WENDY WEBSTER
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199226641
- eISBN:
- 9780191718069
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226641.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Social History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter focuses on narratives of colonial wars in the 1950s. The siege narrative of colonial wars in the 1950s took a different trajectory from Second World War narratives, which increasingly ...
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This chapter focuses on narratives of colonial wars in the 1950s. The siege narrative of colonial wars in the 1950s took a different trajectory from Second World War narratives, which increasingly expelled the home front, civilians, and women. The incorporation of white women in colonial war films conformed to developments in the 1950s empire genre more generally, and produced a more intimate sense of British identity in empire than pre-1945 films that showed homosocial communities of soldiers or administrators. In empire, white women could symbolize national weakness and vulnerability, or intrepidity and courage. But they also gave narratives of colonial wars a more liberal register, suggesting British commitment to welfare, development, and peace-keeping — a moral endeavour undertaken in very difficult circumstances. Despite these gestures towards a ‘people's war’, colonial war narratives produced a very different image from the wartime ‘people's empire’. Diverse peoples were no longer united against a common enemy. Instead a racial community of Britons was under siege in empire.Less
This chapter focuses on narratives of colonial wars in the 1950s. The siege narrative of colonial wars in the 1950s took a different trajectory from Second World War narratives, which increasingly expelled the home front, civilians, and women. The incorporation of white women in colonial war films conformed to developments in the 1950s empire genre more generally, and produced a more intimate sense of British identity in empire than pre-1945 films that showed homosocial communities of soldiers or administrators. In empire, white women could symbolize national weakness and vulnerability, or intrepidity and courage. But they also gave narratives of colonial wars a more liberal register, suggesting British commitment to welfare, development, and peace-keeping — a moral endeavour undertaken in very difficult circumstances. Despite these gestures towards a ‘people's war’, colonial war narratives produced a very different image from the wartime ‘people's empire’. Diverse peoples were no longer united against a common enemy. Instead a racial community of Britons was under siege in empire.
Tom Ryall
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719064524
- eISBN:
- 9781781703007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719064524.003.0015
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter explores the films directed by Asquith during the Second World War. French Without Tears was released late in 1939, a few months after the outbreak of the war, but the film showed no ...
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This chapter explores the films directed by Asquith during the Second World War. French Without Tears was released late in 1939, a few months after the outbreak of the war, but the film showed no trace of the turbulent context into which it was released. However, it was not long before Asquith threw himself into the war effort and started making films that drew directly on the war. Freedom Radio (1940), his first war-related film, was a large-scale production made for the Two Cities company. Asquith's next film – Quiet Wedding (1940) – was for the Paramount company and was a box-office success. In 1941, Asquith rejoined Gaumont-British and directed three war films: Cottage to Let (1941), Uncensored (1942) and We Dive at Dawn (1943). He returned to Two Cities, where he directed two war pictures: The Demi-Paradise (1943) and The Way to the Stars (1945). In common with many directors of the time, Asquith also made a number of propaganda documentary dramas for the Ministry of Information.Less
This chapter explores the films directed by Asquith during the Second World War. French Without Tears was released late in 1939, a few months after the outbreak of the war, but the film showed no trace of the turbulent context into which it was released. However, it was not long before Asquith threw himself into the war effort and started making films that drew directly on the war. Freedom Radio (1940), his first war-related film, was a large-scale production made for the Two Cities company. Asquith's next film – Quiet Wedding (1940) – was for the Paramount company and was a box-office success. In 1941, Asquith rejoined Gaumont-British and directed three war films: Cottage to Let (1941), Uncensored (1942) and We Dive at Dawn (1943). He returned to Two Cities, where he directed two war pictures: The Demi-Paradise (1943) and The Way to the Stars (1945). In common with many directors of the time, Asquith also made a number of propaganda documentary dramas for the Ministry of Information.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines war films made in Hollywood prior to the U.S.'s entry into World War 2. It suggests the film studios balanced anti-Nazism, the pro-intervention positions of Hollywood ...
