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

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audaciously atypical blend of “B” movie exploitation elements. It is precisely at the level of exploitive elements that the film gains a new dimension: first through the minimal dialogues (different from the witty lines found in other well-known noirs) and then through stylistically photographed scenes which play out at a verbal rather than a physical level (perhaps as a consequence of both budgetary and censorship constraints). The Big Combo still offers us a world that is seriously twisted, essentially a nightmare world and thus stays true to the fundamental impulse of film noir. 392
V. Conclusions: 1 Genre Revisited The artist brings to the genre his or her concerns, techniques, and capacities – in the widest sense, a style – but receives from the genre a formal pattern that directs and disciplines the work. In a sense this imposes limitations (...). (Buscombe 2003:22) In film theory, genre refers to the method of categorising a film based on the perceptible similitudes out of which film meanings are constructed. The term remains however controversial; within film criticism, there seems to be no agreement about what exactly the term means or what functions it actually performs. Film genres have been described as pure invention by some (like Robert Stam), as they seem to spring from the relationship between a specific production system and a given audience. More and more, however, we are confronted with a range of Hollywood genres, based on the elements from recurring patterns which are common to all the commercial films that we can call detective films, or Westerns, or gangster films. Indeed, when studying film genres, our analysis tends to focus on formulas, icons, motifs, etc, as the persistent elements common to all these films. It is by contrasting these familiar elements with other films that the discussion of genre starts, finding particular meanings in a given film within the context of other similar films. Through repetition and variation, these genre films arouse expectations and generate experiences similar to those felt in connection with similar pre-existing films. Nevertheless, the application of genre is rarely so definite, with clearly demarcated boundaries. On the one hand, the critical recognition of its place and importance is relatively recent in the categorisation of cinema. In chronological terms, genre criticism precedes the early work of auteurism, but its subsequent development has not been as popular as the auteur theory (in the writings of Andrew Sarris, for example). On the other hand, critical interest in film studies moved from the signifieds of film to the practice of signification, in other words, from what a film “means” to how it produces meaning, and 393
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Joaquim da Silva Universidade de Av
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To Antonio, who made this possible.
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Acknowledgements This long journey
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Finally, I owe a huge debt of grati
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keywords abstract Film Noir, genre,
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2 Social and Political Influences o
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2.4 Joseph H. Lewis................
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Figure 42. Force of Evil ..........
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I. Introduction: Paving the Way for
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term that the film industry itself
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about which films themselves consti
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also, in the films’ fundamental n
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American films after the Nazi occup
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we also find a disruption of the wo
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oth in these French productions of
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Hollywood feature films but it did
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throughout this work); and c) to di
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odies, or as killers and crooks, bu
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these films was to confer on them a
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writer, director, producer, and art
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cinema does not have the power of
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Before working on The Dark Mirror,
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y taking it “from the outside.”
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and many, if not most, films would
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1.1.1 Dashiell Hammett In 1929, Das
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tough appearance, by their occupati
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Apart from “The Continental Op”
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unsettling when for example shootin
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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
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most fastidious visions of London i
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hometowns and move into bigger citi
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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
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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
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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
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The notion of “text” as a disco
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only agree that these disciplines s
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2 The Universe of Motifs and Symbol
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Andrew Sarris once wrote that “If
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exception to this rule, his movies
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independent production companies in
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Figure 66. Double Indemnity In the
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Figure 67. Scarlet Street The symbo
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contorted Expressionistic grimace,
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Figure 70. Metropolis The clock mot
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Figure 71. Strangers on a Train The
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“When I was young I wanted to be
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themselves in the projection of inn
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woman in the portrait throughout I
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scenes as the attachment is purely
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(namely The Spiral Staircase and Ou
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Chris meets by accident, is a hellc
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2.1.1.4 Conclusion All in all, ther
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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
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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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Page 359 and 360: violent mishaps could have led to h
Page 361 and 362: writers like Dashiell Hammett (who,
Page 363 and 364: Chuck Tatum, a cynical, frustrated
Page 365 and 366: on, Ann, who represents his hope fo
Page 367 and 368: This kind of temporal manipulation
Page 369 and 370: ought forward by the characters of
Page 371 and 372: found Kathie: “I was glad it was
Page 373 and 374: Figure 102. Out of the Past In this
Page 375 and 376: Figure 104. The Lady from Shanghai
Page 377 and 378: Jeff: Give him time. Kathie: You ar
Page 379 and 380: Figure 106. Out of the Past The sce
Page 381 and 382: Gun Crazy, a barrage of police gunf
Page 383 and 384: 2.4 Joseph H. Lewis Considered as a
Page 385 and 386: untold storied of ordinary men and
Page 387 and 388: through windows, to provide the ind
Page 389 and 390: 2.4.1 The Big Combo (1955) and the
Page 391 and 392: of most noir films including The Bi
Page 393 and 394: 2.4.1.1 “First is First and Secon
Page 395 and 396: In The Big Combo the unconscious tr
Page 397 and 398: It is not only in terms of narrativ
Page 399 and 400: Although the idea is not to go into
Page 401 and 402: Figure 113. Scarlet Street Neff’s
Page 403 and 404: 2.4.1.2 The Big Combo and Generic T
Page 405 and 406: and knowing they are both surrounde
Page 407: As the noir movement entered the la
Page 411 and 412: on social aspects through a dramati
Page 413 and 414: Buscombe is right: if we take a gen
Page 415 and 416: constructions that make it difficul
Page 417 and 418: Such factors have been scrutinised
Page 419 and 420: Thematically, noir films as a group
Page 421 and 422: While enforcement of the Production
Page 423 and 424: are “as often nihilistic, cynical
Page 425 and 426: which is normally not associated wi
Page 427 and 428: morality brought about by these noi
Page 429 and 430: It is within this cinematic and cri
Page 431 and 432: ____________ (1994). The Semiotic C
Page 433 and 434: ____________ (1992b). Farewell, My
Page 435 and 436: E Easthope, Antony (1993). Contempo
Page 437 and 438: Greenberg, Joel & Higham, Charles (
Page 439 and 440: James, David E. (2005). The Most Ty
Page 441 and 442: Malkiewicz, Kris (1986). Film Light
Page 443 and 444: N Naremore, James (1978). The Magic
Page 445 and 446: Polan, Dana (1986). Power and Paran
Page 447 and 448: ____________ (2006). Ava Gardner:
Page 449 and 450: Sullivan, Ellie (1986). Jacques Lac
Page 451 and 452: Wilson, Edmund (1962). Classics and
Page 453 and 454: Appendix I: Annotated Filmography T
Page 455 and 456: Beware, My Lovely RKO 1952. Prod: C
Page 457 and 458: 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
Page 467 and 468:
Mildred Pierce WB 1945. Prod: Jerry
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One Way Street Univ 1950. Prod: Leo
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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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