THE COLUMBIA COMPANION TO

AMERICAN HISTORY ON FILM

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
Edited by P E T E R C . R O L L I N S
 THE COLUMBIA

COMPANION TO

How

the Movies
AMERICAN
Have
HISTORY
Portrayed

the American
ON FILM
Past

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS New York

Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
Copyright 䉷 2003 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Columbia companion to American history on
film : How the movies have portrayed the Amer-
ican past / edited by Peter C. Rollins
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-231-11222-X (cloth : alk. paper)
1. United States—In motion pictures. 2. United
States—History—Miscellanea. I. Rollins, Peter C.
II. Title.
PN1995.9.U64 C65 2004
791.43/658 21
2003053086

AColumbia University Press books are printed on

permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson,

cofounders of Film & History: An Interdisci-

plinary Journal of Film and Television History

(www.filmandhistory.org)
夝 C O N T E N T S Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi

I. Eras
The Puritan Era and the Puritan Mind 3
The 1890s 10
The 1920s 15
The 1930s 22
The 1960s 28
The 1970s 37
The 1980s 42

II. Wars and Other Major Events

The American Revolution 49
The Civil War and Reconstruction 58
The Cold War 69
The Korean War 81
The Mexican-American War and
the Spanish-American War 86
The Vietnam War 93
Westward Expansion and the
Indian Wars 103
World War I 109
World War II: Documentaries 116
World War II: Feature Films 125

III. Notable People

The Antebellum Frontier Hero 139
Christopher Columbus 148
The Founding Fathers 153
Indian Leaders 161
The Kennedys 169
Abraham Lincoln 175
Richard Nixon 180
Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt 184
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig 191
Harry S. Truman 196
George Washington 198
viii [ CONTENTS
IV. Groups VII. Themes and Topics
African Americans After World War II 207 Crime and the Mafia 509
Arab Americans 218 Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol 518
Asian Americans 225 Elections and Party Politics 527
Catholic Americans 234 Feminism and Feminist Films 534
Children and Teenagers in the Railroads 541
Twentieth Century 241 Sexuality 545
Irish Americans 249 Slavery 552
Italian Americans 256
Jewish Americans 263 VIII. Myths and Heroes
Mexican Americans 269 The American Adam 561
Native Americans 277 The American Fighting Man 567
Radicals and Radicalism 288 Democracy and Equality 572
Robber Barons, Media Moguls, and The Frontier and the West 578
Power Elites 297 Hollywood’s Detective 583
Women from the Colonial Era to 1900 303 The Machine in the Garden 590
Women in the Twentieth Century 310 Success and the Self-Made Man 596

V. Institutions and Movements List of Contributors 603

Baseball 319 Index 617
City and State Government 326
Civil Rights 331
Congress 344
The Family 352
Football 363
Journalism and the Media 374
The Labor Movement and the
Working Class 383
Militias and Extremist Political
Movements 392
The Political Machine 398
The Presidency After World War II 402
Private Schools 409
Public High Schools 413

VI. Places
The Midwest 421
The “New” West and the New Western 430
New York City 437
The Sea 447
The Small Town 457
The South 462
Space 473
Suburbia 480
Texas and the Southwest 488
The Trans-Appalachian West 497
夝 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Susan Rollins, Leslie Fife, and Deborah Car-
michael helped prepare materials for this book,
and they have my great thanks. Throughout the
project, James Warren of Columbia University
Press was a demanding and hard-working col-
league. Gregory McNamee was a joy to work
with and enhanced both the consistency and
insight of the manuscript. William F. Waters of
Films for the Humanities provided authors with
relevant documentaries from its collection;
both he and Films for the Humanities deserve
an emphatic note of thanks for making these
resources available (www.films.com). I thank,
too, Oklahoma State University for honoring my
work by appointing me Regents Professor. A
long series of department heads have promoted
my efforts, among them Jack Crane, Leonard
Leff, Jeffrey Walker, Edward Walkiewicz, and
Carol Moder. I am most grateful for their
support and faith. Finally, the staff of Film &
History (www.filmandhistory.org) was ever
generous with suggestions, help with docu-
mentation and filing, and production of the
final manuscript.

ix
夝 INTRODUCTION Film and television define our perceptions of
our time and of historical experience. In 1973,
John Harrington warned about the power of
visual media to shape the contemporary sen-
sibility, estimating that “by the time a person
is fourteen, he will witness 18,000 murders on
the screen. He will also see 350,000 commer-
cials. By the time he is eighteen, he will stock-
pile nearly 17,000 hours of viewing experience
and will watch at least twenty movies for every
book he reads. Eventually, the viewing expe-
rience will absorb ten years of his life” (v).
Nearly thirty years later, psychologists Robert
Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described
contemporary viewing as a form of addiction:
“The amount of time people spend watching
television is astonishing. On average, individ-
uals in the industrial world devote three hours
a day to the pursuit—fully half of their leisure
time, and more than on any single activity save
work and sleep. At this rate, someone who lives
to seventy-five would spend nine years in front
of the tube” (76).
Through video rentals and reruns, film and
television recycle themselves to consummate
their impact on popular memory. All citizens
need to ponder the implications of such sta-
tistics, but historians should be particularly
concerned about this phenomenon, for what
millions see on theater and television screens
defines what is called “popular memory,” the
informal—albeit generally accepted—view of
the past. Indeed, visual media define history
for many Americans. The Columbia Compan-
ion to American History on Film, a collection
of essays that explore how major eras, insti-
tutions, peoples, wars, leaders, social groups,
and myths of our national culture have been
portrayed on film, offers readers and research-
ers an unparalleled resource on a vital source
of historical interpretation and reflection.

xi
xii [ INTRODUCTION
Many scholars welcome the plethora of films in underwriting historical films as part of the
and television programs that depict our his- “quality” work of their corporations; David O.
tory. They see film as a way of introducing and Selznick’s Gone with the Wind (1939) is per-
dramatizing the events, ideas, and forces that haps the most famous example of a lavish film
have shaped history and identity. But the use made to interpret American history to a large
of films as sources of historical interpretation audience, an immensely popular project about
is not without problems or detractors. Take, which film scholars have been quarreling ever
for example, the case of the HBO feature film since. Such films were made as a gesture to-
A Bright Shining Lie (1998), which purported ward defining our national past, and some
to adapt a Pulitzer Prize–winning book to the were made without concern for profit.
screen. In the process so many changes were Whether aimed at making money or not, they
made that author Neil Sheehan and a major taught memorable lessons.
character, Daniel Ellsberg, threatened to sue In recent decades, Oliver Stone has pilloried
the filmmakers for misrepresentation because the American system in films such as Platoon
the complex and ambiguous story of America’s (1986) and Wall Street (1987). Some critics
role in Vietnam had been reduced to a cine- consider him a history teacher, and in 1997,
matic diatribe against American intervention. assuming that role, he spoke to the American
(For Ellsberg’s trenchant discussion of the sub- Historical Association in a packed hall of more
ject, consult the Film & History web site, than 1,200 academics. He did not win over
www.filmandhistory.org.) Yet very few viewers many of his critics. Historians deplore Stone’s
are worried about “poetic license,” inventions, mélange of fact and speculation. As George
and deletions by filmmakers. Most are more Will, a noted columnist and former professor
interested in good stories about the past than of politics, has observed rancorously, “Stone
accuracy of analysis. As filmmakers will tell falsifies so much that he may be an intellectual
you, they constitute an audience that simply sociopath, indifferent to the truth.” In the fea-
wants to be “entertained.” ture film JFK (1991), what disturbed historians
Since their inception, motion pictures and most can be identified early in the film where
television have exerted a profound impact on Stone edits factual footage—the famous Za-
our understanding of the past. As historical pruder film of the assassination—with reen-
sources they can be very useful and revealing, actments so similar in their documentary tex-
but they must be “read” with sensitivity, care, ture that it is almost impossible to distinguish
and discrimination. During the silent era, di- what is fact and what is fiction. Among film-
rectors such as D. W. Griffith helped to define makers, this technique has been condemned
the meaning of westward expansion and the since the mid-1930s, when the famous March
significance of the Civil War. Silent-era direc- of Time newsreel series (1935–53) exploited it
tor James Cruze contributed his vision of an to a ridiculous extreme. Historians are espe-
Anglo-Saxon West in his adaptation of Em- cially sensitive about this kind of fraudulence
erson Hough’s The Covered Wagon (1923). because they are taught to identify sources ac-
These ambitious early films spoke volumes curately so that others can verify the accuracy
about American values in an era anxious about of their findings. Within the films of Oliver
the impact of immigration, and The Covered Stone, no such option is available, even for the
Wagon in particular helped smooth the way for most alert viewers. In addition, most trained
the Immigration Restriction Act of 1928. historians have warned that conspiracy theo-
Throughout the so-called Studio Era (1930– ries rarely stand up to rigorous analysis; they
48), leading producers and moguls took pride oversimplify complex historical problems. In
 INTRODUCTION ] xiii

Stone’s case, without his all-pervasive conspir- reedited the film, transforming it into a posi-
acy theory about the assassination of John F. tive celebration of the Constitution and the Bill
Kennedy, the filmmaker’s historical interpre- of Rights—even the Pilgrims! Hurwitz’s revi-
tation self-destructs. As Time observed in a sion was a case of obedient rewriting of history
highly critical review, “So, you want to know, to fit a changing party line. The option to make
who killed the President and connived in the the same film teach such opposite lessons
cover-up? Everybody! High officials in the stands as a classic example of how malleable
CIA, the FBI, the Dallas constabulary, all three the film medium can be as an interpreter of
armed services, Big Business and the White history.
House. Everybody done it—everybody but Lee At least in the United States, little was done
Harvey Oswald.” Stone offers similar errors of to evaluate historical films until 1970, when
interpretation in his Platoon and Wall Street, the Historians Film Committee was created as
yet the popularity of these clever films poses a an affiliated society of the American Historical
serious challenge to historians. They are pow- Association (AHA). Pressured by the obvious
erfully convincing as screen narratives, often interest in film and television by the general
more convincing than attempted classroom re- population and concerned about the compe-
buttals by history teachers. tition of the media of a “media age,” the AHA
Over the history of motion pictures, there approved the creation of the society and its
have been isolated attempts to critique his- publication, Film & History: An Interdisciplin-
torical films—usually by those with strong ob- ary Journal of Film and Television Studies. The
jections to the content. When D. W. Griffith’s journal has published articles that explore the
The Birth of a Nation was released in 1915, relationship between America’s favorite art
African American activists organized demon- form and America’s historical legacy as defined
strations and published condemnations of the by those academically trained to research and
epic film’s depiction of the Old South, an write history.
imaginary place where slaves supposedly en- What is the value of such studies? At the
joyed leisure and plenty. During World War I beginning of the twentieth century, philoso-
(1914–18), it became problematic to depict the pher George Santayana made the lasting ob-
American Revolution on film because Britain servation, that “those who do not remember
was a vital European ally. Within this context, the past are condemned to repeat it.” We know
films critical of England were suppressed by the importance of a sense of history for insight
government censors. In one infamous case, a into the economic, political, and foreign-
producer was imprisoned because he had been policy issues of our time, but there is often the
so subversive as to make the British the villains chance that decisions will be made on the basis
of his film about America’s struggle for inde- of popular memory and reel history rather
pendence. Not all censorship comes from out- than the authentic insights of real history. Mo-
side the film project, however. Self-criticism tion pictures are often made with the objective
softened the radicalism of Native Land (1941), of telling good stories in a way that makes
a film designed to expose the injustices of sense to a contemporary audience. In contrast,
American capitalism. Shortly before the release the best history is written to investigate the
of the picture, Germany attacked the Soviet truth about the past without the intrusion of
Union, leading to a (temporary) support of melodramatic, entertainment, or ideological
capitalist nations that would fight against the concerns. Films, as the essays in this volume
Axis enemy. Within this context of what was demonstrate at many points, reflect their
called a “Popular Front,” director Leo Hurwitz times, along with the prejudices, misconcep-
xiv [ INTRODUCTION
tions, and fixations of the periods in which an interdisciplinary methodology with the goal
they were made. For this reason, they are won- of linking historical themes with related mo-
derful exempla for those who would seek to tion pictures.
understand the ways Americans in the past have The contributors to this volume were asked
thought about critical events and themes in to keep a number of questions in mind while
their history. Yet this virtue as documents of researching and writing their essays. Some of
the past limits the value of motion pictures as these questions were more important to cer-
truly insightful studies of history. To cite an- tain essays than to others. The first question
other observation by Santayana, historical mo- was this: Broadly speaking, how has the subject
tion pictures often can be characterized as “a been treated by historians and by filmmakers?
pack of lies about events that never happened To which are added two corollary questions:
told by people who weren’t there.” Those who What was the interpretation to be found in the
rely on historical films for their understanding accepted historical sources of the time in
of the past are often in danger of learning the which the film was made? Is there a “take” on
wrong lessons—and, as a result, using the those sources in the film, or is there direct bor-
wrong models for interpreting the present. rowing? For example, D. W. Griffith was a di-
The essays in this collection should help rect borrower of “tragic era” interpretations of
teachers, students, and general readers to avoid post–Civil War Reconstruction, histories writ-
such pitfalls. Furthermore, reminders about ten by such authorities as William Dunning
the multiple perspectives of the past are always (1857–1922) and Claude Bowers (1878–1958).
valuable because they force us to build and Their highly tendentious histories painted a
shape our own understanding of history. As an portrait of a stable and happy slave society be-
Internet announcement for a 2002 London fore the Civil War and the agony that resulted
conference on history and media observed, when war destroyed the Plantation Ideal.
“For those who deplore these developments, Griffith subscribed to both the vision of the
the take-over of history by the media has re- antebellum harmony and the “tragic era” ap-
sulted in a facile vision of the past, which is by proach to Reconstruction (1865–77)—which,
turns intellectually unexciting and conde- according to Dunning and Bowers, was an era
scending towards its audience.” Each essay in in which an imposed government violated the
this collection should both illuminate and political and civil rights of southern whites.
complicate the subject matter examined by Thus, it is clear that Griffith was methodolog-
motion pictures; the result should be both a ically faithful in his borrowing of historical in-
better understanding of both history and terpretation, but, in this infamous case, the
film—not to mention the process by which historians and the filmmaker were equally
history is interpreted. guilty of historical distortion.
The fourth question is: How do the film in-
The Nature of the Essays terpretations deviate from their sources? Sur-
Each essay in The Columbia Companion to prisingly, the film adaptation of The Grapes of
American History on Film reflects the outlook Wrath (1940) wanders widely from John Stein-
and sensibility of the contributor. Many, beck’s classic novel (1939) in ways that Stein-
though not all essays, compare and contrast beck himself did not notice when he inspected
the interpretations of filmmakers with those of Nunnally Johnson’s preproduction script,
professional historians. Most contributors are thanks to his own lack of visual literacy
from history or film departments, but some (Owens, 98). Whereas Steinbeck was outraged
are in American studies and communications; about the suffering of his “Okies,” and pessi-
all of the scholars who have contributed follow mistic about government efforts to help the
 INTRODUCTION ] xv

unemployed, the film by director John Ford were lambasted by the artistic community. Ar-
and producer Darryl F. Zanuck seems almost thur Miller even wrote an allegorical play
Pollyannaish in its optimism. The Hollywood about the “witch hunt,” The Crucible (1953).
version discloses its politics when a director of In Miller’s play, the evils of such testimony
a government-run migrant camp is an inten- were thrust back into the context of the Mas-
tional look-alike for Franklin Delano Roose- sachusetts Bay Colony of the Puritans during
velt, the president (1933–45) whose “New the infamous Salem witch trials of 1692 (see
Deal” promised to save the American system. “The Puritan Era and the Puritan Mind”). To
Steinbeck’s book offered far less hope for an answer this kind of criticism, Kazan and Schul-
America in search of justice during hard times, berg shaped the plot of On the Waterfront to
a pessimism reflected in the very title of the tell the story of Terry Malloy (Marlon
epic—an allusion to the American Civil War Brando), who, as a matter of conscience, goes
and its famous “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” before the federal crime commission to expose
The fifth question is: What was the impact the unlawful and immoral behavior of the
of contemporary issues on the film or films union bosses—many of whom are his relatives,
under consideration? Contemporary issues friends, or patrons. To do so, Terry must go
and assumptions shape film projects. Histori- through a spiritual conversion from an ally of
cal films such as The Birth of a Nation (1915) the longshoremen’s union to a citizen of con-
and Roots (1977) address the same historical science concerned about the rights of fellow
topic, yet both interpretations reflect their own dockworkers. As Kenneth Hey observes, Fa-
times—one the racially segregating Progressive ther Barry (Karl Malden) gives a funeral ser-
Era (1900–17), the other the era of civil rights mon that “challenges silent liberals to speak
and rebellion against existing social customs out against past totalitarian activities” (173).
and mores related to race and ethnicity (1954– As far as Kazan was concerned, he and Terry
68). Both films were made to shape popular had made the right decision—the resulting
memory and influence current politics: in the film effectively captured that connection in a
first case, D. W. Griffith was explicit about his production that was also a powerful narrative.
desire to show the evils of “the war of North- For our purposes, the point is that Kazan made
ern aggression”; in the second, Alex Haley the film to construe contemporary history
clearly wished to share a sense of racial pride from his viewpoint—a viewpoint still unpop-
he experienced after tracing his family tree ular in Hollywood and New York.
back to its African roots. Both were dependent The sixth question is: How do the impor-
upon the reigning historical wisdom of their tant films on the subject convey meaning and
times—as a result, the same story is shaped theme? Although a film’s messages are often
entirely differently. (See the entries “Slavery” conveyed by dialogue and narration, it is also
and “African Americans After World War II.”) true that some of the most effective com-
Contemporary pressures clearly shaped On munication is accomplished by nonverbal
the Waterfront (1954), by writer Budd Schul- means—imagery and symbolism, editing,
berg and director Elia Kazan. As an act of con- mise-en-scène, and sound and music. For ex-
science, Kazan testified against former friends ample, many have noted the sexual symbolism
about his and their involvement in the Amer- at the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strange-
ican Communist movement during the 1930s. love (1964). The B-52 bombers refueling in
Not surprisingly, Kazan and other “friendly midair appear to be mating in the sky in some
witnesses”—including Schulberg and director perverse, technological copulation. This mo-
Edward Dmytryk—before the House Com- ment has special meaning within Kubrick’s
mittee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) Freudian vision; it connects with the film-
xvi [ INTRODUCTION
maker’s view of man’s place in a high-tech age “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber as a
where machines are becoming more like peo- leitmotif is unforgettable, as are the film-
ple while people are becoming more robotic. maker’s clever uses of popular tunes to evoke
In The Grapes of Wrath, a section on “The the cultural clashes of the 1960s. (See “The
Cats” (the Caterpillar tractors that replace in- 1960s” and “The Vietnam War.”)
dividual farmers and their plows) early in the The seventh question is: What is the role of
film says volumes about John Ford’s interpre- production history in shaping the films?
tation of the Joads and their dilemma: they are Knowledge of production history will often re-
American Adams, and their pastoral garden is solve apparently contradictory messages in a
being disrupted by machines. (See “The Amer- film—or at least explain their presence. Often
ican Adam” and “The Machine in the Gar- in historical films with a political intent, after
den.”) Many interpreters have argued that the a message has been conceived, the creative
prominence of this myth of the machine in the forces behind the film search for a “vehicle” to
garden, a theme key to the entire oeuvre of carry that idea. For example, it seems clear that
director John Ford, mutes the radical vision of Warren Beatty’s film Reds (1981), ostensibly
Steinbeck’s American epic. Although Stein- about American John Reed’s involvement in
beck was not uninterested in misuses of the the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the sub-
land, he focused more on the revolutionary sequent founding of the Bolshevik state, was
potential of class conflict. designed to romanticize twentieth-century
Music and sound are often important vehicles radical movements in the United States. To
of meaning. The music from director Pare make this connection, documentary-style in-
Lorentz’s The Plow That Broke the Plains terviews with radicals young and old (called
(1935) and The River (1937) are still broadcast “the witnesses”) are intercut by editor Dede
staples for National Public Radio. Composer Allen with narrative about Reed’s involvement
Virgil Thomson drew his inspiration from the with Soviet Communism. A typical viewer
folk music and hymns of Middle America, leaves the theater inspired by the idea of the
while Lorentz celebrated the dignity of the or- Soviet experiment and angry about the repres-
dinary rural people. The result was a powerful sion of dissidents within the United States. Al-
marriage of image and sound still worthy of though Reds was far from a blockbuster at the
study in both history and film classes; indeed, box office, the poor financial showing was not
any textbook on the history of American doc- a total disaster—at least for the director.
umentary will have a section about the Lor- Beatty’s film was admired by the cognoscenti
entz productions, made for the Farm Services of Hollywood, the most important audience
Administration to project a positive image for for some filmmakers. Although it is an engag-
Roosevelt’s New Deal. (See “The 1930s.”) ing screen history, there are problems with
Filmmakers know that music can penetrate Reds ; what appears to be a historical study is
viewer defenses, and they enlist this aesthetic really a cinematic manifesto designed to arouse
option to stir up the emotions; likewise, as all complacent audiences during the presidency
filmmakers know, documentaries are de- of Ronald Reagan (1981–89).
signed to arouse audiences, not merely to in- For a film like The Grapes of Wrath, the pro-
form them. Feature films have even greater duction history tells much about the inten-
opportunity to employ this aural device, and tions of the filmmakers and the gap between
some—such as Oliver Stone’s Platoon the goals of the social epic and the goals for
(1986)—make maximum use of music to pro- the film. The social visions of John Ford and
mote political messages. In Platoon, Stone’s Darryl Zanuck are central to these differences
recurring employment of the heartrending from Steinbeck’s literary original, leading to
 INTRODUCTION ] xvii

significant changes in plot, characterization, American films with historic themes and it
and imagery. Many questions are answered does not attempt to be an encyclopedic in its
when attention is focused on how a film project coverage of motion pictures for the topics we
moves from book to script to screen. As Lewis have chosen to explore.
Owens has observed, “Zanuck and Ford suc- The book has been written with a broad au-
ceeded in more than muting the political mes- dience in mind, to include thoughtful mem-
sage of the novel and producing a film that— bers of the general public who wish to pursue
brilliant though it may be in many ways—turns historical issues by way of video rentals and
Steinbeck’s call for a rebirth of national con- library loans; high school and college students
sciousness into a sentimental celebration of the and teachers who may wish to amplify their
American ‘salt of the earth’ ” (98). studies with appropriate—and intelligently
The eighth question is: How was the film critiqued—motion pictures; and graduate stu-
received by its contemporaries? And, as cor- dents and specialists in American culture stud-
ollaries: Were there major disagreements at the ies. For all of these users, the essays in this
time about its historical and entertainment book strive to be well-crafted interpretive re-
values? What did the disagreement reflect views of the topics they cover. They can be
about the gap between academic history and used as a starting point for research and re-
popular memory? As an example, what was flection. The essays should prove to be excel-
there about the political atmosphere of the late lent maps of the territory, but neither the sur-
1930s that caused the federal government to vey of films on the topic in question nor the
withdraw The Plow That Broke the Plains from discussion of written works of history is com-
public distribution? (It was not reissued until prehensive. Rather, the essays offer particular
1964.) Conceived as a film to address environ- ways of “reading” the film record, of exploring
mental issues, the documentary was inter- cinematic approaches to our past. Students
preted by many in Congress as an unfair attack reading about particular decades and leaders
on the American heartland. How could such a will profit from studying the ways in which
pioneering classic in the art of documentary time periods and personalities have been de-
filmmaking receive such treatment? The answer picted by Hollywood, although such portrayals
says much about the interface between art and should always be compared with print histori-
politics in America. As has been mentioned, the cal sources, starting with the discussions in this
epic film The Birth of a Nation (1914) was, in volume. Graduate students writing theses and
its historical interpretation, consonant with the dissertations should sample the “popular
then “new” history about Reconstruction. Even memory” constructed of their topics by Holly-
President Woodrow Wilson, a leading historian wood, even when their research projects are
himself, greeted the film as an epic “history not devoted to film or television. Teachers can
written with lightning.” We now realize that turn to the book to find a few choice films that
both the history and the film history of the will add pedagogical tension to their classes.
time were clouded by regional, class, and racial And these classes need not only be in film or
prejudices. As a southerner, Woodrow Wilson history; for example, Charles J. Maland’s essay
was blinded by regional mores as much as was “The American Adam” could be used as a
filmmaker Griffith. starting point for research into the relationship
of American literature to American film. Con-
Goals and Structure of the Book versely, teachers of film and history could use
It is vital at the outset to define what this col- that essay to make linkages with cultural pat-
lection does not attempt to do: it does not at- terns established by literature. The primary
tempt to be a comprehensive history of and secondary works cited, along with the
xviii [ INTRODUCTION
films listed, could be a pool for further pursuit viewing agenda for personal enrichment or
of the topic of one of the great American further research. The filmographies comprise
myths—the myth of individual and national three categories: feature films, abbreviated as
innocence. “F”; documentaries, abbreviated as “D”; and
The essays are divided into eight parts, cov- television programs, series, or made-for-
ering eras, major historical events, individuals television movies, abbreviated as “TV.” Each
of note, groups, institutions, places, themes, entry indicates the year a production was re-
and myths of the American experience. Co- leased, except in the rare instances where this
lumbia University Press executive editor James datum is unknown. Following the filmography
Warren and I selected the topics after an ex- for each essay is a bibliography of sources,
tensive survey of existing textbooks in Amer- along with additional works of interest to any-
ican history and such classic reference works one wanting to pursue the topic in further
as The Harvard Guide to American History, An depth.
Encyclopedia of World History, The Reader’s Part I, “Eras,” covers obvious chronological
Companion to American History, The Columbia periods of the American experience, beginning
Literary History of the United States, and the with the Puritans of the seventeenth century
journal Film & History. We consulted with a and continuing to the present. Although his-
number of outside scholars as well. The goal torians often quibble about what they may be,
was to cover topics with a substantial film rec- it is customary for us to associate clusters of
ord now being studied in social studies and attitudes with particular decades and eras of
history classrooms. As the project advanced, our history; this section looks at Hollywood
we noticed—as we had hoped—that there are versions of the special events, people, and val-
many instances where coverage overlapped, ues of America’s crucial decades.
and therefore the same films may be examined Part II, “Wars and Other Major Events,”
in several different parts of the book for dif- contains essays on major crises in our history,
ferent reasons. As these overlapping instances including America’s major military conflicts.
multiplied, we decided to rely on a detailed Beginning with the American Revolution, it
index as the key for researching topics by key- surveys conflicts that are interminably—and
word, film title, or director. We urge readers sometimes mindlessly—used as fodder for
of the Companion to make use of the table of programs on America’s cable channels. The
contents, but we believe that even more can be Civil War is one of the most-studied clashes
gleaned from a thoughtful use of the index, for amateur historians. World War II receives
which will prove to be a valuable navigational two separate entries—one for the many doc-
instrument. If readers are interested in “the en- umentaries made during (and, later, about)
vironment,” they will discover through the in- the struggle, and another for the large body of
dex that films about the West, films from the feature films about the conflict. The American
Depression, films about the self-made man, war film is a highly politicized genre, explicitly
and films from many other categories are rele- addressing—depending upon the stage of the
vant. The military-history enthusiast will find conflicts—the nation’s prewar anxieties, war-
topics and films in the obvious places, but also time aggressions, and postwar reconsidera-
in regional essays and in the section about tions.
myths; here, again, the index will be the best Events in the American West have fascinated
tool for a complete investigation of any topic. both Americans and Hollywood, and films
Each essay is followed with a detailed film- about westward expansion—both the early
ography that lists relevant films for the topic; stages in the Appalachians as well as the later
this list will help those wishing to construct a reaches into the Northwest and California—
 INTRODUCTION ] xix

are excellent tools for gauging the nation’s mo- Americans, among others, have legitimate com-
rale. This section surveys the formula westerns plaints about derogatory stereotyping. The ex-
of the silent era, moving forward to “New isting film record gives a fascinating window on
Westerns” such as George Roy Hill’s Butch how Americans have seen themselves—and
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and Clint others—on motion picture screens across the
Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992)—which, like land. Women and children, too, have had ma-
many other genre films, reflect their own eras jor roles in the movies of America; here again,
as much as they depict the past. In our time of the depiction of these groups serves as an im-
burgeoning Native American awareness and portant social barometer.
political autonomy, the depiction of the Indian Part V, “Institutions and Movements,” ex-
Wars has a vital place in any motion picture amines major building blocks of the nation—
survey. Like other depictions of the West, these government at the local and national levels,
films reflect contemporary attitudes—so that civil rights and labor groups, the family, and
whereas They Died with Their Boots On (1941) schools. Of perennial interest, of course, is the
was a celebration of George Armstrong Custer American presidency, a topic of such block-
(Errol Flynn), Little Big Man (1970) excoriates buster films as The American President (1994)
the famed military leader as a pompous fool and the award-winning television series The
in an attempt to comment on the suffering in- West Wing (1999–). What Americans think
flicted by western expansion as well as to make about their presidents reflects our own self
an antiwar statement about the ongoing Viet- image—so that Gabriel Over the White House
nam conflict. Yet both films claim to be about (1934) speaks volumes about America’s jitters
the very same public figure. during the early days of the Great Depression,
Part III, “Notable People,” looks at cinematic while Primary Colors (1998) accurately reveals
depictions of selected prominent Americans, the nation’s ambivalent support for William
beginning with Indian leaders and Columbus Jefferson Clinton. (The film ends on Inaugu-
and moving forward in time to John F. ration Eve with the voiceover warning, “Don’t
Kennedy and Richard Nixon. America adores break our hearts!”)
its notables, and Hollywood has obliged with How have films reported on reporters? The
films sometimes made with little hope of finan- entry “Journalism and Media” answers this
cial return—proving again that Hollywood provocative question. America has been a suc-
works for more than money. Such hagiographic cess as a society because of a plethora of what
studies can emerge with far different interpre- sociologists now call “mediating structures.”
tations of the great people in our history. As far back as Democracy in America (1835),
Part IV, “Groups,” offers essays on films that Alexis de Tocqueville noted the proliferation
depict ethnic peoples within the United States. of grass-roots organizations and predicted that
Over the decades, even though the motion pic- they would be the basis for a dynamic nation.
ture studios were owned or managed by scions A number of these engines of our “civil soci-
of ethnic groups, Hollywood had difficulty get- ety” are explored here as well.
ting the story right about minorities. Often Part VI, “Places,” travels from region to re-
there was a fear that films that did not play to gion within the United States, looking at the
stereotypes would not be acceptable as “enter- manner in which filmmakers have interpreted
tainment” by mainstream audiences. In some our varied national landscapes. Because mise-
cases, the writers and filmmakers willingly en-scène (that is, the use of physical details of
perpetuated prejudice and bigotry. African the environment) is a primary aesthetic device
Americans, Asian Americans, and Native for filmmakers, there has been much emphasis
xx [ INTRODUCTION
on this element—to the point where the land, Part VIII, “Myths and Heroes,” brings this
itself, can become a character in a film. For volume to a conclusion with a collection of
example, in Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter essays on American myths that have been em-
(1978), the landscape is so important to the bedded in the film legacy. A people lives by
Leatherstocking motif of the film that the di- its myths, and what reaches mythic status says
rector created Rocky Mountain–style vistas for much about its values. Americans fervently
hunting scenes set in the less-than-sublime believe in democracy, and American culture
Appalachians. On the other hand, such films often links that theme with a place called the
as Giant (1956) clearly stress the epic growth frontier. (Indeed, the “frontier thesis” was a
of a society on a land rich in natural resources dominant paradigm of the historical profes-
(cattle and oil) and steeped in traditions—not sion before motion pictures became a mass
all of them acceptable to the modern sensibil- medium.) American culture celebrates the
ity. Not to be left out are the heavens, the topic self-made man and sings the praises of entre-
of some memorable motion pictures—some preneurial innovation. On the other hand,
fantastic and others approaching documentary Americans worry about the negative impact
realism. Space films continue the exploration of technology and deplore unbridled individ-
of a physical frontier, thereby appealing to a ualism. In one of our most pervasive roman-
national obsession that has been operative tic myths, we believe in the American Adam
since at least 1893, when historian Frederick in his New World garden. Yet hard-boiled
Jackson Turner announced that American detective novels such as The Maltese Falcon
character was linked to the nation’s ongoing (book 1930, film 1941) and their cinematic
frontier experience. adaptations explore the noir side of the
Part VII, “Themes and Topics,” addresses a American Dream, where morality is defunct
potpourri of important issues, including ob- and corruption pervasive. Yet, in times of
vious topics such as slavery and sexuality, but crisis, we pay homage to ordinary Americans
also less noticed subjects such as drugs and in uniform—as did noir director John Hus-
crime. Hollywood has cast key lights on un- ton in his gripping World War II documen-
expected—and in some cases, forbidden— taries.
areas of our national existence for a multitude The Columbia Companion to American His-
of reasons, only some of which have to do tory on Film should help readers gain an un-
with prurient interest. Especially in the 1940s, derstanding of the malleability of the “facts” of
filmmakers made special efforts to reconsider history in documentaries and feature films.
the nature of the American family; later, teen- Discerning interpretation and point of view is
agers became a preoccupation because they the beginning of a wise use of visual resources
were an identifiable ticket-buying audience about America’s past and its present culture.
and because Americans were perplexed about If we spend as much as nine years of our lives
how postwar economic and social changes in movie theaters and before our television
were affecting an affluent generation. Of sets, we need to be media-literate. The essays
course, how feminism has been depicted in this collection will help guide readers to-
should be of interest to all thoughtful citizens; ward a responsible use of films as portals to
clearly, there has been revision of judgment America’s past.
since the early days when suffragettes were
objects of ridicule. PETER C. ROLLINS
 INTRODUCTION ] xxi

References
Filmography History. 2 vols. Rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Belknap
Press, 1974.
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F)
Harrington, John. The Rhetoric of Film. New York:
A Bright Shining Lie (1998, TV)
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1973.
The Covered Wagon (1923, F)
Hey, Kenneth. “Ambivalence as a Theme in On the
The Deer Hunter (1978, F)
Waterfront (1954): An Interdisciplinary Approach to
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Stopped Worrying and
Film Study.” In Peter Rollins, ed., Hollywood as His-
Learned to Love the Bomb (1964, F)
torian: American Film in a Cultural Context, 159–
Giant (1956, F)
189. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Gone with the Wind (1939, F)
Kubey, Robert, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. “Televi-
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F)
sion Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor.” Scientific
JFK (1991, F)
American, February 2002.
Native Land (1941, F)
Langer, William, ed. An Encyclopedia of World His-
On the Waterfront (1954, F)
tory. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1952.
Platoon (1986, F)
O’Connor, John E. American History/American Film.
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936, D)
New York: Frederick Ungar, 1979.
Reds (1981, F)
——. Image as Artifact: The Historical Analysis of
The River (1937, D)
Film and Television. Malabar, FL: Krieger, 1990.
Roots (1977, F)
Owens, Lewis. The Grapes of Wrath: Trouble in the
Wall Street (1987, F)
Promised Land. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1989.
The West Wing (1999– , TV)
Rollins, Peter. Will Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography. West-
port, CT: Greenwood, 1983.
——, ed. Hollywood as Historian: American Film in a
Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington: University
Bibliography Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Elliott, Emory, ed. Columbia Literary History of the Rollins, Peter, and John E. O’Connor. Hollywood’s
United States. New York: Columbia University White House: The American Presidency in Film and
Press, 1988. Television. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky,
Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film 2003.
and Television Studies. www.filmandhistory.org. ——, eds. The West Wing: The American Presidency
Foner, Eric, and John Garraty, eds. The Reader’s as Television Drama. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse Uni-
Companion to American History. Boston: Hough- versity Press, 2003.
ton Mifflin, 1991. Will, George. “ ‘JFK’ Makes Hash of History.” Time,
Freidel, Frank, ed. The Harvard Guide to American 26 December 1991.
I.
Eras

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ EDWARD J. INGEBRETSEN ]

The Puritan Era and the Puritan Mind

he Puritans who organized the 1630 Great ing the Unitarian ministry, transformed the

T Migration to Boston—and the Pilgrim

Separatists who, a few years earlier, had
settled in Plymouth, twenty miles south—
sought protection from the religious harass-
legacy of Puritan spiritual thought into the
more expansive moral idealism of romanti-
cism.
Nevertheless, the Puritans play an extraor-
ment they experienced in England and the dinary part in the mythology of America. They
Netherlands. Neither group had much use for are idealized in some quarters and demonized
principles that would later be thought espe- in others. Numerous scholars on the Puritans
cially “American”: religious toleration, indi- have demonstrated that even as the Puritan
vidualism, separation of church and state. On theocratic order declined in authority with the
the contrary, as their sobriquet implied, they passing of years, the rhetoric, energy, and ex-
separated themselves to the wilds of Massa- pectant messianism of the Puritan vision both
chusetts in order to purify their religious prac- shaped and was appropriated by a civic rheto-
tice. In exile they sought to make that practice ric of progress. The “city set on a mountain,”
more, rather than less, strict. In conformity for example, is an image used by Jesus (Mat-
with biblical warrant, they simplified liturgical thew 5:14–15) in the Sermon on the Mount.
practice and emphasized the preaching of the The first governor of the Massachusetts Bay
biblical Word, in general turning away from Colony, John Winthrop, borrowed the image
high-church ritual. The Puritans, as well as the with polemical intent at the landing of the Ar-
stricter Pilgrims, intended their religious so- bella in Boston (1630). The phrase would later
ciety to constitute more—rather than less—of find echoes in theologian Jonathan Edwards’s
the civil state. (1703–1758) language of civic destiny, while a
For much of its postcolonial history, Amer- rationalist reworking of similar apocalyptic
ican intellectual culture has been concerned rhetoric shapes Thomas Jefferson’s Declara-
with distancing itself from the perceived nar- tion of Independence. At a further remove,
rowness of “Puritanism”—or “The New En- Puritan millennial expectations provided im-
gland Way,” as their theocratic order would be petus and justification for the Revolutionary
remembered. This is particularly visible in the War and even ground the terms of Manifest
literature of the American Renaissance (1830– Destiny as well as the American Dream. In his
1865). Emerson and Hawthorne, for instance, remarks at Gettysburg Cemetery and in his
alternately apologize for the Puritan past or Second Inaugural Address, the avowedly sec-
envelop it in nostalgia. Hawthorne’s treatment ular Abraham Lincoln would find the Puritans’
is wistfully apologetic, particularly in his nu- covenantal language of fidelity and guilt ap-
merous short sketches and in The Scarlet Letter propriate to his postwar elegiac needs.
(1850) and The House of the Seven Gables Yet, despite Lincoln’s example, the recog-
(1851). Emerson, on the other hand, after leav- nition of the Puritans as valuably “American”

3
4 [ ERAS
was late in coming. The religious fundamen- volumes of Miller’s The New England Mind
talism of the Puritans was considered by many (1939, 1953), New England’s regional history
to be an embarrassment to America’s demo- became “national” history. Miller fit the moral
cratic sensibility. Further, the strict moralism enthusiasm of the Puritans to the secular ide-
credited to the Puritans and their single- alism of a newly self-aware, world-policing na-
minded religious vision made them a scape- tion. In colleges and universities across the
goat for late-nineteenth-century capitalism land, the nascent American studies move-
and intellectual liberalism. Such well-known ment—a celebration of American themes, dis-
intellectuals as Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. and ciplines, and issues—would capitalize upon
William James excoriated their seventeenth- this refurbishing. John Winthrop’s “Cittee on
century forebears. Holmes took particular ex- the Hill” was understood to be American now,
ception to Jonathan Edwards. His theology, and progressive, rather than Puritan and mil-
Holmes wrote, “shocks the sensibilities of a lenarian. In this manner it was used to define,
later generation” (384). Similarly, in The Va- as well as to justify, conceptions of American
rieties of Religious Experience, James argued exceptionalism. Such an image remained
that Edwards’s sovereign God was, “if sover- strongly influential through the Cold War
eignly anything, sovereignly irrational and years and beyond, as typified by President
mean” (330). Ronald Reagan’s reflexive use of the image in
After the traumatic years of World War I nearly all of his major addresses to the nation.
and following the short-lived economic boom Thus, a conflicted energy to forget as well as
of the 1920s, the country sank into the De- to remember finds the Puritan legacy—indeed,
pression. Models of American heroism were in New England itself—at once underrepresented
short supply during these years, and the Pu- and overdetermined in film. That is, although
ritan legacy was revived. Harvard historian Puritan rhetoric and example have been useful
Samuel Eliot Morison played an important in presidential speeches from Lincoln through
role in this project. In his worshipful Builders Eisenhower and Reagan, very few attempts
of the Bay Colony (1930), Morison rehabili- were made to translate these historical expe-
tated the Puritans as examples of struggle, riences into popular twentieth-century media,
courage, and spiritual integrity. Morison also including film and television.
built on this rehabilitation by editing William
Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–1647. The Frontier and the Vanished Puritan
The rediscovery of the Puritans was broadened The Puritans and their descendants do figure
in the years following World War II, when the slightly off-camera in various “frontier” nar-
United States found itself again embodying the ratives. However, the particularly religious in-
“city on a hill.” The performance was a com- tensity of their lives remained cinematically
plicated one, however, inasmuch as the city on untouchable, given an American defensiveness
the hill was being watched as well as watch- around such notions as religious tolerance and
ing—a guardian and exemplar of national mo- separation of church and state. Nonetheless,
ralities as well as world securities. construed as an aspect of frontier life, as in The
The discovery of the Puritan past as contem- Last of the Mohicans (1920, 1936) and Drums
porary American ideal owes its current force along the Mohawk (1939), or as an exercise in
to these years. Particularly through the work nostalgia, as in Last of the Red Men (1947), a
of Harvard University’s Perry Miller (1905– derivative Puritan ethos was used to emphasize
1963), a direct intellectual line was drawn from stalwart loyalty and courage against natural
the early Puritan founders to thinkers of the forces and human enemies. These explicitly
nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the two nationalistic films silently elide any overt reli-
 THE PURITAN ERA AND THE PURITAN MIND ] 5

gious reference. Indeed, creedal or spiritual term “Puritan” was synonymous with pro-
ideas of any sort were erased from these Holly- vincialism and cultural narrowness. In partic-
wood productions in order to underscore truly ular, the Salem witch trials of 1692–93 have
“American values” of courage, endurance, and been the subject, or perhaps excuse, for many
reliance upon inner strength. These were the inexpensive horror films, often mixed with po-
emotional tools necessary in Depression-era litical allegory. The Salem events are recast as
America, and consequently the Puritan theo- typically Puritan, but similar ideological use is
centric vision had to be reconceptualized as as old as the sketches in Hawthorne’s Twice-
“democratic individualism,” which it surely Told Tales (1842). Maid of Salem (1937), di-
had not been. rected by Frank Lloyd, is typical of this revi-
Cinematic representations of Puritan history sionist history; a prologue states that the story
are scarce, except where a Puritan sensibility is was based on “authentic records of the year
useful as aesthetic backdrop. For example, The 1692.” Nonetheless, as in Plymouth Adventure,
Pursuit of Happiness (1934) is a historical ro- historicity in Maid of Salem quickly gives way
mance about revolutionary times. The film to a sentimental love formula (starring Clau-
shows how the shadow of war touched a rural dette Colbert as Barbara Clarke and Fred
community in Connecticut. This civil order MacMurray as Roger Coverman).
(highly romanticized) is by implication Puri- Hawthorne’s revisions of Puritan history are
tan—narrow and restrictive and so, as the title numerous, and so, too, The Scarlet Letter
suggests, against the pursuit of happiness. In (1850) has been treated variously in film. Haw-
this case, happiness is the formulaic love affair thorne’s classic text, like the Puritan history
developing between a rural Connecticut maid, itself, was trimmed to fit a variety of polemical
Prudence, and a Hessian soldier, a mercenary needs. Three in particular deserve note. The
outsider to the community. In this secular vi- 1934 production, directed by Robert G.
sion of the American past, a patina of Puritan Vignola, has its own mix of ideology and Hol-
feeling is retained, while people who might ac- lywood formula, as an opening title indicates:
tually have been Puritans are silently erased. “This is more than the story of a woman—it
The expanding cinema industry also sought is a portrait of the Puritan period in American
out “American” adventures that could be life.” The Puritans come in for conventional
translated to the screen. Certain episodes as- criticism. Centered on work and courting cus-
sociated with the Puritans were found useful. toms, scenes comically portray Puritans as re-
Although its title refers specifically to the lentlessly literal-minded. The scenes most di-
founding of Plymouth Colony, Plymouth Ad- rectly related to Hawthorne’s text, however,
venture (1952), directed by Clarence Brown are generally faithful to his original narrative.
(from the novel by Ernest Gebler), is more Chillingworth is portrayed as cerebral and ma-
about misadventures at sea than about the levolent in seeking revenge, Arthur Dimmes-
landing at Plymouth. The film dramatizes the dale as inwardly torn and ineffectual. Hester’s
perilous 1620 journey of the Mayflower from nobility—her mercy and compassion under
Old to New England, with little attention given great duress—are shown triumphing over the
to the actual fortunes of the colony itself sub- sin-obsessed narrow-mindedness of the Puri-
sequent to landing. tan villagers.
Although Puritan ideology could be trim- The 1979 PBS Scarlet Letter (directed and
med, cut, and celebrated as “proto-American,” produced by Rick Hauser) remains the most
legendary Puritan intolerance also made the complex and nuanced treatment of all ver-
New Englanders easy targets for demon- sions. Hauser portrays better than others
ization. To H. L. Mencken, for example, the Hawthorne’s layered ambiguity, in whose
6 [ ERAS
for the usual bashing. Governor Bellingham
(Edward Hardwicke) says to the stylishly
dressed Hester Prynne (Demi Moore), as she
disembarks in Salem, “You would do well here
to use less lace in your dressmaking.” In this
adaptation Hawthorne’s tale becomes one nar-
row part of the history of the Puritan colony at
Salem. Narrated from the retrospective view-
point of Pearl, now a young woman, the colony
of Salem is situated between two crises—the
FIGURE 1. The Scarlet Letter (1995). Condemned by growing distrust of the Indians on one hand (in
the townspeople of Salem for adultery, Hester Prynne 1666, when the film opens, King Philip’s War
(Demi Moore) remains dignified and defiant as she
is a decade in the future) and, on the other
walks with her baby. Courtesy Allied Stars, Cinergi,
Lighthouse, and Moving Pictures. hand, the witch hunts of a later generation
(1692–93). Hawthorne’s narrative remains sub-
merged for the first half of the film. It is midway
through the film before Hester is found with
treatment of an actual political crisis in early child, and only much later does her husband
Puritan history the rigidity of Puritan ideal- Roger (Robert Duvall)—supposedly long dead
ism comes under scrutiny. Although Hauser in an Indian raid—make his appearance.
remains true to Hawthorne, his baroque pre- The conflation of the Puritans and the Salem
sentation has some drawbacks. It is long on witch hunts is standard literary practice from
meditation—especially the almost nuanced Hawthorne onward, and the newer media are
portrayal of Chillingworth (wronged, but no exception. Witchcraft films are perennial
compassionate and understanding, as played favorites in the Gothic as well as comedy gen-
by Kevin Conroy) and Dimmesdale (timid but res (for horror, see The Craft [1996] and The
literally self-flagellating, as played by John Blair Witch Project [1999]). Typically, Salem
Heard). Hester (Meg Foster) is represented as and the Puritans provide the framing narrative
type rather than individual; she is stoic and in many of them, such as Maid of Salem (1937)
proud, silently enduring all abuse from the cit- and Warlock (1989). The association of Puri-
izens of the town. The Hawthornean indict- tanism and witchery can be found in the ear-
ment of disassociated idealism comes through liest cinematic productions, both in the United
most clearly in the repeated confrontations be- States and abroad; Arthur Miller returns to the
tween proud Hester and the town magistrate, theme of witchcraft and the Puritan past in The
Mr. Wilson, who is determined to break her Crucible (1953). Cold War concerns about in-
spirit. Similarly, Hauser remains true at least filtrating communists brought Miller to the at-
to the spirit of Hawthorne in the attention he tention of the House Committee on Un-
pays to Hester’s daughter’s (Elisa Erali) willful American Activities (HUAC). Miller’s stage
personality. He also shows, as Hawthorne version of a tense and divided Salem played
made clear, that the pressure leveraged against first on Broadway in 1953 against this Ameri-
Dimmesdale by his religious superiors and sec- can backdrop; the play was clearly designed to
ular authorities results from a mix of envy as editorialize about contemporary concerns.
well as solicitousness. Although popular in school dramatic pro-
In 1995, Hollywood Pictures released The ductions, and other than two productions in-
Scarlet Letter, “freely adapted from the novel,” tended for television, there was no major En-
directed by Roland Joffe. The Puritans come in glish film version of Miller’s The Crucible until
 THE PURITAN ERA AND THE PURITAN MIND ] 7

man’s relation to the stern and vengeful God

of the Calvinists, and to the sulphurous Ad-
versary of that God.” Such a climate, the fer-
vent materialist Lovecraft claimed, was one in
which “tales of witchcraft and unbelievable se-
cret monstrosities lingered long after the dread
days of the Salem nightmare” (60–61). A num-
ber of Lovecraft’s New England tales (twenty-
two, to be precise) have been reimagined as
films, including the John Carpenter release In
the Mouth of Madness (1995). Of particular in-
FIGURE 2. The Crucible (1996). Teenage girls in
Salem (1692), led by Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder,
terest are The Unnamable (1988, Jean-Paul
center), hurl false accusations of witchcraft. Courtesy Ouellette, dir.) and The Dunwich Horror
Twentieth Century-Fox. (1969, Daniel Haller, dir.).

the 1996 Twentieth Century–Fox production, The Disney Versions

directed by Nicholas Hytner. Daniel Day- Two of Disney’s recent films have some bear-
Lewis plays John Proctor; Winona Ryder plays ing in this discussion of a usable Puritan past.
his nemesis, the love-struck, self-centered Abi- Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale (1994) derives its
gail Williams, while Paul Scofield plays the name from an Indian who was taken captive
sternly righteous Judge Danforth. Arthur by British colonists and later exhibited in Lon-
Miller wrote the screenplay for this produc- don. In Disney’s film, Squanto escapes in En-
tion, and, though he keeps Proctor’s adultery gland and returns to the New World. There he
as motive, it is subsidiary to other emotions— finds that remnants of the Mayflower colony
town rivalries, land tensions, and, finally, the have taken over his destroyed village—now re-
spiritual zealotry and inhumanity of the Col- named “Plymouth.” Squanto helps the colo-
ony leaders. Nevertheless, Miller’s 1996 adap- nists adapt to the New World while convincing
tation, like the original stage play in this re- local tribes to accept them. More distantly,
spect, presents a nuanced view of the Puritans. there are a variety of children’s versions of the
Although many officials, civil and religious, are Pocahontas story. Disney’s Pocohantas [sic]
portrayed as flawed, power-hungry, and in- (1995) retells that anxiety-laden originary
flexible, a few are depicted as decent, thought- myth of racial encounter between Captain
ful people. Likewise, some townspeople are John Smith and the daughter of Wahunsona-
land-grabbing, greedy, and contentious, but cook, dubbed Chief Powhatan (the tribal
others are fearful and trusting—wanting to do name)—at the landing at Jamestown. These
right but often confused as to how. animated versions of events in early American
history demonstrate the pattern noted earlier
Puritan Gothic by which historical memory, already a vexed
Many, perhaps most, of the Gothic films that enterprise, becomes further complicated when
feature New England or the Puritans are ver- its events become pressed into service as alle-
sions of literary works. Indeed, after Haw- gory and civic self-narrative.
thorne, H. P. Lovecraft is to be credited with It is probably impossible to draw with any
popularizing the genre of New England accuracy a portrait of the original English set-
Gothic, and he credits at length its Puritan leg- tlers of New England. Ideological imperatives,
acy. In Supernatural Horror in Literature, Love- varying in needs and energy, insure that any
craft cites “all manner of notions respecting portrayal of the Puritans in film and literature
8 [ ERAS
will exploit current social concerns. This ex- erwise than worthless.” And yet, Hawthorne
ploitation, of course, is not limited to cinema writes, “Let them scorn me as they will, strong
or to the present. In the prologue to The Scarlet traits of their nature have intertwined them-
Letter, Hawthorne discusses how the Puritan selves with mine” (10). Hawthorne’s mix of
past serves him. As a grandson of one of the misplaced guilt, regret, and envy still has its
Salem judges, John Hathorne, he recognizes place in the reconstruction of memory. The
the distance between his grandfather’s gener- Puritans will always be available to play out
ation and his own: “No aim, that I have ever those emotions, as CBS demonstrated in its
cherished, would they recognize as laudable; 1999 sitcom about the Puritans and Thanks-
no success of mine . . . would they deem oth- giving, entitled Thanks.

References
A Witch of Salem Town (1915, F)
Filmography The Witch Woman (1918, F)
Arthur Miller and The Crucible (1981, D) Witchcraft (a.k.a. Witch and Warlock, 1964, F)
Blair Witch Project (1999, F) Witchcraft (1988, F)
Burn, Witch, Burn (a.k.a. Night of the Eagle, 1961, F) Witchcraft, Part II: The Temptress (1989, F)
City of the Dead (a.k.a. Horror Hotel, 1960, F) Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death (1991, F)
The Craft (1996, F) Witchcraft IV: Virgin Heart (1992, F)
The Crucible (1967, TV; 1980, TV; 1996, F) The Witches (a.k.a. The Devil’s Own, 1966, F)
The Devil’s Hand (a.k.a. Naked Goddess, Live to Love, The Witches (1990, F)
1959, F) The Witches of Eastwick (1987, F)
Drums along the Mohawk (1939, F) Witchfinder General (a.k.a. The Conqueror Worm,
The Dunwich Horror (1969, F) 1968, F)
Hocus Pocus (1993, F)
House of the Seven Gables (1940, F)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995, F)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920, F; 1936, F) Bibliography
Last of the Red Men (1947, F) Anonymous. Review of Maid of Salem. Literary Di-
The Little Puritan (1915, F) gest, February 1937.
Maid of Salem (1937, F) Bercovitch, Sacvan. The Puritan Origins of the Amer-
My Mother, the Witch (n.d., F) ican Self. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975.
Natural Born Puritan (1994, D) Colacurcio, Michael. Doctrine and Difference: Essays
Pilgrim Journey (n.d., D) in the Literature of New England. New York: Rout-
Plymouth Adventure (1952, F) ledge, 1997.
Pocohantas (1995, F) Conforti, Joseph A. Jonathan Edwards: Religious Tra-
The Promised Land (1997, D) dition and American Culture. Chapel Hill: Univer-
The Puritan (1914, F) sity of North Carolina Press, 1996.
Puritan Passions (1923, F) Demos, John. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the
The Pursuit of Happiness (1934, F) Culture of Early New England. Oxford: Oxford
Rosemary’s Baby (1968, F) University Press, 1982.
Salem Witch Trials (1992, D) Heimert, Alan, ed. The Puritans in America: A Narra-
The Scarlet Letter (1909, F; 1917, F; 1926, F; 1934, F; tive Anthology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univer-
1950, TV; 1954, TV; 1979, F; 1995, F) sity Press, 1985.
Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale (1994, F) Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Pages from an Old Volume
Thanks (1999, TV) of Life: A Collection of Essays, 1857–1881. Boston:
The Unnamable (1988, F) Houghton Mifflin, 1892.
The Unnamable Returns (1992, F) James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience:
Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter A Study in Human Nature. Ed. Martin E. Marty.
(1993, F) New York: Penguin, 1983.
Warlock (1989, F) Lovecraft, H. P. Supernatural Horror in Literature.
The Witch of Salem (1913, F) New York: Dover, 1973.
 THE PURITAN ERA AND THE PURITAN MIND ] 9
Maslin, Janet. Review of The Crucible. New York Morison, Samuel Eliot. Builders of the Bay Colony.
Times, 27 November 1996. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1930.
Miller, Perry. Errand into the Wilderness. Cambridge, ——. The Intellectual Life of Colonial New England.
MA: Belknap Press, 1956. New York: New York University Press, 1956.
——. The New England Mind: From Colony to Prov- Pitts, Michael R. Hollywood and American History: A
ince. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, Filmography of Over 250 Motion Pictures Depicting
1953. U.S. History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1984.
——. The New England Mind: The Seventeenth Cen- Santayana, George. The Last Puritan: A Memoir in
tury. Boston: Beacon Press, 1961. the Form of a Novel. New York: Scribner’s, 1936.
[ JOSEPH MILLICHAP ]

The 1890s

he final decade of the nineteenth century ican 1890s were anything but “gay,” in the par-

T would prove conclusive in America’s

transition from the rural and agrarian
simplicity of the early republic to the urban
and industrial complexity of the twentieth-
lance of those times.
Perhaps as important in a cultural sense was
the more subtle conflict between traditional
human values inherent in the land itself and
century superpower. A period of rapid the emerging power of technology represented
changes, major dislocations, and extreme ten- in the new machinery of the era. Chicago’s Co-
sions, the 1890s were subsumed in the Amer- lumbian Exposition (1892–93) showcased
ican cultural consciousness as the last flower- these innovative technologies and elicited the
ing of an innocent age. The American recognition that our culture had changed fun-
sobriquet “the Gay Nineties,” though created damentally as the era of expansion closed for-
by the same reaction against Victorian mores ever. Frederick Jackson Turner’s classic state-
that named it le fin de siècle abroad, was soon ment of his “Frontier Thesis” appeared in
transmuted into a wistful evocation of a lost connection with the great exposition and in
time of simpler pleasures by the new century’s direct response to the census data of 1890,
nostalgia. which declared the western experiment fin-
During the 1890s, largely unacknowledged ished in cultural terms. The first year of the
tensions of gender, race, and class exploded in decade also saw the Wounded Knee Massacre,
a number of historically important and socially the final assault on the independent Native
significant conflicts. Among these were the cultures trying to dance back the buffalo
first emergence of major agitation for and re- against the forces of civilization represented by
sistance to women’s rights, the majority accep- the transcontinental railroad, barbed wire, and
tance of a “separate but equal” facade and a the repeating rifle.
“Jim Crow” reality in racial relations, and Among these many emerging technologies
widespread antagonism between rich and were the pioneering efforts of Thomas A. Ed-
poor, native and immigrant, and big business ison and others on the new frontier of film.
and labor. In particular, these economic ten- This prehistory of the movies is somewhat ob-
sions determined the important historical scure, but, at the decade’s beginning, Edison
events of the decade: the literal warfare of the was perfecting his Kinetoscope, a sort of home
Homestead (1892), the Pullman (1894), and “peep show” that he saw as a visual comple-
several other strikes; the financial Panic of ment to his phonograph. In 1893 he built the
1893, the nation’s worst business collapse be- first film studio, and by 1895 the first theaters
fore the Great Depression; and the Spanish- for public projection of his Kinematographs,
American War (1898), our first flirtation with or “flickers.” For subjects, Edison and his com-
imperialism, colonialism, and world power petitors turned their cameras on the America
status. Thus, the shaping realities of the Amer- of the 1890s that surrounded them. A cata-

10
 THE 1890S ] 11

logue of early film titles parallels a popular his- flora-dora outfits and can-can corsets, and
tory of the period: Empire State Express (1896), minstrel-show blacks and slow-talking “poor
the fastest train of the era; The Kiss (1896), white trash.” Of course, the Abbott and
which records the osculatory antics of the pop- Costello features were program fillers, with lit-
ular Broadway actor Fred Ott; and Rough Rid- tle more substance than a television variety
ers at Guantanamo (1898), directly before the show; yet the clichés evident in The Naughty
famous charge up San Juan Hill in the Cuban Nineties pervade Hollywood’s versions of the
theater of the war against the Spanish. 1890s, whether low-budget programs or big-
Unfortunately, later American film would be budget features.
less inclined to record the realities of the 1890s. For example, the immensely popular fea-
As national film production shifted from New tures of Will Rogers very consciously project
York to Los Angeles in the early decades of the the same historical take on the 1890s, one
twentieth century, it came to reflect and to rec- which Rogers himself developed during his
reate the national amnesia about the actual frontier youth in Oklahoma and iterated in his
history of the nineteenth century, including its famous radio talks (Rollins, 211). David
last decade. Nor would the Hollywood studio Harum (1934) provides the best filmic view of
system ever be much interested in the struggles the time, with Rogers becoming a “Dutch Un-
of suffragettes, the bloody reign of Jim Crow cle” to a younger protagonist who flees the city
and lynch law, or organized labor’s or populist during an economic downturn and discovers
farmers’ battles with unbridled big business. true American values in symbolically Home-
Indeed, the popular revolt against the social ville, U.S.A. Although the names and places
and sexual restraints of a lingering Puritanism change, the same images appear in other Rog-
in the “Gay Nineties” would be transformed ers features such as Steamboat ‘Round the Bend
into a smirking, repressed amusement at the (1935), which pairs Rogers with humorist
quaint doings in the age of corset and bustle. Irvin S. Cobb, and In Old Kentucky (1935),
In fact, the major movie response to the 1890s Rogers’s last feature before his untimely death.
was a simplistic “good old days” reading of the His first important movie, A Connecticut Yan-
era. Sentimental recreations of the period kee in King Arthur’s Court (1931), was rere-
dominated the central decades of the twentieth leased in 1936 as a confirmation of his popu-
century, perhaps in response to their own larity. This literary adaptation proves doubly
harsh realities; however, the 1930s of the De- ironic; Mark Twain’s 1889 novel satirizes ro-
pression, the 1940s of World War II, and the mantic attitudes about the good old days in
1950s of the Cold War were also the central Bridgeport and Camelot, while Rogers’s take
decades of the Hollywood studio system. Even sentimentalizes both places and times—much
in more liberated times since the demise of the as the humorist did with 1930s America.
studios, this reading of the period has hardly Some other movie examples in confirmation
changed on the American screen. of these general tendencies might start with the
A representative though undistinguished ex- Mae West classic She Done Him Wrong (1933),
ample in point is The Naughty Nineties (1945), the source of her trademark line: “Why don’t
featuring the comedic pairing of Bud Abbott you come up sometime and see me?” The tar-
and Lou Costello in a rambling anthology of get of Mae’s famous come-on is a very young
variety pieces set aboard a superannuated and virile Cary Grant as an ineffective vice-
showboat. The title captures Hollywood’s take squad operative in the Bowery during the
on this pivotal decade: nostalgic humor, in- 1890s. West wrote her own script from her ear-
cluding the filmic version of the stars’ trade- lier play, Diamond Lil (1928), a loosely based
mark “Who’s On First” routine, chorines in re-creation of the career of 1890s glamour girl
12 [ ERAS
Lillian Russell. Her characterization of the turn comes of age with the 1890s, taking over a staid
of the century sexpot was reprised in Belle of New York daily on a lark and making it the
the Nineties (1934), though the scene shifted most popular tabloid in the era that invented
to New Orleans, and Klondike Annie (1934), “yellow journalism.” Kane reprises Hearst’s
where she runs off to the Yukon with the San putative statement to his reporters when they
Francisco constabulary in hot pursuit. complained that they could discover no revo-
San Francisco, the glamour capitol of the lution in Spanish-held Cuba; they were to stay
West in the last decade of the nineteenth cen- in place to furnish the stories and pictures, as
tury, was balanced on the East Coast by New he would soon furnish the war. The film re-
York City, then as now the Big Apple of the flects Hearst’s jingoist editorial stance favoring
entertainment business. Tin Pan Alley, then a war with Spain in a brilliant scene of a stag
just coming into its own, provided a venue for dinner replete with chorus girls wearing both
nostalgic tunes, as in Sweet Rosie O’Grady corsets and campaign caps, an image toying
(1945), featuring Betty Grable and Adolphe with several of the era’s conflated and conflict-
Menjou, or Belle of New York (1952), with Fred ing interests.
Astaire and Vera Ellen. Hollywood versions of Welles’s literate interest in the 1890s contin-
the decade changed little, even if the scene ued in his next effort, The Magnificent Amber-
shifted, with the same ubiquitous Ms. Grable sons (1942), an adaptation of Booth Tarking-
showing off her long, silk-stockinged legs at ton’s novel of the same title. Literary
Chicago’s Columbian Exhibition in Wabash adaptations generally produced some of the
Avenue (1950). more realistic images of the decade in film. For
These “show biz” stories were often based on example, one of pioneer auteur D. W. Grif-
real personalities, ranging from famous stars to fith’s first important films is A Corner in Wheat
obscure songwriters. More earnest film biog- (1911), which combines plot lines and image
raphies, often categorized as “biopics,” reached patterns from several narratives by the natu-
the height of their popularity in the 1930s and ralist writer Frank Norris. In some ways, Grif-
1940s and presented some of the more inter- fith’s briefer and more focused version em-
esting Hollywood images of the American phasizes the economic conflicts of the decade
1890s. For example, Diamond Lil was more de- more effectively than Norris’s diffuse, sym-
murely portrayed by Alice Faye in Lillian Rus- bolic fictions. The debut novel of another im-
sell (1940), which also featured a very young portant writer of naturalism, Theodore Drei-
Henry Fonda as romantic rival to Edward Ar- ser’s Sister Carrie (1900), was adapted in 1952
nold’s “Diamond Jim” Brady. In another area under the shorter title Carrie, with Jennifer
of popular entertainment, Gentleman Jim Jones interpreting the title role under the able
(1942) starred Errol Flynn as 1890s heavy- direction of William Wyler. Jack London’s
weight boxing champion James J. Corbett. naturalistic Call of the Wild (1903) also elicited
Perhaps the best example of this neglected multiple adaptations: in 1935 with Clark Gable
genre remains The Story of Alexander Graham as the rugged hero, and in 1972 with Charlton
Bell (1939), which starred veteran character ac- Heston in that role.
tor Don Ameche in his most famous role as The subject of both London’s novel and its
the inventor of the telephone. two filmed versions is the Alaska Gold Rush of
A sophisticated variant of the standard the later 1890s. Adventures in the frozen North
filmed biography is Orson Welles’s classic Citi- became a variation of the western in both the
zen Kane (1941), the fictionalized history of silent and in the sound eras. On the silent
newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. screen, the most notable example is Charles
Welles’s brash rich boy Charles Foster Kane Chaplin’s seriocomic epic The Gold Rush
 THE 1890S ] 13

(1925), with its wonderfully realistic opening sidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), with Paul
sequences. Aside from the two adaptations of Newman and Robert Redford; and John Hus-
London’s classic novel, other notable examples ton’s offbeat The Life and Times of Judge Roy
include The Spoilers (1942) with John Wayne Bean (1972), with Newman as the self-
and Marlene Dietrich. Belle of the Yukon appointed guardian of law west of the Pecos.
(1944), with western stalwart Randolph Scott John Wayne’s geriatric efforts struck a senti-
and burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee, essentially mental note somewhere in between, as in True
mined the same territory, as did a plot reprised Grit (1969), with Kim Darby as his youthful
even less seriously by John Wayne and single- companion, or its sequel, Rooster Cogburn
named phenoms Capucine and Fabian in (1975), with Katherine Hepburn as another
North to Alaska (1960). virtuous example for the Duke.
Another subgenre of the western, one con- All in all, American film for the most part
cerned with the ending of the frontier, may be ignored the 1890s, and when it did consider
associated quite naturally with the 1890s. The the decade, it refashioned it in Hollywood’s
frontier West did close during the last decade sentimentalized version of the past. Such in-
of the nineteenth century, both in pragmatic terpretation seems natural enough to the com-
and theoretical terms. The coming of civiliza- edy or the musical, but even the film biogra-
tion and its discontents is often associated with phy, the literary adaptation, and the western
the same sentimentalizing of realistic history all conform to the same pattern. The excep-
that characterized Hollywood’s attitude toward tions that prove the rule are the occasional se-
the whole period. In the early westerns this de- rious depictions of cultural conflict, such as
velopment is found in more comic variations Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester Street (1975), an
such as Ruggles of Red Gap (1935), with Charles adaptation of a play by Abraham Cahan about
Laughton in the title part, which was later re- the difficulties and disappointments of Jewish
made as Fancy Pants (1950), with Bob Hope in immigrant life on New York’s Lower East Side.
the featured role of a British “gentleman’s gen- Literary critic Fredric Jameson reminds us that
tleman” transported to the Wild West. history is available only as narrative or text and
More sardonic versions emerged in later de- that all of these narratives or texts are created
cades, seemingly in response to the decline of by the exigencies of the present as much as the
the western, of the American ideals encapsu- determinations of the past. In Hollywood’s de-
lated by the genre, as well as the aging of the piction of the 1890s, the needs of the present
Hollywood icons who portrayed archetypal overbalance the responsibilities to the past, as
western heroes. Some examples include Robert this disturbing decade was stereotyped into the
Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), which “good old days,” helping to determine its en-
stars Warren Beatty and Julie Christie; George during image in the American cultural con-
Roy Hill’s self-consciously “kicky” Butch Cas- sciousness.

