Hollywood Cinema and Film Genre Reader - Essay Example

The Uses of Film Genre The categorization of artistic works based on genre has long been utilized in literature, drama, painting and sculpture. Withthe creation of the motion picture industry in the twentieth century, the categories of film genre were developed. Many of the genres of film overlapped with the dramatic and literary genres, including horror, gothic, mystery and western. But as B.K. Grant notes in his Film Genre Reader, the Hollywood studios were able to utilize different genres to generate revenue for themselves by creating a dependable audience. “Genre movies are those commercial feature films which, through repetition and variation, tell familiar stories with familiar characters in familiar situations,” he says. “They also encourage expectations and experiences similar to those of similar films we have already seen...a movie was a ‘western’ or a ‘war movie’ or a ‘musical,’ and such descriptive labels came to signal information to prospective consumers about the story and the kind of pleasure it was likely to offer.” (Barry K. Grant, Film Genre Reader III, Int., p.1-2, University of Texas Press, Austin, 2003.) Analyzing films based on genre allows for a more complete assessment of each film. It does not assume the authorship of the film to be strictly that of the director, as has often been the case in film analysis. “The auteur theory led to such nonsense,” says Phillip Dunne, the noted screenwriter of, among other films, How Green Was My Valley. “If John Ford was the supreme creator of How Green Was My Valley, then who was Daryl Zanuck, me, Richard Llewelyn, who wrote the novel, or William Wyler, the director who prepared the script for production with me...To give sole authorship to a non-writer director is just absurd.” (Lee Server, Screenwriter, p.110, The Main Street Press, Pittstown, NJ, 1987.) It is quite common for many of the genres to overlap. Gothic films can often also be categorized as horror films and also as science fiction. The series of Frankenstein films made in the 1930s by Universal Pictures would be examples of this. The gloomy setting in the basement of an old mansion makes them part of the gothic genre. The monster terrifying the local people makes it a horror film, while the creation of a monster by a doctor makes it science fiction. Other films which would fit into all three genres include two others produced by Universal Pictures, (which had great success producing horror films in the early thirties) Dracula from 1931 and The Invisible Man (which shows the close connection of film genres to literary genres, since the 1933 film is a quite faithful adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel.) It is also possible for a film to be in one of those three genres without crossing over into the others. A film such as Psycho would probably not be considered Gothic (though its setting at a less than first-class hotel might be considered something of a modern gothic location) and it would not be considered science-fiction, but it would clearly be classified as a horror film, with its (originally) unexplained and frightening violence. Some films are clearly part of one genre, but have elements which utilize other genres. The film My Darling Clementine can only be classified as a western, but the eventual turning point in the story involves the unraveling of a murder, much like in a mystery. Wyatt Earp’s youngest brother James is killed while holding a $25 silver piece he planned to give to his fiancee. Later, Earp finds the piece being worn by the local Tombstone “hostess,” Chihuahua. His eventual discovery that she got it from one of the Clanton brothers solves the mystery of the murder and leads to the climax of the film, the final shootout at the O.K. Corral. By analyzing films based on genre, it is possible to understand the way certain films were produced in the context of their era. In the early days of talking pictures, which coincided with the harsh economic conditions of the depression, the musicals which were produced by Warner Brothers not only offered glamorous escape from the unpleasant realities of the time, but reflected the yearning for success and release from poverty. Gold Diggers of 1933, Gold Diggers of 1935, Dames and 42nd Street all offered stories of economic struggles and poverty, with an eventual happy resolution. Adding to the audience appeal, there was always a romance built into the narratives as well. The feeling of escapism in these musicals was increased by the elaborate Busby Berkeley dance sequences, which were of a highly original nature and were more cinematic than had been seen in earlier musicals, which tended to mimic stage productions. Another genre which flourished in Hollywood studios in the early thirties was the gangster film. Coinciding with the unlawfulness caused by prohibition and the otherwise tough economic conditions were such films as Scarface, Little Caesar and Public Enemy, which were all produced between 1930 and 1932. Robert Warshow, in one of the earliest examples of genre criticism in 1946, explained the mass appeal of the gangster genre. “Our response to the gangster film is most consistently and most universally a response to sadism,” he says. “The typical gangster film presents a steady upward progress followed by a very precipitate fall...We gain the double satisfaction of participating vicariously in the gangsters sadism and then seeing it turned against the gangster himself.” (Robert Warshow, The Gangster As Tragic Hero, mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11072/Courses/ Gangster) Later, the gangster film produced a related genre, film noir, which featured many of the same unlawful story lines. Film noir, however, tended not to be about career criminals, as gangster film were, but more ordinary people caught up in circumstances. The characters in film noir were usually motivated by lust and greed to perform crimes-usually murder-that they didn’t know they were capable of performing. Tim Dirks describes “the primary moods” of film noir as “melancholy, alienation, bleakness, disillusionment, disenchantment, pessimism, ambiguity, moral