# The Winds of War (miniseries)
**The Winds of War** is an American 18-hour television miniseries broadcast on ABC in February 1983, adapted from [Herman Wouk](https://www.edgepedia.org/herman-wouk)'s 1971 novel about an American Navy family swept into the events leading to World War II. Produced and directed by Dan Curtis, it starred [Robert Mitchum](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-mitchum), Ali MacGraw, Jan-Michael Vincent, and [Victoria Tennant](https://www.edgepedia.org/victoria-tennant), and it was, at $40 million, the most expensive television production made to that time.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_winds_of_war)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | ABC, seven episodes over seven evenings, first episode February 6, 1983[3](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item?item=T83%3A0272&p=9&q=du) |
| Length and budget | 18 hours; $40 million, the largest television production of its day[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) |
| Source | Herman Wouk's novel *The Winds of War* (1971); Wouk took the better part of 16 years to research and write it and its sequel[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) |
| Principal cast | Robert Mitchum (Captain Victor "Pug" Henry), Ali MacGraw (Natalie Jastrow), Jan-Michael Vincent (Byron Henry), Victoria Tennant, John Houseman, David Dukes, Ralph Bellamy[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_winds_of_war) • [4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085112) |
| Ratings | Averaged a 38.6 rating and 53 share, placing it close behind *Roots* (1977) as the highest-rated miniseries in television history; an estimated 150 million people watched all or part[5](https://time.com/archive/6700827/show-business-wages-of-war/) • [6](https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1983/0211/021172.html) |
| Emmy Awards | 13 nominations and 3 wins at the 1983 Emmys: cinematography, directing (Dan Curtis), and supporting actor (Ralph Bellamy)[7](https://www.emmys.com/shows/winds-war) |
| Sequel | *War and Remembrance* (1988–1989), a 30-hour, $104 million production, then the biggest, longest, and most expensive project in television history[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2006/04/01/dan-curtis/c73cd07e-8628-463a-a82d-7960e8eeb168/) |
## Story and characters
The series follows the Henry family through the events leading to the American entry into World War II. Captain Victor "Pug" Henry, a career Navy officer, becomes a military attaché in Berlin and, through the author's device of prescience, alone anticipates the signing of the Soviet-German Nonaggression Pact that enabled Germany to launch the war.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) Wouk built subplots around Pug's son Byron ([Jan-Michael Vincent](https://www.edgepedia.org/jan-michael-vincent)), who woos and marries Natalie Jastrow ([Ali MacGraw](https://www.edgepedia.org/ali-macgraw)), an American Jew; after the marriage Natalie is trapped in Europe with her uncle, and as Jews both face disappearing into Hitler's Holocaust.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/)
The drama mixes the family story with historical reenactment. A contemporary appraisal credited the series with getting its audience to sit still for substantial material: the [British Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-empire)'s looming demise, Hitler's megalomania as viewed by his incredulous but fatally compromised generals, and Poland's tragedy.[9](https://lamag.com/tv/what-the-winds-of-war-says-about-todays-tv/) A later retrospective described its goal as blending "a foreground of watchable characters into an accurately painted background of world-historical events," while noting a certain cheesiness in the depiction of the Nazi High Command, especially Hitler.[10](https://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2006/06/when_the_miniseries_was_king.html)
## Production
Wouk doubted the feasibility of making *The Winds of War* into a film until the miniseries format was proposed.[11](https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/94/9414/wouk.html) Curtis, a former Naval Reserve officer, and Wouk, who had served four years as a Naval officer on minesweepers, met and convinced each other to film the novel, with Herman having the final word on everything.[12](https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/bitstream/mtsu/4126/1/3255583.pdf)
**Scale of the shoot.** Production took 13 months of shooting followed by a year of post-production, and the cameras produced 1 million feet of film, about 185 hours, which Curtis cut down to 81,000 feet.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) • [13](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-02-ca-6199-story.html) To prepare viewers for whom World War II was a hazy memory, ABC mailed 550,000 copies of a 24-page color magazine to schools, libraries, and special-interest groups introducing the era and the five major wartime leaders, and a half-hour documentary narrated by [John Houseman](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-houseman) went to ABC's affiliated stations.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/) Director of photography Charles Correll described the "storybook, romantic look" he and Curtis aimed for.[1](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/)
The production took a physical toll on Curtis: his hearing loss was, in his own description, a battle scar from the 1983 miniseries.[14](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-10-ca-21-story.html)
## Reception and ratings
The broadcast was a ratings event of a scale television has rarely repeated. [The Christian Science Monitor](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-christian-science-monitor) estimated in February 1983 that more than 150 million people would have watched all or part of the series by the time the seventh evening ended.[6](https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1983/0211/021172.html) ABC took out advertisements in seven newspapers and six trade papers gloating that "more people relived the war than fought in it"; the 18-hour broadcast averaged a 38.6 rating and a 53 share, placing it close behind the 1977 *Roots*, also on ABC, as the highest-rated miniseries in television history.[5](https://time.com/archive/6700827/show-business-wages-of-war/) At the height of the miniseries craze, ABC aired the seven episodes over a week in February, averaging 80 million viewers per night.[15](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-miniseries/)