References
Citizen Kane (1941, F)
Filmography Coney Island (1943, F)
Belle of New York (1952, F) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Belle of the Nineties (1934, F) (1931, F)
Belle of the Yukon (1944, F) A Corner in Wheat (1911, F)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, F) David Harum (1934, F)
The Call of the Wild (1935, F; 1972, F) Destiny of Empires: The Spanish-American War of
Carrie (1952, F) 1898 (1998, D)
14 [ ERAS
Fancy Pants (1950, F) Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1945, F)
Gentleman Jim (1942, F) True Grit (1969, F)
The Gold Rush (1925, F) Wabash Avenue (1950, F)
Hester Street (1975, F)
In Old Kentucky (1935, F)
Klondike Annie (1934, F) Bibliography
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972, F) Handlin, Oscar. The Uprooted. 2d ed. New York:
Lillian Russell (1940, F) Little, Brown, 1973.
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, F) Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform: From Bryan
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, F) to FDR. New York: Random House, 1960.
The Naughty Nineties (1945, F) Rollins, Peter C. Hollywood as Historian: American
North to Alaska (1960, F) Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington: Uni-
Rooster Cogburn (1975, F) versity Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Ruggles of Red Gap (1935, F) ——. Will Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, CT:
She Done Him Wrong (1933, F) Greenwood, 1984.
The Spoilers (1942, F) Toplin, Robert B. History by Hollywood: The Use and
Steamboat ‘Round the Bend (1935, F) Abuse of the American Past. Urbana: University of
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939, F) Illinois Press, 1996.
[ JOHN C. TIBBETTS ]

The 1920s

he decade of the 1920s was both text and and a professed agenda of “normalcy.” He

T context for American movies. The nation

and the film industry had returned home
from World War I tested and strengthened.
Immediately, however, both faced new ten-
was succeeded by another Republican, Calvin
Coolidge, a prudent man with a genius for
inactivity and laissez-faire politics. Together,
they benefited the “plutocrats” and large cor-
sions, challenges, and opportunities. A new porations with advantageous tax policies, and,
conservatism was replacing progressive poli- in general, they promoted the continued pro-
tics, a burgeoning industrial growth was sig- cess of business consolidation.
naling an unparalleled prosperity, and new Progressive idealism faltered. Although it
technologies were changing the face of society blazed bravely in the Harlem Renaissance—
and communications. Amid this welter of con- that awakening of black culture when artists
fusion and change, the American cinema, like such as writers Jean Toomer and Langston
the nation at large, was ready to take its first Hughes and musicians Duke Ellington and
great strides from an awkward adolescence to- Louis Armstrong looked back to Africa for
ward a global maturity. identity and difference from white America—
There were obstacles along the way, to be it also surfaced in several misbegotten forms.
sure. Despite the lofty idealism of President The Ku Klux Klan was largely the result of a
Woodrow Wilson’s justifications for interven- misplaced rural Anglo-Saxon Protestant pro-
tion in what was then called the Great War— test against the seeming corruption in the fast-
an agenda that minimized America’s more self- growing city centers of the purity of race and
ish and self-regarding interests, historian ideals by immigrants, blacks, Catholics, and
Richard Hofstadter asserts—returning soldiers Jews. Another misplaced relic of an earlier
had found the European struggle to be a filthy, moral frenzy was Prohibition. Enacted by the
disillusioning business. The nation’s enthusi- passing of the Volstead Act in January 1920,
asm for the League of Nations faltered. A new Prohibition soon was flouted and exploited by
isolationism pervaded the country. The Pro- bootleggers and gangsters, inaugurating a de-
gressive movement stalled. “The pressure for cade of organized crime.
civic participation was followed by widespread The inevitable rebellion against encroaching
apathy,” writes Hofstadter, “the sense of re- Puritanism and conventional respectability
sponsibility by neglect, the call for sacrifice by was spearheaded by the satiric Prejudices of
hedonism” (282). With the virtual collapse of H. L. Mencken; the “voices” of T. S. Eliot’s
the Democratic Party came an old style of J. Alfred Prufrock and “The Waste Land”
conservative leadership that had not been (1922) and Hugh Selwyn Mauberley in Ezra
seen since the turn of the century. The new Pound’s eponymous poem (1920); the novels
president in 1920 was Warren G. Harding, of Sinclair Lewis (Main Street, 1920; Babbitt,
whose assets included affability, good looks, 1922); Theodore Dreiser (An American Trag-

15
16 [ ERAS
edy, 1925); the plays of the young Eugene trial, the newest dance crazes, thrill seekers,
O’Neill (The Emperor Jones, 1920; The Hairy and the exploits of evangelist Aimee Semple
Ape, 1922); and the jazz-inflected classicism of McPherson and the Four Horsemen of Notre
George Gershwin’s symphonic rhapsodies and Dame—commanded the biggest headlines.
Tin Pan Alley songs (legacies of the late James The motion picture industry lost no time in
Europe) and the machines and gunshots in the taking up the challenge of Pound’s “Hugh Sel-
music of George Antheil. F. Scott Fitzgerald wyn Mauberley”:
proclaimed the decade the Jazz Age in The
The age demanded an image
Great Gatsby (1926), and Ernest Hemingway,
Of an accelerated grimace,
borrowing from Gertrude Stein, pronounced
Something for the modern stage,
its citizens a Lost Generation in the epigraph
Not, at any rate, an Attic grace. . . .
to The Sun Also Rises (1926). Both were cor-
The “age demanded” chiefly a mould in plaster,
rect. The character of Jay Gatsby, in Fitzger-
Made with no loss of time,
ald’s The Great Gatsby—at once the brash, op-
A prose kinema, not, not assuredly, alabaster
portunistic hero and the failed idealistic victim
Of the “sculpture” of rhyme.
of his times—most typified what Frederick
Jackson Turner had described as the essential In their variety, technical polish, star power,
American spirit: “That practical, inventive and global proliferation, American films pro-
turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that claimed America’s new place in the interna-
masterful grasp of material things, lacking in tional scene. As Peter Rollins declares in his
the artistic but powerful to effect great ends; study of Will Rogers, “The message of these
that restless, nervous energy; that dominant films was that older civilizations may have
individualism, working for good and for evil.” posted their claims to preeminence before the
The changing roles of women were among United States, but postwar realities dictated
the most visible results of this flux and fer- that the United States was the only country
ment. Advances in women’s rights, as Molly whose spirit had not been broken by World
Haskell has written in From Reverence to Rape, War I” (80).
“made the twenties seem closer to our time What has come to be labeled by historians
than any intervening decade. They seem, in- David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson, and Janet
deed, the antecedent to the current women’s Staiger as the “classical” period of the Holly-
liberation movement and the ‘new morality’ wood studio film—an integral system defined
and, more, to anticipate the split between the by products consistently displaying “respect
two” (44). Newly empowered by the vote, for tradition, mimesis, self-effacing craftsman-
young women abandoned ankle-length ship, and cool control of the perceiver’s re-
dresses, corsets, and long tresses and eagerly sponse” (4)—the modern American movie in-
took up hip flasks, flesh-colored stockings, dustry was now entering its mature phase.
smoking, and careers in all professions. Maintaining its financial operations on the
Maintaining one’s balance in such a chaot- East Coast, the studios had long since relocated
ically changing world required the agility and their production facilities to Southern Califor-
endurance of a marathon runner. Even though nia, scattered from Santa Monica to Edendale
Gatsby’s ideals had fallen victim to the siren to Pasadena; as far north as San Francisco;
songs of money, social status, and material and as far east as Phoenix, Arizona. By the
success, the rest of the nation eagerly embraced middle of the decade, most of the Big Five stu-
the brittle novelties, foibles, and fantasies of dios were in place; by 1929 the last of the ma-
the age. Reports of crimes, disasters, and scan- jors, RKO, was established as a result of the
dals—Al Capone’s bootlegging, the Scopes talkie boom. Patterning these studios after the
 THE 1920S ] 17

Ford-Taylor assembly line production system, themselves by their fierce individualism and
entrepreneurs such as Adolph Zukor, Louis B. satiric social visions from the mid- to late
Mayer, the Warner brothers, Carl Laemmle, 1910s, they spent the decade of the 1920s in
and William Fox were successfully exploiting retrenchment, making lavishly produced,
their backgrounds in sales and retail and their studio-bound blockbusters and fairy tales. Dis-
understanding of public tastes to establish, by tancing himself from the acerbic social com-
mid-decade, vertically integrated structures mentary that marked many of his Biograph
that controlled the production, distribution, shorts and features such as The Mother and the
and exhibition of films. Pictures were shaped, Law (1916), D. W. Griffith turned increasingly
manufactured, and implemented by most of to theatrical melodramas (Way Down East,
the supporting technical developments still 1920; Sally of the Sawdust, 1925) and historical
relevant today (various color processes, cam- reenactments (America, 1924). Pickford’s Pol-
era and sound recording equipment, optical lyanna (1920) and Little Annie Rooney (1925)
effects); by the self-imposed protocensorship consolidated her “little girl” image, and her
policies established by the Motion Picture Pro- Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1925) and My
ducers and Distributors Association of Amer- Best Girl (1927) retreated into the realms of
ica (MPPDA) in 1922, 1927, and 1929; by the the costume drama and the shop-girl romance,
rise of company unions, particularly the Mo- respectively. Fairbanks’s The Mark of Zorro
tion Picture Academy; by the proliferation of (1920) inaugurated his cycle of costume
publicity departments, trade papers, and fan swashbucklers, which included The Three
magazines; and by the consolidation of exhi- Musketeers (1921), Robin Hood (1922), The
bition chains and the modern movie theaters Black Pirate (1926), and The Gaucho (1928).
(including the picture palaces). Reflecting the Chaplin’s The Kid (1921) was his most insis-
nation’s dominant political and social climate, tently Victorian melodrama to date, and the
the resulting products were dedicated, for the remaining work of the decade, The Gold Rush
most part, to promoting the decade’s “main- (1925) and The Circus (1927), was awash in a
stream” American image of conservative cozily Victorian nostalgia.
Anglo-Saxon values. Indeed, that collective en- Other directors and stars, by contrast, in-
tity known as “Hollywood” was flexing its vested their films with more contemporary
muscles. The opening title of Joseph von bite and explored new genres. Erich von Stro-
Sternberg’s The Last Command (1928) de- heim, Cecil B. De Mille, and Mal St. Clair in-
scribed Hollywood as “The Magic Empire of vested their “Old World” films with a sugges-
the Twentieth Century! The Mecca of the tively biting social and sexual commentary.
World!”; the motto of American Cinematog- The Merry Widow (1925), Male and Female
rapher magazine boasted, “Give Us a Place to (1922), and The Grand Duchess and the Waiter
Stand and We Will Film the Universe.” (1926), respectively, wedded the old-fashioned
While many pictures supported vestiges of a contexts of European-based manners, settings,
prewar progressive idealism that was tenuously and class distinctions with a jazzier sensibility.
linked, at the same time, with the politics, lit- Will Rogers’s silent films took his homespun
erature, and lifestyle of the modern age, an wisdom and satire to Washington (Going to
equally significant subset of films reflected re- Congress, 1924) and Europe (They Had to See
sistance to conventional mores. Epitomizing Paris, 1929). Émigré directors F. W. Murnau,
the first category are the most commercially Victor Seastrom, Ernst Lubitsch, and Paul Leni
popular filmmakers of the day. Whereas D. W. reversed the process, bringing European “art”
Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, prestige to America in Sunrise (1927), The
and Charles Chaplin had initially distinguished Scarlet Letter (1926), Lady Windemere’s Fan
18 [ ERAS
(1925), and The Cat and the Canary (1927), Walsh’s What Price Glory? (1926), William
respectively. Among the younger American di- Wellman’s aviation epic Wings (1927), George
rectors, John Ford began his estimable cycle of Fitzmaurice’s Lilac Time (1928), and Lewis
American “manifest destiny” westerns with Milestone’s antiwar classic All Quiet on the
The Iron Horse (1924) and Three Bad Men Western Front (1930).
(1928); Tod Browning teamed up with Lon It was no coincidence that many films re-
Chaney for a new kind of psychological horror flected a society newly galvanized and in con-
chiller with The Unholy Three (1925) and The stant motion, both in the air, à la Lindbergh,
Unknown (1928); Joseph von Sternberg her- and on the ground, courtesy of Barney Old-
alded the modern cycle of gangster pictures field. It was an age of speed and thrills. New
with Underworld (1927), and Robert Flaherty modes of transportation such as the automo-
took his cameras to far-flung places such as bile and the airplane resulted in a plethora of
Alaska and the South Seas in Nanook of the airports, automatic traffic lights, concrete
North (1922) and Moana (1926). roads, one-way streets, officially numbered
The “new woman” in society—the emanci- highways, tourist homes, roadside hotels,
pated “flapper” figure vaguely derived from roadside diners, hot-dog stands, fruit and
the real-life exploits of Zelda Fitzgerald and vegetable stalls, filling stations, and, of course,
from the spate of “new woman” plays cur- traffic congestion and parking problems. Con-
rently enjoying success on Broadway—found struction boomed, prefabricated homes sprang
her screen incarnation in films scripted by up, suburbs spread out, and the newfangled
women who enjoyed enormous clout and skyscrapers towered over the streets. Slapstick
prestige in the industry at the time, including comedians Charlie Chase, Harold Lloyd, and
Anita Loos, Frances Marion, and Clara Ber- Buster Keaton, in films such as Speedy (1928),
anger. Their stories were crafted for young ac- Safety Last (1923), and Seven Chances (1925),
tresses such as Clara Bow, Colleen Moore, converted this new landscape into a gymna-
Marion Davies, and Joan Crawford. Exuberant sium. Emulating the exploits of real-life thrill
and sexy as Our Dancing Daughters (1928) and seekers, high-wire performers, wing-walkers,
Dorothy Arzner’s The Wild Party (1929) and “human flies,” they climbed buildings,
seemed, however, they were, as Molly Haskell raced cars, fell out of airplanes, and tumbled
reminds us, essentially ambivalent in their sex- from buses, motorcycles, ocean liners, and lo-
ual liberation, like the age that produced them: comotives.
“They made stars of heroines who, with their Although the preceding discussion reflects a
ruthless insistence on having a good time, were cross-section of mainstream American films
the very embodiment of a spirit that was more from this period, historian Kevin Brownlow,
the way an age liked—or feared—to see itself in his books The War, the West and the Wil-
than the way it actually was” (333). It is worth derness and Behind the Mask of Innocence, is
noting that actress Louise Brooks had to emi- quick to remind us that fictional and docu-
grate to Germany to make, under the guidance mentary films of social consciousness and eth-
of G. W. Pabst, Pandora’s Box (1928), the only nographic concerns were indeed made
film of the time that did not flinch from the throughout the 1920s, even if they came from
essential amorality of this character type. the margins of the industry and received lim-
World War I, still a vivid memory, was not ited exposure. “In the twenties, if a film set out
deemed commercial box-office material until to educate rather than to entertain,” writes
King Vidor’s landmark The Big Parade (1925), Brownlow, “audiences knew, by some sixth
with its gritty realism, became a popular sen- sense, how to avoid it” (xvii). Nonetheless,
sation. In quick succession followed Raoul many brave examples include the “race mov-
 THE 1920S ] 19

ies,” such as Scar of Shame (1927), produced touchables (1987) and Roger Corman’s St. Val-
by the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, entine’s Day Massacre (1967) reprised the saga
which was dedicated to making movies with of Chicago’s gangland. (On television, The Un-
black performers for black audiences. These touchables, 1959–63, and The Roaring Twen-
productions, like the films of black filmmaker ties, 1960–62, brought Prohibition alive once
Oscar Micheaux, chronicled what Thomas again for home viewing.) Films chronicling the
Cripps has termed the “black bourgeois suc- swashbuckling days of aviation and tabloid
cess myth.” (Recent studies by historians journalism include George Roy Hill’s The
Mark A. Reid and Pearl Bowser are currently Great Waldo Pepper (1975) and numerous ad-
reexamining Micheaux’s work, including aptations of the hit Ben Hecht–Charles Mac-
three titles that survive, Within Our Gates, Arthur 1927 play The Front Page. John Sayles’s
1920; Symbol of the Unconquered, 1920; and Matewan (1987) told the story of a bitter 1920
Body and Soul, 1925). With unflinching di- strike in the coalmines of southern West
rectness, they examined issues of bigotry, Virginia. A far rosier romance and nostalgia
lynch-mob justice, Uncle Tomism, and the marked Blake Edwards’s Thoroughly Modern
activities of the Klan. Among the few female Millie (1967) and George Roy Hill’s The Sting
filmmakers was Alice Weber, who devoted (1973), both veritable catalogues of pertinent
her career to films examining the societal in- topics, including white slavery, the liberated
equities and double standards facing women. flapper, gangland activities, and Prohibition.
The Angel of Broadway (1927), for example, And, of course, Fitzgerald’s Great Gatsby,
blended a jazz-age nightclub setting with a which sums up the bittersweet romance of the
story about slum reform. Among the pio- whole era, has been adapted three times, in
neering ethnographic documentarians were 1926, 1949, and 1974.
Martin and Osa Johnson, whose “camera sa- The decade ended badly for the country and
faris” recorded the life, landscapes, and peo- for the movies. Until the stock market crash of
ples of Africa and Borneo. October 1929, American industry and business
The contrasts, turmoil, and sheer exuber- had marched on, unhampered by a govern-
ance of the 1920s era have long been favorite ment little concerned with regulatory legisla-
subjects of filmmakers and television produc- tion and a labor movement that had not only
ers. King Vidor’s The Crowd (1928) was not stalled but also dwindled. Attempts to halt the
just a story set in the 1920s; it has become panic by leading bankers failed and, five days
something of a time capsule of the look and later, more than sixteen million shares of stock
texture of the time. The cycle of gangster films were thrown on the market by frantic sellers.
of the 1930s, including Mervyn LeRoy’s Little An amount of money larger than the national
Caesar (1931), William Wellman’s The Public debt vanished. The Great Depression was on
Enemy (1931), and Howard Hawks’s Scarface its way. It broke the optimistic mood of the
(1932), dissected the roots of gangland vio- 1920s as surely and abruptly as the postwar
lence in the racketeering that grew up around years broke the back of progressive fervor.
Prohibition. The Roaring Twenties (1939), pro- Meanwhile, the talkie revolution of 1927–28
duced by Warner Bros. barely six years after was wreaking its own havoc on the silent film
the repeal of Prohibition, set the seal on the industry. The talking picture revolution, be-
this type of gangster picture as it rehashed the gun with the DeForest Phonofilms and the Vi-
by-now familiar story of the rise and fall of a taphone shorts of the mid-1920s and culmi-
bootlegger, from the trenches of wartime to nating in the first synchronized-sound features
the bloody streets of gangland and the crash of from Warner Bros. and Fox in 1927–29 (Alan
the stock market. Brian De Palma’s The Un- Crosland’s The Jazz Singer and Raoul Walsh’s
20 [ ERAS
In Old Arizona, respectively), was a by-product Applause (1929) and Sternberg’s Thunderbolt
of the developing communications technolo- (1929) not only superseded the form of the
gies of the day. As Donald Crafton demon- silent film, but the immediacy of their sounds
strates in his authoritative The Talkies, the new and the suggestiveness of their words also pro-
talking picture technology was marketed and voked renewed calls for censorship that even-
imaged as one more new development in tually resulted in the writing of the Motion
“thermionics,” or electrical science—as part of Picture Code of 1930. Suddenly, abruptly,
a burgeoning age of communications (tele- completely, the industry suffered a complete
phone, wireless radio, television, amplifiers, technological overhaul, and a “panic” of sorts
microphones, and public-address systems): threw studios into disarray and put thousands
“By 1928 most of the popular press writers saw of technicians, actors, and musicians out of
the perfected talkies as an inevitable outgrowth work. Unlike the Depression, however, the ef-
of modern science—a predestined conse- fect would prove to be short-term. Hollywood
quence of other communication technolo- bounced back by 1930 and faced with renewed
gies.” With incredible rapidity, technically ma- confidence a new decade of expansion and
ture talkies such as Rouben Mamoulian’s consolidation.

References
My Best Girl (1927, F)
Filmography Nanook of the North (1922, F)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, F) One Week (1920, F)
America (1924, F) Our Dancing Daughters (1928, F)
The Angel of Broadway (1927, F) Pandora’s Box (1928, F)
Applause (1929, F) Pollyanna (1920, F)
The Big Parade (1925, F) The Public Enemy (1931, F)
The Black Pirate (1926, F) The Roaring Twenties (1939, F; 1960–62, TV)
Body and Soul (1925, F) Robin Hood (1922, F)
The Circus (1927) Safety Last (1923, F)
The Crowd (1928) Sally of the Sawdust (1925, F)
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall (1925, F) Scarface (1932, F)
The Front Page (1929, F) The Scarlet Letter (1926, F)
The Gaucho (1928, F) Scar of Shame (1927, F)
Going to Congress (1924, F) Seven Chances (1925, F)
The Gold Rush (1925, F) Speedy (1928, F)
The Grand Duchess and the Waiter (1926, F) The Sting (1973, F)
The Great Gatsby (1926, F; 1949, F; 1974, F) The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967, F)
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975, F) Sunrise (1927, F)
In Old Arizona (1929, F) Symbol of the Unconquered (1920, F)
The Iron Horse (1924, F) They Had to See Paris (1929, F)
The Jazz Singer (1927, F) Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967, F)
The Kid (1921, F) Three Bad Men (1928, F)
Lady Windemere’s Fan (1925, F) The Three Musketeers (1921, F)
The Last Command (1928, F) Thunderbolt (1929, F)
Lilac Time (1928, F) Underworld (1927, F)
Little Annie Rooney (1925, F) The Unholy Three (1925, F)
Little Caesar (1931, F) The Unknown (1928, F)
Male and Female (1922, F) The Untouchables (1987, F; 1959–63, TV)
The Mark of Zorro (1920, F) Way Down East (1920, F)
Matewan (1987, F) What Price Glory? (1926, F)
The Merry Widow (1925, F) The Wild Party (1929, F)
Moana of the South Seas (1926, F) Wings (1927, F)
The Mother and the Law (1916, F) Within Our Gates (1920, F)
 THE 1920S ] 21

Bibliography ment of Women in the Movies. New York: Penguin,

1975.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. The Big Change: America
Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform. New York:
Transforms Itself, 1900–1950. New York: Harper &
Random House, 1955.
Brothers, 1952.
Koszarski, Richard. An Evening’s Entertainment:
Bordwell, David, Janet Staiger, and Kristin Thomp-
The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915–1928.
son. The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style
Los Angeles: University of California Press,
and Mode of Production to 1960. New York: Co- 1990.
lumbia University Press, 1985. Massa, Ann. American Literature in Context, 1900–
Bowser, Pearl, Jane Gaines, and Charles Musser. 1930. London: Methuen, 1982.
Oscar Micheaux and His Circle: African-American May, Lary. The Big Tomorrow: Hollywood and the
Filmmaking and Race Cinema of the Silent Era. Politics of the American Way. Chicago: University
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001. of Chicago Press, 2000.
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence. New Reid, Mark A. Redefining Black Film. Berkeley: Uni-
York: Knopf, 1990. versity of California Press, 1993.
——. The War, the West and the Wilderness. New Rollins, Peter. “Will Rogers and the Relevance of
York: Knopf, 1979. Nostalgia.” In John E. O’Connor and Martin A.
Crafton, Donald. The Talkies: American Cinema’s Jackson, eds., American History/American Film: In-
Transition to Sound, 1926–1931. New York: Simon terpreting the Hollywood Image, 77–96. New York:
& Schuster, 1997. Frederick Ungar, 1979.
Cripps, Thomas. “ ‘Race Movies’ as Voices of the Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Black Bourgeois.” In John E. O’Connor and Mar- tory of American Movies. New York: Random
tin A. Jackson, eds., American History/ American House, 1975.
Film: Interpreting the Hollywood Image, 39–55. New Tibbetts, John C. “The ‘New Woman’ on Stage.” Hel-
York: Frederick Ungar, 1979. icon 9: The Journal of Women’s Arts and Letters 7
Haskell, Molly. From Reverence to Rape: The Treat- (1982): 6–19.
[ CARLTON JACKSON ]

The 1930s

he stock market crash of October 29, 1929, pression it appeared that many, if not most, of

T “Black Tuesday,” heralded the onset of the

Great Depression, which lasted for most of
a decade and influenced social and govern-
mental policies for the rest of the century. Na-
the New Deal’s social programs had become
“permanent institutions” (Bernstein, 8). Local
governments and charities were no longer suf-
ficient for the problems facing the country.
tionwide, unemployment rose to 25 percent, Frank Capra’s American Madness, made in
while in the industrial cities of Cleveland and 1932, the worst year of the Depression, evoked
Toledo it climbed to 50 and 80 percent, respec- the plight of the “Little People,” but the focus
tively. The gross national product fell from $104 was on a heroic small-business owner. At least
billion in 1929 to $76.4 billion in 1932, a 25 at this stage, Capra preferred “Hoover volun-
percent decline. In human terms, the Depres- tarism” to other solutions to the Depression:
sion spelled disaster for millions, with soup “No need for government aid; better individual
kitchens and street-corner apple sellers becom- behavior will solve the massive economic
ing commonplace. “Families” writes historian slump.” Capra offered in his Depression films
Arthur M. Schlesinger, “slept in tarpaper shacks a “concerned, small-proprietor individualism”
and tin-lined caves and scavenged like dogs for (Stricker, 458). The message was direct and
food in the city dump.” One-fifth of New simple: honest bankers would turn the econ-
York’s schoolchildren suffered from malnutri- omy around. But, as Robert Sobel writes in The
tion, while millions of people went undernour- Great Bull Market, many Americans began to
ished in the American South and elsewhere. believe that Wall Street—and, by extension,
Historian Albert U. Romasco, in The Poverty banks—caused “most of the problems facing
of Abundance, likens the Depression to a rain- the nation” (159). Indeed, in the Depression,
storm: “a sensible man acknowledged his in- banks were among the greatest villains, and they
ability to stop the rain [and] sought shelter continued to hold this unsavory reputation for
while waiting for the storm to pass” (viii). Ro- years to come.
masco further observes that the Depression As the Depression continued, Hollywood di-
“made man’s dependence [on other people rectors—including Capra—took the country’s
and the government] fully evident; and it thor- economic failures more seriously. They began
oughly exposed the impotence of the individ- to depict an intractable Depression that dis-
ual in modern society” (viii). Fellow sufferers placed citizens, fostered venal gangsters, and
came together, hoping to work in concert for brought into power political grafters and cor-
the common good. And this “concert” ulti- rupted officials.
mately led much of the American public to
expect entitlement programs from Washing- The Road People
ton. Both movies and academia helped delin- During the Depression, large numbers of
eate this trend. Even many years after the De- Americans lost their jobs and started drifting,

22
 THE 1930S ] 23

making the 1930s the “golden years” of hoboing

in the United States. Men, and sometimes
women, wandered here and there, looking for
sustenance—both physical and moral. Holly-
wood took an interest in these uprooted citi-
zens. Among the first of the “traveling” films
was Wild Boys of the Road (1933), depicting a
new phenomenon of American social history:
young boys whose parents had been bank-
rupted by the Depression seeking their own so-
lutions to economic problems. Eddie (Frankie
Darro) sells his car, “Leapin’ Lena,” to help his
father. When this sacrifice proves to be only
F I G U R E 3 . The Petrified Forest (1936). Alan Squires
temporarily helpful, he and his best friend (Leslie Howard, left) confronts gangster Duke Mantee
Tommie (Edwin Phillips) “hit the road,” soon (Humphrey Bogart, right), venting his anger at the
joined by dozens of other youths as they look society that produced criminals like Mantee. Gabby
(Bette Davis, seated) the daughter of the inn’s owner,
for work and food. Like most other Depression looks on. The inn itself, isolated on a high plateau in
movies, Wild Boys of the Road has a happy end- the Arizona desert, becomes the unlikely setting for
ing, for anything else would add to the audi- philosophical inquiry. Courtesy Warner Bros.
ence’s gloom; a compassionate judge (Robert
Barrat)—who sits beneath the Blue Eagle of the headed toward the Petrified Forest. Mantee ar-
National Recovery Administration—gives the rives and waits at the café for an old flame to
boys, who have been charged as runaways, a arrive and join him in an escape to Mexico.
“second chance.” Over the course of the film, Alan, who has se-
The Petrified Forest (1936), filmed from Rob- cretly signed over a $5,000 life-insurance pol-
ert Sherwood’s last play, brings together hobo- icy to Gabby, talks Mantee into shooting him.
ing and gangsterism. Alan Squier (Leslie How- He believes that his death will make a creative
ard), having once married into wealth but now life possible for Gabby, thus salvaging at least
down and out, has been hitching rides after be- one positive value from the Depression. Just as
ing dumped by a tourist group because he could Mantee shoots Alan, a posse arrives. Mantee
not pay his way. Hoping, he declares, to find and his gang flee, but the other hostages at the
something to believe in, he comes to a gas sta- café soon hear over the radio that the gang
tion/café at the edge of the Petrified Forest in leader has been killed.
the Arizona desert. There he finds “Gabby” Ma- The Petrified Forest reflects forms of human-
ple (Bette Davis) and is smitten by her beauty ity within the framework of the Depression.
and philosophical bent. After she reads some of Alan’s gesture of bestowing his life-insurance
her poetry, they talk about the world’s chaos. policy on Gabby is a heroic sacrifice for a
The Depression, Alan says, is “nature hitting stranger to make. Although Duke Mantee is
back” with instruments called neuroses, afflict- a desperate criminal, the movie even depicts a
ing humankind “with the jitters.” The republic, degree of benevolence on his part. The Petrified
he continues, “is in bad need of saving,” but Forest shows humanity in its various moods:
our “fine excuse” for a government cannot keep love, hate, greed, avarice, and redemption. It
law and order, as is evident by the numerous is a nearly perfect movie for the Depression
criminals spawned by Prohibition. years—not least because of Humphrey Bo-
One such thug is Duke Mantee (Humphrey gart’s resemblance to the “public enemy num-
Bogart), who, according to radio reports, is ber 1” of the time, John Dillinger.
24 [ ERAS
The most “depressing” of all the Depression Steinbeck’s novel and directed by John Ford,
movies was I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang includes almost every Depression motif. It is a
(1932). James Allen (Paul Muni) is so destitute “road” movie, a “collectivist” one, with strong
that he tries to sell the medals he has earned themes of “family,” and—unlike the book—it
for his service in World War I. An exasperated has a happy ending. The Joads, “Okies,” lose
pawnbroker shows him a drawerful of medals their property in Oklahoma and head for the
from other down-and-out veterans; there is no “Promised Land” of California. Tom Joad
monetary value to his patriotic service. Allen (Henry Fonda) gathers the family into a dilap-
learns to survive any way he can. Eventually idated truck, and they travel along Route 66
he is falsely implicated in a robbery that lands through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to
him on a chain gang. He escapes and in time California. The family stops at numerous tran-
becomes an important engineer in the Chicago sient stations. At a work site, the Keene Ranch,
area. His landlady, Marie Woods (Glenda Far- vigilantes decide to clear out a nearby “Hoov-
rell), discovers his background, saying, “I erville” made up of migrant workers looking
wouldn’t tell if I had a reason to protect you. for jobs. In self-defense, Tom kills one of the
If you were my husband.” Not surprisingly, the vigilantes and becomes a fugitive.
subsequent shotgun marriage is not a happy After more travel, the Joads come to the
one. When Allen falls in love with Helen (He- Farm Workers Wheat Patch Camp, sponsored
len Vinson), he asks Marie for a divorce, a re- by the United States Department of Agricul-
quest she vehemently rejects. Intensely angry, ture (regarded by many locals as “a bunch of
she reports her husband to the authorities. Be- Reds”). There the family obtains food, cloth-
lieving that he has to serve only a token ninety ing, and shelter, and something it has long
days before being pardoned, Allen returns to been deprived of: a social life and, above all
prison. Discovering that he has been tricked else, dignity. In fact, the Joads gain the treat-
by the authorities, he escapes again, going all ment in The Grapes of Wrath that was denied
the way from war hero to criminal outsider James Allen in Fugitive. A New Deal program,
and fugitive. in effect, comes to their rescue. Unfortunately,
Fugitive, unlike most other Depression films, the police are still hot on Tom’s trail for killing
does not have a happy ending. Allen slips the guard at Keene, so he once more has to
through the shadows but enjoys neither rest nor take flight. He announces to Ma ( Jane Dar-
peace. When he comes to see Helen one dark well) that he would be “everywhere” there is
night after a year on the run, she asks him, injustice. As the movie ends, Ma tells Pa
“How do you live?” His answer: “I steal.” The (Charley Grapewin)—in a speech written by
movie is a provocation rather than a reassur- Darryl Zanuck to give the conclusion of the
ance. The country’s mood was not good in film an upbeat message—that “We’ll go on
1932, and Fugitive reflected that situation. Ac- forever, Pa. We’re the People.” This thought
cording to film scholar Andrew Bergman, if Fu- of “We the People” consorting with the gov-
gitive had been made just a year later, “the ernment to end the Depression became a pow-
chances are good that James Allen would have erful one, and movies such as The Grapes of
encountered a sympathetic federal official at Wrath reinforced the vision.
picture’s end, with a just solution in sight” (97).
By late 1933, Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was Political Movies
taking hold and, at least in the minds of many When the Depression began in 1929, Robert
people, the economy was improving, so such a and Helen Merrell Lynd maintain in Middle-
salvation might well have been possible. town in Transition, individuals may have
The Grapes of Wrath (1940), based on John blamed themselves for their economic predic-
 THE 1930S ] 25

aments. A latter-day historian, William Leuch- a near-death experience in an auto accident

tenburg, echoes their thoughts when he ob- and comes under the protective wing of the
serves that “The unemployed worker almost archangel Gabriel. He then becomes “benev-
always experienced feelings of guilt and self- olent”—at least by his own definition. Tram-
deprecation” (118). As time passed, however, pling on the Bill of Rights, he ends crime by
it was increasingly clear that the public hoped declaring martial law, puts gangsters up
for a government-led, macroeconomic solu- against firing squads, forces the rest of the
tion to the Depression. world to join America in disarmament, and,
Probably the most intense “leftist” Depres- when disarmament is accomplished every-
sion movie from Hollywood was King Vidor’s where except in the United States, scuttles the
Our Daily Bread (1934), which attacked just U.S. Navy.
about every traditional American value: rug- Many Americans saw Gabriel Over the White
ged individualism, monetary gain, and capi- House as friendly to fascist ideals, implying that
talism itself. Called by many critics a “pinko” only a single strongman could save the nation,
movie (it won awards from the League of Na- and just as dangerous ideologically as Our
tions and the Soviet Union), Our Daily Bread Daily Bread had been, albeit at the other end
“stressed the elimination of competition and of the political spectrum. President Hammond
the fulfillment of the individual in the group, uses the newly developed technology of radio
rather than his submergence in the mass” to get his messages across to the American
(Bergman, 79). In the movie, a young couple people, in effect, prophetic of Franklin Roo-
flees the city to occupy a rundown farm they sevelt’s “fireside chats” (Roosevelt took office
have inherited. Migrants come to the farm, a few weeks after Gabriel appeared in movie
and the owners, Tom and Mary, decide to turn theaters). The loudest applause in the presi-
it into a cooperative. Before long, farmers, ma- dent’s first inaugural address came when he
sons, plumbers, tailors, bricklayers—even a asked for “broad executive power,” in effect a
concert violinist—make their home in this mandate from the American people to deal
new society. Each takes on an “expert” role in with the Depression (Schlesinger, 8).
a spontaneous division of labor. The movie cli-
maxes with the opening of an irrigation ditch Documentaries
that everyone has worked on together. They Not far removed from political films were so-
cheer as the life-giving water saturates their cial documentaries whose creators commented
land. Despite the collectivist thrust of the film, upon the country’s economic conditions. One
critic Terry Christensen maintains, the resi- major director was Pare Lorentz, who made
dents of the cooperative still wanted a strong two films for the federal government that fit
leader to guide them in their various pursuits. Depression themes: The Plow That Broke the
One of the subtexts of Our Daily Bread is that Plains (1936) and The River (1937). Lorentz
there is a natural need of humans en masse to “believed that film should be used to clarify
demand strong, even undemocratic leadership public perception of issues” (Rollins, 38); both
in times of crisis. of these documentaries exemplified his no-
The “strong leadership” theme emerged in tions of “clarification.”
numerous Depression movies, but never more The federal government’s Farm Security
potently—albeit fantastically—than in Gabriel Administration (previously called the Reset-
Over the White House (1933), directed by tlement Administration), sponsored both
Gregory La Cava. In it, President Judson Ham- Plow and The River, causing some critics to
mond (Walter Huston) shows little interest in view them as blatant attempts to convince
solving the country’s problems until he suffers Americans that salvation lay in big govern-
26 [ ERAS
ment. Supporters, however, argued that the to 1937, the narration justifies the federal gov-
two films would help to “bridge the com- ernment’s massive program of dam and levee
munications gap between government and construction, which changed the face of the
the public” (Rollins, 39), especially in an era American landscape. The movie’s final scenes
when most major dailies were hostile to Roo- show newly built houses in places where flood
sevelt’s experiments. control devices had been installed, houses fi-
Plow deals with the Great Plains, stretching nanced by generous loans from a benevolent
from Texas to Canada, covering more than 400 federal government. As with Plow, critics saw
million acres, a land of “high winds and sun, The River primarily as New Deal propaganda.
but little rain.” By 1933 the “old grassland” The River, however, was not pulled from cir-
that had “bound the soil together” was the culation as Plow would be; in fact, The River
“new wheatland.” Drought and poor farming won numerous prizes, and no less a person
practices had created severe erosion, and a than James Joyce said that its narrative con-
constant wind removed the soil in great bil- tained “the most beautiful prose I have heard
lowing clouds of silt, turning portions of the in ten years” (Rollins, 40). Resonating with the
Great Plains into a “dust bowl” and forcing evangelical culture of Depression audiences,
thousands of its inhabitants—the real-life Virgil Thomson’s music for The River matches
counterparts of the Joads—to flee. Many De- the scenes portrayed on the screen. “How
pression audiences got their first look at the Firm A Foundation,” a well-known and
“Dust Bowl” when they viewed The Plow That beloved hymn, was played in variations
Broke the Plains. Indeed, the final segment of throughout the film, as well as “ ’Tis So Sweet
the movie foreshadows The Grapes of Wrath, to Trust in Jesus.” To symbolize the destruc-
depicting columns of old cars and trucks mov- tion of forests, Thomson’s score also played
ing westward, their occupants looking for shel- loud variations of “Hot Time in the Old Town
ter and work (O’Connor, 286). The movie Tonight” (Rollins, 42).
ends despondently with the image of an aban- Another documentary is Native Land
doned bird’s nest in the branches of a dead (1942). A mixture of narration and acting, its
tree. Apparently, there had been a New Deal contemporary appeal lay in the drive during
“upbeat” ending to Plow, for in the Depression the 1930s to unionize the American worker, a
even documentaries needed happy resolutions, movement portrayed from a far-left perspec-
but, all the same, the movie was withdrawn tive by a group of activists who organized a
from circulation in 1939 after South Dakota studio called Frontier Films. Its members were
Senator Karl Mundt claimed it had insulted proud to be Communists, and their marxism
him. The Plow That Broke the Plains was not was a point of honor. The film speaks to how
made public again until 1961 (Rollins, 41). the Bill of Rights had been steadily under-
A year after Plow, Lorentz shot The River mined by those who opposed labor and racial
(1937), about the Mississippi and its tributar- harmony in the United States, and it mirrors
ies. The narrator focused on the damage the many previous themes of Depression movies
Mississippi had wrought over the years when the announcer proudly proclaims, “You
through floods and erosion. The film’s saving can’t blacklist a whole people.”
message was that if “we had the power to take
the [Mississippi] Valley apart, we have the Films as Depression “Historian”
power to put it back together again.” In “put- The Great Depression has also been “revisited”
ting it back together,” a technocratic govern- by filmmakers of the generations following
ment built dams in many areas drained by the World War II. Director Arthur Penn made
Mississippi. Citing disastrous floods from 1903 Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a glorification of two
 THE 1930S ] 27

hardened bank robbers and murderers who, in Ku Klux Klan intimidate Moses into leaving.
real life, were not at all “glamorous.” Clyde The movie touches on another sensitive sub-
Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker ject of the 1930s as, indeed, of the 1980s and
(Faye Dunaway) “tried” to move their lives off 1990s, insisting that white and black Ameri-
the Depression “standstills” that historian Car- cans had to pull together to fight economic
oline Bird describes in The Invisible Scar (xiv). deprivation.
Regrettably, they endeavored to accomplish A 1998 documentary, The Great Depression
their goals by robbing banks and killing any- (Tower Productions), narrated by former New
one who got in their way. York Governor Mario Cuomo, gives a useful
Banks of the 1930s were regular Depression summary of the traumatic events of the 1930s.
villains; one of the most compelling scenes in The experiences of the “road people” are re-
Bonnie and Clyde depicts its former owner’s counted here, as well as the need for collective
joining Clyde in shooting out the windows of and mutual cooperation as a way out of the
a foreclosed house. Later, when Clyde robs a Depression. Hoboes, soup kitchens, dust-bowl
bank, he allows a poor farmer to keep his victims, labor strife, gangsterism, and corrupt
money. After one heist, Clyde counts the haul government—all are described, interspersed
and laments its smallness. His brother Buck with learned comments from John Kenneth
(Gene Hackman) philosophizes, “Well, times Galbraith, Upton Sinclair, Howard Zinn, and
is hard.” Kitty Carlisle Hart. The ultimate “message” of
The 1987 movie Ironweed, directed by Hec- this documentary is that Roosevelt’s New Deal
tor Babenco and starring Jack Nicholson and administration saved the day by, as Leuchten-
Meryl Streep, was almost as depressing as Fu- burg remarks, creating “a new emphasis on so-
gitive, made half a century earlier. It offers cial security and collective action” (340).
starkly realistic portrayals of down-and-outers In the end, filmmakers and historians have
on the cold streets of Albany, New York, in the not greatly diverged in describing and explain-
middle of the Depression. They hurt because ing the Great Depression. Directors, in much
of hard economic times and personal short- the way of a good historical novelist, have cre-
comings, and their chief comfort is the bottle. ated fictional characters and put them into
Such depictions were quite relevant to the real real-life situations. Documentaries have por-
Depression, where the mood gradually grew trayed the devolution of “rugged individual-
that “suffering is suffering no matter the vic- ism” into “ragged individualism” (Meltzer,
tim, no matter the reason,” a thought that 160) during the Depression and have shown
would gain as much currency in the 1980s and how Franklin Roosevelt resurrected “rugged
1990s as in the 1930s. individualism” in a distinctly changed form to
Robert Benton’s Places in the Heart (1984) allow increased governmental scrutiny of so-
reflects the determination of some in the De- cial and economic life. No longer, for example,
pression not only to live through hard times could that symbol of capitalist fraud and cor-
but also to prosper. Edna Spalding’s (Sally ruption, the New York Stock Exchange, “op-
Field) life is changed forever when her hus- erate as a private club free of national supervi-
band, the sheriff of Waxahachie, Texas, is ac- sion” (Leuchtenburg, 336). And by controlling
cidentally shot to death by a drunken African Wall Street, banks, big business, and other spe-
American. Afterward, she and a black man, cial interest groups could perhaps be harnessed
Moses (Danny Glover), harvest the first bale as well.
of cotton of the season and thus gain the best Movies and historians alike have depicted
price at the local cotton gin, though their part- Roosevelt as the architect of a government
nership is broken when local members of the that serves as “the affirmative instrument of
28 [ ERAS
the people” (Schlesinger, 483), representing World War II—will forever be debated, and
general rather than specific interests. What- neither the movies nor the historians have ever
ever ended the Depression—the New Deal or reached a consensus on this question.

References
Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin Roosevelt and the
Filmography New Deal, 1932–1940. New York: Harper & Row,
American Madness (1932, F) 1963.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F) Lynd, Robert, and Helen Merrill. Middletown in
Gabriel Over the White House (1933, F) Transition. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1937.
Gone with the Wind (1939, F) Mast, Gerald, ed. The Movies in Our Midst: Docu-
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F) ments in the Cultural Heritage of Film in America.
The Great Depression (1998, D) Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982.
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932, F) Meltzer, Milton. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? The
I’m No Angel (1933, F) Great Depression, 1929–1933. New York: Knopf,
Ironweed (1987, F) 1969.
Little Caesar (1931, F) Miller, Don. “B” Movies: An Informal Survey of the
Native Land (1942, D) American Low Budget Film, 1933–1945. New York:
Our Daily Bread (1934, F) Curtis Books, 1973.
The Petrified Forest (1936, F) O’Connor, John E., ed. Image as Artifact: The Histori-
Places in the Heart (1984, F) cal Analysis of Film and Television. Malabar, FL:
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936, D) Robert E. Krieger, 1990.
Public Enemy (1931, F) Roffman, Peter, and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social
The River (1937, D) Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from
Scarface (1932, F) the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana
Wild Boys of the Road (1933, F) University Press, 1981.
Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian. Lexing-
ton: University Press of Kentucky, 1983.
Bibliography Romasco, Albert U. The Poverty of Abundance: Hoo-
Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression ver, the Nation, the Depression. New York: Oxford
America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni- University Press, 1965.
versity Press, 1971. Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Crisis of the Old Order.
Bernstein, Michael A. The Great Depression: Delayed Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1957.
Recovery and Economic Change in America, 1929– Schwarz, Jordon A. The Interregnum of Despair: Hoo-
1939. New York: Cambridge University Press, ver, Congress, and the Depression. Urbana: Univer-
1987. sity of Illinois Press, 1970.
Bird, Caroline. The Invisible Scar. New York: David Sobel, Robert. The Great Bull Market: Wall Street in
McKay, 1966. the 1920s. New York: Norton, 1968.
Christensen, Terry. “Politics and the Movies: The Stott, William. Documentary Expression and Thirties
Early Thirties.” San Jose Studies 31 (1985): 9–24. America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
Ellis, Edward Robb. A Nation in Torment: The Great Stricker, Frank. “Repressing the Working Class: Indi-
American Depression, 1929–1939. New York: Cow- vidualism and the Masses in Frank Capra’s Films.”
ard & McCann, 1978. Labor History 31 (1990): 454–467.
[ CHRISTOPHER C. LOVETT ]

The 1960s

he 1960s—an era of social upheaval and 88), Hollywood reexamined the dark side of

T youthful rebellion—has become a battle-

ground in America’s collective memory,
and Hollywood films produced during that dy-
namic decade or with themes from that era
the 1960s in a series of films depicting the years
of hope, days of sorrow, and the pain the Amer-
ican public experienced between 1960 and
1973, a true watershed in American history.
reflect the struggle to interpret what was once James Patterson, a respected historian, agrees,
optimistically called the Age of Aquarius. His- noting that the ever-increasing demands for an
torians and filmmakers are divided; interpre- expansion of civil rights for women, minorities,
tations of events such as Vietnam, civil rights, and the underprivileged, as well as the riots that
feminism, and the campus wars often turn on plagued the decade, “did more than bewilder
an individual’s political orientation at the time. people.” Those issues not only divided America,
Todd Gitlin, a former Students for a Demo- but “also aroused a backlash, the most vivid of
cratic Society (SDS) activist, and now a soci- the many reactions that arose amid the polari-
ologist and historian, is correct when he ob- zation of the era. It long outlasted the 1960s”
serves, “Fantasy revolutions, withdrawals, (668). It was this backlash that brought forth
media-driven dismissals . . . all the easy reac- the Reagan revolution and the conservative re-
tions obscured the more elusive and ambigu- action that followed.
ous results, the triumphs and precedents that
the New Left left behind as it broke up” (421). The Silent Generation and the Origins of the
Many former radicals challenge Gitlin’s inter- Youth Rebellion
pretation of the decade’s spirit. For instance, With the onset of the Cold War, Americans
Peter Collier and David Horowitz dispute any became perplexed: how could the Arsenal of
positive spin on the era, including Gitlin’s. To Democracy win a global conflict with Ger-
them, the student radicals of the New Left “set many and Japan, yet find itself besieged by the
out to destroy America from within” (243). threat of Communism? Before Senator Joseph
The debate continues. R. McCarthy announced on February 12,
The public’s interest in the 1960s remains 1950, in Wheeling, West Virginia, that he had
strong and is evident in the popularity of “old- a list of 205 Communists in the State Depart-
ies” music and a wave of nostalgic histories ment, Hollywood had been under attack by the
about the decade. In the 1980s, Hollywood at- House Committee on Un-American Activities
tempted to capture this nostalgia craze with (HUAC). Nineteen screenwriters and directors
Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (1983), a film scorned the investigation, and ten who refused
about the “good old days” of commitment and to testify were imprisoned. The proscription of
student activism, but The Big Chill and other the Hollywood Ten and the blacklist in Hol-
such nostalgic films told only part of the story. lywood—which quickly spread to radio, tele-
During and following the Reagan era (1980– vision, and the theater—cast a cloud over the

29
30 [ ERAS
entertainment industry. In 1951, Irwin Shaw, and turned back” (Weinstein, 340). Still, as
a veteran of World War II and author of The historian Robert Ferrell emphasizes, “There
Young Lions, published his second novel, The was fire behind McCarthy’s smoke, for the So-
Troubled Air, dealing with the blacklist in the viet Union had infiltrated the U.S. government
radio industry. John Henry Faulk, a CBS radio with spies, but McCarthy . . . never managed
writer, chronicled his own experiences in Fear to find a single one, save possibly an Army
on Trial (1975), which was made into a TV dentist” (19). Even Herbert Romerstein, a for-
docudrama in the 1970s. The lesson of mer staff member to HUAC, asserts that “to a
McCarthyism, accurately portrayed in Shaw’s very great degree Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
book and Faulk’s film, was obvious: conform was, in fact, irrelevant to the anti-Communist
or suffer the consequences. Later, historian cause” because of Venona (451). So, although
Stuart Samuels would summarize the fallout, it was true that the Communist threat had ex-
noting that “three concepts dominated the de- isted earlier, prior to 1950, McCarthy’s dem-
cade: conformity, paranoia, and alienation” agoguery succeeded only in damaging the
marked the films Hollywood produced (207). anticommunist cause to such an extent that
Many directors and screenwriters played it safe Christopher Andrew considers McCarthy as
and avoided controversial films for fear of los- the greatest agent of influence the Kremlin had
ing their positions. Now that the Cold War during the Cold War (164).
nightmare is over, it remains difficult to com- In the 1950s young people silently rebelled
prehend the fear and trepidation that the Red against the conformity of their parents. The
Scare caused among intellectuals and writers in coming of rock ‘n’ roll, particularly the advent
academia and in the entertainment industry. of Elvis Presley, helped mobilize this rebellion.
It has been long suspected, and only recently In Nicholas Ray’s 1955 film Rebel Without a
acknowledged by historians, that the Com- Cause, James Dean defined the mood: Ameri-
munist Party USA (CPUSA) was funded by the can youth was frustrated yet could not identify
Soviet Union. As Harvey Klehr, James Earl a target for its anger. In the meantime, parents
Haynes, and Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov have in the 1950s were warned of juvenile delin-
noted, Soviet intelligence agencies actively re- quency as depicted in Hollywood productions.
cruited agents from the CPUSA into the Com- The related issues of alienation and identity
munist underground for Soviet covert opera- were also raised by sociologists such as David
tions (195). Much of this has become known Riesman in The Lonely Crowd and William
with the availability of the Venona decrypts, a Whyte in The Organization Man. Riesman and
top-secret American effort to decode Soviet Whyte pointed to the serious feelings of alien-
message traffic from 1943 to 1980. ation and a change in American character that
Venona showed that the Soviets had pene- were evident among not only middle-class
trated the U.S. government from the Justice youth but also their parents.
Department to the War Department during Still, a few films addressed real social con-
the 1930s and 1940s. To protect the most se- cerns, as when Hollywood forced the Ameri-
cret source of intelligence, the chairman of the can public to remember the internment of Jap-
Joint Chiefs of Staff, Omar Bradley, did not anese Americans during World War II in films
inform Harry Truman of the project, accord- such as John Sturges’s Bad Day at Black Rock
ing to former Senator Daniel Patrick Moyni- (1955). Indirectly, Hollywood required the
han (71). Moynihan claims, after an exami- public to address not only the issue of intern-
nation of the evidence, that “by the onset of ment but also its willing compliance in the na-
the Cold War the Soviet attack in the area of tional hysteria in the early 1950s that resulted
espionage and subversion had been blunted in legislation such as the McCarran Act (1950),
 THE 1960S ] 31

which permitted the government to arrest and many others—in order to evaluate human
intern enemies of the state without due process testing. According to Eileen Welsome, the plu-
of law. Congress passed the McCarran Act over tonium experiments “were not just immoral
Harry Truman’s veto and warning that it science, they were bad science” (9). A PBS doc-
“would make a mockery of our Bill of Rights” umentary, The Atomic Café (1982), satirizes
(Hamby, 549). how people in the 1950s viewed nuclear weap-
Even more remarkable, filmmakers had ons—sometimes sophomorically, sometimes
urged men of principle to stand up against with odd optimism that by “ducking and cov-
evil—and not as HUAC perceived it. By 1959, ering” they could survive an atomic a holo-
“young people with a great deal of sophisti- caust. Another warning came with the publi-
cation, tolerance, and eagerness were looking cation of Pat Frank’s 1959 novel Alas, Babylon,
for something in literature,” as Morris Dick- depicting the survival of a small Florida town
stein notes, “not simply looking at it” (13). In following a nuclear exchange between the So-
high school and college, American youth grav- viet Union and the United States.
itated to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, a depic- The possibility of nuclear accidents existed
tion of the Salem witchcraft trials as a meta- before Hollywood dramatized the dangers of
phor for the evils of McCarthyism. A new age unintentional nuclear war. Most Americans
of focused rebellion was born. were oblivious to the risks. The citizens of Ros-
well, New Mexico, were no exception; until
Dr. Strangelove and How We Learned to Love 1988, they did not realize that thirty-three years
the Bomb earlier a U.S. Navy attack aircraft had jettisoned
America’s nuclear monopoly ended in 1949, a fully armed atomic device not far from their
when the Soviet Union tested its first atomic city. In order to avoid panic, the Navy issued a
device. As the 1950s ended and politicians de- press release to local papers that a “practice
bated first a “bomber gap” and then a “missile bomb” had been dropped not far from the
gap,” an increasingly insecure public slowly now-famous town. Quickly, the FBI rushed to
became aroused by the threat of nuclear war. the scene and helped cordon the area from the
It is difficult for later generations to imagine media and onlookers as bomb-disposal teams
the panic that gripped the country, but Amer- retrieved the unexploded weapon. By the 1960s,
icans came to realize that nuclear weapons— public attitudes had changed concerning weap-
ostensibly developed to protect the land— ons of mass destruction, and Hollywood was
posed a danger to the nation’s survival. At the willing to exploit the issue.
time, the media accurately reported that radio- The fear of nuclear war escalated during the
active isotopes were being found in cows’ milk presidency of John F. Kennedy—in Berlin and,
and that a danger existed to the public health much closer to home, during the Cuban mis-
owing to atmospheric nuclear testing. sile crisis in 1962. Hollywood addressed the
What the public did not know was that its possibility of combat with the Soviet Union in
own government systematically tested the sick Stanley Kramer’s adaptation of Nevil Shute’s
and the infirm with high levels of nuclear ra- On the Beach (1959), in which an American
diation to gauge the long-term effects of ex- submarine crew decides to return home to die
posure during some future nuclear war. The rather than survive in the desolation of a post-
Eisenhower administration established a top- nuclear world; in The Bedford Incident (1965),
secret, blue-ribbon committee—composed of about an aggressive American destroyer com-
Bernard Brodie, Arthur Compton, James B. mander, portrayed by Richard Widmark, who
Conant, John Hersey, Clark Kerr, Arthur precipitates an accidental nuclear confronta-
Krock, Charles Mayo, Karl Menninger, and tion between his ship and a Soviet submarine;
32 [ ERAS
and in Fail-Safe (1964), in which a faulty com- themselves” (9). Timothy Leary, the guru of
puter system sends U.S. bombers to attack the LSD, swayed many students with his seductive
Soviet Union. These films convinced the pub- appeal “to tune in, turn on, and drop out.”
lic that despite American technological supe- Thousands sought refuge in San Francisco’s
riority over the Soviet Union, neither side Haight-Ashbury, the East Village in New York,
would “win” a nuclear exchange. As a corol- or the communes that dotted the nation’s
lary, the films indirectly supported the Ken- landscape. The sexual revolution even reached
nedy administration’s view of limited war: If the heartland, where birth control reshaped
war had to come between East and West, it sexual relations on university campuses. The
would be better if it were fought far from major studios initially failed to exploit those
home, with conventional weapons and in a trends. Indeed, the only studio actually making
Third World setting. money was United Artists, with spaghetti west-
As the public reflected on the dangers of a erns, the Pink Panther series, and James Bond
possible nuclear Armageddon in the 1960s, the films. United Artists, sensing the shift of the
film industry next challenged American nuclear youth culture, secured rights to The Beatles be-
strategy. Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove fore they became a household word with A
(1964) was a devastating comedy depicting the Hard Day’s Night (1964) and Help! (1965).
irrationality of mutually assured destruction Events passed Hollywood by, and it was not
(MAD), the operative U.S. nuclear strategy until 1967, when headlines increasingly proved
best formulated in Henry Kissinger’s Nuclear that the optimistic world of the Frankie
Weapons and Foreign Policy (1957) and Her- Avalon–Annette Funicello beach movies and
man Kahn’s On Thermonuclear War (1960), even of The Beatles had disappeared, that film-
Thinking About the Unthinkable (1962), and makers produced movies that reflected stresses
On Escalation (1965). Although not accurate in America’s cultural and social fabric. (George
in a historical sense, Dr. Strangelove captures, Lucas would resurrect something of that in-
according to Paul Boyer, “a specific moment nocence in his 1973 celebration of the early
and offers a satiric but recognizable portrait of 1960s, American Graffiti.)
the era’s strategic thinking and cultural cli- Warren Beatty, the handsome star of Elia
mate” (266). Likewise, Norman Jewison’s The Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961), had yet
Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Com- to make his mark in American cinema, despite
ing! (1966), starring Alan Arkin and Carl Rei- acclaim for his acting in the William Inge
ner, played on American fears of a Soviet at- story. For the most part, Beatty was his own
tack, turning such antics into a hilarious spoof. worst enemy, believing that he was too good
In the end, the Russians and the Americans of for most of the parts offered to him—until he
the film learn to value cooperation over con- saw the script for Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
frontation—and to make love, not war. Beatty sold Bonnie and Clyde as an outlaw film;
however, it was unlike any of the classic gang-
Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘n’ Roll ster films of the 1930s. Instead of a traditional
By the mid-1960s Hollywood was in trouble. cops-and-robbers picture, director Arthur
American youth was listening to a different Penn produced a film that dramatically re-
beat and was tuned in to such best-sellers as flected the social upheaval in the late 1960s,
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and, later, Charles replacing the traditional criminal with a 1960s-
Reich’s The Greening of America. Reich as- style revolutionary pushing the envelope of re-
sumed that the crisis began as the meritocracy bellion and violence to the limit.
twisted American life into a rat race, turning Bonnie and Clyde projected on the screen an
youth and the enlightened into “strangers to allegory of the cultural and social revolution
 THE 1960S ] 33

that was taking place on college campuses and ing to risk her dignity to escape the constraints
cities across the land. At almost the same time, of the traditional female role. The songs sung
Peter Fonda called his friend Dennis Hopper by Simon and Garfunkel dramatically added
about a biker film, which would follow two to the popularity of the picture and ensured
outlaws traveling cross-country after making a an Oscar for director Mike Nichols.
big score selling drugs. This film, however, Bonnie and Clyde, Easy Rider, and The
much like Bonnie and Clyde, would not only Graduate portrayed the 1960s in fictionalized
revolutionize Hollywood but would also re- form. It was not until Warner Bros. released
flect the emerging counterculture during the Michael Wadleigh’s Woodstock (1970) that the
Summer of Love, 1967. The film Easy Rider public had the opportunity to experience vi-
(1969) was largely improvised (despite Terry sually the hippie lifestyle during the much-
Southern’s script) and gave Middle America its publicized Festival of Life outside Saugerties,
first cinematic view of the youth revolution. New York, in June 1969. Although the free
Much has been made of Captain America’s love, drugs, and bare bodies of the youthful
(Peter Fonda) statement to Billy (Dennis Hop- participants shocked some parents, the rock-
per): “We blew it.” Did “it” mean that the umentary was a hit with younger audiences
characters failed to accept the communal life- and grossed over $16.4 million. To Charles
style of the counterculture? If Fonda and Hop- Reich, the Woodstock Nation became “the
per accepted that premise, then there was no revolution of the new generation” (4). For Ab-
need for the bloody ending to the picture, in bie Hoffman, Woodstock represented anarchy
which Captain America and Billy were mur- for anarchy’s sake (Burner, 131). But in many
dered by southern rednecks. Still, Fonda and ways, Woodstock marked a high point of the
Hopper—unlike the studios, which attempted counterculture. The ensuing Tate–LaBianca
to exploit the youth culture with Wild in the murders by Charles Manson and his “family”
Streets (1968), Joe (1970), and The Strawberry in August 1969 revealed the dark side of the
Statement (1970)—further condemned the counterculture not only for the public at large,
conformist social values that, according to the but also for the film community. Still more
youth culture, dominated the American scene tragedies were to unfold, particularly the mur-
in the late 1960s. der of an African American at a Rolling Stones
The Graduate (1967), directed by Mike concert at the Altamont Raceway in December
Nichols, was a comedy involving a recent col- 1969, captured on film for Albert Maysles’s
lege graduate, Benjamin Braddock (Dustin documentary Gimme Shelter (1970)—a film
Hoffman), experiencing an identity crisis. The intentionally designed to “answer” the opti-
initial advice given to Benjamin, as a college mism of Woodstock.
graduate, was to seek his fortune in “plastics,” Hollywood did not create the countercul-
a famous statement satirizing 1960s material- ture, but, as Peter Biskind argues in Easy Rid-
ism in an age of affluence. (Ironically, Benja- ers, Raging Bulls, the values and rebellion of
min never worried about the draft at a time the counterculture saved Hollywood and ex-
when hundreds of thousands of his contem- panded the creative opportunities for the film
poraries had been shipped off to fight in industry. Not everyone agrees with Biskind’s
Southeast Asia). Moviegoers, for the most part, analysis. One strident critic of Hollywood and
focused on either the comedy or the love story its impact on American culture since the
between Benjamin and Elaine (Katharine 1960s, Michael Medved, notes that Hollywood
Ross). When they did, they overlooked an- created an unhealthy environment that has
other subplot of the film, the radicalization of contaminated American society. Using a pop-
Mrs. Robinson (Ann Bancroft), who was will- ular 1960s metaphor, Medved claims that “The
34 [ ERAS

FIGURE 4. Woodstock (1970). Camera crews prepare for filming under the direction of filmmaker Michael Wadleigh
(seated at center right, with headset). Although many fictional films in the 1960s depicted aspects of the “youth
rebellion” of the time, the concert movie gave the counterculture its greatest and most widespread visibility on the
screen. Courtesy Wadleigh-Maurice and Warner Bros.

popular culture is unhealthy for children—and element of distortion, somehow overlooked,

other living things” (344). The debate goes on. occurs when society relies on film to explain
historical reality.
Judging the 1960s Oliver Stone, the point man for Hollywood’s
The films of the 1960s attempted to depict a effort to reinterpret the 1960s, believes that
new age of redefinition, liberation, and social historians, like many directors, are overly de-
activism in a visualization and celebration of fensive “and come at filmmakers with an at-
change. Filmmakers were not concerned with titude of hostility.” Stone argues that histori-
nitpicking details of historical truth; instead, ans presume that directors “pervert the
they sought to give meaning to the social rev- paradigm with emotion, sentimentality, and so
olution that they witnessed in the streets, on on.” No doubt speaking for other filmmakers,
university campuses, among men and women, the director of Platoon, The Doors, Born on the
and on the distant battlefields where young Fourth of July, JFK, and Nixon contends “his-
Americans fought and died in a controversial torians exhibit much pomposity whey they
war. Hollywood provided an instrument for think that they alone are in custody of the
future generations, often too young to under- ‘facts,’ and take it upon themselves to guard
stand the dynamics of the 1960s, to concep- ‘the truth’ as zealously as the high priests of
tualize the divisiveness of the decade. Yet an ancient Egypt” (Toplin, 51).
 THE 1960S ] 35

Still, the decade divides Americans. David quarter century after Richard Nixon’s narrow
Burner argues that social activism alienated the victory over Hubert Humphrey” (169). The
traditional Democratic coalition and directly triumphant liberalism that defeated the De-
aided the forces of reaction, a point Charles pression and won World War II was, ironi-
Reich supports in The Greening of America cally, a victim of the 1960s. From the ashes
(312). Maurice Isserman, a respected liberal came the neoconservatives, who, according to
historian, grudgingly agrees that the student Paul Lyons, “understood the ways in which the
radicals, those who alienated the political radical challenges concerning race, gender,
mainstream, failed to learn a fundamental les- values, nation, and nature were unsettling to
son from their seniors—“the need for a pa- hardworking Middle Americans” (211).
tient, long-term approach to building move- How do we judge the 1960s? Historians re-
ments; an emphasis upon the value of winning main divided. Maurice Isserman and Michael
small victories . . . [and] the need to work with Kazin compare the decade to the American
others with differing viewpoints” (219). Civil War, writing that “many of the key con-
Some scholars of the antiwar movement and flicts of the 1960s had neither healed nor
responses to it have reached different conclu- driven either side from the field of battle”
sions, arguing that defiant protests may have (294). Even Todd Gitlin, writing closer to the
prolonged the war by hardening public atti- decade than many other historians, believes
tudes of the middle class about Vietnam (Gar- that “the Sixties’ returns are not in, the activists
finkle, 1). Michael Medved not only agrees but now [as of 1987] in their thirties and forties
also notes that “Hollywood paints only the [are] not necessarily finished.” Gitlin, unlike
most glowing portrait of the contemporaries many others of his generation, still harbors the
who stayed home and protested American pol- dream that “there are still movements waiting
icy” (230). Tom Wells believes that it was the to happen” (438). Horowitz and Collier argue,
antiwar movement, and particularly college on the other hand, “the radical future is an
protesters, that altered, for one, Notre Dame illusion,” and the Left’s resilience “is primarily
University president Theodore Hesburgh’s a result of the fact that it has built its political
views about Vietnam. Hesburgh, a Catholic religion on liberal precepts: its luminous prom-
priest and nearly iconic representative of Mid- ise—equality, fraternity, and social justice”
dle America, recalled, “I think the young peo- (335). Consequently, the real battle for conser-
ple really turned the tide on this one. . . . Most vative writers remains, Horowitz and Collier
of us underwent a complete transformation believe, “between those who have had second
from A to Z” (Wells, 303). thoughts about their experiences in the Sixties,
The youthful rebels on college campuses and and those who have not” (334). Regardless, the
in Hollywood never anticipated the counter- “aftershocks are still felt,” according to Jules
revolution that came with Richard Nixon’s Witcover, “not only in the country at large but
election in 1968 (see “Richard Nixon”), when, particularly in the lives of the millions, and in
Lewis Gould writes, “American politics was their memories of a year that rocked a bitterly
changed for the worse in ways that the nation divided nation to its core—and set it on a
has not fully absorbed or resolved nearly a course that keeps it divided still” (507).