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This chapter examines war films made in Hollywood prior to the U.S.'s entry into World War 2. It suggests the film studios balanced anti-Nazism, the pro-intervention positions of Hollywood executives, and Americans' more isolationist stance. It argues that most of the pre-war films had prepared viewers to consider Nazi Germany as a threat to America and about America's potential role in the war. These films include Shadows over Shanghai and Mr. Wong in Chinatown.Less
This chapter examines war films made in Hollywood prior to the U.S.'s entry into World War 2. It suggests the film studios balanced anti-Nazism, the pro-intervention positions of Hollywood executives, and Americans' more isolationist stance. It argues that most of the pre-war films had prepared viewers to consider Nazi Germany as a threat to America and about America's potential role in the war. These films include Shadows over Shanghai and Mr. Wong in Chinatown.
M.B.B. Biskupski
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813125596
- eISBN:
- 9780813135335
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813125596.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
During World War II, Hollywood studios supported the war effort by making patriotic movies designed to raise the nation's morale. These movies often portrayed the combatants in very simple terms: ...
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During World War II, Hollywood studios supported the war effort by making patriotic movies designed to raise the nation's morale. These movies often portrayed the combatants in very simple terms: Americans and their allies were heroes, and everyone else was a villain. Norway, France, Czechoslovakia, and England were all good because they had been invaded or victimized by Nazi Germany. Poland, however, was represented in a negative light in numerous movies. This book draws on a close study of prewar and wartime films such as To Be or Not to Be (1942), In Our Time (1944), and None Shall Escape (1944). For the book, memoirs, letters, diaries, and memoranda written by screenwriters, directors, studio heads, and actors were researched to explore the negative portrayal of Poland during World War II. The book also examines the political climate that influenced Hollywood films.Less
During World War II, Hollywood studios supported the war effort by making patriotic movies designed to raise the nation's morale. These movies often portrayed the combatants in very simple terms: Americans and their allies were heroes, and everyone else was a villain. Norway, France, Czechoslovakia, and England were all good because they had been invaded or victimized by Nazi Germany. Poland, however, was represented in a negative light in numerous movies. This book draws on a close study of prewar and wartime films such as To Be or Not to Be (1942), In Our Time (1944), and None Shall Escape (1944). For the book, memoirs, letters, diaries, and memoranda written by screenwriters, directors, studio heads, and actors were researched to explore the negative portrayal of Poland during World War II. The book also examines the political climate that influenced Hollywood films.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This introductory chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the effects World War 2 films had in the U.S. and how they gave viewers ways to know the war. This book discusses the ...
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This introductory chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the effects World War 2 films had in the U.S. and how they gave viewers ways to know the war. This book discusses the Hollywood films made in the years after the war began but before the U.S. entry into the war and examines the films based on actual events in the Pacific theater after Pearl Harbor and how they linked those events into a coherent narrative. It also looks at the films' portrayal of America's British, Soviet, and Chinese allies and describes the films about countries under Nazi occupation.Less
This introductory chapter explains the coverage of this book, which is about the effects World War 2 films had in the U.S. and how they gave viewers ways to know the war. This book discusses the Hollywood films made in the years after the war began but before the U.S. entry into the war and examines the films based on actual events in the Pacific theater after Pearl Harbor and how they linked those events into a coherent narrative. It also looks at the films' portrayal of America's British, Soviet, and Chinese allies and describes the films about countries under Nazi occupation.
Alan Burton and Tim O'sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632893
- eISBN:
- 9780748671144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632893.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
One of the key and consistent themes in the post-war films of Dearden and Relph concerned men forced to confront new circumstances and changed expectations. This chapter surveys eleven of their films ...
