During World War Two: Postwar Movie Recs

Almost immediately after the ending of the war, and for that matter, even before that, Hollywood tried to make sense of it and offer commentary on all that happened. Of course, countless movies have been made about the war, too many for any one listing, and some are done better than others.

This list, however, isn’t just specifically about war movies, but movies that have resonated for a variety of reasons in the eighty years since the war ended.

So yeah, here we go. Click the titles where possible for full reviews. Onward…

Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

This biopic about Jerome Kern was and is significant because it not only shows a return to prewar luxury, but it’s a showcase of Kern’s best work. Among them is “The Last Time I Saw Paris,” a 1940 song Kern wrote with Oscar Hammerstein after the Nazi occupation of France. Dinah Shore sings the song here, obviously, but it was recorded by others as well, Ann Sothern among them. The song had huge sentimental value during the war and this continued afterwards during the rebuilding of Europe. It’s also a favorite song of Julie Andrews, who was once caught whistling it by one Mr. Hammerstein himself.

It Happened In Brooklyn (1947)

Veteran Danny is freshly home from the war and feeling at loose ends, but gradually finds a new life and new purpose. This movie is ultimately about encouraging each other to break out of one’s proverbial comfort zone and pursuing dreams. The music is fantastic as well, and among the gems is “Time After Time,” a song by Jule Stein and Sammy Cahn that praises the idea of long-lasting love. It was especially timely, as Americans were ready to settle down and raise families after four years of war and the impulsive excitement that comes with abnormal times.

It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

Oh my word, this movie is fun, even if it does sort of glamorize squatting. When a drifter and a homeless veteran take control of a Manhattan mansion for the winter, it ends up being a boarding house for veterans and their families. It all works out great until the owners of the house, Michael J. O’Connor and his ex-wife, Mary, decide to join the crowd of needy souls.

I Remember Mama (1948)

This was George Stevens’s first film after returning from overseas, and it must have been comforting to go deeply into this gentle story of a Norwegian American family in San Francisco at the turn of the twentieth century. It really does feel like coming home, where people are looking for us, where our family has our backs, and where there’s always a good meal and a soft bed. While it heavily deviates from its source material, Mama’s Bank Account, it still gets a lot of the book’s main ideas across.

The Third Man (1949)

A taut thriller starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten, The Third Man concerns Holly Martin, an author who arrives in Vienna because his friend has offered him a job. The only problem is, his friend dies under mysterious circumstances. This film contains what I think is one of the best opening shots in film history and gives a tour of a still-wrecked Vienna very soon after the war.

Mister Roberts (1955)

It’s late in the war, and the USS Reluctant has yet to see action. Its crew members are bored. Super bored. There’s not much to keep them busy once their chores are done, and their commanding officer, known simply as The Captain, spends his time cultivating his potted palm tree when he isn’t barking out orders. Mister Roberts was originally a novel that became a stage play and then a feature film. It was partially based on true events, as its author, Thomas Heggen was himself stationed on a cargo ship that never saw action. His novel was born of pure and simple necessity.

Judgement At Nuremberg (1961)

An all-star cast headed by Spencer Tracy lines this painstakingly direct and accurate portrayal of the Nuremberg trials. Director Stanley Kramer had a fine line to walk given the political situation of the late fifties and early sixties, not to mention there were a lot of people who just wanted to leave the war behind, but as we all know, the past has a way of following us. This is an amazing movie that doesn’t mince anything, and one I’d like to delve into in more detail someday.

The Great Escape (1963)

Yeah, it’s iconic. The theme is an earworm. Steve McQueen as the Cooler King is unforgettable. The rest of the cast is amazing, too, and there are lots of familiar faces. Sure, it takes a few liberties with the history, but the movie is so danged good that it’s easy to overlook in the moment. The Great Escape is not to be missed.

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

I’ve grown up on this movie. Tora! Tora! Tora! has an almost documentary-like approach to its portrayal of the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the names of all the different characters and places spelled out, and it’s a good thing, too, because their name is Legion. This movie shows the points of view of both the Americans and the Japanese and stays pretty matter-of-fact with a minimum of finger-pointing, which makes it pretty remarkable in the Second World War film canon.

