Development War and Remembrance had a multi-year production timeline. It was, at the time, the most expensive single project in the history of filmed entertainment and the most expensive single-story undertaking in United States television history. Costing $135 million (according to ABC head
Brandon Stoddard in his Television Academy Foundation interview), it took over ABC's broadcast schedule for two one-week periods in 1988 and 1989, totaling 30 prime-time hours. Up to that point, television had been dominated by the Big Three broadcasting networks in the United States, ABC,
NBC and
CBS. Shortly afterwards,
cable television began the fragmentation of the United States broadcasting audience in earnest, leaving
War and Remembrance the last of the giant miniseries. Miniseries had been major events on American television and ABC had produced some of the most seminal, under its
ABC Novels for Television banner, including
QB VII,
Rich Man, Poor Man,
Roots,
Roots: The Next Generations, and
Masada. Because Herman Wouk was happy with
Dan Curtis's 1983 ABC Novel for Television adaptation of
The Winds of War, Wouk allowed Curtis to adapt the sequel novel as well. Curtis turned the project down at first, however. He feared it would be impossible to accomplish, even with virtually unlimited resources. Curtis worried that the massive naval battles could not be recreated, because so few WWII-era ships and planes still existed. More importantly, Curtis, who was Jewish, wondered how to do justice to the reality of the Holocaust, saying "to put on film the true horror was impossible. Once one false note sneaks in, you're gone. And, in my own eyes, I felt failing would be an absolute crime." Curtis credited his wife Norma with convincing him to take on the mammoth job, recounting that she told him "You'll kill yourself if someone else finishes this story." Paramount Television had produced
The Winds of War at a cost of $40 million, $32 million of which was covered by ABC's licensing fee. However, Paramount decided not to produce the sequel and sold the rights to ABC, which produced the massive miniseries itself. ABC first planned a $65 million, 20-hour series, but when they went to Curtis, he said he wanted to make a $100 million, 30-hour series, which they eventually greenlit. There were also strict contractual restrictions on advertising that Herman Wouk had negotiated in 1977, before either miniseries aired. He had approval over all ads and required them not to disturb the narrative or to run under 30 seconds. Wouk also refused to allow any advertising for personal care products, foods, or any other ABC programming. Major eventual sponsors were
Ford Motors,
Nike,
IBM,
GE and
American Express. In addition, Wouk required that certain Holocaust sequences run uninterrupted by commercials of any kind. ABC's standards and practices division also agreed to an unprecedented waiver allowing frontal nudity during the lengthy Holocaust sequences, running parental advisories before any episodes beginning before 8pm.
Casting Although most of the enormous cast of
The Winds of War returned to their roles in
War and Remembrance, including Robert Mitchum, Victoria Tennant, Polly Bergen and Jeremy Kemp, several roles were recast.
John Houseman, who played Aaron Jastrow in
Winds of War, was too frail for
War and Remembrance's lengthy production schedule. He died of spinal
cancer in 1988, the year
War and Remembrance was broadcast. Houseman was replaced by
John Gielgud.
Jane Seymour was cast as Natalie Henry in place of
Ali MacGraw after Seymour campaigned for the role and made a screen test. Dan Curtis was struck by her performance and immediately cast her in the vital role.
Jan-Michael Vincent, who played Byron Henry in
The Winds of War, was busy as the action lead in the American television series
Airwolf. Cast and crew also hint in more recent interviews in the featurette on the
Winds of War DVD that Vincent's drinking made him difficult on set. Vincent was replaced by
Hart Bochner. Other major replacements include Sharon Stone as Janice (replacing
Deborah Winters),
Leslie Hope as Madeline (replacing
Lisa Eilbacher), Michael Woods as Warren (replacing
Ben Murphy),
Robert Morley as Alistair Tudsbury (replacing Michael Logan),
Barry Bostwick as Aster (replacing Joseph Hacker), and
Steven Berkoff as Adolf Hitler (replacing
Günter Meisner).
William Woodson again serves as narrator.
Filming During preproduction, Dan Curtis lobbied the Polish Communist government tirelessly for permission to film on the grounds of the
Auschwitz concentration camp, and after two years it was eventually granted, making
War and Remembrance the first major commercial motion picture to be filmed there. His request was aided by the intercession of
TVP, the public Polish TV network, and the support of Poland's preeminent World War II expert, who approved the script. Curtis said that he was allowed to film at Auschwitz on the condition that the script not have "one word about
Polish antisemitism" during the war. and the production had to briefly shut down as a result. where the old town district of
Tvrđa, a
Habsburg star-shaped fortress, was used as a primary location, doubling for the almost identical fortress town of
Terezín in
Czechoslovakia, which was converted by the Nazis to a Jewish ghetto. Filming took place in France throughout Paris, including the
Paris Opera, where a scene from
The Marriage of Figaro was staged with a 42-piece symphony orchestra and 500 extras, at
Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom. In the US, the production shot extensively in and around Los Angeles. Filming also took place in
Washington, D.C.; at the
United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland; at
Long Beach Naval Station in
Long Beach, California aboard ; in
Bremerton, Washington; at
Naval Air Station Pensacola in
Pensacola, Florida aboard the aircraft carrier ; in
Mobile, Alabama, aboard ; and throughout Hawaii, including
Pearl Harbor aboard and
Waianae, where a large group of warships were assembled. After principal photography was completed, a wrap party for cast and crew was held on January 8, 1988 aboard the ocean liner in Long Beach, which had previously been used as a filming location for
The Winds of War. ==Episodes==