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One of the key and consistent themes in the post-war films of Dearden and Relph concerned men forced to confront new circumstances and changed expectations. This chapter surveys eleven of their films (1948 – 1970) that work in a diversity of genres settings and scenarios but that are distinguished by tragic, male narratives. These films result either in the death of the male protagonist or in his otherwise seriously compromised ending. These are not ‘social problem’ films as such, but they do address from multiple viewpoints, the contradictions and anxieties of men, dealing with and trying to face up to, the forces of personal, social and historical change.Less
One of the key and consistent themes in the post-war films of Dearden and Relph concerned men forced to confront new circumstances and changed expectations. This chapter surveys eleven of their films (1948 – 1970) that work in a diversity of genres settings and scenarios but that are distinguished by tragic, male narratives. These films result either in the death of the male protagonist or in his otherwise seriously compromised ending. These are not ‘social problem’ films as such, but they do address from multiple viewpoints, the contradictions and anxieties of men, dealing with and trying to face up to, the forces of personal, social and historical change.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines Hollywood war films that were based on actual events in the Pacific theater after Pearl Harbor and how they link those events into a coherent narrative. Examples of these films ...
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This chapter examines Hollywood war films that were based on actual events in the Pacific theater after Pearl Harbor and how they link those events into a coherent narrative. Examples of these films include They Were Expandable, Bombardier, and Wake Island. The chapter argues that these films functioned in several important ways. They filled in the narrative gaps left by newspaper accounts of the events and they used these stories to justify America's efforts in the Pacific.Less
This chapter examines Hollywood war films that were based on actual events in the Pacific theater after Pearl Harbor and how they link those events into a coherent narrative. Examples of these films include They Were Expandable, Bombardier, and Wake Island. The chapter argues that these films functioned in several important ways. They filled in the narrative gaps left by newspaper accounts of the events and they used these stories to justify America's efforts in the Pacific.
Todd Decker
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520282322
- eISBN:
- 9780520966543
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520282322.003.0002
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter defines the serious Hollywood war film of the post-Vietnam era within industry, genre, visual style, and reception history. These movies engage seriously with historical fact from the ...
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This chapter defines the serious Hollywood war film of the post-Vietnam era within industry, genre, visual style, and reception history. These movies engage seriously with historical fact from the point of view of the individual soldier and veteran and reflect their makers’ sense of moral urgency. Several of these films have sparked larger national conversations about specific American wars. The various discourses and practices of authenticity undergirding these films are discussed. The capacity of young men to read ostensibly anti-war films as celebrations of war is noted. The four overlapping cycles of serious war film production after Vietnam are outlined: films about Vietnam made between 1978 and 1989, four films about US military involvements in the Middle East in the 1990s, the long-lived World War II cycle begun in the late 1990s, and the twenty-first-century cycle of combat films about ongoing American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.Less
This chapter defines the serious Hollywood war film of the post-Vietnam era within industry, genre, visual style, and reception history. These movies engage seriously with historical fact from the point of view of the individual soldier and veteran and reflect their makers’ sense of moral urgency. Several of these films have sparked larger national conversations about specific American wars. The various discourses and practices of authenticity undergirding these films are discussed. The capacity of young men to read ostensibly anti-war films as celebrations of war is noted. The four overlapping cycles of serious war film production after Vietnam are outlined: films about Vietnam made between 1978 and 1989, four films about US military involvements in the Middle East in the 1990s, the long-lived World War II cycle begun in the late 1990s, and the twenty-first-century cycle of combat films about ongoing American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jonathan Rayner
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719070983
- eISBN:
- 9781781701157
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719070983.003.0014
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The contribution of the American film industry to the war effort can be divided chronologically between preparatory propagandist films and combat films. It was the feature films that constituted the ...
