The Imaginary War Through Movie Posters of American Cinema Between 1914 and 1918

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to provide an approach to the posters of the main movies producedd in the United States during the World War I (1914-1918) that have any kind of war as its main plot. The research allows us to determine the existence of a particular graphic style associated to war, which helped to build a war imaginary, implemented through a series of movie posters that exemplify this. During this period, the movies produced and released in the United States can be divided in three main categories: the historicist war movies, the pro-government war films and, finally, commercial cinema, with a more marked pacifist tone. In the three groups, film posters played a key role, not only from the commercial point of view, but also in the creation of an intentional speech, of a denotative nature that can be social, political or even philosophical.