl Harbor.

Rick finally embraces decent values and decides to help Laszlo and Ilsa escape though he still loves her.

Ilsa—the heroic woman—is a symbol for all the women in war plants and in the auxiliary armed forces. Role models: virtuous, strong.

Sam is also an unusually prominent role for a black actor. Something not seen in most wartime films. Even though he’s Rick’s employee, he talks back to Rick a bit and gives the impression that Rick views him as his equal. What do you think??