‘Five Came Back’: How the Story of Hollywood Directors In World War II Became a Great Netflix Series
Entertainment journalist Mark Harris followed up his well-reviewed 2009 “Pictures at a Revolution” with an even better and more accessible book, the dramatic story of five top Hollywood directors and their roles in producing WWII propaganda films, told over 500 pages: “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War. The first book was doomed not to become a movie due to prohibitive clip costs. But the urge to open up Harris’s exhaustive research on “Five Came Back” via dramatic documentary shorts shot in the global arena was irresistible — and they were free.
Read More: ‘Five Came Back’ Review: A Cinephile’s Dream Documentary Becomes Enthralling for Everyone on Netflix
There’s plenty of rich footage to choose from: Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” propaganda, John Huston’s re-enacted “The Battle of San Pietro,” John Ford and William Wyler’s live footage of the D-Day invasion from sea and air,...
Read More: ‘Five Came Back’ Review: A Cinephile’s Dream Documentary Becomes Enthralling for Everyone on Netflix
There’s plenty of rich footage to choose from: Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” propaganda, John Huston’s re-enacted “The Battle of San Pietro,” John Ford and William Wyler’s live footage of the D-Day invasion from sea and air,...
- 4/3/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
‘Five Came Back’: How the Story of Hollywood Directors In World War II Became a Great Netflix Series
Entertainment journalist Mark Harris followed up his well-reviewed 2009 “Pictures at a Revolution” with an even better and more accessible book, the dramatic story of five top Hollywood directors and their roles in producing WWII propaganda films, told over 500 pages: “Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War. The first book was doomed not to become a movie due to prohibitive clip costs. But the urge to open up Harris’s exhaustive research on “Five Came Back” via dramatic documentary shorts shot in the global arena was irresistible — and they were free.
Read More: ‘Five Came Back’ Review: A Cinephile’s Dream Documentary Becomes Enthralling for Everyone on Netflix
There’s plenty of rich footage to choose from: Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” propaganda, John Huston’s re-enacted “The Battle of San Pietro,” John Ford and William Wyler’s live footage of the D-Day invasion from sea and air,...
Read More: ‘Five Came Back’ Review: A Cinephile’s Dream Documentary Becomes Enthralling for Everyone on Netflix
There’s plenty of rich footage to choose from: Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” propaganda, John Huston’s re-enacted “The Battle of San Pietro,” John Ford and William Wyler’s live footage of the D-Day invasion from sea and air,...
- 4/3/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Netflix has released the trailer for a fascinating new three part documentary called Five Came Back. It focuses on how World War II changed Hollywood and features directors like Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro diving into this subject matter.
Netflix put out an extensive press release with tons of details on what the doc will entail and I'm completely captivated by the film's subject matter. I love the history of film and the history of WWII and seeing a doc focusing on how these two things affected each other is film geek candy! Here are the additional details:
The movie is an adaptation of the book Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War written by Mark Harris. It's tells "the extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five filmmakers...
Netflix put out an extensive press release with tons of details on what the doc will entail and I'm completely captivated by the film's subject matter. I love the history of film and the history of WWII and seeing a doc focusing on how these two things affected each other is film geek candy! Here are the additional details:
The movie is an adaptation of the book Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War written by Mark Harris. It's tells "the extraordinary story of how Hollywood changed World War II – and how World War II changed Hollywood, through the interwoven experiences of five filmmakers...
- 2/28/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Tony Sokol Simon Brew Mar 1, 2017
How the big directors of the 1940s were drafted in to make films for the American military in World War II...
World War II's battles were fought on the battlefields, but also there was, as you probably know, a sizeable propaganda effort too. Major American film directors were involved in the war effort, making propaganda films. for the Us military. This story was wonderfully told by Mark Harris in his terrific book, Five Came Back. And now Netflix has a three-part documentary based on his work heading our way. And a trailer has just been released.
