Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies

387 Pages·2004·10.34 MB·English

by  David L. Robb

HOW THE PENTAGON SHAPES
AND CENSORS THE MOVIES
DAVID L. ROBB
O P E R A T I O N
H O L L Y W O O D
★
The only thing Hollywood likes more than a
good movie is a good deal. For more than fifty
years producers and directors of war and action
movies have been getting a great deal from
America’s armed forces by receiving access to
billions of dollars worth of military equipment
and personnel for little or no cost. Although
this arrangement considerably lowers a film’s
budget, the cost in terms of intellectual free­
dom can be steep. In exchange for access to
sophisticated military hardware and expertise,
filmmakers must agree to censorship from the
Pentagon.
As veteran Hollywood journalist David
L. Robb shows in this revealing insider’s look
into Hollywood’s “dirtiest little secret,” the
final product that moviegoers see at the theater
reflects less about what the director intends and
more what the powers-that-be in the military
want to project about America’s armed forces.
Sometimes a military liaison officer demands
removal of just a few words; other times whole
scenes must be scrapped or completely revised.
What happens if a director refuses the re­
quested changes? Robb quotes a Pentagon
spokesperson: “Well, I’m taking my toys and
I’m going home. I’m taking my tanks and my
troops and my location, and I’m going home.”
Such threats can be persuasive to filmmakers
trying to keep their productions on time and
within budget.
Robb takes us behind the scenes during
the making of many well-known movies and
television series. From The Right Stuff to Top
(continued on back flap)

★ O P E R A T I O N S
HOLLYWOOD
★ O P E R A T I O N S
HOLLYWOOD
HOW THE PENTAGON SHAPES
AND CENSORS THE MOVIES
DAVID L. ROBB
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, New York 14228-2197
Published 2004 by Prometheus Books
Operation Hollywood: How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies. Copyright ©
2004 by David L. Robb. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro­
duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the
Internet or a Web site without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case
of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Inquiries should be addressed to
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, New York 14228-2197
VOICE: 716-691-0133, ext. 207
FAX: [phone]
WWW.PROMETHEUSBOOKS.COM
08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robb, David L.
Operation Hollywood : how the Pentagon shapes and censors the movies / David
L. Robb.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-59102-182-0 (alk. paper)
1. Armed Forces in motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures—Censorship—United
States. I. Title.
PN 1995.9.A72R63 2004
363.31’0973—<ic22
2004003017
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
This book is dedicated to my mom,
Gladys Mailloux,
1927-2002,
and to Eileen Kelly,
the love of my life
★
Foreword 13
Acknowledgments 23
Introduction 25
Chapter 1. Censoring James Bond 29
Tomorrow Never Dies
Goldeneye
Chapter 2. “A Commercial for Us” 33
Clear and Present Danger
Chapter 3. “Discrimination Against Speech because of Its 41
Message Is Presumed to Be Unconstitutional”
Countermeasures—The Unproduced Movie
The Last Detail
Cinderella Liberty
Chapter 4. “Revisionist History” 53
Thirteen Days
The Perfect Storm
Chapter 5. Changing History 59
Windtalkers
7
8 ★ CONTENTS
Chapter 6. Bending Over Backward 67
Independence Day
G.L Jane
Chapter 7. “The Producers Will ‘Punch It Up’ in 73
Any Manner We Dictate”
Jurassic Park III
Chapter 8. “The Mooning of a President by a Uniformed Soldier 77
Is Not Acceptable Cinematic License”
Forrest Gump
Chapter 9. Rewriting Renaissance Man 81
Chapter 10. “It’s All in the Negotiations”: 91
The Films of Jerry Bruckheimer
Black Hawk Down
Pearl Harbor
Armageddon
Top Gun
Crimson Tide
Chapter 11. “Show Stoppers” 101
Air Force One
Chapter 12. Self-Censorship Is Still Censorship 105
The Tuskegee Airmen
Afterburn
The Wall
A Dangerous Life
Chapter 13. The First Amendment Doesn’t Always Come First 113
Hearts in Atlantis
Chapter 14. Approval Denied 117
Citizen Cohn
Fail Safe
Mars Attacks
Outbreak
Space Cowboys
Memphis Belle
Contents ★
9
The General's Daughter
Sergeant Bilko
Courage Under Fire
Lone Star
Broken Arrow
The Pentagon Wars
Chapter 15. “Dishonest Propaganda” 123
My Father, My Son
Fields of Fire
Chapter 16. Sanitizing TAG 131
Chapter 17. “A 45-Minute Commercial for Marine Aviation” 137
Pensacola: Wings of Gold
Gardens of Stone
Chapter 18. Bending the Rules 143
Jets
Silver Wings
Executive Decision
Family of Spies
Chapter 19. “I Want Page Six and Seven Completely Thrown Out 149
or You Don’t Get to Use Our Aircraft Carrier”
The Agency
The Sum of All Fears
In the Company of Spies
Chapter 20. Turning Vodka into Water 153
The Presidio
Chapter 21. Censorship: The Final Frontier 163
Star Trek IV
Chapter 22. Almost Sunk by the Navy 171
The Hunt for Red October
No Way Out
Chapter 23. Turning Movies into Recruiting Posters 177
The Right Stuff