MovieChat Forums > Focus (2002) Discussion > What would have really happened?

What would have really happened?

posted 17 years ago by andrewwjohnson
6 replies | jump to latest

I grew up around relatives who had to put their lives and dreams on hold when they were drafted into the Army to fight the Nazis in Europe and others who waited at home fearful of never seeing their brothers or husbands again so I have some idea of what the American mindset must have been like during the Second World War. I've also read old accounts of that era where people were attacked, often physically, for belly aching about gas and meat rationing, hoping the war would go on longer, because they had a good job at a defense plant and other insensitive remarks in front of people with relatives in harm's way. Given all this I wonder what would have really happened, back then, to theater patrons who cheered for the Nazis, during a movie, as happens in "Focus". At the very least someone who did that would get a a soft drink or a cup of popcorn thrown in their face and, at worst, would wind up in the emergency ward.

The film is set in the New York City area where not only members of the Jewish community, but also Poles, other Eastern Europeans, Greeks, Italians and others who had relatives in Nazi controlled areas would be in the audience in most theaters. They definitely would not put up with such behavior. Also there is the subject matter the film; playing at the theater. While a few movies of the time, like the "Seventh Cross" hinted at anti-Semitism in Nazi occupied Europe none depicted genocide. The scope of the reality was too great, even among those who knew, to believe, much less make a movie about, until the death camps were liberated and the unspeakable truth was reveled for all the world to see. While the theater scene does fit in with the movie's theme of anti-Semitism it isn't true to the time when it is set.

Just remember: I was as good as any and better then most-Vincent Freeman in Gattaca

[–] tedtunes 17 years ago

As a matter of fact, Yorkville (the area around 86th/Lexington, NYC) was very heavily German during WWII, and in the first year or two of the war nazi movies and pro-nazi propaganda were shown regularly, and newsreels of allied shipping being torpedoed and allied servicemen on fire/drowning was greeted with cheers and jeers by audiences. The FBI kept a very close watch on all this, but were powerless to act as the US was not in the war. Come December 7 1941 all that changed of course, and many German national cinema goers found themselves rounded up, and even citizens in the audience were treated with suspicion, as they deserved to be under the circumstances. And in the case of Yorkville, those who openly supported the nazis got everything they deserved. This is obviously not meant to include the many millions of GIs of German heritage who fought for the US in both world wars. The US government was perfectly entitled to discriminate among its citizens as to who was loyal and who was not - these things happen in wartime, and the nazis of Yorkville should have been more discreet, shouldn't they??.

[–] jaberna3 17 years ago

I agree -- the theater scene bothers me too. It's too heavyhanded (like the carousel imagery, especially once Macy's character outright SAYS what the carousel represents).

Overall, I like this movie very much. But the theater scene (with a few others) is too over-the-top, and risks making viewers question the reality of all the anti-semitism shown. Of course, I think the movie isn't at the highest level *about* anti-semitism at all, but about community and integrity in general (the point of the raped woman subplot); however, the movie suffers if viewers question the historical veracity (the extent to which Jews experienced prejudice in America during this time period).

I teach this film, and that's one of the first things my student's ask -- "Was it really that bad?" The theater scene makes me have to hedge my answer a little bit, and that's frustrating.

[–] andrewwjohnson 17 years ago

Based on what I remember from high school sociology class and Gordon Allport's "The Nature of Prejudice", I was required to read for a college course I would say "Gentlemen's Agreement" was a much better depiction of forties anti-Semitism then "Focus". It deals with what is often described as "subtle country club bigotry".

Of course anti-Semitism, in that era, not only blocked members of the Jewish Community from joining private clubs, but living where they wanted due to restrictive covenants, good jobs due to subtle discrimination in hiring,some hotels and resorts and even limited access to some colleges and professional schools with quota systems. Much of this continued until the enactment of civil rights legislation in the sixties. One of my great aunts owned a summer home in the upscale resort community of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. She would often talk about the time, in the late forties, the local government decided to put up signs proudly describing the town as "An All Gentile Community" This proved too much, even for those intolerant times and they were forced to take the signs down, but they kept the laws restricting who could live there. Years later, when my aunt sold her summer home she was prohibited from selling, not only to Jews, but blacks (no surprise), Asians of any kind, Armenians (I'm not kidding) and about any other non WASP.

