This book is a fascinating study of how Hollywood's elite executives appeased and collaborated with the Nazis in the 1930s. They did this in order to keep a hold on the German filmgoing market. American films were very in demand in Germany - their own production capabilities were limited and poor. Hitler watched an American film (usually) just about every night while he was in power.

There is some bravery in the sense of people who stand up against the Nazis. People like Charlie Chaplin and Ben Hecht and even F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, as writers stand out as particularly courageous. But then the heads of the studios are another matter. By and large they are pretty disgusting.

Money was the thing. They didn't stand up against Hitler until he had banned their films, even though many of the studio executives were Jewish. Business came first and led to turning a blind eye toward the holocaust, until it made sense to tell the story of what went on.

Pretty pathetic behavior was exhibited and powerful people acted in a shameful way. Unfortunately, there is nothing new about that.

The book is written in an academic way rather than a dramatic one so it's pretty dry, but I was interested in knowing about what went on leading up to WW II.

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Created Sep 24, 2019 at 10:44am • Submit your own review...