References
Filmography Bad Day at Black Rock (1955, F)
The Atomic Café (1982, D) The Bedford Incident (1965, F)
36 [ ERAS
The Big Chill (1983, F) S. Truman. New York: Oxford University Press,
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F) 1995.
Catch-22 (1970, F) Isserman, Maurice. If I Had a Hammer: The Death of
Cold War (1998–99, D) the Old Left and the Birth of the New Left. New
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying York: Basic Books, 1987.
and Love The Bomb (1964, F) Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Di-
Easy Rider (1969, F) vided: The Civil War of the 1960s. New York: Ox-
Fail-Safe (1964, F) ford University Press, 2000.
Fear on Trial (1975, TV) Klehr, Harvey, John Earl Haynes, and Fridrikh Igo-
The Front (1976, F) revich Firsov. The Secret World of American Com-
Gimme Shelter (1970, D) munism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
The Graduate (1967, F) Lyons, Paul. New Left, New Right and the Legacy of
Hollywood on Trial (1976, D) the Sixties. Philadelphia: Temple University Press,
Joe (1970, F) 1996.
Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist (1997, D) Medved, Michael. Hollywood vs. America: Popular
Making Sense of the Sixties (1991, D) Culture and the War on Traditional American Val-
On the Beach (1959, F) ues. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F) Moynihan, Daniel Patrick. Secrecy. New Haven: Yale
The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! University Press, 1998.
(1966, F) Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United
Splendor in the Grass (1961, F) States, 1945–1974. New York: Oxford University
The Strawberry Statement (1970, F) Press, 1996.
Wild in the Streets (1968, F) Reich, Charles A. The Greening of America: How the
The Wild One (1954, F) Youth Revolution Is Trying to Make America Liva-
Woodstock (1970, D) ble. New York: Random House, 1970.
Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
can Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington:
Bibliography University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Andrew, Christopher M., and Vasili Mitrokhin. The Romerstein, Herbert, and Eric Breindel. The Venona
Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secrets: Exposing Soviet Espionage and America’s
Secret History of the KGB. New York: Basic Books, Traitors. Washington, DC: Regnery, 2000.
1999. Roszak, Theodore. The Making of a Counter Culture:
Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex- Reflections on the Technocratic Society and Its
Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Holly- Youthful Opposition. Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
wood. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. 1969.
Boyer, Paul. “Dr. Strangelove.” In Mark C. Carnes, Samuels, Stuart. “The Age of Conspiracy and Con-
ed., Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, formity: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).”
266–269. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. In John E. O’Conner and Martin A. Jackson, eds.,
Burner, David. Making Peace with the 60s. Princeton: American History/American Film: Interpreting the
Princeton University Press, 1996. Hollywood Image, 200–215. Rev. ed. New York:
Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. Destructive Gen- Continuum, 1989.
eration: Second Thoughts About the 60s. New York: Toplin, Robert Brent, ed. Oliver Stone’s USA: Film,
Summit, 1988. History, and Controversy. Lawrence: University
Dickstein, Morris. Gates of Eden: American Culture in Press of Kansas, 2000.
the Sixties. New York: Basic Books, 1977. Weinstein, Allen. The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espio-
Ferrell, Robert H., ed. The Eisenhower Diaries. New nage in America—The Stalin Era. New York: Ran-
York: Norton, 1981. dom House, 1999.
Garfinkle, Adam. Telltale Hearts: The Origins and Im- Wells, Tom. The War Within: America’s Battle Over
pact of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement. New York: Vietnam. Berkeley: University of California Press,
St. Martin’s, 1995. 1994.
Gitlin, Todd. The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage. Welsome, Eileen. The Plutonium Files: America’s Se-
New York: Bantam, 1987. cret Medical Experiments in the Cold War. New
Gould, Lewis L. 1968: The Election That Changed York: Dial Press, 1999.
America. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1993. Witcover, Jules. The Year the Dream Died: Revisiting
Hamby, Alonzo L. Man of the People: A Life of Harry 1968 in America. New York: Warner Books, 1997.
[ ZIA HASAN ]

The 1970s

he 1970s was a turbulent time, and it has armed forces. The transformation of an essen-

T been rightly labeled the “Media Decade”:

The Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal,
the election of Jimmy Carter, the growing
power of the antinuclear movement, and the
tially passive and dependent image of women
also brought about marked changes in male/
female relationships. The movement led to
what Christopher Lasch called a “flight from
crisis in Iran were all media events in the sense feeling” in the female’s attitude toward rela-
that the public perception of these events was tionships with males. Some observers feared a
shaped by the reports of network television slide toward promiscuity. Feminists also cited
news. The quest for higher ratings was often a the findings of Masters and Johnson, which
very strong motivating factor behind televi- destroyed the “myth” of vaginal orgasm and
sion’s delineation of events. announced that females were multi-orgasmic;
The 1970s also saw the emergence of the first many ideologues saw this as liberating women
generation of children who grew up on tele- from dependence on men and, indeed, point-
vision. When television began broadcasting in ing toward women’s biological superiority.
the 1950s, its credo was a blend of public ser- These findings destroyed the concept of the
vice and entertainment, and the results were traditional role of women and shifted the
classic programs such as Victory at Sea, Om- “pressure to perform” from the female to the
nibus, and Kraft Television Theatre. In the male. In effect, interpersonal relations were
1970s, commercial television became big busi- threatened because of the inversion of roles
ness; sex and violence began to undergird suc- and, in the process of role reversal, men, for
cessful programs, both reflecting and causing many, became the sex object.
a change in social mores, and a “TV” genera- Tom Wolfe labeled the 1970s “The Me De-
tion emerged—a cohort that was passive, cade” for self-evident reasons. According to
prone to accept violence casually, and insen- Wolfe and other critics, the basic precepts of a
sitive to social issues (Comstock, 249). narcissistic personality implied that an indi-
The decade also saw the growth of the vidual was only concerned with the progres-
women’s liberation movement. The move- sion and development of one’s own career.
ment, which started to gather momentum in The “me” personality shirked permanent re-
the 1960s, found pervasive support from di- lationships and simply ignored everybody else
verse sections of society and, as a political in the quest for “self glorification” (Wolfe,
force, was instrumental in bringing fundamen- 156).
tal changes in social attitudes. More women Perhaps the most significant phenomenon
had jobs previously held only by men, and of the 1960s, which culminated as the major
such visible bastions of male dominance as issue of the early 1970s, was the Vietnam War.
West Point and Annapolis saw the graduation A public perception that this was America’s
of the first classes of female officers in the first major defeat meant that veterans of the

37
38 [ ERAS
war were denied the heroic welcome and status investigative reporting of two young Washing-
bestowed upon veterans of other wars, perhaps ton Post reporters who were instrumental in
because “losing” was not acceptable in the exposing the Watergate break-in and the sub-
American tradition. This rejection greatly am- sequent cover-up, underlined the impact of
plified the problems of readjustment for the the print news media, as did The Parallax
returning soldier, already burdened by the View, which focuses on a journalist who at-
guilt about what he had been told by public tempts to probe the assassination of a presi-
spokesmen and his radical peers was an im- dential candidate. Both films validated the
moral war. power of the fourth estate and the far-reaching
Many of the returning soldiers exhibited influence of television on America’s future.
symptoms of what was diagnosed as “post–
traumatic stress disorder” (PTSD), a state char- Feminism
acterized by self-doubt, aggression, and genuine The undercurrent of the feminist movement,
fear of intimate relationships. Thus the process which in many ways was a vital part of the
of readjustment into a hostile society involved 1970s mise-en-scène, was also the thematic
not only overcoming the physical and emo- focus of a range of important films. Jane Kra-
tional difficulties but also finding a constructive mer observes that the focus on male-female
new direction in life. Many veterans, such as relationships in these movies reveals “their
John Kerry, who later served in the U.S. Senate, longing to discover an archetype of the mod-
sought self-expression by becoming demonstra- ern woman—one that will hold, one that will
tors against the very war in which they had move in some pure female space” (30). Such
served. These “prophet-heroes,” as Robert films include Joan Micklin Silver’s Hester
Lifton characterizes them, contributed in large Street (1975), Robert Benton’s Kramer vs.
measure to the reevaluation of America’s role Kramer (1979), James Bridge’s The China
in Vietnam and changed society’s attitude to- Syndrome (1979), Paul Mazursky’s An Un-
ward any such future involvement. Others, such married Woman (1978), Richard Brooks’s
as Navy flyer James Webb, went on to govern- Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), and the
ment service and continued to defend Amer- Woody Allen films Annie Hall (1977) and
ica’s failed efforts in Indochina. Manhattan (1979).
In An Unmarried Woman, Erica ( Jill Clay-
Motion Pictures About the 1970s Media burgh) is a thirty-seven-year-old woman
It was within this extended backdrop that whose husband has deserted her. She meets
many significant films of the 1970s were cre- Saul Kaplan (Alan Bates), a famous painter
ated. Sidney Lumet’s Network (1976) and Alan who is looking for a permanent relationship.
J. Pakula’s Parallax View (1974) and All the Unfortunately, Erica’s “flight from feeling,” re-
President’s Men (1976) focused on the growing sulting from the disappointing experience in
power of the media and the marked impact of her marriage, finally causes the relationship to
television on human behavior and on public crumble. In Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Theresa
perception. Network is very explicit in its de- Dunn (Diane Keaton) is a young schoolteacher
piction of the evils of television, the deperson- who instructs deaf children during the day and
alization of American society, and the fate of at night “cruises” the singles bars for tempo-
resistant individuals enmeshed within the sys- rary liaisons aimed at satisfying her narcissistic
tem. The film raised a flag about the impact of sexuality. In both Manhattan and Annie Hall,
television on thinking processes and behavior the protagonists embody the sexual anxieties
patterns—and thus the fabric of American so- of modern men, which, when transposed on
ciety. All the President’s Men, which traced the interpersonal relationships, imbue them with
 THE 1970S ] 39

the tasks of not only adjusting to the changing dents offering their analysis. Where We Stand
image of the liberated woman but also of jus- in Cambodia examines the expansion of the
tifying themselves as men. war in Vietnam, and Indochina 1975: The End
of the Road? assesses the gains made by Com-
Vietnam munist forces in South Vietnam and Cambo-
That the Vietnam War and our involvement dia and looks at the plight of refugees in both
are examined in many of the memorable films countries. Finally, The Boat People reports on
of the 1970s is not accidental. As the decade the plight of thousands of homeless Vietnam-
opened, the national mood was wrenchingly ese refugees stranded along the coast of Ma-
altered by the perception that the war was wid- laysia and Southeast Asia and examines U.S.
ening into Laos and Cambodia. Films such as policies concerning these people.
Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978), Documentaries made in the 1980s focus
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now more on the aftermath of Vietnam. Memora-
(1979), and Hal Ashby’s Coming Home (1978) ble among these include Frontline: Bloods of
explored the effects of the war both on the ’Nam (1986), Frank: A Vietnam Veteran
front line and at home. (1981), The Problems of Peace (1981), Are You
The last film, while taking an antiwar stance, Listening: Indochina Refugees (1981) and Be-
focuses on the problems confronting the re- coming American (1982). Frontline: Bloods of
turning Vietnam veteran, graphically project- ‘Nam examines the fact that although blacks
ing the conflict between a traditional America made up only 10 percent of the soldiers in
accustomed to winning and a new, hip society combat, they accounted for 23 percent of the
that had to come to terms with loss. Among casualties. Frank is a returning soldier’s mono-
the victims of the Vietnam War were the war- logue describing the horrors of his experience,
riors who had to learn to live in a society that while The Problems of Peace analyzes the prob-
rejected them. In Coming Home, Luke Martin lems of Vietnam from a postwar perspective.
( Jon Voight) is wounded, but his healing Finally, Are You Listening and Becoming Amer-
brings new insights about life; on the other ican highlight the heartaches and joys of the
hand, Captain Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern) is de- American experience. The diversity of per-
stroyed because he cannot reconcile old values spectives in the films underscores the impact
with the world of Woodstock. of the Vietnam experience on the American
The Vietnam War also yielded more than psyche.
four hundred documentaries that examined
the war from various perspectives. Among the Compensatory Vision
important ones produced in the 1970s were In a decade where many of the societal prob-
Saigon (1970), Vietnam: Voices in Opposition lems continued to fester, the most successful
(1970), Where We Stand in Cambodia (1971), films were often wish-fulfillment fantasies,
Lyndon Johnson Talks Politics (1972), Indo- which offered solutions to pervasive pressures.
china 1975: The End of the Road? (1975), Perhaps the most significant among these are
POWs: The Pawns of War (1971), The World John Avildsen’s Rocky (1976) and George Lu-
of Charlie Company (1970), The Boat People cas’s Star Wars (1977). The original Rocky was
(1979), and The Selling of the Pentagon (1971). the first in a series of films that featured Rocky
Vietnam: Voices in Opposition was filmed in Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) as an underdog
compliance with an FCC ruling that CBS must boxer from Philadelphia. In this recurring role,
provide an opportunity for administration “Cinderella” Balboa becomes an American
critics to reply to President Nixon’s televised cultural icon by overcoming insurmountable
statements on Vietnam, with CBS correspon- odds through the strength of the human
40 [ ERAS
spirit—a veritable success story, triumphing birth of the film industry and was, in contrast
over incredible odds. to the 1950s and the 1960s, a box office–
Star Wars–type films such as Close Encoun- oriented period, with megablockbusters like
ters of the Third Kind (1977), Battlestar: Gal- Jaws (1975) and Star Wars standing among the
actica (1978), and Star Trek: The Motion Pic- highest grossing films in history. It was also in
ture (1979) heralded a new, futuristic direction this decade that subsidiary markets—cable
for the genre, which Robert Aldiss has defined television and video sales and rentals—for
as a “space opera”: “Ideally, the earth must be Hollywood films emerged as result of new
in peril, there must be quest and a man to meet technology such as Sony’s Betamax and Japa-
the mighty hour. . . . There must be a woman nese Victor’s VHS videocassette players.
fairer than the skies and a villain darker than The decade also witnessed the emergence of
the Black Hole. And all must come right in the a new breed of directors, “Movie Brats” who
end” (10). Star Wars fits this description neatly had formal film school training and were able
yet manages to convey a deeper meaning, as to create films that were both critically and
the narrator of the documentary The Making commercially successful. They brought in an
of Star Wars notes: “Its power is to rise from audiovisual rather than narrative approach to
something simpler to something rarer, the ro- filmmaking, which often favored style, loud
mantic spirit. Before it we are young again and soundtracks, and action, stressing form and
everything seems possible.” style as much as content. Among them were
Star Wars recreated a myth out of our own Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, Bob Rafelson,
past and carried it into the future, making “the Alan Pakula, Brian De Palma, Peter Bogda-
old fable of fateful youth rising to combat uni- novich, and Robert Altman. These new talents
versal tyranny with a paean of communal were responsible for the most creative and ar-
hope” (Collins, 6), a theme reiterated in The tistically significant films of the period: Mean
Empire Strikes Back (1980). Coming in the Streets (1973), Star Wars (1977), Five Easy
1970s, when Americans were buffeted by the Pieces (1970), Klute (1971), Carrie (1976), The
repercussions of the Vietnam War, the disin- Last Picture Show (1971), and MASH (1970).
tegrating family, and the polarization of inter- The films of the 1970s range from the po-
personal relationships and feared being re- litical to the apathetic, from the mundane to
placed and dehumanized by technological the speculative, from the philosophical to the
extensions of the self, Star Wars offered ap- mindless. Altogether, as Peter Lev has argued,
pealing, mystical solutions to problems of the films of the decade represent a form of dis-
great magnitude. In the process, it restored the cussion about the nature and the direction of
American dream and reaffirmed the American American society in the era: “open, diverse,
way of life. and egalitarian, or stubbornly resistant to
Behind this sociocultural backdrop, the change” (36). It is an apt assessment that re-
1970s was also a watershed era in many critical inforces the relationship between film and his-
aspects. The decade saw the renewal and re- tory.

References
Are You Listening: Indochina Refugees (1981, D)
Filmography Battlestar: Galactica (1978, F)
All the President’s Men (1976, F) Becoming American (1982, D)
Annie Hall (1977, F) The Boat People (1979, D)
Apocalypse Now (1979, F) Carrie (1976, F)
 THE 1970S ] 41
The China Syndrome (1979, F) Bibliography
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, F)
Aldiss, Robert. Space Opera. London: Futura, 1974.
Coming Home (1978, F)
Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-
The Deer Hunter (1978, F)
Drugs-and Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Holly-
The Empire Strikes Back (1980, F)
wood. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.
Five Easy Pieces (1970, F) Collins, Robert G. “Star Wars: The Pastiche of Myth
Frank: A Vietnam Veteran (1981, D) and Yearning for a Past Future.” Journal of Popular
Frontline: Bloods of ’Nam (1986, D) Culture 12 (1977): 3.
Hester Street (1975, F) Comstock, George, et al. Television and Human Be-
Indochina 1975: The End of the Road? (1975, D) havior. New York: Columbia University Press,
Jaws (1975, F) 1978.
Klute (1971, F) Freeman, Jo, ed. Social Movements of the Sixties and
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, F) Seventies. New York: Longman, 1983.
The Last Picture Show (1971, F) Kramer, Jane. “The So-Called New Woman in Film.”
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977, F) Horizon, May 1978.
Lyndon Johnson Talks Politics (1972, D) Lasch, Christopher. The Culture of Narcissism. New
Manhattan (1979, F) York: Norton, 1978.
MASH (1970, F) Lev, Peter. American Films of the 70s: Conflicting Vi-
Mean Streets (1973, F) sions. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.
Network (1976, F) Lifton, Robert J. Home from the War. New York:
The Parallax View (1974, F) Simon & Schuster, 1973.
POWs: The Pawns of War (1971, D) Monaco, James. American Film Now. New York: New
The Problems of Peace (1981, D) American Library, 1979.
Rocky (1976, F) Olson, James S., ed. Historical Dictionary of the 1970s.
Saigon (1970, D) Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1999.
The Selling of the Pentagon (1971, D) Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, F) tory of American Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Vin-
Star Wars (1977, F) tage, 1994.
An Unmarried Woman (1978, F) Wolfe, Tom. Mauve Gloves & Madmen, Clutter &
Vietnam: Voices in Opposition (1970, D) Vine. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1976.
Where We Stand in Cambodia (1971, D) Zinman, David. Fifty Grand Movies of the 1960s and
The World of Charlie Company (1970, D) 1970s. New York: Crown, 1986.
[ WILLIAM J. PALMER ]

The 1980s

t is fitting that the central figure of 1980s named the “New Historicism” by Stephen

I social history and the trendsetter for 1980s

film representations of that history is Ron-
ald Reagan, a former film actor who repeatedly
employed film images and references to ad-
Greenblatt in a 1980 essay—came into vogue.
It emphasized that the texts of history needed
to be more diverse and more attuned to the
“marginalized” voices of the poor and working
vance his historical goals. The major social, po- classes of society as well as the politically, ra-
litical, and historical issues of the 1980s—win- cially, and sexually disenfranchised members
ning the Vietnam War ten years after the fact, of society than the master-text, power-
the New Patriotism, saber-rattling détente centered traditional histories of the past had
with Russia’s “evil empire,” renewed fears of been (1). Despite long-standing and consistent
nuclear holocaust, the federal deficit, the self- charges of the film industry’s traditional ex-
indulgent Yuppie lifestyle, a “neo-racism” ploitation of historical fact and romanticizing
against Asians much different from that of the of historical realism, Hollywood in the 1980s
World War II era—were in many respects both proved quite reactive and timely in its repre-
inspired and exploited by Reagan and his co- sentation of social history. When the New His-
hort. Other film reflections on social history, toricists presented their arguments that his-
such as a strikingly focused cluster of farm- torical “fact” is always much more complex
crisis films, a redefinition of feminist roles, and than conventional histories have portrayed it
a proliferation of films about gangs and drugs, and that historical “reality” is extremely diffi-
were all reactions to specific cultural events cult to recreate, past charges of Hollywood’s
and trends. However, the greatest historical historical inaccuracy and exploitation of his-
undermining of any 1980s illusion of 1950s, tory were rendered increasingly moot. If, as
Eisenhower-era stability was the growing Graeme Turner writes, film “is a social practice
threat of an international terrorist community, for its makers and its audience, in its narratives
organized on the two models of the “big event” and meanings we can locate evidence of the
and the “death squad.” The emergence of this ways in which our culture makes sense of it-
invisible international villain, increasingly self ” (xiv–xv), then the films of the 1980s
sponsored by national entities, either terrorist proved a highly reactive, analytic, and acces-
states or fascist governments, served as a vio- sible body of representations of the historical
lent dialogic denial of the grandfatherly illu- climate, the social trends, and the political vi-
sion of prosperity and rededication to old- olence of the 1980s. In other words, in this
fashioned American values of the Reagan decade the mirroring of society was one of the
years. things that films did best.
Coincident with the spun imagery of the A literariness marked by films such as The
Reagan era, at the very beginning of the 1980s, French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) and Rag-
a new approach to historical discourse— time (1981) proved a false start to the decade’s

42
 THE 1980S ] 43

film consciousness, but by 1982 the first real militarist fantasy that the Vietnam War was
gatherings of sociohistorical film texts around not really lost in the 1960s and 1970s but
contemporary life texts began. Films such as merely placed on hold until 1980s heroes por-
Testament (1983) and Silkwood (1983), per- trayed by Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris,
haps inspired by Israel’s preemptive strike Gene Hackman, and the like could go back and
against an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981, ac- redeem the national pride, exorcise the na-
tually predicted (as The China Syndrome had tional shame. Later in the decade, however, Ol-
in 1979) real-life toxic disasters such as the gas iver Stone’s Platoon (1986) became the most
leak in Bhopal, India, that killed 3,400 people famous of a group of films—Full Metal Jacket
in 1984 and the Chernobyl nuclear plant ex- (1987), Hamburger Hill (1987), Gardens of
plosion in 1986. The years 1983 and 1984 saw Stone (1987), Good Morning, Vietnam (1988),
a newfound emphasis on the family farm with Off Limits (1988), Some Kind of Hero (1981),
the release of Places in the Heart, Country, and Birdy (1985), Cutter’s Way (1981), Cease Fire
The River, while 1987 was the year of Vietnam (1986), and The Killing Fields (1984)—that at-
with Oliver Stone’s Academy Award–winning tempted to interpret the American experience
Platoon serving as an antidote to the politically in Vietnam and the “coming home” experi-
fantasized winning of the lost Vietnam War in ence of the veterans of that war.
earlier films such as Rambo II (1985) and Un- Another violent echo out of America’s past,
common Valor (1983). Comedy reasserted it- the doomsday fear of nuclear Armageddon,
self as a vibrant social commentator upon the also reasserted itself in the films of the 1980s
triumphs and tragedies of Reagonomics in and helped to generate another group of films
1988, the year of the Yuppie hit Baby Boom. that explored America’s slippery and fragile
But if Vietnam was put to rest in the deficit- détente with Russia leading up to the fall of
flaunting excess of the Yuppie lifestyle, other that “evil empire” in 1989. Early in the decade,
wars of a very different sort were asserting one of the most important (and most watched)
their sociocultural presence in the films of the films of the 1980s appeared on television. The
1980s. The resurgence of Cold War antago- Day After (1983) may not have been as com-
nism toward Russia and the emergence of plex or well made as Testament (1983), Silk-
organized international terrorism became wood (1983), or War Games (1983), but it was
prominent film texts. seen by more people than any other movie of
For the New Historicists, movies are what the decade. Its warning was unmistakably
Dominick LaCapra calls “mechanisms of dif- clear and was taken to heart immediately as
fusion” (80). They are one of the means the Reagan administration (which had threat-
whereby complex historical texts are circu- ened to place medium-range missiles in Eu-
lated, interpreted, and used in society. For ex- rope) intensified nuclear disarmament nego-
ample, film diffuses the social history of the tiations with Russia, culminating in Reagan’s
1980s by defining those trends or texts—such going to the Moscow Summit in 1988.
as Vietnam guilt or Yuppie cynicism—that Throughout the decade, these ongoing U.S.
people of the time were trying to understand. relations with Russia were explored in an-
Two of the major film texts of the 1980s— other group of films—Gorky Park (1983),
the large group of Vietnam War films and the Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Rocky IV
smaller cluster of nuclear-holocaust films— (1985), White Nights (1985), Russkies (1987),
were holdovers from earlier decades. The Viet- and Little Nikita (1988)—that commented on
nam War films took two different shapes in the neo–Cold War brittleness of 1980s dé-
the 1980s. Early in the decade, led by the hit tente with a Soviet Union that was growing
Rambo series, a body of films espoused the desperate in its economic failure.
44 [ ERAS
But if the old devils of Vietnam and Russia terms) form of racism against Asians found
were being exorcised in 1980s films, a new vil- cinematic expression. Appropriate to the Rea-
lain was casting its huge shadow (in the form gan years, the films of the 1980s—beginning
of a threatening and frightening film text) over with the farm films of 1983 and 1984, all three
the whole decade. It was the shadow of inter- of which focus on a working farm wife strug-
national terrorism. Terrorism in its varied gling to keep her family’s world together in the
forms (from organized, state-supported, inter- face of economic and natural disasters—cham-
national terrorism to government, “death pioned a neoconservative redefinition of femi-
squad,” control terrorism to commercial, nism as opposed to the radical and economic
drug-trade terrorism) escalated throughout feminisms of the 1960s and 1970s. Other films,
the decade and became commonplace. Hos- such as Atlantic City (1980), Personal Best
tages were taken, planes and cruise ships were (1983), and Educating Rita (1983), keyed on the
hijacked and bombed, American soldiers attempts of working-class feminist heroines to
abroad were attacked in discos and their own find success in the competitive world of the
barracks, political figures and judges were as- 1980s. Still other films, such as Private Benjamin
sassinated, and finally a terrorist Jihad or “holy (1980), Urban Cowboy (1980), Swing Shift
war” was declared against the United States. (1984), Betrayed (1988), and Working Girl
Films such as The Formula (1980), Rollover (1989), signaled the success of neoconservative
(1981), Nighthawks (1981), The Little Drum- women in what were formerly male domains.
mer Girl (1984), Half Moon Street (1987), and Finally, some excellent female biopics were
Die Hard (1988) examined the dynamics, the made in the decade—Coal Miner’s Daughter
personalities and the motives of international (1980), Heart Like a Wheel (1983), Eleni (1984),
terrorists. Another set of films—Missing (1982), Marie (1985), Out of Africa (1986), and Gorillas
The Year of Living Dangerously (1983), Under in the Mist (1988)—that offered feminist pro-
Fire (1983), Beyond the Limit (1983), The Killing files in courage for a new generation.
Fields (1984), Under the Volcano (1984), Kiss of Less palatable, yet sociologically acute, was a
the Spider Woman (1985), The Official Story group of films that represented American so-
(1985), and Salvador (1986)—represented the ciety’s growing resentment toward Asian im-
terrorist control tactics of “death squad” fascist migrants and Asian Americans in the midst of
governments. Of this set of government terror- Asian success in the economic exploitation of
ist texts, Under Fire and The Official Story are American markets. Films such as Alamo Bay
the two most perceptive. Under Fire is main- (1985), Gung Ho (1986), and, especially, Year
stream Hollywood filmmaking at its most com- of the Dragon (1985) examine different versions
mercial, but it tellingly engages one of the his- of generalized anti-Asian racist tensions that
torical, moral struggles of our time, the were a clear residue from the Vietnam War.
control-terrorism text. The Official Story is the But by far the major domestic film text of
ultimate “New Historicist” film of the 1980s, for the 1980s was the Yuppie lifestyle text, a large
not only does it explore the plight of the “de- grouping of films exploring the cynical angst
saparecidos” of Argentina, but it also unfolds a and the economic excess of the Yuppie world.
striking subtext concerning the very nature of Bright Lights, Big City (1988) and Wall Street
history itself, of how “the official story” inten- (1987) are the two marquee films exploring the
tionally obscures the real story of history. Reagonomics phenomenon whereby all the
But films of the 1980s focused on things money is grabbed and spent before it ever has
other than international historical issues. Do- a chance to trickle down. Perhaps The Big Chill
mestic issues such as the ascent of a neofem- (1983), however, is the ultimate checklist film
inism and a newly defined (in economic for the Yuppie generation. Its conversational
 THE 1980S ] 45

vignettes between its eight Yuppie stereotypes represented that burgeoning neoconservatism,
define the angst, anger, exhilaration, and con- but they also powerfully critiqued it. Perhaps
fusion of the time. Oliver Stone’s work in the decade—Salvador
Although the films of the 1980s were heavily (1986), Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987),
influenced by eight years of Ronald Reagan’s Talk Radio (1989), and Born on the Fourth of
neoconservative reimaging of America, they July (1989)—is the best testament to the ana-
also engaged history, politics, and economics lytic critique of social history that film carried
in some highly perceptive ways. They may have on in that turbulent time.

References
Places in the Heart (1984, F)
Filmography Platoon (1986, F)
Alamo Bay (1985, F) Private Benjamin (1980, F)
Atlantic City (1980, F) Ragtime (1981, F)
Baby Boom (1988, F) Rambo II (1985, F)
Betrayed (1988, F) The River (1984, F)
Beyond the Limit (1983, F) Rocky IV (1985, F)
The Big Chill (1983, F) Rollover (1981, F)
Birdy (1985, F) Russkies (1987, F)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989, F) Salvador (1986, F)
Bright Lights, Big City (1988, F) Silkwood (1983, F)
Cease Fire (1986, F) Some Kind of Hero (1981, F)
The China Syndrome (1979, F) The Stunt Man (1980, F)
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980, F) Swing Shift (1984, F)
Country (1984, F) Talk Radio (1989, F)
Cutter’s Way (1981, F) Testament (1983, TV)
The Day After (1983, TV) Uncommon Valor (1983, F)
Die Hard (1988, F) Under Fire (1983, F)
Educating Rita (1983, F) Under the Volcano (1984, F)
Eleni (1984, F) Urban Cowboy (1980, F)
The Formula (1980, F) Wall Street (1987, F)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, F) War Games (1983, F)
Full Metal Jacket (1987, F) White Nights (1985, F)
Gardens of Stone (1987, F) Working Girl (1989, F)
Good Morning, Vietnam (1988, F) Year of the Dragon (1985, F)
Gorillas in the Mist (1988, F) The Year of Living Dangerously (1983, F)
Gorky Park (1983, F)
Gung Ho (1986, F)
Half Moon Street (1987, F) Bibliography
Hamburger Hill (1987, F) Greenblatt, Stephen. “Towards a Poetics of Culture.”
Heart Like a Wheel (1983, F) In H. Aram Veeser, ed., The New Historicism, 1–14.
The Killing Fields (1984, F) New York: Routledge, 1989.
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985, F) LaCapra, Dominick. History and Criticism. Ithaca,
The Little Drummer Girl (1984, F) NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.
Little Nikita (1988, F) Palmer, William J. The Films of the Eighties: A Social
Marie (1985, F) History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
Missing (1982, F) Press, 1992.
Moscow on the Hudson (1984, F) Quart, Leonard, and Albert Auster. American Film
Nighthawks (1981, F) and Society Since 1945. New York: Praeger, 1991.
The Official Story (1985, F) Turner, Graeme. Film as Social Practice. London,
Off Limits (1988, F) New York: Routledge, 1988.
Out of Africa (1986, F) White, Hayden. Metahistory. Baltimore: Johns Hop-
Personal Best (1983, F) kins University Press, 1973.
II.
Wars and Other
Major Events
夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ COTTEN SEILER ]

The American Revolution

ordon Wood opens The Radicalism of the tance, did not define the event in any essential

G American Revolution by noting, “We

Americans like to think of our revolution
as not being radical; indeed, most of the time
we consider it downright conservative.” The
way. Instead, what distinguishes the era was the
production and recognition of a new political
ideology. According to Bernard Bailyn, the rev-
olutionaries’ aims and grievances stemmed
names of prominent early American personae from the perceived suspension of rights guar-
and the events in which they participated fail anteed them by the British constitution. They
to conjure up images we typically associate sought “not the overthrow or even the altera-
with the term revolution: “We cannot quite tion of the existing social order but the pres-
conceive of revolutionaries in powdered hair ervation of political liberty threatened by the
and knee breeches. The American revolution- apparent corruption of the constitution, and
aries seem to belong in drawing rooms or leg- the establishment in principle of the existing
islative halls, not in cellars or in the streets. conditions of liberty. . . . What was essentially
They made speeches, not bombs, they wrote involved in the American Revolution was not
learned pamphlets, not manifestos. . . . The the disruption of society, with all the fear, de-
American Revolution does not seem to have spair, and hatred that that entails” (19).
the same kinds of causes—the social wrongs, Bailyn asserts the primary causes of the rev-
the class conflict, the grossly inequitable dis- olution to be ideals, not social discontent or
tributions of wealth—that presumably lie be- tyranny. To make the point that the American
hind other revolutions. There were no peasant Revolution was fundamentally a revolution of
uprisings, no jacqueries, no burning of cha- ideology and of language—communicating
teaux, no storming of prisons” (3). new understandings of social class, political
Given this conception of the American Rev- power, and identity—in no way diminishes its
olution, the scarcity of films treating it should significance. The preeminence of language,
come as little surprise. The revolution featured however, seems to have presented obstacles to
few dramatic events of the type Wood men- constructing strong films.
tions—riots, conflagrations, executions—little Wood describes the popular notion of the
of the chaotic, compelling imagery, in other American Revolution as a musty museum ex-
words, in which the French and Russian rev- hibit, a place one visits to gaze at the docu-
olutions abounded. It may be objected here ments under glass and pay homage to the
that the American Revolution was, nonethe- “Founding Fathers” whose faces grace our
less, a war, and that military events have been money. This presentation of history is more
vividly represented onscreen. There are differ- conducive to genuflection than fascination.
ences, however, between narratives of war and One reason for this conception may be that the
those of revolution, and the military aspects of revolution has too often been interpreted in
the American Revolution, despite their impor- mythic and moralistic terms, as a narrative of

49
50 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

men and women of unassailable character and more dramatic and accessible narrative. In de-
vision inhabiting a utopia of American righ- fense of this tendency to interpret, it is impor-
teousness in conflict with British tyranny. This tant to note, as Robert Rosenstone has, that
view tends to turn the era into a ready-made the best historical films are not necessarily
symbol of all that was right with America, a those that “get it right,” but those that “offer
symbol generally used by those who assert that a new relationship to the world of the past”
a great deal is currently wrong. (12). The most compelling historical films do
Of course, this narrow interpretation frus- more than render in visual terms the familiar
trates historians of the American Revolution, names and events of history; they also hazard
such as Wood and Gary Nash, who view the a vision of an alternate past and, with it, an
period as one of the most intellectually, so- alternate future.
cially, economically, and politically protean, One reason for the scarcity of films on the
fractious, and fertile in American history. Oth- American Revolution lies in the conception of
ers, such as Howard Zinn, can be grouped un- it that Wood ridiculed—as staid, cerebral, and,
der the headings of “People’s History” or “So- unlike the Civil War, very much over. The re-
cial History.” These scholars regard the writing cent popularity of the Civil War and the ac-
of history as a potentially radical political act, companying plethora of films with Civil War
and they tend to focus on the suppressed sto- themes have much to do with racial politics in
ries of minorities, women, and the poor, chal- the United States over the past decade. In
lenging dominant interpretations to create “a many ways, the issues surrounding the Civil
history disrespectful of governments and re- War remain unresolved, the reconciliation of
spectful of people’s movements of resistance” regions and races unfinished. The Revolution,
(Zinn, 570). Whatever their focus, these his- however, is perceived as a finished product: in-
torians have generally engaged with, and often dependence declared, British expelled, free-
been radicalized by, theoretical approaches dom enshrined—end of story. At their worst,
generated outside the discipline of history both academic and cinematic historians
since the 1960s, in departments of philosophy, merely restate these myths; at their best, they
women’s studies, sociology, ethnic studies, lit- challenge such an erroneous and complacent
erature, and film. These new approaches have relationship to the past.
challenged historians to think thematically
about the experiences of marginalized groups Monuments to Americanism
in American history, and practically about the The list of fictional and documentary films and
textual nature of the past, the power embedded television programs about the American Rev-
in historical knowledge, and the construction olution is relatively short and, with a few ex-
of historical truth. The new historiography, in ceptions, not terribly distinguished. Two ma-
problematizing and radicalizing the American jor Revolutionary War films, America and
Revolution, has attempted to rescue the era Janice Meredith, were released in the spring
from both sacralization and irrelevance. and fall, respectively, of 1924. These films were
Struggles between historians over the mean- extravagant monuments to Americanism, and
ing and political import of the revolution demonstrated the newly arrived legitimacy of
eventually find their way onto the screen; in- film as a middle-class entertainment. What is
deed, film serves as a more transparent me- most remarkable about Janice Meredith and
dium in terms of illustrating the political uses America is their spectacle—the sumptuous set
of the past. Films, unlike most written history, and costume designs, the grand ballroom and
tend to wear their ideology openly, often dis- battle scenes—and not their fealty to historical
pensing with objectivity in exchange for a accuracy. The mission of D. W. Griffith’s
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ] 51

America (alternate title, Love and Sacrifice) was when patriotic feeling ebbed for some Ameri-
“to stir the patriotic hearts of the nation as . . . cans because of the Vietnam War, 1776 is
no other picture has ever done” (Henderson, ironically one of the more nuanced and in-
249). Janice Meredith, produced by William sightful films depicting the Revolutionary era.
Randolph Hearst, set about a similar task, Hugh Hudson’s Revolution (1985) emerged
though his film (also known as The Beautiful during a very different decade politically, at a
Rebel ), starring his paramour Marion Davies time when Ronald Reagan’s presidency em-
in the title role, was not above taking a few phasized American myths once again. Yet this
titillating liberties with American history, in- film, judged by most to be a flop of epic pro-
cluding a portrayal of George Washington as portions, is nonetheless praiseworthy for its re-
a seeker of Miss Meredith’s affections. luctance to recycle clichés. Instead, Revolution
John Ford’s Drums Along the Mohawk assumes the point of view of its least-heralded
(1939) enjoyed a rare success in drawing au- participants, the urban poor.
diences for a story set during the Revolution- Television has perennially visited the subject
ary War. Adapted from Walter Edmonds’s of the American Revolution. Notable among
popular 1936 novel, the film tells the story of these small-screen treatments are The Adams
a young couple (played by Claudette Colbert Chronicles (1976), George Washington and
and Henry Fonda) on the upstate New York George Washington II: Forging a New Nation
frontier. Though set in the Mohawk Valley in (1984–85), Liberty! The American Revolution
the early years of the war, the film employs (1997), and History Alive: The American Rev-
genre conventions of the western. As John olution (1998). The critically acclaimed PBS se-
O’Connor has argued, this film enabled a vital ries The Adams Chronicles portrays the famous
reconnection to the American past and patri- family from Quincy, Massachusetts. By stipu-
otic symbolism during the hard times of the lation of the executors of the Adams estate, the
Great Depression (100). dialogue was restricted to the actual words
Johnny Tremain, John Paul Jones, and The written by the Adams themselves, giving the
Devil’s Disciple were produced in the late production a stiff, literary feel. The ABC-
1950s, and they remain among the most en- produced George Washington miniseries, in
gaging films on the subject. Johnny Tremain contrast, turns the revolution into substandard
(1957), a Disney film directed by Robert TV melodrama. The History Channel’s History
Stevenson, tells a fictional story of a young Alive: The American Revolution combines Ken
Massachusetts silversmith’s apprentice who Burns–style talking-head narration and celeb-
becomes involved in the struggle for indepen- rity voiceover with re-creations of significant
dence. John Paul Jones (1959), directed by events. Another PBS series, Liberty! The Amer-
John Farrow (and featuring his young daugh- ican Revolution, is perhaps most successful in
ter, Mia), stars an appropriately gruff Robert its merging of dramatic readings by actors, in-
Stack as the father of the U.S. Navy. The terviews with historians, re-creations of his-
Devil’s Disciple (1959), the most interesting of torical events, and still cinematography of pe-
the three, will be examined in greater detail riod paintings and artifacts. It is important to
later in this essay. Also during this time, the emphasize that the majority of these works,
French produced Lafayette (1961), which re- unlike most cinema productions, sought out
counts the story of Washington’s young aide- the counsel of academic historians. For ex-
de-camp, the marquis de Lafayette, and fea- ample, among those enlisted by PBS for the
tures Orson Welles as Benjamin Franklin. Liberty! project were Bailyn, Wood, Pauline
1776 (1972) was adapted from the epony- Maier, Margaret Washington, Dave Edmunds,
mous Broadway musical. Produced at a time and Michael Zuckert, scholars whose views di-
52 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

verge widely but whose expertise enhanced the olution. The movie industry had recently been
production enormously. sullied by scandal, and this type of film could
Several films produced for school or insti- help restore Hollywood’s reputation. Loosely
tutional viewing manage to both edify and based on Griffith’s unproduced play War and
amuse. The Eastern National Park and Monu- Robert Chambers’s novel The Reckoning, the
ment association, for example, managed to se- film was developed in consultation of nation-
cure cinematic luminary John Huston to direct alistic organizations such as the Daughters of
Independence (1972), a short film shown at In- the American Revolution; the United States
dependence National Historical Park in Phila- War Department contributed troops and ma-
delphia. Various revolutionary leaders return teriel for the battle scenes. In addition to Cham-
to twentieth-century Philadelphia to remember bers, who is credited for the story, the director
the tumultuous events of the late eighteenth enlisted John L. E. Pell, a specialist on Ethan
century. The film is well acted and informative, Allen, for “historical arrangement.” Griffith was
yet it glosses over the more contentious issues known to seek out such historical verification,
of the era, depicting an illusory consensus but only from those sources and materials “that
among the Continental Congress and colonists bore out his own preconceived ideas” (Hen-
alike. Few educational films deviate from the derson, 150). In fact, America largely recycled
standard historical model of the American Rev- the moralism and didacticism in Griffith’s con-
olution as an ideological and intellectual feat troversial Birth of a Nation (1914).
performed by a handful of colonial elites, de- The narrative proceeds from the first stir-
spite new historical evidence conflicting with rings of resistance in the early 1770s in Boston
this view. and Virginia to the defeat of Cornwallis at
Yorktown in 1781. In typical Griffith style,
A Racialized Revolution: America these historic events serve as the backdrop for
The 1920s saw a historiographic trend in “de- a romance between a common farmer, Nathan
bunking” the mythological interpretation of Holden (Neil Hamilton), and a Tory debu-
early American history, a trend that suffered a tante, Nancy Montague (Carol Dempster). Be-
backlash in the history and historical films of sides the obvious obstacles of class, the ro-
the 1930s (see O’Connor). Historians such as mance is further hamstrung by the onset of the
Carl Becker (1915) and Charles Beard (1925) War of Independence: Nancy’s father, Justice
stressed class conflict and domestic political Montague (Erville Alderson), remains faithful
inequality as defining characteristics of a pre- to the Crown, despite the family’s friendship
viously hallowed era and pointed out the eco- with fellow Virginian George Washington. Es-
nomic self-interest that guided the Founding caping north to Canada, the family finds itself
Fathers—those “pillars of the temple of lib- at ground zero—Lexington, Massachusetts,
erty” whom Abraham Lincoln had praised in where the shooting war begins. Family loyalties
the previous century. This historiography par- are divided further when Nancy’s brother
alleled the critique of economic inequality, Charles (Charles Mack) joins the rebel cause
class strife, and untrammeled corporate power at Lexington and is killed in Boston at the Bat-
associated with the Progressive Era. tle of Bunker Hill. When Justice Montague is
D. W. Griffith’s epic America, however, dis- wounded in a mob incident outside a Lexing-
plays little influence of the Progressive histo- ton Inn, the blame falls on Nathan, whom
rians. The project began with a request from Nancy scorns—until he is vindicated.
Will H. Hays, of the Motion Picture Producers Holden and the Montagues embody Amer-
and Distributors of America, that Griffith ican virtues: Nathan’s strength, bravery, love
make a patriotic film about the American Rev- of liberty, and humility mark him as a hero,
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ] 53

and Nancy epitomizes the ideal of pure Amer- “again friends, to help solidify the power of the
ican womanhood; yet Griffith also admires English speaking peoples in the work of the
Justice Montague, with his steadfast devotion world.” While the film does not identify this
to monarchy, his respect for the rule of law “work,” it likely alludes to the alliance of the
and political order. For all its patriotic fervor, United States and Britain in the then-recent
America is curiously unconcerned with the world war of 1914–18. Finally, Holden enters
British, deciding instead to rewrite the revo- the ranks of the elite when he marries Nancy,
lution as a battle between virtuous and deca- reinforcing the belief in American class mo-
dent Americans. Thematically, in other words, bility. America ultimately does little to illumi-
America revisits the conflicts of The Birth of a nate the American Revolution, yet it speaks
Nation. The villains are all either “savage” Na- volumes about the racial and political sensi-
tive Americans or traitorous American loyal- bilities of the most prominent American film-
ists who fought alongside British forces. Yet, maker of the 1920s and his audience.
as we see in the sympathetic portrayal of
Justice Montague, not all Tories are depicted
as villains. A Fable of Individualism: The Devil’s Disciple
Griffith’s moral world view, abundantly The 1950s saw a resurgence in the nationalistic
demonstrated in The Birth of a Nation, divided historiography of the 1930s, a movement fu-
cleanly down racial lines: the darker races eled by the Pax Americana and rising prosper-
threatened the moral rectitude of the lighter; ity. This new affluence, along with a dominant
they represented vice, mongrelization, chaos. sociological “consensus” model of American
Yet more damnable were those whites who al- society fueled, it could be argued, a desire to
lied themselves with other races in a gambit see a similar consensus in America’s past. Pu-
for power. Treason against one’s nation was, litzer Prize–winning historian Henry Steele
in Griffith’s view, far less heinous than treason Commager, for example, attempted to over-
against one’s race. Nowhere is this type of vil- turn Charles Beard’s economic interpretation
lainy more clearly depicted than in the char- of the Constitution, arguing that its intended
acter Captain Walter Butler (Lionel Barry- purpose was one of equitably distributing
more), a “Tory ranger” responsible for the power, whatever the pecuniary interests of its
infamous Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778. The framers. Yet consensus, as social critics of the
first scenes featuring Butler show him first 1950s warned, can verge on conformity, an es-
making a war pact with the Iroquois, then ca- pecially loaded term during the Cold War. The
rousing in his hunting lodge with his men, In- most compelling popular culture products and
dians, and a group of slatternly, fawning developments of the 1950s (the James Dean of
women. Butler “dreams of an opportunity Rebel without a Cause, the rock ‘n’ roll of
through which he may become leader, betray Chuck Berry) can be partially understood as
his King, and over the ruins of his country es- reactions to the conformity and standardiza-
tablish a new empire with himself as Viceroy.” tion of a highly developed, consumer society.
A young Mohawk woman, barely clad, dances Guy Hamilton’s The Devil’s Disciple (1959)
erotically before him as he whips the crowd features the unlikely trio of Kirk Douglas, Burt
into a fury. The scene tells all: Butler, who Lancaster, and Laurence Olivier. A British pro-
dreams of “autocratic” power, would turn duction based on George Bernard Shaw’s play,
America into his own decadent, violent, and the film examines moral obligation, conform-
miscegenated kingdom. ity, individualism, and masculine identity in
Consonant with Griffith’s anglophilia, the small-town Massachusetts during the war.
film ends with Montague and Washington, Lancaster plays the Presbyterian minister An-
54 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

thony Anderson, though not very convinc-

ingly. The story begins with the hanging of one
of the parson’s flock, a patriarch of the town
who was falsely accused of treason. The hanged
man’s itinerant, ne’er-do-well son, Richard
Dudgeon (Douglas), steals the body from the
gallows. Dudgeon is everything the parson is
not: reckless, bold, physically and mentally ag-
ile. Dudgeon boasts to Anderson of having
sworn his soul to “his captain and friend,” the
Devil, “and that oath and promise made a man
of me!” Dudgeon’s raffish appeal is not lost on
Anderson’s young wife, Judith (Janette Scott), FIGURE 5. The Devil’s Disciple (1959). Richard
a character who serves only to recommend his Dudgeon (Kirk Douglas), about to be executed on the
more preferable dynamic virility over Rever- orders of General John Burgoyne, the British commander,
who seeks to quell rebellious rumblings in a small New
end Anderson’s pacifism and piety. York town in 1777. Based on George Bernard Shaw’s
If Anderson and Dudgeon represent two satirical play of the same name, The Devil’s Disciple
types of masculinity, a third is presented in the depicts a series of mishaps set off by the British
occupation. Courtesy Brynapod and Hecht, Hill, &
character of General “Gentleman Johnny”
Lancaster Production.
John Burgoyne (Olivier). Foppish and sarcas-
tic, Burgoyne was nonetheless one of Britain’s
most effective commanders until his defeat at way. The combination of Burgoyne’s military
Saratoga in 1777. Olivier portrays Burgoyne, efficacy and gentlemanly mien, Dudgeon’s
ostensibly the villain, as a voice of reason and chaotic spontaneity, and Anderson’s rectitude
civility in a pointless war. The general’s cli- and faith provided a template for contempo-
mactic confrontation with Dudgeon, mistak- rary masculinity in the 1950s.
enly arrested as Anderson, is a volley of witti- The Devil’s Disciple plays fast and loose with
cisms ranking among Shaw’s best. Meanwhile, the facts of Burgoyne’s campaign, which men-
after stumbling through a firefight, Parson An- aced Continental forces up until the British
derson suddenly takes to combat with un- surrender at Saratoga. Also, the film ends with
wonted skill and vigor for a (former) pacifist. Burgoyne remarking that Britain will certainly
When he rides into Burgoyne’s headquarters give up its American colonies, a rather non-
demanding Dudgeon’s release, Burgoyne is sensical pronouncement for a British general
puzzled (as is the viewer) at the sight of the in 1777. Shaw’s irreverent play and Hamilton’s
buckskin-clad clergyman, who declares, “In film are more interested in human folly than
the hours of trial, sir, a man finds his true pro- historical truth. “But what will history say?” a
fession.” lieutenant asks Burgoyne at the film’s conclu-
The film ends with Lancaster exuding the sion. He responds, “History, as usual, will tell
same hammy nobility, but Olivier and Douglas lies.”
are the true heroes here, as they make plans to
dine together later. Burgoyne and Dudgeon The Reagan Era Looks Back: Revolution
are individualists, beholden to none, impatient The resurgence of the American economy in
with the stupidity and mediocrity of wars, na- the 1980s and the policies of the Ronald
tions, causes, and humanity at large. They care Reagan and George Bush administrations
little for society’s approval but are so masterful spurred a revival of conservative ideology and
in deed and bearing that they receive it any- a new willingness to “feel good about America
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ] 55

again.” It was a decade in which “The Age of cially “low” perspective of the film and its stark
Reagan and the Age of Hollywood merged not depiction of the eighteenth century may have
only in policies and rhetoric but also in pop- accounted for its lack of box-office success. A
ular images” (Sklar, 345). However, the 1980s less theoretical reason lies in its being a bad
were also a decade of resistance, a time during movie, with woeful miscasting, poor dialogue,
which gender and racial minorities found new inexplicable relationships, and underdevel-
strategies to combat what many regarded as a oped characters.
regression in civil rights and social justice. Not The year is 1776, and New York is “goin’
surprisingly, historiography reflected the era’s crazy,” in the words of fisherman Tom Dobb
ideological battles. The prevailing conserva- (Al Pacino), with General Washington’s evac-
tism resuscitated the myths of the American uation notice and the expected arrival of Brit-
Revolution for the justification of some con- ish troops. A mob topples a statue of George
troversial policies (for example, President Rea- III and throws Tories into the harbor. Shot
gan’s description of the Nicaraguan Contras as from a vantage amid the crowd, this opening
“the moral equivalent of our founding fa- scene comes as close as any film has in assert-
thers”). Within academia, however, the scope ing that the revolution was a radical movement
of historical analysis of the American Revolu- of the common people. As Gary Nash has
tion expanded, with scholars increasingly in- noted, the urban crowds of the era, much
terested in “history from the bottom up”—the feared by elites on both sides of the conflict,
stories of the poor, women, and minorities. “included a broad range of city dwellers, from
Hugh Hudson’s Revolution appears, in many slaves and servants through laborers and sea-
ways, to be a product of the new social and men to artisans and shopkeepers” (Race, 216).
people’s history of recent decades. Hudson and Similar scenes in Revolution bear out Nash’s
screenwriter Robert Dillon seem to have contention that the “developing consciousness
drawn on new scholarship emphasizing the and political sophistication of ordinary city
radical strains in the colonial era, the com- dwellers came rapidly to fruition in the early
plexity of race, gender, and class relations in 1760s and thereafter played a major role in the
the eighteenth century, and the historical advent of the Revolution” (216).
agency of marginalized groups. Mary Beth After the crowd confiscates Tom’s boat for
Norton, Gary Nash, Gordon Wood, Eric the cause, his young son, Ned (Sid Owen, later
Foner, Ira Berlin, and Joan Hoff Wilson are Dexter Fletcher), is tricked into enlisting in the
among the group of historians who stress the Continental Army. Tom follows, and the two
radical democratic ferment of the late eigh- depart with the army for Brooklyn. Daisy
teenth century. Though not necessarily directly McConnahay (Nastassja Kinski) is an idealistic
informed by such works, the film shares their young patrician caught up in the radical chic
sensibilities. of independence, much to the chagrin of her
Revolution attempts to represent the world family. For reasons untold, she is drawn to the
of the eighteenth century in a new way, both monosyllabic Dobb, and brings him food after
thematically and visually, and was beautifully the Continentals are routed at Brooklyn
designed and photographed. Bernard Lutic’s Heights.
cinematography works with available light, Back in New York, the British humiliate
mimicking the shadowy, torch-lit interiors of Dobb by forcing him to play the fox in a mock
the era. The battle scenes are appropriately hunt. Ned is arrested as a guerrilla and tor-
grim and horrifying, and the landscapes—es- tured by a British noncommissioned officer
pecially what serve here as the Hudson Valley (Donald Sutherland). Sutherland takes to his
and Yorktown—are breathtaking. The so- role with real aplomb, and his Sergeant Major
56 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

Peasy, although a tough, battle-scarred vet- While minorities and women are represented,
eran, reveals a dimension of class conscious- none—except, perhaps, Daisy—is given any
ness and compassion. Tom rescues Ned from abiding perspective as either an agent or an
the British camp, and, pursued by Iroquois observer of historical change. Ultimately, the
trackers, escapes with him into the Hudson filmmakers failed to create a compelling film
Valley. Dobb ambushes and kills the Iroquois, from the ingredients of social and people’s his-
earning the trust of nearby Oneida, who take tory, however commendable the intentions of
the escapees in and care for Ned. Some months screenwriter Dillon and director Hudson.
later, Daisy is reunited briefly with Tom and
Ned at Valley Forge when she arrives bearing
supplies for the troops; she and Tom enjoy a The Revolutionary Museum
brief (and unconvincing) romantic moment— As any museum visitor knows, touching the
a critical fault of the film is its inability to gen- artifacts on display is against the rules. Given
erate any motivation for the attraction be- the power of the American Revolution to sym-
tween Tom and Daisy. bolize American ideals, perhaps it has been
The choice of an Italian American actor for similarly marked as off-limits for revision and
the part of the Scottish-born Tom Dobb is an reconstruction in film. Yet historians, and es-
interesting one, fitting the multicultural sen- pecially historical filmmakers, must “touch”
sibility of Revolution, but Pacino never gets the the past in order to bring it to life, and some-
feel of the eighteenth century—its social poli- times this means putting one’s fingerprints on
tics of deference, its manners and sensibilities. it. America, The Devil’s Disciple, and Revolution
Ned’s marriage to a young Jewish woman he are not exactly films about the American Rev-
meets at Valley Forge is a similarly admirable olution; rather, they involve attempts by their
attempt to show the ethnic diversity of the respective writers and directors to interpret the
Continentals. The handling of ethnic integra- era in the light of contemporary social and po-
tion, however, subscribes to an earlier, “melt- litical conditions. Griffith used the American
ing pot” model of American heterogeneity. Revolution to justify an ethnocentric world-
Despite more recent sociological models of the view; Shaw and Hamilton used it to illustrate
continuing cultural integrity of minority human folly and encourage individualism;
groups in American history, Revolution defines Hudson and Dillon tethered its struggles and
American identity as a racial and ethnic cipher. diversity to those of the present.

References
Lafayette (1961, F)
Filmography Liberty! The American Revolution (1997, TV)
The Adams Chronicles (1976, TV) The Patriot (2000, F)
America (1924, F) Revolution (1985, F)
The Devil’s Disciple (1959, F) 1776 (1972, F)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939, F)
George Washington (1984, TV)
George Washington II: Forging a New Nation (1985, Bibliography
TV) Bailyn, Bernard. The Ideological Origins of the Ameri-
History Alive: The American Revolution (1998, TV) can Revolution. Rev. ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
The Howards of Virginia (1940, F) University Press, 1992.
Independence (1972, D) Beard, Charles. An Economic Interpretation of the
Janice Meredith (1924, F) Constitution. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
Johnny Tremain (1957, F) Becker, Carl L. Beginnings of the American People.
John Paul Jones (1959, F) Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1915.
 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ] 57
Berlin, Ira. “The Revolution in Black Life.” In Alfred F. O’Connor, John E. “A Reaffirmation of American
Young, ed., The American Revolution: Explorations in Ideals: Drums Along the Mohawk.” In John E.
the History of American Radicalism, 349–382. De- O’Connor, ed., American History/American Film:
Kalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1976. Interpreting the Hollywood Image, 92–112. New
Commager, Henry Steele. “The Constitution: Was It York: Frederick Ungar, 1979.
an Economic Document?” American Heritage 10 Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past: The Chal-
(December 1958): 58–61, 100–103. lenge of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge,
Henderson, Robert M. D. W. Griffith: His Life and MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Work. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972. Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Nash, Gary B. Race, Class, and Politics: Essays on Co- tory of American Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Vin-
lonial and Revolutionary Society. Urbana: Univer- tage, 1994.
sity of Illinois Press, 1986. Wilson, Joan Hoff. “The Illusion of Change: Women
——. “Social Change and the Growth of Prerevolu- and the American Revolution.” In Alfred F. Young,
tionary Urban Radicalism.” In Alfred F. Young, ed., The American Revolution: Explorations in the
ed., The American Revolution: Explorations in the History of American Radicalism, 383–446. DeKalb:
History of American Radicalism, 3–36. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1976.
Northern Illinois University Press, 1976. Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the American
Norton, Mary Beth. Founding Fathers & Mothers: Revolution. New York: Vintage, 1993.
Gendered Power and the Forming of American Soci- Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States.
ety. New York: Knopf, 1996. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
[ ALICIA R. BROWNE AND LAWRENCE A. KREISER JR. ]

The Civil War and Reconstruction

he people and events of the Civil War and stitutionally unjustifiable, the South had been

T Reconstruction eras long have captured

the American imagination, but nowhere
more so than in the movies. As Bruce Chad-
wick points out in The Reel Civil War, more
more than punished by the excesses of the Re-
construction.
The theme of reconciliation dominated the
flood of silent films about the war, and stories
than seven hundred Hollywood productions that both Northerners and Southerners iden-
have portrayed Americans’ attempts to define tified with became common. Courage in the
the future of the nation between 1861 and face of battle was one sectionally unifying
1877, more than any other period in the na- theme. In Thomas Ince’s The Coward (1915),
tion’s history. Civil War and Reconstruction a Southern deserter redeems himself when he
films have had mixed success in making smuggles valuable Union plans to the Confed-
money at the box office. But whatever their erates. In D. W. Griffith’s The Battle (1911), a
financial fate, movies that depict the Civil War frightened young soldier proves his bravery to
and the Reconstruction era have played major his sweetheart by bringing needed supplies to
roles in shaping and reflecting popular and his regiment through enemy lines. Families
scholarly attitudes toward these watershed and sweethearts separated by the war also were
events in American history. popular unifying themes. Rarely had imme-
diate family members fought on opposite
The Silent Era and Nationalist Historians sides, but the image of brother fighting brother
Americans sought to heal the lingering wounds served as a symbolic representation of the di-
of the Civil War during the early twentieth cen- vided Union. In The Sting of Victory (1916), a
tury. Appomattox still lay fresh within the living Southerner is rejected by his family and sweet-
memory of many in the country, but Union and heart after he fights for the Union, while In the
Confederate veterans had begun to meet in Days of War (1913) follows brothers-in-law
joint reunions that stressed their shared expe- who fight on opposite sides but make their
riences and common bravery. During the same peace after they wound one another in battle.
years, the Spanish-American War (1898) had Lovers are divided in Herbert Blache’s Barbara
brought the nation together in a common cause Frietchie (1915), the most gripping version of
and demonstrated the tremendous power of a the oft-retold romance, loosely based on the
united country. In academia, historians such as famous poem by John Greenleaf Whittier.
James Ford Rhodes and John Burgess pioneered D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915)
a nationalist school that sought to establish a is the most important, as well as controversial,
usable past on which both North and South silent film on the Civil War era. The Kentucky-
could agree. By the turn of the century, scholars born son of a Confederate veteran, Griffith was
from both regions of the country had reached raised on stories of the South’s wartime brav-
a consensus that, although secession was con- ery and home front sacrifices. Griffith featured

58
 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ] 59

these images in many of his early Civil War The Birth of a Nation drew mainly favorable
films, but Reconstruction dominates The Birth reviews and large crowds, both because of
of a Nation. Based on Thomas Dixon’s viru- Griffith’s cinematic innovations and because
lently racist novel and play The Clansman he effectively dramatized the prevailing views
(1905), the movie tells the story of the Ca- about the Civil War era. The early intertitle
merons of South Carolina and the Stonemans, that reads, “The bringing of the African to
their Northern friends. The Stonemans move America planted the first seed of disunion,”
to the South after the war, led by their patri- was in accord with nationalist historians who
arch, Austin (who was based on Thaddeus Ste- argued that the war was an unavoidable con-
vens, the Radical Republican congressman). flict and that slavery was one of its primary
They find the Camerons’ entire way of life de- causes. But the film is most notable because of
stroyed by arrogant carpetbaggers and igno- Griffith’s now-discredited version of Recon-
rant freedmen, all of whom have gained po- struction. His portrayal reveals the influence
litical power during Reconstruction. Among of the Dunning school, the dominant scholarly
their tormentors is Austin Stoneman’s protégé, interpretation of the period until World War
Silas Lynch, a mulatto who becomes lieutenant II. Historian William Dunning and his stu-
governor. Stoneman eventually gets his come- dents described Reconstruction as a “tragic
uppance when Lynch proposes to his daughter, era” characterized by black excesses and white
Elsie, while blacks rampage through the streets, suffering. Carpetbaggers were villains, scala-
drunk on their newfound power. The Came- wags were traitors, and freedmen were woe-
rons’ young daughter also falls victim to a fully unprepared to exercise the political rights
black man’s sexual aggression, when, after a thrust upon them. Most of Griffith’s black
protracted pursuit, she leaps from a cliff to characters (played primarily by white actors in
avoid being raped. Order is reestablished only blackface) are stereotyped as sexual aggressors
by the Ku Klux Klan, whose members save El- or as fools and dupes of the carpetbaggers. In
sie Stoneman from Lynch’s clutches, avenge one provocative scene, Griffith showed the
Flora Cameron’s death, and restore white con- South Carolina legislature dominated by
trol. At the end of the movie, North and South blacks (which is accurate) who legalize inter-
are reunited symbolically by marriages be- racial marriage while they prop bare feet on
tween the Cameron and Stoneman children. their desks, drink whiskey, and eat chicken.
Griffith used several innovative production The images roused only limited audience pro-
techniques to heighten the drama of his story. test because, by the 1910s, oppressive “Jim
He made viewers part of chase and battle Crow” laws severely limited the rights of blacks
scenes by filming with cameras placed on mov- in the South and discrimination prevailed
ing trucks, while irising reduced rectangular throughout much of the nation. White viewers
images to circles of various sizes to highlight found common ground in the depiction of
characters and action. Rapid cross-cutting be- blacks as the cause of the war and the villains
tween two locales built excitement by allowing of the peace.
audiences to view events happening simulta- Scholarly reassessments of Reconstruction
neously, a particularly effective technique in and changes in popular thinking about race
the sequences where Lynch forces himself on have made The Birth of a Nation outdated and
Elsie and the Klan gathers for her rescue. Suc- controversial. A small number of scholars first
cessive generations of filmmakers have fol- challenged the Dunning school as early as the
lowed the path forged by Griffith, and today 1930s and 1940s, but the most influential shifts
many of his production techniques have be- in thinking occurred in conjunction with the
come commonplace. civil rights movement of the 1960s. Revisionist
60 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

scholars argued that black politicians pursued a well-made satire of Civil War spy dramas.
ambitious reform agendas, including civil The next year, United Artists released Buster
rights and the establishment of public schools. Keaton’s classic The General, loosely based on
Postrevisionist historians later minimized the an 1862 raid by Union spy James Andrews.
lasting reforms of the era by arguing that the Keaton portrays a bumbling Southern engi-
Southern power structure remained essentially neer who wins glory and his sweetheart’s hand
unchanged by the war. Most recently, a new when he foils the raiders’ plans. With these no-
generation of scholars, led by Eric Foner, has table exceptions, the Civil War and Recon-
tried to strike a balance that acknowledges struction made little headway on the silver
both the genuine accomplishments of the era, screen until 1939, when they returned in the
particularly by African Americans, and the fail- blockbuster Gone with the Wind.
ure to affect sweeping changes. Although shifts Producer David O. Selznick made a leap of
in thinking about race make The Birth of a Na- faith when he paid a record $50,000 for the
tion unfashionable to modern audiences, the rights to Margaret Mitchell’s novel in 1936.
movie is a significant part of film history. In Movies about the Civil War had gained a rep-
1998, the American Film Institute placed Grif- utation as box-office poison, and when Louis
fith’s masterpiece forty-fourth on its list of the B. Mayer reportedly expressed interest in ac-
one hundred best films in American history. quiring the book, MGM’s Irving Thalberg con-
vinced him otherwise. “Don’t do it, Louis,”
Moonlight and Magnolias Thalberg declared in one of the great miscal-
In contrast to the wealth of silent films about culations of film history. “No Civil War picture
the Civil War, the 1920s and 1930s proved a ever made a nickel!” (Hay, 183). Thalberg was
barren period for the blue and gray. During correct about most Civil War movies, but the
the interwar period, the nationalist school epic based on the triumphs and tragedies of
broke down, and historians increasingly ar- Scarlett O’Hara was not most movies. Scarlett’s
gued about the origins of the conflict. Some travails captivated audiences, and whether she
historians of the time, among them Charles wins back Rhett Butler has become one of the
and Mary Beard, explained the war as an eco- enduring questions in American popular cul-
nomic struggle between the Southern planter ture. (Alexandra Ripley made an ill-conceived
aristocracy and capitalists of the North and attempt to answer the question in her novel
West. Others historians, dismayed by what Scarlett, which was published in 1991 and aired
seemed to be the senseless tragedy of World on television three years later and which dem-
War I, looked back and saw America’s sec- onstrated that the characters’ fate is best left to
tional warfare as a “repressible conflict” that the individual imagination.)
resulted from inept political leadership and fa- Selznick faced a daunting task in bringing
naticism on both sides. For the public, how- the lengthy novel to the screen, and stories
ever, the emergence of the nation from the car- about the process have passed into legend. Vi-
nage of the fighting in Europe brought vien Leigh was chosen to play Scarlett only af-
primarily a desire for lighthearted and fast- ter a well-publicized national search; the origi-
paced entertainment. Hollywood avoided the nal director was replaced during filming; and
events of the mid- and late nineteenth century, at least ten writers, including F. Scott Fitzger-
especially the serious social and political ald, tried their hand at the script. The film lost
themes found in The Birth of a Nation. The some of the subtlety and nuance of the book
war functioned occasionally as a backdrop in in the process. According to Mitchell’s biog-
films, exemplified by two outstanding come- rapher, the novelist considered herself a revi-
dies. In 1926, Paramount released Hands Up!, sionist who saw Southern white society as
 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ] 61

more complex and multilayered than the one- mances like So Red the Rose, a 1935 flop, by
dimensional planter elite commonly featured riveting characters; its attention to detail (Cali-
in popular entertainment. Selznick, however, fornia’s black soil was colored red, for exam-
perpetuated the “moonlight and magnolias” ple, to mimic Georgia’s); and Academy
view that 1930s audiences expected. He trans- Award–winning performances by Vivien Leigh
formed Tara, the O’Hara home, from the or- (Scarlett) and Hattie McDaniel (Mammy).
dinary house of an Irish immigrant into the McDaniel made history as the first black
white-columned mansion of an established performer to win an Academy Award, but her
and prosperous planter. The elegance of Tara character finds less approval with modern au-
and the splendor of Twelve Oaks, the Wilkes’s diences. As in The Birth of a Nation and other
plantation, disturbed Mitchell, who in a tour early films, black characters in Gone with the
of Clayton County, Georgia, the setting for the Wind are portrayed mainly as “happy darkies,”
two plantations, found only one antebellum and their stereotypical performances now
home with columns. “When I think of the cause viewers to blanch. Prissy (Butterfly
healthy, hearty country and somewhat crude McQueen), the silly and indolent slave who
civilization I depicted,” Mitchell wrote, “and “don’t know nuthin’ ’bout birthin’ babies,” is
then of the elegance that is to be presented, I one of the more egregious examples. Although
cannot help yelping with laughter” (Pyron, Selznick removed some of Mitchell’s objec-
370–71). tionable depictions of blacks, he, like the au-
In addition to romanticizing the image of thor, reflected his times. Only in the 1960s and
Tara to fit audience expectations, Selznick al- 1970s did historians such as Stanley Elkins, Eu-
tered the story to make the film more palatable gene Genovese, and Herbert Gutman seriously
to a national audience. Mitchell perceived her- explore the experience of slavery. Despite these
self to be a revisionist, but she held many of limitations, the American Film Institute rec-
the racial and regional prejudices of her time. ognized the film’s enduring audience appeal
To avoid controversy, Selznick removed the and ranked Gone with the Wind fourth among
author’s direct references to the Ku Klux Klan, its one hundred best films.
as well as certain negative depictions of black War had erupted in Europe and American
characters. Additionally, in the scene where involvement was on the horizon when Gone
Scarlett shoots a Federal soldier who has en- with the Wind appeared in theaters. Hollywood
tered Tara, the latter character is a deserter and turned away from the mid-nineteenth century
looter, a character unsympathetic to both and created propaganda films to support the
North and South. Nevertheless, Selznick re- conflict at hand. The lack of attention to the
tained much of the novel’s flavor, and the Civil War continued after 1945, and few notable
movie remains an accurate Southern view of films about the era appeared for the remainder
the war and its aftermath. of the decade. Of note are Virginia City (1940),
Gone with the Wind opened in December which stars Errol Flynn as a Union officer who
1939 to glowing reviews and strong box office escapes from a Confederate prison; Tap Roots
returns. The sweeping love story appealed to (1948), a romance that repeats tired images of
audiences, and the theme of triumph over ad- the Old South; and A Southern Yankee (1948),
versity resonated with viewers still reeling from a comedic farce that employed the down-on-
the effects of the Depression. Although it is his-luck Buster Keaton as a gag writer.
difficult to compare its profits to those of more
recent films, by all estimations the movie has The Rise of Consensus History
earned hundreds of millions of dollars. The After the Allied victory in World War II and
film is set apart from pedestrian Civil War ro- the rise of the United States as a world power,
62 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

to fight. Smell gunsmoke for once. What are

these here guns for anyway, to shoot or to drill
with? Might as well be broomsticks.” Although
studio editing dramatically changed Huston’s
original version and the movie failed at the box
office, Red Badge of Courage remains a superb
portrayal of the common soldier at war.
William Wyler’s Friendly Persuasion (1956)
also explores the common person’s reaction to
the war. Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire
star as Indiana Quakers who struggle to re-
main true to their faith as John Hunt Morgan’s
FIGURE 6. Gone with the Wind (1939). At the close of Confederate cavalry raiders surge closer to
the Civil War, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh, right) and their community in 1863. Whether their son
her housekeeper, Mammy (Hattie McDaniel, left), enter (Anthony Perkins) will fight in the Home
the Atlanta jail in the hope of convincing Rhett Butler
(Clark Gable) to loan them money to pay the mortgage
Guard is one in a series of moral dilemmas that
on the O’Hara plantation, Tara. Scarlett wears a dress confronts the family. The plot will disappoint
made of old velvet drapes to disguise her poverty. viewers looking for a significant exploration of
Courtesy Selznick International Pictures. pacifism during wartime, although the film it-
self is charming and well acted.
a new school of historical thought emerged In addition to portraying the experiences of
that discouraged the lively debate over the the common soldier, Hollywood used the Civil
causes of the Civil War that had dominated the War to exploit the popularity of westerns dur-
interwar years. Consensus historians viewed ing the 1950s and 1960s. In many of these films
America’s past as a steady march of progress, the war provides the excuse for soldiers to be
emphasizing factors that had united, rather out west, where they fight Indians, Mexicans,
than divided, the country. According to his- and outlaws. A standard plot features Union
torian David Donald, consensus scholars es- and Confederate soldiers joining forces to face
chewed analysis of the Civil War because “so a common enemy, as portrayed in Major Dun-
appalling an aberration is inexplicable, easiest dee (1965), starring Charlton Heston, and The
to pass over in silence” (354). Instead, many Undefeated (1969), with Rock Hudson and
historians began new topics of exploration. Of John Wayne. The rough-and-tumble Wayne
particular note was Bell Wiley’s pioneering also stars in John Ford’s The Horse Soldiers
work on the experiences of the common sol- (1959), which invokes many of the elements
dier. John Huston brought the enlisted man’s of the typical western. Loosely based on an
story to the screen in 1951 in his faithful ad- 1863 Union cavalry raid through Mississippi
aptation of Stephen Crane’s novel The Red and Louisiana commanded by Benjamin
Badge of Courage (1895). Audie Murphy por- Grierson, the film finds Wayne leading his
trays Henry Fleming, a Union soldier who flees troopers against a more numerous foe.
from his first battle but performs heroically the Jimmy Stewart starred in many westerns
following day. Huston accurately captured throughout the 1960s, but Shenandoah (1965)
Civil War soldiers’ everyday experiences, in- found him in the more thoughtful role of a
cluding their boredom in camp and their de- Virginia father who attempts to keep his family
sire to go into combat. “All we ever do is drill,” neutral amid the turmoil of the war. Shenan-
Fleming lamented before his first battle. “I’m doah lays the blame for the war firmly on slav-
getting mighty sick of it. Thunder! I joined up ery, and the charge of “rich man’s war, poor
 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ] 63

man’s fight,” recurs throughout the film, as it from his executioners, thoughts of home and
did during the conflict. The movie accurately family swirl through his mind. Scenes in which
captures the internal dissent that some histo- dialogue is conspicuously absent contrast the
rians blame for the Confederacy’s defeat, in condemned man’s past happiness with his
stark contrast to many earlier films that por- present danger, and the unexpected ending ef-
trayed the South united behind the war. Like fectively conveys Bierce’s bitter view of war.
most highland Southerners, Stewart’s Charlie The movie later appeared as an episode on the
Anderson owns no slaves, and he believes that CBS television series The Twilight Zone.
the war is not his concern. When a Confed- Although the war sparked introspective
erate soldier attempts to enlist the six Ander- films and action-packed westerns, for many
son boys, their father rebuffs him with, “This Hollywood producers the conflict remained
war is not mine, and I take no notice of it.” the ultimate vehicle for the great romantic
Anderson must take notice when Federal sol- epic. MGM released Edward Dmytryk’s Rain-
diers mistake his youngest son for a Rebel and tree County in 1957, in an overt attempt to
take him prisoner. Anderson’s isolation from recreate the success of Gone with the Wind. Set
the war is screen fiction, for few Virginia farms in rural Indiana before and during the war, the
remained untouched while the opposing ar- movie traces the romance of a would-be writer
mies swirled around them. Additionally, few (Montgomery Clift) and a beautiful Southern
young males avoided conscription in the post- belle (Elizabeth Taylor). The couple briefly
Gettysburg South, with the exception of large travels through the South after they marry, and
slaveholders. the romantic images of the region reprise
Shenandoah harkens back to scholars Avery many earlier films. Unlike most of these mov-
Craven and James G. Randall, who argued that ies, however, made when abolitionists were vil-
a “blundering generation” dragged the country lains to both North and South, Raintree
into an avoidable conflict full of needless death County portrays them in a sympathetic light.
and destruction. This school of thought had Clift plays a vocal critic of slavery, and he has
encountered challenges by the 1960s, but the the audience on his side as he forces his bride
interpretation found an articulate spokesman to free her slaves. The movie also openly ad-
in Charlie Anderson. The plain-speaking dresses miscegenation, and Taylor portrays a
farmer sums up the folly of the war in a mono- woman who is driven slowly mad by her fear
logue to his wife’s grave: “I don’t even know that her mother was black. A budget of more
what to say to you anymore, Martha. There is than $5 million and spectacular costumes and
nothin’ much I can tell you about this war. It’s sets failed to compensate for a tedious script,
like all wars, I suppose. The undertakers are and the movie fared poorly with audiences.
winning it. The politicians will talk a lot about Nevertheless, the Civil War remained an ob-
the glory of it. And the old men will talk about vious setting for romantic epics, and long cos-
the need of it. The soldiers, they just want to tume dramas would later thrive on television.
go home.”
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1961), Television and New Social History
an Academy Award–winning short subject Television revolutionized popular media dur-
film, also depicts a grim reality of war. Based ing the 1960s, and the Civil War found a home
on the story by Ambrose Bierce, a Union vet- away from the silver screen. TV provided an
eran, Robert Enrico’s film features an anony- accommodating venue for lengthy examina-
mous Civil War soldier at the moment of his tions and, beginning in the 1970s, miniseries
execution by hanging. Miraculously, the noose about the era flourished. In 1977, the television
appears to break and, as the soldier escapes version of Alex Haley’s Roots (1976), a fiction-
64 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

alized account of the author’s slave ancestors, horror of these engagements, he also high-
brought new insights about slavery to the lights many of the individual acts of honor
screen. The series aired for eight consecutive and courage displayed by the participants. In
nights and stimulated unprecedented popular the last episode, Burns examines veterans’ re-
consideration of slavery. As scholars Eugene unions and other acts of national unity that
Genovese and Herbert Gutman had long been occurred in the late nineteenth and early
documenting, Roots vividly showed that slaves twentieth centuries. His focus glosses over
developed a community and a culture that ex- much of the ill will that followed the fighting,
isted outside of their relationship with whites. but historian Robert Brent Toplin suggests
The series also portrayed Reconstruction from that the focus on reconciliation is in keeping
the perspective of emancipated slaves. Their with late-twentieth-century Americans’ desire
determination to achieve an economic liveli- to emphasize their common heritage rather
hood and to implement their political rights in than their past differences.
the face of tremendous resistance provided a Fourteen million people watched the initial
necessary correction to the portrait of childlike run of The Civil War on PBS, and even more
and unruly freedmen in The Birth of a Nation read the companion book or saw subsequent
and the unflinchingly loyal slaves in Gone with airings. Historians recognized that Burns had
the Wind. reached an audience underexposed to aca-
While Roots challenged viewers to recon- demic histories, and many were vocal with
sider their perceptions of slavery, miniseries criticisms large and small. In an indication of
such as The Blue and the Gray (1982), North the current dominance of social history, whose
and South (1986), and its sequel, North and proponents study history “from the bottom
South Book II (1986) entertained viewers with up” by examining the everyday experiences of
familiar clichés. In these series, the conflict ordinary men and women, Burns was taken to
separates families and friends and forces them task for emphasizing battles and generals.
to make painful choices between region and Many scholars believed that Burns and writer
loved ones. The success of these films dem- Geoffrey Ward gave short shrift to their par-
onstrates that the image of American fighting ticular areas of interest, including Reconstruc-
American was as poignant in the 1980s as it tion and the wartime roles of women. Some of
was seventy years before. Burns’s critics noted valid shortcomings and
The most significant television film about errors while others only nitpicked, but their
the era is Ken Burns’s The Civil War (1990). attention to the series and its record-setting
Burns vividly brings to life the war’s civilian audience for public television suggest how
and military participants through photo- relevant the war remains to Americans.
graphs, music, letters, and diaries. Burns fo- Among the many prominent individuals
cuses on stories of individual failure and ac- featured in Burns’s series, none is more im-
complishment because, as one prominent film portant than Abraham Lincoln. (See “Abra-
historian describes, they create the “emotional ham Lincoln.”) The sixteenth president was an
connections [that] become a kind of glue immensely popular figure during the early
which makes the most complex of past events years of the movie industry, and films such as
stick in our minds and our hearts” (Toplin, The Land of Opportunity (1920) and Abraham
160). The film starts with the causes of the con- Lincoln (1924) dramatized periods of his life
flict, and, although Burns blames neither side, and political career. In The Birth of a Nation,
he attributes the war to slavery. The film then D. W. Griffith calls Lincoln the “Great Heart”
proceeds chronologically from battle to battle, and portrays him as a fatherly figure who par-
and while Burns emphasizes the brutality and dons Confederate prisoners, a popular image
 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ] 65

in silent films. Griffith’s sympathetic image of Andrew’s model black regiment, they received
Lincoln reflected a general sentiment that, had adequate supplies and equipment. Glory’s stir-
the President lived, he would have enacted ring score, performed by the Boys Choir of
more benign Reconstruction policies than did Harlem, and its gripping battle scenes dra-
the Radical Congress. Griffith made Abraham matically bring forth the magnitude of the
Lincoln in 1930, a full-length talking film regiment’s accomplishments.
whose chief failing is an episodic approach to Like black soldiers, prisoners of war are un-
the president’s life. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) derrepresented in the movies. One of the only
and Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940) focus on the films to explore this subject is the television
president’s early career, and both perpetuate film Andersonville (1996), the story of the in-
images of his frontier resourcefulness. The last famous Southern prison in Georgia. Estab-
few decades have generally found Lincoln on lished in the late winter of 1864, the prison
the periphery of Civil War films. Scholars are quickly exceeded its capacity, and malnutri-
now less likely to portray Lincoln as a flawless tion and disease ran rampant. The film ac-
leader, and some have sought to debunk his curately portrays the hellish conditions that
image as the “Great Emancipator.” The only led to the deaths of nearly one-third of the
recent full-length screen biography is Gore Vi- 45,000 inmates. Criminal gangs of prisoners,
dal’s Lincoln (1987), based on Vidal’s fiction- called Raiders, exacerbated the already de-
alized version of the Lincoln presidency. Vidal plorable conditions, and the film dramatizes
offers a very human portrait of a folksy yet a true incident in which the Confederate
shrewd president who is ultimately a heroic guards gave permission to the prisoners to try
figure. their tormentors and to execute the ringlead-
Few films that examine Lincoln as wartime ers. Andersonville depicts Captain Heinrich
president mention his decisive role in the re- Wirz, the controversial commandant whom
cruitment of black soldiers. By 1865, 74 per- the War Department executed after the war,
cent of free northern blacks of military age had as vindictive and slightly crazy. Although he
volunteered, and these 179,000 men consti- may have been both, historians now generally
tuted nearly 10 percent of the Union military agree that Wirz was hampered by a lack of
(Duncan, 20). The 54th Massachusetts was the supplies and a deteriorating Confederate in-
first Northern black regiment, and its history frastructure.
came to the public’s attention in Glory (1989). The lingering pain of slavery became a silver
The movie follows the unit’s organization un- screen topic in 1998, when Oprah Winfrey put
der Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew her tremendous popularity behind a film ad-
Broderick) during the winter of 1862–63 aptation of Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize–
through the ill-fated attack the following sum- winning novel Beloved (1987). In addition to
mer on Fort Wagner, which guarded the har- producing the film, Winfrey portrayed Sethe,
bor at Charleston, South Carolina. The regi- a former runaway slave who is haunted by
ment suffered nearly 50 percent casualties, but memories of the daughter she killed rather
the courage of its members helped to convince than allow her to be captured by slave catchers.
the Northern public that blacks would fight The film failed dismally at the box office, de-
bravely and skillfully for the Union. To make spite Winfrey’s moving performance. The
an already poignant story even more so, the poor showing was due more to Thandie New-
film’s regiment is filled with ex-slaves who ini- ton’s off-putting portrayal of Beloved, the
tially labor in ill-fitting shoes and without uni- murdered child, and to an overly long and
forms. In reality, freeborn blacks dominated confusing script than to audience resistance to
the 54th Massachusetts, and, as Governor John the issue of slavery. Appearing concurrently and
66 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

F I G U R E 7 . Gettysburg (1993). Involving hundreds of reenactors, Gettysburg chronicles the massive, detailed, and
violent three-day battle of July 1863, which ended a Confederate invasion of the North. Courtesy Esparza/Katz
Productions and Turner Pictures.

demonstrating the continued viability of the invasion of the North and marked the high-
topic were Slavery in America (1998) a PBS doc- water mark of Robert E. Lee’s Confederate
umentary, and Remembering Slavery (1998), a army. Filmed on the battlefield, the movie fea-
book and companion audio tapes featuring tures thousands of reenactors and gives tre-
slave reminiscences gathered in the 1930s by the mendous attention to accuracy of details. Ef-
Federal Writers’ Project. fective camera techniques vividly convey the
Despite Hollywood’s recent forays into new size and scope of the battle, most poignantly
topics, many audiences still want to hear the as line after line of Confederate soldiers sweep
crash of gunfire and the roar of artillery, and forward during Pickett’s Charge. But despite
the ultimate Civil War movie occurs on the the presence of so many enlisted soldiers, the
battlefield. Gettysburg (1993), based on Mi- film is most concerned with explaining the ac-
chael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel tions and motivations of their officers. One of
The Killer Angels (1974), is one of the most the more controversial portrayals is that of Lee,
vivid depictions of Civil War combat, as is its played by Martin Sheen in Gettysburg (but by
prequel Gods and Generals (2003). Gettysburg Robert Duvall in Gods and Generals). Both
portrays the decisive three-day battle during sides revered the Confederate commander af-
the summer of 1863 that ended the South’s last ter his death in 1870, and his battlefield skill
 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ] 67

and sense of duty made him an American hero. Hollywood has explored the events of the era
In the past twenty years, however, Lee has in hundreds of films since the advent of the
come under increased fire from scholars such film industry. The drama inherent in a war in
as Thomas Connelly and Alan Nolan, who which Americans fought their fellow country-
criticize the general’s excessive confidence in men has captured the public’s imagination.
the abilities of his men and his obsession with Just as audiences lined up to see Gone with the
winning the war through a single, climactic Wind, their grandchildren remained glued to
battle. The movie suggests these deficiencies their televisions throughout the Ken Burns se-
and portrays Lee as less capable than General ries. In contrast to the attention given to the
James Longstreet (Tom Berenger), his chief war, Reconstruction is rarely depicted in film.
subordinate—and a controversial figure in his Many Americans know little about the war’s
own right. aftermath, except to perceive it dimly as a time
Gettysburg is again examined in a series of of corruption, dishonor, and failure. Public
documentaries by Greystone Communications. understanding probably will lag behind schol-
The topics are diverse and include episodes on arly reinterpretation until Hollywood chal-
the Irish soldiers who fought on both sides; Jen- lenges the outdated images of Griffith and
nie Wade, the only civilian killed during the Selznick with honest portrayals of the suc-
fighting; and the leading officers. Chamberlain cesses and failures of the era. Continued atten-
at Gettysburg (1998), which focuses on the hero tion to the varied events of the entire period
of Little Round Top, demonstrates the strength remains important, for, as Shelby Foote ele-
of the series, with sequences filmed on the bat- gantly declares in The Civil War, “Any under-
tlefield, well-executed computer graphics, and standing of this nation has to be based, and I
a balanced combination of historians and mean really based, on an understanding of the
United States Park Service experts. Civil War. . . . It defined us.”