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The contribution of the American film industry to the war effort can be divided chronologically between preparatory propagandist films and combat films. It was the feature films that constituted the most visible, accessible and influential product for home and international audiences, and the ‘most potent weapon of war in Hollywood's arsenal’. The proficiency of Hollywood in the production of genre films was an advantage for the delivery of formulaic war films, which were in any case derived from pre-war generic staples. These war films represent the American film industry's most prolonged and committed engagement ‘in documenting and making American history’. John Ford's They Were Expendable bears comparison with In Which We Serve as the definitive naval war film and tribute to the US Navy. The history of US naval aviation, from its inception to the arrival of jet aircraft, is recounted through documentary footage and fictional characters in Task Force.Less
The contribution of the American film industry to the war effort can be divided chronologically between preparatory propagandist films and combat films. It was the feature films that constituted the most visible, accessible and influential product for home and international audiences, and the ‘most potent weapon of war in Hollywood's arsenal’. The proficiency of Hollywood in the production of genre films was an advantage for the delivery of formulaic war films, which were in any case derived from pre-war generic staples. These war films represent the American film industry's most prolonged and committed engagement ‘in documenting and making American history’. John Ford's They Were Expendable bears comparison with In Which We Serve as the definitive naval war film and tribute to the US Navy. The history of US naval aviation, from its inception to the arrival of jet aircraft, is recounted through documentary footage and fictional characters in Task Force.
Alan Burton and Tim O'sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632893
- eISBN:
- 9780748671144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632893.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
By comparison with those films based around the tragic male melodrama, this chapter investigates a small number of films that Dearden and Relph made in the 1950s which examined men's adjustment to ...
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By comparison with those films based around the tragic male melodrama, this chapter investigates a small number of films that Dearden and Relph made in the 1950s which examined men's adjustment to the loss of (war-time) action. These films seek to recreate aspects of male solidarity, purpose and experience, but within changed, peace-time circumstances. Crime and criminality is often the result, but it is ultimately shown not to pay.Less
By comparison with those films based around the tragic male melodrama, this chapter investigates a small number of films that Dearden and Relph made in the 1950s which examined men's adjustment to the loss of (war-time) action. These films seek to recreate aspects of male solidarity, purpose and experience, but within changed, peace-time circumstances. Crime and criminality is often the result, but it is ultimately shown not to pay.
Bruce Bennett
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231167376
- eISBN:
- 9780231850537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231167376.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter looks at the depiction of the War on Terror in Michael Winterbottom’s The Shock Doctrine (2009), In this World (2002), A Mighty Heart (2007), and The Road to Guantánamo (2006). These ...
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This chapter looks at the depiction of the War on Terror in Michael Winterbottom’s The Shock Doctrine (2009), In this World (2002), A Mighty Heart (2007), and The Road to Guantánamo (2006). These films eschew the martial spectacle, seductive carnage, and oppositional moral framing of the conventional war film. Instead, they focus on combat and the ideologically and narratively restrictive perspective of the soldier’s experience in order to concentrate on marginal figures caught up in the wave of violence, racism, and paranoia that travelled across the globe in the wake of the 2001 attacks. In their orientation around marginal figures, Winterbottom’s films recognise the impossibility of producing a comprehensive, fully coherent account of the war, and instead they make visible bodies and make audible voices that have been absent from, obliterated by, or terrorised and abjected by dominant accounts of war.Less
This chapter looks at the depiction of the War on Terror in Michael Winterbottom’s The Shock Doctrine (2009), In this World (2002), A Mighty Heart (2007), and The Road to Guantánamo (2006). These films eschew the martial spectacle, seductive carnage, and oppositional moral framing of the conventional war film. Instead, they focus on combat and the ideologically and narratively restrictive perspective of the soldier’s experience in order to concentrate on marginal figures caught up in the wave of violence, racism, and paranoia that travelled across the globe in the wake of the 2001 attacks. In their orientation around marginal figures, Winterbottom’s films recognise the impossibility of producing a comprehensive, fully coherent account of the war, and instead they make visible bodies and make audible voices that have been absent from, obliterated by, or terrorised and abjected by dominant accounts of war.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines how Hollywood war films presented America's British, Soviet, and Chinese allies as nations to be valued for their uniqueness and their similarity to the U.S. It contends that ...
