As veteran Hollywood journalist David L Robb shows in this revealing insider's look into Hollywood's 'dirtiest little secret' - the final product that moviegoers see at the theatre is often not just what the director intends but also what the powers-that-be in the military want to project about America's armed forces.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Every year, Hollywood producers ask the Pentagon for help in making films, seeking everything from locations and technical advice to Blackhawk helicopters and nuclear-powered submarines. The military will happily oblige, it says in an army handbook, so long as the movie "aid[s] in the recruiting and retention of personnel." The producers want to make money; the Defense Department wants to make propaganda. Former Hollywood Reporter staffer Robb explores the conflicts resulting from these negotiations in this illuminating though sometimes tedious study of the military-entertainment complex over the last 50 years. Robb shows how, in the Nicholas Cage film Windtalkers, the Marine Corps strong-armed producers into deleting a scene where a Marine pries gold teeth from a dead Japanese soldier (a historically accurate detail). And in The Perfect Storm, the air force insisted on giving the Air National Guard credit for rescuing a sinking fishing boat, instead of the actual Coast Guard heroes. Even seemingly flawless recruiting vehicles had troubles: in Top Gun, the navy demanded Tom Cruise's love interest be changed from a military instructor to a civilian contractor (fraternization between officers and enlisted personnel being a no-no). At its worst, the author argues, the Pentagon unscrupulously targets children; Robb reveals how the Defense Department helped insert military story lines into the Mickey Mouse Club. To help, Robb suggests a schedule of uniform fees by which producers could rent aircraft carriers, F-16s and the like. It's an intriguing idea, though producers can go it alone: as Robb points out, blockbusters Forrest Gump, An Officer and a Gentleman and Platoon were all made without military assistance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"...a bracing read into the backstory of big studio propaganda." -- Entertainment Today (Los Angeles), May 21-27, 2004
"...a shocking look at governmental interference in the filmmaking business over the past 50 years or so..." -- Tennessee Tribune, July 15, 2004
"...a tour of the integral workings of Hollywood's deal with the Pentagon. Our rating: A" -- Rocky Mountain News, April 23, 2004
"...addresses half a century of propaganda techniques used in Hollywood movies." -- Seattle Times/ Post-Intelligencer, May 30, 2004
"...one of the best I've read in a long time...[Robb's] a great writer and the researcher is far-reaching." -- MovieWeb.com, August 16, 2004
"...tremendous job of documenting how far film producers and television shows bend their vision to the military line..." -- OC Weekly, July 23-29, 2004
"An indignant, unsettling analysis of the military's influence on the film industry." -- Hollywood Reporter, May 13, 2004
"Anyone interested in the truth, in propaganda, movies, or the military should definitely read this book. It's an eye-opener." -- About.com (Agnosticism/Atheism)
"...a shocking look at governmental interference in the filmmaking business over the past 50 years or so..." -- Tennessee Tribune, July 15, 2004
"...a tour of the integral workings of Hollywood's deal with the Pentagon. Our rating: A" -- Rocky Mountain News, April 23, 2004
"...addresses half a century of propaganda techniques used in Hollywood movies." -- Seattle Times/ Post-Intelligencer, May 30, 2004
"...one of the best I've read in a long time...[Robb's] a great writer and the researcher is far-reaching." -- MovieWeb.com, August 16, 2004
"...tremendous job of documenting how far film producers and television shows bend their vision to the military line..." -- OC Weekly, July 23-29, 2004
"An indignant, unsettling analysis of the military's influence on the film industry." -- Hollywood Reporter, May 13, 2004
"Anyone interested in the truth, in propaganda, movies, or the military should definitely read this book. It's an eye-opener." -- About.com (Agnosticism/Atheism)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
While reading of this book would be a good education in propoganda for everyone, it could have been written in a far more educational manner.
I, like many, I would guess, did not realize that those credits at the end of the movie, thanking the armed forces, are more than a simple thank you. They indicate the Pentagon has approved the movie for propoganda purposes.
Most people realize that propoganda was a prevailing force in the movies of the World War II era. But the same propoganda continues today, in a much more subtle form.
A more interesting book would have covered the history of government propoganda in Hollywood releases, not just centered on mostly movies of the last 20 years. There was not a mention of the Disney movies seen on the DVD release "On the Front Lines", or of other movies of the era (such as Abbott and Costello's "Buck Privates"). This was propoganda at its peak.
Also, it would have been interesting to understand the logic behind how the Pentagon would think movies such as "The Swarm" and "Airport 77" would make individuals want to join the armed forces.
I also continue to wonder, as it wasn't mentioned in the book, why the Pentagon supported movies such as "Run Silent Run Deep" or "The Caine Mutiny", both of which deal with mutiny in great detail.
While I admire the author for tackling such a subject, and in bringing it to the public's attention, I just wish he had tackled it with a bit more fervor.
I, like many, I would guess, did not realize that those credits at the end of the movie, thanking the armed forces, are more than a simple thank you. They indicate the Pentagon has approved the movie for propoganda purposes.
Most people realize that propoganda was a prevailing force in the movies of the World War II era. But the same propoganda continues today, in a much more subtle form.
A more interesting book would have covered the history of government propoganda in Hollywood releases, not just centered on mostly movies of the last 20 years. There was not a mention of the Disney movies seen on the DVD release "On the Front Lines", or of other movies of the era (such as Abbott and Costello's "Buck Privates"). This was propoganda at its peak.
Also, it would have been interesting to understand the logic behind how the Pentagon would think movies such as "The Swarm" and "Airport 77" would make individuals want to join the armed forces.
