The Monuments Men, in theaters, Dec. 18, will tell the story of the real-life Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program that attempted to protect European cultural property from Nazi looting during World War II. Based on the Robert Edsel non-fiction book, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, The Monuments Men stars noted actors George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, and Jean Dujardin. The lone female cast member is Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who will play real-life French art historian and French Resistance member Rose Valland. With a Dec. 18 release, it is certainly aiming for an Oscar nomination.
Capt. James Rorimer (second from left), who later would become the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, supervises the safeguarding of art stolen from French Jews and stored during the war at Schloss Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Bavaria, ca. April 1945. In the upcoming movie, The Monuments Men, Matt Damon will play Rorimer. National Archives photo