References to contemporary films & actors in BAND OF BROTHERS (2001)
HISTORICAL CONTEXT/SOURCES ↓
Mae West was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known for portraying sexually confident characters and for her use of double entendres (Wikipedia). During World War II, Allied aircrews called their yellow inflatable, vest-like personal flotation devices "Mae Wests" partly because, when inflated, the wearer resembled the actress's buxom appearance (Wikipedia).
Mr. Lucky is a 1943 romance film starring Cary Grant and Laraine Day. The film is about an attraction between a shady gambler and a wealthy socialite in the days prior to the United States entering World War II (Wikipedia).
Marlene Dietrich was a German-born American actress and singer whose career spanned nearly seven decades (Wikipedia). She renounced her German citizenship in 1939, and when the US entered World War II in 1941, she was one of the first public figures to help sell war bonds (Wikipedia). Dietrich went on two United Service Organization tours in 1944 and 1945. She traveled first to North Africa and Italy, where she was the first entertainer to reach rescued Allied soldiers in Anzio, and then later to France and Germany, with this second tour lasting 11 months, beginning just on the heels of D-Day. Her performances in the now-famous USO Camp Shows involved singing, dancing, and a comedy routine with a musical saw, and she usually left troops in fits of laughter. She fought off bouts of influenza, slept in tents, and suffered from frostbite, but in the end, Dietrich put on more than 500 performances for Allied troops throughout the war, many of which were on the front lines. When asked why she risked her life to support American soldiers, she responded, “aus Anstand – Out of decency” (USO).
Rita Hayworth was an American actress and dancer. She is one of the most renowned actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and was the second top pin-up girl for GIs during World War II, after Betty Grable (Wikipedia). Nix's comment about Hayworth's marriage is likely a reference to her marriage to filmmaker and actor Orson Welles, whom she was married to from 1943 to 1947. This is also likely an oversight by the show's writers, as the scene takes place in 1945, and a marriage that happened two years prior would probably not be breaking news.
Abbott and Costello were an American comedy duo composed of comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, whose work in radio, film, and television made them the most popular comedy team of the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II (Wikipedia).
Seven Sinners is a 1940 American romantic drama film starring Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne. The film is about a torch singer who wows a Navy officer and his shipmates at a South Seas cafe (Wikipedia).
John Wayne was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films that were produced during the Golden Age of Hollywood, especially in Western and war movies (Wikipedia). He also notoriously did not serve during World War II, even though many of his contemporaries did. There are many reasons given as to why Wayne did not enlist, including but not limited to: his age (he was 34 years old at the time of Pearl Harbor), his 3-A deferment (family deferment), an injury he suffered in college, his unwillingless to put his film career on hold, and his infamous affair with Marlene Dietrich he allegedly did not want to give up. The most common reason given is that the studio he was contracted under, Republic Studios, allegedly threatened to sue him if he enlisted. The studio also reportedly intervened in the Selective Service process and requested Wayne's exemption from the draft (Wikipedia). On the other hand, arguably more bankable and more famous actors, such as Clark Gable and James Stewart, enlisted for combat despite pressure from their respective studios not to do so. No matter how much of not enlisting Wayne was personally responsible for, and how much guilt he felt after the fact, he was reportedly not popular with US servicemen during World War II, and he toured with the USO for about three months in 1944 (Slash Film).
