ABSTRACT
The formal entrance of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941, precipitated an often-difficult dialogue between agencies of the federal government and motion picture producers over the role of film in the war effort. Actually, how the United States should respond to the international crises was debated within the motion picture community before December 1941. Robert Young and Lillian Gish were prominent members of the America First Committee, while illuminati such as Robert Montgomery, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Helen Hayes were prointerventionists (Shull and Wilt 14). Even before Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor, opponents of United States aid to the Allies condemned what they believed were prowar themes in motion pictures. Spurred on by Senators Gerald Nye and Burton Wheeler, in September 1941 the Senate held hearings on what isolationists declared were too many Hollywood-produced films that urged United States intervention into the European conflict.