Critical response was mixed on the acting. A *Time* review quoted at a Washington screening event said, "The only really bad performance is MacGraw's."[16](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/02/04/hollywood-at-war/a87994ee-a882-4f65-99dc-1328ea33d828/)
At the 1983 [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards) the miniseries received 13 nominations and won 3 Emmys: Outstanding [Cinematography](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematography) for a Limited Series (Charles Correll and Stevan Larner), Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special (Dan Curtis), and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special ([Ralph Bellamy](https://www.edgepedia.org/ralph-bellamy)). Polly Bergen was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress.[7](https://www.emmys.com/shows/winds-war)
## Sequel and legacy
Curtis said at the end of the 18-hour broadcast that he would never make another miniseries, but in January 1986 he left for Europe to begin the sequel, *War and Remembrance*, adapting Wouk's follow-up novel, which picks up the story after [Pearl Harbor](https://www.edgepedia.org/pearl-harbor).[17](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-04-ca-24391-story.html) John Gielgud replaced John Houseman in the sequel, while David Dukes and Ralph Bellamy reprised their original roles.[17](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-04-ca-24391-story.html) The sequel aired on ABC in 1988–1989 as a 30-hour, $104 million production, at the time the biggest, longest, and most expensive project in television history, and it dealt far more explicitly with the Holocaust than *The Winds of War* had.[8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2006/04/01/dan-curtis/c73cd07e-8628-463a-a82d-7960e8eeb168/) • [18](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1988/11/13/war-and-remembrance/56bf8a12-4f4b-4494-bc21-7255945dd514/) Wouk himself considered *War and Remembrance* the more powerful story.[5](https://time.com/archive/6700827/show-business-wages-of-war/)
The two miniseries are noted for their fidelity to their source, a result attributed to Wouk's final say over the production.[12](https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/bitstream/mtsu/4126/1/3255583.pdf) Wouk and Curtis later donated a 35mm projection print of *War and Remembrance* to the Library of Congress.[11](https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/94/9414/wouk.html) On IMDb the original miniseries holds a rating of 8.1/10 from about 5,300 users.[19](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085112/ratings/)
## References
1. [The $40 Million Gamble: ABC goes all out on its epic The Winds of War, TIME](https://time.com/archive/6857205/the-40-million-gamble-abc-goes-all-out-on-its-epic-the-winds-of-war/)
2. [The Winds of War, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_winds_of_war)
3. [ABC Novel for Television: Herman Wouk's "The Winds of War," Episode 1, Paley Center for Media](https://www.paleycenter.org/collection/item?item=T83%3A0272&p=9&q=du)
4. [The Winds of War (TV Mini Series 1983), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085112)
5. [Show Business: Wages of War, TIME (February 28, 1983)](https://time.com/archive/6700827/show-business-wages-of-war/)
6. [Why so many Americans are watching 'The Winds of War', The Christian Science Monitor (February 11, 1983)](https://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/1983/0211/021172.html)
7. [The Winds of War, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.emmys.com/shows/winds-war)
8. [Dan Curtis; Producer Of WWII Miniseries, The Washington Post (2006)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2006/04/01/dan-curtis/c73cd07e-8628-463a-a82d-7960e8eeb168/)
9. [What The Winds of War Says About Today's TV, LAmag](https://lamag.com/tv/what-the-winds-of-war-says-about-todays-tv/)
10. [When the Miniseries Was King, Serious Popcorn (ArtsJournal)](https://www.artsjournal.com/popcorn/2006/06/when_the_miniseries_was_king.html)
11. [Herman Wouk's Remembrances, Library of Congress Information Bulletin (July 11, 1994)](https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/94/9414/wouk.html)
12. [Dark Dreamer: Dan Curtis and Television Horror, 1966–2006, MTSU scholarly thesis](https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/bitstream/mtsu/4126/1/3255583.pdf)
13. [Wouk's 'War': Greatest Horror Story of All, Los Angeles Times (1985)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-02-ca-6199-story.html)
14. [The Long March of 'War and Remembrance', Los Angeles Times (1988)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-11-10-ca-21-story.html)
15. [The Rise and Fall of the Miniseries, Rotten Tomatoes editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-miniseries/)
16. [Hollywood at 'War', The Washington Post (1983)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/02/04/hollywood-at-war/a87994ee-a882-4f65-99dc-1328ea33d828/)
17. [Production to Start on 'War', Los Angeles Times (1986)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-01-04-ca-24391-story.html)
18. ['War and Remembrance', The Washington Post (1988)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1988/11/13/war-and-remembrance/56bf8a12-4f4b-4494-bc21-7255945dd514/)
19. [The Winds of War (TV Mini Series 1983) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085112/ratings/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series › Literary and classic serial adaptations › Historical and epic drama adaptations*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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