References
Hands Up! (1926, F)
Filmography The Horse Soldiers (1959, F)
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, F) In the Days of War (1913, F)
Abraham Lincoln (1924, F; 1930, F) The Land of Opportunity (1920, F)
Africans in America (1998, D) Major Dundee (1965, F)
Andersonville (1996, TV) North and South (1986, TV)
Barbara Frietchie (1915, F) North and South Book II (1986, TV)
The Battle (1911, F) An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (F, 1961)
Beloved (1998, F) Raintree County (1957, F)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) The Red Badge of Courage (1951, F; 1974, TV)
The Blue and the Gray (1982, TV) Roots (1977, TV)
The Bridge (1931, F) Santa Fe Trail (1940, F)
Chamberlain at Gettysburg (1998, D) Scarlett (1994, TV)
The Civil War (1990, D) Seven Angry Men (1955, F)
The Coward (1915, F) Shenandoah (1965, F)
The Filmmakers’ Gettysburg (1998, D) So Red the Rose (1935, F)
Friendly Persuasion (1956, F) A Southern Yankee (1948, F)
The General (1927, F) The Sting of Victory (1916, F)
Gettysburg (1993, F) Tap Roots (1948, F)
Glory (1989, F) The Undefeated (1969, F)
Gods and Generals (2003, F) The Unknown Civil War (1998, D)
Gone with the Wind (1939, F) Virginia City (1940, F)
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (1987, TV) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F)
68 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
Screen: More Than Eighty Years of Civil War Mov-
Bibliography ies. Secaucus, NJ: Carol, 1996.
Berlin, Ira, Marc Fureau, and Steven F. Miller. Re- Lang, Robert, ed. The Birth of a Nation: D. W. Grif-
membering Slavery: African Americans Talk about fith, Director. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univer-
Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Freedom. sity Press, 1994.
New York: Norton, 1998. Marvel, William. Andersonville: The Last Depot.
Carnes, Mark C., ed. Past Imperfect: History According Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. 1994.
Chadwick, Bruce. The Reel Civil War: Mythmaking in McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil
American Film. New York: Knopf, 2001. War Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Cullen, Jim. The Civil War in Popular Culture: A Re- Pyron, Darden Asbury. Southern Daughter: The Life of
usable Past. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institu- Margaret Mitchell. New York: Oxford University
tion Press, 1995. Press, 1991.
Donald, David. “American Historians and the Causes Rachels, David, and Robert Baird. “Andersonville
of the Civil War.” South Atlantic Quarterly 59 Goes to Hollywood—Courtesy of Ted Turner.”
(1960): 351–355. Film & History 25.1 (1995): 54–57.
Duncan, Russell, ed. Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Spears, Jack. The Civil War on the Screen and Other
Civil War Letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. Essays. New York: A. S. Barnes, 1977.
Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992. Spehr, Paul C. The Civil War in Motion Pictures: A
Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Rev- Bibliography of Films Produced in the United States
olution: 1863–1877. New York: Harper & Row, since 1897. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
1988. Printing Office, 1961.
Hay, Peter. MGM: When the Lion Roars. Atlanta: Toplin, Robert Brent, ed. Ken Burns’s The Civil War:
Turner, 1991. Historians Respond. New York: Oxford University
Kinnard, Roy. The Blue and the Gray on the Silver Press, 1996.
[ PHILIP J. LANDON ]

The Cold War

he Cold War was the name given to the invasion of South Korea by the communist-

T decades-long political and economic con-

flict between the United States and the So-
viet Union. It began in the wake of World War
II as the two superpowers sought to determine
led North in 1950 [see “The Korean War”];
and revelations of Soviet espionage activities
in the United States) seemed to confirm the
widespread assumption in America that the
the political and economic futures of the Eu- Cold War was precipitated by the Soviet
ropean nations devastated by the war, and it Union’s plans for global domination. A mas-
continued until the political disintegration of sive rearmament program and the creation of
the Soviet Union in 1991. Walter Lippman’s a network of military and political alliances—
The Cold War (1947), an analysis of American including the North Atlantic Treaty Organi-
foreign policy, gave a name to the escalating zation (NATO), the Southeast Asia Treaty
hostilities between the Soviet Union, together Organization (SEATO), and the Organization
with its Eastern European satellite states, and of American States (OAS)—aimed at stem-
the United States, in alliance with the nations ming aggression abroad, while a concern for
of Western Europe. George F. Kennan’s fa- internal security lead to zealous (and often
mous “long telegram,” published as “Sources excessive) attempts to root out subversives at
of Soviet Conduct” in Foreign Affairs (1947), home.
argued that the Cold War could be attributed The House Committee on Un-American
to Soviet expansionism in Europe, and he ad- Activities (HUAC) hunted for communists
vised a strategy of “containment” to thwart the and communist sympathizers in government,
spread of Soviet communism. The subsequent in universities, and in the mass media. The
decisions by the administration of President committee’s investigations of the film industry
Harry S. Truman to intervene on the side of led to the conviction of the “Hollywood Ten”
the anticommunists in the Greek civil war (the and the blackballing of others for their leftist
Truman Doctrine) and to rebuild the war- political affiliations in the 1930s and 1940s.
devastated economies of western Europe along Many of these investigations proceeded with
the lines of democratic capitalism (the Mar- little regard for rules of evidence or the con-
shall Plan) exemplified Kennan’s strategy, and stitutional rights of the accused, but it was Sen-
for the next four decades the doctrine of “con- ator Joseph McCarthy, chairman of the Senate
tainment” shaped both American foreign pol- Permanent Investigations Subcommittee, who
icy and American interpretations of the origins lent his name to the practices that soon came
of Cold War. to be regarded as “witch hunts.”
Events of the late 1940s and early 1950s (the By the late 1950s, as Stephen Whitfield
Soviet blockade of Berlin in 1948; the com- points out in The Culture of the Cold War, at-
munist victory in China in 1949; the testing titudes toward the Cold War were undergoing
of nuclear weapons in Russia in 1949; the significant changes. The excesses of “McCar-

69
70 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

thyism” had discredited the anticommunist define the administration of President Ronald
crusades of the previous decade, making it dif- Reagan and mark the final phase of the Cold
ficult to stifle criticism of the country’s Cold War.
War policies by labeling them un-American. The Reagan administration increased mili-
Witnesses such as Dagmar Wilson, the leader tary spending and championed the develop-
of Women’s Strike for Peace, openly defied ment of new weapons systems (including the
HUAC, and the comedian Mort Sahl ridiculed highly publicized “Star Wars” antimissile pro-
the hunt for subversives (Whitfield, 125). ject) to defend against an increasingly militant
More important, perhaps, the idea of winning Soviet Union, which was described by the
a war between the United States and the Soviet President as the “Evil Empire.” While the
Union became suspect. No ideological differ- threat of another nuclear standoff alarmed
ences seemed to justify a nuclear holocaust, America’s ideological allies as well as her ene-
and the arms race had created a world in dan- mies, the response at home never duplicated
ger of being plunged into war accidentally. the grim determination to stem the tide of in-
These new attitudes are evident in the re- ternational communism at all costs that char-
sponses to increased East-West tensions dur- acterized the early years of the Cold War.
ing the early 1960s. After a thaw in American- A primary goal of renewing the Cold War
Soviet relations in the last years of the often seems to have been a desire to rekindle
Eisenhower administration, the downing of an a sense of national pride, patriotism, and pur-
American spy plane over Russia in 1960 and pose that had been weakened by the war in
the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 inten- Vietnam and the cultural upheavals of the
sified the Cold War, and, a year later, the Cu- 1960s. When the president entered New York
ban Missile Crisis brought the countries to the harbor aboard a recommissioned World War
brink of war. Instead of uniting the country in II battleship to celebrate the renovation of the
opposition to communist aggression, critics Stature of Liberty in 1986, Time magazine in-
became even more vocal in their criticism of voked a 1984 Republican campaign slogan to
the doctrine of mutually assured destruction sum up the public mood: “America Is Back.”
(MAD). The disastrous outcome of the war in By the mid-1980s, however, the “Evil Empire”
Vietnam (see “The Vietnam War”) left even had begun to collapse. Soviet satellite states—
more Americans disillusioned with pursuing including Poland and Czechoslovakia—un-
the Cold War, and the Nixon administration’s seated communist regimes; in 1989 the Berlin
desire to seek détente with the Soviet Union Wall dividing East and West Germany fell; and
and its plan to implement a nuclear nonpro- in 1991 the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist,
liferation agreement seemed to herald an end bringing an end to the Cold War.
to the Cold War.
Unfortunately, as the 1970s drew to a close, Perspectives on the Cold War
new weapons, principally the deployment of American attempts to account for the origins
missiles with multiple warheads (MIRVs), and the progress of the Cold War vary widely
threatened any nonproliferation agreement. in their ideological, political, and economic
President Jimmy Carter’s administration, fear- perspectives, as John Lewis Gaddis has dem-
ing a Soviet military buildup, laid the ground- onstrated in The Long Peace (1987) and in The
work by expanding American forces. At the United States at the End of the Cold War (1992).
same time, attitudes toward the Cold War were During the first decade and a half of the Cold
undergoing another change. These new atti- War, the division between East and West was
tudes and the desire to have America reclaim blamed on the Soviet Union’s desire to control
its place as the preeminent world power would the countries of Eastern Europe and to foster
 THE COLD WAR ] 71

the growth of socialism throughout the world, of Time productions, suggests that the Cold
a view forcefully articulated by the architects War had become a global struggle.
of American Cold War policy, including During the 1950s, the Cold War served as
George Kennan and Paul Nitze. In the late the subtext for a number of documentaries de-
1950s and 1960s, increasing skepticism toward voted to the accomplishments of the military
Cold War policies was reflected in the work of services. The most memorable of these films
left-leaning revisionist historians who saw the was NBC’s twenty-six-episode Victory at Sea
Soviet Union’s behavior in the years following (1953–54). Based on Samuel Eliot Morrison’s
World War II as a response to plans by Amer- history of naval operations during World War
ica and its Western allies aimed at creating po- II, the series combined archival footage of the
litical systems favorable to free-market capi- war at sea with a superior musical score by
talism. In 1959, William Appleton Williams Richard Rodgers both to celebrate the heroic
offered a version of this revisionist argument accomplishments of the U.S. Navy and to dra-
in The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, and matize the importance of military vigilance as
Noam Chomsky’s writings exemplify the view essential to the preservation of democracy. The
that the United States is primarily responsible political implications of Victory at Sea were
for the Cold War (see, for example, Towards a well suited to the tastes of “a cold-war televi-
New Cold War, 1982). During the 1980s, as the sion audience” (Rollins, 135). Four years later,
Cold War drew to a close, historians like Gad- NBC once again portrayed America as the en-
dis sought to arrive at a balance between the emy of tyranny in Air Force, a compilation film
early hard-line and the revisionist interpreta- tracing the history of the U.S. Air Force.
tions. A genuine historical consensus regard- Nightmare in Red (1955), another example
ing the causes of the Cold War, however, has of an early Cold War documentary, depicts the
yet to be established. A decade after its conclu- rise of Soviet Communism from a militantly
sion, historians and cultural critics were still anticommunist perspective. The Bolshevik
fighting the ideological battles it inspired. Revolution in Russia, viewers are urged to be-
lieve, merely exchanged the tyranny of the
Cold War Films: Documentaries tsarist regime for the tyranny of Stalinism,
American documentaries dealing with the which is equated with Nazism in Germany un-
Cold War not only reflect the widely differing der Adolf Hitler. As Peter Rollins points out in
interpretations of the underlying causes of the his analysis of Nightmare in Red, the ideologi-
hostilities, but they also parallel the impor- cal presuppositions of the film’s producers and
tance of those interpretations in the political their desire to create a dramatic narrative in
discourse of the Cold War era. Several episodes which good is pitted against evil led them to
of The March of Time series (1948–51) covered take considerable liberties with historical fact.
various aspects of the Cold War, exemplifying For example, in order to suggest that the Rus-
the doctrine of “containment” espoused by sian people saw their Soviet leaders as oppres-
George Kennan. A three-part series (“The sors, Nightmare in Red includes footage from
Cold War: Act I—France,” “The Cold War: World War II Nazi propaganda films which
Act II—Crisis in Italy,” and “Cold War: Act show Soviet citizens welcoming German in-
III—Battle for Greece”) released in 1948 fo- vaders as liberators. These distortions, how-
cuses on the expansionist policies of the Soviet ever misleading they may be, do suggest the
Union, the need for an American military intensity of the anticommunist passions dur-
buildup, and the possibility of thermonuclear ing the early years of the Cold War. In addi-
war as a final defense against that expansion. tion, these documentaries also point to the
“Crisis in Iran” (1951), one of the last March manner in which militant anticommunism be-
72 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

came a way of attacking domestic political en- Post–Cold War Perspectives

emies. New Deal social reforms, cultural cos- The end of the Cold War in 1991 encouraged
mopolitanism, and the renascent civil rights a more balanced view of the East-West conflict
movement were all attacked as “un-American” that had defined American political life for
and, often, communist-inspired. Anarchy USA nearly five decades. New interpretations re-
(1966), for example, attributes racial unrest to jected both the hard-line anticommunism that
the work of communist agitators. laid the blame for the hostilities on the expan-
By 1966, however, old-fashioned anticom- sionist policies of the Soviet Union and the
munism had become suspect, and the pros- revisionist perspective that saw the Cold War
pects of an all-out war with the Soviet Union originating in the political and economic pol-
were viewed with increasing skepticism. Emile icies of the capitalist nations in the West. The
De Antonio’s Point of Order (a.k.a. McCarthy: Birth of the Cold War (1997), one of the doc-
Death of a Witchhunter) (1964) is a compila- umentaries in NBC’s White Papers series, is
tion film covering the McCarthy-Army hear- sympathetic to the idea of containing the
ings of 1954. In it, Senator McCarthy appears spread of Soviet communism while at the same
as a boorish opportunist, a comic figure who time critical of the excesses that often ignored
exemplifies the folly of anticommunist witch civil liberties and brought the world to the
hunts. Irony, satire, and black comedy became brink of nuclear war.
familiar techniques in documentaries that The most ambitious documentary treatment
shared the revisionist views of Cold War poli- of the era has been CNN’s Cold War (1998–
cies and politics. In The Atomic Café (1982), for 99). In twenty-four hour-long episodes, it
example, filmmakers Kevin Rafferty and Jayne chronicles events from the Russian Revolu-
Loader have edited familiar documentary foot- tion, which brought the Communist Party to
age from the 1940s through the 1960s in a way power, to the final collapse of the Soviet
that makes the nuclear arms race and Cold War Union. A joint production by television com-
that underlay the arms race appear foolish, na- panies in the United States, Great Britain, Ger-
ive, brutal, delusional, and—above all—unnec- many, and Russia, the series scrupulously
essary. Not all revisionist documentaries were avoids siding with any of the nations involved.
exercises in satire. Julia Reichart’s and Jim Many of the episodes (the one covering the
Klein’s Seeing Red (1983) is a sympathetic, even Berlin Airlift, for example) are very effective.
sentimental, examination of the lives of Amer- Others seem to be rather misleading in their
icans who were attracted to the Communist ideological evenhandedness. The sixth episode,
Party during the 1930s and early 1940s. They which covers the domestic effects of the Cold
are treated as idealists seeking answers to the War, tends to equate the Red Scare in the
economic devastation of the Depression and a United States with the Stalinist repression in
way to oppose fascism, who turned to the Soviet the Soviet Union, and the narrator, Kenneth
Union only to be disillusioned by the excesses Branagh, who serves as a mediating and inter-
of the Stalinist era. Interpretations of the Cold preting voice for the series, encourages viewers
War appear in a variety of documentaries de- to see a sort of moral equivalence. The images,
voted to the people and events which shaped however, tell another story. The disregard for
American history in the years following World constitutional rights demonstrated by HUAC
War II. David Halberstam’s The Fifties (1997), and the shameful (and racist) treatment of
a miniseries based on Halberstam’s best-selling Paul Robeson remain a national disgrace, but
account of the decade, devotes a segment to the they are hardly a match for persecution of re-
Cold War that is critical of American policies at ligious leaders such as Hungary’s Roman
home and abroad. Catholic prelate Cardinal Josef Mindszenty af-
 THE COLD WAR ] 73

ter the country was taken over by communists At the same time that Hollywood films were
in 1948 or for the creation of the Soviet Gulag. busy exposing life behind the Iron Curtain and
Despite these shortcomings, however, Cold defending the nation’s interests abroad, they
War is a valuable series for the breadth of its were also ferreting out spies and subversives at
coverage and the interviews with the men and home. Alfred Werker’s Walk East on Beacon
women who both shaped and endured the (1952) recounts the efforts of Soviet spies to
Cold War. penetrate a top-secret scientific project. The
Reds prove no match, however, for a team of
Feature Films FBI agents led by Inspector Belden (George
The influence on the American film industry Murphy). The film owes much of its sense of
was deep and long lasting. Hollywood became realism to the clever blending of a fictional
a highly visible target of HUAC during the late narrative with the style of a documentary, a
1940s and 1950s. Uncooperative witnesses technique that had been used with great suc-
were blacklisted by the studios, and some, like cess in Louis de Rochemont’s March of Time
the Hollywood Ten, served time in jail. To series. Although the project the communists
prove their “Americanism,” studio bosses not seek to penetrate is never explicitly identified,
only fired and blacklisted employees, but they it has something to do with atomic secrets, a
also turned out a string of films warning subject very much in the news at a time when
against the dangers of communism at home Julius and Ethel Rosenberg had been charged
and abroad, films that reflect the same political with passing atomic secrets to the Russians.
attitudes evident in the documentaries of the While Walk East on Beacon enthusiastically
early Cold War years. Less than a year after
endorsed the FBI’s relentless pursuit of sus-
Walter Lippman coined the term “Cold War,”
pected communists, Gordon Douglas’s I Was
Twentieth Century–Fox released William
a Communist for the FBI (1951) cast Frank
Wellman’s Iron Curtain (a.k.a. Behind the Iron
Lovejoy as undercover agent Matt Cvetic, who
Curtain) (1947), adapted from the life story of
suffers estrangement from family and friends
Russian code clerk Igor Gouzenko (Dana An-
in order to infiltrate the Communist Party as
drews), who had defected to the West with evi-
part of the bureau’s plan to expose disloyal
dence of Soviet espionage operations in North
Americans. John Wayne joined the hunt for
America. Felix Feist’s Guilty of Treason (1949)
recounts the fate of Cardinal Mindszenty communists in Hawaii as the title character
(Charles Bickford), who endures arrest, tor- in Edward Ludwig’s Big Jim McLain (1952).
ture, and prison rather than capitulate to his Wayne and his assistant ( James Arness) in-
godless enemies. terview repentant ex-communists as they seek
Contemporary Cold War events continued out Soviet agents for interrogation by HUAC.
to provide material for filmmakers throughout The film celebrates the committee’s activities,
the 1950s. George Seaton’s The Big Lift (1950) but it plays fast and loose with historical facts.
dramatizes the lives of fliers serving with the Unlike the fate of uncooperative witnesses
Berlin Airlift. Shot on location in Berlin using called before HUAC, who were jailed for con-
documentary techniques, the film focuses on tempt or blacklisted for invoking the Fifth
the ability of American technology to carry the Amendment, the agents rounded up by Big
day, love affairs between the central characters Jim escape punishment by what he describes
(Paul Douglas and Montgomery Clift) and two as “abusing” their constitutional rights and
German women, and stresses the importance refusing to testify. Similar narratives became
of seeing Germany not as a totalitarian enemy the subject of television series, and one of the
but as a fledgling democracy and an ally in the most popular was I Led Three Lives (1953–
struggle against communism. 56), which was based on Herbert A. Phil-
74 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

was overrun by Soviet spies. They infiltrate the

government in Harold Schuster’s Security Risk
(1954), penetrate a secluded California re-
search site in Edward Dein’s Shack out on 101,
and gain control of a Washington, D.C., ad-
vertising agency in Jacques Tourneur’s The
Fearmakers (1958). Most of these films failed
as both anticommunist propaganda and as
thrillers. Two, however, became film noir clas-
sics. In Sam Fuller’s Pickup on South Street
(1953), a petty criminal, Skip McCoy (Richard
Widmark), steals a wallet containing scientific
FIGURE 8. Walk East on Beacon (1952). The FBI’s
relentless efforts to ferret out Soviet spies even in the secrets. His theft touches off a series of events
cellars of suburban homes were presented in a in which he and his acquaintances are hunted
documentary-like style. Courtesy Columbia Pictures by both federal agents and Soviet spies. The
Corporation and RD-DR Productions.
action unfolds in a dark, urban environment
where characters find themselves caught up in
brick’s best-selling account of his years as an events they neither control nor fully under-
FBI undercover agent posing as a member of stand. McCoy, who claims no political alle-
the Communist Party. giances, finally decides to cooperate with the
The importance of denouncing friends and federal agents after Soviet agents have mur-
relatives with communist associations became dered a friend (Thelma Ritter) and savagely
a theme central to several films of the period, beaten his lover ( Jean Peters).
including Victor Saville’s Anglo-American The second film, Robert Aldrich’s adapta-
production Conspirator (1949) and Robert Ste- tion of Mickey Spillane’s best-selling novel Kiss
venson’s I Married a Communist (a.k.a. The Me Deadly (1952), is set in Los Angeles rather
Woman on Pier 13) (1950). Perhaps the most than New York City, but it remains a part of
revealing of these films is Leo McCarey’s My the same noir world. Like McCoy, Mike Ham-
Son John (1952). It verges on self-parody in its mer stumbles upon a case of nuclear espionage
anticommunist zeal, but it still “feverishly and cooperates with a team of federal agents
[reflected] the political traumas of the Cold whose leader, Pat Chambers (Wesley Addy),
War” (Whitfield, 136). John Jefferson (Robert appears to be as mysterious and sinister as the
Walker), the son of hard-working, patriotic, Soviet agents pursuing a box of radioactive
and religious parents, is a member of what material. Hammer’s motives for cooperating
seems to be the State Department where, pre- with Chambers have little to do with patriot-
sumably, his communist sympathies, his intel- ism and very much to do with his desire to
lectual arrogance, and his nasty temperament turn a profit, wreak personal vengeance, and
go unnoticed. Rejected by members of his rescue his assistant, Velda (Maxine Cooper),
family after they discover he is a Soviet spy, he who has been kidnapped by the spies. His
plans to flee the country with government se- search leads him deeper into a dark under-
crets. A sudden change of heart prompts him world of multiple deceptions and sadistic cru-
to reveal his treachery, and, in retribution, he elty from which there appears to be no escape.
is murdered by communist agents. Although Cold War espionage triggers the
A large number of B films featuring Amer- events that set these last two narratives in mo-
ican citizens serving as communist agents tion, neither of the central characters is moti-
helped create the impression that the country vated by patriotism or by anticommunism.
 THE COLD WAR ] 75

McCoy, like Hammer, finally cooperates with (Eva Marie Saint) of a murdered worker, Mal-
the federal agents for personal motives. More- loy risks his life to testify against the union
over, Aldrich’s Hammer is a familiar noir hero, leaders who were previously his friends and
alienated and contemptuous of all forms of benefactors. Like High Noon, the film has been
idealism—in sharp contrast with the hero of read as a metaphor for Cold War politics
Spillane’s novel, who was a zealous anticom- and—in this case—a justification for Kazan’s
munist. Both films reveal how easily Cold War naming names.
tensions could be invoked for narrative rather By the mid-1950s, the threat from the enemy
than ideological purposes. within tended to give way to the threat from
the enemy without. Senator McCarthy’s in-
Cold War Allegories creasingly reckless and often baseless attacks
If Pickup on South Street and Kiss Me Deadly led to his Senate censure and subsequent fall
reduce Cold War ideology to narrative con- from power, and the anticommunist crusade
vention, Fred Zinneman’s High Noon (1952) began to lose momentum. Reflecting this shift
and Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront (1954) in political attitudes, Hollywood turned its at-
were profoundly influenced by those ideologi- tention from the communist subversion to
cal conflicts, though manifested only indi- communist expansion around the world. Re-
rectly. On the surface, High Noon is a classic sisting the latter demanded, in the minds of
western that pits Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the policymakers, a strong military and a willing-
Hadleyville town marshal, against a murder- ness to go to war if necessary. The anxieties
ous band of gunmen bent on revenge. The film aroused by the prospect of a permanent strug-
focuses on Kane’s futile effort to enlist the aid gle between East and West that might erupt
of the townspeople who, out of a combination into a third world war fought with nuclear
of cowardice and self-interest, leave him to weapons were evident in all the major Holly-
face Frank Miller (Ian McDonald) and his wood film genres, including the musical (Silk
three henchmen alone. The film was written Stockings, 1957), but these fears were most
by Carl Foreman, his last before being black- fully expressed in science fiction films such as
listed for refusing to testify before HUAC. He Christian Nyby’s The Thing from Another
intended the film as a political allegory in World (1951) and Don Siegel’s The Invasion of
which Hadleyville represented Hollywood and the Body Snatchers (1956). Anxieties aroused
its citizens the cowardly studio executives who by the ubiquitous presence of the Bomb were
refused to resist what he considered the unlaw- largely displaced onto the horror film. The ef-
ful behavior of the committee, which had cited fects of radiation spawned a variety of gigantic
him for contempt. sea creatures (The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,
Unlike Foreman, Elia Kazan had been a co- 1953), ants (Them, 1954), and even grasshop-
operative committee witness, giving it the pers (The Beginning of the End, 1957). But
names of eight friends and colleagues who had films that depicted life after a nuclear holo-
been associated with communist organizations caust either ignored the political implications
in the past, and, in On the Waterfront, he treats (The Day the World Ended, 1956) or attributed
informing as an act of heroism. Terry Malloy the devastation to an accident (The World, the
(Marlon Brando) is a washed-up boxer work- Flesh, and the Devil, 1959).
ing as a longshoreman on the Hoboken docks. If Cold War tensions found indirect and
Jobs on the docks are controlled by a corrupt symbolic expression in the science fiction/hor-
labor union that uses violence and murder to ror film, they are made manifest in the war
keep workers in line. Under the moral influ- film. The genre, which had virtually disap-
ence of his priest (Karl Malden) and the sister peared from the screen at the end of World
76 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

War II, was revived as the Cold War intensified Reevaluating Cold War Policies
in the late 1940s. With a few exceptions, the By the late 1950s the developing revisionist in-
settings of these films were World War II, the terpretations of the Cold War were encouraged
Korean War, or the Cold War itself. Those set by a thaw in East-West hostilities and the in-
in World War II show how the virtues of pa- creasing tendency to regard the nuclear stand-
triotism, professionalism, and teamwork have off less as a frightening possibility than as an
saved America from totalitarian predators; the unnecessary threat to human survival. This
Korean War films raised questions about the shift in the Cold War culture found its way
willingness and the ability of Americans to live into Hollywood features of the late 1950s.
up to those ideals; and the Cold War films Stanley Kramer’s On the Beach (1959) recounts
showed how those ideals can be called on to the final months of the human race after an
prevent war while at the same time containing exchange of hydrogen bombs between the
the Soviet Union. They also favored subjects United States and the Soviet Union. The crew
that featured those weapons most closely as- of an American submarine has taken refuge in
sociated with the nuclear war they were de- Australia to await the arrival of a deadly atomic
signed to prevent: the long-range bomber and cloud moving south from the northern hemi-
the nuclear submarine. sphere. Despite its sensational subject and its
The first and most successful of the Air all-star cast (Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, An-
Force films, Strategic Air Command (1955), thony Perkins, Fred Astaire), On the Beach re-
was directed by Anthony Mann at the urging duces the narrative to a rather flat moral fable.
of the film’s star, ex–bomber pilot Jimmy It is perhaps more significant as a film that
Stewart, who remained an officer in the Air marks the ideological shift in Hollywood’s de-
Force Reserve and wanted to make a film hon- piction of Cold War politics evident in the
oring the Air Force’s cold warriors. Stewart films of the 1960s.
plays “Dutch” Holland, a professional baseball A destroyer captain (Richard Widmark) in
player who is recalled to active duty and comes James Harris’s The Bedford Incident (1964) en-
to realize that serving with the Strategic Air gages in the furious pursuit of a Soviet sub-
Command is more important than returning marine and threatens to plunge the world into
to the baseball diamond. The narrative is di- nuclear war. John Sturges’s Ice Station Zebra
vided between Holland’s duties as an aircraft (1968) depicts a race between an American
commander and the effect his decision to stay and a Soviet submarine to retrieve the data
in the service has on his marriage. His wife aboard a Soviet spy satellite downed in the
( June Allyson) wants him to return to civilian Arctic. Once again the drama stops just short
life, but she understands the importance of de- of armed conflict when another submarine
fending America and remains steadfastly loyal. commander (Rock Hudson) destroys the data
The same choice between the successful civil- and persuades the Soviets to publicize the in-
ian career desired by his family and the more cident as a joint search for the lost satellite.
Spartan demands of the Strategic Air Com- Both films imply that neither the Americans
mand faces the central characters of Gordon nor the Soviets can claim the moral high
Douglas’s Bombers B-52 (1957) and Delbert ground and that the threat of nuclear war out-
Mann’s A Gathering of Eagles (1963). All of weighs the claims of any ideology.
these films depict a tight-knit, patriarchal fam- Although the Cold War intensified again in
ily as an ideal to be emulated. Such families, the early 1960s with the erection of the wall
Elaine Tyler May has explained in Homeward dividing East and West Berlin (1961) and the
Bound (1988), were considered essential to a Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), the renewed
strong America. threat of war only sharpened the criticism of
 THE COLD WAR ] 77

Cold War policies, criticisms embodied in two who behave as badly as the Nazis they defeated
of the most memorable of Cold War films: Sid- (and with whom they are linked in the film).
ney Lumet’s Fail-Safe (1964) and Stanley Ku- Peck prevails because he can be as ruthless as
brick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964). In both films the Soviets, but, as the film makes clear, he
American bombers attack the Soviet Union, does it in the service of democratic ideals. By
and the American president and his military 1961 Billy Wilder could use Berlin to satirize
advisors try to prevent the attack from esca- the Cold War culture in both East and West.
lating into a thermonuclear war. Events in Lu- In One, Two, Three, America is represented not
met’s film unfold with a grim solemnity and by a tough professional military officer but by
end with the president’s (Henry Fonda) or- the head of Coca Cola’s Berlin office ( James
dering a nuclear attack on New York City to Cagney), who employs the skills of a spy to
compensate the earlier (and unintended) at- distribute Coke in East Germany and to trans-
tack on Moscow. Kubrick had also planned a form a Communist student (Horst Buchholz)
serious adaptation of Peter George’s novel Red into a suitable husband for the boss’s daughter
Alert, but as he developed his screenplay he by converting him to capitalism. Wilder’s witty
decided that the very idea of nuclear warfare dialogue is so dependent on highly topical al-
was suicidal and absurd, a subject best suited lusions to the Cold War rhetoric of the period
to a satiric black comedy. Consequently, from that his film may seem dated, but, along with
the moment a demented right-wing SAC gen- Carol Reed’s Our Man in Havana (1960), it
eral (Sterling Hayden) orders an attack on the remains far superior to the numerous parodies
Soviet Union, the film mounts a comic attack of the genre that proliferated during the 1960s
on Cold War ideologues, ineffectual politi- and 1970s.
cians, doomsday planners, and military brass. Martin Ritt’s The Spy Who Came in from the
Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers), the wheelchair- Cold (1965), adapted from the John Le Carré
bound scientific advisor, combines the intel- novel, paints a far darker picture of intelligence
lectual arrogance and the urge to destroy that operations in the city that had become the epi-
Kubrick suggests is at the heart of nuclear pol- center of Cold War. A disillusioned British
icymaking. The desperate attempts to recall or agent, Alec Lemeas (Richard Burton), is sent
destroy the attacking B-52s fail when a single on a final mission into East Berlin, where he
aircraft gets to its target, triggering a Soviet discovers that he has been set up by his supe-
“doomsday machine” capable of destroying all riors to preserve the cover of a “mole” (Peter
human life. Van Eyck) they have planted in East German
Thrillers in which the Cold War adversaries intelligence. When the one person he still has
met in the labyrinthine world of espionage faith in (Claire Bloom) is treacherously
rather than on the battlefield saw a similar gunned down at the Berlin Wall, Lemeas re-
ideological transformation. One of the earliest, fuses to escape alone and is shot dead. The
Carol Reed’s The Third Man (1949), based on same themes of betrayal, double-dealing, and
Graham Greene’s novel and set in postwar Vi- entrapment are played out in another film ad-
enna, blends Cold War spy drama with a com- aptation of a Le Carré novel, Sidney Lumet’s
plex tale of black marketeering and betrayal; A Deadly Affair (1966), an underrated example
by film’s end, the viewer cannot easily distin- of the genre. The Cold War’s influence can be
guish good guys from bad. In 1954, Nunnally seen in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Man Who Knew
Johnson’s Night People used postwar Berlin as Too Much (1956) and North by Northwest
the setting for a battle of wits between a colonel (1959), and he addresses East-West espionage
in the U.S. Army’s Counter Intelligence Corps activities in two of his less successful films:
(Gregory Peck) and his Russian counterparts, Torn Curtain (1966) and Topaz (1969).
78 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

During the later 1960s, as the war in Viet-

nam escalated, the Cold War political consen-
sus gave way to bitter political and ideological
divisions. Consequently, Hollywood avoided
making films about the Cold War and the hot
war in Vietnam. Neither promised to be good
box office.

Cold War Nostalgia

The Cold War intensified at the end of the de-
cade as the United States and the Soviet Union
embarked on a new arms race and financed lo-
cal wars in the Third World. In 1980, long-time FIGURE 9. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
cold warrior Ronald Reagan was elected presi- (1965). In West Berlin, disillusioned British secret agent
Alex Leamus (Richard Burton, right) watches and waits
dent, and he lost no time in denouncing the
apprehensively as a colleague attempts to flee from East
Soviet Union and her allies as an “evil empire” Berlin. Courtesy Salem Productions.
and urging America to reclaim its place as the
defender of democratic values. Despite the ac-
The best examples of Cold War nostalgia
celerating arms race, the renewed East-West
may be found in the films of Clint Eastwood,
tensions never revived the fears of communist
who directed and/or starred in several films
expansion and imminent nuclear war that had
that express a longing for the period when, as
defined America’s Cold War culture during the
1950s and 1960s. Invoking the specter of the the hero (Eastwood) of In the Line of Fire
“evil empire” did more to recall an era when (1993) announces, “The country was different
America was more prosperous, more unified, [and better] then.” In Heartbreak Ridge (1986),
and more capable of heroic action than the na- which is based on a film from the early years
tion that had endured defeat in Vietnam and a of the Cold War (Allan Dwan’s Sands of Iwo
general disillusionment with national institu- Jima, 1949), Sgt. Tom Highway, an anachro-
tions. nistic survivor of the old Marine Corps, man-
The sense of the Cold War as theater or as ages to instill in an insolent, undisciplined, and
an exercise in nostalgia informs many films very 1980s group of young Marines the virtues
dealing with Cold war subjects, such as the re- exemplified by John Wayne and his men in the
cent comedy Blast from the Past (1999). Sam earlier film. Their training serves them well
Peckinpah’s The Osterman Weekend (1983) during the invasion of Grenada, where victory,
and Richard Benjamin’s Little Nikita (1988) Highway makes clear, has redeemed the defeat
are tales of espionage that echo films of an ear- in Vietnam.
lier generation without either the ideological While a number of the Cold War films of
agendas or the narrative skill of their prede- the 1980s may share a longing for the good old
cessors. Peckinpah’s last feature focuses on the days, they remain ideologically diverse, rang-
adventures of a talk-show host (Rutger Hauer) ing from the right-wing jingoism of John Mil-
whom the CIA recruits to spy on friends sus- ius’s Red Dawn (1984) to the revisionism of
pected of being Soviet undercover agents, John Schlesinger’s The Falcon and the Snow-
while Benjamin’s thriller dramatizes a young man (1985), in which the CIA proves more
man’s (River Phoenix) discovery that his par- villainous than the young Californians who be-
ents are Soviet agents in deep cover. He is per- tray their country to the Soviet Union. Brian
suaded by a fatherly FBI agent (Sidney Poitier) De Palma explores the same theme in Mission
to aid in foiling a communist plot. Impossible (1996), a film based on the popular
 THE COLD WAR ] 79

Cold War TV series (1966–73). In the original Neither the documentaries nor the feature
series, a team of Impossible Mission Force op- films have been particularly accurate in their
eratives led by Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) carry accounts of the Cold War years. Both have
out extralegal missions to defend freedom- been compromised by tailoring historical evi-
loving peoples from the machinations of to- dence to fit dominant political and cultural as-
talitarian aggressors who are clearly identified sumptions, by preferring dramatic simplicity
with the Soviet Union and their client nations. to political complexity, and by avoiding con-
In the De Palma film, however, the archvillain troversies that might reduce box office receipts
proves to be Phelps ( Jon Voight) himself, a or advertising revenues. As historical docu-
narrative shift that exemplifies a significant ments, however, they are quite successful in
change in post–Cold War American culture: reflecting the same ideological perspectives
the widely held belief that the enemy of tra- held by the historians of the Cold War. From
ditional democratic values is the very govern- the late 1940s through the early 1960s, films
ment once seen as essential to protecting them. accepted, if they did not always enthusiastically
In other, perhaps more prophetic films, Rus- endorse, the need to contain communism
sians and American become partners in hunt- through patriotic vigilance. From the later
ing down criminals or preserving world peace 1960s through the 1970s, films embodied the
(Michael Apted’s Gorky Park, 1983; Walter revisionist interpretations of the Cold War that
Hill’s Red Heat, 1988; and John McTiernan’s dominated public discourse. When, in the
The Hunt for Red October, 1990). McTiernan’s 1980s, a revived Cold War promised to return
adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel about a America to an era when the country was
Soviet naval officer’s decision to defect with his stronger and united against a common enemy,
country’s newest and most powerful nuclear Hollywood produced films that reflected that
submarine was the last of Hollywood’s Cold sense of nostalgia. Since the end of the Cold
War films. When it went into production, the War in 1991, no Hollywood epic, no docu-
Russia’s underwater fleet posed a major threat mentary (not even the twenty-four hours of
to the United States. The year of its release saw CNN’s Cold War) has managed to capture the
the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end complexity of an era that continues to be the
of the Cold War. subject of historical debate.

References
The Hunt for Red October (1990, F)
Filmography Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, F; 1978, F)
Anarchy USA (1966, D) Iron Curtain (a.k.a. Behind the Iron Curtain) (1947,
The Atomic Café (1982, D) F)
Big Jim McLain (1952, F) I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951, F)
The Big Lift (1950, F) Kiss Me Deadly (1955, F)
The Birth of the Cold War (1997, D) The March of Time (1948–51, D)
Blast from the Past (1999, F) Mission Impossible (1996, F)
Cold War (1998–99, D) My Son John (1952, F)
David Halberstam’s The Fifties (1997, D) Nightmare in Red (1955, D)
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying Night People (1954, F)
and Love the Bomb (1964, F) On the Beach (1959, F)
Fail-Safe (1964, F) On the Waterfront (1954, F)
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985, F) Our Man in Havana (1960, F)
Guilty of Treason (1949, F) Pickup on South Street (1953, F)
Heartbreak Ridge (1986, F) Point of Order (1964, D)
High Noon (1952, F) Red Dawn (1984, F)
80 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
Seeing Red (1983, D) lies in the Cold War Era. New York: Basic Books,
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965, F) 1988.
Strategic Air Command (1955, F) May, Lary, ed. Recasting America: Culture and Politics
Stripes (1981, F) in the Age of the Cold War. Chicago: University of
The Thing from Another World (1951, F) Chicago Press, 1989.
The Third Man (1949, F) Nitze, Paul H. From Hiroshima: At the Center of Deci-
Torn Curtain (1966, F) sion. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1989.
Victory at Sea (1953–54, D) Patterson, James T. Grand Expectations: The United
Walk East on Beacon (1952, F) States, 1945–1974. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1996.
Quart, Leonard, and Albert Auster. American Film
and Society Since 1945. New York: Praeger, 1991.
Bibliography Rogin, Michael. Ronald Reagan, the Movie: And Other
Chomsky, Noam. Towards a New Cold War: Essays Episodes in Political Demonology. Berkeley: Univer-
on the Current Crisis and How We Got There. New sity of California Press, 1987.
York: Pantheon, 1982. Rollins, Peter. “Nightmare in Red: A Cold War View
Gaddis, John Lewis. The Long Peace: Inquiries into the of the Communist Revolution.” In John E.
History of the Cold War. New York: Oxford Uni- O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson, eds., American
versity Press, 1987. History/American Film: Interpreting the Hollywood
——. The United States and the End of the Cold War: Image, 134–158. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1979.
Implications, Reconsiderations, Provocations. New Sayre, Nora. Running Time: Films of the Cold War.
York: Oxford University Press, 1992. New York: Dial Press, 1982.
Kennan, George F. “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.” Whitfield, Stephen J. The Culture of the Cold War. 2d
Foreign Affairs 25 ( July 1947): 566–582. ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press,
Lippmann, Walter. The Cold War: A Study in U.S. 1996.
Foreign Policy. New York: Harper, 1947. Williams, William Appleman. The Tragedy of Ameri-
May, Elaine Tyler. Homeward Bound: American Fami- can Diplomacy. New York: Norton, 1959.
[ PHILIP J. LANDON ]

The Korean War

s Clay Blair explains in his appropriately American UN forces staged a series of successful

A entitled The Forgotten War (1987), the

American public never regarded the Ko-
rean War (1950–53) as a heroic crusade. An
advisor to President Harry S. Truman familiar
counterattacks, and by the end of September
the North Koreans had been badly defeated and
pushed back across the thirty-eighth parallel.
MacArthur continued driving north and by
with events in Korea referred to it as a “nasty November had nearly reached the Manchurian
little war” (Halberstam, 62). From the mo- border at the Yalu River when the Chinese
ment that the North Korean forces crossed the joined in the fighting. By the spring of 1951, the
thirty-eighth parallel into the Republic of Americans and their allies had retreated to the
South Korea on June 25, 1950, the progress of thirty-eighth parallel; Truman had dismissed
the fighting gave rise to misgivings about the MacArthur from his command; and the war
necessity of the war (see Cumings, The Origins had reached a stalemate that continued until the
of the Korean War), the strategic goals to be truce arrived at in July 1953.
achieved (see Foot, The Wrong War), and the
battlefield performance of American fighting Feature Films
men (see Leckie, Conflict). The war began with Americans, who had little enthusiasm for the
a series of defeats for the South Koreans and Korean War when it began, were increasingly
the American troops sent from Japan to aid disillusioned with its progress. A country that
them. Although the communist-dominated had emerged triumphant from World War II
North and their supporters, the Soviet Union had little taste for a limited war that would not
and Communist China, claimed to be defend- end in victory. It became even more unpopular
ing itself against the aggressive policies of as disagreements over its conduct led to the
South Korea’s President Syngman Rhee, Pres- sacking of a popular general, as information
ident Truman interpreted the attack as another about American POWs’ collaborating with the
example of the dangerously expansionist pol- Communists surfaced, and as Americans con-
icies of the Soviet Union. The desire to contain tinued dying on the battlefield because truce
the spread of communism throughout the talks stalled. The mood of disillusioned resig-
world, a policy articulated in what became nation is captured in Sam Fuller’s The Steel
known as the Truman Doctrine, prompted a Helmet (1951), released just six months after
massive buildup of American forces in the the war began. The central character, Sgt. Zack
southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. (Gene Evans), is a tough, cynical veteran of
Within a week, the United Nations author- World War II who trusts no one and regards
ized an international force to halt the North’s war not as a noble enterprise but as condition
aggression, and the war became officially of existence. He sees little difference between
known as a “police action.” Led by General his Korean enemies and his Korean allies.
Douglas MacArthur, the overwhelmingly Events appear to confirm his suspicion when

81
82 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

a group of enemy soldiers arrives disguised as (William Holden), a naval aviator stationed on
Buddhist monks fleeing the communists. Un- an aircraft carrier off the coast of Korea. The
like in the films of World War II, the furious World War II veteran is understandably bitter
combat achieves no noticeable goal, and the at having been recalled to duty at the expense
film ends with the ominous epitaph: “There is of his successful law practice. Nevertheless, he
no end to this story.” Fuller’s next film, Fixed refuses to use his father-in-law’s political in-
Bayonets (1951), uses the Korean conflict to fluence to secure a noncombat assignment and
explore the responsibilities of leadership in a takes part in the attack on the bridges at Toko-
brutal war without clearly defined goals. Cpl. Ri. The operation is a success, but Brubaker’s
Denno (Richard Basehart), embittered by what plane is forced down behind enemy lines. He
he sees as the futile sacrifice of fellow soldiers, dies wondering how he wound up “in a smelly
refuses to lead them until the death of his pla- ditch in Korea” fighting “the wrong war in the
toon sergeant (the same Sgt. Zack from The wrong place.” American Admiral Tarrant
Steel Helmet) makes him realize that “no one (Frederick March) praises the dead lieutenant
looks for responsibility” and leads the survi- (who reminds him of a son killed in World
vors of his platoon back to their regiment. War II) for selflessly helping to stop the spread
Fuller not only made two of the best-crafted of Communism. But the desolate image of
Korean War films, but he also revealed the Brubaker’s body lying in the Korean stream-
ways in which the generic conventions estab- bed encourages an ironic reading of this con-
lished during World War II could be adapted cluding eulogy.
to the circumstances of the fighting in Korea. The same ambivalence concerning the lives
The war films of the 1940s focused on small sacrificed in Korea appears in Pork Chop Hill.
groups of military men representing a cross- The film recounts a fierce struggle to recapture
section of American society. Their ability to a hill of no strategic value, a struggle that had
transcend internal conflicts and fight as a team come to symbolize the American dilemma in
proved the key to success in a climactic battle, Korea, as military historian S. L. A. Marshall
and winning that battle was portrayed as cru- points out in his 1956 book of the same title.
cial to America’s ultimate victory (see “World The peace negotiators at Panmunjon hope the
War II: Feature Films” and “The American effort will symbolize American resolve, con-
Fighting Man”). But in Fuller’s films there are vincing the Communists that the UN forces
no climactic battles, and there is no assurance will not accede to improper Communist de-
of a final victory, only the hope for survival. mands in order gain an early cease-fire. De-
Those best suited to fight such a war are cold- spite his own doubts and his awareness that
blooded professionals like Zack or the hero his men see their mission as futile, Lieutenant
(Robert Mitchum) of Dick Powell’s The Hunt- Joe Clemons (Gregory Peck) orders his com-
ers (1958). Nicknamed “the Iceman,” he de- pany to attack and defend Pork Chop Hill. The
clares, “I’m regular Air Force. I don’t have to assault succeeds, but his company is decimated
be told [why we are fighting].” by the Chinese defenders and then—in a com-
More frequently, however, the protagonist’s mand that bewilders and angers the combat-
doubts about his mission become central to ants—ordered to abandon their prize.
Korean War films and are exemplified in Mark Rapid advances followed by equally rapid re-
Robson’s The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954) and treats marked the sudden reversal of fortunes
Lewis Milestone’s Pork Chop Hill (1959). in the Korean fighting, and one of the conse-
Based on James Michener’s well-received no- quences of these swift movements was that
vella published a year earlier, The Bridges at both sides took many prisoners. Widespread
Toko-Ri focuses on Lieutenant Harry Brubaker public discussions of Americans being brain-
 THE KOREAN WAR ] 83

washed and of collaborating with their captors

became the dominant themes of a subgenre of
the war film: narratives of life as a POW. Al-
though early evidence suggests that, despite the
harsh life they were forced to endure, the vast
majority (perhaps 95 percent) of American
prisoners resisted their captors (Harrison), the
few who did collaborate were used as examples
of a decline in military discipline and the gen-
eral decline of American cultural values (Kin-
kead). The first of the Korean prison camp
films, Andrew Morton’s Prisoner of War FIGURE 10. Pork Chop Hill (1959). Lt. Joe Clemons
(1954), focuses on both collaboration with the (Gregory Peck, left foreground) stands in stoic ambiva-
enemy and Communist brainwashing tech- lence at the thought of leading his men on a pointless
strategic mission in Korea that will surely kill many in
niques. An American intelligence agent (Ron- the company. Courtesy Melville Production.
ald Reagan) allows himself to be captured in
order to see firsthand conditions in the North
Korean prison camps. He sees the brutalities (1962). Part psychological thriller and part po-
suffered by American prisoners, but it turns litical satire, it is the story of Raymond Shaw
out that an apparent collaborator is also an (Lawrence Harvey), a decorated Korean War
American agent on the same mission, and the veteran who, after being kidnapped and sub-
Americans establish their immunity to Com- jected to brainwashing by his Chinese Com-
munist manipulation. Not much better than munist captors, returns to the United States
this facile and improbable piece of propaganda with no memory of the experience. He has been
is Lewis Seiler’s Bamboo Prison (1955), a Ko- programmed to obey commands given to him
rean War version of Billy Wilder’s World War by his American handler, and his mission is to
II POW drama Stalag 17 (1953), in which a assassinate an American presidential candidate.
falsely accused collaborator proves to be a loyal His handler turns out to be his own dominating
American. mother (Angela Lansbury), a deep cover agent
Films that dealt more thoughtfully with the married to a right-wing, communist-hunting
issues of brainwashing and collaboration were senator ( James Gregory) selected to run on the
equally anxious to vindicate the accused. In ticket with the targeted candidate. With the help
Arnold Lavin’s The Rack (1956), an ex- of a counterintelligence officer (Frank Sinatra),
prisoner (Paul Newman) is guilty of collabo- the plot is foiled, and Raymond manages to
ration, but the blame is attributed to his trau- shoot his nefarious mother and McCarthy-like
matic childhood. Similarly, an American stepfather instead of the presidential candidate.
officer (Richard Basehart) accused of signing a The cartoonish characters and the improbable
false confession in Karl Malden’s Time Limit sequence of events diminish the film as a
(1957), is defended at his trial by an attorney thriller, but it offers an insight into the political
who reveals that the ex-POW has acted to save paranoia of Cold War America while foreshad-
the lives of sixteen prisoners. owing the acts of Lee Harvey Oswald a year
The most famous film to dramatize the later.
themes of collaboration and brainwashing The other film classic set in Korea, Robert
(and arguably one of the two best American Altman’s MASH (1970), is probably more con-
films dealing with the Korean War) is John cerned with the political issues of the 1960s
Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate than with the Korean War itself. The film’s
84 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

many anachronisms (smoking marijuana, for author of The Bridges at Toko-Ri, answering
example) suggest that the war in Vietnam young people’s questions about the necessity
rather than in Korea inspired the filmmakers. of an unpopular war.
The focus of the film is a mobile surgical hos- Irving Lerner’s Suicide Attack (1951) de-
pital, an innovation in treating battle casualties plores the Chinese Communists’ disregard for
that saved many lives during the war and was the value of human life, while Owen Crump’s
the subject of an earlier film, Richard Brooks’s Cease Fire (1954), reenacts a battle fought just
Battle Circus (1953), a serious if pedestrian hours before the 1953 armistice is to begin.
treatment. MASH, on the other hand, is a Like the fictional Pork Chop Hill, which dra-
black comedy that satirizes the hollow ideals matizes a similar battle, Cease Fire praises the
and windy pieties that justify both the war and resolution of UN forces and blames the Chi-
the military system conducting it. A pair of nese and North Korean aggressiveness and
surgeons, Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Suther- treachery for the continuing bloodshed. The
land) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott same Cold War ideology informed the docu-
Gould), battles the bureaucratic hypocrisies mentary treatments of the Korean War,
and medical incompetence embodied in a su- whether found in portraits of policy makers
perior officer (Robert Duvall). The film estab- (Robert Foster’s survey of Harry Truman’s
lished Altman as a major director and served presidency, H.S.T., Days of Decision [1963];
as the model for one of television’s most pop- and Louis Tetunic’s eulogy to General Douglas
ular and longest-running series (M*A*S*H, MacArthur, Old Soldier [1964]) or reports on
1972–83). By the early 1970s, the cycle of Ko- the continuing tensions in the divided Korea
rean War films had run its course. Except for (for example, the CBS account of the tenth an-
Terence Young’s Inchon (1981), a U.S.-Korean niversary of the armistice, Korea: The War
production that has found its way onto all- That Didn’t End, 1963).
time-worst-movies lists, Korea was no longer By the 1990s, however, the end of the Cold
the subject of American feature films. Holly- War and the increasing popularity of historical
wood had lost interest in a war that the Amer- revisionism brought a very different political
ican public had largely forgotten. mood to documentary treatments of the Ko-
rean War. The CBS production Korea—For-
Documentaries gotten War (1987) and the History Channel’s
As the fortieth anniversary of the Korean War five-episode miniseries The Korean War: Fire
approached, historians began to reappraise the and Ice (1999) focus more on the sacrifices
conflict, and television networks, sensing a re- made by the participants than on ideological
newed interest in Korea, turned out a number issues in much the same way that films dealing
of documentaries that reflected the widespread with Vietnam managed to honor the front-
influence of historical revisionism. The earliest line soldiers without staking out an ideologi-
of the Korean War documentaries, which be- cal position on the war itself. Korea: The Un-
gan to appear shortly after the hostilities be- known War (1990), a six-part effort produced
gan, were staunchly pro-American. John by Thames Television in association with
Ford’s This Is Korea (1951) explains why it is WGBH, Boston, lays much of the blame for
necessary to resist Communist aggression in the Korean War (and the Cold War in gen-
Korea, as does Joseph Browne’s Korea and eral) on the aggressively anticommunist pol-
Communism in the Pacific (1953). The latter, icies of a United States determined to preserve
which was produced by the Army Signal Corps its post–World War II hegemony in world af-
and broadcast on NBC’s Youth Wants to Know fairs. An Arrogant Display of Strength, the title
television series, features James Michener, the of the episode describing the United Nations
 THE KOREAN WAR ] 85

counterattacks that drove the North Korean mon soldier (The Korean War: Fire and Ice),
forces back to the Yalu River, exemplifies The and the bitter consequences of Douglas Mac-
Unknown War’s ideological perspective. Arthur’s hubris (The Unknown War). As a re-
CNN’s massive twenty-four-hour documen- sult, although none of the films can match the
tary, Cold War (1998–99), tries to achieve scope and ideological balance of Clay Blair’s
greater objectivity (or at least avoid conten- book The Forgotten War, they provide exam-
tious issues) by granting equal weight to the ples of the ideological battles waged by jour-
opposing interpretations. nalists and historians over the past half cen-
These Korean War documentaries tend to tury. In addition, the best of the feature films
use the same familiar film footage to exemplify (The Steel Helmet, The Bridges at Toko-Ri,
radically different interpretations of the con- Time Limit, and Pork Chop Hill) offer rich and
flict. For example, the images of exhausted, complex insights into the ambivalent and con-
nearly frozen American infantrymen retreating flicted responses of the Americans who reluc-
from North Korea has been used to illustrate tantly supported a war in which the objectives
the sacrifices necessary to contain communism were not clear and in which victory was im-
(This Is Korea), the stoic resolve of the com- possible.

