FTV30006 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Jacques Tourneur, Billy Wilder, Orson Welles
Week 3
Multiple Logics of Hollywood
Despite a range of restrictions – classical narrative, lobby groups, the Production Code –
Hollywood is not necessarily monolithic
Restriction for some became a pathway to greater innovation
Hollywood is accommodating up to a point, and is flexible system that allows some change
or variance
Multiple logics – A term coined by Richard Maltby
Films can be both conservative (meeting the code) but also subvert it
May appear to reinforce gender roles, but also question them
May offer classical, linear narrative, but present it in a challenging fashion, with ambiguity
Possible to reinforce a political or social perspective, at the same time critiquing
Good directors and screenwriters found ways to maintain a level complexity despite the
conservative imperatives
Narrative Innovation
The Production code may have been restrictive, but during the ‘Classical’ period, Hollywood
consolidated its already strong position in cinema
An adherence was prevalent, but there are clear examples of deviation
All About Eve toys with subjective narration
Laura worked towards a narrative that questioned concepts of reality and the dream
Lady in the Lake and Dark Passage attempted to push concepts of the POV in storytelling
Psycho toyed with character identification and allegiance.
Aesthetic and Cultural Innovation
In the hands of some writers and directors, aesthetic innovation also flourished during the
classical era
Orson Welles played with aesthetic modes – use of deep focus in Citizen Kan, extended
takes such as in Touch of Evil
Excessive plasticity of mise en scene by Sirk and Ophulus in Hollywood melodramas
Rise of film noir as a response to German Expressionism (aided by directors such as Billy
Wilder and Fritz Lang)
Horror cinema such as Jacques Tourneur in films like Cat Peploe and I walked with a Zombie
Disney animation also flourished
Restriction/Freedom
Rise of technicolour and epic cinema
But also cinema that did not flinch from hard topics – the returned serviceman in Best Years
of Our Lives, impact of the Depression in Grapes of Wrath, media corruption in films like Ace
in the Hole and The sweet Smell of Success
We can look at these years under the code as not one of restriction but of great innovation
and creativity
Document Summary
Despite a range of restrictions classical narrative, lobby groups, the production code . Restriction for some became a pathway to greater innovation. Hollywood is accommodating up to a point, and is flexible system that allows some change or variance. Multiple logics a term coined by richard maltby. Films can be both conservative (meeting the code) but also subvert it. May appear to reinforce gender roles, but also question them. May offer classical, linear narrative, but present it in a challenging fashion, with ambiguity. Possible to reinforce a political or social perspective, at the same time critiquing. Good directors and screenwriters found ways to maintain a level complexity despite the conservative imperatives. The production code may have been restrictive, but during the classical" period, hollywood consolidated its already strong position in cinema. An adherence was prevalent, but there are clear examples of deviation. Laura worked towards a narrative that questioned concepts of reality and the dream.
