Historic Hollywood

CHAPTER V
H OLLYWOOD D URING THE W AR Y EARS
1941-1950
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The Chinese Theater opened in 1927
with the premiere of Cecil B. DeMille’s
The King of Kings (1927). The
theater since its construction has been
the most famous and important
historic landmark in Hollywood. The
Chinese became the mecca for the
Hollywood premiere. The forecourt
featuring the hand and footprints of
famous Hollywood stars has been one
of the most popular attractions for
millions of visitors to Hollywood for
over seventy-five years.
Leading up to the United States entering WWII in 1941, the film studios were already making
films with war themes. Europe was already fighting a full scale war and it would be only a matter
of time before the United States would enter the war. On December 7, 1941, when Japan bombed
Pearl Harbor, Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator was playing in downtown Hollywood. At this time
the studios of Hollywood began to make more films to support the morale of the country.
Hundreds of studio workers joined the war effort leaving the studios to fill positions with
new people creating a new workforce and ending the depression years of uncertainty.
Hollywood made pro-war films, musicals, and comedies to help the war effort as well as the
morale of the people in general. Because of travel restrictions and fuel rationing during the war years,
many films were made in and around Hollywood proper, and some were made exclusively in the
studio itself.
Just before the war, Cahuenga Pass was widened to accommodate more traffic. The Hollywood
Palladium had just opened in 1941 and the Hollywood theatres continued their premieres,
but without all the lighting that made the events so spectacular. In 1942 the Hollywood
community created the Hollywood Canteen. Bette Davis and John Garfield led the campaign
22 ✦ HISTORIC HOLLYWOOD