References
Filmography Bibliography
All the Young Men (1960, F) Blair, Clay. The Forgotten War: America in Korea,
Bamboo Prison (1955, F) 1950–1953. New York: Times Books, 1987.
Battle Circus (1953, F) Cumings, Bruce. The Origins of the Korean War. 2
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954, F) vols. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press,
Cease Fire (1954, D) 1981.
Cold War (1998–99, TV) ——. War and Television. London: Verso, 1992.
Fixed Bayonets (1951, F) Edwards, Paul M. A Guide to Films on the Korean
H.S.T., Days of Decision (1963, TV) War. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.
The Hunters (1958, F) Foot, Dorothy. The Wrong War: American Policy and
Inchon (1981, F) the Dimensions of the Korean Conflict, 1950–1953.
Korea—Forgotten War (1987, TV) Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985.
Korea: The War That Didn’t End (1963, TV) Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Villard,
The Korean War: Fire and Ice (1999, TV) 1993.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F) Harrison, Thomas D., with Bill Stapleton. “Why
MASH (1970, F; 1972–83, TV) Did Some GI’s Turn Communist?” Colliers, April
The Men of the Fighting Lady (1952, F) 1953.
Mission over Korea (1953, F) Kaufman, Burton I. The Korean War: Challenges in
Old Soldier (1964, F) Crisis, Credibility, and Command. 2d ed. New
Pork Chop Hill (1959, F) York: McGraw-Hill, 1997.
Prisoner of War (1954, F) Kinkead, Eugene. In Every War but One. New York:
The Rack (1956, F) Norton, 1959.
The Reluctant Heroes (1971, F) Leckie, Robert. Conflict: The History of the Korean
Sabre Jet (1953, F) War, 1950–1953. New York: Putnam, 1962.
The Steel Helmet (1951, F) Marshall, S. L. A. Pork Chop Hill. New York: Morrow,
Suicide Attack (1951, F) 1956.
This Is Korea (1951, D) Michener, James A. The Bridges at Toko-Ri. New
Time Limit (1957, F) York: Random House, 1953.
Torpedo Alley (1953, F)
War Is Hell (1963, F)
[ JAMES YATES ]

The Mexican-American War

and the Spanish-American War
wo of the most prominent and contro- miles of territory to the United States—in-

T versial of America’s smaller military con-

flicts remain the war with Mexico (1846–
48) and the war with Spain (1898). Their
ramifications still reverberate more than a cen-
cluding the present states of Texas, New Mex-
ico, Arizona, and California. As the first war
“fought in the media,” the conflict fueled
popular passions through heroic songs, plays,
tury later as immigration to the United States paintings, and lithographs, bringing the first
and trade alliances transform the complexion reassurance since the War of 1812 that Amer-
of U.S.–Latin American relations. icans could still act heroically in the service of
their republic. However, a darker conse-
The War with Mexico quence—internal division—threatened the
Effective in its execution, yet intensely ambig- Union. The conflict—denounced as a cruel
uous for national consciousness, the American act of aggression (by New Englanders as di-
conflict with Mexico remains a controversial verse as Henry David Thoreau and Daniel
episode in our military and political history. Webster) and celebrated as a necessary step
Though now considered a “forgotten war,” it in expansion and development (by presidents
was a defining moment which forged new James K. Polk and John C. Calhoun)—fueled
identities for both the United States and Mex- the slavery debate that eventually led to the
ico. For America, which at midcentury was a Civil War.
nation still in search of a national identity, the From the Mexican perspective, insatiable
war became an important step in self- American ambition, aided and abetted by the
definition. As America’s first foreign war, the Mexican government’s own internal weak-
conflict with Mexico, which engendered both nesses, brought about the war and “the mas-
public enthusiasm and remarkable military sive theft” of half of its territory through the
successes pushed national pride to the point of 1848 Treaty of Hidalgo (Lopez, 22). In re-
chauvinism. Ultimately, the war reinforced sponse to President Polk’s annexation of
popular convictions concerning the superior- Texas, coupled with his gradual push of U.S.
ity of an exuberant nation, its republican gov- troops into disputed territory, the Mexican
ernment, and its Manifest Destiny. government retaliated for what it saw as acts
The origins of the American conflict with of aggression. For Mexico, the end of the war
Mexico are rooted in the expansionist ideol- ushered in demoralization and turmoil, social
ogy of Manifest Destiny and dramatic socio- restructuring, and economic collapse for Mex-
economic change—the older values of patri- ico and the creation of what we now call Chi-
otism and heroism were seemingly threatened cano culture. In this vibrant border culture,
by commercial, industrial, and material ad- the war is not forgotten. According to Mexican
vancement. The outcome of the war with historian Jesus Velasco-Marquez, Mexicans
Mexico added more than a million square still “feel aggrieved that the United States in-

86
 THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND SPANISH-AMERICAN WARS ] 87

vaded their country and occupied their capi- concentrates on the events immediately fol-
tal” (Christensen and Christensen, 4). lowing the siege, emphasizing that Sam Hous-
The Mexican War escalated gradually: first ton’s Texas Volunteer Army avenged the Al-
came the Texas Revolt of 1836, with the mas- amo defeat less than thirty days after the
sacre at the Alamo followed quickly by a stun- tragedy. Though closely attentive to historic
ning victory for Sam Houston’s forces at the detail, Two for Texas fails as an epic because of
Battle of San Jacinto; later came a more sus- its excessive attention to the melodramatic
tained conflict, involving the American armed plight of its protagonists, two Louisiana prison
forces in such well-remembered actions as the escapees (played by Kris Kristofferson and
U.S. Marines’ assault on “the Halls of Mon- Scott Barstow) accidentally swept up by the
tezuma”—that is, Mexico City. winds of war.
More ambitious in both scope and sub-
The Mexican-American War on Film stance, the PBS documentary The U.S. War
Hollywood’s treatment of the Mexican War with Mexico, 1846–48 is a meticulously re-
largely concentrates on the 1836 revolt of searched and engrossing examination of the
Texas settlers against “Mexican tyranny,” usu- origins, events, figures, impact, and remem-
ally centering on the siege and massacre at the brance of the conflict. Produced by KERA Dal-
Alamo. Filmmakers forfeit historical accuracy las/Ft. Worth, the four-hour film (which de-
for patriotic posturing in films ranging from buted nationally on September 13–14, 1998)
Frank Lloyd’s The Last Command (1956) and blends interviews, period photographs and
Byron Haskin’s The First Texan (1956) to Burt drawings, personal letters, and diary entries
Kennedy’s woeful 1987 TV miniseries based into the most significant cinematic treatment
on Lon Tinker’s classic Thirteen Days to Glory available. Sylvia Komatsu, executive producer
and the banal 1993 miniseries based upon of the series, resolved to present multiple per-
James Michener’s Texas. Although not without spectives in order to produce an accurate, bal-
its critics, John Wayne’s 1960 three-hour ac- anced, and compelling story of a disputed his-
count serves as the most durable and success- tory. According to Rob Tranchin, the program’s
ful mythic portrayal. Using hundreds of extras coproducer and writer, “The binational nature
and sparing no expense (he financed the pro- of the project was our biggest challenge—it al-
duction) in recreating the historical details of ways, in a way, had two heads. We were trying
the siege, Wayne’s Alamo is stirring in its sense to account for both the U.S. and Mexican per-
of patriotic vision and heroic sacrifice, as is the spectives without having each cancel out the
IMAX version, Alamo: The Price of Freedom, other point of view” (Stabile, 12).
which is shown on a six-story screen with six- The extensive collaboration of experts from
track stereo sound every two hours at the Riv- the United States and Mexico did indeed pro-
ercenter in San Antonio—only some five hun- duce a wide range of interpretations. KERA
dred yards from the Alamo’s historic remains. also provided a number of teaching materials,
During 1998, three Mexican War films were including a companion book, a curriculum kit
released: a two-hour cable television film, en- designed for middle and secondary schools,
titled Two for Texas, focusing on the Battle of and a fascinating Web site (http://www.pbs.
San Jacinto; a four-hour PBS documentary on org/kera/usmexicanwar/) amplifying the issues
the 1846–48 conflict; and a History Channel broached by the documentary. The conflicting
documentary examining the history of Mexico. legacies resulted in complicated storytelling
Based on James Lee Burke’s novel, Turner that KERA strived to overcome by including
Network Television’s Two for Texas (directed historians and resources from both countries.
by Rod Hardy and written by Larry Brothers) Thus, a significant element of the KERA doc-
88 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

umentary is its emphasis on the Mexican per- Mexican War as a product of Polk’s obsession
spective; some Mexican scholars view the con- with Manifest Destiny and Mexico’s refusal to
flict as not merely a war fought over territory accept the annexation of Texas by another
but a metaphysical violation on the part of ex- country. “War,” the film holds, “is what Polk
pansionist America—a violation of language, wanted. Mexico was an obstacle of the dream
labor, and culture. Other Mexican sources of an America ‘from sea to shining sea.’ ” Polk
view the war as a matter of security that Mex- found a convenient excuse for war in an old
ican authorities were unable to meet—in ad- border dispute between Texas and Mexico.
dition to fighting the Americans, many Mexi- The film also discusses internal opposition to
can factions were fighting each other. Others the war on both sides of the border.
come very close to echoing nineteenth-century In 1999, MGM released One Man’s Hero,
Mexican nationalist José Maria Lafragua’s de- starring Tom Berenger, which chronicles the
mand that the United States return the un- life of Major John Riley and the Saint Patrick’s
justly acquired territory to Mexico. “Did Polk Battalion, a unit consisting of Irish Catholic
have a vision of how the war was going to take immigrants who deserted from the U.S. Army
place when he sent Taylor to the Rio Grande?” during the Mexican-American War to take up
Tranchin asks rhetorically. “In the main, our arms against their former countrymen. Ac-
American scholars felt that he didn’t know— cording to the fact-based storyline, President
that he was reacting as much as acting. Our Polk, with the backing of Southern slave states,
Mexican scholars felt Polk had a plan and was raised an army using the sons of Irish immi-
carrying out that plan. These are tricky shoals grants, who joined with the promise of full cit-
to navigate. When the narrator is involved, we izenship for their families and forty acres of
make sure that the narrator doesn’t plant a western land. After encountering pervasive na-
seed where we can’t be sure” (Stabile, 13). tivism and anti-Catholic prejudice, the Irish
The History Channel aired in 1998 a four- troops deserted and fought for the Mexicans.
part documentary, Mexico, a comprehensive Since the monumental volte face, generations
historical overview. The film’s second episode, of Mexicans have regarded Riley as a folk hero,
“From Independence to the Alamo,” thor- though director Lance Hool, who labored for
oughly examines the initial conflict between three decades to bring the story to the screen,
Mexico and the United States and its origins doubts whether American audiences would
in slavery, taxation, and Yankee settler rebel- have the same sympathetic reaction: “After all,
liousness toward Mexico City control. This the Saint Patrick’s were deserters. But they
conflict flares into open hostility leading to the were also fighting for a cause they believed in
Mexican siege of the Alamo and the later sur- [i.e., freedom from intolerance], a quality
prise attack at San Jacinto. Along the way, the Americans still appreciate today” (Wherry,
filmmakers provide commentary from Mexi- 89). The film follows on the heels of the 1996
can scholars, who maintain that the Alamo has documentary by Mark Day called The San Pa-
been overemphasized and should be seen as tricios, which was shot on location in Texas,
merely one chapter in a long history of Amer- Mexico, and Ireland. The documentary in-
ican incursions into Mexico. For Americans, cludes interviews with American and Mexican
the battle was a defining moment that pro- historians, writers, and journalists and has
vided a rallying cry for vengeance; especially been broadcast by RTE in Ireland, Televisa in
for filmmakers, the Alamo provides an oppor- Mexico, and more than a dozen PBS stations
tunity to condense sixteen years of Texas his- in the United States. In September 1997, the
tory into a compact narrative. The third epi- St. Patrick’s Battalion was honored in a com-
sode, “Battle for North America,” treats the memoration ceremony in Mexico City with
 THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND SPANISH-AMERICAN WARS ] 89

Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, Ireland’s throughout the island as poet José Martı́ par-
ambassador to Mexico, and other government layed the growing peasant dissatisfaction into
dignitaries. a revolutionary movement and began guerilla
attacks on cane fields and mills. Spanish offi-
The Spanish-American War cials retaliated by herding 300,000 suspects
Originating in the Cuban struggle for indepen- into squalid concentration camps. America’s
dence from Spain, the Spanish-American War, “yellow press,” seeing an opportunity to in-
inflamed by yellow-press sensationalism, be- crease circulation, fanned public opinion and
came America’s first military conflict with a built sympathy for the Cubans by highlighting
foreign power since the War with Mexico. It Spain’s brutal excesses. In early 1898, pro-
“wasn’t much of a war, but it was the best one Spanish loyalists rioted in Havana, prompting
we had” reported one American official (Wil- the arrival of the battleship Maine to protect
liams, 317). Military hostilities commenced in American citizens. Late in the evening of Feb-
April 1898 and ended only five months later. ruary 15, the ship mysteriously exploded and
The Spanish conflict was, in Secretary of State sank, killing 266 Americans. The sinking out-
John Hay’s famous words, “a splendid little raged the American public and, with reconcil-
war,” with low casualties (385 U.S. soldiers iation between Spain and Cuba remote, Pres-
killed in battle) and a quick and decisive vic- ident William McKinley asked Congress to
tory. The most important battles for ground authorize the use of force.
forces lasted only one month, with the press Although more than 288,000 Americans
reporting each action extravagantly. More than served, one infantry action in the four-month
five thousand servicemen died of malaria and conflict has been enshrined in the American
yellow fever because—against recommenda- consciousness. “The Rough Riders,” the 1st
tions from the army—the war was fought dur- U.S. Volunteer Calvary Regiment and their
ing the months of summer contagion. In spite leader, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roose-
of the brevity of the conflict, the Spanish- velt, underwent a transformation into mythic
American War is a turning point in the na- warriors when their most decisive engagement,
tional experience because it thrust America the Battle of San Juan Hill (actually Kettle Hill)
into world politics and spurred the opening of on July 1, was celebrated by the press as a he-
Latin America to Yankee influence. The sub- roic microcosm of the entire war. Earlier, on
sequent expansion of trade and security May 1, in aiding the Filipino insurrection
proved problematic in the Pacific and Carib- against Spain, Commodore George Dewey
bean regions, so much so that the nation even- steamed into Manila Bay in the Philippines
tually turned away from the adventurism and and briskly annihilated the Spanish fleet. Pre-
empire building of 1898. More important, the viously, American plantation owners in Ha-
war hastened the nation’s acceptance of inter- waii had aided in the overthrow of Queen Li-
national responsibilities commensurate with liuokalani’s government and appealed to
its might while effectively ending Spain’s long Congress to annex the islands. In July, McKin-
history as a colonial power. ley successfully pushed an annexation bill
Beginning in 1895, with rebellion breaking through Congress, capturing the islands as an
out in the jewel in the crown of Spain’s shrink- important strategic and commercial gateway.
ing empire, Cuba, Americans supported the With American forces in both Cuba and the
rebels attempting to overthrow Spanish rule. Philippines, Spanish resistance quickly col-
A relatively recent U.S. tariff on sugar plunged lapsed; after the invasion of Puerto Rico,
the island into depression, jeopardizing U.S. Spain, realizing the war was a lost cause, sued
investments. A cry of “Cuba Libre” resounded for peace. With the Treaty of Paris on Decem-
90 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

ber 10, America and Spain agreed on terms: States from “a political pygmy to a dominating
independence for Cuba and cession of the world power.” Beginning with the sinking of
Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Guam to the the Maine, the “most controversial beginning
United States in return for a $20 million pay- of an American war,” and the ruthless coun-
ment to Madrid. The formal annexation of terinsurgency policy of Spain against Cuban
Hawaii, Wake Island, and, in 1899, Samoa insurrectionists, the documentary traces the
completed the agreement. With control of the conflict in the Pacific and in Cuba against the
Philippines, the United States believed it pos- backdrop of a “new American restlessness,”
sessed a good check against Japanese and Ger- using archival footage, reenactments, and
man expansion in the region; on the Carib- comments from historians. The film explores
bean side, it gained port facilities at the underlying conflict in American motiva-
Guantanamo Bay, a base considered indis- tions between idealism (to help abused people)
pensable for the defense of the soon-to-be- and realpolitik (to gain territory). The two-
built Panama Canal. part series Destiny of Empires: The Spanish-
American War of 1898 solidly explores the
The Spanish-American War on Film causes, characters, and political consequences
Writer-director John Milius, an aficionado of the war; “Remember the Maine”: The Roots
whose The Wind and the Lion (1976) had of- of the Spanish-American War uses archival
fered a respectful portrait of Teddy Roosevelt, footage, newspaper excerpts, and historical
brought the Rough Riders to television in a documents to trace the roots of the conflict,
four-hour film for Turner Network Television, while The Spanish-American War: A Conflict in
Rough Riders (1997), Hollywood’s most com- Progress competently examines the conduct of
prehensive cinematic treatment of the war. the war from Roosevelt’s Rough Riders to the
The film, which stars Tom Berenger as Roo- Treaty of Paris.
sevelt, along with Sam Elliot, Chris Noth, and On August 23, 1999, PBS aired Crucible of
Buck Taylor, accurately traces the formation Empire: The Spanish-American War, which
of the volunteer unit, its training, and its bat- combined historical footage, crisp narration by
tles in Cuba, climaxing with the famous charge actor Edward James Olmos, and interviews, in-
up San Juan Hill. The opening montage blends cluding one with historian Stephen Ambrose,
newspaper headlines, political cartoons, and who exonerates American actions: “We had to
footage of the Maine to evoke the origins of find some new outlet for our energy, for our
the conflict. Reflecting the multicultural sen- dynamic nature, for this coiled spring that was
sibility of the 1990s, the film stresses the ethnic the United States. With the frontier gone, there
diversity of the unit, a rainbow mixture of was something akin to a panic among people.”
cowboys, outlaws, Mexican Americans, and The documentary, though not a diatribe against
Ivy Leaguers. It also features fairly accurate American imperialism, traces how the nation
discussions among characters regarding the grappled with its new role as a colonial power.
reasons for the war, and the texture of the con- In Spain, defeat meant not only the loss of ter-
flict, including details about the infamous pro- ritory but also a deep examination of its politi-
motional efforts of yellow journalist William cal and military institutions by what would be
Randolph Hearst (George Hamilton). called “the generation of ’98”; indeed, the war
In 1998, the History Channel presented the still rankles Spaniards a century later.
two-hour The Spanish-American War: Birth of
a Super Power to commemorate the hundredth From Romance to History
anniversary of the conflict. The Lou Reda pro- Through cinematic treatments of the conflicts
duction depicts the war as changing the United with Mexico and Spain, filmmakers have
 THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND SPANISH-AMERICAN WARS ] 91

moved from the more romantic approaches to filmmakers presented both dramatic and doc-
historical accuracy. Whereas John Wayne’s umentary treatments of the conflict that es-
sprawling 1960 account of The Alamo re- tablished the United States as a major global
sounds with heroic and patriotic fervor in its player in the twentieth century. John Milius’s
treatment of U.S.-Mexican relations a decade dramatic and accurate depiction of Rough
before open hostilities erupted, the 1998 PBS/ Riders, the History Channel’s examination of
KERA documentary The U.S. War with Mex- The Spanish-American War: Birth of a Super
ico: 1846–48 presents an engrossing, thor- Power, and PBS’s Crucible of Empire examine
oughly researched account of the origins and not only the central causes and events of the
continual impact of the conflict. Likewise, the brief conflict but also America’s subsequent
History Channel’s comprehensive history, superpower status and its effect on the na-
Mexico, illuminates not only the development tional consciousness. Throughout each treat-
of the nation but also the crunching economic ment, basic themes emerge: expansion and
and cultural effects of its conflict with the assimilation, loss and transformation, and
United States. Lance Hool’s recent theatrical shifting individual and national perception.
interpretation One Man’s Hero, though con- As the cinematic history of these two conflicts
troversial, uncovers an often overlooked aspect reveals, the ramifications continue to resound
of the war—that of the Irish immigrant—and not only in U.S. relations with Mexico and
its relation to both sides of the conflict. With Spain but also with its own citizens and its
the centenary of the Spanish-American War, own national memory.

References
Collier, Christopher, and James L. Collier. Hispanic
Filmography America, Texas, and the Mexican War, 1835–1850.
The Alamo (1960, F) London: Marshall Cavendish, 1998.
The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory (1987, TV) Cosmas, Graham A. An Army for Empire. College
Captains and the Kings (1974, TV) Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998.
Crucible of Empire: The Spanish-American War (1999, Davis, William C. Three Roads to the Alamo: The
D) Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie,
Destiny of Empires: The Spanish-American War of and William Barrett Travis. New York: Harper-
1898 (1998, D) Collins, 1998.
The First Texan (1956, F) Johannsen, Robert W. To the Halls of the Montezu-
The Last Command (1956, F) mas: The Mexican War in the American Imagina-
Mexico (1998, D) tion. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
One Man’s Hero (1999, F) Lopez, Lalo. “Legacy of a Land Grab.” Hispanic, Sep-
Rough Riders (1997, TV) tember 1997.
The San Patricios (1996, D) McCullough, David. Mornings on Horseback. New
The Spanish-American War (1998, D) York: Simon & Schuster, 1981.
Texas (1993, TV) Miller, Nathan. Theodore Roosevelt: A Life. New York:
Two for Texas (1998, TV) William Morrow, 1992.
The U.S. War with Mexico: 1846–48 (1998, D) Millis, Walter. Arms and Men: America’s Military His-
The West of the Imagination: The Golden Land (1997, tory and Military Policy from the Revolution to the
D) Present. New York: Capricorn, 1956.
The Wind and the Lion (1976, F) Musicant, Ivan. Empire by Default: The Spanish-
American War and the Dawn of the American Cen-
tury. New York: Henry Holt, 1998.
Bibliography Santoni, Pedro. Mexicans at Arms. Dallas: Texas
Berner, Brad K. The Spanish-American War. Engle- Christian University Press, 1996.
wood Cliffs, NJ: Scarecrow, 1998. Stabile, Tom. “Crossroad of Conflict: Exploring the
Christensen, Carol, and Thomas Christensen. The Legacy of the U.S.-Mexican War.” Humanities
U.S.-Mexican War. San Francisco: Bay Books, 1998. (September–October 1998): 12–16.
92 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
Stevens, Peter. The Rogue’s March: John Riley and the Wherry, Rob. “Tale of the Turncoats.” George, Sep-
St. Patrick’s Battalion. Dallas: Brassey, 1998. tember 1998.
Trask, David F. The War with Spain in 1898. Lincoln: Williams, T. Harry. The History of American Wars
University of Nebraska Press, 1996. from 1745 to 1918. New York: Knopf, 1981.
[ PETER C. ROLLINS ]

The Vietnam War

he Vietnam war pitted the United States owing to a number of factors—many of them

T and the Republic of Vietnam (South Viet-

nam) against the National Liberation
Front (also known as the Vietcong) and the
Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Viet-
diplomatic and political—that are still the sub-
ject of heated discussion and debate. Ironically,
Hollywood would virtually ignore the conflict
while it was a contemporary controversy, but,
nam) in a struggle for control of South Viet- after the debacle in 1975, it would exploit the
nam, which in 1954 had been partitioned as a military clash in a series of major feature films
separate political entity by the Geneva Ac- and documentaries.
cords. The conflict was viewed by U.S. poli-
cymakers as a “test case” of American insti-
tutions and a demonstration of American Background
resolve in the global fight against international Vietnam, a French colony since the 1880s, was
communist expansion. SEATO allies agreed: one of the first targets for the Japanese in the
Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and South opening days of World War II. After the war,
Korea sent troops, while the Philippines pro- the French regained control of their former In-
vided civilian personnel. In the early days of dochina colony. In part because of fears that
the conflict (1954–64), the United States pro- Communists would take over in France itself,
vided advisors and economic support; in 1965, the United States shunned the forces for inde-
as the communist insurgency grew in strength pendence in Vietnam (Herz, 15). The French-
(accompanied by political instability within Vietnamese war (1946–54) ended in France’s
the south), U.S. infantry units were commit- defeat at the hands of Ho Chi Minh’s Com-
ted. The number of U.S. forces peaked in 1969 munist Viet Minh. The Geneva Accords of 1954
with the deployment of 543,400 troops. Unlike divided the country into two parts—with the
most of their cinematic counterparts, U.S. North occupied by the Communists and the
troops aggressively pursued their missions. As South under the authoritarian regime of Ngo
historian George Herring has concluded: Dinh Diem, one of the last living noncommun-
“American troops fought well, despite the mis- ist nationalists—who governed with benefit of
erable conditions under which the war was extensive support from the United States.
waged—dense jungles and deep swamps, fire In the meantime, Premier Nikita Khru-
ants and leeches, booby traps and ambushes, shchev announced that the Soviet Union
an elusive, but deadly enemy. In those in- would spread Communism through “wars of
stances where main units were actually en- national liberation.” In 1959, the North Viet-
gaged, the Americans usually prevailed, and namese initiated such an offensive, and, after
there was no place in Vietnam where the en- a series of reversals for the South, American
emy enjoyed security from American fire- troops were brought into the conflict in force
power” (153). Yet, by 1975, the war was lost, in 1965. Although there are different interpre-

93
94 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

tations of its meaning, the Tet offensive of Walt W. Rostow, national-security advisors to
1968 marked a turning point: despite a disaster Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, saw their
for the Vietcong on the battlefields of South Vietnam strategy as a logical extension of the
Vietnam, the media reports of Tet eroded pub- stance defined for America by Kennan and
lic support for the conflict in the United States Truman.
and seemed to confirm the worst predictions For many reasons, the U.S. government de-
of the antiwar movement. American troops cided against “selling” the commitment to
fought on, but morale in the field eroded Vietnam as it had the struggle of World War
steadily after February 1968. When Richard II. Most historians believe that Lyndon B.
Nixon assumed the presidency in 1969, he Johnson, who inherited Vietnam when he be-
vowed to “Vietnamize” the fighting and to came president in 1963, feared that too much
withdraw U.S. forces gradually. By March beating on the war drums would distract at-
1973, all U.S. combat units had departed Viet- tention away from his Great Society programs;
nam. With the passage of the Case-Church both Johnson and his secretary of state, Dean
Amendment in 1973, all U.S. support of the Rusk, also feared that the delicate efforts to win
South ceased, despite previous pledges during the struggle through gradual escalation would
the Paris Peace negotiations by President be disrupted if the American people became
Nixon and Secretary of State Kissinger. After too aroused. (Many would later regret this de-
some false starts, the North invaded the South cision to soft-pedal public information.)
in a traditional, cross-border assault in the Meanwhile, commercial television reported
spring of 1975 and took possession of Saigon the war. Believing that the press would serve
(now Ho Chi Minh City) at the end of April, them in a patriotic fashion, the armed forces
bringing the military phase of the struggle to provided reporters with helicopter rides and
an end. In response to the subsequent repres- full access to military operations. That as-
sion by the North, hundreds of thousands of sumption proved to be misguided. Night after
South Vietnamese took to the sea, becoming night, American viewers saw their boys hurt or
“boat people.” Many would die in this desper- dying on the nation’s television screens in a
ate flight to avoid Communist tyranny and conflict insufficiently justified by their govern-
“reeducation,” but many others would become ment. Especially during the Tet offensive of
American citizens—immigrants who are now 1968, the stories from Vietnam stressed inep-
among our most hard-working and successful titude and defeat, disaffecting the public per-
neighbors. manently. Vietnam has been called America’s
America’s involvement in Vietnam was an first television war, and the ramifications of
outgrowth of what was called “the doctrine of that novelty are still being explored by scholars
containment,” elaborated by diplomat George and filmmakers. Referring to Walter Cron-
Kennan. It called for the United States to resist kite’s famous special reports during the offen-
Soviet expansionism where it affected vital in- sive, one insightful commentator with a gift for
terests. In 1947, President Harry S. Truman exaggeration described the Vietnam War as the
announced what was called “The Truman first American military conflict to be called off
Doctrine,” an unambiguous statement that the by a television anchor.
United States would oppose Communist ag- Vietnam was a watershed event in modern
gression. Much of the disagreement about the American history; the war had a profound im-
meaning of the Vietnam conflict stems from pact on American national identity. Indeed,
the varying interpretations of the putative the “Vietnam Syndrome” still casts a shadow
threat—or nonthreat—of the Soviet Union over the country’s foreign policy. The much-
and Communist China. McGeorge Bundy and vaunted “Powell Doctrine” concerning the
 THE VIETNAM WAR ] 95

commitment of U.S. forces is a direct out- was not of vital interest to the United States—
growth of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s ex- and, therefore, the U.S. commitment was a
perience as an infantry company commander mistake from the beginning.
in Vietnam and was formulated to avoid the The most strident attack on U.S. motives
“quagmire” that sullied the international rep- and policies is Gabriel Kolko’s Anatomy of a
utation of a superpower with the best of inten- War: Vietnam, The United States, and the Mod-
tions. ern Historical Experience (1986). For Kolko,
every Vietcong is a self-effacing nationalist
Historical Scholarship yearning for freedom and every South Viet-
The rationale for U.S. involvement in Vietnam namese official a corrupt and dictatorial pup-
is most succinctly described in Martin F. pet of the American exploiters. Also stridently
Herz’s The Vietnam War in Retrospect. Am- critical, albeit less ideological, is Neil Sheehan’s
bassador Herz explores the historical roots of Pulitzer Prize–winning volume A Bright Shin-
the conflict, the Geneva Accords, the concerns ing Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Viet-
about “Wars of National Liberation,” the Tet nam (1988), a monumental work adapted for
offensive, and television, together with the television by HBO in 1998. So much of the
post–Tet offensive trends. He clearly links the writing from this perspective takes America to
defeat of the South to America’s failure to live task for its (supposed) arrogance after the great
up to its commitments. Henry Kissinger’s victory in World War II. The Kolko approach
monumental volume Diplomacy (1994) de- stresses our unconscious transformation into
votes considerable attention to the Truman a society that promotes the interests of exploit-
Doctrine and the doctrine of containment—to ative corporations over people—a trend Kolko
include their successful application in Korea traces back to domestic developments during
from 1950 on as opposed to their inept appli- the Progressive Era at the end of the nineteenth
cation in Vietnam. It was Kissinger, of course, century. The Sheehan approach condemns
who extricated America from Vietnam and who America for losing its democratic roots and
led the negotiations with Hanoi during the Paris sense of humanity in our blustering efforts, af-
Peace talks of 1973. Long before Kissinger’s ter World War II, to transform other cultures
overview, Guenter Lewy in America in Vietnam into mirror images of our own.
(1978) studied the moral issues in relation to In recent days, there has developed among
the war and concluded that the repression im- military historians what might be labeled a
posed by the Communists after 1975 “lends “Krepinevich School” of criticism—named for
strength to the view that the American attempt Andrew F. Krepinevich, whose The Army and
to prevent a communist domination of the area Vietnam (1988) attracted much attention be-
was not without moral justification” (441). cause the critical study was written by an Army
The interpretations of the war are varied, officer on active duty. According to the Kre-
but—in relation to U.S. policy—they tend to pinevich critique, General William Westmore-
stress that either the United States miscalcu- land, the commander in Vietnam from 1964
lated how difficult it would be to win its war to 1968, made a fundamental strategic error by
(while simultaneously reforming an authori- focusing on destruction (attrition) of main
tarian regime in the South) or that our in- force units rather than concentrating on pac-
volvement was both politically and morally ifying—and occupying—individual villages.
wrong—that we were meddling in a civil war Neil Sheehan supports this analysis, attributing
in which the Vietnamese people were strug- this alternative approach to General Victor
gling to determine their political destiny. Still Krulak, a close advisor to President Kennedy,
others have argued that the destiny of Vietnam whose innovative ideas about counterinsur-
96 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

gency were rebuffed by the Army. Rebuttals of Through intercutting techniques and by pull-
these criticisms can be found in books by Gen- ing clips from hokey anticommunist feature
eral Phillip Davidson, Westmoreland’s intelli- films of the Cold War era, Davis creates a dev-
gence chief. Colonel Harry Summers (d. 1999) astating portrait of a misguided superpower.
took the position that the United States should When the producer, Bert Schneider, read a
have blocked infiltration into the South, leav- thank-you note from Hanoi at the 1974 Acad-
ing to the army of the Republic of South Viet- emy Awards presentations, his action spoke vol-
nam (ARVN) the task of village pacification. umes about the Hollywood creative commu-
The military strategists continue their debate nity’s “spin” on the war. Michael DeAntonio’s
with Westmoreland as the villain. Not even In the Year of the Pig (1968) is a more honest
mea culpa books by major players such as film by a declared radical who clearly and un-
Robert S. McNamara have relieved the shadow equivocally opposed what he saw as American
over a caring leader’s legacy. colonialism. Unlike Davis, DeAntonio does not
sneer at his country and its warriors in the style
Documentary Films of Hearts and Minds but opposes its policies
The documentary record of the Vietnam war with clear and powerful arguments. (De Anto-
is rich and reflects the kinds of debates found nio was a severe critic of Hearts and Minds, al-
in scholarship about the conflict. Although the beit from a leftist perspective.)
U.S. government made a deliberate decision In 1983, the Public Broadcasting Service
not to propagandize the American public, one (PBS) aired a thirteen-part series about the war
film, Why Vietnam? (1965), closely follows the entitled Vietnam: A Television History. (The se-
Frank Capra World War II model. The film ries was recycled at least three times during the
opens with President Lyndon B. Johnson read- next five years and purchased by countless
ing a letter from the mother of a young soldier schools and universities across the land.) The
in Vietnam. She wants an explanation of why series was supposedly based on Stanley Kar-
her son is hazarding his life in a faraway land; now’s Vietnam: A History, but many who have
the film uses Lyndon Johnson, Secretary of seen the series and read the book hold that the
State Dean Rusk, and an omniscient narrator latter is a far more balanced presentation of
to explain the doctrine of containment and the the war and its complexities. The television se-
threat of wars of national liberation. It argues ries was so unbalanced that it sparked public
that America has learned from the Munich protests by Vietnamese refugee groups in
Crisis before World War II—and in Berlin and Washington, Houston, and Los Angeles. An
Korea after the war—that “aggression unop- outgrowth of these protests was a book entitled
posed is aggression unleashed.” Why Vietnam? Losers Are Pirates (1985), a critique—episode
promises that all will end well if America learns by episode—of the errors and distortions of
from the past and takes a firm stand. the series. In 1985, a Washington-based media
Peter Davis’s Hearts and Minds (1974) is a watchdog group, Accuracy in Media, came for-
powerful documentary that takes the Kolko/ ward with two programs that attempted to
Sheehan approach to the war, with special em- counter the PBS version: Television’s Vietnam:
phasis on the notion that Americans have lost The Real Story uses interviews with diplomats
their sensitivity to other cultures. According to and historians—some of whom had been con-
Davis, our obsession with communism has sulted by PBS and then ignored—to refute the
blinded us to the real nature of the struggles PBS series. Television’s Vietnam: The Impact of
in the Third World; indeed, our wealth, our Media looks at the Tet offensive of 1968 in an
competitiveness, and our racism make us a attempt to examine, through specific stories,
menace to aspiring peoples around the globe. the impact of reporting on the American view-
 THE VIETNAM WAR ] 97

ing audience, to include people working within in the counterculture. For that reason, it is not
the Johnson White House. Both films draw surprising to find that boot camp and infantry
heavily from the work of Peter Braestrup, training are assailed in films about the era.
whose two-volume Big Story (1977) provided These forms of indoctrination seemed to em-
a scholarly foundation of media criticism by a body the regimentation and conformity de-
working member of the media itself. (Braes- manded by those on the other side of Amer-
trup, who died in 1997, had been a Marine ica’s “generation gap.”
infantry officer in Korea; in Vietnam, he served In the motion picture version of the musical
as Washington Post bureau chief. His previous Hair (1979), the Oklahoma protagonist, Clod
combat exposure gave him a less alarmist per- ( John Savage), participates in the love and
spective on battlefront pyrotechnics.) freedom of the Age of Aquarius but is then
With the explosion of the video market, the drafted and sent to Vietnam. The Establish-
major networks have produced multiepisode ment’s attack on Clod’s individuality is sym-
boxed sets from their archives; unfortunately, bolized by his haircut. Naturally, not long after
they have not, for the most part, revised the he is shipped out to Vietnam, he dies—an in-
errors and distortions of their reporting during nocent victim of a senseless war machine. The
the war years but recapitulate the same egre- screen adaptation of Philip Caputo’s autobio-
gious misrepresentations—this time in the ser- graphical novel A Rumor of War (1977; film
vice of “history.” A significant exception to this 1980) carefully establishes that Marine Corps
stale video record is a PBS series entitled Bat- hazing misled young Philip, turning him into
tlefield: Vietnam—a cluster of three programs a callous, small-unit leader who forgot the mo-
that maintained an admirable objectivity to- rality of his Catholic upbringing. These por-
ward both sides of the conflict as it presents trayals in Hair and A Rumor of War are both
detailed studies of specific engagements. (The a comment on the ostensible subject—the im-
series Web site included equally praiseworthy pact of the military regimen on impressiona-
resources for study at www.pbs.org/battlefield- ble, young men—and a statement about the
vietnam.) nature of American institutions in the era of
Woodstock.
Feature Films
The most devastating motion picture por-
Other than John Wayne’s much-maligned
trayal of military training is Stanley Kubrick’s
Green Berets, which reached theaters in 1968,
Full Metal Jacket (1987). The title refers to the
Hollywood was so afraid to cover the war dur-
cover of the 7.62-mm bullet fired by the M-14
ing the conflict that Julian Smith wrote an en-
rifle used by the Marines in the film, but it
tire book about the avoidance, Looking Away:
relates as well to the hard carapace with which
Hollywood and Vietnam (1975). Smith con-
the armed forces (supposedly) coat the sensi-
cluded that if Vietnam themes emerged in mo-
bilities of raw recruits. Some of the young are
tion pictures during and immediately after the
destroyed by the unrelenting harassment of
war, they did so indirectly in such “historical”
their stentorian drill sergeant; others succumb
productions as Little Big Man (1970) and Sol-
to the training and become distorted, amoral
dier Blue (1970), where contemporary clashes
monsters when they reach the battlefield—
between first- and third-world cultures were
confusing sex and violence, love and death in
projected into the American past.
ways that could only be unraveled by a disciple
Boot Camp: Indoctrination of Killers? of Freud. As an outsider to the Corps, Kubrick
During the 1960s, opposition to the “Estab- missed the positive effects of boot camp on
lishment” was one of the most important most young Marines. They typically gain a
themes sense of pride and self-confidence in having
98 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

with a Marine unit into an hour-length cinema

verité film. Half of the unit was injured during
that period, as was the filmmaker, who was
wounded twice. There is fighting, the pain and
excitement of combat, but there is also the
birth of a child—an event the tough, young
Marines witness in awe. The company’s gun-
nery sergeant has a prominent role in the film
and exemplifies the kind of professionalism
(and caring) that veterans associate with people
in that venerable role—tough, but fatherly.
An Army counterpart to this film is Pierre
F I G U R E 1 1 . Full Metal Jacket (1987). Stanley Kubrick Schoendorffer’s The Anderson Platoon (1967).
depicts the vicious and unrelenting training of the The unit is named for its African American
marines. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman’s (R. Lee Ermey,
center front) constant abuse of recruit Leonard Lawrence platoon leader, and this slice-of-life produc-
(Vincent D’Onofrio, left) will finally incite the private to tion—like A Face of War—shows how coop-
kill the sergeant and himself. The recruit known as eratively combat soldiers lived and worked.
“Joker” (Matthew Modine, center rear), the narrator and
There are firefights and wounds, but there is
moral center of Kubrick’s film, looks on. Courtesy
Warner Bros. also time for play and for humor. No frag-
gings, no rapes, no shooting of prisoners or
civilians enter this record of a typical U.S.
completed a physically and mentally challeng- Army unit in Vietnam. Indeed, both of these
ing thirteen weeks of training. As a film ex- black-and-white documentaries convey an ac-
perience, Kubrick’s version of Vietnam, based curate portrait of American combat troops in
on the novel The Short-Timers by Marine com- Vietnam, 90 percent of whom told Harris poll-
bat veteran Gustav Hasford, is a powerful (and sters in 1980 that they were happy to have
unfair) indictment of the Marine Corps and its served, and nearly 80 percent of whom denied
sacrifices on the battlefield. For an entirely dif- that the United States had taken advantage of
ferent view of Marine boot camp, see Jack them (Rollins, “Popular Culture,” 334).
Webb’s 1957 film The DI, a post–Korean War Two feature films explore the war in close-
paean to the tough training and discipline of up, taking two diametrically opposed perspec-
a proud Corps. Webb’s film was updated, tives: John Irvin’s Hamburger Hill (1987) and
though with an antiwar twist, in the 1970 Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986). Hamburger Hill
made-for-TV movie Tribes, in which a tough- focuses on an infantry squad (twelve men),
as-nails drill instructor (Darren McGavin) and part of a platoon (thirty-eight men) from the
a rebellious hippie draftee ( Jan-Michael Vin- 101st Airborne Division involved in a ten-day
cent) face off with tragic consequences. assault on a North Vietnamese position near
the Laotian border during May 1969. This bat-
Small Units in Combat tle was debated in the U.S. Senate as it was
Elsewhere in this volume, Robert C. Doyle being fought and was condemned by Senator
speaks of the small unit as the core for war Edward Kennedy for its waste of American
stories (see “The American Fighting Man”). lives during a period in which the American
Early in the war, two documentaries attempted military was supposed to be disengaging. The
to convey the textures of experience for sol- Army’s response to the senator’s criticism was
diers in small units. In A Face of War (1968), that Hill 937 (Ap Bia Mountain) was fortified
Eugene Jones distills a three-month experience and occupied by an enemy regiment and that
 THE VIETNAM WAR ] 99

a small unit in combat—but it is much more,

in that the director depicts the unit as a mi-
crocosm for the cultural changes affecting
American society in the 1960s. Viewers are led
to believe that American troops regularly shot
civilians, that our field commanders used
troops as “bait,” and that our servicemen were
so undisciplined that they spent more time
“fragging” each other than fighting an elusive
enemy. (“Fragging” was a slang term during
the era for attacks on officers and noncom-
missioned officers by disgruntled subordi-
FIGURE 12. Hamburger Hill (1987). An infantry nates—who used fragmentation grenades to
squad and a platoon are ordered to take Hill 937 even kill or injure their victims.) Stone, himself a
as the U.S. military was under a call for disengagement.
combat veteran, comments broadly about
Courtesy RKO Pictures.
American history when the most sympathetic
father figure in the film, Sergeant Elias, ex-
plains, “We’ve been kicking ass for so long, it’s
the U.S. Army’s role in Vietnam was to seek about time we had ours kicked.” The central
out the enemy regular forces—with luck, away character, Chris Taylor (Charles Sheen), is
from built-up areas where civilians might be torn between the polarized values in the unit—
hurt—and to destroy them, especially during he admires the grit and tenacity of Staff Ser-
a time of disengagement. When the Americans geant Barnes (Tom Berenger), but he also as-
finally reached the summit of the fortified pires to the New Age masculinity represented
mountain, they had lost fifty-six soldiers while by Elias (Willem Dafoe). Naturally, the two fa-
killing more than six hundred of the enemy. ther figures are icons of the cultural forces of
Sam Zaffiri’s eponymous book explores both the day; significantly, Chris Taylor has to mur-
the home- and warfront dimensions of the der Barnes (the old values) to begin his new
battle, while Irvin’s feature film—not based on life. Unfortunately, along the way, the Ameri-
the book—examines the weapons, tactics, can platoon rapes Vietnamese villagers and
frustrations, hopes, and comradeship of Amer- shoots civilians indiscriminately—all at odds
icans in battle. Black and white, schooled and with the actual behavior of most American
unschooled, the soldiers of the 101st do their troops in Vietnam. Exasperated by Stone’s dis-
best to survive the maelstrom of war while tortions, Lanning concludes: “What is a shame
completing their perilous mission. Michael L. for the viewer and an insult to every Vietnam
Lanning, a Vietnam veteran who is also a mili- veteran is that the vast majority of those who
tary historian, has said that “this picture is ex- see it believe it is the ultimate true story of
tremely accurate in weaponry, equipment, what really happened in the war” (293). To
[and] the use of artillery and air support” unmask Stone’s claims about the autobio-
(240). Lanning also praises the film for show- graphical basis for Platoon, Robert Hemphill—
ing the dedication and discipline of our troops Oliver Stone’s company commander in Viet-
in battle—factors foreign to most Hollywood nam—produced a narrative entitled Platoon:
histories. Bravo Company (1998). Hemphill wrote the
Labeled by Lanning “the unkindest movie book, in part, because Stone’s film had been
yet made about the Vietnam war,” Oliver successful in depicting “the average American
Stone’s Platoon (1986) is a powerful study of soldier in Vietnam as a cruel, racist, pot-
100 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

headed malcontent” (9), a view which the au-

thor tries to refute by narrating the events of a
busy, painful, but professional year in combat
with Bravo Company, 3d Battalion, 25th Divi-
sion of the U.S. Army in Vietnam, 1967–68.

The Vietnam Veteran

There are almost 3.5 million veterans of the
Southeast Asian conflict. Their attitudes to-
ward country and service were plumbed by
Harris pollsters in 1980—with results that in-
evitably surprise students because of the mis- F I G U R E 1 3 . Coming Home (1978). An angry Captain
representation of veterans in popular Holly- Bob Hyde (Bruce Dern, left) confronts Luke Martin
( Jon Voight, right), a paraplegic former infantryman in
wood productions. Vietnam stories are stories
Vietnam who has been having an affair with Hyde’s
of losers who return to our country as pathetic wife. Courtesy Jayne Productions and Jerome Hellman
remnants, “walking wounded.” Vietnam vet- Productions.
erans (VVs) are rapists in Platoon and Casu-
alties of War (1989)—indeed, the latter film is
an extended rape over two hours in length; Vietnam experiences while paying homage to
VVs are a “haunted generation” in the Rambo all who served in a controversial overseas con-
series starring Sylvester Stallone and in the flict.
Chuck Norris Missing in Action films; the VVs In Coming Home, Jon Voight plays a para-
are psychologically haunted in The House, Ja- plegic infantryman who is brought back to
cob’s Ladder, Jackknife, and Taxi Driver (in the health and sexual fulfillment by the wife ( Jane
last, Robert De Niro plays a troubled young Fonda) of a Marine officer serving in Vietnam.
man obsessed by violence); VVs are emotional Much of the dialogue for the film was extem-
loose cannons in Welcome Home, Soldier Boys porized; once into the production, Bruce Dern
(1972), where veterans go berserk and destroy (who plays the Marine officer and husband)
a town; future VVs become enamored with realized that his character was being trashed by
“the Horror” in Apocalypse Now (1979)and the Fonda and Voight. In response, Dern stopped
omnipresence of death in The Deer Hunter telling his fellow actors what the Marine officer
(1978); VVs (at least the unrepentant ones) would say, hoping to rescue a modicum of dig-
suffer from masculinity problems—witness nity for his character. Like Platoon, director
the Bruce Dern character in Coming Home Hal Ashby’s Coming Home propagandizes for
(1978), the Henry Winkler character in Heroes countercultural values: the old kind of mas-
(1977), and the John Terry character in In culinity (Dern) is on the way out, to be re-
Country (1989); VVs are “guns for hire” in a placed with a softer manhood represented by
Mafia underworld in The Stone Killer (1973). the paraplegic veteran (Voight), who has come
Little wonder that the public perceives VVs as to peace with himself by joining the antiwar
victims at best and walking time bombs at movement. As Michael Lanning has observed,
worst. In marked contrast to these macabre “Regardless of the merits of the film, anyone
portraits of veterans is an HBO documentary seeing it will understand why many Vietnam
entitled Dear America: Letters Home from Viet- veterans are not ‘fonda’ Jane” (196).
nam (1987), produced by the New York City Ron Kovic assisted Hal Ashby with details
Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This television about paralyzed Vietnam veterans. His own
program shows sensitivity to the variety of story would reach the screen under the guid-
 THE VIETNAM WAR ] 101

ance of Oliver Stone in Born on the Fourth of whose antiwar activities receive near-mythic
July (1989). This biography of a young patriot treatment in the 2000 biopic Steal This Movie,
turned antiwar protestor taps a powerful na- died of an overdose of drugs shortly before
tional myth, the myth of the American Adam. Born on the Fourth of July was released—a sad
Ron Kovic was a gung-ho Marine who was a ending, to be sure, but one more appropriate
squad leader and a two-tour veteran. He pro- to the counterculture than to the experience of
tested against the Vietnam war only after he most Vietnam combat veterans.
was wounded and lost his faith in God and
country, in part because—the story explains— Reconciling Visions
he was mistreated by an uncaring Veterans Ad- In spring 1999, the Chronicle of Higher Edu-
ministration. Rather than turning inward for cation reported that two professors at Barat
strength, Kovic turned outward and became a College, in Lake Forest, Illinois, were team-
spokesman for Vietnam Veterans Against the teaching a course entitled “The Politics and
War—a role that culminates in his protest at History of the Vietnam War.” James Brask was
the 1968 Republican convention in Florida a reluctant draftee during the war, Robert Ar-
and his opportunity to speak at the 1972 Dem- noldt a volunteer. The two veterans said that
ocratic national convention. Oliver Stone cre- their chronological distance from the war has
ated a powerful story of an American innocent allowed them to disagree without being dis-
who was first hoodwinked by patriotic slogans agreeable. Ideally, such binocular vision will
and then crushed by an impersonal govern- lead to dispassionate and detached studies that
ment; in the end, however, the victim tri- explain America’s tragic loss in Vietnam—
umphs by talking back to power. In shaping with luck, without explaining it away. Brask
this personal story, Kovic and Stone vindicated and Arnoldt’s willingness to entertain complex
the rebellion of all who embraced the coun- analysis is exemplary, although this ecumeni-
terculture in the 1960s—especially Abbie cal attitude will take some time to reach Amer-
Hoffman, an activist who appears in the film ica’s newspapers, cable networks, and movie
and to whom the film is dedicated. Hoffman, theaters.

References
The Hanoi Hilton (1987, F)
Filmography Hearts and Minds (1974, D)
The Anderson Platoon (1967, D) Heroes (1977, F)
Apocalypse Now (1979, F) In Country (1989, F)
Battlefield: Vietnam (1999, TV) In the Year of the Pig (1968, D)
Bat*21 (1988, F) Jackknife (1989, F)
Born on the Fourth of July (1989, F) Jacob’s Ladder (1990, F)
Casualties of War (1989, F) The Killing Fields (1984, F)
Coming Home (1978, F) Little Big Man (1970, F)
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987, D) Magnum, P.I. (1980, TV)
The Deer Hunter (1978, F) Missing in Action (1984, F)
The DI (1957, F) Missing in Action 2—The Beginning (1985, F)
A Face of War (1968, D) 1969 (1988, F)
First Blood (1982, F) Operation Tailwind (1998, TV)
Full Metal Jacket (1987, F) Platoon (1986, F)
Gardens of Stone (1987, F) The Quiet American (1958, F; 2002, F)
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987, F) Rambo II: First Blood (1985, F)
The Green Berets (1968, F) Rambo III (1988, F)
Hair (1979, F) Return of the Secaucus 7 (1981, F)
Hamburger Hill (1987, F) Rolling Thunder (1977, F)
102 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
A Rumor of War (1980, F) notated Bibliography of Criticism. Pasadena, CA:
Running on Empty (1988, F) Salem Press, 1992.
Soldier Blue (1970, F) Karnow, Stanley. Vietnam: A History. New York: Vi-
The Stone Killer (1973, F) king, 1983.
The Strawberry Statement (1970, F) Kennan, George. American Diplomacy: 1900–1950.
Taxi Driver (1976, F) Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
Television’s Vietnam: The Impact of Media (1986, D) Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy. New York: Simon &
Television’s Vietnam: The Real Story (1985, D) Schuster, 1994.
Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972, F) Kolko, Gabriel. Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the
Tribes (1970, TV) United States, and the Modern Historical Experience.
Uncommon Valor (1983, F) New York: Pantheon, 1985.
Vietnam: A Television History (1983, D) Krepinevich, Andrew F. The Army and Vietnam. Bal-
The War at Home (1978, D) timore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.
Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1972, F) Lanning, Michael Lee. Vietnam at the Movies. New
When Hell Was in Season (1979. F) York: Ballantine, 1994.
Why Vietnam? (1965, D) Lewy, Guenter. America in Vietnam. New York: Ox-
ford University Press, 1978.
Malo, Jean-Jacques, and Tony Williams, eds. Vietnam
Bibliography War Films: Over 600 Feature, Made-For-TV, Pilot,
Anderegg, Michael. Inventing Vietnam: The War in and Short Movies, 1939–1992. Jefferson, NC: Mc-
Film and Television. Philadelphia: Temple Univer- Farland, 1994.
sity Press, 1991. McNamara, Robert S. Vietnam in Retrospect: The
Banarian, James. Losers Are Pirates: A Close Look at Tragedies and Lessons of Vietnam. New York:
the PBS Series Vietnam: A Television History. Times Books, 1995.
Phoenix: Sphinx, 1985. Podhoretz, Norman. Why We Were in Vietnam. New
Braestrup, Peter. Big Story: How the American Press York: Simon & Schuster, 1982.
and Television Reported and Interpreted the Crisis of Powers, Richard Gid. Not Without Honor: The History
Tet 1968 in Vietnam and Washington. 2 vols. Boul- of American Anticommunism. New York: Free
der, CO: Westview, 1976. Press, 1996.
Buhl, Paul M., and Edward Rice-Maximin. William Reich, Charles. The Greening of America. New York:
Appleton Williams: The Tragedy of Empire. New Random House, 1970.
York: Routledge, 1995. Rollins, Peter. “Using Popular Culture to Study the
Cleland, Max. Strong at the Broken Places: A Personal Vietnam War: Perils and Possibilities.” In Peter
Story. Atlanta: Cherokee, 1989. Freese and Michael Porsche, eds., Popular Culture
Davidson, Phillip B. Secrets of the Vietnam War. No- in the United States, 315–337. Essen: Die Blau Eule,
vato, CA: Presidio, 1990. 1994.
——. Vietnam at War: The History, 1946–1975. No- ——. The Vietnam War: Experiences and Interpreta-
vato, CA: Presidio, 1988. tions in American Popular Culture. Binghamton,
Eilert, Rick. For Self and Country. New York: Simon NY: Haworth Press, 2003.
& Schuster, 1983. Schmidt, Peter. “Two Veterans Animate a Class on
Harris, Louis, and Associates, Inc. Myths and Reali- Vietnam.” Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 March
ties: A Study of Attitudes Toward Vietnam Era Vet- 1999.
erans. Washington, DC: Veterans Administration, Sheehan, Neil. A Bright and Shining Lie: John Paul
1980. Vann and America in Vietnam. New York: Ran-
Hemphill, Robert. Platoon: Bravo Company. Freder- dom House, 1988.
icksburg, VA: Sergeant Kirkland’s, 1998. Smith, Julian. Looking Away: Hollywood and Vietnam.
Herring, George. America’s Longest War: The United New York: Scribner’s, 1975.
States and Vietnam, 1950–1975. 2d ed. New York: Westmoreland, William C. A Soldier Reports. Garden
Knopf, 1986. City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Herz, Martin F. The Vietnam War in Retrospect: Four Williams, William Appleton. The Tragedy of American
Lectures. Washington, DC: School of Foreign Ser- Diplomacy. Rev. ed. New York: Norton, 1972.
vice, 1984. Zaffiri, Samuel. Hamburger Hill: May 11–20, 1969.
Jason, Philip. The Vietnam War in Literature: An An- New York: Pocket Books, 1988.
[ JAMES A. SANDOS ]

Westward Expansion and the Indian Wars

hite America’s conquest of Native ing to its chief historian, Frederick Jackson

W Americans on the plains and in the

Southwest is an integral and tragic part
of the settlement of the American West. Until
the 1980s it had been, in many respects, an
Turner, because the era of “free land” for Amer-
icans had come to a close. They had taken it all.
But, in the process of white westward expansion
and contact with “the simplicity of primitive
overlooked chapter in American history, often society,” Turner argued, “the forces dominating
inaccurately told when recounted at all. Hol- American [national] character” had emerged
lywood’s treatment of the North American In- (28). Hollywood took that concept as inspira-
dian Wars after the Civil War, however, reveals tion for hundreds of films while downplaying
the complex interplay between academic and the cost paid by Indians.
popular history, the emergence in the popular The military history of the Indian Wars fol-
mind of the director as authoritative storyteller lowing the Civil War in film focuses on two
of the past, and the steadily expanding role of areas, the plains and the Southwest, and on two
television—first in helping to instill stereo- principal groups and their allies, the Sioux (now
types, and then in trying to revise them. called the Lakota) and the Apache. (It should
After the end of the Civil War, American be noted in passing that two important cam-
movement west grew from a steady migration paigns are generally omitted: one against the
into a stampede. In an area where fewer than Modocs in 1872–73 and another against the
two million whites had lived before the war, Nez Perce in 1877.) Occupying the northern
an undaunted drive to seize prosperity from plains were the Sioux (a congeries of Souian-
new land brought newcomers westward in un- speaking peoples including the Hunkpapa,
precedented numbers. In twenty-five years, the Oglala, and Brulé), the Cheyenne, the Arapaho,
white population increased to nearly 8.5 mil- and the Kiowa. The Comanche people held the
lion. In the process, whites and their allies dis- southern plains. From 1866 to 1875, the U.S.
placed or destroyed many of the Native Amer- Army fought more than two hundred battles,
ican peoples, grouped in distinct cultures, who mainly against the Sioux; the second phase,
stood in the way. Violent struggle swept over from 1880 to 1887, centered on the Apache and
the West for nearly three decades, with the oc- its best-known tribe, the Chiricahua. The
casional battle among military equals far out- names of many Indian leaders remain in Amer-
numbered by one-sided massacres on the part ican memory: Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and
of white civilians and soldiers alike. The final Crazy Horse from the Sioux; Cochise, Victorio,
major episode in the Indian Wars came as a and Geronimo from the Apache.
dreadful massacre by the U.S. Army of a group
of desperately hungry Sioux surrendering at The Indian Wars to the 1980s
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in late Decem- Hollywood portrayal of Indians in these wars
ber 1890. That year the frontier closed, accord- is often more complex than conventional wis-

103
104 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

dom about stereotypes suggests. Three sources, reading, “Too Late.” As historian Richard
two literary and one experiential, mainly in- White notes in an episode of the series The
formed the Indian image on film. James West (1996), there is something “deeply weird”
Fennimore Cooper in The Last of the Mohicans about this view of American conquest of the
(1826) gave Hollywood two Indian types: the West; instead of portraying the victors as con-
noble forest dweller and the brutal savage. quering heroes, they are depicted as victims of
Many film students, however, overlook the Indian savagery. Such depictions became stan-
other two sources. Helen Hunt Jackson wrote dard in filmmaking from the beginning while
Ramona (1884) as a novel of social protest also sharing time with both the Cooper and
against what American “civilization” had done Jackson visions. Thus Griffith could make Ra-
to California Indians. Hers was an anti- mona (1910) for Biograph, telling his audi-
Turnerian view of the West written a decade ence, “This is the story of the white man’s in-
before Turner. Three silent versions of Ra- justice to the Indian” and three years later for
mona were made, and the novel later became the same company make The Battle at Elder-
the subject of the first Cinemascope film; it was bush Gulch around the “Indians-attack-the-
an important influence on other filmmakers settlers’-cabin” theme of Buffalo Bill’s show, a
who were to tackle the subject. contradiction that apparently did not trouble
D. W. Griffith made the first version in studio executives or directors.
1910, with seventeen-year-old Mary Pickford
as Ramona and Henry Walthall as the Indian, John Ford’s Western Campaigns
Alessandro. Griffith, who had played Alessan- While “budget films” (B movies) recapitulated
dro on stage, drew from Walthall a mannered Buffalo Bill’s stories endlessly, the upper tier
portrayal of stoic resignation in the face of in- of Hollywood productions showed a some-
justice. Walthall’s gestures (arms folded across what different West. The army—rather than
his chest; arm around Ramona, face buried in the cowboy or settler—engaged the Indian in
her hair, free arm at his side; back to camera, battle, and some serious films addressed that
head bent, arms slowly raised high above his fact. John Ford devoted a trilogy to the army
head with fists clenched) formed an ongoing in Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Rib-
counterpoint to the Cooper-influenced dual- bon (1949), and Rio Grande (1950), depicting
ism of Indian nobility and savagery. a struggling military training raw recruits and
The simulated “experience” of the frontier trying to protect settlers from Indian depre-
through the vehicle of “Buffalo Bill’s Wild dations. Ford drew these plots from short sto-
West Show,” however, gave to millions of ries by James Warner Bellah that first appeared
Americans and to the screen many of its lasting in the Saturday Evening Post. Ford changed
Indian images. For thirty years, twice a day and them to suit his own ideas, but they were in-
three times on weekends, William F. “Buffalo fused with the Turnerian notion of the frontier
Bill” Cody’s drama depicted four stock themes. and the inevitability of the triumph of civili-
First, the Deadwood Stage was attacked by zation, interlaced with the Wild West shows’
mounted, gun-firing Indians and its passen- depictions of Indian savagery. In these films
gers saved by Buffalo Bill; then a settler fam- Ford raises the specter of a pan-Indian threat
ily’s house was attacked by Indians, and again to destroy whites. Such a menace casts the
Buffalo Bill saved them; third, a wagon train army as victim and elicits audience sympathy
was attacked by Indians, and again Buffalo Bill for the expansionist cause. Ford filmed in
came to the rescue—but, following George Monument Valley of Utah and Arizona, and
Armstrong Custer’s “Last Stand,” Buffalo Bill used Navajos (cousins to the Apache) for the
rode into the arena with a sign behind him non-speaking Indian roles. These Indians, like
 WESTWARD EXPANSION AND THE INDIAN WARS ] 105

nature, are in the background, obstacles to be

overcome; Army life on a frontier post is in
the foreground. John Wayne appeared in all
three Ford productions, a cavalry “everyman”
imparting the wisdom of the Indian fighter. In
these films women are dutiful and subordi-
nate; men are generally correct. Sergeant Brit-
tles ( John Wayne), for example, repeatedly
tells the young men in She Wore a Yellow Rib-
bon, “Never apologize—it’s a sign of weak-
ness,” inculcating a male value by which
error—especially error in conquering native F I G U R E 1 4 . The Searchers (1956). John Wayne, as ex-
peoples of the West—cannot be acknowl- Confederate Ethan Edwards, personifies the evils of the
edged. white racist as he pursues Comanche Indians who have
abducted his niece. Edwards’s rage against any Indian in
Yet Ford made two films that go against such
his path intensifies as he draws closer to the Comanche
stereotypes, examining squarely the legacy of encampment. Courtesy C.V. Whitney Pictures and
white racism in conquering the West: The Warner Bros.
Searchers (1956) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).
John Wayne portrays ex-Confederate Ethan another point he comes upon a buffalo herd
Edwards in The Searchers, a man who recalls and shoots the animals, not from need, but to
Herman Melville’s description, in The Confi- deny the Comanche food. At the fade he res-
dence Man, of the Indian hater par excellence cues, rather than kills, his remaining niece. He
as one “the hate of which is a vortex from then disappears into the vastness of the land
whose suction scarce the remotest chip of the to continue his vendetta against any Indian he
guilty race [Indian] may feel reasonably se- might encounter. Ford and Wayne drew a por-
cure.” Edwards knows the Comanche, whose trait of a truly repellent antihero whose exis-
name he pronounces repeatedly without the tence runs counter to the “hero as victim” sce-
final “e,” like an insider, one who has lived nario.
among them long enough to know their cus- Woody Strode portrays Sergeant Rutledge, a
toms. But familiarity has produced hatred, not distinguished “buffalo soldier” accused of the
love. When Comanches kill his brother and rape and murder of a teenage girl and the mur-
family and kidnap two nieces, Edwards pur- der of her father, his post commander. Whites
sues them relentlessly. Early in the chase he are willing to believe this heinous charge, de-
finds his elder niece stripped, raped, and mur- spite Rutledge’s impeccable record for bravery
dered. For six years he continues the search for and fidelity as a soldier, because he is black and
the younger girl, obsessed with the thought a white woman is the victim. Rutledge is not
that by then she will have mated with an In- guilty of the rape-murder, but his trial and the
dian and therefore must be killed. widespread appeals to racism to convict him
Two examples underscore the viciousness of present a far different, and undoubtedly more
Edwards’s racism. Coming upon a dead brave, accurate, view of post life than Ford depicted
Edwards shoots the eyes out of the corpse; he in his earlier cavalry trilogy. Both The Searchers
knows that, according to their religion, the and Sergeant Rutledge are good departure
warrior will never find the next world without points for demythologizing the traditional cin-
them. Edwards uses the term “religion” rather ematic renderings of the West.
than “superstition” or “belief,” further testi- Delmer Daves attempted a sympathetic por-
fying to his intimate knowledge of his foe. At trayal of the Apache and one of their leaders,
106 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

Cochise, in the highly influential Broken Arrow many parts, it features a performance by Errol
(1950). Generally seen as a “breakthrough” Flynn that captured the magnetism, along with
film for its time, partly because of its depiction the bravado and vanity, of the historic Custer.
of white racism, Daves sought to present the The “Last Stand” is portrayed as a noble act,
Apache viewpoint, reflecting the Ramona film not a reckless blunder. Appearing as it did on
tradition. The film takes liberties with history, the eve of America’s entry into World War II,
implying that the peace was long-lasting and the film portrays Custer’s death as a necessary
that Geronimo broke it; in fact, Cochise died national sacrifice so that Americans can finish
two years following the conclusion of this settling the West in peace, a message of com-
story, and Geronimo observed the peace of fort in the days following the Japanese attack
Cochise and fled the reservation only after his on Pearl Harbor.
death. Subsequent raids against whites by Ge- After the war, Ford presented his thoughts
ronimo reflected his standing as a war leader on Custer in Fort Apache (1948). Although
informed by the visions of his power and of Ford shifted the scene to the Southwest and
his standing among some segments of his peo- substituted Apache for Sioux, Colonel Owen
ple. Moviemakers, like Americans generally, Thursday (Henry Fonda) fits the description
have managed to confuse the title of “chief ” of Custer in every detail, except that he lacks
with an absolute ruler over all Indians bearing Custer’s magnetism. Thursday is a strict dis-
the tribal name. Thus, in calling Geronimo ciplinarian, hard on his men, a martinet in
“chief ” they impute more authority and con- search of a general’s star, and no man of his
trol to him than he actually had. word where Indians are concerned. Neverthe-
less, he is brave and intent upon protecting
The Northern Plains settlers. Thursday and his command are wiped
Regarding Northern Plains Indians, filmmak- out by the Apache after he recklessly refuses to
ers took a different course. A coalition of Sioux take the advice of fellow officer Captain York
and Cheyenne dealt the American people a ( John Wayne). Nevertheless, York still stands
stunning blow to their national confidence on by the posthumous depiction of Thursday as
the centennial observation of their indepen- gallant and correct—deliberately overlooking
dence; the Indians defeated and killed George his faults—because Thursday’s goal of sub-
Armstrong Custer and nearly 250 members of duing the Apache was noble.
his Seventh Cavalry on June 25, 1876. Known Portraying Custer changed again with
to whites as the Battle of the Little Big Horn American involvement in Vietnam. Arthur
and to Indians as the Battle of Greasy Grass, Penn depicted Custer as insane in Little Big
warriors under the command of Gall, Two Man (1970) and presented cavalry raids on
Moons, and Crazy Horse annihilated Custer Cheyenne villages as an antiwar critique of
and his men with superior numbers, tactics, contemporary “search and destroy” assaults on
and firepower. Chief Sitting Bull, never on the Vietnamese villages. The joking quality of the
battlefield, served as their mentor, medicine film, however, based upon a novel written as
man, and prophet. The greatest Indian victory, parody, flirts with nihilism. It inaccurately de-
however, was followed by their relentless de- picts the army as having superior firepower
struction by a revenge-driven army. over the Indians in all its campaigns. Penn’s
Custer’s encounters on the plains provided view is also misogynistic. Indian women are
the fodder for many silent and B western films. depicted as promiscuous, as when the hero’s
A major film of Custer’s life by Raoul Walsh, wife has him sleep with her three sisters, or
They Died with Their Boots On, was released in when Chief Lodge Poles remarks that his
late 1941. While historically inaccurate in Snake Indian wife is strange to him because
 WESTWARD EXPANSION AND THE INDIAN WARS ] 107

she copulates with horses. While the last line their eyes. As a result of this transvaluation,
is played for a laugh, it nonetheless recalls the whites are recast as the villains, and the audi-
belief prevalent among many whites in the ence roots for the Indians when they attack the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that Af- soldiers. While the Sioux are sensitively por-
rican women copulated with apes. Both beliefs trayed, their Indian enemies, the Pawnee, are
depict women of color as possessed by un- molded into the old “bloodthirsty savage” ste-
wholesome sexual appetites. reotype. Indian women and their tribal roles
The negative portrayal of Custer and the are slighted. Indians are major actors in this
U.S. Army in Little Big Man anticipated the film, however, building upon the break-
subsequent anti-Turnerian view of those writ- throughs won by Salish Chief Dan George in
ing the “New Western” history in the late Little Big Man and Creek Will Sampson in Buf-
1980s. So did Robert Altman in another im- falo Bill and the Indians. It seems unthinkable
portant film of the 1970s, Buffalo Bill and the now that Hollywood or television will ever
Indians (1976). Based loosely on Arthur Ko- again cast non-Indians in Indian parts. The
pit’s play Indians (1969), Altman presents Buf- enormous popularity of Dances with Wolves
falo Bill (Paul Newman) as the “father of the and the availability of a “director’s cut” pro-
new show business” and focuses on a five- vide multiple options for teaching.
month period when Chief Sitting Bull ap- The impact of Dances with Wolves coincided
peared with the show. It is a meditation on with an innovation in filmic “truth telling”
cultural conflict as well as on personal and na- through the revitalization of the documentary.
tional aggrandizement at the expense of Indi- Films entertain by telling stories through char-
ans; it can be used in the classroom with the acter development and conflict. Plot lines must
proper readings and videos for context. be clear and simple. Lived human experience
From the 1950s, television provided a pro- over many years, however, such as the Plains
gressively greater volume of contradictory Indian wars, has far more complexity than one
western images through screening B westerns film can depict. The documentary, with its
and then by developing television series. Tele- narrative structure and opportunity for com-
vision reached a larger audience more fre- mentary can present a more nuanced portrait
quently than movie houses and played a pow- of the past. In the PBS series The Civil War
erful role in inscribing visions of Indians on at (1990), Ken Burns took old photographs,
least two American generations. In the 1970s newspaper headlines, documents, songs from
television turned away from westerns, just as the era, interviews with historians, and con-
Hollywood did, in response to growing viewer temporary photographs of battle sites along
apathy. The western seemed dead. Its return in with limited re-creations to bring alive the
the 1990s in a very different form derived from most important historical event in America’s
rediscovered American interest in Indian life- past. The successful enterprise proved over-
styles and values. whelming; Americans wanted more of this new
documentary, and Indians and western history
Dances with Wolves and Its Impact quickly became its subjects.
Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990)
resonated with audiences influenced by the The Indian Wars in the 1990s
New Age movement’s interest in all things In- Commercial channels “discovered” the West
dian. By reversing typical storylines, Costner first. In 1993, the Arts and Entertainment
made his Civil War veteran, Union officer (A&E) network produced The Real West, cov-
John Dunbar, a man who goes native. He joins ering soldiers, Indians, settlers, lawmen, and
the Sioux and comes to see the world through desperadoes, while the Discovery Channel
108 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

made How the West Was Lost, focusing on the about African American cavalrymen fighting in
Indian Wars. Stephen Ives, with Ken Burns the campaign against the Apache Victorio. On
producing, presented The West (1996) on PBS, the big screen, Cherokee Wes Studi, who had
an ostensibly omnibus history of the subject previously played the Pawnee in Dances with
that, surprisingly, omitted the Southwest and Wolves and Red Cloud in Crazy Horse, por-
the Apache campaigns. New Western histori- trayed the title role in Walter Hill’s Geronimo
ans made significant contributions to these (1993). This is the best of the new biopics, but
projects. This spate of solid, important his- it needs material from the documentaries to put
torical documentaries removed in a stroke the the film in historical perspective.
conventional historian’s complaint that the The Indian Wars after the Civil War have
West was inadequately covered by film. now become an important part of our visual
Biopics (biographical pictures) also appeared, memory; Frederick Jackson Turner’s previ-
frequently sponsored by Ted Turner and his ously familiar tale cannot be told now without
Turner Network Television (TNT) channel, of- serious qualification. The challenge before us
fering further consideration of major Indian fig- is to use the new tools from the visual media
ures in films such as Geronimo (1993) and Crazy and fresh insights from the New Western his-
Horse (1993). Turner also encouraged Danny tory to teach a more inclusive and accurate
Glover to make The Buffalo Soldiers (1997), national history.

