Hollywood on War: It ain't what it used to be

During World War II, Hollywood operated the Hollywood Canteen in support of service men and women.

At one time, Hollywood actually supported our country when it was at war. Today we battle Muslim extremists, and have for a decade. Michael Moore is making millions of dollars telling us not to support our president and his decisions to defend our country. In the early 1940s, America was at war and Hollywood was all too supportive.

Many movies of the time added frames at the end that stated "Buy War Bonds." Plenty of stars, such as Jimmy Stewart, Tyrone Power and Clark Gable joined up. Gable's wife, Carole Lombard, died in a plane crash while touring the country selling war bonds. Today's stars don't have the balls to do anything but complain. Professional football player Pat Tillman is the only celebrity to enlist and serve his country proudly.

There were countless heroic war movies made during World War II. Yet, more importantly, movies were being made as entertainment with subtle and not so subtle messages. Unlike all of Moore's movies, rich white men were not blamed for everything. Hollywood helped keep the faith on the homefront in support of our troops by making movies that inspired and comforted our country during a terrible time.

One early message Hollywood put out to the viewing public was the honor of serving. Clark Gable played a jewel thief in 1941’s They Met in Bombay. He pretends to be an officer and gets caught in a battle where he becomes a hero. He is supposed to get a medal but decides to tell the truth and turns himself in. There is apparently honor among thieves during wartime.

In 1942, Judy Garland and Gene Kelly starred in For Me and My Gal. In it, a vaudeville performer, Kelly, purposefully injures his hand in order to avoid going to fight in World War I. A major case of guilt happens when his girlfriend, Garland, gets a telegram that her brother has died in the war. Of course, he finds a way to serve and regain his honor. The film is set during World War I, but it is filled with so many patriotic songs that its message easily fits the time of its release.

Not only were there movies intended to inspire young men, there were also movies meant to console the women on the home front. Claudette Colbert starred in Since You Went Away in 1944. She plays a mother whose husband is fighting overseas. She has to raise her kids alone and deal with rationing. Hey, if Colbert can do it, so can everyone else.

Ginger Rogers epitomized the World War II wife in 1943's Tender Comrade. In it, 4 women share a house as they all make like "Rosie the Riveter" at a nearby factory. Each woman has a man over seas. Near the end of the movie Rogers get a telegram telling her of the death of her husband. She then gives a speech to her infant son who will never meet his father. She tells him of honor and tradition. It's a sappy speech, but many women at the time could probably relate to it.

Today's Hollywood is so dramatically liberal, that all it can do is embrace the blame America movie Fahrenheit 9/11. Primary Colors, starring John Travolta, created excuses for a liberal Presidential candidate by saying he has to play the deceitful, ethically wrong, election games just so he can become president and then do some good.

I long for the days when Hollywood actually supported the country with encouraging films that spent more time trying to inspire and less time with political misleadings. Call me old fashioned, but I like a positive movie that encourages and supports, not one that is filled with hate and excuses. Nothing good comes from them.