The World War II Combat Film: Anatomy of a Genre

Jeanine Basinger is without question the premier film critic and historian of our time.

Following the development of the WWII combat film as a "genre" this book explains the origin and evolution of the cinematic features that characterize these movies. The chronological organization is helpful as is the discussion of how changes in the structure of the films (and maturation of the style) reflect contemporary societal changes and attitudes. Although readable and not overly academic, it is repetitive with many similar phrases, sentences, paragraphs appearing in multiple sections, something I found annoying.

I just started the book, so far very good

It's a thoughtful and perceptive book. Jeanine Bassinger, a film professor in a Midwestern university, sat through innumerable movies made about the military, beginning in the early years of film. What a burden, to sit through so many hours of Abbott and Costello training-camp movies. But she's a persistent researcher and a bright one too, although she doesn't own a computer..She develops a typology of combat films. (1) The early years of World War II defined the combat genre. Lots of preaching and explaining why we were fighting the war. The enemy were "bandy legged monkeys" and so on. (2) The genre is solidified, so to speak, in the middle years of the war. The conventions are now taken for granted. There will be a diverse group of varied ethnicities -- a Jew from Brooklyn, a farmer from North Dakota, a stern but fair leader, etc. No one asks why the war is being fought. (3) A more realistic refining of the genre, such as "The Story of G.I. Joe." A lot of mud, some complaints about the service and the way it's run, and the men fear for their lives.The prose style is deliciously free of theoretical tar babies. She doesn't carry on about European intellectual fads. It's all as plain and American as apple pie, so it's easy to understand. I can't quite get over how she's packed so much information -- and all of it engaging -- into a book covering such a vast collection of pieces drawn from vernacular culture.

This is a very good, readable book that not only traces the development of the WWII combat film, but also discusses how genres change over time.Basinger takes the WWII combat film to see how genres work. She did this because, obviously, there were none made before December 7th 1941, so there are no "lost films" in this genre. Thus she sees how genre elements come together gradually (the prototype phase), snap into place as a perfect model (the archetype), are used by skillful directors for powerful films that transcend the norm (masterpiece) and then lose their effectiveness and are inverted or combined with other genres to try to attract an audience (decadence.)She looks at combat films from the 1940s to the 1980s, so she doesn't talk about all films made in Hollywood in 1941-5. If a film doesn't have a lot of combat, she ignores it. However, she does discuss many films and besides showing how genres develop, she shows how the combat film changed. The focus on a platoon of average Joes (Guadacanal Diary) eventually gives way to a focus on an elite force (Where Eagles Dare, for instance).A very informative and thought producing book, perhaps the best by Basinger.

Five stars are not enough. This work is quite thorough and entertaining. I now fancy myself somewhat of a military film guru thanks to the education from Jeremy Arnold and Jeanine Basinger.

I'm new to the idea of studying film genre, but I've seen plenty of WW2 films and this was a fascinating read. The discussion of how the genre has evolved in waves was intriguing. The pace slowed a little in the 'problems of genre' chapter, but the final chapter on 'Saving Private Ryan' was very good.

a tiny bit on the boring side, compared to her other hilarious books on film, but a good, rigorous study of what it means to be a film genre. educational & well done.