See related Prime Suspect prequel on its way Celebrating Jimmy McGovern's Cracker Endeavour series 4 episode 4 review: Harvest Inspector Morse 30th anniversary: the top 10 episodes
In the series, directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass, Lawrence Kasdan and Steven Spielberg discuss the great generation of the 1940s,...
How the big directors of the 1940s were drafted in to make films for the American military in World War II...
World War II's battles were fought on the battlefields, but also there was, as you probably know, a sizeable propaganda effort too. Major American film directors were involved in the war effort, making propaganda films. for the Us military. This story was wonderfully told by Mark Harris in his terrific book, Five Came Back. And now Netflix has a three-part documentary based on his work heading our way. And a trailer has just been released.
See related Prime Suspect prequel on its way Celebrating Jimmy McGovern's Cracker Endeavour series 4 episode 4 review: Harvest Inspector Morse 30th anniversary: the top 10 episodes
In the series, directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greengrass, Lawrence Kasdan and Steven Spielberg discuss the great generation of the 1940s,...
- 2/28/2017
- Den of Geek
One of the more popular film-related books of the last few years is Mark Harris‘ Five Came Back: A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War, which recounts the experience directors John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens had heading to war and then returning to Hollywood to make some of their greatest films. In a welcome surprise only recently revealed, the book has now been turned into a three-part series on Netflix and it’ll arrive next month.
Featuring narration from Meryl Streep and interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg, Paul Greengrass, and Lawrence Kasdan, the first trailer has arrived. Judging from this preview, it looks to be a rousing documentary capturing this crucial time in cinematic history and the world at large. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, he and his team pored through 100 hours of archival and newsreel footage...
Featuring narration from Meryl Streep and interviews with Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Spielberg, Paul Greengrass, and Lawrence Kasdan, the first trailer has arrived. Judging from this preview, it looks to be a rousing documentary capturing this crucial time in cinematic history and the world at large. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, he and his team pored through 100 hours of archival and newsreel footage...
- 2/28/2017
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Next month, Netflix has a wide variety of films — modern to classic, animated to live action, Oscar winners to romantic comedies — and we’ve picked seven that you should watch once they’re made available on the streaming service. Enjoy.
1. “Under the Sun” (available November 11)
Directed by Vitaly Manski, the documentary follows a year in the life of a family in Pyongyang, North Korea as their eight-year-old daughter, Zin-mi, prepares to join the Korean Children’s Union on the Day of the Shining Star.
2. “The Ivory Game” (available November 14)
Directed by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the documentary sheds a light on the seedy underbelly of elephant poaching in Africa and black market ivory trading in China.
Read More: ‘The Ivory Game,’ Produced By Leonardo DiCaprio, Is a Shocking Look at an Underground Marketplace — Telluride Review
3. “Just Friends” (available November 14)
On a lighter note, who...
1. “Under the Sun” (available November 11)
Directed by Vitaly Manski, the documentary follows a year in the life of a family in Pyongyang, North Korea as their eight-year-old daughter, Zin-mi, prepares to join the Korean Children’s Union on the Day of the Shining Star.
2. “The Ivory Game” (available November 14)
Directed by Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, the documentary sheds a light on the seedy underbelly of elephant poaching in Africa and black market ivory trading in China.
Read More: ‘The Ivory Game,’ Produced By Leonardo DiCaprio, Is a Shocking Look at an Underground Marketplace — Telluride Review
3. “Just Friends” (available November 14)
On a lighter note, who...
- 10/20/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
When John Huston went to war he took his mission seriously... as an artist. He made four wartime docus for the army. San Pietro and the long suppressed Let There Be Light are the classics we studied in film school; Winning Your Wings is typical enlistment booster material and Report from the Aleutians a remarkably good record of how the war was really fought in far-flung locations. Let There Be Light: John Huston's Wartime Documentaries Blu-ray Olive Films 1942-1945 Color and B&W 1:33 flat full frame 281 min. Street Date January 19, 2016 available through the Olive Films website 29.95 Directed by John Huston
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Of the Hollywood directors who 'went to war' and made high-profile Signal Corps films for the public, John Huston was surely the most innovative. He made one enlistment booster for the Army Air Corps and then three pictures that the Army thought were either too long,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Of the Hollywood directors who 'went to war' and made high-profile Signal Corps films for the public, John Huston was surely the most innovative. He made one enlistment booster for the Army Air Corps and then three pictures that the Army thought were either too long,...