I also continue to wonder, as it wasn't mentioned in the book, why the Pentagon supported movies such as "Run Silent Run Deep" or "The Caine Mutiny", both of which deal with mutiny in great detail.
While I admire the author for tackling such a subject, and in bringing it to the public's attention, I just wish he had tackled it with a bit more fervor.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Operation Hollywood is an interesting book about the common practice in which studios alter scripts to meet military PR requirements in return for free access to both bases and equipment.
The book shows how pro-military movies leads to spikes in recruitment and as a result, the military wants to control everything that goes into a movie. All too often, Hollywood acquiesces to their demands. The military believes that they are only enforcing accuracy, but they also maintain that any film that does not reflect well on the military is "inaccurate."
This baleful influence has altered the view that Americans now have of the military. They believe that the U.S. military is intrincsically good and is incapable of doing anything wrong.
Operation Hollywood is an interesting and revealing book. As such it is recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book documents how the Pentagon and branches of the United States military bully filmmakers into revising scripts, editing scenes from movies and even rewriting factual history by denying them access to military bases, use of soldiers as extras and use of tanks, jets, helicopters, etc if they do not make the alterations to the films. There are multitudes of examples and firsthand accounts of this being done in this book. In fact there are so many that it gets monotonous after a while.
One thing that shouldn't be surprising is that the overwhelming majority of the films that catered to the Pentagon/Military were complete and total garbage and great films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon and An Officer and a Gentlemen received no help whatsoever. But really what films are there that aren't full of propaganda and attempts at brainwashing. They do it overtly and in subtle ways. Probably even subliminally for that matter. Whats documented in this book is the overt public relations type attempts at propaganda. The real social engineers and mind benders in Hollywood operate in a much more shadowy way.
One thing that shouldn't be surprising is that the overwhelming majority of the films that catered to the Pentagon/Military were complete and total garbage and great films like Apocalypse Now, Platoon and An Officer and a Gentlemen received no help whatsoever. But really what films are there that aren't full of propaganda and attempts at brainwashing. They do it overtly and in subtle ways. Probably even subliminally for that matter. Whats documented in this book is the overt public relations type attempts at propaganda. The real social engineers and mind benders in Hollywood operate in a much more shadowy way.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
This Book Takes Itself Far Too Seriously
The strain of keeping the secrets that have been entrusted to me are today, too much to bare. They rip at my soul and are destroying my sanity. I can no longer eat. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Gordon
An inside look at government propaganda
One of the principles the USA was founded upon was the freedom of speech; no government entity can restrict the freedom of expression of a private individual. Read more
Published on July 22, 2005 by Newton Ooi
Critics Pay Taxes Too
Robb's book is an invaluable resource for those interested in the mechanics of propaganda from Hollywood. Read more
Published on August 30, 2004 by Douglas Doepke
Buyer beware...
This is not, per the editorial tag, "the most important book ever written about Hollywood." Nor does it uncover a secret collaboration between Hollywood and the military. Read more
Published on August 16, 2004 by Marc Aspen
Viewer Beware
David L. Robb has a bone to pick with the Pentagon. He thinks the Pentagon policy of witholding military cooperation to movie producers who don't portray the military in a positive... Read more
Published on July 31, 2004 by takingadayoff
Absurd Central Thesis
This sometimes entertaining book is ruined by its flawed central thesis: That the Pentagon, by refusing to cooperate in the production of films that involve the use of their troops... Read more
Published on May 30, 2004
Operation Hollywood Presents an Amazing Tale
Operation Hollywood describes how the U.S. military controls what we see in many movies made for the big screen. I would not have thought this was possible in our society. Read more
Published on May 23, 2004 by joseph m bridgman
The Pentagon and Hollywood Dissected
Operation Hollywood has come out at a time when the Pentagon's relationship with the American public is being evaluated -- at the height of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal. Read more
Published on May 7, 2004 by Anita Busch
a cautionary note
In the wake of the terrible abuses of prisoners in Iraq, I can't imagine a more important book than this, showing how the Pentagon is concerned with creating an image that is often... Read more
Published on May 7, 2004
Spectacular work!
With his new book, Operation Hollywood, Dave Robb demonstrates why he continues to be Hollywood's best investigative journalist. Read more
Published on May 7, 2004 by Dan E. Moldea
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
We may think that the content of American movies is free from government interference, but in fact, the Pentagon has been telling filmmakers what to say-and what not to say-for decades. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Marine Corps, Department of Defense, Phil Strub, Los Angeles, United States, World War, Devil Pups, Don Baruch, White House, Top Gun, National Guard, Code Talkers, Major Georgi, Defense Department, Heartbreak Ridge, Warner Bros, Coast Guard, Navy Department, State Department, Agent Orange, John Wayne, Star Trek, Black Hawk, John Horton, Sergeant Highway New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
We may think that the content of American movies is free from government interference, but in fact, the Pentagon has been telling filmmakers what to say-and what not to say-for decades. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Marine Corps, Department of Defense, Phil Strub, Los Angeles, United States, World War, Devil Pups, Don Baruch, White House, Top Gun, National Guard, Code Talkers, Major Georgi, Defense Department, Heartbreak Ridge, Warner Bros, Coast Guard, Navy Department, State Department, Agent Orange, John Wayne, Star Trek, Black Hawk, John Horton, Sergeant Highway New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 44
books:
See all 44 books this book cites
1
book
cites this book:
- Battle Cry by Leon Uris on 5 pages
- Fields of Fire by James Webb on 5 pages
- Cinderella Liberty a Novel by Darrly Ponicsan on 4 pages
- The Last Detail by Darryl Ponicsan on 4 pages
- The Hunt for Red October (Jack Ryan) by Tom Clancy on 4 pages
See all 44 books this book cites
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