Selling America to the World: The Office of War Information's "The Town" (1945) and the "American Scene" Series

During World War II, the United States government's Office of War Information (OWI) used the small farming town to sell America to the world. The short doucumentary The Town(1945) is one example. Part of The American Scene, a thirteen-part series of short documentaries produced by OWI's overseas branch, The Town showcased farmers and small townspeople to underscore the effectiveness of American government, the diversity of American ethnic cultures, and the blend of realism, idealism, piety, and "soft sell" advertising by sending the message to international audiences that Americans were just like Europeans and that democracy had the means to solve pressing problems. Utilizing talent from Hollywood, The Town and its director (Josef von Sternberg) honed in on healthy children at play, on an African American reading in the local library, and on happy, hardworking, and prosperous people. The film thus implied that the policies initiated by Franklin D. Roosevelt had succeeded in enhancing "security" for a wide range of Americans. Yet racial discrimination, a blemish barely addressed by the New Deal State, received scant mention in either The Town or the wider American Scene.