What to Show the World: The Office of War Information and Hollywood, 1942-1945

Abstract

IHE uneasy relationship between propaganda and democracy proved especially troublesome during World War II. Interpreting the war as a worldwide crusade, liberals in the Office of War Information (OWI) won unprecedented control over the content of American motion pictures. An understanding of the interaction between OWI and Hollywood sheds light on both the objectives and methods of the nation's propaganda campaign and the content of wartime entertainment films. This episode, all but ignored by historians, offers insights into America's war ideology and the intersection of politics and mass culture in wartime. Moreover, it raises the question of whether the Roosevelt administration's propaganda strategy helped undermine some of its avowed war aims.' OWI, the chief government propaganda agency during World War II, was formed by an executive order on June 13, 1942, that consolidated several prewar information agencies. OWI's domestic branch handled the home front; its overseas branch supervised all United States foreign