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This chapter examines how Hollywood war films presented America's British, Soviet, and Chinese allies as nations to be valued for their uniqueness and their similarity to the U.S. It contends that Hollywood films faced different kinds of problems in representing Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China as nations to be fought with and fought for. They employed a variety of strategies to convey that each of these nations had a unique history and heritage for which it should be valued and that contrasts with the Nazis and the Japanese. Examples of these films include Passport to Destiny, Ski Patrol, and Secret Agent in Japan.Less
This chapter examines how Hollywood war films presented America's British, Soviet, and Chinese allies as nations to be valued for their uniqueness and their similarity to the U.S. It contends that Hollywood films faced different kinds of problems in representing Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and China as nations to be fought with and fought for. They employed a variety of strategies to convey that each of these nations had a unique history and heritage for which it should be valued and that contrasts with the Nazis and the Japanese. Examples of these films include Passport to Destiny, Ski Patrol, and Secret Agent in Japan.
Jonathan Rayner
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719070983
- eISBN:
- 9781781701157
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719070983.003.0012
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
In the 1950s, British war films became some of the most successful national film products. They entered the national consciousness as the common frame of reference on the conflict, particularly for ...
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In the 1950s, British war films became some of the most successful national film products. They entered the national consciousness as the common frame of reference on the conflict, particularly for later generations who did not experience it first hand. Where some films produce heroic, uncomplicated retransmissions of accepted versions of known events, others offer a painful, private and subjective vision of war experience, which emphasises the compartmentalisation of the conflict, particularly in naval terms. The remarkable aura of defeat and loss is magnified in some naval examples (The Cruel Sea, The Gift Horse, Above Us the Waves, The Ship That Died of Shame), and yet downplayed, dismissed or exulted in heroic terms in others (Sailor to the King, The Battle of the River Plate). The films addressing naval subjects display remarkable consistency, despite tonal differences. A continued convergence between the stylistic and structural characteristics of the wartime documentary feature and the drama-documentary basis of many naval films is evident in several productions. The service comedy applies a basic unit of humour (inappropriate or incongruous behaviour) to the regulated environments and forms of conduct demanded within the military.Less
In the 1950s, British war films became some of the most successful national film products. They entered the national consciousness as the common frame of reference on the conflict, particularly for later generations who did not experience it first hand. Where some films produce heroic, uncomplicated retransmissions of accepted versions of known events, others offer a painful, private and subjective vision of war experience, which emphasises the compartmentalisation of the conflict, particularly in naval terms. The remarkable aura of defeat and loss is magnified in some naval examples (The Cruel Sea, The Gift Horse, Above Us the Waves, The Ship That Died of Shame), and yet downplayed, dismissed or exulted in heroic terms in others (Sailor to the King, The Battle of the River Plate). The films addressing naval subjects display remarkable consistency, despite tonal differences. A continued convergence between the stylistic and structural characteristics of the wartime documentary feature and the drama-documentary basis of many naval films is evident in several productions. The service comedy applies a basic unit of humour (inappropriate or incongruous behaviour) to the regulated environments and forms of conduct demanded within the military.
Ann Davies
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719073649
- eISBN:
- 9781781702093
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719073649.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Daniel Calparsoro, a director who has contributed to the contemporary scene in Spanish and Basque cinema, has provoked strong reactions from the critics. Reductively dismissed as a purveyor of crude ...
