Stars and Stripes on Screen : A Comprehensive Guide to Portrayals of American Military on Film

Throughout the 20th century and beyond, Hollywood has portrayed the U. S. armed services in mortal combat against enemies, real and imagined. Whether in a drama, comedy, or even a musical, the American military has played a role-either as a backdrop or as an integral element-in hundreds of films.

Stars and Stripes on Screen is the guide to the portrayal of American armed services in motion pictures from 1898 to the present. It contains entries to more than 1,000 feature films produced in the U.S. and abroad. The guide also includes more than 100 made for television movies and more than 175 documentaries-a list that has never before been compiled, according to the National Archives and the Library of Congress.

Each feature film entry identifies the following information: Title, director, producer, primary stars, studio, year of production, running time, and a brief abstract. In addition to this information, the guide also includes valuable details not often found in other guides: The war (or peacetime designation) in which the story took place, the service or services portrayed, and any cooperation that the production received from the American military. The entry also supplies (if applicable) the dates each film was reviewed in Weekly Variety and/or The New York Times.

In addition, the guide has ten appendices, including select lists of actors and directors with significant military film credits, key portrayals by subject, significant portrayals of military leadership, and a listing of all military films to receive Academy Awards®, regardless of category. Most important, the guide contains a chronology of films by service.

The wealth of information provided in Stars and Stripes on Screen will make this an indispensable guide for researchers and fans, as well as film and military historians.

Lawrence H. Suid is a military historian whose primary expertise is the study of the symbiotic relationship between the film industry and U.S. armed services. In addition to Guts & Glory, the definitive history of the subject, and Sailing on the Silver Screen, he has written histories of Armed Forces Radio and Television Service and the Army's nuclear power program.
Dolores A. Haverstick served as director of human resources in the office of inspector general in the U.S. Department of Labor. She has edited Lawrence Suid's books for the last 15 years.