Post-War Cinema

This offering begins with a discussion of Deep Staging, a technique which uses foreground and background simultaneously to contrast to or to complement two scenes. Movies such as Stagecoach, Flesh and the Devil, Chimes at Midnight, The Maltese Falcon, and The Best Years of Our Lives embrace this. The opposite is Shallow Focus where tight camera shots are used. Of course, throughout the 40's, the war became central to what directors and producers did. This led to the Neo- Realist movement where everything, no matter how mundane, was subject matter for the films. This is the opposite of Hitchcock who said you only leave in the interesting parts.

In the late 40's, Film Noir was a significant form. Double Indemnity was the prototypical film. Fluffy musicals were extremely popular as well, with Betty Grable being the representative among many.

The Army/McCarthy hearing now took place which split Hollywood down the middle. There is much talk about Elia Kazan and his actions during the hearings. Many were blackballed; many never worked again.

There is a focus on Stanley Donen who did Indiscreet and A Matter of Life and Death. This episode closes out with an analysis of Carol Reed's The Third Man. It is not the way we would like it to be, but it is, and that's it. There is a nice commentary on the final scene. Certainly one of the greatest films of all time.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey 'Post-War Cinema' (2011)

*** (out of 4)

The fifth film in Mark Cousins' series once again starts off in Hollywood taking a look at pictures like STAGECOACH, CITIZEN KANE and THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES before heading to Italy where we see stuff like ROME OPEN CITY and BICYCLE THIEVES. As with others in the series, this here jumps around from genre and different periods including taking a look at how ROME OPEN CITY influenced future movies including RAGING BULL. The noir genre gets the spotlight with THE BIG SLEEP, GUN CRAZY and THE HITCH-HIKER. Musicals are also looked at as well as what Elia Kazan did and seeing the aftermath of him getting his Honorary Oscar. Overall this here is one of the better films in the series as the structure and style of the film blends together much better. Another plus is that we're given a few interviews that talk about the subject so it's not just Cousins' narrating. The impact of the war on neo-realism is discussed as well as the disrespect shown still to some blacklisted folks. The footage of Kazan accepting his Oscar is still able to make your blood boil whether you agree with him getting it or not.

Following World War II, American films allegedly got darker. The work of John Ford is singled out, although during an interview Ford himself denies he is aware of any such darkening.

One of the focuses of this episode is on film noir, which Cousins says is carried over from the gangster film and brought Edward G. Robinson with them. There are, of course, similarities. They both tend to have bleak, dirty cities (or at least give us that feeling).

Also covered is Communism's effect on Hollywood. This is really a strange time in American history. Looking back, it seems that many were unfairly persecuted and some talented people stopped making movies. But that is looking back. At the time, this probably made sense to many -- maybe even most -- people. We certainly do not want subversive ideas being brought to us by the people who create our pop culture, do we?