Five Came Back on Netflix: Hollywood and the Second World War

“We still have not come to grips with World War II,” asserted newsman Tom Brokaw, the author of several books on the subject. “It was the largest event in the history of mankind.” Moderator of a panel on Monday night following Netflix’s preview screening of its series, Five Came Back, at Alice Tully Hall, Brokaw shot questions to Guillermo Del Toro, Lawrence Kasdan, George Stevens, Jr., the series’ director Laurent Bouzereau, and the author Mark Harris on whose book the documentary is based. One would have to agree with Brokaw. The series shines a light on little known film work of five midcentury highly successful Hollywood directors: John Huston, John Ford, George Stevens, William Wyler, and Frank Capra. Each left lucrative careers to document what was going on in Europe during the war, with life changing results as Del Toro, Kashdan, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Paul Greengrass attest in this riveting documentary series.

A star studded evening: Tony Kushner with Linda Emond, Oren Moverman, Ben Foster, Gay Talese, Bennett Miller, Jeffrey Toobin, and Julie Taymor were among those who moved on to an afterparty at Shun Lee, still buzzing about the film’s resonance today. Some footage featured Charles Lindbergh speaking as head of the America First Committee. Well, after Pearl Harbor, we all know how that turned out. But wait! Haven’t we heard this sentiment in more recent times? And aside from the great archival footage, something else felt retro: the paucity of women. As Taymor wanted to know: Were there none who could have joined the austere directors asked to speak about the historic filmmakers and their work?

This gripe was all in keeping with Guillermo Del Toro’s observation for all, referring to the bravery of the five who came back: Del Toro said, When we are told to talk only about our films and keep quiet about politics, we have every right—even an obligation—to talk about politics.

Regina Weinreich

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