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Daniel Calparsoro, a director who has contributed to the contemporary scene in Spanish and Basque cinema, has provoked strong reactions from the critics. Reductively dismissed as a purveyor of crude violence by those critics lamenting a ‘lost golden age’ of Spanish filmmaking, Calparsoro's films reveal in fact a more complex interaction with trends and traditions in both Spanish and Hollywood cinema. This book is a full-length study of the director's work, from his early social realist films set in the Basque Country to his later forays into the genres of the war and horror film. It offers an in-depth film-by-film analysis, while simultaneously exploring the function of the director in the contemporary Spanish context, the tension between directors and critics, and the question of national cinema in an area—the Basque Country—of heightened national and regional sensitivities.Less
Daniel Calparsoro, a director who has contributed to the contemporary scene in Spanish and Basque cinema, has provoked strong reactions from the critics. Reductively dismissed as a purveyor of crude violence by those critics lamenting a ‘lost golden age’ of Spanish filmmaking, Calparsoro's films reveal in fact a more complex interaction with trends and traditions in both Spanish and Hollywood cinema. This book is a full-length study of the director's work, from his early social realist films set in the Basque Country to his later forays into the genres of the war and horror film. It offers an in-depth film-by-film analysis, while simultaneously exploring the function of the director in the contemporary Spanish context, the tension between directors and critics, and the question of national cinema in an area—the Basque Country—of heightened national and regional sensitivities.
Alan Burton and Tim O'sullivan
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748632893
- eISBN:
- 9780748671144
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748632893.003.0003
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter surveys the inauguration and early development of Dearden and Relph's partnership at Ealing and examines their first five films together; from The Bells Go Down (1943) to The Captive ...
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This chapter surveys the inauguration and early development of Dearden and Relph's partnership at Ealing and examines their first five films together; from The Bells Go Down (1943) to The Captive Heart (1946). It emphasises that they rapidly embraced and cemented their partnership within the Ealing wartime ethos of ‘quiet heroism’ and team work under Michael Balcon's studio management and direction. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that they made their distinctive mark in Ealing's projection of Britain during this time of national, wartime crisis and proved themselves considerable, but understated talents at the studio in the period.Less
This chapter surveys the inauguration and early development of Dearden and Relph's partnership at Ealing and examines their first five films together; from The Bells Go Down (1943) to The Captive Heart (1946). It emphasises that they rapidly embraced and cemented their partnership within the Ealing wartime ethos of ‘quiet heroism’ and team work under Michael Balcon's studio management and direction. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that they made their distinctive mark in Ealing's projection of Britain during this time of national, wartime crisis and proved themselves considerable, but understated talents at the studio in the period.
Reynold Humphries
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748624553
- eISBN:
- 9780748651153
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748624553.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The controversy that raged in America between partisans and adversaries of the country's ...
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The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The controversy that raged in America between partisans and adversaries of the country's participation in World War II was rendered more complex by the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and attitudes within America to Nazi Germany. If Americans were united from 1941–1945, films made in the period 1938–1940 showed that anti-fascism brought together filmmakers of very different political opinions. Before discussing certain war films, this chapter describes an event that occurred in September 1941 whose repercussions were revelatory of the political climate in America and were to return, in an inverted form, once the war was over: the Senate Sub-Committee War Films Hearings. The Sub-Committee was created at the request of two senators, the Democrat Burton Wheeler and the Republican Gerald Nye, to investigate what they saw as blatant propaganda films put out by Hollywood to support Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy and create a situation where the American public would support America entering the war.Less
The United States declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941 following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The controversy that raged in America between partisans and adversaries of the country's participation in World War II was rendered more complex by the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and attitudes within America to Nazi Germany. If Americans were united from 1941–1945, films made in the period 1938–1940 showed that anti-fascism brought together filmmakers of very different political opinions. Before discussing certain war films, this chapter describes an event that occurred in September 1941 whose repercussions were revelatory of the political climate in America and were to return, in an inverted form, once the war was over: the Senate Sub-Committee War Films Hearings. The Sub-Committee was created at the request of two senators, the Democrat Burton Wheeler and the Republican Gerald Nye, to investigate what they saw as blatant propaganda films put out by Hollywood to support Franklin D. Roosevelt's foreign policy and create a situation where the American public would support America entering the war.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines Hollywood war films' depictions of the Germans, Italians, and Japanese as the enemies of the U.S. during World War 2. Examples of these type of the films include Hell's Angels, ...