References
Hutton, Paul A., ed. The Custer Reader. Lincoln: Uni-
Filmography versity of Nebraska Press, 1992.
Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1913, F) Lamar, Howard R., ed. The New Encyclopedia of the
Broken Arrow (1950, F) American West. New Haven: Yale University Press,
Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976, F) 1998.
The Buffalo Soldiers (1997, TV) Pearson, Roberta E. Eloquent Gestures. Berkeley: Uni-
Crazy Horse (1993, TV) versity of California Press, 1992.
Dances with Wolves (1990, F) Rollins, Peter C., and John E. O’Connor, eds. Holly-
Fort Apache (1948, F) wood’s Indian.Lexington: University Press of Ken-
Geronimo (1993, F) tucky, 1998.
How the West Was Lost (1993, D) Rosa, Joseph G., and Robin May. Buffalo Bill and His
Little Big Man (1970, F) Wild West. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas,
Lonesome Dove (1990, TV) 1989.
Ramona (1910, F) Sturtevant, William C., ed. Handbook of North Ameri-
The Real West (1993, D) can Indians, vol. 4. Washington, DC: U.S. Govern-
Rio Grande (1950, F) ment Printing Office, 1988.
The Searchers (1956, F) Turner, Frederick Jackson. The Significance of the
Sergeant Rutledge (1960, F) Frontier in American History. Harold P. Simonson,
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, F) ed. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1991.
Son of the Morning Star (1991, TV) Tuska, Jon. The American West in Film. Lincoln: Uni-
They Died with Their Boots On (1941, F) versity of Nebraska Press, 1988.
The West (1996, D) Utley, Robert, and Wilcomb Washburn. The Ameri-
can Heritage History of the Indian Wars. New York:
Simon & Schuster, 1977.
Bibliography White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My
Faulk, Odie B. The Geronimo Campaign. New York: Own”: A New History of the American West. Nor-
Oxford University Press, 1969. man: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
[ PETER C. ROLLINS ]

World War I

orld War I—in its own time called takes an internationalist look at developments,

W “The Great War”—may have been the

most important event of the early
twentieth century; it decimated a lost genera-
tion and silenced the optimistic voices of the
with special attention to the work of Russian,
German, Britain, and French filmmakers; Hol-
lywood’s World War I (1997) concentrates on
the relationship of American morale to the de-
Victorian era. The sheer numbers are stagger- veloping conflict, while considering how the
ing. The Allies (Great Britain, France, Russia, war was interpreted after 1919 by nearly
and, in the last two years of the war, the United twenty key productions. All of this creative ac-
States) suffered 2.3 million battle deaths. On tivity gives clear evidence that the study of
the side of the Central Powers (Germany and World War I is, to use a military metaphor, on
Austria-Hungary in alliance with the Ottoman the advance rather than in retreat.
Empire and Bulgaria), often-victorious armies Motion pictures depicting the war reflect
suffered 2.7 million battle deaths between 1914 America’s changing attitudes toward involve-
and November 1918, when hostilities termi- ment. When the European war began in the
nated. Along the way an influenza pandemic summer of 1914, the United States took the
struck and, among the Americans alone, there stance of a neutral nation concerned primarily
were nearly thirty thousand deaths from the with freedom of the seas. Once President
highly contagious disease in home-front train- Woodrow Wilson committed the nation to
ing camps, aboard troop transports, and in military preparedness—the Selective Service
rear-echelon training facilities in France and Act of 1917 initiated the first military draft
in the United States. since the Civil War—the motion picture in-
Renewed interest in World War I stems dustry began to project heroic images of battle:
from the 1975 publication of a truly exciting stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fair-
study of the war’s cultural legacy, Paul Fussell’s banks Sr., Lillian Gish, and Marie Dressler
The Great War in Modern Memory. Fussell toured the nation promoting the sale of war
took a fresh approach to the war’s fiction, po- bonds; meanwhile, the screens of America’s
etry, and aesthetics as well as to the literary theaters welcomed government and Hollywood
fallout from the war—which Fussell claims ex- productions designed to incite a fighting spirit.
tends into our own time, most notably in the After the war, the cinematic memory would be
literature of the Vietnam War. Another bril- divided between those who remembered a he-
liant study of cultural patterns based on fresh roic struggle and those who bemoaned a noble
research is A War Imagined (1991) by Samuel crusade that became a catastrophe.
Hynes. These reconsiderations prompted a
1993 conference on the films of World War I “Too Proud to Fight,” 1914–1916
in Amsterdam, from which two books Woodrow Wilson was elected in 1916 (as was
emerged: Film and the First World War (1995) Lyndon Johnson some fifty years later) under

109
110 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

the slogan that “he kept us out of war.” A high- torically accurate production The Lost Battal-
minded idealist, Wilson was famous for pro- ion [2001]) employed inventive visual and ed-
claiming that America was “too proud to iting techniques. The director asked his actors
fight.” Before 1917, Hollywood productions to walk, shoot, and fall to the cadence of an
reflected the antiwar sentiments of both the on-set drum, thereby creating a metronomic
nation and its chief executive. In a major ex- rhythm that, to the surprise of everyone except
ample of the antiwar films, a work entitled Civ- Vidor, gave the battle scenes a strange, balletic
ilization (1916), Director Thomas Ince pleaded quality. (Those who have not seen The Big Pa-
for sympathy “to the vast pitiful army whose rade need to be told that the title of the film
tears have girdled the universe—The Mothers does not refer to a military ceremony, but to
of the Dead.” In a particularly dramatic mo- the ineluctable march to victory on the western
ment of the film, a U-boat captain sinks his front of American troops, trucks, tanks, and
craft rather than carry out a torpedo attack on planes.) When the “doughboys” fight and die
a civilian liner. (Most readers have not seen Civ- in this film, they do so as democratic heroes
ilization, but the footage of the liner being sunk for their nation’s cause. Vidor had worked
has been borrowed by countless subsequent closely with World War I veterans in planning
filmmakers to represent the fate of the Lusita- the film, and many former doughboys reen-
nia, most notably in The Great War [1965].) acted their wartime exploits for Vidor’s cam-
The antiwar message remained dominant until eras. Not surprisingly, veterans were delighted
Germany announced a policy of unrestricted with Vidor’s efforts to tell their patriotic story
submarine warfare in February 1917. with both artistry and verisimilitude.
Owing to a complex combination of diplo- The Marine Corps’ contribution was cele-
matic and military factors, the president and brated in What Price Glory? (1926), director
the movie industry moved toward involve- Raoul Walsh’s adaptation of Laurence Stall-
ment. Films such as Civilization and D. W. ings’s stage play of the same title. This paean
Griffith’s Intolerance (1916)—an extended to Marine Corps manliness—both on and off
plea for peace that joined the Ince production the battlefield—(accurately) celebrated the
in invoking Christ as a spokesman—were battle record of the 4th Marine Brigade at Bel-
withdrawn from circulation. More militaristic leau Wood (also called the Aisne-Marne De-
fare emerged from a Hollywood bent on sup- fensive, June 4–July 10, 1918) while (distract-
porting the president’s mobilization program. ingly) pursuing the amatory exploits of the two
Yet the most lasting—and contradictory—cin- main characters from China to the Philippines
ematic renderings of the war would be pro- to their arrival on the western front. (A later
duced after the conflict. version by John Ford in 1952, starring James
Cagney and Dan Dailey, further obfuscated
The Heroic Vision history by stressing macho rivalry rather than
During the 1920s, Hollywood contributed to war issues; it was roundly criticized when it
the heroic image of the recent struggle. King was released.)
Vidor’s The Big Parade (1925) was the first fi- In Wings (1927), William Wellman followed
nancially successful postwar film about the the evolution of two aviators from their first
military conflict. The famous battle scenes of days of flight training. Wellman had been a
the film (reenacting American Expeditionary pilot in the war and sought to make the Army
Force actions in the Argonne forest during the Air Corps look every bit as romantic as the
Meuse-Argonne campaign of September–No- infantry had in The Big Parade and the Marine
vember 1918, the subject as well of the Arts & Corps did in What Price Glory? The War De-
Entertainment network’s excellent and his- partment provided a cast of thousands for a
 WORLD WAR I ] 111

film that, even with government help, cost over of the Somme in 1916, a six-month struggle
$2 million. No expense was spared; for ex- that military historian S. L. A. Marshall has
ample, reenactment of the St. Mihiel campaign described as “the most soulless battle in British
(September 12–16, 1918) cost Paramount over annals. . . . It was a battle not so much of at-
$250,000. All aerial duels were filmed aloft trition as of mutual destruction” (260). A
with cameras mounted on the planes. As with feature-length documentary called The Battle
The Big Parade, the film combined drama with of the Somme was released in late summer of
a stringent adherence to details of aviation 1917. According to Paul Fussell, by this time
technology. Distributed soon after Charles the war had become “a hideous embarrass-
Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic, Wings ex- ment to the prevailing Meliorist myth which
ploited and encouraged America’s fascination had dominated the public consciousness for a
with the military potential of aviation. Indeed, century. It reversed the Idea of Progress” (8).
Lindbergh is quoted in a heroic lead. Through The cloud of melancholia would drift toward
written titles, he dedicates the film “to those America after the war as public spokesmen re-
young warriors of the sky, whose wings are flected on the significance of what was pro-
folded about them forever.” America’s young claimed, retrospectively, to be a misguided at-
pilots could have had no memorial more he- tempt to fight “a war to end all wars.”
roic than this monument in celluloid. Wings is After the Versailles Treaty, a host of exposés
an action film that still rents well in video convinced many Americans that their country
stores across the nation. It is a testimony to the had been pulled into a European conflict that
power of film art in the 1920s; even the visually had not been their business. George Creel de-
“hip” students of Generation X are impressed scribed his role in How We Advertised America
by the epic grandeur of Wings. ( John Guiller- (1922). Creel had been America’s chief pro-
min’s The Blue Max [1966], starring George pagandist, and he gleefully explains how care-
Peppard and James Mason, borrowed some of fully orchestrated media blitzes had mobilized
the imagery of Wings to recount the air war public support. Walter Lippmann’s Public
from the German point of view; in The Great Opinion (1922) voiced a more sardonic eval-
Waldo Pepper [1975], director George Roy Hill uation of what he called “the myth of the om-
and actor Robert Redford would pay homage nicompetent citizen.” Lippmann’s reading of
simultaneously to both World War I pilots and the war record led him to advise the nation to
William Wellman’s epic.) give up its traditional notion of democracy.
America would be better served by a govern-
The Nightmare Vision ment of experts—professionals who were not
During World War I, the machine gun, the susceptible to the wiles of propaganda. Within
tank, poison gas, the airplane, barbed wire, and this context, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet
the submarine suddenly brought mechaniza- on the Western Front (1928) crystallized an ex-
tion into world of horse-drawn artillery, men isting disillusionment. The protagonist, Ger-
on foot, and the chivalric officers celebrated in man infantryman Paul Baumer, enters the
French director Jean Renoir’s Grand Illusion struggle as an idealist, but months of shelling
(1937); the horrors of this new, deadly efficient and death convince him that “when it comes
machine age form a subtext to many movies to dying for your country, it is better not to
of World War I, including such recent pieces die at all.” Some critics scrutinized Remarque’s
as Legends of the Fall (1994) and Gods and war record in an attempt to challenge the
Monsters (1998) as well as classics such as Law- book’s authenticity, but no one could deny
rence of Arabia (1962). The dimensions of the that the German author had captured the
nightmare were registered as early as the Battle mood of a worldwide “lost generation.”
112 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

In just two years, director Lewis Milestone

would transform the disconsolate German
book into a devastating American film. His
screen adaptation of All Quiet on the Western
Front (1930) shared the nightmare vision with
mass audiences across the globe. During a fa-
mous battle segment, Paul Baumer finds him-
self trapped for the night in a muddy shell cra-
ter with a dead French soldier. As a result of
this horrific experience, Baumer—and pre-
sumably the audience—comes to realize that
the world’s little people are victims of bureau-
cracy, the nation state, industrialism, and F I G U R E 1 5 . Paths of Glory (1957). Three military men
“progress.” The fact that the film won awards remain immovable in their positions and perspectives on
war. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas, left) seeks to protect his
for best picture and best director was a sign regiment from the corrupt, ambitious General Mireau
that the nightmare vision was (temporarily) au (George Macready, center), as Major Saint-Auban
courant in Hollywood. In Germany, Nazis un- (Richard Anderson, right) stands aloof, resigned to go
der Joseph Goebbels first disrupted screenings ahead with General Mireau’s pointless advance of Colonel
Dax’s men. The dress and posture of each man reveal
of the “American propaganda,” and then their social class. Courtesy Bryna Productions.
found legislative methods to prevent distri-
bution. By 1933, the Third Reich was burning
Remarque’s antiheroic books. ers have praised the gritty realism—as well as
The Cold War era produced a very powerful the cinematic dexterity—of the film’s battle
indictment of putative injustices during the scenes. (Even Winston Churchill voiced ap-
earlier conflict, a film by Stanley Kubrick en- proval.) The black-and-white film stock selec-
titled Paths of Glory (1957). Starring Kirk tion enhanced the apparent documentary
Douglas as Colonel Dax, a regimental com- quality of this forceful film. Historically, there
mander who seems unique in caring about the were executions during World War I, but these
welfare of his men, the film seeks to expose the draconian measures usually followed outright
callousness fostered by class divisions within mutiny in the trenches rather than mere cow-
the allied armies. On one of the less-than- ardice. To use the execution of troops by an
glorious “paths of glory” presented, the French unfeeling officialdom as a microcosm of
high command executes three soldiers drawn World War I for any of the contending ar-
by lot from a unit that displayed cowardice mies—to include the German army—is to
(according to its corrupt leader, General Mu- misrepresent the social dynamics of the con-
reau, the division commander). An outraged flict. World War I, alas, was a people’s conflict;
Colonel Dax pleads for his troops against this shifting blame to an elite simply cannot be sus-
barbarity, but to no avail. The Establishment tained by evidence. Still, Paths of Glory is a
is entrenched and cannot be challenged. Many powerful drama whose commentary on the
have praised Kubrick’s social analysis (drawn, past would later be embellished by the antiwar
in part, from a 1935 novel of the same title by movement during America’s military involve-
Humphrey Cobb, but also inspired by the ment in Vietnam (1965–73).
work of C. Wright Mills, a popular sociolo- During the Vietnam era, two historian-
gist), but others have found the film to be a filmmakers, R. C. Raack and Patrick Griffin,
satire that neglects the complexity of unit, bat- released a challenging film entitled Goodbye
tlefield, and political realities. Still, most view- Billy: America Goes to War, 1916–17 (1972).
 WORLD WAR I ] 113

This nonnarrative compilation film would aimed directly at those who said we should re-
trace the American ethos from optimism to main out of the fray. (As late as July 1941, polls
confusion to disillusionment in a film that re- showed that this meant 70 percent of Ameri-
flected both a lost generation’s approach to the cans.) Here was a spin on the war that flashed
Great War and America’s mood swings before, back to 1917, when a newly mobilized President
during, and after the Tet offensive of 1968. The Woodrow Wilson spoke idealistically about “a
interanimation of past and present in the war to make the world safe for democracy.”
award-winning documentary confirms many Near the time of the film’s premier, the real
of the assertions made by Paul Fussell about Sergeant York—who joined Franklin Roose-
the long-term cultural reverberations of the velt and Warner Bros. in endorsing its message
Great War. about preparedness—called for aid to Britain.
As concerned Citizen York, the nation’s poster
The Heroic Version Returns hero explained that Americans must stand up
The cynical version of World War I was for democracy; if they did not, “then we owe
wheeled off the set as World War II ap- the memory of George Washington an apol-
proached. Back in New York, Louis de Roche- ogy, for if we have stopped, then he wasted his
mont’s newsreel staff at The March of Time time at Valley Forge.” In a speech to the Vet-
produced a feature-length docudrama entitled erans of Foreign Wars, York noted that the last
The Ramparts We Watch (1940). A plea for war had been fought to make the world safe
military preparedness, the film tried to estab- for democracy, “and it did—for a while” (Rol-
lish parallels between World War I and the lins and O’Connor, 137, 138). At such a mo-
coming conflict. Fast-moving events in Poland ment, we can safely say that the memory of
and France reinforced lessons about unpre- World War I had come full circle.
paredness. Hoping to win battles before they In an effort to dramatize the need for a
were fought, the Nazis distributed impressive United Nations after World War II, Darryl
documentaries about the success of their blitz- Zanuck produced his Wilson (1944), an una-
krieg. As experts in the editing of newsreels, de bashed glorification of Woodrow Wilson’s
Rochement’s crew made full use of World War crusade to sell the League of Nations to Amer-
I and Nazi footage to put the fear of God in ican voters. Teachers and students will profit
the American audience. De Rochement’s mes- greatly from this biographical film, especially
sage was that Americans needed to stop watch- because so many documents from the 1920s
ing from their protected ramparts and start and 1930s exaggerate Wilson’s failings as both
building their own war machine so that they a human being and national leader. Wilson
would not be caught off guard again. provides fascinating (and highly accurate) de-
In 1941, Warner Bros. came forward with tails about the various phases of America’s ex-
Sergeant York, the landmark picture for the perience with war: neutrality (1914–17), pre-
new American mood. Alvin York was a Ten- paredness and involvement (1917–18), and
nessee boy who killed twenty Germans at the Wilson’s failed peacemaking efforts (1918–21).
Argonne forest and captured another 132—a Although viewers must keep in mind the in-
spectacular feat on any battlefield. For these ternationalist intent of the film as propaganda
exploits, York was awarded a host of medals, for a nascent United Nations, all can profit
including the Medal of Honor. Director How- from the historical scrupulousness of the film
ard Hawks took this story about a man of nat- for each historical phase. Although Wilson may
ural virtue and exploited it to highlight the be excessive in its celebration of the president’s
flaws of isolationism. York’s “conversion virtues, it is far more reliable than better-
scene,” powerfully acted by Gary Cooper, was known debunking treatments by Wilson’s bit-
114 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

ter contemporaries. (Zanuck went to great battlefields of France, winning numerous per-
lengths to verify both the production’s details sonal and unit citations. The 369th Regiment
and historiography.) received an exultant welcome as its members
Perhaps in homage to the excellence of the marched down New York’s Fifth Avenue; later
African American contributions to combat that day, a testimonial dinner was held in their
units in the Vietnam war, Men of Bronze honor, but their legacy remains unremem-
(1977) looked back at the contribution of the bered—or at least underremembered. This
369th Regiment (of the 93d Division), a New documentary goes far toward reviving a proud
York City unit that sailed to France in Decem- record, albeit at a very late date.
ber 1917. The unit served in combat with Was World War I a heroic crusade, or was
French units for 191 days—which set a record it a traumatic nightmare? We are beginning to
for any American unit under fire during the discern that it was both—and more. We have
war. In the process, the 369th suffered 1,500 yet to fully track the impact of the Great War
casualties. Indeed, the 93d Division had a ca- on basic beliefs and myths of our postmodern-
sualty rate of 32 percent. Using historical foot- ist world. As recently as 1997, PBS came for-
age and interviews with historians—as well as ward with a multiepisode series entitled The
some articulate, surviving veterans—Men of Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century,
Bronze celebrates the heroism of men who dis- an Emmy Award–winning attempt to link the
played the ultimate “grace under pressure.” military struggle and suffering to the cultural
African Americans performed marvels on the history of the time—and our time.

References
Paths of Glory (1957, F)
Filmography The Pershing Story (1975, D)
Aces: The Story of the First Air War (1996, D) The Ramparts We Watch (1940, D)
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930, F; 1979, TV) Sergeant York (1941, F)
The American Siberian Expeditionary Force (1989, D) Shipwreck: The Lusitania (1997, D)
Battle of the Somme (1916, D) Soldier’s Home (1977, F)
The Big Parade (1925, F) Versailles—The Lost Peace (1978, D)
The Blue Max (1966, F) What Price Glory? (1926, 1952, F)
Civilization (1916, F) Wilson (1944, F)
A Farewell to Arms (1932, 1957, F) Wings (1927, F)
The Frozen War—America Intervenes in Russia, 1918– World War I (1965, TV)
20 (1973, D)
Gods and Monsters (1998, F)
Goodbye Billy: America Goes to War, 1917–1918 Bibliography
(1972, D) Campbell, Craig. Reel America and World War I: A
Grand Illusion (1937, F) Comprehensive Filmography and History of Motion
The Great War (1965, F) Pictures in the United States, 1914–1920. Jefferson,
The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century NC: McFarland, 1985.
(1996, TV) DeBauche, Leslie Midkiff. Reel Patriotism: The Movies
Homefront, 1917–1918—War Transforms American and World War I. Madison: University of Wiscon-
Life (1967, D) sin Press, 1997.
Intolerance (1916, F) Dibbets, Karel, and Bert Hogenkamp, eds. Film and
Lawrence of Arabia (1962, F) the First World War. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Uni-
The League of Nations: The Hope of Mankind (1976, versity Press, 1995.
D) Ferrell, Robert H. Woodrow Wilson and World War I,
Legends of the Fall (1994, F) 1917–1921. New York: HarperCollins, 1986.
The Lost Battalion (2001, TV) Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory.
Men in Crisis: Wilson Versus the Senate (1964, D) New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Men of Bronze (1977, D) Hynes, Samuel. A War Imagined: The First World
 WORLD WAR I ] 115
War and English Culture. New York: Atheneum, Venzon, Anne Cipriano, ed. The United States in the
1991. First World War: An Encyclopedia. New York: Gar-
Kennedy, David M. Over Here: The First World War land, 1995.
and American Society. New York: Oxford Univer- Ward, Larry Wayne. The Motion Picture Goes to War:
sity Press, 1986. The United States Government Film Effort During
Marshall, S. L. A. World War I. New York: American World War I. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press,
Heritage, 1964. 1985.
Rollins, Peter, and John O’Connor, eds. Hollywood’s Winter, Jay, and Blaine Baggett. The Great War and
World War I: The Motion Picture Images. Bowling the Shaping of the 20th Century. New York: Pen-
Green: Bowling Green University Press, 1997. guin, 1996.
[ PETER C. ROLLINS ]

World War II: Documentaries

orld War II, far more than its prede- fulfill President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s

W cessor (see “World War I”), was a

worldwide conflagration that changed
the lives of all Americans: millions of youths
were drafted into the armed forces; family men
wartime promise of four great freedoms: free-
dom of speech and expression; freedom of
worship; freedom from want; freedom from
fear. Artist Norman Rockwell commemorated
who remained at home were asked to perform these aspirations in his famous series of paint-
homeland service and to observe rationing re- ings entitled “Four Freedoms,” but the nation
strictions on consumer items such as meat, as a whole knew the significance of its corpo-
gasoline, and rubber; children zealously col- rate efforts to defeat fascism. According to his-
lected scrap metal and rubber for the war ef- torian William O’Neill (and many observers at
fort; and women—both married and single— the time), the war was a great challenge to the
joined a work force that had previously nation’s sincerity: “By passing this greatest of
shunned their talents. (Many a Rosie left her tests, America also won the right to become a
ironing board and became a riveter!) Minori- better nation. Though social reform was not
ties were affected in dramatically different why servicemen took the risks that they did, it
ways: more than 100,000 Japanese Americans would be one of the outcomes” (433). As
were forcibly removed to internment camps in America has gained perspective on the conflict,
Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Arkansas, and the it has created a monument on the National
California desert, away from their West Coast Mall in Washington, D.C. (completed in
homes and businesses, some of which were 2003), and conferred a proud label, “the Great-
looted in their absence. More fortunate were est Generation,” upon the cohorts who suc-
the thousands of rural African American fam- cessfully navigated both the Great Depression
ilies that gravitated to production centers near (1929–41) and World War II (1941–45). Oral
Los Angeles and Detroit, where they found lu- histories edited by NBC broadcaster Tom Bro-
crative jobs in aircraft and armaments plants. kaw and popular narratives by historian Ste-
The result was an ineradicable redefinition of phen Ambrose have codified this memory of
race and gender roles in American society. the Americans who struggled through unprec-
At the end of the war, America had lost ap- edented home and warfront challenges.
proximately 405,000 service men and women, World War II was a people’s war, and lead-
a tragic toll for a nation that otherwise had ers of the major antagonists—Japan, Germany,
been largely untouched by battle—allowing it Russia, England, the United States—enlisted
to develop an unprecedented industrial capac- their best filmmakers to produce documentary
ity—since the Civil War. Wealthier, and and propaganda productions that would both
stirred by victory, the nation’s minorities re- inform and move what, in those pioneer days
sisted a return to the prewar status quo; great of social science, was described as a “mass au-
changes lay ahead for a nation still seeking to dience.” Many of these films would become

116
 WORLD WAR II: DOCUMENTARIES ] 117

classics, films worthy of study in university sailles Treaty and failure of the League of Na-
classes decades later; the quality of the Amer- tions to restrain the expansionism of Japan,
ican work should come as no surprise, for Italy, and Germany. Earlier bestsellers such as
some of Hollywood’s best directors—John Walter Millis’s Road to War: America, 1914–
Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank 1917 (1935) had convinced many that isola-
Capra, Garson Kanin, Darryl Zanuck, and tionism had failed only because it had not been
George Stevens among them—brought their followed faithfully. That same year, the Neu-
skills to these projects. trality Act placed an embargo on the sale of
Documentaries of the war era had many ob- arms and munitions to all combatants. In an-
jectives. Some were designed to convince swer to such arguments and policies, Louis de
Americans that isolationism was irresponsible Rochement and the staff of the newsreel mag-
in a world at war; others were more specifically azine March of Time produced a feature-length
focused on indoctrinating service personnel docudrama entitled The Ramparts We Watch
preparing for overseas duty; special campaign (1940) to reconsider America’s preparations
and battle films sought to justify the costs of for World War I and the failure of President
the conflict. At the same time, home-front Woodrow Wilson’s initial policy of being “too
films explained the principles that Americans proud to fight.” Americans in 1917 were por-
should treasure during the war. After the con- trayed as having many similar challenges as the
flict, readjustment films tried to sensitize au- Americans in the audience in 1940, with a chief
diences to the problems of returning veterans. lesson that delay—rather than promoting
Later generations would reflect on the war peace—led to more suffering than rapid mili-
through documentary as an exercise of public tary preparations to confront aggression. Dur-
memory. The retrospection began soon after ing production of the film, German blitzkrieg
the war with the NBC television series Victory victories motivated the filmmakers to turn
at Sea and the contemporary CBS offering Air Ramparts into an even harder-hitting argu-
Power, narrated by Walter Cronkite. ment for U.S. intervention. The resulting
Many American boys remember watching work, which included daunting Wehrmacht
such multiepisode television epics with their combat footage, has been described by film
fathers (recent veterans in many cases). Un- historian R. M. Barsam as “superceded only by
fortunately, most viewers would miss the ways the Why We Fight series in its attempt to in-
in which these hagiographic compilation films form Americans about the war” (180).
from the archives were reflections of the times The surprise Japanese air raid on Pearl Har-
in which they were made rather than valid in- bor had an instant impact on the American
terpretations of the past. The advent of cable public. To explain and dramatize the signifi-
alternatives such as C-SPAN and The History cance of the attack, leading filmmaker John
Channel at the end of the twentieth century Ford, with the help of cinematographer Greg
would tap both the best and worst of the doc- Toland, produced December 7th (1942). We
umentary legacy of World War II. now know that much of the footage was fab-
ricated in Hollywood: there are colorful reen-
Dispelling Isolationism, 1940–41 actments of gunners firing back at the Japanese
On the evening of December 6, 1941, the Gal- attackers, of strafings and bombings, of Amer-
lup Poll found that almost 70 percent of Amer- ican bravery and suffering. Although the fab-
icans were in favor of remaining detached rication of evidence is understandable within
from the military conflicts in Europe and Asia. the context of the time and the rush to pro-
Much of this noninterventionist attitude duction, Ford’s footage was later recycled in
stemmed from disillusionment with the Ver- countless subsequent documentary and fea-
118 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

ture productions—including the oft-used In Prelude to War (1942), isolationism is re-

scene of sailors tossing a baseball and then jected as a policy that permitted the Axis an-
looking up to observe the enemy planes. Thus, tagonists to gain momentum after the Munich
the famous John Ford quote about what Crisis of 1938. Americans are now in a struggle
should happen if the facts conflict with a nice for national existence, narrator Walter Huston
story (“When the legend becomes fact, print intones: “The chips are down; it’s us or them.”
the legend”) seems applicable to this “docu- In The Nazis Strike (1943), the Germans show
mentary” about what President Roosevelt their “passion for conquest.” Despite the set-
called America’s “Day of Infamy.” Though backs in Czechoslovakia and Poland, Winston
heavy with narration and full of preachments Churchill promised that “out of the depths of
about Japanese perfidy, little is said about why sorrow and of sacrifice will be born again the
the attack caught Americans so unprepared on glory of mankind.” Divide and Conquer (1943)
that Sunday morning. Ford was quite success- traces the debacles in France, Denmark, Nor-
ful, however, in portraying the attack in per- way, Belgium, and Holland. The Battle of Brit-
sonal terms, turning the struggle into some- ain (1943) focuses on the air war, showing
thing human and understandable—which that, despite enormous losses, the Germans
audiences could take away with them from the were unsuccessful in terrorizing the British
theatres. Emphasis on American heroism pro- people. This important film helped to dispel
vided an important microcosm for all U.S. cit- the myth of German invincibility. The Battle of
izens during the initial year of mobilization for Russia (1944) sidesteps the “C” word (Com-
war. President Roosevelt, who had commis- munism) to lavish praise on the culture and
sioned the work, was particularly happy to bravery of the Soviet peoples. In the face of the
have such a timely government production in German war machine, the Russian folk arose
America’s theatres. to defend the motherland, proving that “gen-
erals win battles, but peoples win wars.” (A
Indoctrination and Propaganda, 1942–1945 similar film, The Battle of China [1944] pro-
Because many Americans were isolationists be- moted empathy for America’s Asian ally.) In
fore the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was essential the final episode of the series, War Comes to
that troops going into battle be reoriented to America (1945), America’s multicultural ex-
the international struggle. General George C. perience is celebrated, as are the ideas of free-
Marshall, knowing the Sicilian immigrant dom and equality: “Without the idea, the
Frank Capra to be the all-American director of country would have remained a wilderness;
such films as Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) without the country, the idea may have re-
and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), mained only a dream.” The Why We Fight se-
called Capra to Washington and commis- ries was shown to every fighting man and
sioned him to produce a series of indoctrina- woman going abroad and to millions of civil-
tion films designed for both service personnel ians across the land. The films offer later view-
and civilians. Film scholar David H. Culbert ers great insight into the thoughts and objec-
has said that the resulting series, Why We Fight tives of the times.
(seven episodes), was “the most comprehen- Capra would oversee the production of
sive set of war aims released by the U.S. gov- many other nonfiction films, but The Negro
ernment in any medium during World War II” Soldier (1944) deserves special attention be-
(188). The effectiveness of these outstanding cause of its subject and impact. Nearly 540,000
compilation films was further enhanced by the African Americans were inducted into the U.S.
innovative use of graphics produced by the Army during the war, and this film was de-
Disney Studios. signed for two purposes: first, to show the sol-
 WORLD WAR II: DOCUMENTARIES ] 119

diers of color what their stake was in terms of Huston’s The Battle of San Pietro (1945), a film
U.S. history and in relation to the racist poli- so “realistic” that the U.S. Army withdrew it
cies of the Axis powers; second, to convince from circulation to modify the editing. We
white soldiers and civilians of the human dig- now know that many scenes in the film were
nity of the African Americans in uniform. staged for the camera—indeed, it would have
Thomas Cripps and David Culbert conclude been impossible to film many of them. On the
that the film was successful in both efforts; fur- other hand, through artful editing, these very
thermore, the film laid the groundwork for scenes, combined with combat footage, convey
such “problem films” (films considering social a powerful message about war and its toll on
problems in the United States) after the war both civilians and combatants in the Liri Val-
as Home of the Brave (1949), The Defiant Ones ley of Italy. R. M. Barsam calls the film “an
(1958), and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner indictment of modern warfare in general”
(1967). Cripps and Culbert realize the ironies (194), but he misses the point: The Battle of
of this development: “Who would have San Pietro is a somber paean to the painful
thought that the Army, officially committed to sacrifices of American troops in World War
segregation, would end up with a film which II—epitomized by the stark scenes of battle-
symbolically promoted the logic of integra- field reclamation of dead American soldiers.
tion?” (133) William Wyler’s documentary about the
twenty-fifth (and, by regulation, last) mission
Battle and Campaign Films of a B-17 bomber crew stationed in Britain has
Americans were told about the heroism and received retrospective attention after the suc-
dedication of their troops in a great number of cess of a feature film also entitled Memphis
impressive films whose titles often identified the Belle (1990), starring Matthew Modine, John
service and the battle zone. As part of the war Lithgow, and Harry Connick Jr. With the com-
effort, these films convinced home-front audi- pletion of their last combat mission, the crew
ences to commit themselves to active partici- qualified for rotation stateside. Again, employ-
pation. Furthermore, in a civilian world un- ing a number of staged sequences to allow the
touched by war, they brought home the harsh camera intimacy with the crew and its func-
realities of combat—reaffirming the nobility of tions aboard a B-17, Wyler created an intensely
the young Americans fighting for freedom. realistic, color portrait of men and machine at
John Ford’s Battle of Midway (1942) was work in Memphis Belle (1944), giving a sense
shot in color on the strategic island rather than of what it meant to fly through flak over Hit-
at the ocean site of the battle, yet the film— ler’s “Fortress Europe.” Not long after the war,
much of it shot by Ford, himself, with a hand- director Henry King’s Twelve O’Clock High
held 16mm camera—has a gritty realism. Up- (1949), starring Gregory Peck, gave a poignant
front and personal are the heroic, defensive report of the psychological stress of those who
efforts of American troops responding to a flew such raids. (Although not a documentary,
Japanese air attack. In the process of filming the film has been used at the Air Force Acad-
the events at Midway, Ford became one of the emy to teach leadership skills and to compre-
many seriously wounded marines and sailors. hend the pressures on those in command.)
John Huston was responsible for a number Most of these films, according to O’Neill, pro-
of battle films, including Report from the Aleu- mote an American fixation with hygienic “war
tians (1943), the story of a fairly uneventful from the air,” a “democratic delusion” that con-
series of encounters between the Americans tinues into our own time (306). (Walt Disney’s
and the Japanese in a hostile natural environ- feature-length Victory Through Air Power
ment. More important as documentary was [1943], based on a book by Major Alexander P.
120 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

de Seversky, would best exemplify America’s determination, courage, teamwork, esprit, ag-
sanguine attitude toward strategic bombing gressiveness, and the steadfast commitment to
during the war and after.) accomplishing an assigned mission.
In the Pacific, documentaries, using footage Naval contributions to victory in the Pacific
shot by military cameramen and edited by were recorded in such films as The Fighting
anonymous groups of dedicated filmmakers Lady (1944), a quiet hymn to life aboard an
reached millions of Americans in local thea- (unnamed) Essex-class aircraft carrier (to rep-
tres, showing the kind of sacrifice endured by resent all carriers) during the naval battles late
their neighbors in uniform. With the Marines in the war. The Technicolor film was directed
at Tarawa (1944) recounts a victory that cost by Louis de Rochemont, the March of Time
many lives; like many other islands, Tarawa producer who had so valiantly criticized iso-
had been heavily fortified by the Japanese. The lationism prior to the war in his Ramparts We
marines in the first waves of the invasion suf- Watch. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz was so im-
fered horrendous casualties. Indeed, this was pressed by The Fighting Lady that he advocated
the first wartime documentary to include dropping copies of it on the Japanese mainland
graphic scenes of battlefield carnage, including in an effort to awaken our adversary to the
American war dead littering the beach. Sub- potent naval force being assembled for the fi-
sequent amphibious landings are recounted in nal invasion of the war.
The Battle for the Marianas (1944); The Battle
of New Britain (1944); and the all-color To the Home-Front Films
Shores of Iwo Jima (1944). Some of the film- Civilians needed to know what their duty was
makers still take pride in their accomplish- in the war effort, and the Office of War Infor-
ments, viewing their work as a pure “slice of mation told them in hundreds of productions.
life” from battles that might otherwise have The more obvious kind showed civilians con-
been ignored by the public. The great loss of tributing to the war effort through indirect ef-
life (6,821 killed and close to 20,000 wounded forts such as conserving rubber, tin, and alu-
at Iwo Jima alone) required justification, and, minum or in more direct efforts at munitions
it should be noted, the debate over some of and aircraft plants across the country. Salvage
these campaigns still goes on; O’Neill, for ex- showed exactly what happened to the materials
ample, asserts that “Iwo was a costly blunder at conserved by citizens by following iron, tin, and
the least, a waste of precious riflemen” (407). rubber from collection points to the finished
For most Americans, however, the famous Joe tanks, airplanes, or tires at the end of the pro-
Rosenthal photograph of five marines and one duction cycle. Other films explored the details
navy corpsman raising an American flag on of home-front contributions, carrying such ti-
Mount Suribachi symbolized the entire war ef- tles as Fuel Conservation, Food for Fighters, Farm
fort by a united people. Later use of the pho- Manpower, Send Your Tin Cans to War, and Get
tograph in bond drives and as a U.S. postage a War Job. In Every Two and a Half Minutes
stamp would further implant this image of (1944), an American soldier dies, while home-
World War II in the American consciousness. front workers are urged to make the factories
The Marine Memorial adjacent to Arlington more productive to “get the job done.”
National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., has Less obvious were films focusing on Amer-
codified that indelible icon of patriotic service. ican values—centered on studies of small
Indeed, the image has become an icon of the towns. During the Great Depression, the fea-
U.S. Marines because it seems to embody the ture films of Will Rogers had promoted a fond,
traits that make up America’s view of the small- sentimental view of America before big cities,
est and boldest of America’s military services— flappers, and industrialism. Films such as Da-
 WORLD WAR II: DOCUMENTARIES ] 121

vid Harum (1934), In Old Kentucky (1935), ceived Oscars for best picture, best director,
and Steamboat Round the Bend (1935) ex- and best actor (Fredric March). Eschewing flag
ploited the nostalgia of audiences for earlier— waving and propaganda, the film accurately
and apparently simpler—times when people reassessed the pain and anguish of war—not
were remembered for their intrinsic virtues to mention the readjustment problems of
rather than for their wealth or possessions. citizen-soldiers who had been plucked out of
New Deal documentaries such as Power and the workforce and given momentous chal-
the Land (1940), by Joris Ivens, pitched rural lenges to overcome, only to return to a nation
electricity as a means to enhance—rather than too busy to pay homage to their sacrifices.
transform—the traditional values of a repre- More strictly documentary in approach was
sentative rural farm family, the Parkinsons. John Huston’s unforgettable Let There Be Light
A number of nostalgic celebrations of small (1946), a film about the phenomenon now
town life were produced during the war. In known as post–traumatic stress disorder but
The Town (1944), Joseph von Sternberg told described at the time as “battle fatigue.” In
the story of a small community as yet un- black-and-white footage and with loving con-
touched by industrialism and urbanization. cern, Huston and his camera crews visited
Even Steel Town (1945) seemed to ignore the army hospitals where severe cases of PTSD
industrial aspects of the story of Youngstown, were being treated. (The resulting film so
Ohio, in favor of celebrating the cultural di- shocked army supervisors that it was not re-
versity and economic prosperity of represen- leased for general viewing until 1980, although
tative American workers. The Cummington it was available in government archives and
Story (1945) was Helen Grayson’s attempt to had been written about as early as 1946.) To-
show that recent immigrants, fleeing the col- day, it seems clear that filmmakers placed too
lapsing democracies of Europe, fit comfortably much faith in the powers of psychoanalysis to
into the town meetings of rural America and cure those affected, but the painful film’s mes-
were no threat to our democratic institutions. sage is that previously healthy-minded young
As film scholar Hans Borchers has observed, Americans who saw too much combat could
“Demographic reality had once and for all rel- be returned to civilian life after caring, psy-
egated the American small town to the store- choanalytic treatment. As film scholar Greg
house of all those venerable legends surround- Garrett has said, “Let There Be Light, even with
ing the founding of American democracy” its affirmation of the power of the wounded
(174). War Town (1943) depicts the problems psyche to heal, was simply too raw and too
a typical Alabama town faced with overcrowd- powerful for its time. Fifty years after its mak-
ing created by defense industries. In these ing, it remains one of the most moving and
films, American beliefs in the small town myth thought-provoking films about the effects of
triumphed over sociological nostrums and im- war on the people who fight it” (31).
personal statistics.
A Screen Epic on TV: New Life for Old Footage
Readjustment Films: Trauma and Recovery Without question, Victory at Sea (1952) was
Elsewhere in this volume (see “World War II: the most creative use of World War II footage
Feature Films”), film scholar Robert Fyne dis- in the immediate postwar period. Produced as
cusses an uplifting readjustment film entitled a public service by NBC, the series used ar-
The Best Years of Our Lives (1945). William chival footage to tell the story of U.S. naval
Wyler followed three fictional servicemen back operations worldwide during the recent war.
into civilian life, exploring the challenges and As the first of a now long-standing television
pitfalls of readjustment in a film which re- tradition, the series used fiction footage (in-
122 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

cluding scenes from John Ford’s December During the World War II celebrations of
7th), training film footage, and actual footage 1995, Victory at Sea returned to the screen and
from other battles to tell its story with maxi- became a major draw for veterans and their
mum drama and impact. Later, a theatrical families. Its stirring message of courage and
version of some ninety minutes was released sacrifice transcends time and represents the
for large-screen audiences (and is available in kind of message World War II veterans would
many video stores). like to have in the mainstream media.
Victory at Sea was a magnificent success
when it came out in 1952, and it is still aired Later Retrospections and Acts of Public
on television. (The complete set of twenty-six Memory
episodes is commercially available.) Richard With the classroom in mind, Films for the Hu-
Rodgers provided orchestrator Robert Russell manities distributes World War II, a thirty-
Bennett with twelve tunes, which Bennett, a three-minute overview from the invasion of Po-
gifted composer in his own right, embellished land to the Nuremberg trials. Hidden Army—
to interpret the footage in rough cut. Editor Women in World War II (1995) stresses the
Isaac Kleinerman then refined the editing to contribution of women during the struggle, a
better support the music. The result was an record that has finally come to the surface and
aural and visual experience that teaches many is proudly embodied in the Women in Military
uplifting lessons about America’s role as the Service for America Memorial, completed in
world’s policeman, although some observers— 2000, which stands on the grounds of Arlington
including this author—have taken the series to National Cemetery.
task as overbearing in its celebration of war to The fiftieth anniversary of the Normandy
advance American ideals and interests. The se- landing, “Operation Overlord,” brought many
ries succeeds as drama because it addresses visitors to European battle sites to participate
concerns of the American audience at the be- in solemn commemorations. President Bill
ginning of the Cold War, when many felt the Clinton spoke at the cemetery above Omaha
need to be reminded of the virtue of its cause Beach on June 6, 1994, and C-SPAN captured
and the worthwhile sacrifices we had made the moving ceremony on video. Other events
during World War II. Though it was pur- included honoring the U.S. Rangers who
ported to be based on Admiral Samuel Eliot scaled Pointe du Hoc, a feat that seems super-
Morison’s famous multivolume history of U.S. human to any visitor to that vertical cliff on
naval operations, the series is actually a cele- the Normandy coast. These commemorations
bration of simple American righteousness in say as much about the times in which they
conflict with the pernicious Axis powers. The were made, the 1990s, as they do about the
simplification from book to film was so great events themselves. (The Longest Day [1962]
that it would be unfair to seriously claim a was a major effort to produce a faithful nar-
close connection—even though the producer, rative of the greatest invasion in human his-
Henry Salomon, had worked with Morison on tory. Steven Spielberg’s later production, Sav-
the official history. Like its wartime predeces- ing Private Ryan [1998], starring Tom Hanks,
sors, Victory at Sea featured a polished script took many liberties with the events, but has
(by Richard Hanser) delivered by an offscreen been praised for its “realistic” rendering of the
narrator (Leonard Graves); it is unlike the typ- Omaha Beach landing, actually shot in Scot-
ical documentary format of later decades— land.) During 2000, historian Stephen Am-
which includes interviews with participants brose and others opened a D-Day museum in
when possible and/or clips of experts or schol- New Orleans. Linked with the opening of the
ars, so-called talking heads. museum was an episode in the History Channel
 WORLD WAR II: DOCUMENTARIES ] 123

series Save Our History. The one-hour program about the home front stressed the rootedness
investigated the artifacts and rationale for this of democratic institutions; if the town meet-
act of memory by veterans, academics, and ce- ing was idealized in productions such as The
lebrities such as Tom Brokaw, whose books of Cummington Story, it was also true that the
oral history had been so favorably embraced by exaggeration was a product of hope more
the veteran community. Related History Chan- than of deception. Filmmakers wanted self-
nel productions examined the role of LSTs government and intellectual freedom to pre-
(ships that carried landing craft and vehicles), vail in a world where such principles were un-
the construction of Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall,” D- der attack. On the other hand, documentaries
Day deceptions and code breaking, and the na- about the front lines—for example, With the
ture of Operation Overlord’s commander, Marines at Tarawa—provided citizens with a
Dwight D. Eisenhower. C-SPAN was also pres- fundamental service urged upon all documen-
ent to record seminars with Ambrose, Brokaw, tarians by a pioneer of the documentary
Tom Hanks, and other speakers honoring the medium, John Grierson: these films brought
sacrifices of the WWII generation. citizens into contact with each other and pro-
The World War II Memorial on the National vided a stirring picture of the common strug-
Mall was completed in 2003. The purposes and gle. Without such portraits, the sacrifice would
intentions of the memorial are studied in Save have gone unvalued; with such stirring depic-
Our History: The World War II Memorial. Bob tions, ordinary citizens could understand their
Dole, chairman of the Memorial Committee, place in the big picture. And, for all its rhetoric
shares the screen with former presidents Gerald and simplification, Frank Capra’s series for the
Ford and George Bush and historian Stephen U.S. Army really did explain America’s war
Ambrose. Bob Dole was severely wounded dur- aims in pictures and language that even un-
ing the Italian campaign, and his story of re- educated farm boys (or city boys, for that mat-
covery is detailed in the film, as are the varied ter) could understand. No lecture, few books,
stories of America’s “greatest generation.” Pro- and not even the best radio chats of an elo-
grams of this nature can serve as history lessons quent president could have matched the stir-
and as texts for students to analyze: How do ring messages and historical insights of Why
Americans remember their history? Which ele- We Fight.
ments are stressed and which elements are left As later generations came back to inspect the
in the background? How do these films—made meaning of the conflict, many found values
long after the conflict—compare and contrast that needed to be highlighted for the children
with some of the classic documentaries? Teach- and grandchildren of veterans. Spokesmen
ers have a wonderful opportunity with these such as Bob Dole and Stephen Ambrose
readily available cinematic texts. worked mightily to highlight the principles of
self-sacrifice and patriotism. The contrast be-
Documentaries and Democracy tween the hard-edged messages of the 1940s
America’s documentary and propaganda film documentaries and the hagiography of the
record of World War II reveals a democracy later films is striking and deserves further
concerned with purpose and cohesion. Films study.

References
The Battle of Midway (1942, D)
Filmography The Battle of New Britain (1944, D)
The Battle for the Marianas (1944, D) The Battle of San Pietro (1945, D)
124 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
The Best Years of Our Lives (1945, F) Brokaw, Tom, The Greatest Generation. New York:
The Cummington Story (1945, D) Random House, 1998.
December 7th (1942, D) Cripps, Thomas and David H. Culbert. “The Negro
The Fighting Lady (1944, D) Soldier (1944): Film Propaganda in Black and
Hidden Army—Women in World War II (1995, TV) White.” In Peter C. Rollins, ed., Hollywood as His-
Home of the Brave (1949, F) torian: American Film in a Cultural Context, 109–
Let There Be Light (1946, D) 133. 2d ed. Lexington: University Press of Ken-
Memphis Belle (1944, D; 1990, F) tucky, 1998.
The Negro Soldier (1944, D) Culbert, David H. “ ‘Why We Fight’: Social Engineer-
Prelude to War (1942, D) ing for a Democratic Society at War.” In K. R. M.
The Ramparts We Watch (1940, F) Short, ed., Film & Radio Propaganda in World War
Report from the Aleutians (1943, D) II, 173–191. Knoxville: University of Tennessee
Save Our History: The Making of the National D-Day Press, 1983.
Museum (2000, TV) and The World War II Memo- Dick, Bernard. The Star-Spangled Screen: The Ameri-
rial (2000, TV) can World War II Film. Lexington: University Press
Saving Private Ryan (1998, F) of Kentucky, 1985.
Steel Town (1945, D) Fussell, Paul. Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in
To the Shores of Iwo Jima (1944, D) the Second World War. New York: Oxford Univer-
The Town (1944, D) sity Press, 1989.
Twelve O’Clock High (1949, F) Garrett, Greg. “Let There Be Light and Huston’s film
Victory at Sea (1952, D) noir.” Proteus 7.2 (1990): 30–33.
Victory Through Air Power (1943, D) ——. “Muffling the Bell of Liberty: Censorship and
With the Marines at Tarawa (1944, D) the World War Two Documentary.” Journal of the
World War II (n.d., D) American Studies Association of Texas 22 (1991):
Why We Fight (1942–45, D) 63–73.
Keegan, John. The Second World War. New York: Vi-
king, 1990.
Bibliography Koppes, Clayton R., and Gregory D. Black. Hollywood
Adams, Michael C. C. The Best War Ever: America Goes to War: How Politics, Profits, and Propaganda
and World War II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni- Shaped World War II Movies. New York: Free
versity Press, 1994. Press, 1987.
Ambrose, Stephen. Band of Brothers: E Company, Maslowski, Peter. Armed with Cameras: American
506th Regiment, 101st Airborne, from Normandy to Military Photographers of World War II. New York:
Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. New York: Simon & Schuster, Free Press, 1993.
2001. O’Neill, William L. A Democracy at War: America’s
——. D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of Fight at Home and Abroad in World War II. New
World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995. York: Free Press, 1993.
Barsam, Richard Meran. Nonfiction Film: A Critical Roeder, George H. The Censored War: American Vi-
History. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1973. sual Experience During World War Two. New Ha-
Basinger, Jeanine. The World War II Combat Film: ven: Yale University Press, 1993.
Anatomy of a Genre. New York: Columbia Univer- Rollins, Peter C. “Frank Capra’s Why We Fight Series
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Small Town in Office of War Information Films, ——. “Victory at Sea: Cold War Epic.” Journal of
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[ ROBERT FYNE ]

World War II: Feature Films

ithout question, World War II—the siasm by delineating the inequitable treatment

W greatest social, political, and economic

upheaval of the twentieth century—
completely altered the life of every American.
From 1941 to 1945, workers suddenly found
of women and African Americans during the
struggle for democracy.
Chicago journalist Studs Terkel elaborates
on individual achievements in the ironically ti-
high-paying jobs at plants making airplanes tled “The Good War” (1984). Terkel reaffirms
in California, tanks in Wisconsin, or rifles that World War II completely changed the
in Massachusetts, creating unprecedented psyche, as well as the face, of the United States
demographic shifts as thousands of once- and the world, while Marine Corps veteran
impoverished rural workers moved to cities William Manchester’s first-person narrative
such as Los Angeles and Chicago, where defense Goodbye, Darkness (1979), argues that the
jobs beckoned. African Americans, victims of leathernecks who fought with him on Oki-
Jim Crow prejudices in the southern states, nawa, young men who had been tempered and
joined that exodus. Women of all ages were strengthened in the 1930s Depression by a
quickly recruited to work in those assembly struggle for survival, still maintained a strong
plants, too, and a new sobriquet, “Rosie the Riv- sense of patriotism. Another veteran’s mem-
eter,” entered the wartime jargon. At the same oir, E. B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed at Peleliu
time, millions of young men—the nation’s vol- and Okinawa (1981), claims that despite the
unteers and conscripts—were uprooted from realization that combat itself was pure insanity,
life and drawn into the military world, where he was still proud to be a marine who had
they met compatriots from around the nation, served his country.
from all ethnicities, religions, and walks of life. Philip D. Beidler’s The Good War’s Greatest
World War II historians have put forward Hits (1998) describes how the media have fos-
varying interpretations of the conflict and its tered a mythology blurring the fine line be-
significance for Americans. Right after the war, tween fact and fiction, allowing Hollywood’s
tomes such as Samuel Eliot Morison’s fifteen- version of the war to become enshrined as his-
volume History of the United States Naval torical fact in the nation’s collective memory.
Operations in World War II took a heroic view John W. Dower’s War Without Mercy (1986)
of the fight, proclaiming that America had res- argues that existing racial prejudices encour-
cued the world from the threat of barbarism. aged American military strategists to advocate
In 1999 this hagiographic interpretation resur- a policy of eradication in the Pacific. Michael
faced in Tom Brokaw’s best-seller The Greatest C. C. Adams’s The Best War Ever (1994) lauds
Generation. Other explanations offered more the nation’s patriotic fervor, but notes that
modulated insights. William O’Neill’s A De- there was also selfishness by corporations, or-
mocracy at War (1993) reiterated that we ganized labor, and individuals. Finally, Paul
fought a just war, but he tempered his enthu- Fussell’s debunking Wartime: Understanding

125
126 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

and Behavior in the Second World War (1989) their values” (231). Without question, Holly-
sees the military operations as a series of blun- wood’s contribution played an important role
ders, wishful thinking, and petty humiliations in sustaining morale and optimism.
clouded by bureaucratic euphemisms. These How did the motion picture industry accom-
negative qualities were sanitized by Holly- plish all this? How did its popular films reiterate
wood’s treatment of the war—for, as Fussell America’s determination to win the war? First
observes—motion pictures provided a silver of all, Hollywood was not caught flat-footed on
lining where unalloyed good always triumphed December 7, 1941. For more than two years,
over unprincipled evil (ix). most studios had produced dozens of antifascist
titles—such as Confession of a Nazi Spy (1939),
Hollywood Goes to War, 1941–45 Foreign Correspondent (1940), and Man Hunt
The Pearl Harbor attack transformed Holly- (1940)—warning of Axis aggression in Europe.
wood. Early in the war, President Roosevelt After Pearl Harbor, Hollywood simply ordered
averred that motion pictures were the most ef- full speed ahead.
fective medium to keep the nation informed Released just six weeks after Pearl Harbor, A
about the worldwide hostilities. Promising no Yank on the Burma Road sets the stage for the
censorship, Roosevelt called for a continuous dozens of anti-Japanese movies that followed.
output of screenplays and appointed Elmer Da- Here Barry Nelson, a former New York City
vis to run the Office of War Information (the cabby, risks everything to deliver medical sup-
OWI), an agency that established film industry plies to his Chinese allies, outwitting the Nip-
guidelines. These regulations were designed to ponese attackers on every serpentine turn of the
insure screenplay conformity and—for the famous mountain highway. Similar photoplays
most part—did not disavow Roosevelt’s pledge. depict U.S. forces routing their Asian enemy. In
True, all scripts required OWI approval, and Flying Tigers (1942), John Wayne and his air-
occasionally changes were mandated, but in the men destroy much of the Japanese air force,
end Hollywood and government bureaucracy while Anthony Quinn, now a Chinese chieftain,
formed a cooperative relationship. These pho- decimates his invaders in China Sky (1945).
toplays, as Jordan Braverman acknowledges, Other contemporary screenplays depicting
would “make the public understand what was American prowess against the Japanese in-
at stake in the conflict” (161). clude Gung Ho, Wing and a Prayer, Guadal-
For the next four years, the cameras kept roll- canal Diary, Back to Bataan, Thirty Seconds
ing as one movie after another documented a Over Tokyo, and Wake Island.
world at war. Some screenplays were major pro- In their fight against Japan, Hollywood re-
ductions with big-name stars and directors. duced America’s Pacific adversary to a two-
Other photodramas came from small B-movie dimensional caricature, the butt of numerous
studios, companies working on a shoestring racial epithets. The American people, outraged
budget, which hacked out their sixty-minute by a “sneak attack,” clamored for revenge. On
products in less than a week. And although the screen, the Japanese soldier often wears
many titles became classics, others were rele- thick eyeglasses and shouts “banzai!” while his
gated—like points, war stamps, and victory gar- officers—frail, diminutive men waving samu-
dens—to oblivion. In all, more than four rai swords—volunteer their lives to Emperor
hundred propaganda films that reaffirmed Hirohito by leading a suicide attack or com-
America’s righteousness were made by V-J Day. mitting hara-kiri. The Japanese are depicted as
These motion pictures, as Swedish historians a simian enemy who tortures and mutilates
Leif Furhammer and Folke Isaksson observe, American GIs without remorse in The Purple
were aimed “at audiences which already shared Heart, Objective Burma, and Marine Raiders or
 WORLD WAR II: FEATURE FILMS ] 127

violates Red Cross nurses in So Proudly We der Bolshevism is swept under the rug,
Hail and Cry Havoc. Frequently, these char- including Stalin’s purge trials, the invasion of
acterizations seemed ludicrous because so Finland, and the Hitler-Stalin Pact, as the for-
many Western actors, wearing exaggerated mer American ambassador, Joseph E. Davies,
makeup, portrayed these Asians not as assail- in an introductory trailer, lauds Soviet gallantry.
ants but as comic-strip fanatics. The picture, as historians Clayton Koppes and
On the European front, members of the Gregory Black recall, “fed a genuine hunger on
Third Reich were often derided as strutting the part of millions of Americans to know more
clowns in a manner that seemed callous and about their heroic but little understood and still
macabre. The Nazi soldier appears as a buffoon, mistrusted allies” (185).
a gangster, or a heel-clicking martinet—and The Chinese—now an integral part of the
sometimes all three, as in Casablanca (1942)— Allied forces—were battling a superior enemy,
while in Italy, Il Duce’s soldiers sing nineteenth- but Hollywood quickly came to their rescue by
century arias and refrain from armed combat sending American pilots into the combat zone.
completely. Motion pictures such as To Be or Dennis Morgan (God Is My Co-Pilot) John
Not to Be, Invisible Agent, Once upon a Honey- Carroll (Flying Tigers) and George Montgom-
moon, and Desperate Journey reduce the Ger- ery (China Girl)destroy countless Japanese Ze-
man officer to an incompetent who fidgets with roes, while on the ground two rice farmers,
his suede gloves or polishes his monocle while Katherine Hepburn and Walter Huston, poison
mispronouncing his v’s and w’s. When con- the food of an entire Japanese regiment in
fronted by an American GI (Humphrey Bogart Dragon Seed. Other titles—Night Plane from
in Sahara) or a British Tommy (Franchot Tone Chungking, Escape from Hong Kong, and China’s
in Five Graves to Cairo), the Nazi war machine Little Devils—depict American fighters, with
simply falls apart. Only late in the war, with Chinese assistance, halting the invaders.
such realistic dramas as Lewis Milestone’s A
Walk in the Sun (1945), were German soldiers The Home Front
reckoned as determined and difficult foes who Back on the home front, while the civilian
were not likely to give up easily. population slowly adjusted to the new war
For the Soviet Union, the Allies’ new partner, regulations that included rationing, blackout
Hollywood employed its best talents to finesse shades, and air-raid drills, Hollywood pro-
a touchy situation. As far back as 1919, Amer- duced numerous titles reminding audiences
ican filmgoers were regularly warned about the that the battles fought on some remote Pacific
expansionist policies of communist Russia and island were first won at home. American
its goal of world domination in such titles as workers, especially the distaff factory assem-
Red Salute (1935), Tovarich (1937), and He blers, are praised for their wartime contri-
Stayed for Breakfast (1940). Now, as brothers in butions in Sweethearts of the U.S.A. and Rosie
arms, a softer image was quickly formed to ce- the Riveter, while other titles—Joe Smith,
ment this alliance. The Russian soldier emerges American, Watch on the Rhine, and Sabo-
as brave, intrepid, and venturesome, relying on teur—warn of fifth columnists. Some levity
his mettle to rout Hitler’s armies. Always out- emerged in two Preston Sturges pictures, The
numbered and lacking proper equipment, the Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Con-
Red Army defeats the Axis at every turn in The quering Hero, while Hollywood mogul David
North Star, Song of Russia, Days of Glory, and O. Selznick’s Since You Went Away focuses on
The Boy from Stalingrad. In Mission to Mos- the problems germane to upper-class America
cow—a film that would later receive congres- when the breadwinner, now in the officer
sional scrutiny—every misdeed committed un- corps, departs for overseas duty.
128 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

Occasionally, some pictures touch upon the wartime footing, the B movie took aim at
self-sacrifice and hardship found on the home America’s enemies.
front. Pride of the Marines, I’ll Be Seeing You, Out on the frontier, B cowboys nab Axis
and The Enchanted Cottage take a hard look at saboteurs, protect their cattle ranches, and de-
the problems associated with the returning liver horses to military installations in Cowboy
veteran, while The Fighting Sullivans (also Commandoes, Black Market Rustlers, and Texas
called The Sullivans) poignantly traces the lives to Bataan. On another open prairie, Roy Rog-
of five brothers, born and bred in the Norman ers and Gene Autry—two popular singing
Rockwell world of Waterloo, Iowa, who en- cowboys—foil Nazi espionage while crooning
listed together in the navy and were assigned patriotic melodies in King of the Cowboys and
to the same ship; during an early naval battle Bells of Capistrano.
off Guadalcanal, all five were killed. In reen- Other titles that reminded audiences of Axis
acting this disaster, Hollywood created one of treachery are Secret Enemies, Spy Train, Secret
the most memorable images of the war. Char- Command, and Nazi Spy Ring. Additional
acter actor Ward Bond, playing a naval com- movies—with similar-sounding names—in-
mander, informs the Sullivan family of its loss clude Madame Spy, Unseen Enemy, Under-
in a scene that offers dignity to a terrible event. ground Agent, and Foreign Agent. Each picture
The screenplay’s propaganda message—that follows a similar format: enemy spies threaten
freedom is not cheap—offers quiet solace to a America but are caught and punished by
nation experiencing combat casualties. quick-thinking patriots. Even well-known de-
There were lighthearted moments on the tectives—Charlie Chan, Ellery Queen, Dick
home front as the Hollywood musical pro- Tracy, and Sherlock Holmes—entered the
vided additional escapism from the uncer- fray, with their numerous contributions prov-
tainty associated with the war. Pictures such as ing once again, as film historians Michael Shull
Up in Arms, The Fleet’s In, Stage Door Canteen, and David Wilt have noted, that America was
and Yankee Doodle Dandy entertained theater- safe from all spies and saboteurs (253).
goers everywhere with their fancy tap dancing, As a major component to the war effort,
standup comedy, pratfalls, and popular melo- these low-budget potboilers played an impor-
dies. But one scene certainly brought down the tant role in the overall propaganda effort by
house: Kate Smith, the doyenne of popular vo- releasing titles that framed basic American
calists, singing the inspirational “God Bless homilies: watch out for foreign spies, find a job
America” in This Is the Army. By V-J Day, in a defense plant, obey rationing edicts, and
more than seventy-five Hollywood war musi- always defend your home, flag, and country.
cals had been released, providing enough flag- After four difficult years, the fighting was
waving lyrics for everyone. As William Tuttle over. Back in Hollywood, the moguls could
observes, theater attendance “soared during shift their production plans. War film produc-
the war. Most people wanted escape and with tion came to a screeching halt as new screen-
fat pay checks they could go to the movies sev- plays highlighted frivolity and extravagance.
eral times a week” (154). American audiences, now savoring the mate-
rial goods that came with peace, wanted old-
The B Films of World War II fashioned fun, entertainment, and escapism.
Developed as a gimmick to boost sales during
the Depression years, the B (for budget) Postwar Productions
movie—using unknown actors, limited capi- Only a handful of war pictures appeared in
tal, and standard backdrops—required about 1946, mostly titles that were carryovers from
seven working days to complete. Now on a 1945. Three photodramas—O.S.S., Thirteen
 WORLD WAR II: FEATURE FILMS ] 129

Rue Madeline, and Cloak and Dagger—empha- officers and politicians—frequently at odds
size Allied espionage activities in the European with each other—argue over strategy. Back in
Theater, while Till the End of Time focuses on the foxholes, Battleground (1949), An Ameri-
a new problem created by combat: the re- can Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950), and
adjustment of handicapped veterans coming Halls of Montezuma (1950) describe, in graphic
home. But one additional title seemed to say terms, the uncertainty every foot soldier felt as
it all: the Academy Award–winning Best Years bombs and shells fell nearby.
of Our Lives. William Wyler’s film traces the But the quintessential combat film of the
joys, sorrows, and self-realizations of three postwar period that—in a quiet, dignified
combat veterans as they return to their thriving manner—honored the Marine Corps for its
mid-American city months after the war. Dana many island victories was Sands of Iwo Jima
Andrews is outstanding as a decorated B-17 (1949). Only John Wayne could portray a
bombardier; Fred Derry discovers that the post- tough squad leader who teaches his young
war boom has no place for the men who charges the meaning of loyalty, teamwork, and
dropped their explosives on German targets; semper fidelis. Soon the marines assault Iwo
while Frederic March plays Al Stephenson, a Jima and, along with John Agar and Forrest
former sergeant back from the Pacific who Tucker, push inland to witness the historic flag
grudgingly returns to his executive banking po- raising on Mount Suribachi. Here a Japanese
sition, a job he now finds incongruous. “Last sniper fells John Wayne. After a short eulogy,
year,” he reminds his wife (Myrna Loy), “it was the marines—mindful of their sergeant’s sac-
kill Japs; and this year it’s make money.” rifice—continue their attack. Using three ac-
But Harold Russell’s portrayal of Homer tual members from the iconic Joe Rosenthal
Parrish, a young sailor who lost both hands photograph in the cast, the movie reaffirms the
when his ship was attacked, steals the show as high human cost of the South Pacific fighting
a shy, sensitive, gee-whiz, hometown boy hop- and the value of the U.S. Marines, then under
ing for a modicum of normalcy. (Russell, who fire as an expensive anachronism by President
really did lose his hands in a munitions explo- Harry S. Truman.
sion, would go on to appear in other films over
the years, including a final appearance in the The 1950s and 1960s
anti-Vietnam drama Cutter’s Way [1981].) Re- When the Korean War broke out in June 1950,
plete with numerous social criticisms that blast Hollywood again pushed the go button and for
draft-dodgers, war profiteering, unfaithful the next three years produced a new genera-
wives, America First committees, and short tion of World War II films, titles that once
memories, Best Years calls to task the various more reminded American audiences of past
modes of opportunism on the home front. sacrifices and victories. Patriotic screenplays—
Without question, this highly acclaimed mo- such as Flying Leathernecks, The Frogmen, Go
tion picture makes one thing abundantly clear: for Broke, and Destination Gobi—highlight
the days of the propaganda film, touting un- Yankee intransigence. Now that the Cold War
equivocal American virtues, were over. had turned hot, screenwriters sent a strong nu-
For the next few years, World War II titles clear warning in Above and Beyond (1952) to
trickled out of Hollywood as new screenplays their new enemy, communist Russia. Here
took a hard and sometimes critical look at the Robert Taylor, a fly-by-the-book, Army Air
terrible cost of the Allied victory. Both Com- Corps pilot, trains a specialized crew to drop
mand Decision (1948) and Twelve O’Clock the first atomic bomb. The movie’s message
High (1949) scrutinize the high casualty rate needed no decoding for the Soviets: we did it
of Air Corps bombing raids over Europe as before and we can do it again.
130 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

After the 1953 Panmunjon peace accord, (1960), Merrill’s Marauders (1962), PT 109
World War II films began to scrutinize old bat- (1962), and The Longest Day (1962).
tles and past glories. Many films of the 1950s As an elaborate, black-and-white block-
and 1960s, such as John Huston’s Heaven buster, Darryl F. Zanuck’s The Longest Day—
Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and Raoul Walsh’s based on the best-selling book by Cornelius
Battle Cry (1955), celebrate the heroism of or- Ryan—documents the June 6, 1944, invasion
dinary soldiers, while the officer class—once of Normandy as witnessed by both Allied and
portrayed as sacrosanct—receives some nasty Axis forces at numerous battle sites and com-
swipes in dramas such as The Caine Mutiny mand headquarters. Using a large contingency
(1954), Mister Roberts (1955), and The Dirty of famous stars, the storyline details the suc-
Dozen (1967). cesses, good fortune, tragedy, and dumb luck
Many other films are heavily critical of the that both sides experienced during the inva-
military caste system. From Here to Eternity sion. The screenplay is noteworthy for its at-
(1953), based on James Jones’s acclaimed tempt to render participants and battle sites
novel, is a strong indictment of the spit-and- with detailed accuracy. This D-Day portrait, as
polish mentality at a U.S. Army base a few motion picture historian Steven Jay Rubin ob-
miles from Pearl Harbor, where favoritism, serves, represents the perfect image of what
bullying, and torture are the order of the day. D. W. Griffith originally viewed as a history
Another screenplay, The Naked and the Dead lesson on film (45).
(1958)—an elaborate adaptation of Norman
Mailer’s controversial book—also points the The Vietnam Era
finger at some troubled personalities among By 1968 the Vietnam War had polarized the
officers as an army unit advances inland on a nation, and flag-waving war films lost much of
Japanese-held island during a 1943 offensive. their appeal. Screenplays such as Beach Red
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a block- (1967), Hell in the Pacific (1968), Castle Keep
buster directed by David Lean and the winner (1969), and Catch-22 (1970)—while ostensibly
of seven Academy Awards, describes the ordeal World War II titles—are obvious anti-Nixon,
of Allied POWs building a Japanese railway anti-Vietnam parables. Together, all three pic-
bridge in the Malaysian jungle, an all but im- tures elaborate one common theme: war’s ab-
possible project dictated by the brutal Japanese surdity.
officer played by Sessue Hayakawa but made As a strong antiwar statement, Beach Red—
all the more difficult by the prisoner’s own re- based on the novel by Peter Bowman—down-
mote, unbending commander, portrayed by plays stereotypical heroics and, instead, fo-
Alec Guinness. And Edward Dmytryk’s The cuses on folly and egomania. Here, a stalwart
Young Lions (1958) suggests that all generals, marine officer, Captain MacDonald (Cornel
whether Allied or Axis, are incompetent, Wilde, who directed) cautiously guides his
whereas all soldiers, whether Allied or Axis, are men through the uncharted jungles on some
inherently noble, if sometimes misunderstood. unnamed South Pacific island only to witness
But not every picture disparaged America’s violent death at every turn. As a complex par-
leadership. Titles such as To Hell and Back able, John Boorman’s Hell in the Pacific offers
(1955), Battle Cry (1955), The Guns of Nava- similar editorial statements about survival,
rone (1961), and The Great Escape (1963) re- friendship, and tolerance. Portraying a Japa-
inforce traditional U.S. values, as military nese officer marooned on a remote South Pa-
forces, using skill and initiative, pulverize their cific atoll during the closing months of the war,
enemies. Other photoplays emphasizing su- Toshiro Mifune maintains a solitary existence
perior leadership are The Gallant Hours in a harsh environment. Eventually, a naval pi-
 WORLD WAR II: FEATURE FILMS ] 131

lot, Lee Marvin, washes ashore, and the two After Vietnam
men—initially hostile to each other and un- After the Vietnam hostilities came to end, with
able to communicate verbally—reach a truce, most Americans still divided over the out-
if one with an ironic denouement. come, Hollywood—with its eye on the bottom
Another screenplay offering a combined on- line—relegated World War II to the archives.
tological and mystical look at war’s futility, Although Midway (1976), A Bridge Too Far
Sidney Pollack’s Castle Keep (based on the (1977), and Force 10 from Navarone (1978) re-
novel by William Eastlake), employs various tell certain aspects of the American combat ad-
forms of mysticism, spiritualism, and ration- venture, other screenplays turn the tables.
alism during the precarious 1944 Battle of the Both Cross of Iron (1977) and The Eagle Has
Bulge offensive. Likewise, Mike Nichols’s Landed (1977) glamorize the exploits of the
Catch-22, a black comedy based on Joseph German soldier, portraying these men as he-
Heller’s best-selling novel, fires off both barrels roes, lending support to Peter C. Rollins’s ob-
at the lunacy of military life, blasting away at servation that Hollywood often attempts to in-
the nepotism, opportunism, goldbricking, and fluence history by producing films consciously
bureaucracy. Praising its satirical tone, psychi- designed to change public attitudes (1). In
atrist Robert Lifton and historian Gregory Cross of Iron, directed by Sam Peckinpah,
Mitchell note that even though Catch-22 is a Wehrmacht sergeant James Coburn is some-
World War II topic, in reality it is about Viet- thing of a German John Wayne, a deft soldier
nam (379). leading his men to victory on the eastern front.
Realizing that flag-waving patriotism still Michael Caine’s cockney accent is incongruous
appealed to pro-Vietnam supporters, two titles for a Nazi commando ordered to kill Winston
emerged that waved the red, white, and blue Churchill in The Eagle Has Landed; even more
with multimillion dollar extravagance: Patton distorted is the way in which the film sugar-
(1970) and Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Both ti- coats every facet of Hitlerism.
tles were box-office smashes and reminded au- In the 1980s, only a handful of motion pic-
diences of the heroic past, even though the lat- tures recalled the global conflict. While some
ter highlighted the Pearl Harbor defeat. movies, such as Sam Fuller’s The Big Red One
Franklin J. Schaffner’s Patton is a controver- (1980), examined the war, others fooled
sial, 171-minute hagiography to the flamboy- around with history. In The Final Countdown
ant and controversial four-star general known (1980)—a high-flying, science-fiction yarn
to his men as “Old Blood-and-Guts” (or, as that shows off the U.S. Navy’s modern carrier
one of the soldiers in the film ironically com- power in a manner usually found in the eerie
ments, “our blood, his guts”), the larger-than- scripts that made the television series The Twi-
life, egomaniacal officer responsible for many light Zone so popular—Kirk Douglas stars as
important battlefield victories in Europe after the captain of the U.S.S. Nimitz, a flattop cruis-
D-Day. In an Academy Award–winning per- ing west of the Hawaiian Islands in late 1979,
formance, George C. Scott captures the man- while Martin Sheen, a civilian observer, studies
nerisms of the unconventional George S. Pat- military protocol. Soon a phantasmagoric sea
ton—from his Bible-quoting oratory down to storm transposes the ship back into the time
his pearl-handled revolver—beginning with zone of late 1941. The carrier’s reconnaissance
his 1942 North African campaign. In a similar planes spot the Japanese armada, but, unable
vein Tora! Tora! Tora! is a quasi-documentary, to upset the course of history, the Nimitz must
both-sides-of-the-story examination of the reluctantly return to the present, allowing the
events leading up to the Japanese attack on sneak attack to culminate. Replete with pithy
Pearl Harbor. hindsight observations, this offbeat tale glam-
132 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

orizes every facet of life aboard an electroni- Memphis Belle (1990) is an elaborate testi-
cally operated fighting ship. mony to the first crew in the Eighth Air Force
Another subject—the controversial issue of to fly the coveted twenty-fifth mission, a feat
using nuclear weapons on two Japanese cit- that qualified the men for stateside duty. As
ies—is examined in Fat Man and Little Boy the youthful leader of a B-17, Captain Dennis
(1989). Written from a military point of view, Dearborn (Matthew Modine) guides his air-
the film examines the design, building, and de- craft from the quiet plains of southern England
livery of the atomic bomb. Paul Newman por- to the German port of Bremen to bomb the
trays project commander General Leslie city’s industrial area on May 17, 1943. Con-
Groves, while Dwight Schultz sparkles as noted stantly under attack by Luftwaffe fighters or
physicist Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer. Brim- antiaircraft fire, the bomber—damaged in its
ming with philosophical arguments, this mo- critical landing section—limps back home to
tion picture offers strong rationalizations re- the acclaim of the senior officers and public
garding the thorny issue of the necessity for relations staff. While elements of the storyline
obliterating Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was are pure Hollywood fiction, it is nevertheless a
not the first screenplay, however, to deal with paean to William Wyler’s 1944 aerial docu-
the Enola Gay’s early morning mission over mentary The Memphis Belle, a film that glori-
Japan. In The Beginning or the End (1947) fies this famous twenty-fifth crossing. In 1995,
Hume Cronyn, in the Oppenheimer role, prof- an HBO production, The Tuskegee Airmen,
fers a conservative approach. One scene—de- honored the African American pilots who pro-
picting the Los Alamos implosion—seems ma- vided fighter support for the Memphis Belle
cabre as Oppenheimer and his staff, unaware and its sister aircraft.
of nuclear energy’s potential, rub suntan lotion Not every screenplay has kind words about
on their skin as protection against the blast American behavior in World War II. Recalling
from the first atomic test. Another title, Day some of the themes of John Sturges’s 1955
One (1989), a made-for-TV docudrama, offers drama Bad Day at Black Rock, Alan Parker’s
a centrist interpretation of the events that un- Come See the Paradise (1990) is a strongly
folded at the top-secret New Mexico site. worded indictment of Executive Law 9066—
quickly passed after the Pearl Harbor attack—
The Last Decade that sent thousands of West Coast Japanese
By 1990, World War II had become a distant American citizens to internment centers for
memory for most Americans. But films con- the war’s duration—the worst violation of civil
tinued to probe the conflict. In The Plot to Kill liberties in wartime America, as historian Allan
Hitler (a made-for-TV drama), numerous M. Winkler documents (73). Here, an outspo-
Nazi officers, led by Brad Davis, mastermind ken labor organizer, Jack McGurn (Dennis
the elaborate assassination attempt of the Füh- Quaid), married to a nisei, watches helplessly
rer. They fail. For the Boys (1991) tells the story as federal agents, brandishing newly printed
of two entertainers, played by James Caan and warrants, round up his wife and in-laws,
Bette Midler, and their adventures as U.S.O. claiming they represent a threat to the nation’s
performers in the combat zone, while another security.
made-for-TV indictment, Mission of the Shark, Another picture that takes a caustic, surre-
recounts the harrowing events after the U.S.S. alistic, and ontological look at war, death, and
Indianapolis was torpedoed—on July 30, 1945, friendship—A Midnight Clear (1992)—de-
just before V-J Day—forcing most of its crew means the caste system separating enlisted
to bobble helplessly in the shark-infested Pa- men from their officers. Ethan Hawke sparkles
cific for four days before rescuers arrived. as a young, pensive soldier, Sergeant Will
 WORLD WAR II: FEATURE FILMS ] 133

Knott, who, along with five other GIs from an

intelligence and reconnaissance squad, squir-
rels himself away in the Ardennes Forest dur-
ing the Christmas 1944 German offensive,
while Schindler’s List (1993) retells the Holo-
caust tragedy in a dignified, poignant, and har-
rowing manner. A financial success and Acad-
emy Award winner, Schindler’s List became the
twentieth century’s exclamation point, restat-
ing the horror of the Final Solution with great
poignancy.
FIGURE 16. Memphis Belle (1990). Memphis Belle
Most viewers ignored Mother Night (1996), celebrates the feats and personalities of a B-17 bomber
the film version of Kurt Vonnegut’s black crew under the command of Capt. Dennis Dearborn
comedy about an American spy working as a (Matthew Modine) as it fulfills its twenty-fifth and final
mission. Courtesy Warner Bros.
German radio announcer, proving again that
World War II themes were hit or miss affairs
in the eyes of fickle, youthful audiences. In These are the photodramas, she asserts, that
1998, though, Spielberg returned to the war speak to the American soul (81).
much more successfully with Saving Private When the war ended, Hollywood, now free
Ryan, a mega-blockbuster depicting the Nor- of all propaganda restraints, offered different
mandy invasion. The same year saw the return interpretations. Titles such as All My Sons
of the acclaimed director Terrence Malick, (1948) expose opportunism, while Home of the
whose The Thin Red Line, set on the Japanese- Brave (1949) details military racism. The Men
held island of Guadalcanal, is a pensive medi- (1950) and Bright Victory (1951) probe the or-
tation on the folly of war—and a decidedly deal of the wounded veteran. Standard combat
more downbeat film than Spielberg’s celebra- melodramas—Flying Leathernecks (1951), The
tion of men at arms. Tanks are Coming (1951), and Eight Iron Men
(1952)—retell stories of battle heroism. The
Hollywood as Historian list seems endless as Hollywood continued to
Probably no other Hollywood genre has ex- churn out one picture after another.
perienced such diverse interpretations as the Are they historically accurate? Some, such as
World War II film. Appearing weeks after D-Day: The Sixth of June (1956), are half fact,
Pearl Harbor, the early titles—such as Joan of half soap opera, as Robert Taylor, about to em-
Paris, Captains of the Clouds, To the Shores of bark on his great crusade, behaves like a love-
Tripoli, and Across the Pacific—render the Axis sick cow because his married British girlfriend
foes in strict two-dimensional terms. Visual will not give him a straight answer to his pro-
clichés, stock characters, and stereotypes posal of marriage. Others are farfetched, such
abound, using the same message of morale: we as The Sea Wolves (1980), in which a motley
may have lost the first battle, but we will win group of over-the-hill British civilians, living
the last. Most of these motion pictures, John in Calcutta, forms a commando team that de-
W. Jeffries observes, portray the armed forces stroys three Nazi warships moored in nearby
stressing both teamwork and diversity (181), Goa, a neutral Portuguese port.
while Jeanine Basinger—noting the influence After television emerged as the dominant
of genre on filmmaking—concludes that the tool of communication, World War II films
World War II screenplays create images of went off in all directions—a symphony
power that would and could not be forgotten. orchestra captured by the Nazis in Counter-
134 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS

point (1968); a visit to a faraway planet in President Roosevelt’s declaration that motion
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972); a glorification of pictures were the most effective medium to in-
American generals in MacArthur (1977) and form all citizens—pooled their talents to pro-
Ike (1979); an updated Gothic thriller in A duce hundreds of titles that explained the in-
Time of Destiny (1988); and private-school re- ternational conflict to America. After the final
membrances in December (1991). Even the surrender of the Axis, Hollywood took an in-
likes of Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra rout the depth look at the war itself and offered a mul-
Axis in, respectively, Father Goose (1964) and tifaceted appraisal, mixing praise and condem-
Never So Few (1959), None but the Brave nation. With each decade, the tone of these
(1965), and Von Ryan’s Express (1965). Some screenplays—like the society they mirrored—
titles reexamine old enemies, almost washing changed. As historians John Chambers and
the slate clean for their Axis misdeeds: The David Culbert note, audiences for moving
Desert Fox (1951), The Enemy Below (1957), images are so great that more people have ex-
The Best of Enemies (1962), Is Paris Burning? perienced the war through feature films and
(1965), and Eye of the Needle (1981). Other television docudramas than actually partici-
topics include the home front in Summer of pated in it (viii). Some screenplays are right
‘41 (1971), The Way We Were (1973), Swing on target; others are pure fiction, even ho-
Shift (1984), and Racing with the Moon (1984); kum. It may be true, as Paul Fussell laments,
even spoofs appeared with 1941 (1979), Dead that “America has not yet understood what
Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), To Be or Not to the Second World War was like” (268), but
Be (1983), and Top Secret! (1984). one thing is certain: for better or worse,
Beginning with a shaky start, right after Hollywood has become our primary teacher
Pearl Harbor, the filmmakers—inspired by about World War II.

