The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler

According to the book the assistance was done for monetary reasons and because some film industry executives who were Jewish believed that antisemitism would increase if films were too obviously pleading for assistance for Jews.{{cite news|author=Bukiet, Melvin Jules|authorlink=Melvin Jules Bukiet|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/the-collaboration-hollywoods-pact-with-hitler-by-ben-urwand/2013/09/26/c5126af0-1492-11e3-880b-7503237cc69d_story.html|title="The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler," by Ben Urwand|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2019-10-15}} Urwand believes that the studio heads willingly assisted the Nazis.{{cite web|author=Helmore, Edward|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/29/historian-says-hollywood-collaborated-with-nazis|title=Hollywood and Hitler: did the studio bosses bow to Nazi wishes? |work=The Observer|date=2013-06-29|access-date=2019-10-15}} The author argued that the filmmakers feared that German authorities would prohibit American films and put anti-American content in German films if American film companies refused to co-operate, which means American filmmakers would have had no way to have a say in the German market.Ashkenazi, p. 2/4. Edward Helmore of The Observer wrote that "Urwand's interpretation of the relationship is disputed by other scholars of the period." Ofer Ashkenazi of Hebrew University wrote in a review of the book that in addition to "shameless profit-seeking" the American film executives also considered "a logical, albeit not heroic, survival strategy" as this American industry also faced local anti-Semitic sentiment.Ashkenazi, p. 4/4.

Archival materials were used as part of the book, including letters.{{cite web|author=Quinn, Anthony|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/16/collaboration-hollywood-hitler-ben-urwand|title=The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler by Ben Urwand – review |work=The Guardian|date=2013-10-16|access-date=2019-10-15}}

Publishers Weekly designated the review with a star and wrote that "Urwand deserves immense credit for this groundbreaking—and truly unique—take on the WWII era."{{cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-674-72474-7|title=The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact with Hitler |work=Publishers Weekly|date=2013-07-22|access-date=2019-10-15}} Kirkus Reviews described it as "a keen, unsettling look" at the subject, and that it "keeps the focus on a few films for an elucidating study."{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ben-urwand/the-collaboration/|title=THE COLLABORATION|work=Kirkus Reviews|date=2013-07-07|access-date=2019-10-15}} - Review date is July 15, 2013, while online publishing is July 7, 2013. Melvin Jules Bukiet wrote in The Washington Post that the work shows "two-dimensional pictures of minorly venal minor men" who are "merely humans" and that "Urwand is too eager to find scandal."

David Denby wrote in The New Yorker that the book's conclusions were flawed, stating: "I'm surprised that Harvard University Press could have published anything as poorly argued as" the book.{{cite magazine|author=Denby, David|authorlink=David Denby|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-could-harvard-have-published-ben-urwands-the-collaboration|title=How Could Harvard Have Published Ben Urwand's "The Collaboration"?|magazine=The New Yorker|date=2013-09-23|access-date=2019-10-15}} In response to his critics, Urwand stood by his book's conclusions, stating: "Any claims I make are based on archival materials. Everything in my book is documented."{{Cite web |last=Brook |first=Tom |date=2014-10-21 |title=Did Hollywood studios help the Nazis? |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20130930-did-hollywood-help-the-nazis |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=BBC}}

• {{cite book|author=Ashkenazi, Ofer|chapter=Ben Urwand, The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact with Hitler. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2013. 327 pp.|url=https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190646127.001.0001/acprof-9780190646127-chapter-20|editor=Lederhendler, Eli|editor2=Gabriel N. Finder|title=A Club of Their Own: Jewish Humorists and the Contemporary World|year=2016|pages=278–279|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190646127.003.0020|isbn=9780190646127}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674088108 The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler] - Harvard University Press

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Category:2013 non-fiction books

Category:Books about film

Category:Books about Nazi Germany

Category:Belknap Press books