- 1/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Beverly Hills, CA . Contemporary documentarians will explore the rapidly-changing landscape and increasing profile of documentary filmmaking in “The Rise of Nonfiction Movies,” the latest installment of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. John Huston Lecture series, on Wednesday, October 26, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will be moderated by R.J. Cutler, producer-director of “The September Issue” (2009) and producer of “The War Room” (1993).
While information may be spreading faster and distribution choices are evolving at a dizzying pace, non-fiction filmmakers continue to find cutting-edge solutions and storytelling forms to prove that truth is often better than fiction. Despite the significant hurdles their producers and distributors often face, theatrical documentaries have gained a newfound popularity, in many cases because of their willingness to challenge the status quo and delve into the drama, humor and fascination of real life.
Panelists for the evening include Amir Bar-Lev,...
While information may be spreading faster and distribution choices are evolving at a dizzying pace, non-fiction filmmakers continue to find cutting-edge solutions and storytelling forms to prove that truth is often better than fiction. Despite the significant hurdles their producers and distributors often face, theatrical documentaries have gained a newfound popularity, in many cases because of their willingness to challenge the status quo and delve into the drama, humor and fascination of real life.
Panelists for the evening include Amir Bar-Lev,...
- 10/11/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Whether they are glossy or gritty, embedded or independent, the best war documentaries still reveal the sheer savagery of combat, says film-maker Kevin Macdonald
When was real combat first recorded on film? Probably almost as soon as the "cinematograph" camera was invented. They say that around 1916, Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa used to stage battles for his cameramen to record when the light was good. During the second world war, John Ford and John Huston were just two of the great Hollywood directors who picked up 16mm cameras to film real action for, respectively, The Battle of Midway and Report from the Aleutians. But these were straightforward propaganda movies for the most part: they made no pretences of showing what combat was really like for a soldier – what it felt like physiologically and psychologically. Their aim was to stir the patriotic fervour of the audience and to soothe their anxieties about the conflict.
When was real combat first recorded on film? Probably almost as soon as the "cinematograph" camera was invented. They say that around 1916, Mexican revolutionary general Pancho Villa used to stage battles for his cameramen to record when the light was good. During the second world war, John Ford and John Huston were just two of the great Hollywood directors who picked up 16mm cameras to film real action for, respectively, The Battle of Midway and Report from the Aleutians. But these were straightforward propaganda movies for the most part: they made no pretences of showing what combat was really like for a soldier – what it felt like physiologically and psychologically. Their aim was to stir the patriotic fervour of the audience and to soothe their anxieties about the conflict.
- 4/5/2011
- by Kevin Macdonald
- The Guardian - Film News
Jedi, goofy flight attendants, a possessed young girl, and two journalists on the brink of discovery are among the characters to be honored for film preservation. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington has named 25 motion pictures to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
Among the films to be preserved are George Lucas' "Return of the Jedi," "Airplane," William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," and Alan J. Pakula's "All The President's Men." This year.s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 550.
Each year, the Librarian of Congress, under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant, to be preserved for all time. In other words, these films are certainly not the "best" (but we can argue that each movie truly represented high quality) but they are works of art...
Among the films to be preserved are George Lucas' "Return of the Jedi," "Airplane," William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," and Alan J. Pakula's "All The President's Men." This year.s selections bring the number of films in the registry to 550.
Each year, the Librarian of Congress, under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant, to be preserved for all time. In other words, these films are certainly not the "best" (but we can argue that each movie truly represented high quality) but they are works of art...
- 12/28/2010
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
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