Last Stands from the Alamo to Benghazi: How Hollywood Turns Military Defeats into Moral Victories [Paperback]

Last Stands from the Alamo to Benghazi examines how filmmakers teach Americans about the countrys military past. Examining twenty-three representative war films and locating them in their cultural and military landscape, the authors argue that Hollywoods view of American military history has evolved in two phases. The first phase, extending from the very beginnings of filmmaking to the Korean War, projected an essential patriotic triumphalism. The second phase, from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the present, reflects a retreat from consensus and reflexive patriotism. In describing these phases, the authors address recurring themes such as the experience of war and combat, the image of the American war hero, race, gender, national myths, and more. With helpful film commentaries that extend the discussion through popular movie narratives, this book is essential for anyone interested in American military and film history.

Introduction: The Very Thought of Losing

1 Do this Mean What I Think it Do?

John Waynes Alamo (1960)

John Lee Hancocks Alamo (2004)

2 Are You Calling Me a Liar?

They Died With Their Boots On (1941)

Little Big Man (1970)

3 Alamos of the Pacific

Wake Island (1942)

Bataan (1943)

Back to Bataan (1945)

They Were Expendable (1945)

Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

4 Were Supposed to be Angels of Mercy

Corregidor (March, 1943)

So Proudly We Hail! (September, 1943)