Heroes and Patriotism

Abstract

Heroes and Patriotism Lawrence Suid and Michael S. Shull Carl Boggs and Tom Pollard The Hollywood War Machine Paradigm Publishers, 2006. $75.00; 276 pages. Carl Boggs and Tom Pollard have not produced a scholarly study, but rather have written a polemic which accuses Hollywood of creating and perpetuating a martial spirit in the American people: "Our research and writing has been motivated by a deep revulsion against the ongoing militarization of American society, culture, politics, and foreign policy." They put the blame on contemporary filmmakers for producing movies that glorify heroes and foster patriotism. In fact, no director or producer or writer whom reviewer Suid has interviewed during more than 30 years of research in Hollywood ever said they had made a pro-war movie. Moreover, no film portraying the Vietnam War, except perhaps The Green Berets, attempted to justify or glorify the conflict. We Were Soldiers Once saluted the bravery of the soldiers but certainly not the war. And even John Wayne denied making a pro-war movie, however disingenuous the claim might seem. If the film industry harbors right-wing conservative patriots as the authors claim, they have the obligation of basing their arguments on serious scholarship. However, they do not cite one primary document or original interview, instead using only secondary, printed sources, or statistical data. (They would have been well served if they had read reviewer Suid's review of David Robb's Operation Hollywood, which contained a multitude of egregious errors of facts and interpretations. Despite his claim that the Pentagon censored Hollywood films, which it does not, Robb demanded that Film and History not publish Suid's review. Enough said.) In any case, the use of only secondary sources might have been legitimate, given the superficial nature of their work except for one significant problem. Journalists and serious scholars do not have the luxury of committing even a single substantive mistake before losing their credibility. Unfortunately, the authors have filled their book with egregious misrepresentation of fact and inaccurate citation of sources. John Wayne does not star in Battle Cry as the authors state. U-571 is not an "abandoned German U-Boat" in the film of the same name as the authors describe it in their Filmography. Lee Marvin's unit did not become POWs in The Big Red One, instead, fighting to the very end of the war. Where are discussions of Go Tell the Spartans and Casualties of War, two of the best movies about the American experience in Vietnam? And why include The Searchers? It has nothing to do with the militarization of Hollywood. Nor does it portray the Indian wars of the 19th century. As they read the book, the reviewers, on occasion, wondered if they had seen the same movies the authors discussed. Imitation may well be the sincerest form of flattery and reviewer Suid appreciates that the authors told him they liked Guts & Glory and had read it from cover to cover. However, he wishes that they had read it more carefully and while he appreciates that they cited him extensively, once six out of seven footnotes in sequence, he does wish they had rendered his narrative accurately. Likewise, the authors could have benefited from a careful reading of reviewer Shull's Hollywood War Films, 1937-1945. Boggs and Pollard write that Let There Be Light "crossed the cinematic line when it showed the battlefield experience in all its gory details. Alarmed at this transgression, the War Department prevented the film from appearing, shelving it behind a curtain of secrecy even while the critics, who had managed to see it, praised it and advocated its distribution." Further, the authors claim that the military "was far too enraged at Huston's work to permit its showing to armed-services personnel or the general public." For this account, they cite reviewer Suid's Guts & Glory on page 129. [End Page 99] In fact, the film contains no portrayals of combat. Actually, on page 205 of his book, Suid writes that the military had directed Huston to make Let There Be Light to show that "psychological effects of their combat experiences" were just as "severe as any physical wounds...