The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler

Prior to World War II, Hollywood moguls were very concerned about their profits from Europe, particularly from Germany. To preserve their overseas markets, they collaborated closely with German governments, including the Nazi regime. This history has been known for many years, but the broad extent of the collaboration was generally less understood until Urwand (history, Harvard Univ.) uncovered damning evidence in German and other archives. One result of the shameful bargain between the mostly Jewish studio heads and the rabidly anti-Semitic Nazis was the virtual disappearance of major Jewish characters from American films in the 1930s. Equally as egregious was the permanent establishment of a Nazi functionary in Los Angeles who acted as a censor on American films to avoid offending Nazi sensibilities. It was not until 1939, when war was imminent, that Warner Brothers studio broke the pact with Confessions of a Nazi Spy. These interesting revelations are interspersed with accounts of the anti-Nazi activities of other prominent Hollywood figures.