References
Bright Victory (1951, F)
Filmography The Caine Mutiny (1954, F)
Above and Beyond (1952, F) Captains of the Clouds (1942, F)
Across the Pacific (1942, F) Casablanca (1942, F)
All My Sons (1948, F) Castle Keep (1969, F)
An American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950, F) Catch-22 (1970, F)
The Americanization of Emily (1964, F) China Girl (1942, F)
Attack (1956, F) China Sky (1945, F)
Back to Bataan (1945, F) China’s Little Devils (1945, F)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955, F) Cloak and Dagger (1946, F)
Bataan (1943, F) Come See the Paradise (1990, F)
Battle Cry (1955, F) Command Decision (1948, F)
Battleground (1949, F) Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939, F)
Beach Red (1967, F) Counterpoint (1968, F)
The Beginning or the End (1947, F) Cowboy Commandoes (1943, F)
A Bell for Adano (1945, F) Cross of Iron (1977, F)
Bells of Capistrano (1942, F) Cry Havoc (1943, F)
The Best of Enemies (1962, F) Day One (1989, F)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, F) Days of Glory (1944, F)
The Big Red One (1980, F) D-Day: The Sixth of June (1956, F)
Biloxi Blues (1988, F) Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982, F)
Black Market Rustlers (1943, F) December (1991, F)
The Boy from Stalingrad (1943, F) The Desert Fox (1951, F)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, F) Desperate Journey (1942, F)
A Bridge Too Far (1977, F) Destination Gobi (1953, F)
 WORLD WAR II: FEATURE FILMS ] 135
The Dirty Dozen (1967, F) The Naked and the Dead (1958, F)
The Eagle Has Landed (1977, F) Nazi Spy Ring (1943, F)
Eight Iron Men (1952, F) Never So Few (1959, F)
The Enchanted Cottage (1945, F) Night Plane from Chungking (1943, F)
The Enemy Below (1957, F) 1941 (1979, F)
Escape from Hong Kong (1942, F) None but the Brave (1965, F)
Eye of the Needle (1981, F) The North Star (1943, F)
Father Goose (1964, F) Objective, Burma! (1945, F)
Fat Man and Little Boy (1989, F) Once upon a Honeymoon (1942, F)
The Fighting Seabees (1944, F) O.S.S. (1946, F)
The Fighting Sullivans (1944, F) Patton (1970, F)
The Final Countdown (1980, F) Pearl Harbor (2001, F)
Five Graves to Cairo (1943, F) The Plot to Kill Hitler (1990, F)
The Fleet’s In (1942, F) Pride of the Marines (1945, F)
Flying Leathernecks (1951, F) PT 109 (1962, F)
Flying Tigers (1942, F) The Purple Heart (1944, F)
Force 10 from Navarone (1978, F) Racing with the Moon (1984, F)
Foreign Agent (1942, F) Red Salute (1935, F)
Foreign Correspondent (1940, F) Rosie the Riveter (1944, F)
For the Boys (1991, F) Saboteur (1942, F)
The Frogmen (1951, F) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949, F)
From Here to Eternity (1953, F) Saving Private Ryan (1998, F)
The Gallant Hours (1960, F) Schindler’s List (1993, F)
God Is My Co-Pilot (1945, F) The Sea Wolves (1980, F)
Go for Broke (1951, F) Secret Command (1944, F)
The Great Escape (1963, F) Secret Enemies (1942, F)
Guadalcanal Diary (1943, F) Since You Went Away (1944, F)
Gung Ho (1943, F) Slaughterhouse-Five (1972, F)
The Guns of Navarone (1961, F) Song of Russia (1943, F)
The Gypsy Warriors (1978, F) So Proudly We Hail (1943, F)
Hail the Conquering Hero (1944, F) Spy Train (1943, F)
Halls of Montezuma (1950, F) Stage Door Canteen (1943, F)
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957, F) Stalag 17 (1953, F)
Hell in the Pacific (1968, F) Summer of ‘41 (1971, F)
He Stayed for Breakfast (1940, F) Sweethearts of the U.S.A. (1944, F)
Home of the Brave (1949, F) Swing Shift (1984, F)
Ike (1979, F) The Tanks Are Coming (1951, F)
I’ll Be Seeing You (1944, F) Texas to Bataan (1942, F)
Invisible Agent (1942, F) The Thin Red Line (1998, F)
Is Paris Burning? (1965, F) Thirteen Rue Madeline (1946, F)
Joan of Paris (1942, F) Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944, F)
Joe Smith, American (1942, F) This Is the Army (1943, F)
King of the Cowboys (1943, F) Till the End of Time (1946, F)
The Longest Day (1962, F) A Time of Destiny (1988, F)
MacArthur (1977, F) To Be or Not to Be (1983, F)
Madame Spy (1942, F) Top Secret (1984, F)
Man Hunt (1940, F) Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970, F)
Marine Raiders (1944, F) To the Shores of Tripoli (1942, F)
Memphis Belle (1944, D; 1990, F) Tovarich (1937, F)
The Men (1950, F) The Tuskegee Airmen (1995, F)
Merrill’s Marauders (1962, F) Twelve O’Clock High (1949, F)
A Midnight Clear (1992, F) Underground Agent (1942, F)
Midway (1976, F) Unseen Enemy (1942, F)
The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944, F) Up in Arms (1944, F)
Mission of the Shark (1991, F) The Victors (1963, F)
Mission to Moscow (1943, F) Von Ryan’s Express (1965, F)
Mister Roberts (1955, F) Wake Island (1942, F)
Mother Night (1996, F) A Walk in the Sun (1945, F)
136 [ WARS AND OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
Watch on the Rhine (1943, F) Kane, Kathryn. Visions of War: Hollywood Combat
The Way We Were (1973, F) Films of World War II. Ann Arbor: UMI Research
Wing and a Prayer (1944, F) Press, 1982.
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, F) Koppes, Clayton R., and Gregory D. Black. Hollywood
A Yank on the Burma Road (1942, F) Goes to War: How Politics, Profits, and Propaganda
The Young Lions (1958, F) Shaped World War II Movies. New York: Free
Press, 1987.
Langman, Larry, and Ed Borg. Encyclopedia of Amer-
Bibliography ica War Films. New York: Garland, 1974.
Adams, Michael C. C. The Best War Ever: American Lifton, Robert Jay, and Gregory Mitchell. Hiroshima
and World War II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Uni- in America: Fifty Years of Denial. New York: Put-
versity Press, 1994. nam, 1995.
Basinger, Jeanine. The World War II Combat Film: Manchester, William. Goodbye Darkness: A Memoir of
Anatomy of a Genre. New York: Columbia Univer- the Pacific War. Boston: Little Brown, 1979.
sity Press, 1986. Manvell, Roger. Films and the Second World War.
Beidler, Philip D. The Good War’s Greatest Hits: New York: Dell, 1974.
World War II and American Remembering. Athens: Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval
University of Georgia Press, 1998. Operations in World War II. 15 vols. Boston: Little
Braverman, Jordan. To Hasten the Homecoming: How Brown, 1951.
Americans Fought World War II Through the Me- O’Neill, William. A Democracy at War: America’s
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Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. New York: York: Free Press, 1993.
Random House, 1999. Parish, James Robert. The Great Combat Pictures:
Butler, Ivan. The War Film. New York: A. C. Barnes, Twentieth-Century Warfare on the Screen. Me-
1974. tuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1990.
Chambers, John Whiteclay, and David Culbert. Rollins, Peter, ed. Hollywood as Historian: American
World War II: Film and History. New York: Oxford Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington: Uni-
University Press, 1996. versity Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Dick, Bernard F. The Star-Spangled Screen: The Amer- Rubin, Steven Jay. Combat Films: American Realism,
ican World War II Film. Lexington: University 1945–1970. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1981.
Press of Kentucky, 1985. Shull, Michael S. and Wilt, David E. Hollywood War
Dower, John W. War Without Mercy: Race and Power Films, 1937–1945. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996.
in the Pacific War. New York: Pantheon, 1986. Sledge, E. B. With the Old Guard at Peleliu and Oki-
Furhammar, Leif, and Folke Isaksson. Politics and nawa. Novato, CA: Presidio, 1981.
Film. New York: Praeger, 1971. Strada, Michael J., and Harold R. Troper. Friend or
Fussell, Paul. Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in Foe? Russians in American Film and Foreign Policy,
the Second World War. New York: Oxford Univer- 1933–1991. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1997.
sity Press, 1989. Terkel, Studs. “The Good War”: An Oral History of
Fyne, Robert. The Hollywood Propaganda of World World War II. New York: Pantheon, 1984.
War II. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1994. Tuttle, William. Daddy’s Gone to War: The Second
Jeffries, John W. Wartime America: The World War II World War in the Lives of America’s Children. New
Home Front. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1996. York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Jones, Ken D., and A. F. McClure. Hollywood at War: Winkler, Allan M. Home Front U.S.A.: America Dur-
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Kagan, Norman. The War Film. New York: Pyramid, Woll, Allen L. The Hollywood Musical Goes to War.
1974. Chicago: Nelson, 1983.
III.
Notable
People
夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ MICHAEL BIRDWELL ]

The Antebellum Frontier Hero

ollywood’s antebellum hero owes an in- tier itself, this humor can be traced to a num-

H calculable debt to James Fenimore Coo-

per (1789–1851), creator of the arche-
typal American frontier hero of the
trans-Appalachian West. Inspired by Daniel
ber of sources. From the Whig almanacs at-
tributed to Davy Crockett to tall-tale
characters such as Mike Fink, Captain Simon
Suggs, Sut Lovingood, or Ransey Sniffle, hu-
Boone, Cooper created a solitary, taciturn mor softened and humanized—and some-
hero, more comfortable in the wilderness than times satirized—the brutality of the frontier
in an advancing, civilized society. This pecu- experience. Davy Crockett’s boast that he was
liarly American Adam was “an individual “half-horse, half-alligator” reflected the brag-
emancipated from history, happily bereft of gadocio and bluster of the pioneer spirit. The
ancestry, untouched and undefiled by the frontier provided a wild, sprawling expanse
usual inheritances of family and race; an in- that needed larger-than-life characters to sub-
dividual standing alone, self-reliant, self- due it. As Constance Roarke notes in American
propelling, ready to confront whatever awaited Humor, real humans such as Davy Crockett or
him with the aid of his own unique and in- Mike Fink “grew supersized” (54). Numerous
herent resources” (Lewis, 5). Slow to anger, he retellings of their exploits, real and imagined,
overcame insurmountable odds with artful encouraged embellishment. Thus, the frontier
ease; yet he acted selflessly, seeking no personal hero was bigger, meaner, sneakier, smarter,
rewards for his endeavors. Daniel Boone be- braver, sillier, and possessed a larger ego than
came the “emblematic hero of Manifest Des- any opponent. Often inventing and spreading
tiny,” the equivalent of an American Moses, his own notoriety, as David Crockett did in his
“leading his people to the Promised Land” various autobiographies (which remain classic
(Hughes, 191–192). Cooper’s fictionalized examples of self-promotion and mythmaking),
Boone (variously known as Natty Bumppo, the hero played a key role in the public’s per-
Hawkeye, Leatherstocking, and Deerslayer) ception of him.
idealized an American piety and unfettered
freedom on a contested frontier; this arche- Daniel Boone (1734–1820)
typal hero continues to exist in movies ranging As biographer John Mack Faragher observes,
from frontier epics to science fiction films. Daniel Boone’s image was often reinvented,
The heroes evoke values Americans hold beginning with Boone’s own conversations as
dear—freedom, love of country, and a sense an elderly man with John Filson. Boone has
of humor. represented everything from a symbol of
Sometimes self-effacing, sometimes a device American progress to a benighted primitivist,
to catch his prey off guard, and other times a racist, and litigious land speculator (320–362).
potent weapon, the American hero employed Though a staple of the silent screen, Boone ap-
humor to his advantage. A product of the fron- peared with far less frequency in sound pic-

139
140 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

tures before World War II. He makes a cameo

appearance in The Great Meadow (1931), an
unusual film that examines the role of women
on the frontier and argues (quite correctly, we
now know) that the frontier could not have
flourished without brave pioneer women who
often assumed traditional male roles. A civiliz-
ing force, women deserve credit for their as-
sistance in “taming” the trans-Appalachian
West. Based on Elizabeth Madox Roberts’s
novel of the same name, the film centers on
the intrepid Virginians who followed Daniel F I G U R E 1 7 . Daniel Boone (1936). George O’Brien
Boone along the Wilderness Road through the (center) plays the heroic Daniel Boone, who has just
Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. founded Fort Boonesboro in Kentucky. He is captured
and taken away to Detroit by the British but soon
Daniel Boone (1936) continues to be one of escapes, returning to Boonesboro to protect the
the best film portrayals of the legendary hero. settlement against attacking Indians. Courtesy George
Originally made as one of the RKO studio’s A. Hirliman Productions and RKO Radio Productions.
low-budget westerns, the film rose above its
limitations. The story focuses on Boone grew up in a quasi-frontier society that de-
(George O’Brien) in 1775 as he leads a group pended upon hunting skills to supplement diet
of pioneers (including an African American) and income. Visual and aural references to
from Yadkin County, North Carolina, into Boone pepper the film, implying that Alvin
Kentucky. After Boone establishes a modest York is a twentieth-century equivalent of Dan-
community along the Kentucky River at Fort iel Boone and the embodiment of the frontier
Boonesboro, Wyandot Indians attack. The virtues that made this country moral and
community struggles to eke out an existence strong.
in the hostile wilderness. Later captured by A fictionalized account of Boone’s legendary
British troops through the duplicity of a greedy rise as a pioneer and Indian fighter, Mono-
frontiersman, Simon Girty ( John Carradine), gram studio produced Young Daniel Boone
Boone is dragged off to Detroit, where he uses (1950), starring David Bruce. Though the real
his formidable survival skills to escape. Upon Boone was in his mid-thirties before he
his return to Kentucky, he finds Boonesboro crossed the Appalachians, the film ignores that
again besieged by hostile Indians; providen- fact to depict the frontiersman as a budding
tially, inclement weather works to the settlers’ youth. Aimed at a teenaged audience, the film
advantage, and the attack fails. The film re- underscores the difficulties of growing up in
flects the can-do spirit of New Deal America, hard times; Boone, the intrepid youth, over-
stressing the need for the people of America to comes adversity while embodying the essence
pull together in times of difficulty and work of true Americanism. This message came at a
together for the common good. ( John Ford’s time when films such as Rebel without a Cause
Drums Along the Mohawk would reiterate this focused on teenagers struggling for identity
historical message three years later.) and acceptance.
No significant film made during the war Bruce Bennett plays the pioneer in Daniel
years used Boone as a primary character, Boone, Trailblazer (1957), a color feature
though his spirit is invoked in Howard filmed in Mexico. Retelling Boone’s story, it
Hawks’s Sergeant York (1941). York, who was follows pioneers from North Carolina into
born in the Tennessee backwoods in 1887, Kentucky for the creation of Fort Boonesboro.
 THE ANTEBELLUM FRONTIER HERO ] 141

Unwelcomed by local inhabitants, the settlers modulated into stiff though well-meaning di-
fall under attack from vicious Shawnee under dacticism.
the command of villainous Chief Blackfish
(Lon Chaney Jr.). This unpretentious, formu-
laic film reflects the unease that gripped a Cold Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
War America yearning for dependable heroes Andrew Jackson was a curious variation on the
and clearly identifiable villains. frontier hero motif. The historical Jackson
The Daniel Boone most familiar to the baby possessed a number of character flaws that
boomers and subsequent generations came usually render a person unfit for leadership—
from television. In 1964 Fess Parker (who had he was poorly educated, hot-tempered, a gam-
played Davy Crockett in three popular films bler, duelist, racist, and bigamist. Yet he, like
for Walt Disney) tackled the role of Boone for Crockett, had charisma. As historian John Wil-
NBC. Using his abilities for humor and drama, liam Ward notes, “Andrew Jackson captured
Parker’s television series proved popular and the American imagination at the Battle of New
successful for six years. Essentially a family Orleans, which rightfully stands for the point
drama that used the frontier as a backdrop, in history when America’s consciousness
The Daniel Boone Show mixed history with the turned westward, away from Europe toward
television conventions of the day to create a the interior” (77). Jackson, in Ward’s estima-
backwoods version of Father Knows Best. The tion, became a force of nature to be reckoned
catchy theme song declared Daniel Boone “the with, an America in miniature with all its myr-
rippin’est, roarin’est, fightin’est man / the iad contradictions and possibilities. Jackson
frontier ever knew.” Initially, the series was a represented Manifest Destiny in the flesh; in
carbon copy of the Disneyfied frontier. For- 1814 he defeated the Creeks at Horseshoe
tunately, Parker’s Boone evolved and grew dis- Bend (with the help of Cherokees whom he
tinctly different from his depiction of Crock- would later force west), and in 1818 he delib-
ett. The show was timely in a number of ways, erately misinterpreted orders from the federal
for it matured as the country underwent the government and set in motion the American
devastating upheavals of the civil rights move- annexation of Florida. Such actions further ad-
ment, debates over the war in Vietnam, the vanced Old Hickory’s popularity.
women’s movement, and other confrontations Andrew Jackson—in all his larger-than-life
in the American culture of the 1960s. ardor—has yet to be accurately portrayed on
Reflective of the era in which it was made, film. Perhaps the first representation of Jack-
The Daniel Boone Show often dealt with con- son was in the silent feature The Frontiersman
temporary themes. In many episodes, the self- (1927). One of the few films to examine the
sufficient Rebecca Boone (Patricia Blair) plays Jackson’s destruction of the Creek Confeder-
a key role in Boonesboro’s defense during her ation during the War of 1812, it was primarily
husband’s frequent absences. In many other an action vehicle for Tim McCoy (portraying
episodes, Boone’s best friend Mingo (Ed a Tennessee militiaman, John Dale). Jackson
Ames), an Oxford-educated Native American, (Russell Simpson) serves as a catalyst for the
helps the frontier hero to recognize the im- romance between Dale and his ward, Lucy
portance of cultural and ethnic diversity. As (Claire Windsor), later kidnapped by Creeks.
the series developed, the characters grew more The film culminated in her rescue and the ex-
rounded and the storylines more complex. citing destruction of the Creek Confederation
Unfortunately, as the series progressed, again at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27,
perhaps reflecting the times, some episodes be- 1814—which is represented as a glorious
came more serious, the liveliness and humor American victory.
142 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

The formidable actor Lionel Barrymore tary commander. In both films Heston proved
played Jackson twice, first in The Gorgeous more polished and reserved than the historic
Hussy (1936), a dramatization of the Peggy Ea- Jackson. Just as Heston’s Jackson is more re-
ton affair, and later in Lone Star (1952). Based fined than the historical Old Hickory, Susan
on Samuel Hopkins Adams’s novel of the same Hayward in The President’s Lady presents a
name, The Gorgeous Hussy romanticizes the more glamorous Rachel Jackson than her his-
first serious sex scandal in U.S. presidential torical original. On the other hand, the film
politics. Set in 1831, the film uses the Eaton accurately captures the intensity of Jackson’s
affair as the event that destroyed the relation- devotion to his wife and is one of the few
ship between Andrew Jackson and his erst- screen attempts to examine his private life;
while vice president, John C. Calhoun. Joan many believe that The President’s Lady is one
Crawford portrays the clever and beautiful of Hollywood’s best screen biographies.
Margaret Eaton in a film that takes liberties The remake of The Buccaneer in 1958 differs
with the facts. Rachel Donelson Robards Jack- in some respects from the 1938 De Mille pro-
son (Beulah Bondi) follows her husband to duction and marks Anthony Quinn’s first di-
Washington, only to be snubbed by polite so- rectorial effort. Andrew Jackson plays a more
ciety. In truth, Rachel never made it to Wash- central role in the story, and Yul Brynner’s
ington; she died during Jackson’s campaign for subtle depiction of Jean Lafitte reflects more
the presidency in 1828. Furthermore, Jackson natural acting styles emerging from post-
and Calhoun parted company over the so- studio Hollywood. The sprawling film is no-
called Nullification Crisis of 1833, not the Ea- table for capturing the spirit of the climactic
ton affair (although it is true that on the social battle of the War of 1812. Quinn’s film features
level the Calhouns would have nothing to do an ethnically textured cast, more representa-
with Margaret Eaton). tive of the Creole culture of Louisiana, includ-
In The Buccaneer (1938) Jackson (Hugh ing Governor Claiborne’s house slave Cato,
Sothern) takes a back seat to the heroics of who fought in the battle against the British.
pirates Jean Lafitte (Frederic March) and his Though the remake retains the various love in-
brother Dominic (Akim Tamiroff ). The film terests of the original feature, it also raises con-
depicts events leading up to the battle of New cerns about class and race in the America pon-
Orleans, where General Jackson’s “hunters of dering a growing civil rights movement.
Kentucky” humiliated the elite British troops
that had defeated Napoleon three years earlier. Davy Crockett (1786–1836)
On January 8, 1815, Jackson’s outnumbered Of all the trans-Appalachian frontier heroes,
militia killed or wounded more than two thou- Davy Crockett best fits the mold of the hero as
sand British soldiers while suffering one-tenth humorist. Enlarging upon a persona that Da-
as many casualties (Remini, 136–168). Jack- vid Crockett created in print and on stage, the
son, however, plays only a minor role in The backwoods politician became a folk icon in his
Buccaneer. Directed by Cecil B. De Mille, the own lifetime. Though the historical Crockett
film focuses on both the real events that caused was constantly moving west to avoid creditors,
Jackson to rely on pirates to help him defeat the folk Crockett sought to tame the wilder-
the British and a contrived love story between ness on his own terms: he could grin down a
Lafitte and a belle of New Orleans. bear or an entire tribe of hostile Indians; he
In The President’s Lady (1953) and the re- could joke with Andrew Jackson or disarm
make of The Buccaneer (1958) Charlton Hes- Congress (in which he served two terms) with
ton portrays Jackson as both a charismatic his humor. Davy could slay the ladies with his
president and a levelheaded, even regal, mili- smile or take on the likes of Mike Fink in a
 THE ANTEBELLUM FRONTIER HERO ] 143

rough-and-tumble wrestling match. Half- longed his career by naming names before the
alligator, half-horse, and possessing an inde- House Committee on Un-American Activities
fatigable confidence, Davy entertained adults (HUAC), gives a believable performance as
and children alike with his antics. Jim Bowie. Veteran character actor Arthur
A recurring motif in Crockett films was his Hunnicut’s rendition of Davy Crockett stands
martyrdom at the Alamo in 1836. Two silent head and shoulders above all the other Crock-
film treatments stand out. In Martyrs of the etts of the 1950s—except Fess Parker’s—bal-
Alamo (1915), Davy represents the apotheosis ancing both the humor and the grit associated
of American patriotism, needlessly slain by with the frontier legend. Hunnicut’s Crockett,
Mexican general Santa Anna. Depicted as a no callow youth but a seasoned, grisly veteran
reprobate addicted to drugs, Santa Anna’s li- of the frontier, is aware of his own mortality
centious tastes eventually lead to his own de- but is still in search of the American Dream.
mise at the Battle of San Jacinto—just forty- The most prevalent incarnation of Davy
six days after the siege at the Alamo. Davy Crockett from the late 1950s was created by
Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1926) proved Fess Parker. Originally airing on ABC televi-
significant because it argued (accurately) that sion as a part of the Wonderful World of Disney,
the annexation of Texas was as much for the the Disney Crockett did double duty on the
expansion of slavery as it was the extension big screen. The Disneyfication of Crockett cap-
through Manifest Destiny of the territorial italized on the traditions of the buddy picture,
holdings of the United States. coupling him with a worthy sidekick, Georgie
Just as Daniel Boone made few film appear- Russell (Buddy Ebsen). This Crockett embod-
ances during the 1930s, Crockett, too, was ies the humor and pathos associated with a
conspicuous in his absence. Davy (Lane Chan- doomed hero. The Disney version caught the
dler) said his first words on screen in Heroes imagination of a nation contemplating the
of the Alamo (1938), the only film to feature possibility of nuclear holocaust, looking back-
the Tennessean in a prominent role, which was ward to a putatively safer era of muskets and
produced “to take advantage of the national tomahawks.
attention afforded the centennial of the siege” One of the appealing virtues of Parker’s
(Roberts and Olson, 457). In what is primarily Crockett is his willingness to defy authority. In
an action picture, Crockett is depicted as a a period of conformity (and at a studio noted
rough-hewn product of the frontier, intent for its corporate discipline), Crockett com-
upon expanding American interests and wrest- municated a message of individualism. As
ing Texas from inept Mexican control. The J. W. Williamson notes, “the Davy played by
film is of interest because it violated the Roo- Fess Parker was downright subversive, jokey,
sevelt administration’s “Good Neighbor” pol- askew; he was more a trickster than an over-
icy, which tried to enlist the film community’s whelmingly testosteronized fighter; Fess
aid in improving U.S. relations with Latin Parker’s bravery seemed offhand and nothing
America. special . . . like a classic fool, this Davy assumed
Crockett, like Boone, made an important re- a democratic equality and acted on it” (83). In
entry into American popular culture during Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, the
the 1950s. The Last Command (1955), another hero disregards a direct order from General
Alamo picture, features a solid script and cred- Andrew Jackson and threatens mutiny. The
ible acting. Significantly, this is the only film contrast between Crockett and Jackson struck
to examine the difficult choices of the Texas a resonant chord with young television view-
pioneers who had family or business dealings ers. Crockett, dressed casually, exuded youth-
with Mexicans. Sterling Hayden, who pro- ful self-confidence. Andrew Jackson (Basil
144 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

Ruysdael), by contrast, was old, ponderous, peculiar and significant about the Crockett
dripping gold braid from his uncomfortable craze was that it struck a resonant chord with
wool uniform. The episode is based on an in- both conservatives and liberals. The Disney
cident in 1814 when Tennessee volunteers mu- version appealed because it represented so
tinied because their enlistments had expired many things that both sides could rally
after the battle of Horseshoe Bend. In reality, around—nostalgia for a better time, national
Jackson quelled the rebellion by turning can- pride, heroic struggle in the face of dangers
nons on his own troops, but in the Disney ver- real and imagined, and values that Americans
sion, Crockett charms the general with his want to believe in—making it possible for ei-
frontier wit and common sense. ther side to define those values and claim to
Though the first installment in the series be their true protector.
ends with Crockett’s heroic death at the Al- The only rendition of Davy Crockett to give
amo, Disney quickly resurrected its buckskin Fess Parker serious competition was produced,
Lazarus. The short-lived series launched a ver- and written in part, by John Wayne. The Al-
itable Crockett mania, as young and old alike amo (1960), a picture that Wayne had wanted
sang its infectious theme song, “The Ballad of to make for nearly twenty years, followed
Davy Crockett.” closely upon the heels of the Disney version.
In Davy Crockett Goes to Congress (1955), Wayne spent more than $15 million of his own
Fess Parker took his frontier charms to the na- money to bring the story to the screen, build-
tion’s capital, providing a backwoods antidote ing a full-scale replica of the Alamo (one that
to an entrenched bureaucracy. Disney’s Crock- has become a tourist attraction in its own
ett proved a far more capable statesman than right) and employing an army of actors and
his historic counterpart, for the real Crockett extras. Wayne’s testament to Americanism, it
lost his bid for reelection in 1835. Disney’s is often preachy and unevenly paced, though
Crockett is a man of the people who can artic- helped along by an admirable supporting cast
ulate their needs: dressed in buckskin, Crock- (including Richard Boone, Richard Widmark,
ett sits among professional politicians in their and Laurence Harvey) and an Academy
fine clothes, and the contrast is arresting. Award–winning soundtrack. Where Fess
Crockett, comfortable with himself and his sta- Parker’s Crockett is playful, John Wayne’s por-
tion, feels no need to put on airs. He is a fitting trayal is deadly serious. Wayne’s buckskinned
symbol of the common man, rising to the oc- hero fights for abstract ideas such as the virtues
casion by virtue of his innate abilities. In an of a republic—difficult things to represent vi-
era when people feared Communist subver- sually—rather than the independence of
sion and nuclear annihilation, Davy Crockett Texas. Wayne wanted to “sell America to
Goes to Congress presented something of a countries threatened with Communist domi-
latter-day Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The nation” as well as the domestic audience “who
film called for Americans to restore their faith should appreciate the struggle our ancestors
in the republic and taught that though bad made for the precious freedom we enjoy”
men sometimes populate the national assem- (Roberts and Olson, 470–471).
bly, it can still work for the public good.
Reflecting popular attitudes, politicians paid Sam Houston (1793–1863)
lip service to the homespun wisdom of Dis- Richard Dix portrays Sam Houston in the
ney’s Crockett, chief among them Tennessee compelling and forthright remake of the Con-
senator and vice presidential hopeful Estes Ke- queror (1917), Man of Conquest (1939). The
fauver, who sported a coonskin cap during his film opens at the climactic battle of Horseshoe
1956 bid for the presidency. What was both Bend, where Houston was wounded in the
 THE ANTEBELLUM FRONTIER HERO ] 145

process of defeating the Creek Nation. Be-

friended by General Andrew Jackson (Edward
Ellis), the relationship changes over the course
of both men’s tempestuous lives. The film cov-
ers Houston’s rise to the governorship of Ten-
nessee; his disastrous (and still controversial)
marriage to Eliza Allen, which led to his res-
ignation as governor; and his subsequent life
among the Cherokees. Urged by Jackson to
leave his adopted Cherokee family, Houston
agrees to head to Texas to fight with other Ten-
nesseans against the Mexican army. It features
Houston’s move west to Indian Territory (now F I G U R E 1 8 . Man of Conquest (1939). Sam Houston
Oklahoma) and his impressive victory over (Richard Dix), campaigning for the governorship of
Tennessee, is greeted by voters. Houston’s marriage to
General Santa Anna’s forces at the Battle of
Eliza Allen ( Joan Fontaine) will soon generate rumors
San Jacinto in 1836. Concluding with Hous- and controversy, contributing to Houston’s resignation
ton’s helping shepherd Texas into the union, as governor. Courtesy Republic Pictures Corporation.
Man of Conquest celebrates American initiative
and resolve in the face of a continuing depres- often found their way into films of the period,
sion and troubled times overseas. It includes and the federal government sought the assis-
sympathetic portrayals of Native Americans tance of the film capital to sell Americanism
and recognizes that the Texas Houston fought abroad (Saunders, 284–301).
to liberate represented a culturally diverse The Man from the Alamo focuses on the fic-
American microcosm. tional story of Johnny Stroud (Glenn Ford),
The 1950s presented a variety of Houston who had escaped the Alamo in order to save
films, with most centering on Davy Crockett’s his family, featuring Sam Houston (Howard
death and Houston’s vow to avenge him. Negley) in a supporting role. Accused of cow-
These films, including The Man from the Al- ardice for having fled, Stroud spends the rest
amo (Universal, 1953), The Last Command of the film proving his worth as he and other
(Republic, 1955), The First Texan (Allied Art- Texans fight for independence. After saving
ists, 1956), and the aforementioned Disney the same community that had ostracized him,
Crockett films, reflect consensus attitudes de- Stroud is allowed to rejoin Houston’s army in
veloping in America during the Cold War. The its decisive victory at San Jacinto. Houston
1950s proved to be an incredibly rich period personally welcomes the prodigal back into the
for defining the American mission in a world fold, insuring audiences that true Americans
divided by what Winston Churchill called an know how to forgive and forget. The film com-
“Iron Curtain.” The late 1940s and early 1950s municates a number of Cold War themes: pa-
were indeed frightful times owing to the Greek triotism, duty to one’s family and community,
crisis, the Berlin Blockade, the detonation of the importance of one’s reputation, and for-
the Soviet atomic bomb, Mao Zedong’s tri- giveness.
umph in China, and the Korean War. Fear of The First Texan features Joel McCrae as Sam
Communist subversion manifested itself in the Houston in an earnest, understated perfor-
hearings of HUAC and Senator Joseph Mc- mance. This wide-screen production includes
Carthy; the execution of the Rosenbergs for some excellent action sequences that heighten
espionage; and the requirement of loyalty the drama of Texas independence. It depicts
oaths. Fears that gripped the American people an embattled nation (Texas as America) under
146 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

siege and draws direct parallels between the tality and frontier individualism that modern-
threats of the Texas frontier and the dangers day America often seems to suppress.
of Cold War America. The wise-cracking, live-by-the-wits attributes
of the frontier hero continue to flourish and
manifest themselves in a number of ways, from
The Frontiersman’s Filmic Descendants Groucho Marx in Duck Soup or Elvis Presley’s
Antebellum frontier heroes—Boone, Jackson, dual role in Kissing Cousins to George Clooney
Crockett, and Houston—acted as the spiritual in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Elements of the
forebears of a number of character types that trans-Appalachian frontier hero have emerged
continue to surface in American films. Dennis in two characters associated with Harrison
Hopper has evoked characteristics of the fron- Ford—Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Though
tier hero in a number of films. In Easy Rider neither wears coonskin caps nor wields a muz-
(1969), which he also directed, Hopper, with zleloader, both characters look back to Daniel
his sidekick Captain America (Peter Fonda), Boone and Davy Crockett. Han Solo, the self-
sets out in search of a modern frontier, clad in serving Crockett of the future, ends up doing
a buckskin jacket astride his chopped Harley, the right thing by coming to the aid of the com-
even tramping over some of Andrew Jackson’s munity. Indiana Jones brandishes his bullwhip
own territory in New Orleans. Hopper took with ease while evincing an aw-shucks attitude
the frontier sensibility abroad in Wim Wen- in spite of his credentials as an archaeologist.
ders’s existential film The American Friend Likewise, Mel Gibson has also created charac-
(1977) nearly a decade later. In Apocalypse ters from Mad Max (Mad Max, Road Warrior,
Now (1979) Hopper emerges from Colonel and Thunderdome) to Officer Riggs (the Lethal
Kurtz’s (Marlon Brando) compound as a hip- Weapon series) who use weapons and “gonzo”
pie on a more sinister frontier, the jungles of humor to defeat their opponents. Max operates
Vietnam and Cambodia. His character, the in a postapocalyptic dystopia that has reverted
dazed photographer in awe of Kurtz who has to a frontier state, while Riggs uses his wits
gone native, is based in part on Sean Flynn, in an urban frontier. As such, the trans-
the photojournalist son of Errol Flynn, who Appalachian frontier hero will continue to fas-
rode a motorcycle off into the jungles of Cam- cinate and no doubt undergo new permuta-
bodia, never to be seen again. In Hoosiers tions. As the post–Cold War world seeks to
(1986), Hopper plays a besotted former high redefine itself, new versions of Boone, Crock-
school basketball star who wears eighteenth- ett, Jackson, and Houston will no doubt
century garb and yearns for a lost frontier life- emerge. They embody basic values Americans
style and values. The recurring Hopper version hold dear—freedom, self-determination, loy-
is more antihero than hero in search of a vi- alty, love of country, and a sense of humor.

References
Daniel Boone Through the Wilderness (1926, F)
Filmography Daniel Boone, Trailblazer (1957, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) Davy Crockett (1910, F; 1916, F; 1955, F)
The American Friend (1977, F) Davy Crockett and the Last of the River Pirates
Apocalypse Now (1979, F) (1957, F)
Attack on Fort Boonesborough (1906, F) Davy Crockett at the Alamo (1955, TV)
The Buccaneer (1938, F; 1958, F) Davy Crockett at the Fall of the Alamo (1926, F)
The Conqueror (1917, F) Davy Crockett Goes to Congress (1955, TV)
Daniel Boone (1906, F; 1907, F; 1936, F) Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter (1954, TV)
The Daniel Boone Show (1964–70, TV) Davy Crockett, Indian Scout (1950, F)
 THE ANTEBELLUM FRONTIER HERO ] 147
Davy Crockett in Hearts United (1909, F) Hughes, Robert. American Visions: The Epic History of
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1956, F) Art in America. New York: Knopf, 1997.
Easy Rider (1969, F) Leab, Daniel. “I Was a Communist for the FBI.” In
The First Texan (1956, F) David W. Ellwood, ed., The Movies as History: Vi-
The Frontiersman (1927, F) sions of the Twentieth Century, 89. London: Sutton,
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936, F) 2000.
The Great Meadow (1931, F) Lewis, R. W. B. The American Adam: Innocence, Trag-
Heroes of the Alamo (1938, F) edy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Chi-
Hoosiers (1986, F) cago: University of Chicago Press, 1955.
Immortal Alamo (1912, F) Lofaro, Michael, ed. Davy Crockett: The Man, The
In the Days of Daniel Boone (1923, F) Legend, The Legacy, 1786–1986. Knoxville: Univer-
The Last Command (1955, F) sity of Tennessee Press, 1985.
The Man from the Alamo (1953, F) Marszalek, John F. Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny,
Man of Conquest (1939, F) and Sex in Andrew Jackson’s White House. New
Martyrs of the Alamo (1915, F) York: Free Press, 1997.
Old Hickory (1939, F) Remini, Robert. The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew
The President’s Lady (1953, F) Jackson and America’s First Military Victory. New
Sergeant York (1941, F) York: Viking, 1999.
Young Daniel Boone (1950, F) Roarke, Constance. American Humor: A Study of the
National Character. New York: Harcourt, Brace,
1931.
Bibliography Roberts, Randy, and James Olson. John Wayne:
Aron, Stephen. How the West Was Lost: The Transfor- American. New York: Free Press, 1995.
mation of Kentucky from Daniel Boone to Henry Saunders, Frances Stonor. The Cultural Cold War:
Clay. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters. New
1996. York: New Press, 2000.
Carnes, Mark C., ed. Past Imperfect: History According Shockley, Megan Taylor. “King of the Wild Frontier
to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. vs. King Andrew I: Davy Crockett and the Election
Davis, William C. Three Roads to the Alamo: The of 1831.” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 62.3
Lives and Fortunes of David Crockett, James Bowie, (1997): 158–169.
and William Travis. New York: HarperCollins, Ward, John William. Andrew Jackson: Symbol for an
1999. Age. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953.
Dooley, Roger. From Scarlett to Scarface: American Williamson, J. W. Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did
Films in the 1930s. New York: Harcourt Brace, to the Mountains and What the Mountains Did to
1981. the Movies. Chapel Hill: University of North Caro-
Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone: The Life and Leg- lina Press, 1995.
end of an American Pioneer. New York: Henry Wills, Garry. John Wayne’s America. New York:
Holt, 1992. Simon & Schuster, 1997.
[ ANTHONY CHASE ]

Christopher Columbus

n 1492, according to a line in Winifred celebrations. Whereas many Italian American

I Stoner’s memorable poem “The History of

the United States” (1919), Columbus sailed
the ocean blue and discovered a new world.
Or, at least, so children learned, generation in
organizations proudly recalled Columbus’s ex-
traordinary seamanship and prominently pro-
claimed his contribution to American history,
the National Council of Churches issued a for-
and out, from their elementary primers and mal statement indicating that for the descen-
public school teachers. Whatever the relation dants and survivors of the invasion and “gen-
between this particular story of adventure and ocide” that followed on the heels of 1492,
real history, pupils were engaged in something celebration was an inappropriate form of ob-
weightier than mere social studies. They were servation. The council, representing a broad
mastering a myth and, at the same time, learn- constituency of American Anglican, Orthodox,
ing to be Americans. They were engaged in one and Protestant church communities, called on
of the fundamental and characteristic rituals of Christians to mark the occasion with reflection
sharing a common culture. and repentance. The city of Berkeley, Califor-
Much of that has now changed, at least nia, officially replaced Columbus Day with In-
within the educational system. A popular high digenous People’s Day. Still others bemoaned
school textbook—Thomas Bailey, David M. the fact that Columbus Day had effectively
Kennedy, and Lizabeth Cohen’s The American been banned by the mandarins of “political
Pageant—for example, still refers to Columbus correctness.” A decade later, arguments over
as a “skilled Italian seafarer,” but one imme- what to do with Columbus Day remained suf-
diately recognizes a tentativeness in the obser- ficiently acrimonious to send fists flying in an
vation that “Columbus’s discovery would episode of HBO television’s popular series The
eventually convulse four continents” (14). The Sopranos.
note of ambiguity is extended when we read Motion-picture treatments of the age of ex-
that for “Europeans as well as for Africans and ploration generally, and of Columbus in par-
Native Americans, the world after 1492 would ticular, reflect the same tensions that mark
never be the same, for better or worse” (14). public debates over acts of official commem-
Hard facts are then permitted to make their oration and the content of school textbooks.
grim appearance: “In the century after Colum- In The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Co-
bus’s landfall, nearly 90 per cent of the Native lumbus and the Columbian Legacy (1990),
Americans perished” (15). Schools adopting Kirkpatrick Sale devotes several hundred pages
revised and updated history readers may nev- to chronicling the development of mythology
ertheless be in recess on Columbus Day. surrounding the “Columbia experience”—be-
Conflicting interpretations of the Colum- fore 1625! Film scholar and screenwriter Peter
bian legacy reached a boiling point in 1992, in Wollen outlines three further periods of de-
conjunction with widespread quincentennial velopment of the Columbus myth beyond

148
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ] 149

1625. The first “significant stirrings of the cult was not a success. “Gainsborough’s flailing at-
were felt with the advent of American Inde- tempts to add ‘class’ and international prestige
pendence, as the new nation began to con- to their more interesting low-key ‘domestic’
struct its new identity and history” (22). From output,” says Paul Taylor in his capsule review
King’s College being renamed Columbia Uni- of Christopher Columbus, “resulted in this ex-
versity through the publication of Washington pensively mounted dodo,” which, Taylor
Irving’s quasi-official three-volume biography urges, should have been consigned to “the
in 1828, Columbus was reconstructed as “a ro- scrap heap of film history” (148). Kirkpatrick
mantic genius and an embattled underdog” Sale refers to the image of Columbus and his
(22). Although riddled with pure mythology, mates as they set out on their uncertain voy-
Irving’s history of the life and voyages of Co- age, crossing themselves and kneeling “as they
lumbus was frequently reprinted throughout passed by La Rabida, listening to the last cho-
the following century and achieved a grand rus of the friars’ morning hymn,” as part of
readership. the “fantasy put forward as fact in Samuel Eliot
The second stage, which accompanied west- Morison’s 1942 Pulitzer Prize–winning biog-
ward expansion and waves of Italian immigra- raphy” (20).
tion to the United States, brought in its wake Carla Rahn Phillips and William D. Phillips
Columbus Day, Columbus Circle in New Jr., however, argue that more recent films on
York, and the Columbian Exposition (or Columbus fail to capture the bold seafarer’s
world’s fair) of 1893 in Chicago, which, ac- “character or his probable physical appearance
cording to Wollen, featured “Arawaks from as well as the eponymous 1949 film biography”
British Guiana in a thatched hut. Presumably (65). “The physical description of Columbus,”
these were the best available stand-ins for the argues Samuel Eliot Morison, “shows that he
Taino,” who Wollen acknowledges were wiped was of a North Italian type frequently seen to-
out, soon after the arrival of Columbus, by day in Genoa; tall and well-built, red-haired
“forced labour, famine, slavery, slaughter and with a ruddy and freckled complexion, hawk-
disease” (22). Wollen’s third stage, which ar- nosed and long of visage, blue-eyed and with
rives with the quincentenary, witnesses the high cheekbones” (47). To be sure, this rather
emergence of historical circumspection. “The concrete image is derived from memories of
reticence of 1992 reflects,” he believes, “not a Columbus recorded after his death, and the
diminution of Columbus’ mythic role but a re- Phillipses acknowledge that with respect to
evaluation” (22). Columbus no authenticated portrait, painted
Movies about the (presumably) Genoa- during his lifetime, exists.
born, Cristoforo Colombo, also known as So historians know more about the social
Cristobal Colón, have almost uniformly re- consequences of the Columbian expedition
tained the essentials of the mythic role, the ro- than they do about what Columbus looked
mantic underdog, “harried by flat-earthers and like. This does not mean, of course, that either
envious hidalgos, betrayed by perfidious roy- Columbus historians or biographers necessar-
alty” (Wollen, 22). Fredric March, who starred ily find themselves in agreement. One highly
in the award-winning The Best Years of Our contentious debate revolves around the role of
Lives in 1946, played the master mariner in disease in the destruction of Native American
Christopher Columbus (1949). Although pro- civilizations. Some historians assert that mi-
duced by Gainsborough Pictures, which was crobes were far more deadly enemies of Indian
founded in 1924 by Michael Balcon and societies than were the Europeans who fol-
brought Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes lowed in Columbus’s wake. “Disease and gen-
to the screen in 1938, Christopher Columbus ocide,” responds historian David E. Stannard,
150 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

“were interdependent forces acting dynami- considerable opposition when trying to orga-
cally—whipsawing their victims between plague nize his expedition (the “flat-earthers”) that he
and violence, each one feeding upon the other” must overcome. Second, there is the empty ex-
(xii). Scholars still dispute (possibly irresolva- panse of water itself, which symbolizes every-
ble) issues, such as those of Columbus’s true thing that is unknown to science and cartog-
nationality and his ultimate place of burial. raphy, an ocean that literally must be crossed.
Another question about whose answer histo- Finally, closely allied with the uncertainty of
rians disagree is whether Columbus faced a the voyage and constituting its visceral expres-
mutiny on ship just before arriving in the West sion is the fear that grips these sailors: a fear
Indies. of falling off the edge of the earth, of monsters
Although this problem may seem a small lurking beneath the waves, or of the fate of
matter, it turns out not to be—at least not with castaways—starvation and a harsh death at sea.
respect to a cinematic retelling of the Colum- Land, any land, in this context represents sal-
bus legend. Here is the dilemma filmmakers vation. Among feature-length films on Colum-
confront: dramatizing Columbus’s civilizing bus, 1492: The Conquest of Paradise (1992)
mission in the New World is plagued by a cer- stands out for its visual splendor. Directed by
tain uneasiness with the Columbus/Indian re- Ridley Scott, 1492 is studded with sequences
lationship. The temptation to fall back on as breathtaking as sparkling stones, especially
tried-and-true generic solutions is consider- the film’s depiction of the ultimate moment of
able. Peter Wollen points to westerns as a clas- discovery. Clouds of mist part magically, sud-
sic narrative model for the retelling of Amer- denly revealing a tropical island landscape.
ican myths of all kinds—including the one This undulating image, filled with intense
about initial contact between Europeans and greens and blues, is “certainly true to Colum-
Native Americans. Here, the formula is applied bus’ own experience,” as Peter Wollen points
so that a good soldier or scout (Columbus) has out, inasmuch as “his diary is full of expres-
to deal with damage wrought by unscrupulous sions of wonder at the proliferation and ver-
reservation store traders or gunrunners (the dancy of trees on the Caribbean islands” (21).
Europeans Columbus leaves behind to manage Dramatic tension mounts in Christopher Co-
Hispaniola) who sell firewater to the local na- lumbus: The Discovery (1992), as well as in
tives, turning them savage and bloodthirsty. Christopher Columbus (1985), a made-for-
With this kind of canned narrative consti- television feature with Gabriel Byrne in the ti-
tuting the second half of Columbus films, the tle role, as risky transatlantic voyages appear
climax tends to come in the middle or earlier, to be going nowhere. In the latter film, Oliver
at the moment when the cry of “Land ho!” is Reed, as Martin Pinzon, inspires a mutiny of
first raised. In other words, filmmakers are almost laughably confused and frightened sail-
able to subordinate the less appealing—or, ors who seem to have been recruited for this
perhaps, least inspiring—aspects of the Co- arduous assignment from a Popeye cartoon.
lumbus saga simply by making the discovery The mutineers, their weapons drawn, are re-
of land itself, and the conflicts at sea that pre- minded that they will be hanged when they get
cede that crucial turning point in the story, the back to Spain (something that appears not to
essence of their tale. It is the sighting of land have occurred to them)—and immediately
in these pictures that would be shown in pre- Columbus’s life is in jeopardy: apparently, no
views on television, designed to attract excited admiral, then no evidence of mutiny. But Co-
viewers to the theater. lumbus draws a line on the deck of the ship,
Three things make the actual sighting of and enough loyalists (including, inexplicably,
land thrilling. First, Columbus encounters the most outspoken rebel) join their leader to
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ] 151

trying, through self-serving stories to his son

and gullible chroniclers, to create the image of
the valiant lone visionary against the disbeliev-
ing multitude” (61). Without the mutinies,
however, it is hard to imagine that these Co-
lumbus films could retain the interest of their
audience, admittedly unlikely to be mesmer-
ized simply by the sound of rope stretching
and the color blue.
The valiant, lone visionary, however, sur-
FIGURE 19. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992). Before vives in the documentary film The Italians in
departing for the New World, Spanish nobleman
America (1998), made for the Arts & Enter-
Sanchez (Armand Assante, right) introduces Christopher
Columbus (Gerard Depardieu, center) to Don Francisco tainment television network. Although the
de Bobadilla (Mark Margolis, left), who is seeking a film leaps from the discovery of America to
governorship in the West Indies. Columbus has Ellis Island in a single bound, it leaves no
encountered much opposition to his expedition.
Courtesy Paramount Pictures and Touchstone Pictures.
doubt as to the heroic role played by Colum-
bus in American history. This conventional, if
venerable, portrait is preserved, as well, by In-
justify postponing the threatened mutiny for gri Mortenson d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin
three days, just long enough to enable the three d’Aulaire in their picture book Columbus, pub-
little ships to make landfall. lished by Doubleday in 1955. Thirty years later,
There are even more swashbuckling antics Spoken Arts made a delightful film from this
in Christopher Columbus: The Discovery, in- book, Christopher Columbus (1987), adding
cluding a man overboard eaten by a shark and the video to their “historical adventures” se-
the actual placing of Columbus’s neck on the ries—which includes biographies of Washing-
chopping block by extremely disgruntled sea- ton, Franklin, and Lincoln, all based on
men. The sighting of land, not surprisingly, d’Aulaire titles. The Spoken Arts rendition of
provides an outrageously melodramatic, last- the Columbus tale is visually enchanting and
minute reprieve. Carla and William Phillips re- provides a modern equivalent of the classic
gard the two near-mutinies shown in Christo- N. C. Wyeth illustrations accompanying fa-
pher Columbus: The Discovery as based on vorite stories and poems in long-forgotten but
“real” historical events, but the near-execution cherished elementary school readers.
of Columbus they characterize as “fictitious” Perhaps not surprisingly, in the d’Aulaires’
(63). Zvi Dor-Ner, executive producer of the children’s version Columbus returns on his sec-
PBS series Columbus and the Age of Discovery, ond voyage to the new world only to find that
quotes the entry Columbus made in his log on the “fortress on Haiti was in ruins and all the
October 10, 1492: “They grumbled and com- men gone.” In fact, as 1492 reveals in appalling
plained of the long voyage, and I reproached detail, the men Columbus had left behind were
them for their lack of spirit, telling them that slaughtered. The fate of those Native Ameri-
for better or worse, they had to complete the cans, for whom the “New World” was, in re-
enterprise on which the Catholic sovereigns ality, an old world is only hinted at in one line
had sent them” (145). But grumbling and from the Spoken Arts film: “Columbus and his
complaining are not the same as mutiny at sea. men ate so much the Indians said, ‘No more
“All of this mutiny story,” observes Kirkpatrick food.’ ” That is as close as youthful viewers of
Sale, “has once more the smell of deception, the d’Aulaires’ Christopher Columbus will get to
perhaps even self-deception—of [Columbus] an initial confrontation with what historian Da-
152 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

vid E. Stannard calls the “American Holocaust.” tive peoples waiting for him in the new world
Reconciliation of the picture-book version with as “Indians” because “he assumed he had
the one they study later, in “historically cor- been sailing in the Indian Ocean” (374). Dan-
rected” high school texts, is a task the young- iel K. Richter goes farther, and, citing Moffitt
sters themselves will have to shoulder. and Sebastian’s O Brave New People (1996),
Is there any solid ground, however, on suggests that what Columbus meant by de-
which viewers of Columbus films can stand? scribing his discovery as “Paradise-on-Earth”
Are there any aspects of this drama about was that he had found “a specific place de-
which historians, and history teachers, can say scribed in the Book of Genesis as having been
something with confidence, with certainty? initially inhabited by Adam and Eve” (1581).
The Society of American Historians–spon- From such extraordinary expectations came
sored Reader’s Companion to American History the first actual European confrontation with
(1991) states that Columbus referred to the na- the Americas.

References
Moffitt, John F., and Sebastian Santiago. O Brave
Filmography New People: The European Invention of the Ameri-
Blade Runner (1982, F) can Indian. Albuquerque: University of New Mex-
Christopher Columbus (1949, F; 1985, TV; 1987, TV) ico Press, 1996.
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992, F) Morison, Samuel Eliot. Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A
1492: The Conquest of Paradise (1992, F) Life of Christopher Columbus. Boston: Little,
Italians in America (1998, D) Brown, 1942.
Phillips, Carla Rahn, and William D. Phillips Jr.
Bibliography “Christopher Columbus: Two Films.” In Mark C.
Bailey, Thomas A., David M. Kennedy, and Lizabeth Carnes, ed., Past Imperfect: History According to the
Cohen. The American Pageant: A History of the Re- Movies, 60–65. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.
public. 11th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Richter, Daniel K. “Book Review.” American Histori-
Bodnar, John. Remaking America: Public Memory, cal Review 103.5 (1998): 1580–1581.
Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Sale, Kirkpatrick. The Conquest of Paradise: Christo-
Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy. New
1992. York: Knopf, 1990.
d’Aulaire, Ingri M., and Edgar P. d’Aulaire. Colum- Stannard, David E. American Holocaust: Columbus
bus. New York: Doubleday, 1995. and the Conquest of the New World. New York:
Dor-Ner, Zvi. Columbus and the Age of Discovery. Oxford University Press, 1992.
New York: William Morrow, 1991. Taviani, Paolo Emilio. Christopher Columbus: The
Lucas, Paul R. “Exploration of North America.” In Grand Design. London: Orbis, 1985.
Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, eds., The Reader’s Taylor, Paul. “Christopher Columbus.” In John Pym,
Companion to American History, 372–377. Boston: ed., Out Film Guide, 148. 6th ed. London: Penguin,
Houghton Mifflin, 1991. 1998.
Mancall, Peter C. “The Age of Discovery.” Reviews in Wollen, Peter. “Cinema’s Conquistadors.” Sight and
American History 26.1 (1998): 6–53. Sound 2.7 (1992): 21–23.
[ COTTEN SEILER ]

The Founding Fathers

lthough Thomas Jefferson’s claim that and concerns taken up by the larger Enlight-

A “all men are created equal” certainly

seems “self-evident” today, it was at the
time a novel—even radical—assertion. Jeffer-
son’s statement is an expression of the political
ened world” (Shuffleton, ix–x).
America’s initial participation in the En-
lightenment was largely symbolic. The Euro-
pean philosophes (radical philosophers) saw
and philosophical world that we have come to the vast “New World” as a sort of abstract “lab-
call “modern,” emerging between the seven- oratory” for their theories. This territory, they
teenth and nineteenth centuries and propelled speculated, existed in a pure state, untouched
by an intellectual movement known as the En- by “civilization” and therefore could be the site
lightenment. Thinkers such as Jefferson, of society’s remaking. These hopes paralleled
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean- those of the New England Puritans, who be-
Jacques Rousseau questioned a social order lieved their divine mission to be one of taming
dominated by religious orthodoxy and arbi- a physical and spiritual wilderness. However
trary political authority and theorized about unfounded or exclusionary these beliefs, which
the origin of society and the “natural rights” ignored the complex and ancient civilizations
of all individuals. The collective project of En- of indigenous people, they gave America its
lightenment thinkers was universal human central place in the Enlightenment.
emancipation from the “benighted” ideas and Yet America’s role did not remain merely
practices of the past. They asserted that human symbolic; rather, the founding of the United
behavior was subject to the same natural and States was a momentous political achievement
rational laws that governed celestial motion of the Enlightenment. Colonial American en-
and the circulation of the blood and that these lighteneners were “unabashedly prudential”
laws—rather than scripture and theology— (Lerner, 20), primarily concerned with com-
would provide the blueprints for a just society. merce and with the preservation of political
Though sharing these general themes, the rights to which they, as English subjects, felt
sensibilities and modes of Enlightenment themselves entitled. By the mid-eighteenth
thought were many and diverse and tied to century, American thinkers began to connect
specific places and local traditions. Rousseau’s their own struggle for colonial autonomy to
work, for example, was overwhelmingly influ- abstract Enlightenment ideals of human lib-
enced by and directed at the distinctive hier- erty. Enlightenment theory aided them in
archy and rarefied social protocols of French thinking about and articulating their griev-
society. A similar claim can be made about the ances and desires and in determining how to
strain of Enlightenment thought originating in reconfigure their society to better ensure the
British North America, that it was “defined by rights of all. We continue to use the language
the selective attention to some particular of the Enlightenment to describe the unique-
themes chosen from the range of questions ness and promise of American society—“life,

153
154 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”—and to and in so doing it has humanized the august
combat persisting ills, as in Martin Luther pantheon of American history and challenged
King Jr.’s assertion that “the goal of America audiences to draw connections between past
is freedom” (97). and present. Depictions of the American En-
lightenment such as 1776, Thomas Jefferson,
Historical Film: Confounding the Founding Jefferson in Paris, and The Adams Chronicles
Fathers? combine patriotic representations of the
Popular history tends to privilege individual Founding Fathers with the more recent—often
historical actors, the “great figures” of history. critical—historical accounts of their lives and
Thus the mainstream historiography of the times.
American Enlightenment features that assort-
ment of social elites, philosophers, politicians 1776
and political theorists, intellectuals, landown- The 1970s, with its shocks of Watergate, Viet-
ers, slaveholders, soldiers, merchants, diplo- nam, and recession, witnessed a decline in pa-
mats, and scientists known as the “Founding triotic feeling, despite the attempts at Bicenten-
Fathers.” The membership list of this cadre is nial ballyhoo in 1976. The antiestablishment
occasionally redrawn, but it usually includes politics of the 1960s fostered new ideas about
John Adams, George Washington, Thomas the founders of the republic. On one hand,
Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Ham- these advocates of inalienable human rights and
ilton, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and equality were held up as symbols by the civil
James Madison. rights movement and the New Left. The at-
The peripheral status of women in the canon tempt here was not to dethrone the Founding
of Enlightenment thinkers (with the possible Fathers but rather to identify and cultivate a
exception of Abigail Adams) testifies to the de- radical tradition in American history, one that
cidedly unenlightened gender relations of the legitimated the current dissent and activism. On
era. Also left out are the lower and artisan the other hand, they were also vilified for their
classes (with the possible exceptions of racism, sexism, and elitism—problems with
Thomas Paine and Paul Revere) and minori- which America continued to grapple.
ties. These exclusions are ironic and rankling Historians and mythmakers had made grand
in a nation steeped in an ideology of class mo- claims about the Founding Fathers—Parson
bility and unfettered meritocracy, and the at- Weems’s fable of Washington and the cherry
tempts by historians to reconstruct the lives of tree springs to mind—but few had yet lauded
marginalized groups in early America have the Founding Fathers for their ability to sing.
only recently begun. Peter Stone’s musical 1776 had been a Broad-
Although the Founding Fathers are held to way hit before making its way to the screen in
be exemplars of American ideals, genius, and 1972. Notwithstanding the abysmal songs, the
virtue, representing them through a medium film portrays the debate in the Continental
such as film involves some ideological risk. The Congress over independence with sophistica-
figure of George Washington, for example, has tion and aplomb.
been used as a paragon of American virtue. Inaccuracies pervade 1776, though few are
Could an inaccurate and/or unflattering por- very troubling. The film exaggerates the Con-
trayal in film, one that reduced Washington to gress’s lack of confidence in Washington’s
human scale, damage the myth? What would forces: in the summer of 1776, the conven-
be the consequences? Historical film has tional wisdom held that the war would be won
played a role in contesting and destabilizing by year’s end. As Thomas Fleming has written,
the myths surrounding the Founding Fathers, 1776 is also somewhat capricious in its char-
 THE FOUNDING FATHERS ] 155

acterization of the congressmen. Personages solution to Washington’s “untouchability” as

are altered, usually for dramatic or comic ef- a national symbol has generally been to move
fect; some are omitted altogether. The hero him to the periphery or not to represent him
here is John Adams (William Daniels), the at all. Washington never appears onscreen in
chief proponent of independence, repeatedly the whimsical 1776; he is represented only
(and accurately) described as “obnoxious and through his dispatches to Congress—the
disliked.” Despite the fact that Benjamin thought of the severe, taciturn American Cin-
Franklin could barely stand Adams, Franklin cinnatus breaking into song was apparently
is depicted here as his sage sidekick. Richard too much for the filmmakers.
Henry Lee, the Virginia delegate known for his
austerity and commitment to the cause of in- The Adams Chronicles
dependence, is portrayed as a good-natured The Adams family of Massachusetts certainly
bumpkin wholly in the sway of Adams and merits inclusion in the story of the American
Franklin. In the film’s worst moments, the Enlightenment and its legacy. A prodigious
writers of the film, Sherman Edwards and Pe- political dynasty, the Adams family was instru-
ter Stone, “seem to view the Continental Con- mental in securing independence for the
gress as an early version of Animal House” United States and guiding the young republic
(Fleming, 92). through its early crises. In addition, the fam-
1776 is most interesting in its treatment of ily—notable among them John, Samuel, Abi-
Jefferson (Ken Howard). In order to inspire gail, John Quincy, Charles Francis, and
the young Virginian in writing the Declaration Henry—produced voluminous and insightful
of Independence, Adams sends for Martha Jef- written commentary on a century and a half
ferson (Blythe Danner) to come to Philadel- of American political life. This enormous body
phia. The visit, of course, never occurred: Mar- of documents has been available to scholars
tha was too ill at the time to make such a since 1954 and is expected to generate more
journey. Nonetheless, Adams and Benjamin than 150 published volumes of Adams family
Franklin (Howard Da Silva) wait outside Jef- letters, diaries, political papers, poetry, and as-
ferson’s quarters during the conjugal tryst. sorted scribblings (see Bailyn, 3–4). It was
Martha emerges, and intimates to them that from this trove of material that the producers
Jefferson “plays the violin,” a reference to his of the PBS series The Adams Chronicles (1976)
sexual prowess. Both song and scenario are drew.
contrived and rather silly, but they are part of Produced by WNEW for the Public Broad-
the film’s overarching attempt to humanize the casting Service and funded by the National En-
founding fathers, to redraw them to human dowment for the Humanities, the Mellon
scale. Foundation, and the Atlantic Richfield Cor-
One figure spared the revisionism of the poration, the thirteen-part series, broadcast
musical comedy is George Washington. His- over the course of the bicentennial year 1976,
toriography critical of Washington is rare; traced the lives of the Adams family over 150
rarer still are the films which would subject the years. Like the more recent PBS series Liberty!
“Father of Our Country” to speculation or (1997), the release of The Adams Chronicles
even critique. Most films, documentary or nar- was accompanied by the publication of com-
rative, echo Benson Bobrick’s claim that “the panion works designed to complement and
myth is that there is a myth about [Washing- enlarge the historical vision of the series (see
ton]. And those looking to tear down an idol Janes; Rothman; and Shepherd). Indeed, more
in order to find the ‘real’ man will, as they find than any other filmic work on the American
him, have to build him back up” (132). The Enlightenment, The Adams Chronicles is pains-
156 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

takingly documented and scrupulously au- in the early republic. The production, how-
thentic in both its words and images. ever, tends to depict her as little more than the
The series hews closely to the (plentiful) tex- sensual counterpart to her husband’s intellect.
tual evidence and the established academic his- The final effect of The Adams Chronicles on
torical canon. A press release emphasizes the the viewer may be one of puzzlement: why was
extraordinary care and attention to factuality this series produced? As one writer observed
that went into all aspects of the production, in 1978, the series came about as a “chance to
including locations (the mansions of Newport, exploit bicentennial-generated enthusiasm for
Rhode Island, the Capitol in Washington, and safe revolutionary themes” and as part of the
Congress Hall in Philadelphia), costumes larger project of using film and television to
(based on Adams portraits), makeup, and cast- demonstrate the relevance of the past to a
ing (according to the release, the series em- broad public audience (Grier et al., 81). Yet
ployed “800 period faces”). In the ultimate the viewer is left with little notion about what
genuflection to authenticity, The Adams forces propelled the Adams family and the era
Chronicles screenplays were assembled from and how the ideas and the individuals continue
the 300,000-page compendium of the Adams to drive American culture; moreover, in en-
family’s written work. Yet historical dramas couraging little interpretive or imaginative work
that overemphasize verisimilitude, as Robert on the part of the viewer, the series is often
Rosenstone has noted in reference to the series, boring. Ultimately, The Adams Chronicles ex-
“have tended to be visually and dramatically plores few of the potential innovations for pre-
inert, better as aids to sleep than to the acqui- senting history on film, settling instead for a
sition of historical consciousness” (7). In the guided tour of a musty archive.
case of this production, the commendable
quest for realism became a monomania, and Thomas Jefferson
ended up stifling the narrative, however ac- “Unfortunately and tragically,” says the Afri-
curate the sets, costumes, and dialogue. can American historian John Hope Franklin in
Yet there are strengths to the production— Ken Burns’s 1996 documentary Thomas Jeffer-
which enjoyed large audiences during its son, “I would say that in a sense Thomas Jef-
run—as well. One critic notes that the series’ ferson personifies the United States and its his-
creators “deserve congratulations for their dar- tory.” Despite innumerable investigations of
ing in presenting a family almost totally defi- his character, his philosophical and political
cient in charm or grace” (Grier et al., 78). John beliefs, and, recently, his sexual conduct, Jef-
Adams (George Grizzard) is depicted more or ferson remains a protean and contradictory
less as he constructed himself in his writings, figure. As Andrew Burstein writes, “whether he
as a man of contradictory character—by turns was the mellow and erudite philosophe he
self-righteous and self-effacing, inhibited and posed as or an earthy and unblushing slave
sensuous, ornery and generous of spirit. The owner like many other Virginians of his class,
series also flirts with depicting the Founding or something in between—is simply not
Fathers (especially John Hancock) as self- known” (Burstein, Isenberg, and Gordon-
interested plutocrats rather than enlightened Reed, 24). The struggle among historians for
pragmatists. The Adams Chronicles, in other the true character of Jefferson is in many ways
words, grants the Adams family their com- a struggle over the moral and ethical founda-
plexities in their time and indulges in only a tions of American culture (see Ellis; Gordon-
little dramatic fancy, as in Kathryn Walker’s Reed; and O’Brien).
portrayal of Abigail Adams, one of the most Jefferson continues to interest Americans for
articulate and intelligent protofeminist voices his rhetorical brilliance, militantly democratic
 THE FOUNDING FATHERS ] 157

vision, and stewardship of the early republic; Vidal. The shots of Monticello and of the
but the most compelling Jeffersonian legacy is, Philadelphia room in which Jefferson drafted
to use W. E. B. DuBois’s famous phrase, “the the Declaration of Independence are haunting
problem of the color line.” Jefferson’s ambig- and beautiful, and actor Sam Waterston proves
uous impact on American race relations makes a suitably low-key conduit for Jefferson’s
his legacy, at the beginning of the twenty-first words.
century, particularly fascinating and vexing. The depth and thoughtfulness with which
The same hand that penned the famous open- the producers crafted Thomas Jefferson is evi-
ing lines of the Declaration of Independence dent. What is less evident is whether the film-
also wrote virulently racist descriptions of makers accomplished their goal of illuminat-
slaves in his Notes on the State of Virginia. The ing the personality behind the national icon,
former, echoed in the words of Dr. Martin Lu- or whether they merely updated the icon for
ther King Jr., would become a touchstone for the late twentieth century. Ken Burns’s pro-
those who demand that America live up to its ductions have been notable for their commit-
egalitarian promise; the latter would help le- ment to a full engagement with the contradic-
gitimate the most vicious racist polemic of the tory record of history, and Thomas Jefferson
next two centuries. Even by the standards of does not obscure its subject’s most egregious
his own time, Jefferson’s views on race were words and acts. Rather, the most confounding
reactionary (certainly less progressive than and regrettable aspects of Jefferson’s life are
those of his fellow Virginian George Washing- foregrounded, especially his racism and slave-
ton, who fulfilled his promise to free his holding. As Sean Wilentz notes, when con-
slaves). If the injustice and hypocrisy of Jeffer- fronting the gray areas of Jefferson’s life and
son’s owning slaves haunts his legacy, it is be- career, such as his alleged affair with his slave
cause race remains an issue of tremendous im- Sally Hemings, “the film presents all possibil-
port to the inheritors of that legacy. ities and wisely suspends final judgment” (39).
Certainly such a life provides material for a However, in this and his earlier works on base-
compelling film; yet Jefferson remains under- ball and the Civil War, Burns has demon-
represented and poorly represented in the me- strated his facility for reconstructing, upgrad-
dium, most likely due to the contradictions ing, and reinvigorating the animating myths of
and ambiguity that make him interesting in the nation. His purchase on the viewer is ul-
the first place. Burns’s three-part series timately an emotional one, and his films in
Thomas Jefferson stands as a fine example of their worst moments willingly trade critique
artistic documentary filmmaking, and it is cur- for sentimentality.
rently the “last word” on Jefferson committed At one point in the film, John Hope Franklin
to film. As in previous Burns productions, urges the audience to find in their hearts the
Thomas Jefferson combines cinematography, same forgiveness he has given Jefferson. The
period music, interviews, and actor voiceovers comment is a powerful one, and it seems to
to re-create the world of the eighteenth cen- point to a way out of the historiographic
tury. It is not easy to portray cinematically a trench warfare in which historians have en-
world vacant of photographic images, and gaged over the past few decades. Burns’s film
Burns’s integration of portraiture, genre paint- presents itself as an olive branch extended to
ing, and location cinematography is generally the bashers of Jefferson and his apologists,
skillful. The production features interviews and it tries to incorporate the arguments of
with prominent American historians and both. But at the end of Thomas Jefferson, one
scholars of Jeffersoniana, including Franklin, is left with the sense that the icon has emerged
Garry Wills, Jan Lewis, Joseph Ellis, and Gore more or less unscathed; that Jefferson, for all
158 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

his faults, remains a figure worthy of the in- ican war debt to the cataloguing of European
vestment the culture has made in him. plants to the promotion of the cause of liberty
among the French, the filmmakers would
Jefferson in Paris have the viewer believe that the American
As in The Adams Chronicles, the lavish sets and polymath’s mind was overwhelmingly occu-
costumes of Jefferson in Paris (1995) reproduce pied by l’amour. Inspired by Fawn Brodie’s
the eighteenth-century aristocratic world with 1974 Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate Biogra-
grand verisimilitude. Yet for all the authentic- phy, screenwriter Prawer-Jhabvala and direc-
ity of the set design, costumes, and music, the tor Ivory portray Jefferson as a sensualist sur-
Enlightenment as a period of social and po- rounded by a trio of women competing for
litical upheaval is barely evident in the film. As his exclusive affections.
Darren Stoloff notes, “Hardly an oppressive, Maria Cosway (Greta Scacchi), the cultured
corrupt, or decadent social order, Merchant and beautiful wife of an English painter, is the
and Ivory’s French high society resembles a first woman of whom Jefferson becomes en-
slightly saucy Euro-Disney period recreation” amored; their affair (allegedly never consum-
(750). The filmmaking trio of Ismail Mer- mated) produced one of Jefferson’s most fa-
chant, James Ivory, and Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala, mous letters, addressed to Cosway and known
despite some admirable gestures toward re- as the “Dialogue between My Head and My
thinking Jefferson, ended up sacrificing edifi- Heart.” The film suggests that Cosway was
cation for titillation. ousted from Jefferson’s heart by an unlikely
Thomas Jefferson wrote his way into his- rival, Jefferson’s fifteen-year-old slave Sally
tory—more than the other major figures of the Hemings (Thandie Newton). Completing the
American Enlightenment, he is best remem- triangle is his teenage daughter Martha (Gwy-
bered for his acts of writing. Jefferson was neth Paltrow), a symbolic as well as vocal re-
known to spend up to ten hours a day at the minder of his late wife and his promise never
writing desk—an estimable habit, but not the to remarry.
most riveting spectacle, to say the least. Rather Far from offering a window into Jefferson’s
than sidestep this cinematic obstacle, the mak- character, Jefferson in Paris manages to mystify
ers of Jefferson in Paris (1995) confront it di- him further—or worse, render him insipid—
rectly with an opening shot of Jefferson’s du- through his romantic entanglements. For all
plication machine at work, the writer’s hand the intimation of sex and passion, an over-
in motion. The implications of this image (the whelming sterility prevails. The film wants to
pen nib dipping the ink, the words produced interrogate Jefferson’s “dual nature”—his war-
by the automatic pen) are provocative, as it ring intellect and passions—and it does so by
suggests Jefferson’s production—and repro- making Cosway and Hemings predictable
duction—of himself through writing. symbols of, respectively, mind and body. It
Having foregrounded Jefferson’s defining should come as no surprise to any student of
practice, the film returns to the writing desk American culture that this dichotomy is fig-
only infrequently and only to give Jefferson’s ured here in terms of race. The affair with
mostly superfluous commentary on the con- Hemings is “the equivalent of a tin can tied to
ditions in France and the state of Franco- Jefferson’s reputation that has continued to
American relations. Instead, Jefferson in Paris rattle through the ages and the pages of the
focuses largely on the romantic diversions of history books” (Ellis, 217). Newton’s “Dusky
the American diplomat. Despite the multitude Sally,” as she was called by Jefferson’s political
of concerns on Jefferson’s mind during his enemies, tempts him with an earthy sexuality
years in Paris, from refinancing of the Amer- for which Cosway’s cultivation and wit are no
 THE FOUNDING FATHERS ] 159

match. The film implies that Sally’s seduction and his dismay at the earnings of a particular
of the man who owned her was a matter of eighteenth-century epic produced by his stu-
charming him with song and dance, not to dio. Cohn allegedly issued a moratorium on
mention the ample bosom threatening to burst further studio forays into the stuffy and un-
through the top of her calico dress. In the end, salable era, with its “men in wigs and knee
Jefferson “chooses” Hemings, and with this breeches writing with quill pens” (Schickel).
choice the film clunks to a halt (after he has Filmmakers since Harry Cohn have unfortu-
agreed to free Hemings and her brother). nately done little to prove him wrong: since
“Whatever the truth,” writes Annette his edict in the 1930s, the American Enlight-
Gordon-Reed, “the story of the liaison be- enment has remained a place rarely visited by
tween Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings the mainstream film industry.
persists because it humanizes the eloquent Jef- Harry Cohn understood movies, but the im-
ferson, when the alternative is to imagine him portance of representing the past eluded him.
sexless and therefore less human” (Burstein, Despite its foreign character, its alien practices,
Isenberg, and Gordon-Reed, 24). The film ar- fashions, and customs, the eighteenth century
rives at the verdict that the twentieth century, remains a time with which each generation of
after Freud and the sexual revolution, the civil Americans strives to find its affinity. The
rights movement and the O. J. Simpson trial, United States is ideologically funded by the
seems to want: the truth about Jefferson can achievements of the Enlightenment—the Dec-
be found at the complex intersection of sex laration of Independence, the Constitution—
and race in America. and, unlike other nations, ideas are all we have
for solidarity. The films discussed here succeed
The Enlightenment: More Than Wigs and or fail not necessarily by how accurate they are
Knee Breeches? but to the degree that they tie the founding
There is a legendary anecdote about Harry ideas of the American past to the environment
Cohn, the former head of Columbia Pictures, of the present.