corruption, evil, guilt, desperation and paranoia...they emphasized the brutal, unhealthy, seamy, shadowy, dark and sadistic sides of the human experience.” (Tim Dirks, filmsite.org/filmnoir) Two of the two best examples of film noir from Hollywood were both from James Cain stories, Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice. In both films, there are murders which were carefully planned, but were eventually discovered. The Postman Always Rings Twice ends on a hopeful though doubtful note as the murderer, Frank Chambers, finds religion and possible salvation on death row. Double Indemnity offers no such redemption, as the murderer, Walter Neff, tells his boss, Keys, “I killed him for the money and for a woman. I didn’t get the money-and I didn’t get the woman.” As is often the case in film noir, the ominous film score-by Miklos Rosza-creates a mood of darkness over Double Indemnity. The film was directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the script with novelist Raymond Chandler-author of many detective novels which were made into film noir films including The Big Sleep and Farewell My Lovely. The dramatic technique Wilder and Chandler created for the film is unusual, as Walter Neff confesses to the crime at the start of the film, meaning the audience is not left to wonder about how the plot will develop but instead can watch the motivations and interactions of the characters. Wilder used a similar technique in a later film noir, Sunset Boulevard, in which the main character, Joe Gillis, is shown at the beginning of the film to be floating lifeless in a swimming pool. As in Double Indemnity, this allows the audience not to worry so much about the plot but to concentrate on the characters and the pervasive gloomy atmosphere. Another major category of film genre is the western, which flourished during the silent era and continues even today. The western tends to clarify questions of good and evil more clearly than in most genres. Robert Warshow says of the hero who is the usual lead character in this genre, “The Westerner is the last gentleman, and the movies which over and over again tell his story are probably the last art form in which the concept of honor retains its strength.” (Robert Warshow, Movie Chronicle: The Westerner, mtsu32.mtsu.edu) The westerns directed by John Ford, often starring John Wayne, are among the most famous and celebrated examples of the genre. These include such films as Stagecoach, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon and The Searchers. In the same article, Warshow describes the kind of hero played by Wayne in these films as a “classical figure, self-contained and limited to begin with, seeking not to extend his personal dominion but only to assert his personal value.” The cliche ending of a western shows the hero riding off into the sunset, having accomplished his task. “As the reign of law settles over the West...he is forced to see that his day is over,” says Warshow. “Those are the pictures that end with his death or his departure for some more remote frontier.” Perhaps the most dramatic and artistic example of this is at the end of The Searchers, when Ethan Edwards,the character played by John Wayne, stands in the doorway, alone and mostly ignored, having accomplished his task of reuniting a family. John Wayne is an example of an actor closely linked with one particular genre, though in addition to westerns, he is also associated with similar type heroism in war films such as The Longest Day and They Were Expendable. Other actors are associated with more diverse genres. James Cagney, for instance, was well-known for his work in such gangster films as Public Enemy and White Heat, but his most honored work was in a musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy. And at the end of the main portion of his career-and near the end of the studio system in Hollywood-he also starred in a “screwball” comedy for Billy Wilder, One Two Three. Other actors have also moved easily between genres. Robert Mitchum, for instance, starred in several westerns, including The Lusty Men and Bandido, but he was also just as successful in such film noir productions as The Night Of The Hunter and Farewell My Lovely. Many directors also worked effectively in several different genres. Howard Hawks, for instance, directed a number of westerns, including Red River and Rio Bravo. He also directed many comedies, including Bringing Up Baby, His Girl Friday and Monkey Business. Billy Wilder was another director who was highly successful working in different genres. In addition to his film noir pictures, he also directed (and co-wrote) many comedies, including The Major And The Minor, Some Like it Hot and The Seven Year Itch. By the late fifties, the studio system had broken down in Hollywood. The major studios were still producing films, but the previous way in which actors, writers and directors were kept under contract had disappeared. However, even without the studio system in place, films clearly could still be categorized by genre. More recent films were able to work within existing genres but deal with subject matter previously not allowed by censorship. Modern offerings of film noir, including Body Heat and the remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice, can tell their stories in more graphic detail, both verbally and visually, than was possible for the film noir pictures made in the forties or fifties. A modern western, such as Brokeback Mountain, has much of the look of a classic western, with horses, cattle and rugged-looking individuals, but it deals with a subject matter, homosexuality, not discussed in the studio days. So unlike the classic era of the big studios, audiences can no longer be as sure of the content of a film based on genre. Bibliography Books Barry K. Grant, Film Genre Reader III,University of Texas Press, Austin, 2003. Lee Server, Screenwriter, p.110, The Main Street Press, Pittstown, NJ, 1987. Internet Tim Dirks, filmsite.org/filmnoir Robert Warshow, The Gangster As Tragic Hero, mtsu32.mtsu.edu:11072/Courses/ Gangster Robert Warshow, Movie Chronicle: The Westerner, mtsu32.mtsu.edu imdb.com Read More