The 1940s Films That Inspired Netflix's Transatlantic

Beyond simply trying to replicate the look of these classic 1940s blockbusters, Anna Winger also explained that this decision was inspired by the real-life circumstances of 1940s Hollywood — particularly the European immigrants who were able to continue working despite the tumultuous conditions overseas.

"One of the things I thought about a lot was about how so many people ... who had been exiled from Berlin, went to Hollywood because they needed work," Winger told The Hollywood Reporter. "And they were making movies, writing screenplays, working in crews, all these Berliners from the Berlin film world who had gone there as refugees. And suddenly they were working on films that, in real-time, were dealing with World War II." Winger went on to muse on how those crews must've felt during the production of these classics, channeling their anxieties and worries into art, humor, and entertainment.

She specifically referenced the production behind "Casablanca" (since so many members of the crew for that film were actually German immigrants) and said that these real-life circumstances are what inspired her to replicate the style of that film. In pulling stylistic details from these 1940s classics, the series not only honors the films of that era but also embodies the same kind of emotion that inspired the refugee film crews who created those films in the first place.