Just remember: I was as good as any and better then most-Vincent Freeman in Gattaca

[–] goldshine44 14 years ago

I'm Jewish and grew up in the 60's and 70's, and even then there were country clubs we could not join, towns we could not buy houses in, and acts of violence, by kids, not adults, against Jewish people.

I will say, I never saw a group like the union crusaders.

It seems plausible.

[–] andrewwjohnson 13 years ago

There were organizations, like The Union Crusades, during the nineteen thirties.

The character of Father Creighton was obviously based on Father Coughlin. The scrip writer didn't even bother to change the name that much. Coughlin broadcast his popular "Church of the Little Flower" radio program from Lower Michigan and often gave inflammatory sermons against the Jewish community, labor unions and, above all, Roosevelt's New Deal programs. Ultimately his rants became to much for the Catholic Church and the public in general and he disappeared from the airwaves. Far from leading a anti-Semitic religious crusade he spent the war years as a parish priest.

Another Michigan based hate group, from the same era, was the Black Legion; an organization who found the Ku Klux Klan to be to warm and fuzzy. They were supported, in the anti union activities, by Henry Ford and other auto manufacturers. They also committed violent hate crimes against blacks, immigrants, Jews and other minorities and have been implicated, by some historians, in the death of Malcolm X's (Little's) black nationalist father.

After a member went on trial, for a particularly messy Legion related murder, the extent of the groups infiltration of the state government and the Michigan State Police was exposed. Even the judge turned out to be a member. Many resignations followed and the organization collapsed during the late thirties.

The hate group became the subject of an early Humphrey Bogart movie, "The Black Legion", but the Hayes censorship office would only allow the depiction of an attack on a couple of ethnically ambiguous immigrants to represent the groups hate crimes.

The German American Bund was the best known group like the one in "Focus". They did everything from set up youth camps to holding a rally in Madison Square Garden. Their open admiration for Nazi Germany put them under FBI surveillance almost from the beginning. Shortly after the United States entered the war the groups leadership was arrested and interned for the duration.

TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.

[–] DigitalRitual 13 years ago

A few other items to note, and that are often left out of modern history textbooks, are involvement by people such as Henry Ford, J.P. Morgan, and John D Rockefeller in supporting and/or sympethetic to the Nazi cause, and clearly Anti-Semitic.

In the 1920s Ford published a magazine article titled "The International Jew" in the Dearborn Independant. The American Jewish Historical Society described the ideas presented in the magazine as "anti-immigrant, anti-labor, anti-liquor, and anti-Semitic." It is debatable whether Ford had any real direct involvement in this publication, or if it was just an investment, but many of his aides and employees were surely sympethetic to the anti-semitic cause during the 20's through to the 40's. Ford is the only American to be mentioned in Hitler's Mein Kampf, and it is said that Hitler had a portrait of Ford on his desk, and that Ford was a great inspiration to him. Publication of "The International Jew" was not halted until 1942. A simple google search on the Dearborn Independant or The International Jew will be an eye opener to many.

Also of note, is the involvement of Rockefeller and other billionaires in the Nazi movement. The German Bank was funded primarily by Rockefeller and Morgan, being aided by the NY Fed.
See http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/rockefeller.html for more info.

While we Americans clearly abhor the attrocities "after the fact," we were indirectly responsible for much of what lead up to WWII, and our involvement was only predicated by our war with Japan, and not so much as our involvement in Europe. Sadly, this history is often brushed under the carpet, or at the very least, glossed over when our History is taught in schools today (at least in my case. I was personally shocked when I read about them later in life).

There are quite a few threads on here debating the historical accuracy of this film, but sadly, it is quite accurate.

Sadder still is the politization of our history. While one party is often accused as being the party of old, rich, white, bigots, and the other is heralded as the defenders of truth, justice, and equality, this is also a cleverly disguised lie. It is, in fact, often the most leftist and liberal parties that in the past succumbed to and defended racism/facism. After all, it was a socialist movement that began the Nazi party to begin with.

When learning history, I've found, it is best to look for truths outside of our own history books. We are far from immune to propeganda here in America.