Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

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O Júri Presidente Vogais Prof. Doutor Vítor José Babau Torres Professor Catedrático da Universidade de Aveiro Prof. Doutor Mário Carlos Fernandes Avelar Professor Catedrático da Universidade Aberta Prof. Doutor Abílio Hernandez Cardoso Professor Associado da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra Prof. Doutor Anthony David Barker Professor Associado da Universidade de Aveiro (orientador) Prof. Doutor Kenneth David Callahan Professor Associado da Universidade de Aveiro Prof. Doutora Margarida Isabel Esteves da Silva Pereira Professora Auxiliar do Instituto de Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade do Minho
Acknowledgements This long journey of research will have proved invaluable all by itself by virtue of the hundreds of films that I have watched (nearly two hundred and some more than once), all of them listed alphabetically at the end in the Filmography section. Some three years of watching films several times a week, most of them from my home collection and dozens and dozens of others seen at film festivals held across major American cities, mainly those of San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. The questions that I was frequently asked when I told people about this dissertation were how my interest in film noir appeared and what the term actually means. To them, I often replied that for years I have been ensnared by noir films and that I still recall the first time that I watched Scarlet Street (1945), directed by one of the most notable directors, Fritz Lang, and casting one of my favourite actors, Edward G. Robinson, in the role of Christopher Cross. Little did I know at that time that I was watching a seminal noir film, let alone that many years later I would be expressing my own point of view on this historical film type. Many people and institutions have contributed so much to bring this project to fruition. I first offer my heartfelt thanks to my thesis advisor, Professor Anthony David Barker, for his thorough perception, his serenity, his interest, his sympathy and deep understanding of my work, and who patiently read and reread the manuscripts at various stages in an effort to infuse the whole with intellectual rigour. He has been accompanying my projects ever since my earliest postgraduate studies, namely during my Master’s thesis, which he also supervised, and has willingly agreed to guide me throughout this present assignment. The time that I lived in the United States (nearly three years) needed to carry out this research meant crossing paths with countless other noir aficionados. I am indebted to many people over the course of this sojourn abroad. I would like to begin by thanking Dr. Kurt Stone who taught me that this thesis “will become part of you: you eat with it, you sleep with it and you live with it”. I attended some of his courses, specifically those that proved to be very noteworthy for this work: “The Early Hitchcock Films” and “Film Noir: Paint It Black”, and another one intituled “International Cinema: Out of Focus”, all administered at the FIU (Florida International University) in Miami. I benefited from lengthy and pleasurable conversations with him (which we still have via email) discussing scripts and other film-related issues. I also would like to express my thanks to the FIU for letting me use its library and other facilities on its superb and well-kept campuses. I am also very grateful to the people who accepted my application to be part of the MIFF (Miami International Film Festival) for three consecutive years (2007-09). Working as a “guest relations” official enabled me to liaise the different film directors, actors and actresses and various producers who attended the Festival. March 2008 constituted a milestone moment for the MIFF as they celebrated their 25th anniversary. For a second time, they offered me the possibility to experience and see screened some of the distinguished directors’ work featured during the last quarter century of the Festival’s existence. During this event, I also had the opportunity to interview French director Luc Besson whose insight on film genre proved to be particularly significant for my work. Whilst attending the “Noir City 5 Film Noir Festival” in San Francisco in January 2007 I truly had the chance to enter the immersive universe of film noir. Held at the magnificent Castro Theatre, this Festival meant for me the possibility of travelling down “those mean streets”, lit intermittently by flashing neon lights, which soon gave way to the wonderful thought of meeting some of the obsessive heroes and heroines of film noir portrayed by actors and actresses like Edward G. Robinson, Richard Erdman, Evelyn Keyes and Joan Crawford. A personal note of appreciation goes to Eddie Muller, the founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation (FNF) and author of various novels and noir books. Thanks to him, I became a member of the FNF and I sometimes write for the newspaper column, Noir City Sentinel. I had the chance there to become informed about various other Festivals, which also allowed me to meet in person Marsha Hunt (Raw Deal, 1948) and Richard Erdman (Cry Danger, 1951), and watch an array of hard-to-find noirs currently unavailable in any format. Undoubtedly San Francisco’s rollercoaster topography and its eerie Golden Gate Park fog make it one of my favourite locations to slip into the noir
Page 1 and 2: Joaquim da Silva Universidade de Av
Page 3: To Antonio, who made this possible.
Page 7 and 8: Finally, I owe a huge debt of grati
Page 9 and 10: keywords abstract Film Noir, genre,
Page 11 and 12: 2 Social and Political Influences o
Page 13 and 14: 2.4 Joseph H. Lewis................
Page 15 and 16: Figure 42. Force of Evil ..........