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This chapter examines Hollywood war films' depictions of the Germans, Italians, and Japanese as the enemies of the U.S. during World War 2. Examples of these type of the films include Hell's Angels, Grand Illusion, and The Great Dictator. The chapter mentions the frequently heard truism that Hollywood films crudely and obviously present the enemy as Other to the point of denying their humanity. It also suggests that Hollywood films employed a complex process involving pre-existing pop-cultural representations and ideological comparisons and contrasts to construct an idea of the countries the U.S. was at war with to help the American public understand why they had to be defeated.Less
This chapter examines Hollywood war films' depictions of the Germans, Italians, and Japanese as the enemies of the U.S. during World War 2. Examples of these type of the films include Hell's Angels, Grand Illusion, and The Great Dictator. The chapter mentions the frequently heard truism that Hollywood films crudely and obviously present the enemy as Other to the point of denying their humanity. It also suggests that Hollywood films employed a complex process involving pre-existing pop-cultural representations and ideological comparisons and contrasts to construct an idea of the countries the U.S. was at war with to help the American public understand why they had to be defeated.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0008
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines Hollywood war films about the U.S. home front, particularly those that defied conventions and presented a version of American life at odds with the official depiction ...
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This chapter examines Hollywood war films about the U.S. home front, particularly those that defied conventions and presented a version of American life at odds with the official depiction promulgated by most films. These so-called B movies were low-budget, quickly made, and usually action-oriented. They are usually designed to film the second half of a double bill by the major studios. Examples of these films include The Doughgirls, Standing Room Only, and Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore.Less
This chapter examines Hollywood war films about the U.S. home front, particularly those that defied conventions and presented a version of American life at odds with the official depiction promulgated by most films. These so-called B movies were low-budget, quickly made, and usually action-oriented. They are usually designed to film the second half of a double bill by the major studios. Examples of these films include The Doughgirls, Standing Room Only, and Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
Drucilla Cornell
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823230129
- eISBN:
- 9780823235124
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823230129.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter analyzes the films The Outlaw of Josey Wales (1976), Firefox (1982), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). It ...
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This chapter analyzes the films The Outlaw of Josey Wales (1976), Firefox (1982), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). It argues that in Eastwood's model, the war is no benefit to men but only a nightmarish reality from which they can never escape and before which they fall silent. War is no longer portrayed as what makes a man “a man,” but rather as what can shatter him, leaving him in the isolation of one who can never relate to others the horrible reality of living in the chaos of the battlefield.Less
This chapter analyzes the films The Outlaw of Josey Wales (1976), Firefox (1982), Heartbreak Ridge (1986), Flags of Our Fathers (2006), and Letters from Iwo Jima (2006). It argues that in Eastwood's model, the war is no benefit to men but only a nightmarish reality from which they can never escape and before which they fall silent. War is no longer portrayed as what makes a man “a man,” but rather as what can shatter him, leaving him in the isolation of one who can never relate to others the horrible reality of living in the chaos of the battlefield.
Robert L. McLaughlin and Sally E. Parry
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813123868
- eISBN:
- 9780813134840
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813123868.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter examines the presentation of American men and women in Hollywood World War 2 films. It suggests this presentation revised traditional film constructions of masculinity and femininity ...
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This chapter examines the presentation of American men and women in Hollywood World War 2 films. It suggests this presentation revised traditional film constructions of masculinity and femininity because wartime needs forced a major reworking of male and female types. It also argues that the changed gender roles seem to anticipate changes in the post-war world including the corporate-conformist culture of the 1950s and the feminist movement of the 1960s and beyond. Examples of these films include A Guy Named Joe, So Proudly We Hail!, and To Have and Have Not.Less
This chapter examines the presentation of American men and women in Hollywood World War 2 films. It suggests this presentation revised traditional film constructions of masculinity and femininity because wartime needs forced a major reworking of male and female types. It also argues that the changed gender roles seem to anticipate changes in the post-war world including the corporate-conformist culture of the 1950s and the feminist movement of the 1960s and beyond. Examples of these films include A Guy Named Joe, So Proudly We Hail!, and To Have and Have Not.
