Five Came Back: Review

Five Came Back is Mark Harris's account of five directors and their experiences documenting the Second World War. Five of the most popular film directors of the day- John Ford, George Stevens, John Huston, William Wyler, and Frank Capra- left Hollywood to support the war effort through their individual talents as filmmakers and storytellers. They went on to do wildly different things with that task, from Capra's Why We Fight series to George Stevens's extensive footage of the carnage left behind in a concentration camp. Their varying experiences in the war also went on to impact each man and shape his post-war work in different ways.

I am not sure I could sing the praises of this book enough. The way Harris writes is tremendously engrossing and took on a narrative quality that allowed me to breeze through this with great enthusiasm. The book is both easy to follow for those who have limited knowledge of World War II and those directors and still engaging and thought-provoking for those who do have extensive knowledge about either or both of those topics. In that way, I heartily recommend this book both for history and film enthusiasts- you are bound to learn something.

There were many fascinating pieces to pull out of this, and I will highlight a few of the most interesting bits I learned in this book. First, I did not realize just how much of the World War II footage we have today came from these men, but most especially as it pertains to that filmed by George Stevens. Not only did his unit capture D-Day and the liberation of Paris, but his extensive and uncompromising footage of the aftermath of the Dachau concentration camp was integral in showing the world the true atrocities of the Nazis. The footage was so horrifying and so comprehensive that it was one of the biggest pieces of evidence brought against those on trial at Nuremberg for war crimes after the end of the war. I was floored by the notion that Stevens used his talent as a filmmaker to ensure justice for these horrifically murdered millions. That was immensely, profoundly moving.

Similarly, John Huston comes off as a playboy with little interest in the army throughout much of the book, but seeing his fight to make and release a documentary about the psychological trauma and sufferings of soldiers after the war was again profoundly moving. That was the issue and experience that seemed to move Huston the most, and seeing him use his skill as a filmmaker to tell this story and fight tirelessly for it was inspiring. While the documentary is now publicly available on Netflix, it was suppressed for years because of its brutal honesty and unrelenting realism in its depiction of the sufferings of these real-life soldiers. Again, the idea that filmmakers turned their talents to telling such important, human stories in the wake of the war is deeply stirring and really conveys the best of what films and their creators can be.

One of the most compelling parts of the book, for me at least, was the way Harris presented the transformation of William Wyler by the war and how The Best Years of Our Lives served as the culmination of that evolution. Wyler's epic post-war drama is regarded as among the best films ever made, and it already packs an incredibly emotional punch, but with the added context of Wyler's own wartime experience and how he put so much of that and himself into the film imbues it with even more substantial significance and poignancy. In so many ways, The Best Years of Our Lives is a film that really can only be made from personal experience, and it again shows the power inherent in filmmaking to tell important human, stories, especially with a skilled director with their own experiences to share behind the camera.

I would heartily recommend Mark Harris's Five Came Back. From the perspective of both a student of history and a film enthusiast, this is an essential read and one that leads to a worthwhile discussion of the purpose of film and how it can be used for pointed propaganda or enlightening realism. It also serves as a fascinating portrait of five men who came from a similar position as prominent directors of the day and follows them as they change the war and it changes them in different ways, leaving all of them in very different positions than when they started. It is an engrossing human interest piece set within the much larger context of World War II, affording you the opportunity to learn a tremendous amount about both.

Their experiences during the war had strengthened their resolve to let nothing compromise their work, not even popular taste.

Mark Harris, Five Came Back, p. 440

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This book review is part of Raquel Stecher's Summer Reading Classic Film Challenge. Follow her on Twitter (@RaquelStecher) and check the hashtag #ClassicFilmReading to see reviews!