Page 17 and 18: I. Introduction: Paving the Way for
Page 19 and 20: term that the film industry itself
Page 21 and 22: about which films themselves consti
Page 23 and 24: also, in the films’ fundamental n
Page 25 and 26: American films after the Nazi occup
Page 27 and 28: we also find a disruption of the wo
Page 29 and 30: oth in these French productions of
Page 31 and 32: Hollywood feature films but it did
Page 33 and 34: throughout this work); and c) to di
Page 35 and 36: odies, or as killers and crooks, bu
Page 37 and 38: these films was to confer on them a
Page 39 and 40: writer, director, producer, and art
Page 41 and 42: cinema does not have the power of
Page 43 and 44: Before working on The Dark Mirror,
Page 45 and 46: y taking it “from the outside.”
Page 47 and 48: and many, if not most, films would
Page 49 and 50: 1.1.1 Dashiell Hammett In 1929, Das
Page 51 and 52: tough appearance, by their occupati
Page 53 and 54: Apart from “The Continental Op”
Page 55 and 56:
unsettling when for example shootin
Page 57 and 58:
1.1.2 Raymond Chandler Raymond Chan
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Figure 4. The Big Sleep the chaotic
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eleased to the big screen by MGM wi
Page 63 and 64:
most fastidious visions of London i
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hometowns and move into bigger citi
Page 67 and 68:
Double Indemnity started the trend
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has happened, but, as if hypnotized
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destructive, or used by stronger wo
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Tomorrow Goodbye (1950) into a noir
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Home (1937) - were two living proof
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which collapses the distinction bet
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Figure 10. Deadline at Dawn Alex’
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1.1.6 William Riley Burnett Another
Page 83 and 84:
Figure 11. High Sierra The Asphalt
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1.1.7 Conclusions What made the det
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fiction managed to provide for a de
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escalation in illegal drinking plac
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Ben Hecht story and despite being p
Page 93 and 94:
Mercy! Is this the end of Rico?”
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The third originating gangster movi
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part of the recurrent patterns of v
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protagonist of Edgar Ulmer’s Deto
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exemplify in Part III (“Space and
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1.3 The Gothic Romance 87 And trave
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titlecard when the film opens alert
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In Rebecca the beautiful, desirable
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forties. Thematically, the represen
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To complicate this matter further,
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trampled under by war and revolutio
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he says, when Expressionism ended,
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These early Expressionist films, wi
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student, Balduin (Paul Wegener hims
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(Tragedy of the Street, 1927, aka W
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plots with calculating precision. G
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perverted and neurotic sex murderer
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1.5 French Poetic Realism Poetic Re
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(Michèle Morgan), whose godfather
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strikingly atmospheric view of the
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Jean Paulhan, editor of La Nouvelle
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Julien Duvivier’s Pépé Le Moko
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the combination of lighting effects
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peculiar expressionistic lighting a
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Figure 28. Son of Frankenstein This
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Figure 29. Murders in the Rue Morgu
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alienation mixed with nuanced perfo
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2 Social and Political Influences o
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Liberal reforms soon became a spuri
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Polonsky, Jules Dassin, and Edward
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which are themselves historical eve
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Production Code Administration. Thi
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In this particular case, one can se
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Neff: Will you be here too? Phyllis
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against any possible theft of groce
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2.3 Postwar Readjustment If the moo
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In this group of films, the bleak a
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explain, these noir heroes of the f
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(Gilda, White Heat, Scarlet Street,
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seething excitations” and adds th
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Romanticism present at the very hea
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to persist and overcome difficultie
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III. Noir Thematics 1 Essential Ele
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its modernist sensibility, enabled
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Wyatt), cooks breakfast, domestic r
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structures of constituted authority
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1.2 Space and the Noir City Film no
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other people and developing a calcu
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I am the city. Hub and heart of Ame
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1.3 Trouble With Girls: The Femme F
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intelligent and powerful, if destru
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significant discussion of film noir
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Nevertheless, the message is quite
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Another example of the evolution of
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deceiving women. Like many of their
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Either as a femme fatale or an homm
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1.5 Dazed and Confused: The Voiceov
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an impersonal “you” giving the
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of war veterans who, unfolding thei
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1.6 Noir Atmospherics: Cinematograp
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John Alton’s highly stylised phot
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Figure 41. Stranger on the Third Fl
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indoctrination in the movie in the
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in the popular imagination. While t
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1.7 Sounds of the City: Jazz Soundt
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music, combines with images of patr
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Figure 45. Out of the Past Non-dieg
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ealm of near-explicit sexual metaph
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the two, affirming that “Jazz is
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City, Paramount’s Union Station a
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In my analysis of The Big Combo in
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Consequently, in the fifties, we st
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2 Noir and the Film Auteur 2.1 Aute
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noticeably the case, for example, w
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point out the fact that it is only
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elationship to the way a director t
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2.1.1 Billy Wilder Billy Wilder pla
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performance is full of understated
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Figure 54. Sunset Boulevard Wilder
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Figure 55. Ace in the Hole All of B
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2.1.2 Orson Welles He may have only
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For example, in the scene above (fi
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As Leo Braudy in The World in a Fra
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slanting compositions, and brillian
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2.1.3 Otto Preminger Austrian film
