Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and the U.S. Navy

Suid, Lawrence

ISBN 10: 1557507872 / ISBN 13: 9781557507877

Published by Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1996

About this Item

xiv, [2], 307, [5] p. Illustrations. Notes. Sources. Index. List of Interviews. List of Films. For more than ninety years the American film industry and the US Navy have worked together to their mutual benefit. Hollywood used the Navy to obtain-at little or no cost-personnel, equipment and locations for movies filled with adventure, romance and drama. The author provides a fully documented history of the making of the Navy's image on file from the movie industry's earliest days. He goes behind the scenes for deliberations about the potential impact of certain movies on both the military and civilians, and examines the ripple effect of such watershed films as Top Gun, a movie that initially gave the navy a needed post-Vietnam boost. Bookseller Inventory # 65650

Bibliographic Details

Title: Sailing on the Silver Screen: Hollywood and ...

Publisher: Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD

Publication Date: 1996

Binding: Hardcover

Book Condition: Very good

Dust Jacket Condition: very good

Edition: First edition. First printing [stated].

About this title

Synopsis:

For most of the past 90 years, Hollywood has used the Navy to freely obtain personnel, equipment, and locations for movies filled with adventure, romance, and drama, while the Navy gained a public image that boosted its recruiting efforts and its relations with Congress. Although the Vietnam War dis

From the Back Cover:

The author provides a fully documented history of the making of the Navy's image on film from the movie industry's earliest days. He goes behind the scenes for deliberations about the potential impact of certain movies on both the military and civilians, and examines the ripple effect of such watershed films as Top Gun, a movie that initially gave the Navy a needed post-Vietnam boost. However, when the Tailhook scandal erupted and the conduct of some aviators was attributed to the "flyboy" image projected in the movie, Top Gun became a liability. Lawrence Suid's inside revelations about the Navy's cinematic input range from pre-World War I to post-Cold War. More than 100 films, as varied as Annapolis and Hunt for Red October, are analyzed for their portrayal of the Navy. The book's focus is on feature films, but relevant documentaries and made-for-television movies are also discussed. Suid draws on original documents from the Department of Defense, National Archives, and private collections, and from interviews with more than 100 filmmakers, naval officers, and government officials.