# Creative works set in the early 1940s that ignore WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 16, 2022, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578 "2022-02-16T04:26:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/1 "2022-02-16T04:26:05Z")
I’m currently watching seasons 6 and 7 of **When Calls the Heart** , which are set in 1916 and 1917. And they’ve yet to mention World War I, despite the fact that Canadians fought in it. This got me wondering…while this oversight is jarring to those of us who are reasonably good at history, _perhaps_ the years are less well known to the masses as the years that encompassed WWII. If so, it’d be even stranger for a creative work set during the first half of the 1940s to completely ignore WWII, right? Can you think of any that do, though? By completely ignore, I mean make **0** mention of the war. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/2 "2022-02-16T05:05:17Z")
_ **Brat Farrar** _ by Josephine Tey. A wonderful book and a favorite of mine, but its timeline has been questioned by many readers wondering when it was supposed to have happened. It was published in 1949 and was set in the present (late 1940s). The war is mentioned very peripherally (some very minor characters are said to have been killed in it) so it doesn’t really fit your 0 mention criterion. However, many key events in the book take place 8 years earlier, around 1940, including a major character supposedly running away from England to France as a young boy, on a day trip to Dieppe. He couldn’t have done this during WWII, but the book basically ignores the war. And unlike other books set in the late 40s, it doesn’t mention food rationing. > **[Brat Farrar](https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20080501)** > > In this tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerism's,... ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/3 "2022-02-16T05:13:58Z")
There are a fair number of comedy movies where I don’t remember the war being mentioned (e.g. Abbott & Costello movies after Keep 'Em Flying). Was the war mentioned in Double Indemnity? (I don’t have the dialog memorized word for word for movies in general.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/4 "2022-02-16T05:23:39Z")
Off the top of my head, the only contemporary '40s movie I can think of that’s not directly connected to the war itself but still mentions it is _ **His Girl Friday** _ (1940). I was watching it the other night, and took immediate note when Cary Grant talked about “covering the war in Europe,” or words to that effect. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/5 "2022-02-16T07:11:05Z")
a separate peace basically ignored the war except for three parts …one where Phinney basically gives a version of the Vietnam war conspiracy war theory for ww2 the outcast joining the paratroopers and gets a section 8 discharge and right at the end where they’re in some ROTC type of thing but the wars almost over by then and the MC doubts they’ll have to go ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/6 "2022-02-16T10:05:05Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Was the war mentioned in Double Indemnity? (I don’t have the dialog memorized word for word for movies in general.) _Double Indemnity_ is set in 1938, according to Walter Neff’s dictaphone recording in the opening scene. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/7 "2022-02-16T14:51:11Z")
Bit of a cheat, but Stella Gibbons’s Cold Comfort Farm (1932) is set in 1940, with a dashing hero flying his own autogiro, but no anticipation of the war to come. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/8 "2022-02-16T15:34:21Z")
It doesn’t seem that weird to me to not mention WWII if the plot doesn’t involve it at all. I would think most comedies, romances, gangster films, etc wouldn’t reference it. How about “A Christmas Story”? The exact year is never stated but it’s definitely right around 1940. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/9 "2022-02-16T16:14:28Z")
Really? Always thought it was closer to 1950. Post-war prosperity and all that. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/10 "2022-02-16T16:30:34Z")
Nope, the target time frame (it wasn’t specific) was late 1930s to early 1940s according to Jean Shephard and the director. It’s definitely not true to the author’s actual timeline, as he graduated high school by that time. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/11 "2022-02-17T13:39:28Z")
The film [Brief Encounter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brief_Encounter) (one of the greatest romantic films of all time, fact, for the record), set in England, was released towards the end of 1945, and filmed (in England) early 1945 whilst the war was still very much going on. It was even filmed up in Lancashire, away from major cities to avoid having to film during the blackout. There is no mention of the war at all – no soldiers on the trains, no blackout windows, no suggestion of rationing in the cafe they frequent - the war is completely avoided. It was based on a Noel Coward play from the 1930s, so I can sort of understand, but there’s no attempt otherwise to suggest it’s set in anything but contemporary England, when the war would have been _everywhere_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/12 "2022-02-17T16:02:23Z")
Many of the great detective novelists were active during that time. If I were trying to hunt down examples, that’s where I’d be tempted to look. For instance, I don’t remember any WWII references in any of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe stories (but then, I may just not have read or remembered the right ones). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/13 "2022-02-17T18:23:02Z")
AFAIK, _Cat People_ from 1942 doesn’t mention the war\*; neither does its sequel _Curse of the Cat People_ (1944) \*“Don’t mention the war!” – B. Fawlty. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/14 "2022-02-17T19:05:19Z")
related note , Gomer Pyle was set in the 60s and never mentioned Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/15 "2022-02-17T19:08:30Z")
Neither did _ **Beetle Bailey** _ or _ **Sad Sack** _. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/16 "2022-02-17T20:05:57Z")
“They only gave him that decision because he (Sugar Ray Robinson) is going in the army next week!” -only reference to WWII in _Raging Bull._ ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/17 "2022-02-18T14:53:19Z")
**The Wolf Man** with Lon Chaney, Jr… Seems to be set right around 1941, but it’s a rather strange '41. (Claude Rains is so good in this movie.) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/18 "2022-02-18T20:17:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Neither did _ **Beetle Bailey** _ actually, has beetle bailey ever mentioned any conflict I don’t think it mentioned any of the middle east wars and actions either? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/19 "2022-02-18T20:19:28Z")
Dunno. The last time I read the funnies was decades ago. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578/20 "2022-02-18T20:20:14Z")
the only war i remember reading in Nero Wolfe was Wolfe was involved in some ww1 partisan group with the specifics never mentioned or if they were I missed it [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creative-works-set-in-the-early-1940s-that-ignore-wwii/959578.md?page=2)