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plans, June still shows her love fo
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Figure 61. Where the Sidewalk Ends
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project my viewpoint on the audienc
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postulated as the “doctrine of si
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pouvait espérer sortir de la déno
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I am at the barber's, and a copy of
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certain community, our subjective r
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interpretant” (Stam 1992:6). Here
Page 279 and 280:
The notion of “text” as a disco
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only agree that these disciplines s
Page 283 and 284:
2 The Universe of Motifs and Symbol
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Andrew Sarris once wrote that “If
Page 287 and 288:
exception to this rule, his movies
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independent production companies in
Page 291 and 292:
Figure 66. Double Indemnity In the
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Figure 67. Scarlet Street The symbo
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contorted Expressionistic grimace,
Page 297 and 298:
Figure 70. Metropolis The clock mot
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Figure 71. Strangers on a Train The
Page 301 and 302:
“When I was young I wanted to be
Page 303 and 304:
themselves in the projection of inn
Page 305 and 306:
woman in the portrait throughout I
Page 307 and 308:
scenes as the attachment is purely
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(namely The Spiral Staircase and Ou
Page 311 and 312:
Chris meets by accident, is a hellc
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2.1.1.4 Conclusion All in all, ther
Page 315 and 316:
Question: Scarlet Street had the sa
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an accepted and well-known screenwr
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Siodmak’s next two films for Univ
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money from Dundee. A more harrowing
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2.2.1 The Spiral Staircase (1946) a
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here increased by the unsteady blac
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Figure 83. The Spiral Staircase Thi
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Warren, making either of them the p
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2.2.1.2 The “Optical Unconscious
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camera is expressive, as it informs
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ordering” - appears to match this
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eyewitness, but at the same time, a
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Figure 87. The Spiral Staircase Bas
Page 341 and 342:
While Cross implicitly acknowledges
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Figure 89. Affair in Trinidad Other
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However, much of this iconography t
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long, wooden staircase while trying
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Figure 93. The Spiral Staircase Fig
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of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The B
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almost part of a game, emphasising
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2.3 Jacques Tourneur Born in Paris
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a laughing audience), and broken la
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violent mishaps could have led to h
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writers like Dashiell Hammett (who,
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Chuck Tatum, a cynical, frustrated
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on, Ann, who represents his hope fo
Page 367 and 368:
This kind of temporal manipulation
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ought forward by the characters of
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found Kathie: “I was glad it was
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Figure 102. Out of the Past In this
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Figure 104. The Lady from Shanghai
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Jeff: Give him time. Kathie: You ar
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Figure 106. Out of the Past The sce
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Gun Crazy, a barrage of police gunf
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2.4 Joseph H. Lewis Considered as a
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untold storied of ordinary men and
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through windows, to provide the ind
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2.4.1 The Big Combo (1955) and the
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of most noir films including The Bi
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2.4.1.1 “First is First and Secon
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In The Big Combo the unconscious tr
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It is not only in terms of narrativ
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Although the idea is not to go into
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Figure 113. Scarlet Street Neff’s
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2.4.1.2 The Big Combo and Generic T
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and knowing they are both surrounde
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As the noir movement entered the la
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V. Conclusions: 1 Genre Revisited T
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on social aspects through a dramati
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Buscombe is right: if we take a gen
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constructions that make it difficul
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Such factors have been scrutinised
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Thematically, noir films as a group
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While enforcement of the Production
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are “as often nihilistic, cynical
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which is normally not associated wi
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morality brought about by these noi
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It is within this cinematic and cri
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____________ (1994). The Semiotic C
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____________ (1992b). Farewell, My
Page 435 and 436:
E Easthope, Antony (1993). Contempo
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Greenberg, Joel & Higham, Charles (
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James, David E. (2005). The Most Ty
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Malkiewicz, Kris (1986). Film Light
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N Naremore, James (1978). The Magic
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Polan, Dana (1986). Power and Paran
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____________ (2006). Ava Gardner:
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Sullivan, Ellie (1986). Jacques Lac
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Wilson, Edmund (1962). Classics and
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Appendix I: Annotated Filmography T
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Beware, My Lovely RKO 1952. Prod: C
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Christmas Holiday Univ 1944. Prod:
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Dark Corner, The Fox 1946. Prod: Fr
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Framed Col 1947. Prod: Jules Schern
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House on 92 nd Street, The Fox 1945
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Killing, The UA 1956. Prod: James B
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Mildred Pierce WB 1945. Prod: Jerry
Page 469 and 470:
One Way Street Univ 1950. Prod: Leo
Page 471 and 472:
Repeat Performance EL 1947. Prod: A
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Stranger, The RKO 1946. Prod: S.P.
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Unsuspected, The WB 1947. Prod: Cha
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B) Other Relevant Filmography The f
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Last Laugh, The ScreenSound 1924. P
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Appendix II The Motion Picture P
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VIII. Religion 1. No film or episod
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B. By reason of the mobility of fil
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Reasons Underlying the Particular A
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VIII. Religion The reason why minis
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146, 152, 186, 192, 229, 250, 298,
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high-contrast, 11, 46, 172 Highway
Page 495 and 496:
350, 352, 353, 354, 356, 357, 359,
Page 497:
Walsh, Raoul, 56, 57, 66, 73, 223,
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