Midway (1976)

In the same school as Tora! Tora! Tora! in that it’s laboriously documentary-like in most respects, this film sports and all-star cast and a ponderous length. Growing up, I watched this movie avidly, knowing that my adoptive grandpa had been at Midway. As an adult, though, I now know the movie has some inaccuracies. Like, a lot. It also doesn’t lay out what exactly was at stake at Midway and why that battle was so significant. Still, the performances are interesting, and it’s kind of a time capsule of seventies disaster epics, as well as an example of how the war was portrayed when a lot of the official information was still classified.

Empire of the Sun (1987)

When young British schoolboy, James is separated from his parents in occupied China, he really has to bring it to survive as well as to help other people. The big highlight of this, of course, is Christian Bale, who was thirteen when the movie released and gave an amazing performance. This is a hard film to watch sometimes, but it’s also immensely satisfying.

Memphis Belle (1990)

This movie was kind of a big deal when it came out in 1990 because it featured a lot of the young male stars of the day (My favorite part has always been when Harry Connick, Jr. sings “Danny Boy”). While mostly accurate, the veterans who saw it said that the mission portrayed in the film was unusually eventful. I had the very great pleasure of getting to see the plane used in the movie up close in 2012, an experience I will never forget.

Life Is Beautiful (1997)

This Italian film is kind of a wonder, as in, it paints an unusually optimistic view of the Holocaust and the Final Solution. Or at least, this was how an Italian Jewish waiter named Guido made it feel for his young son, Giosué, who he tells fanciful stories to in order to shield him from the horrors around him. Life Is Beautiful is not without controversy because of its lightheartedness, but it’s hard to deny that Roberto Benigni, who also wrote and directed the film, puts in a wonderful performance.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

I’ll confess, until a few months ago I had only seen this movie starting after the first thirty minutes. My husband told me I wouldn’t like it. Well, he was right, but consider the subject matter. The landing at Omaha Beach was messy, confusing, and bloody, and the movie does an excellent job of capturing that, although I think it would have been stronger had it been from the point of view of a single soldier or two. Anyway, actual veterans thought the movie was fairly accurate, and that’s a high compliment.

Housewife, 49 (2005)

If anyone hasn’t read Nella Last’s diary, they’re in for a treat. At over a million words, it’s said to be one of the largest diaries written in English, and no one’s ever read all of it. The late, great Victoria Wood wrote, directed and starred in the film, and while it moves really quickly through the six years of the war, it paints a fine portrait of a woman who found herself in a big way and surprised everyone around her.

Oppenheimer (2023)

The atomic bomb has always been an extremely touchy subject, and the man who oversaw the Manhattan Project, Alan J. Oppenheimer, is a rather polarizing figure. Christopher Nolan’s approach is fairly balanced but also has an element of shock to it portraying Oppenheimer’s thoughts and feelings visually while momentous events take place around him. While it’s not perfect, it’s a very tactile movie that packs quite a punch.

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

OK, it seems a little funny to have a Godzilla movie on a postwar movie rec list, but then again, the Godzilla character was born out of the Nuclear Age. Godzilla Minus One not only shows us its idea of the aftermath of the war in Japan, but how the characters deal with past mistakes and traumas. Now, there are a few howlers from a physics standpoint (check out the plane Koichi flies at the end), but it’s an absorbing film and my favorite of the franchise next to the original 1954 movie.

Another review is coming out on Friday. Thanks for reading, all, and I hope to see you then…

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Till the Clouds Roll By (DVD, Prime, Pluto, Roku, and Tubi), I Remember Mama (DVD and Blu-ray), It Happened In Brooklyn (DVD), It Happened On Fifth Avenue (DVD and Blu-ray), The Third Man (DVD, Blu-ray, and Tubi), Mister Roberts (DVD and Blu-ray), Judgement At Nuremberg (DVD, Blu-ray, Prime, Pluto and Tubi), The Great Escape (DVD, Blu-ray, Pluto and Tubi), Tora! Tora! Tora! (DVD and Blu-ray), Midway (DVD and Blu-ray), Empire of the Sun (DVD, Blu-ray and Pluto), Memphis Belle (DVD and Blu-ray), Life Is Beautiful (DVD and Blu-ray), Saving Private Ryan (DVD, Blu-ray, Prime, Pluto and Tubi), Housewife, 49 (DVD, Prime, Roku, and Tubi), Oppenheimer (DVD and Blu-ray), and Godzilla Minus One (DVD and Blu-ray) are available to own from Amazon.

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