Know Your Enemy: an American War-Propaganda Retrospective October 22, 2008

Propaganda has always been part of every war. In this illuminating and entertaining evening, Film Archivist Jack Stevenson presents an eye-opening look at American War Propaganda. A centerpiece of this presentation is the 1942 cartoon 'Der Fuhrer's Face,' that stars Donald Duck as an average German suffering the brutal deprivation and endless indoctrination of Hitler's Germany. With clear reference to Chaplin's 'Modern Times' (1936) and 'The Great Dictator' (1940), Donald is forced to slave overtime in a weapons factory, collapsing from exhaustion and falling into a surrealistic dreamland of Nazi symbolism. He finally awakens to discover that it was all just a dream and that he is still living in the good old U.S. of A. Seen with modern eyes, the films are by turns hilarious, chilling and in some cases still extremely effective.