We explore the role of religion and ethnicity in 20th- and 21st-century fiction and film, with emphasis on the contributions of Catholic and Jewish writers and auteurs. Irish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants began to influence American culture in the late-19th century. Jewish descendants established Hollywood film studios in the interwar years; refugees from Hitler settled in Hollywood after WWII to direct and act. By the middle of the 20th century, Catholic and Jewish writers emerged as important fictional voices, a trend that continued through the end of the century and into the 21st.
