Going Hollywood: The War Years

Going Hollywood: The War Years Synopsis

From 1941 to 1945, the American motion picture industry geared itself up and marched into war. Van Johnson is your host in this feature-length special spotlighting some of Hollywood's greatest stars at the peak of their careers: from John Wayne taking on Japanese dogfighters; from Fred Astaire hoofing his way from civilian to soldier; to Bette Davis and Joan Crawford dazzling the troops at the Hollywood Canteen.

THE WAR YEARS is a lively compilation of vintage feature-film clips along with original wartime documentary footage and interviews with several prominent stars of the era, including Joan Leslie, Evelyn Keyes, Gloria DeHaven, Jackie Cooper and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Enter the battle trenches with Robert Taylor and Dane Clark ... relive the days of the USO with Bob Hope and his entourage of sexy celebrities ... see how special effects created some of the most stunning battle footage ever shot ... hit the dance floor with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers. From Carmen Miranda to Katherine Hepburn, from Pearl Harbor to the Allied Victory, THE WAR YEARS covers the range of experiences and emotions associated with the last "good" war. All the poetry and drama and humor and tragedy of the age is captured in this moving homage.

For those who remember the war, or those who have parents or grandparents who lived through it, or those who simply want to know more about the one event that sent a young, innocent nation forward into the modern world, THE WAR YEARS is a must-see.