TCM recalls the ‘Hollywood Victory’ of World War II-era stars

For many top talents, supporting America’s wartime efforts has meant contributing however they can ... including deciding which films to make.

A new book being published Tuesday, Nov. 2, under the Turner Classic Movies banner – “Hollywood Victory: The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II,” by Christian Blauvelt – recalls activities of luminaries including James Stewart, Hedy Lamarr, Edward G. Robinson and glamorous spouses Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Blauvelt joins host Alicia Malone on TCM to present an evening of related films Thursday, Nov. 4, into early Friday, Nov. 5.

Starting with Robinson’s “Confessions of a Nazi Spy,” the lineup also includes “Hold Back the Dawn” with Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn’s “Edge of Darkness” and John Garfield in director Howard Hawks’ “Air Force.” It wraps up with “Hollywood Victory Caravan,” with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope among stars playing themselves.

“The 1940s is my favorite movie decade,” explains author Blauvelt, who also wrote a 2019 book for TCM on New York-set movies. “It’s a decade in which you had so many different kinds of movies, and so many different audiences that Hollywood had never tried to reach before. People often think there wasn’t very much diversity in Hollywood then, but it was a time when there very much was. And on top of that, the quality was just so good.”

Blauvelt says he designed “Hollywood Victory” to be “a sweeping narrative, the story of Hollywood and World War II from start to finish. At the beginning, I talk about how Hedy Lamarr came from Austria to America on the S.S. Normandie, with (movie-studio mogul) Louis B. Mayer aboard as well. She had a huge impact on developing technology that could have helped win the war later on. I wanted to introduce all these people and make you feel hooked by their journeys, then come back to them and bounce their experiences off each other.”