Walter Pidgeon of his better known roles was in "The Dark Command", where he portrayed the villain (loosely based on American Civil War guerrilla William C. Quantrill) opposite John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and a young Roy Rogers. It was not until he starred in the Academy Award-winning Best Picture "How Green Was My Valley" (1941) that his popularity returned. He then starred opposite Greer Garson in "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941), "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor) and its sequel, "The Miniver Story" in 1950. He was also nominated in 1944 for "Madame
American propaganda during World War II films for new recruits. Capra designed the series to illustrate the enormous danger of Axis conquest and the corresponding justness of the Allies. This "Why We Fight" series documented the war in seven segments: At President Roosevelt's urging, "Why We Fight" was also released to the theaters for the general public. In Britain, Churchill ordered the entire sequence to be shown to the public. Movies were also useful in that propaganda messages could be incorporated into entertainment films. The 1942 film "Mrs. Miniver" portrayed the experiences of an English housewife during the Battle of Britain and urged the support of