Lux Theater Presents WWII

Movies and Radio grew in importance as mass media through the late 1930s. which made the success of LUX Radio Theatre nearly a sure thing. As the economic turmoil of the Great Depression began to ease, it was not uncommon for people to go to the movies two, three, even four nights a week. As the clouds of the Second World War began to loom on the horizon, newsreels and radio reports became important sources of information about what was happening in the wide world.

As isolationist policy became more and more unworkable, Hollywood began releasing Patriotic and propaganda-based films to help direct public opinion towards a readiness to fight. The War affected everyone, and the Movies became a common ground for understanding the experience.

Media had an interesting process of bringing the War home. Often, Radio brought immediate news of when an event or battle was occurring, and within a few days, the print media would be able to fill in the black and white details. However, within a few weeks or months, Hollywood would release a picture expressing how it actually felt to be with our boys on the front lines.

• Wings of the Navy, October 7, 1939. A pre-War Navy propaganda and recruiting film featuring Olivia de Havilland and John Payne featuring a rivalry between brothers, a love triangle, and plenty of seaplane action around North Island Nava Air Station in San Diego.
• Flight Command, March 24, 1941. Credited as the first film to glorify the American military released after the War began in Europe but before the U.S. officially enters the War. Robert Taylor is a cocky flier just out of Pensacola who has trouble winning friends in his new squadron in San Diego but earns their respect as he learns humility and teamwork.
• Buck Privates, October 13, 1941. Trying to evade a cop, comedians duck into a movie house which has been converted into an Army enlistment center. Before they can get their bearings, they are on their way to Boot Camp and further adventures. Camp life is hard but better than expected, especially with the Andrews Sisters popping in to sing Patriotic numbers.
• The Fighting 69th, April 6, 1942. Although the action takes place during the Great War, the 1940 picture is very much a WWII propaganda and recruiting film. The 69th Infantry Regiment was formed of all New York City boys. The story follows the exploits of Pvt Jerry Plunkett, a street tough kid who proves to be a coward under fire but redeems himself and saves his entire unit while making the ultimate sacrifice.
• The Navy Comes Through, May 3, 1943. A disgraced Naval Officer resigns his commission after a fatal gunnery accident but rejoins the service when WWII breaks out. Assigned to a Naval Gunnery Unit aboard a freighter, he manages to sink at least three U Boats, win back his girl, and find redemption in the eyes of the Chief who had testified against him.
• In Which We Serve, June 21, 1943. The plight of the British people during the War is expressed through the story of the HMS Torrin from the time she is built in a British dockyard through her sinking during the Battle of Crete. Flashbacks of survivors hanging onto rafts relate tales of Dunkirk, the Blitz, and sacrifice on the home front. The film ends with Torrin's survivors continuing to serve and taking the fight to the enemy.
• Air Force, July 12, 1943. An unarmed B-17 departs Hamilton Field in San Francisco on December 6, 1941, and arrives at Hickam Field in Honolulu in the middle of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The crew barely has time to lick its wounds before being ordered to Wake Island, finding another battle and taking on passengers, and continues to Clark Field in the Philippines, where the Japanese are attacking as well. The bomber is shot up almost to the point of being unserviceable, but her crew gets her back into the air and back into the fight.
• Guadalcanal Diary, February 28, 1944. The film was released barely a year after the actual battle. Although actual combat footage was used extensively in the film, the story is primarily focused on the characters, which made it ideal for adaptation on Lux. The picture was primarily shot at Camp Pendleton and several actual Marines are featured in extra roles.
• Destroyer, April 3, 1944. Edward G. Robinson leads the cast as a retired boatswains mate working in a shipyard, struggling to get the USS John Paul Jones launched. Once his pride and joy is in the water, he reenlists to join the crew of the Jones, but his "Old Navy" attitudes run up against the realities of a modern-day crew.
• Action in the North Atlantic, May 15, 1944. After their tanker was sunk by Nazi submarine in the North Atlantic, the crew is assigned to a new Liberty Ship with a Navy gun crew and a 5-inch gun mount. The convoy they are assigned to is attacked by a wolfpack and scatters. An individual U boat follows the ship, but they manage to elude attack until reaching Murmansk.
• Pride of the Marines, December 29, 1945. The story of Al Schmid, a "man's man" steelworker in Philadelphia who falls in love but joins the Marines to serve his Country. He becomes a hero at Guadalcanal but is left blind by his injuries. Ashamed to be dependent on others, he tries to break up with his girl back home, but she is determined to stay by his side.
• O.S.S., November 18, 1946. A group of American spies is parachuted into Occupied France to gather intelligence, blow up railroad tunnels, and be general nuisances to the Nazi's. based on the exploits of agents of the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA, the film's writer, Richard Maibaum, will go on to write twelve of the fifteen original James Bond pictures.
• Battleground, February 12, 1951. Based on the book, "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne", the film follows the troops of the 327thGlider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division as they are called into action to defend the city of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. The film was praised as the first serious film about WWII after the War ended.
• With a Song in My Heart, February 9, 1953. Susan Hayward plays singer Jane Froman, who was traveling with a USO troop in 1943 when her plane crashed in Portugal. She received several life-threatening injuries and was in danger of having both legs amputated, but within a year of the crash, Miss Froman was entertaining the troops again, even with her braces and crutches.