“A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.” About, Inc., A part of The New York Times Company. 2006. 20 April 2006. http://classiclit.about.com/od/atreegrows/fr/aafpr_treegrows.htm

• Betty Smith's first novel, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," became immediately popular when it was published in 1943. The book sold 300,000 copies in the first six weeks after it was published

Dirks, Tim. “Casablanca, 1942.” 1996-2006. 20 April 2006. http://www.filmsite.org/casa.html

• With rich and smoky atmosphere, anti-Nazi propaganda, Max Steiner's superb musical score, suspense, unforgettable characters (supposedly 34 nationalities are included in its cast) and memorable lines of dialogue (e.g., "Here's lookin' at you, kid," and the inaccurately-quoted "Play it again, Sam"), it is one of the most popular, magical (and flawless) films of all time - focused on the themes of lost love, honor and duty, self-sacrifice and romance within a chaotic world.
•  

Ellenberger, Allan. “Margaret O’Brian.” Lee Enterprises. 1999. 20 April 2006. http://www.classicimages.com/1998/december98/mobrien1.html

• During the Thirties, Shirley Temple was the most popular child star. In the Forties, a new crop of youngsters popped up to challenge the young moppet, including Virginia Weidler, Bonita Granville, and Jackie "Butch" Jenkins. But the one who was arguably the most talented of all the child stars of her day—or since—was Margaret O’Brien.
• O’Brien was voted one of the Top Ten Box Office Stars two years in a row. The National Board of Review twice named her as Best Actress, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences bestowed upon her their Most Outstanding Child Actress Award. These honors and countless others were given to Margaret O’Brien—all before the age of ten. (S/T)

• AE: During World War II, you volunteered your time to entertain the soldiers and help raise money for the war effort.
• Margaret O’Brien: Yes, You, John Jones was where I first did the Gettysburg Address. I used it in a lot of things during the war when I made public appearances before the soldiers, especially at the Hollywood Canteen. That film brought such a realistic feeling to me about the war that I wanted to help in the effort. I really felt for some of those children just as I had learned to feel about the war orphans during Journey for Margaret. The war was something real to me.
• Gage, Leone. Personal Interview. 21 April 2006.
• “In Which We Serve.” 20 April 2006. http://www.britmovie.co.uk/directors/d_lean/filmography/005.html
• In Which We Serve is only one in a long list of propaganda films turned out by England and the United States during World War II. Based on the actual service record of a British destroyer recounted to Noel Coward by Lord Mountbatten, it advances the standard line of support for the war effort and follows a familiar pattern by combining the story of H.M.S. Torrin, from shipyard to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, with the personal lives of its captain and crew. Within this context, the film has its reputation. If it seems, at times, cloying or overeager on its way to the message of the closing title ("God bless our ships and all who sail on them."), it remains significant not just as Lean's first attempt at directing an entire feature, but as a picture singled out for admiration by its contemporaries from among scores of similar efforts
• Johansson, Maryanne. “The End of the Innocence.” The Flick Filosopher. 25 January 1999. 21 April 2006. http://www.flickfilosopher.com/oscars/bestpix/mrsminiver.shtml
• It's been said that Mrs. Miniver was such potent propaganda for Britain that it influenced the American decision to join the war. More than half a century later, it's still not at all surprising. Mrs. Miniver remains a powerful film.
• “Life During WWII.” The Blackout. 20 April 2006. http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/nettsch/time/wlife.html
• The blackout began two days before the war began. Under blackout rules, everyone had to cover up their windows at night with black material. This was to make it difficult for German bombers to find their target in the dark.
      The street lamps were turned off and often people bumped into one another. Traffic accidents were common because car headlights had to be blacked out, and deaths from drowning increased as people fell off bridges or walked into ponds.
• Each street had an Air Raid Warden. Their job was to send for fire engines and ambulances, and  to check for casualties or unexploded bombs.
• “Louisa May Alcott.” Edited Appleton's American Biography. Virtualology2000. 20 April 2006. http://www.virtualology.com/hallofwomen/LOUISA-MAY-ALCOTT.COM/
• The sales in less than three years amounted to 87,000 copies. Her characters are drawn from life, and are full of the buoyant,, free, hopeful New England spirit which marks her own enthusiastic love for nature, freedom, and life. Her other stories are conceived in the same vein, and have been almost equally popular.
• Saje, Henry J. “World War Two, The Home Front.” 2005-2006. 20 April 2006. http://www.sagehistory.net/worldwar2/topics/homefront.html
• The author grew up near New York City during World War II and recalls quite vividly many of the things that were taken for granted as part of the war situation. For example, people on the East Coast were concerned about the possibility, however remote, that we might be attacked from the air by Germany.  A submarine was spotted off the coast of Long Island, and although the Germans did not have aircraft carriers, the possibility of an air raid was taken seriously.
• Thus I recall regular air raid drills in our neighborhood.  Responsible citizens would be designated air raid wardens, and when the sirens went off at the village firehouse, people were obliged to either turn off all their lights or completely pull down opaque shades that would prevent light from escaping.  The warden, wearing a protective helmet, would patrol the neighborhood on foot with a flashlight (all streetlights were turned off) and politely correct all those who perhaps allowed a small beam of light to escape from a window.  In our block during warm weather the neighbors would sit on their porches smoking cigarettes and listening to the latest news on the radio.  (Everybody smoked, and television had not yet arrived.)
• Automobiles were allowed to drive during air raids, but the top halves of all automobile headlights had to be painted black.  And there were, in fact, very few automobiles on the road in those days.  With gasoline and rubber tires being strictly rationed, people drove as little as possible.  Many good citizens simply put their automobiles up on blocks for the duration of the war and did not drive them again until it was over.  I recall driving with my uncle, who would turn his engine off and coast every time he was moving downhill in order to save a few drops of gasoline.
• Meat, butter, sugar and certain other commodities were rationed because the fat content was needed to make explosives or provide for other war-related needs.  Recycling was big during World War II, a phenomenon that disappeared for a few decades until environmental issues came to the fore.  But we saved newspapers, tin cans and all sorts of scrap metal—collections were held regularly to gather in these vital materials.  Ration books were issued to families and stamps were required in order to purchase rationed commodities. people were encouraged to economize by all possible means—nothing was to be wasted.
• LOTS OF INFORMATION. USE.
• Stallings, Thorne. “B.A.D. Chariots By Air.” 20 April 2006. http://www.dochemp.com/9stucox.html
•  (S ½)

 

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