References
Liberty! The American Revolution (1997, TV)
Filmography Magnificent Doll (1946, F)
The Adams Chronicles (1976, TV) Meet George Washington (1990, TV)
Against the Odds: Samuel Adams, American Revolu- Old Louisiana (1937, F)
tionary (1988, D) 1776 (1972, F)
Alexander Hamilton (1961, F) Thomas Jefferson (1996, D)
America (1924, F) Thomas Jefferson: The Pursuit of Liberty (1991, D)
Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the World (1994, D)
George Washington (1984, TV)
George Washington: The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King Bibliography
(1992, TV) Bailyn, Bernard. Faces of Revolution: Personalities and
George Washington II: The Forging of a Nation Themes in the Struggle for American Independence.
(1986, TV) New York: Vintage, 1992.
History Alive: The American Revolution (1998, TV) Bobrick, Benson. Angel in the Whirlwind: The Tri-
The Howards of Virginia (1940, F) umph of the American Revolution. New York:
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Janice Meredith (1924, F) Burstein, Andrew, Nancy Isenberg, and Annette
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Johnny Tremaine (1957, F) ferson Fixation.” The Nation, 30 November 1998.
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Fleming, Thomas. “1776.” In Mark C. Carnes, ed., Rosenstone, Robert. Visions of the Past: The Challenge
Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies, 85– of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge, MA:
93. New York: Henry Holt, 1996. Harvard University Press, 1995.
Gordon-Reed, Annette. Thomas Jefferson and Sally Rothman, David J., ed. The World of the Adams
Hemings: An American Controversy. Charlottesville: Chronicles: Forging Our Nation. New York: Educa-
University Press of Virginia, 1997. tional Associates, 1976.
Grier, Edward F., et al. “TV Viewing Guide: The Ad- Schickel, Richard. “The Pursuit of Stuffiness.” Time,
ams Chronicles.” American Studies 19.2 (1978): 10 April 1995.
75–84. Shepherd, Jack. The Adams Chronicles: Four Genera-
Janes, Regina. Adams Chronicles: A Student Guide. tions of Greatness. New York: Little, Brown,
New York: Educational Associates, 1976. 1976.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. Why We Can’t Wait. New Shuffleton, Frank, ed. The American Enlightenment.
York: Harper & Row, 1963. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1993.
Lerner, Ralph. Revolutions Revisited: Two Faces of the Stoloff, Darren. “Film Review: Jefferson in Paris.”
Politics of the Enlightenment. Chapel Hill: Univer- William and Mary Quarterly 52.4 (1995):
sity of North Carolina Press, 1994. 750–753.
O’Brien, Conor Cruise. The Long Affair: Thomas Jef- Wilentz, Sean. “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
ferson and the French Revolution, 1785–1800. Chi- Thomas Jefferson.” The New Republic, 10 March
cago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. 1997.
[ ROBERT BAIRD ]

Indian Leaders

he popular conception of the “Indian who had just fought a great war to preserve

T chief ” remains a simplified caricature. De-

rived from dime novels, sensational jour-
nalism, and B movies, popularized Indian chiefs
are, following the familiar Western model of
their own nationhood. Among the Apache,
even so great a chief as Cochise had no au-
thority to order the humblest warrior into bat-
tle: the choice must be made of each man’s free
political and military hierarchy, the sole and ul- will each time” (92).
timate rulers of their various tribes, their status Such individual autonomy played a key role
signaled by wearing the headdress with the most in the tactical success of Apache warriors (con-
feathers. The caricature of the chief is perpet- sidered by some military historians to be the
uated at colleges around the country; for ex- greatest guerrilla fighters ever). This same au-
ample, at the University of Illinois, home of the tonomy, however, ultimately undermined the
“Fighting Illini,” an undergraduate poses each Apache’s strategic hopes of mounting a lasting,
year as “The Chief,” dressed in fringed buckskin pantribal defense against the United States,
and flowing headdress, responsible for per- whose race-based allegiances powerfully uni-
forming an inspiring dance at major sporting fied individual civilians and military agents on
events. Illinois’s Chief, and many of the Indian- the frontier.
theme school mascots around the country, When historical chiefs are depicted in film,
came into being in the first half of this century, they are most frequently chosen from the pa-
when popular interest in and concern over the triot war chiefs of the Plains tribes, whose he-
“vanishing American” was at its peak. roic resistance during the end of the nine-
In contrast, academic and tribal historians teenth century was dramatic, well publicized
have shed light on the quite varied forms of at the time, and recent enough to allow for
leadership found in historical and contempo- historical recovery. Eastern chiefs of great his-
rary Native American tribes, making it clear torical stature such as Tecumseh (Shawnee,
that in most historical tribes, power was infor- 1768–1813) and Pontiac (Ottawa, 1720?–
mally distributed among a diverse group of 1769) are rarely depicted. The great peace
peace chiefs, war chiefs, religious leaders, med- chiefs and culture brokers, such as Quanah
icine men, and prophets. The informality of Parker (Comanche, 1853–1911) and Sequoyah
Indian political power was frequently accom- (Cherokee, 1770–1843), have also been ne-
panied in many tribes with a respect for indi- glected. Influential contemporary Indian lead-
vidual discretion so great as to be alien to ers do not seem to exist at all within the Hol-
Euro-Americans. David Roberts clarifies this lywood mindset.
point in Once They Moved Like the Wind: “The Hollywood’s Indian chiefs grow out of a very
autonomy that lay at the heart of Apache life, long, popular infatuation with the Plains
dictating that each band had the right to seek tribes, especially the Sioux, who gave us Red
its own battles, eluded the grasp of Americans Cloud (Oglala, 1821/22–1909); Crazy Horse

161
162 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

(Oglala, 1840–1877); and Sitting Bull (Hunk- more respectful of the facts of historical chiefs’
papa, 1831?–1890). With Geronimo (Bedon- lives. Although documentaries usually avoid
kohe Apache, 1829–1909) and Cochise (Chir- fabrication, they nonetheless often fixate on
icahua Apache, 1810–1874) deriving from the one dominating interpretation of their bio-
Apache people, America’s mainstream percep- graphical figure at the expense of other valid
tion of “the Indian chief ” emerges from a hand- perspectives. These simplifications of character
ful of leaders representing only a small part of are a product of both historical attitudes to-
North America’s native legacy. Although ward Indians as well as film and narrative
Apache leaders and the conflict of the South- form, which tends to collapse and condense
west are popularly known, it is the Plains tribal the complexity of actual lives and historical re-
iconography of horses, buffalo, war bonnet, and cords. As war chiefs engaged in armed conflict
teepees that dominates popular culture repre- with the United States up until the final years
sentations, serving as a generic model in motion of the Indian wars, Cochise, Sitting Bull, and
pictures for all Native Americans. Geronimo have always inspired conflicting
The historical chiefs famous enough to in- and ambivalent responses from contemporar-
spire Hollywood’s attention have frequently ies and later historians and filmmakers. The
been played by nonnative actors. The great Co- known facts about Geronimo have in partic-
chise, for instance, was played three times by ular challenged the art of biography and clear-
Jeff Chandler (born Ira Grossel), and a survey cut moral judgment. At once a victim and per-
of other Hollywood depictions of Cochise re- petrator of the most horrific atrocities, a
veals not a single Native American perfor- medicine man with power but not an actual
mance. Alongside Hollywood’s century-long war or peace chief, now idolized as the figure
tradition of casting non-Indians in native roles of Native American military resistance, but a
ran a tradition of casting real Indian chiefs man who spent more time on reservations,
(but usually only for cameos and background). peaceably, than most other warrior leaders,
Chief John Big Tree (Onondaga, 1865–1967), Geronimo resists unified categorization and
who was the model for James Earle Fraser’s understanding. Historian Angie Debo captures
relief work used for the Indian Head nickel, the surreal irony of Geronimo’s life when she
appeared as a warrior or chief in more than a describes the old warrior’s role in Theodore
hundred films, from The Primitive Lover (1922) Roosevelt’s inaugural parade:
to Devil’s Doorway (1950). The most successful
and skilled native chief actor was likely Chief Geronimo was on his favorite pony, carefully
Dan George (Salish, 1899–1982), whose roles in shipped there for the occasion. He held himself
Little Big Man (1970), Harry and Tonto (1974), erect, completely calm and self-possessed,
and The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) were widely while men threw their hats into the air and
shouted, “Hooray for Geronimo!” “Public
celebrated. George’s characters and perfor-
Hero No. 2,” said the disgusted Woodworth
mances cut against the grain of the stereotypi- Clum. This son of the Apache agent, hating
cally stoic, suffering, silent Indian and indulged Geronimo with all the intensity of his father,
humor, self-deprecation, and playfulness— had been a member of the inaugural commit-
even as his outward appearance confirmed the tee, and Roosevelt’s request for Geronimo’s
popular model of the noble, sagacious chief. presence had been made to him. Now he was
Hollywood biographies of Indian chiefs typ- privileged to stand near the president as he re-
viewed the parade in front of the White House,
ically warp, omit, and invent history for the
and he took the opportunity to ask, “Why did
sake of drama. Film documentaries, less con- you select Geronimo to march in the parade,
cerned with “character development” and dra- Mr. President? He is the greatest single-handed
matic logic than Hollywood features, are much murderer in American history.” “I wanted to
 INDIAN LEADERS ] 163
give the people a good show,” answered the a significant historical omission, but a funda-
irrepressible Teddy. (419) mental requirement of a western cinema hero.
Like Dances with Wolves, Ted Turner’s Geron-
Geronimo’s valued place in American show imo “revises” the western by inverting the tra-
business and popular culture was largely at- ditional, simplistic us/them binary, making In-
tributable to his status as one of the last (safely dians the us and Mexican and European
vanquished) Indian military threats to the Americans the them.
United States. Geronimo himself, however, did Ted Turner’s interest in Native American
not hide from “show business” and the public history led to the development of a series of
stage and spent his years of captivity signing films, including the aforementioned Geronimo,
autographs, visiting various fairs and public as well as Tecumseh: The Last Warrior (1995).
gatherings, and speaking out about his peo- Like Geronimo, Tecumseh is a heroic, post–
ple’s continued imprisonment and loss of an- Dances with Wolves treatment, well funded,
cestral land. nicely acted, and more accurate than Holly-
The most historically accurate depictions of wood fare of an earlier generation. Nonethe-
Geronimo’s life followed a Dances with Wolves– less, Tecumseh frequently simplifies the com-
inspired return of the western. Ted Turner’s plex, ambiguous record of its subject. For
made-for-television production (1993) makes instance, the film leaves the impression that
Geronimo ( Joseph Runningfox) the central Tecumseh was greeted enthusiastically by
character and presence of the film. Providing every tribe he visited during his famous pan-
his own voiceover narration (typically as- tribal tours, which is not surprising as this con-
signed to a white character in such films), Ge- forms with contemporary appreciation for Te-
ronimo recounts his life (in flashback) to a cumseh’s political savvy and feelings regarding
young Apache. Like nearly all films dealing what should have been done by tribes fighting
with the Indian Wars, this one chooses sides, western expansion. In reality, during one tour
with Mexican and American perfidy toward of the Five Southern Tribes in 1811, only the
the Apache shown (accurately) to motivate Creeks were receptive to Tecumseh’s pro-
Geronimo’s revenge and militancy. Following British pleas. Then, too, Tecumseh ends in po-
the emphasis and rhetorical strategy of litical correctness or, perhaps, simple wish ful-
Geronimo’s autobiography, the film centers fillment, with the slain warrior receiving a
on Mexican-Apache relations, diplomatically traditional and beautifully staged Shawnee
downplaying American-Apache troubles. burial. Most historians, though, knowing that
In creating a heroic Geronimo, the film sup- Tecumseh was killed in battle on October 5,
presses the brutality of Apache raiding and 1813, believe that Kentucky militiamen muti-
warfare tradition. Raiding is treated in the film lated his body and buried it in a mass grave.
only when Geronimo steals horses (without The most significant Hollywood biography
harming anyone) for his bride price—raiding, of a patriot chief is Walter Hill’s Geronimo:
then, is treated in the context of courting. An American Legend (1993), which presents a
Apache offensive warfare is never shown on much more angry and violent Geronimo than
camera, although Geronimo’s rhetorical skills does Ted Turner’s film, a difference achieved,
(and deep hatred) are displayed when he rallies in part, through casting actor Wes Studi, a
his fellows for vengeance on the garrison town Cherokee, as Geronimo. Director Walter Hill,
harboring the Mexican troops (and families) known for tough-minded buddy films, cen-
that massacred his family. In the end, though, ters his film on American-Apache relations
Ted Turner’s Geronimo (or any other Apache) and creates an undeniably revisionist western,
never raises his hand against noncombatants, although he still employs the traditional
164 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

narrative strategy of framing the Indian story abandon their emphasis on storytelling and
through white characters, all based (some- mythmaking. They remain devoted to a dra-
what) on actual participants in the Geronimo matic coherence and contemporary cultural
campaigns: Briton Davis (Matt Damon), Lieu- relevance that frequently betrays actual lives
tenant Charles Gatewood ( Jason Patrick), and the best textual biographies.
General George Crook (Gene Hackman), and Robert Altman’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians,
tracker Al Sieber (Robert Duvall). With a script or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) attempts
by John Milius (Jeremiah Johnson, Apocalypse to recast the heroic myths of the west by con-
Now, Red Dawn, Patton, and other political and trasting a blustering, drunken William F. Cody
historical pieces), Geronimo: An American Leg- (Paul Newman) with a quiet, modest, and pro-
end unflinchingly depicts massacres, execu- phetic Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts). Like other
tions, revenge, and debilitating hatreds that revisionist “Vietnam westerns” of the late
many works gloss over or suppress. Although 1960s and 1970s, which metaphorically asso-
the dramatic license of this film is more care- ciate nineteenth-century mistreatment of Na-
fully constrained than westerns of earlier de- tive Americans with America’s mistreatment
cades, there are some instances of narrative in- of the Vietnamese, Buffalo Bill devotes itself to
vention and audience pandering. In one scene, ironic harpooning of American institutions,
Gatewood and Geronimo work as a semicomic myths, and ideals. Historian Wayne Sarf offers
Lone Ranger–Tonto team to hold off a posse a blistering critique of the film in God Bless
of Tombstone Rangers. In another, a standard You, Buffalo Bill, finding that the film’s de-
barroom shootout, Davis, Gatewood, Sieber, bunking “degenerates into overkill, although
and Apache scout Chato (Steve Reevis) are Altman does manage to avoid having Cody
confronted by a gang of scalphunters, only to rape a child or steal from a blind beggar”
gun them down. As Gerald Thompson makes (251). Part of Altman’s strategy seems to be
clear in his historical analysis of the film, the casting of Sitting Bull with Frank Ka-
“Nothing like this episode ever occurred” quitts, a slight, unknown actor lacking the
(211). Both incidents, however, allow viewers presence or photogenic qualities of the actual
to enjoy this Geronimo within familiar and Sitting Bull. Indeed, Altman slyly introduces
comfortable western scene types, where the Sitting Bull into the film so that both the au-
good and bad are clearly marked and dealt dience and Buffalo Bill confuse a much taller,
with accordingly. In one way, though, Geron- more conventionally imposing warrior (Will
imo: An American Legend remains more chal- Sampson) for him. Throughout the film,
lenging to the historical record than the most Sampson plays interpreter to Kaquitts’s Sit-
typical B western. By presenting actual his- ting Bull, affecting a contrast between Samp-
torical figures and incidents and being pro- son’s Hollywood-style Indian and Kaquitts’s
moted as a historical, revisionist motion pic- banal figure.
ture, Geronimo creates an expectation of The best film biographies of Indian chiefs
historical fidelity that Saturday matinee fea- can be found in educational television docu-
tures and singing cowboys likely never as- mentaries. Geronimo and the Apache Resistance
sumed. (1988) balances historical appraisals with con-
Although Geronimo: An American Legend is temporary Native American perspectives, in-
one of the best Hollywood treatments of an cluding an emphasis on Geronimo’s shaman-
Indian leader to date, there are real problems ism. Interviews with tribal members help
in viewing the film, or any narrative feature, convey Geronimo’s legacy to contemporary
as a work of historical verisimilitude. Holly- Indians. Critical of American treatment of the
wood treatments of historical figures never Apaches, the film nonetheless balances and
 INDIAN LEADERS ] 165

FIGURE 20. Geronimo: An American Legend (1993). This revisionist, violent portrait of the legendary Apache leader
Geronimo (Wes Studi) focuses on the final months of the U.S. Army’s campaign of 1885–1886 and the tragic events
leading to his surrender. Courtesy Columbia Pictures Corporation.

complicates its history, acknowledging the de- been criticized for relying too strongly on a
cency of General Crook’s relations with the single historical text or author, but his treat-
Apaches and the unpopularity of Geronimo ment of Native Americans typically balances a
among his own tribe, some of whom were em- cache of the best academic scholars and tribal
bittered over the great cost of his militarism. historians.
Most surprisingly, the years of confinement at In “Fight No More Forever,” Burns and di-
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, are presented positively rector Stephen Ives offer a Sitting Bull who is
as a safe period during which the tribe was able foremost a medicine man and spiritual leader,
to stabilize and begin rebuilding its strength. who scorns “agency Indians” as “slaves to ba-
Respected documentarian Ken Burns has con,” and who contributes decisively to the
treated the great Indian chiefs of the Plains Little Big Horn victory through his Sun Dance
tribes in his series The West (1996), especially vision of soldiers falling upside down into a
in the episodes “Fight No More Forever” and great Indian camp. Burns’s film celebrates Sit-
“The Geography of Hope.” Burns’s documen- ting Bull, but the most heroic Indian chief of
tary style incorporates a cinematic (moving- the episode is Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce,
camera) treatment of historical photographs, whose eloquent surrender speech provides the
beautifully arranged music of the particular era episode’s title. It is not difficult to see why
under study, and a balance of great-man his- Burns would celebrate Chief Joseph above all
toriography with a populist’s celebration of lit- others: Joseph’s intelligence, eloquence, diplo-
tle known but eloquent individuals, their macy, and concern for his people were the
words drawn from diaries and memoirs, read equal of his outstanding military skills. Essen-
by the very best actors. Burns has occasionally tially a peace chief, Joseph fought only as a last
166 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

resort. The little-known, made-for-TV I Will graphed and certainly did not sell his portrait,
Fight No More Forever (1975) provides a poi- as did Geronimo and Sitting Bull—is pre-
gnant, surprisingly accurate treatment of Jo- sented as a mysterious, almost magical spirit
seph’s long, fighting retreat, enlisting heartfelt of Native American vengeance. Sitting Bull is
performances from James Whitmore as Gen- presented as “the chief holy man of the Hunk-
eral Howard and Ned Romero as Chief Joseph, papa Sioux,” and his Sun Dance–inspired
the two intractable but respectful adversaries dream dominates this narrative.
of that campaign. Historically, women chiefs were rare among
In “The Geography of Hope,” Burns returns Indian tribes. Spanish contact with Mississip-
to Sitting Bull, beginning with the chief ’s wish pian tribes suggested some women held power
that he would “rather die an Indian than live through a type of monarchy. Among eastern
a white man.” Sitting Bull’s final, defiant re- tribes, Iroquois women were well known for
treat into Canada is traced, and then his return wielding matrilineal powers, which included
to the reservation. Burns presents a proud, de- selecting and counseling male chiefs, or sa-
fiant, even petulant Sitting Bull. When U.S. chems. The two most famous American Indian
senators visit the Standing Rock reservation in women—Pocahontas (Algonquin, 1596–1617)
1883, it is Sitting Bull who says, “Do you know and Sacagawea (Shoshone, 1786?–1812/84)—
who I am? I want to tell you that if the Great were not chiefs per se but were leaders of a
Spirit has chosen anyone to be the chief of sort.
their country, it is myself.” Burns has a fond- Pocahontas was the daughter of the chief
ness for the complexities and ironies of history. whom local whites called Powhatan (Algon-
He points out that for all his defiance, Sitting quin, ?–1618), who was paramount leader of a
Bull made sure that his son attended the Car- tribal confederation in eastern Virginia. His-
lyle Indian Training and Industrial School in torians concur that Pocahontas, famous
Pennsylvania, having seen, while traveling with worldwide for the legendary rescue of Captain
William Cody in his Wild West Show, the John Smith from death at the hands of her
breadth of the wider world. The episode ends fellow tribesmen, did serve as a peacemaker,
hauntingly with another of Sitting Bull’s vi- eventually marrying John Rolfe in a diplomatic
sions: a meadowlark tells him, “Your own peo- union that helped end conflicts between na-
ple will kill you.” tives and newcomers. Pocahontas: Her True
The Way West: The War for the Black Hills, Story (1995), an Arts & Entertainment biog-
1870–1876 (1995), written, produced, and di- raphy, is recommended in lieu of Disney’s
rected by Ric Burns—Ken’s brother—focuses fairytale rendering.
on the frontier context of the battle of the Little Sacagawea, likewise, is known more in leg-
Big Horn in June 1876. The lives of Red Cloud, end than in fact. Frequently claimed as the
Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull are carefully principal guide of the Lewis and Clark expe-
sketched with the help of the respected, main- dition, Sacagawea was more accurately an oc-
stream historians and advocates of the topic— casional guide and interpreter. Ken Burns’s
Dee Brown, Robert Utley, Stephen E. Am- Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Dis-
brose—and their words embodied through the covery (1997) undercuts the legendary Saca-
narration of professional actors such as Rod- gawea without failing to credit the young
ney Grant, Graham Greene, Wes Studi, and woman’s bravery and her threefold signifi-
others. With original and evocative music by cance to the expedition. First, Sacagawea was
Brian Keane, The War for the Black Hills is as able to locate and gather native plants, roots,
emotionally compelling as any Hollywood fea- and berries, which provided valuable nutri-
ture. Crazy Horse—who was never photo- tional and medical supplements to the expe-
 INDIAN LEADERS ] 167

dition. Second, her presence, including that of film, uses interviews with contemporary Cher-
her infant child, signaled wary tribes along the okee leader Mankiller to foreground her trail-
route that the expedition was not a war party. blazing role as a woman chief. Oren Lyons, the
Third, Sacagawea’s value as a Shoshone inter- Faithkeeper, Bill Moyers’s interview with On-
preter became even more significant when it ondaga Chief Oren Lyons, an important ad-
was discovered that, in her long absence, her vocate in the international environmental
brother had become chief of a tribe strategi- movement, provides a glimpse of the role of a
cally located and equipped for helping travel- contemporary chief. Lyons details his tribal
ers cross the Bitterroot Mountains. history, especially the Great Law of the Six Na-
Hollywood has yet to offer a significant de- tions, a legacy of carefully shared power and
piction of a contemporary Indian chief. A few consensus building, which, Lyons believes,
documentaries are available. Wilma P. Man- helped ground a new nation many years ago—
killer: Woman of Power, a twenty-nine-minute one that came to call itself the United States.

References
Taza, Son of Cochise (1954, F)
Filmography Tecumseh: The Last Warrior (1995, F)
Annie Get Your Gun (1950, F) Tonka (1958, F)
The Battle at Apache Pass (1952, F) Valley of the Sun (1942, F)
Broken Arrow (1950, F) Walk the Proud Land (1956, F)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History The Way West: The War for the Black Hills, 1870–
Lesson (1976, F) 1876 (1995, D)
Conquest of Cochise (1953, F) Wilma P. Mankiller: Woman of Power (1992, D)
Dances with Wolves (1990, F)
Fight No More Forever: Ken Burns Presents the West
(1996, D) Bibliography
Fort Apache (1948, F) Barrett, S. M. Geronimo: His Own Story. New York:
40 Guns to Apache Pass (1966, F) Dutton, 1970.
The Geography of Hope: Ken Burns Presents the West Clark, Ella A., and Margot Edmonds. Sacagawea of
(1996, D) the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Berkeley: Univer-
Geronimo (1939, F; 1962, F; 1993, TV) sity of California Press, 1979.
Geronimo: An American Legend (1993, F) Debo, Angie. Geronimo: The Man, His Time, His
Geronimo and the Apache Resistance (1988, D) Place. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
Geronimo’s Revenge (1960, F) 1976.
Ghost Dance: Ken Burns Presents the West (1996, D) Deloria, Philip J. Review of Geronimo: An American
The Great Sioux Massacre (1965, F) Legend. American Historical Review 100.4 (1995):
Harry and Tonto (1974, F) 1194–1198.
I Killed Geronimo (1950, F) Friar, Ralph E., and Natasha A. Friar. The Only Good
I Will Fight No More Forever (1975, TV) Indian: The Hollywood Gospel. New York: Drama
Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III, The Legend Book Specialists, 1972.
Continues (1987, TV) Hilger, Michael. The American Indian in Film. Me-
The Last Outpost (1951, F) tuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1986.
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery Jojola, Theodore S. “Movies.” In Frederick E. Hoxie,
(1997, D) ed., Encyclopedia of North American Indians, 402–
Little Big Man (1970, F) 405. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, F) Mankiller, Wilma, and Michael Wallis. Mankiller: A
Oren Lyons, the Faithkeeper (1997, D) Chief and Her People. New York: St. Martin’s,
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, F) 1993.
Pocahontas: Her True Story (1995, D) Roberts, David. Once They Moved Like the Wind: Co-
Sitting Bull (1954, F) chise, Geronimo, and the Apache Wars. New York:
Sitting Bull and the Great Sioux Nation (1993, D) Simon & Schuster, 1993.
Son of Geronimo (1952, F) Rollins, Peter C., and John E. O’Connor, eds. Holly-
Stagecoach (1939, F) wood’s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native Ameri-
168 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE
can in Film. Lexington: University Press of Ken- Thompson, Gerald. “Hollywood as History: Geron-
tucky, 1998. imo—An American Legend, A Review Essay.” Jour-
Sarf, Wayne Michael. God Bless You Buffalo Bill: A nal of Arizona History 35.2 (1994): 205–212.
Layman’s Guide to History and the Western Film. Utley, Robert M. The Lance and the Shield: The Life
East Brunswick, NJ: Associated University Presses, and Times of Sitting Bull. New York: Henry Holt,
1983. 1993.
Sweeney, Edwin R. Cochise: Chiricahua Apache Chief. Vestal, Stanley. Sitting Bull: Champion of the Sioux.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.
[ HARRIS J. ELDER ]

The Kennedys

ew families loom larger in the American nine appealing children fascinated Americans

F popular imagination than the Kennedys,

about whom historians have written pro-
lifically. In The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys,
Doris Kearns Goodwin offers a Kennedy fam-
and even the British. Kennedy viewed public
service as both duty and a means to prestige—
a family belief that persists. More than money,
power, or prestige, Joseph Kennedy was mo-
ily history from its arrival in the United States tivated by a strong commitment to family
as Irish immigrants in the mid-nineteenth cen- prowess, pushing his children to compete and
tury to the assassination of John Fitzgerald achieve. The Kennedy legacy of success has be-
Kennedy ( JFK) on November 22, 1963. Like come legendary. Richard J. Whalen, who ad-
many others of the “Second American Revo- mires his subject, quotes a Kennedy friend who
lution,” she writes, the Kennedys “had fash- said, “his ideal in life was the success of his
ioned an image of themselves as an invigor- children” (486).
ating new breed of men, risen out of the blend John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s (1917–1963) se-
of a half-dozen lesser breeds” (810–811). The nior thesis at Harvard was published as Why
Kennedy story is the American story in Peter England Slept (1940), a best-seller; his Profiles
Collier and David Horowitz, The Kennedys: An in Courage (1956) won a Pulitzer Prize. Car-
American Drama. Putting JFK and his brother rying the Kennedy torch of public service, JFK
Robert Francis Kennedy (RFK) in the context served in the U.S. House of Representatives
of the civil rights movement, Vietnam, and and Senate. He failed in an attempt for the
events in 1968 Chicago is Harris Wofford’s Of 1956 vice-presidential nomination, but in 1960
Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense of the Six- was elected as the youngest—and first Catho-
ties. An assessment of the adverse effects of the lic—president. Energy, optimism, and zeal for
family’s success is Garry Wills, The Kennedy public service marked Kennedy’s presidency.
Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power, in The Kennedy White House emphasized cul-
which the Kennedys become prisoners of fam- ture and grace and had a cabinet and advisors
ily, image, and charisma. of great intellect; a charismatic leader; a beau-
The family’s success matched its aspirations. tiful and charming first lady; and a wealthy and
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (1888–1969) gradu- glamorous (extended) family. They seemed to
ated from Boston Latin School and Harvard satisfy yearning for an American royal family.
College—no mean feat at the time for an Irish Some historians are satisfied, others not.
Catholic. He insinuated himself, and later his Kennedy family friend William Manchester
family, into Boston society, going into banking shares personal stories, traits, and habits in
and moving to the “Yankee” suburb of Brook- Portrait of a President: John F. Kennedy in Pro-
line. The Kennedy family entered national file. In Kennedy, celebrity historian Theodore
consciousness while Joseph was ambassador to C. Sorensen (“special counsel to the late Pres-
England (1938–40). Kennedy and his family of ident”) concludes that “what mattered most”

169
170 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

to Kennedy was “the strength of his ideas and licized 1969 automobile accident in Chappa-
ideals, his courage and judgment” (7); JFK quiddick, Massachusetts, in which a young
“stood for excellence in an era of indifference” woman drowned, destroyed his chances. Just
(757). Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. offers a per- as RFK’s transformations from Cold Warrior
sonal memoir of his observations while on the to dove and from Establishment Democrat to
White House staff in A Thousand Days: John champion of civil rights made him an emblem
F. Kennedy in the White House. All three books of the 1960s, so the youngest brother’s behav-
are tributes. Nigel Hamilton is critical, yet ior mirrored the self-indulgence of the “me de-
sympathetic, in JFK: Reckless Youth. In A Ques- cade” of the 1970s.
tion of Character, Thomas C. Reeves writes that The descendants of Joseph and Rose Ken-
the president “arrogantly and irresponsibly vi- nedy are now numerous and scattered, not all
olated his covenant [of high moral values] with enjoying the family’s earlier concentration of
the people” (421). In The Dark Side of Camelot, wealth but some benefiting from the family
exposé journalist Seymour Hersh concludes name. Some continue the Kennedy tradition
that JFK’s “personal weaknesses limited his of public service and, occasionally, recklessness
ability to carry out his duties as president” (ix). and self-indulgence. The family name remains
Kennedy surprised many when he appointed very much in the public consciousness, as ev-
his brother Robert (1925–1968) attorney gen- idenced by the public’s response to John F.
eral. Continuing the family tradition of public Kennedy Jr.’s fatal airplane crash in July 1999.
service, RFK had served in government and The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in
managed his brother’s presidential campaign. Boston features many Kennedy exhibits that
While a U.S. senator (1965–68), he reversed help explain the charisma.
his position on Vietnam, entered the 1968
presidential election, and won the California Films about the Kennedys
primary. The popular belief is that his American-studies scholar John Hellmann
brother’s death, as James W. Hilty puts it, “had traces the history of JFK mythmaking in fiction
deepened Robert Kennedy’s concerns for so- and film, which “has endured as the fevered
cial inequalities, until he finally became cham- dreams of a nation reading the history of his
pion of the outcasts, the Jeremiah of the six- life and death” (147). The war-hero movie PT
ties” (498). Ronald Steel is skeptical about the 109 (1963) is an early example of the myth-
depth of RFK’s transformation in In Love with making surrounding John F. Kennedy, here as
Night: The American Romance with Robert a young navy lieutenant whose plywood vessel
Kennedy. In Robert Kennedy and His Times, sinks after colliding at night with a Japanese
though, Schlesinger concludes that by Novem- destroyer. In the film, Kennedy (portrayed by
ber 1967, RFK “was the most original, enig- Cliff Robertson, whom JFK reputedly re-
matic, and provocative figure in mid-century quested be given the role) displays character in
American politics” (804). He was assassinated keeping up the spirits of his men and courage
on June 6, 1968. Now the Kennedy saga was in leading a brave rescue of stranded marines,
being seen as a Greek tragedy. adventures that New York Times film reviewer
Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy (b. 1932) Bosley Crowther thought portrayed “in a no-
was elected to JFK’s Senate seat in 1962. As a ticeably overblown order.” Robertson’s JFK is
staunch liberal, he has sponsored bills on re- “a pious and pompous bloke who stands up
form in housing, education, and healthcare. straight, looks at you squarely, and spouts pa-
Most Democrats regarded him a potential triotic platitudes” (23).
presidential candidate after his brothers’ assas- In Executive Action (1973), wealthy right-
sinations; his conduct following a highly pub- wing conspirators plan to kill Kennedy because
 THE KENNEDYS ] 171

RFK’s desire to “discard what has proven a fal-

lacy” in Vietnam. After his brothers’ deaths
Edward Kennedy “began to emerge in some
ways as a better politician than either of the
others.” Chappaquiddick “rivaled the tragedies
of the Greeks,” a take at odds with what his-
torians see as, at very least, an act of serious
negligence by Ted Kennedy.
Other Kennedy family films touch sympa-
thetically on these themes and events. A Ken-
nedy documentary longer and more complete
FIGURE 21. P. T. 109 (1963). John F. Kennedy (Cliff
Robertson) receives exuberant praise after leading a
than most is the three-hour PBS series The
successful rescue of marines. P.T. 109 was the first American Experience: The Kennedys (1991).
feature in cinema’s mythological construction of JFK. This three-hour history of the family departs
Courtesy Warner Bros. from earlier mainstream portrayals in that it
looks askance at Kennedy misbehavior and po-
he will withdraw United States personnel from litical acumen; the family’s image is not an
Vietnam—a theme that resurfaces in Oliver ideal one for lesser beings to emulate. Writing
Stone’s JFK (1991). The former film uses TV in this vein, Ralph G. Martin finds the family
footage of Kennedy’s speeches and home life. guilty of “an arrogance of invulnerability”
Winter Kills (1979) is a black comedy that (xxi).
takes place fifteen years after the assassination Films about the marriage of JFK and Jacque-
of a young American president whose half- line Bouvier typically offer a positive spin. Per-
brother suspects and investigates conspiracy. son to Person provides a brief look at the new-
These Kennedy-related films were part of a lyweds. Jackie: Behind the Myth promises to
zeitgeist: the 1970s was a decade of conspiracy “go behind the headlines and the hype for a
films in general, with The Conversation (1974) rare glimpse at the extraordinary life of this
a prominent—and chilling—example. The woman.” In John F. Kennedy and the Media:
House of Yes (1997) depicts twins who believe The First Television President, Joseph P. Berry
they are JFK and Jacqueline. The film intercuts Jr. treats JFK’s use of the media to achieve po-
footage of Jacqueline Kennedy on her televised litical goals. For a look at JFK thinking on his
tour of the White House. The film’s “Jackie O” feet, Thank You, Mr. President (1983) offers an
shoots her brother at the end of the film. excellent melding of the president’s press con-
Kennedys Don’t Cry (1975) is a typical Ken- ferences. Life in Camelot: The Kennedy Years
nedy documentary in that it embellishes the (1988) features Kennedy home movies, the
JFK myth and portrays other members of the 1960 campaign, news footage—some on JFK’s
family as courageous leaders. The Kennedys Catholicism—and radio spots. The new pres-
“made it seem, in a world struggling for sur- ident’s low point was the Bay of Pigs; his mo-
vival, that anything was possible.” Home- ment of triumph the Cuban missile crisis. JFK
movie footage shows the children “in constant is presented as a self-effacing man, kind to his
competition.” JFK is presented as a hero in the children, even in the Oval Office. His funeral
Bay of Pigs fiasco, a conclusion at odds with evokes the fallen president’s idealism, remem-
most historical interpretations but typical of bered in voiceovers.
film portrayals of the Kennedy family for Initial reaction to the Warren Commission
nearly thirty years after JFK’s assassination. report on John F. Kennedy’s assassination was
The second half of the documentary stresses generally positive. To make Four Days in No-
172 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

vember (1964) David Wolper selected 123 tary and reenacted footage, appear in the four
minutes of footage from more than eight mil- story lines. The deftly edited mix forces audi-
lion feet of film, stills, and snapshots in a nar- ences to see the assassination in an entirely dif-
rative less suspicious than mournful. An early ferent way. JFK creates the illusion of actual
challenge to the lone assassin conclusion ap- footage to provide plausible “documentation”
pears in Rush to Judgment: The Plot to Kill JFK for its conspiratorial interpretation. The nar-
(1966). In this version, Mark Lane, author of ration usually identifies historical re-creations,
the eponymous book, charges the government but the distinction is blurred because the foot-
with covering up and tampering with evidence age is recapitulated in different orders and
and pursuing too narrow an inquiry. Inter- contexts. Mixing archival materials with JFK ’s
views with “experts” and witnesses juxtaposed historical revision of the present gives the film
with Warren Commission findings argue that an authentic feel. Many see Stone’s interpre-
the official version of the assassination should tation as provocative and forceful, if others
not be trusted. Another Mark Lane product, have taken issue with its liberties with hard
Two Men in Dallas (1987), features a Dallas fact.
police officer who questions the lax security Indeed, JFK elicited a torrent of reactions to
surrounding JFK. The film alleges that the FBI its main theme: that the assassination was a
and CIA destroyed evidence. In Best Evidence conspiracy involving right-wingers in and out
(1990), eyewitnesses to the JFK autopsy reveal of government. Responses to those reactions
“new” information about tampering. Reason- quickly followed, many by Stone himself. Pub-
able Doubt (1990) uses historical and interview lic forums debated issues generated by the
footage to prove that the single bullet theory film. Television news stories and documenta-
“contradicts the laws of physics, ballistics, and ries appeared. Print and broadcast media con-
common sense.” demned the film as manipulative and irre-
The History Channel regularly broadcasts sponsible. Others agreed wholly or in part with
Missing Files: The JFK Assassination, in which the film’s conclusions. In an important legis-
one investigator claims that out there are lative response to the controversy, the 102d
“shoeboxes full of photos” to be found; he sus- Congress passed a joint resolution that au-
pects a conspiracy to hide revealing evidence thorized the release of additional records per-
from public view. The cable channels continue taining to the assassination. As yet, nothing of
to produce new Kennedy “documentaries” of great significance has come out of newly ex-
varying quality, which usually recycle footage posed materials from federal archives. To help
and keep the controversy going. Thomas viewers understand the film, Stone and screen-
Brown analyzes a chronology of JFK images writer Zachary Sklar prepared JFK: The Book
since the president’s death, concluding that of the Film (1992), which includes a fully doc-
“revisionists depicted him as a cleverly stylized umented screenplay with photographs and
and somewhat updated adherent of conven- historical annotations. One of the ablest critics
tional assumptions and attitudes” (105). of JFK ’s conspiracy theme is Arthur Schle-
Oliver Stone’s compelling feature film JFK, singer, who concedes that although the prem-
released in 1991, casts doubt on the Warren ise of JFK is defensible, its conclusion is not.
Commission’s findings. It presents four stories Complaining of the film’s “explosive style,”
in parallel action: Jim Garrison’s investigation, Schlesinger concludes that JFK ’s case for a sec-
Lee Harvey Oswald’s murky identity, the as- ond gunman “both makes that case and im-
sassination itself, and the conspiracy formed pairs it, since the viewer can never tell at any
by a “military-industrial complex.” Assassina- point . . . where fact ends and fiction begins”
tion images, taken from both actual documen- (Stone, 394–395).
 THE KENNEDYS ] 173

The “documentaries” that appear on televi- terest in making a feature on RFK for HBO or
sion with regularity boost ratings and satisfy a Showtime. (In its place, perhaps, he made Path
voracious public appetite for the Kennedys, to War [2002], which takes a hard view at the
but their quality is irregular at best. The pau- Johnson administration’s Vietnam policies.)
city of feature films about the Kennedys sug- In October 2000, CBS Television broadcast a
gests that as a subject for big-screen audiences, “miniseries event” entitled Jacqueline Bouvier
they have been difficult to approach. Now that Kennedy Onassis, which presents its subject as
the family’s wealth and power have begun to a survivor. And in late November 2000, the
diffuse and assassinations and Chappaquid- History Channel presented The Men Who
dick become more distant, feature films about Killed Kennedy, its five-hour content indicated
the Kennedys may occur with more frequency. by subtitles (“The Coup d’État,” “The Forces
At the Williamstown (Massachusetts) Film of Darkness,” “The Cover-Up,” “The Patsy,”
Festival on June 26, 1999, for example, director and “The Witnesses”). We do not know how
John Frankenheimer, whose presidential films the family’s myth will be reshaped and formed,
include The Manchurian Candidate (1962) and but we can predict that America’s appetite for
Seven Days in May (1964), announced his in- all things Kennedy will persist for some time.

References
Robert Kennedy and His Times (1984, D)
Filmography Rose F. Kennedy: A Life to Remember (1990, D)
The American Experience: The Kennedys (1991, TV) Rush to Judgment: The Plot to Kill JFK (1966, D)
America Remembers JFK (1983, D) The Speeches Collection: John F. Kennedy (1983, D)
Being with Kennedy (1983, D) Thank You, Mr. President (1983, D)
Best Evidence (1990, D) Thirteen Days (2000, F)
The Best of “Person to Person” (1993, TV) A Thousand Days (1964, D)
Blood Feud (1983, D) Two Men in Dallas (1987, D)
Bobby Kennedy: In His Own Words (1990, D) Winter Kills (1979, F)
The Conversation (1974, F) The World of Jacqueline Kennedy (1962, TV)
Dangerous World: The Kennedy Years (1998, D)
Edward M. Kennedy: Tragedy, Scandal, and Redemp-
tion (1998, TV) Bibliography
Four Days in November 1964, D) Berry, Joseph P., Jr. John F. Kennedy and the Media:
The House of Yes (1997, F) The First Television President. Lanham, MD: Uni-
Jackie: Behind the Myth (1999, TV) versity Press of America, 1987.
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000, TV) Briley, Ron. “Teaching JFK (1991): Potential Dyna-
JFK (1991, F) mite in the Hands of Our Youth?” Film and His-
Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye (1977, TV) tory 28.1–2 (1998): 8–15.
The Journey of RFK (1970, D) Brown, Thomas. JFK: History of an Image. Blooming-
Kennedy (1988, D) ton: Indiana University Press, 1988.
The Kennedys: The Next Generation (1991, TV) Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. The Kennedys: An
Kennedys Don’t Cry: The Real-Life Saga of America’s American Drama. New York: Summit, 1984.
Most Powerful Dynasty (1995, D) Crowther, Bosley. Review of PT 109. New York Times,
Life in Camelot: The Kennedy Years (1988, D) 27 June 1963.
The Making of the President (1960, D) Goodwin, Doris Kearns. The Fitzgeralds and the Ken-
The Men Who Killed Kennedy (2000, TV) nedys: An American Saga. New York: Simon &
The Missiles of October (1974, D) Schuster, 1987.
Missing Files: The JFK Assassination (1998, TV) Hamilton, Nigel. JFK: Reckless Youth. New York:
The Parallax View (1974, F) Random House, 1992.
PT 109 (1963, F) Hellman, John. The Kennedy Obsession: The American
Reasonable Doubt (1990, F) Myth of JFK. New York: Columbia University
RFK Remembered (1968, D) Press, 1997.
174 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE
Hersh, Seymour. The Dark Side of Camelot. Boston: Sorensen, Theodore C. Kennedy. New York: Harper
Little, Brown, 1997. & Row, 1965.
Hilty, James W. Robert Kennedy, Brother Protector. Steel, Ronald. In Love with Night: The American Ro-
Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. mance with Robert Kennedy. New York: Simon &
Manchester, William. Portrait of a President: John F. Schuster, 2000.
Kennedy in Profile. Boston: Little, Brown, 1962. Stone, Oliver, and Zachary Sklar. JFK: The Book of the
Martin, Ralph G. Seeds of Destruction: Joe Kennedy Film. New York: Applause, 1992.
and His Sons. New York: Putnam’s, 1995. Whalen, Richard J. The Founding Father: The Story
Reeves, Thomas C. A Question of Character: A Life of Joseph P. Kennedy. New York: New American
of John F. Kennedy. New York: Free Press, Library, 1964.
1991. Wills, Garry. The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Medita-
Schlesinger, Arthur M. Robert Kennedy and His tion on Power. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1994.
Times. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1978. Wofford, Harris. Of Kennedys and Kings: Making Sense
——. A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White of the Sixties. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
House. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965. 1980.
[ MARTIN A. JACKSON ]

Abraham Lincoln

ince his assassination, as in his lifetime, and placed him in the context of rising capi-

S Abraham Lincoln has fascinated Ameri-

cans. For the generation of scholars and
writers after the Civil War, Lincoln was an un-
avoidable subject. Many writers and historians
talism. Political parties on both the right and
left tried to enlist Lincoln in their causes: the
American Communist Party, for example,
celebrated Lincoln-Lenin Day each February,
since then have explored well the enduring na- while Herbert Hoover appealed to the Lincoln
ture of Lincoln’s legacy and his impact on the legend when denouncing the New Deal.
succeeding generations of thinkers and politi- During the 1950s, Harvard’s David Donald
cians, as well as of average Americans. It was updated the Lincoln hagiography, trimming it
Lincoln who gave shape and energy to Amer- to suit the times. Donald wrote of Lincoln as
ica’s vision of itself as the hope of humankind a complex man and leader, distinguished by
for representative government and as proof of his refusal to be classified ideologically: Lin-
the resilience of a democratic society. For more coln, in other words, as an Eisenhower Repub-
than a century, when we think of American lican, a perfect model for the feel-good era of
values, we (consciously or not) are drawn to the 1950s. “In our age of anxiety, it is pertinent
Lincoln’s legacy. to remember,” says Donald, “that our most
The centrality of Lincoln to America’s his- enduring political symbolism derives from
tory started early and gathered momentum in Lincoln, whose one dogma was an absence of
the twentieth century, enriching popular cul- dogma” (16). Equally influential among the
ture and calling forth exemplary scholarship. post–World War II writers was Richard Hof-
As early as the 1870s, his law partner, James stadter, who argued that Lincoln himself had
Herndon, drew a portrait of Lincoln as a created his own mythology: “The first author
skilled politician, a man driven by ambition of the Lincoln legend and the greatest of the
and talent who worked hard for the presi- Lincoln dramatists was Lincoln himself,”
dency. Other early biographers embellished a writes Hofstadter in The American Political
log-cabin legend that remained standard for Tradition (117).
many years. In the 1920s, Carl Sandburg en- A contrary vision of Lincoln emerged during
shrined the Lincoln myth of the prairie savior the 1960s, when his views on race were chal-
who embodied the central values of American lenged and often found wanting. The radical
life: hard work, honesty, innate intelligence, historian Howard Zinn, for example, declared,
and faith in the common people. During the “It was Abraham Lincoln who combined per-
tumultuous years of the Depression, Lincoln fectly the needs of business, the political am-
(like so many other national icons) was re- bition of the new Republican party, and the
evaluated by historians such as Charles Beard rhetoric of humanitarianism” (182). African
and Vernon Parrington, who probed into the American historians and scholars in the 1960s
free-soil, free-market side of Lincoln’s record and 1970s took exception to Lincoln’s racial

175
176 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

utterances and wondered aloud about the “the great Heart,” and portrayed as a leader
completeness of his opposition to slavery. In with compassion for ordinary mortals.
this revisionist light, Lincoln emerged as a con- The silent film industry made Lincoln a fre-
servative in racial matters. quent “star” in the early years. Vitagraph Stu-
In recent years there have been Freudian dios in particular seemed to have a penchant
studies of Lincoln; discussions of his medical for Lincoln stories, releasing one such film
condition (he probably had Marfan’s disease); each year from 1911 to 1914, including such
and unsettling questions asked about his rec- titles as Battle Hymn of the Republic (1911),
ord on civil liberties. But the Lincoln legacy Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1912), and even
lives on into the twenty-first century, still ca- Lincoln the Lover (1913), the last about Lincoln
pable of inspiring notable scholarship. In 1992 and Anne Rutledge, of course. In 1915 the Ed-
Garry Wills wrote a subtle and laudatory exe- ison Company produced The Life of Abraham
gesis of the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln at Get- Lincoln, The Greatest of Americans. An awk-
tysburg, casting Lincoln as a philosopher of de- ward and stagy film, Life starred Frank Mc-
mocracy and a political theorist. According to Glynn, with a script by James Oppenheim. It
Wills, Lincoln’s words have shaped our self- is, to a DVD-era viewer, painfully static, but
definition: “The Gettysburg Address has be- its adoring portrait of Lincoln seems to have
come an authoritative expression of the won a contemporary audience.
American spirit. . . . For most people now, the In the 1920s, Lincoln adulation accelerated.
Declaration [of Independence] means what There were scores of companies, products,
Lincoln told us it means. . . . By accepting the towns, and books that used the Lincoln name
Gettysburg Address . . . we have been changed. and image, sometimes with embarrassing re-
Because of it, we live in a different America” sults. The Lincoln Life Insurance company was
(147). In 1999, Frank Thompson produced formed in the 1920s, only one of many efforts
what is probably the most comprehensive to tap the Lincoln legend of unshakable virtue.
study of the Lincoln iconography in relation When Edsel Ford promoted a luxury auto-
to film and other contemporary visual media mobile in the 1920s, in vivid contrast to his
such as television and video recording. father’s humble Model T, he chose the presi-
Thompson demonstrates convincingly that the dent’s honored name because, while the car
visual power of Lincoln has continued un- was expensive, it was still quintessentially
abated into the age of electronic media, with American and trustworthy. There were Lin-
roots extending back to the earliest days of coln Logs (still a familiar toy), Lincoln Day
film. sales, Lincoln theaters, Lincoln bacon, and
Lincoln pajamas. Abraham Lincoln had be-
The Movies and Mr. Lincoln come the nation’s common cultural touch-
In the early 1900s, moviemakers were power- stone—even in the marketplace.
fully attracted to Lincoln. It is well to remem- The booming film industry did not—could
ber that many of the pioneer filmmakers grew not—ignore Abraham Lincoln. In 1924, for in-
up in an America where Lincoln was still a part stance, the Rockett Brothers produced Abra-
of oral history, not a dim historical figure. ham Lincoln, a silent biography in twelve reels
D. W. Griffith was no exception. Although his subtitled “a dramatic life of Abraham Lin-
view of Lincoln was shaped by his southern coln.” Directed by Phil Rosen, Abraham Lin-
heritage and was, in general, an ambivalent ac- coln was a birth-to-death film biography of the
ceptance, it did not deter Griffith from making sixteenth president with the standard stops
Lincoln a sympathetic character in Birth of a along the way, from the Kentucky log cabin to
Nation (1915), where Lincoln is referred to as Ford’s Theater. Lincoln was a featured pres-
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN ] 177

ence in John Ford’s Iron Horse in 1924. Indeed, a crucial role. When the novice Senator Jeffer-
the movie is dedicated to Lincoln, who, en- son Smith ( James Stewart) is confused and
nobled as “The Builder,” is apparently respon- overwhelmed by the corruption of modern
sible for the creation of the transcontinental Washington, he finds his way to the Lincoln
railroad; even as far back as his Springfield Memorial, where the towering seated figure
days, Ford asserts that the young Lincoln saw sculpted by Daniel Chester French brings him
the need for linking East and West by rail in back to his true faith. With Lincoln watching
an effort to unify a progressive, industrial na- over him, Smith reminds himself (and the au-
tion. dience) that Lincoln’s words—of the Gettys-
In 1930, the aging and ill D. W. Griffith burg Address and the Second Inaugural—still
chose Lincoln as the focus of his last movie, apply. Few in the late 1930s could watch those
Abraham Lincoln, a screen biography that scenes and remain uninspired.
Merrill Peterson called “the first major his- Capra’s iconic Lincoln reappeared again in
torical film of the sound era” (344). Walter the director’s Why We Fight series during
Huston got the part of the president despite World War II. Capra invoked Lincoln the war
having not very much resemblance to Lincoln, president, again, to unite the nation in a time
but he was a strong actor with a sonorous of crisis, and reminded his viewers of the Lin-
voice. The screenplay was by Stephen Vincent coln legacy. It should not be surprising that
Benét, a celebrated midwestern poet of the Frank Capra, the immigrant from Sicily,
early 1930s. In fact, Griffith had hoped to get should find the Lincoln legend so appealing.
Carl Sandburg to write the film script, but Capra arrived in a nation where Lincoln my-
Sandburg had doubts (probably justified by thology was in full flower, and he cherished
the controversies over Griffith’s earlier his- that inspiring myth throughout his life and ca-
torical films) and turned down a $30,000 fee reer as a leading Hollywood celebrant of the
for the project. American Dream.
Lincoln continued to appear in American By the end of the Depression, the world was
movies during the middle and late 1930s. A spiraling into war, and America nervously faced
Perfect Tribute, for example, was a well- a dangerous world. Not by accident did Abra-
produced short released by MGM in 1935; it ham Lincoln reappear on the movie screens, in
related the famous (albeit untrue) story of Lin- two of the best film treatments of the subject.
coln reciting his Gettysburg Address to a In 1939, John Ford directed Young Mr. Lincoln,
wounded Confederate soldier. Two very suc- with Henry Fonda as the young president-to-
cessful films of the time gave Lincoln, or at be; in 1940, John Cromwell directed Abe Lin-
least his words, a central part: Ruggles of Red coln in Illinois, taken from the Pulitzer Prize–
Gap (1935) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington winning play by Robert Sherwood.
(1939). In Ruggles, an imported British butler It is instructive to note that these film bi-
(Charles Laughton) brings the rough Ameri- ographies, both powerful shapers of the Lin-
can crowd to awed silence by reciting, from coln mythology, appeared within months of
memory, the Gettysburg Address. His embrace each other. By the time Abe Lincoln in Illinois
of American democratic values after a life of reached American screens, the war in Europe
stuffy subservience is beautifully captured by had begun and Paris had fallen; Britain stood
his recitation, and it remains a fine perfor- alone while Hitler seemed destined for victory.
mance of those memorable words of the America seemed in grave danger and, in this
American creed. In Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith time of crisis, the uplifting Lincoln myth was
Goes to Washington (1939), one of the classic needed. Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln was a lyrical
social-problem films of the 1930s, Lincoln has story of frontier Illinois and the formation of
178 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

Lincoln’s noble character. Henry Fonda is su- came a television film in 1988 and presented
perb as the young Lincoln, a shy but clever again a more complex and modern portrait of
backwoods philosopher who loves Ann Rut- the president. In 1992 yet another television
ledge and defends an innocent boy in a murder series, Lincoln, told the story of the eponymous
trial. Ford is in his element with this tale of the hero’s humble birth to his tragic end, but with
new nation, and the movie retains its human- a distinct late-twentieth-century sensibility.
ity and power after six decades; the final scene, Ken Burns’s Civil War series for PBS naturally
when Abe strides off into the horizon with the dealt with Lincoln and showed him as a tragic
words “I think I’ll go on a little ways,” has yet noble figure who labored mightily to pre-
become part of American folklore: Lincoln, the serve the Union. The remarkable public ac-
exemplar of the American soul, is not seeking claim for Burns’s effort rekindled an interest
glory but is destined for it. in Civil War matters, and still further interest
In Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Raymond Massey in Lincoln; after its initial broadcast, the
plays the future president with striking verisi- fifteen-part series was eagerly adopted by
militude. (Of all the actors who have taken the schools and universities.
role, Massey best matches Lincoln’s physical Among the many classroom films dealing
appearance.) The story itself was adapted from with Lincoln, two from Films for the Human-
Robert Sherwood’s hit play of the 1939 season ities may serve as examples of the genre: Lin-
and covered much the same period as the ear- coln of Illinois (1965), and Abraham Lincoln:
lier Young Abe Lincoln, namely the New Salem Against the Odds (1973). The latter is a ten-
years with Ann Rutledge and his fledgling po- minute survey of Lincoln’s life and career, em-
litical efforts. Lincoln beats the town bully in phasizing his victory over initial hardships,
a wrestling match, spins tales, tells jokes, and while the former is a more comprehensive,
generally lives up to the highest expectations thirty-minute exploration of Lincoln’s role in
of the 1940 viewer, badly in need of a larger- the history of the nation. These teaching films
than-life national hero. Massey’s Lincoln is the are a rich store of Lincoln material available
reluctant hero, the wholesome boy of the Mid- for the student. Most are now available on
west, whom Fate has chosen for leadership. video tape or CD-ROM. The Lincoln Library
Not surprisingly, Lincoln’s screen image un- in Springfield (www.lincolnlibrary.org) offers
derwent changes in the postwar world. In a list of teaching aids, both visual and aural,
1951, a film with the blunt title The Tall Target and scarcely a library in America is without
was released, dealing with an early assassina- some tape, film, or computer material con-
tion attempt on Lincoln as he rides to Wash- cerning Lincoln’s life and work.
ington in 1861. In 1952, television took on the
subject of Lincoln, too, with a controversial The Myth Lives On
five-part series written by critic and journalist Lincoln will not fade soon from America’s
James Agee. Funded by the Ford Foundation movie or television screens. He continues to
for the distinguished Omnibus series, this ef- evoke deep feelings and to stimulate debate on
fort ran into trouble for its progressive views a wide range of issues from race to political
on race; in fact, the series was never broadcast conspiracy, and he has yet to be replaced as a
past its first episode. national symbol. That famous stovepipe hat
In 1977, The Lincoln Conspiracy was made and somber beard will surely be seen again as
for television and was far better received. It new generations of filmmakers and writers ex-
probed the plot against Lincoln and raised plore his meaning and fate (and perhaps even
some doubts about many of the leading char- have a little fun with the president, as did di-
acters. Gore Vidal’s popular book Lincoln be- rector Stephen Herek in Bill and Ted’s Excellent
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN ] 179

Adventure). The symbolism is still potent in ate as a gathering place for those who cared
contemporary America, as we have seen in about America and its future.
more recent times. The choice of the Lincoln Historians, scholars, and filmmakers will no
Memorial as the venue for Martin Luther doubt continue their normal efforts to revise,
King’s epic “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 reconsider, and rediscover the meaning and
was hardly accidental, and the lasting image of nature of Abraham Lincoln because he contin-
King, watched over by a seated Lincoln, is in- ues to matter. The timeless summation of the
delible in American consciousness—and democratic faith in Lincoln’s invocation of a
neatly echoes the inspiration provided to government “of the people, by the people, and
Capra’s Jefferson Smith. In 1970, as antiwar for the people” resonates into the twenty-first
protesters gathered in Washington, President century and has influenced the lives of people
Richard Nixon made a strained effort to en- all over the world. He has become a historical
gage them and chose as his meeting place the figure for all time, and the inescapable symbol
Lincoln Memorial. The site seemed appropri- of the American nation.

References
A Perfect Tribute (1935, D)
Filmography Ruggles of Red Gap (1935, F)
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, F) The Tall Target (1951, F)
Abraham Lincoln (1924, F; 1930, F; 1988, D) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F)
Abraham Lincoln: Against the Odds (1973, D)
Battle Hymn of the Republic (1911, F)
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989, F)
The Civil War (1997, D) Bibliography
The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998, TV) Donald, David. Lincoln Reconsidered. New York: An-
Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (1988, TV) chor, 1965.
The Iron Horse (1924, F) Hofstadter, Richard. The American Political Tradition.
The Life of Abraham Lincoln, the Greatest of Ameri- New York: Vintage, 1974.
cans (1915, F) Peterson, Merrill. Lincoln in American History. New
Lincoln (1992, TV) York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
The Lincoln Conspiracy (1977, TV) Thompson, Frank. Abraham Lincoln: Twentieth-
Lincoln of Illinois (1965, D) Century Popular Portrayals. Dallas: Taylor, 1999.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (1912, F) Wills, Garry. Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That
Lincoln the Lover (1913, F) Remade America. New York: Simon & Schuster,
Mr. Lincoln of Illinois (1993, TV) 1992.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States.
Of Human Hearts (1938, F) New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
[ DONALD M. WHALEY ]

Richard Nixon

hen Richard Milhous Nixon (1913– ing an innocent man (in fact, documents de-

W 1994), thirty-seventh president of the

United States, prepared to resign in
disgrace as a result of the Watergate affair, a
scandal involving abuses of power by the pres-
classified after the Cold War suggest Hiss’s
guilt). Nixon also drew criticism for the
“Checkers” speech in which, during his 1952
vice presidential campaign, Nixon defended
ident and his aides, his secretary of state, himself against charges that he benefited from
Henry Kissinger, told Nixon that history a secret fund collected by California business-
would treat him kindly. Nixon responded that men. While the American public was won over,
would depend on who wrote the history. He critics viewed the speech as self-righteous,
might have added that it would also depend shameless, and manipulative. As Garry Wills
on who made the films. describes in Nixon Agonistes (1970), by the
Nixon’s career was filled with spectacular vic- 1950s Democrats and many journalists began
tories and defeats. From modest beginnings— to regard Nixon as “Tricky Dick”—a sancti-
he was the son of a failed California grocer— monious, unprincipled, ruthless con artist.
Nixon enjoyed a rapid political ascent. He was Watergate reinforced this perception of
first elected, as a Republican, to the United Nixon. The scandal began when a group of
States House of Representatives in 1946, to the operatives working for Nixon’s 1972 campaign
Senate in 1950, and to the vice presidency in were arrested while breaking into the head-
1952. Defeated by John Kennedy in the presi- quarters of the Democratic National Commit-
dential election of 1960, Nixon also lost the tee. Subsequent investigations revealed other
California governor’s race in 1962. After spend- “White House horrors.” Some of the Water-
ing time as a lawyer for a Wall Street firm, he gate burglars had been involved in a break-in
returned to politics. He was elected president in at a psychiatrist’s office in an effort to find
1968 and overwhelmingly reelected in 1972. damaging information about Daniel Ellsberg,
From the first, Nixon was controversial. In a former government official and a critic of
his early campaigns he distorted his oppo- Nixon’s handling of the Vietnam War, who had
nents’ records to make them seem procom- leaked what became known as the “Pentagon
munist, while he presented himself as a family Papers,” a secret Defense Department study of
man who believed in hard work, religious val- the war, to the New York Times. The White
ues, and respect for authority. He made his House kept an enemies list; some on the list
national reputation with his dogged pursuit— had been targeted for tax audits. Nixon secretly
as a member of the House Committee on Un- taped conversations in the Oval Office. Tapes
American Activities (HUAC)—of Alger Hiss, revealed Nixon’s use of profanity, which un-
a former State Department official accused of dermined the upright image Nixon had always
spying for the Soviet Union. Hiss’s supporters tried to project. One tape provided evidence
saw Nixon as advancing his career by persecut- that Nixon obstructed justice by participating

180
 RICHARD NIXON ] 181

in a cover-up of his aides’ involvement in the This changing assessment of Nixon by his-
Watergate burglary. Faced with impeachment, torians finds a parallel in the changing treat-
Nixon resigned in 1974. ment of Nixon by filmmakers. As early as the
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who cov- 1960s, filmmakers had taken as their subject
ered Watergate for the Washington Post, pub- matter Nixon’s political excesses. Watergate
lished All the President’s Men (1974), an account inspired a number of films from the 1970s
of their investigation. Guided by “Deep through the 1990s. By the late 1980s, however,
Throat,” an official in the Nixon administration some filmmakers had begun to examine
whose identity they have continued to keep se- Nixon’s accomplishments as president.
cret, the reporters came to understand Water- Feature films have presented three versions
gate as part of a larger campaign of political of Nixon: evil, comic, and tragic. The evil
sabotage. Stanley Kutler based The Abuse of Nixon first appears in The Best Man (1964),
Power (1998) on tapes released in 1996, which written by Gore Vidal. Vidal had been a Dem-
revealed Nixon making anti-Semitic remarks ocratic candidate for Congress and, like most
and participating in raising money to buy the Democrats, viewed Nixon as “Tricky Dick.”
Watergate burglars’ silence. James David Bar- Vidal based one of his characters, presidential
ber, writing in Political Science Quarterly, argues candidate Joe Cantwell (Cliff Robertson), on
that, in the Watergate crisis, the American peo- this stereotype of Nixon. Cantwell wraps him-
ple had had a close call with tyranny. self in middle-class pieties (his name sym-
Historians in a 1996 survey rated Nixon in bolizes his character), promotes his career by
the lowest category of presidents, the “fail- “exposing” a Mafia-Communist alliance he
ures.” But some historians put forward a more has made up, and distorts his opponent’s psy-
sympathetic interpretation of Nixon. In Nixon: chiatric history.
The Triumph of a Politician, 1962–1982 (1989), An evil Nixon is also on display in All the
Stephen Ambrose praises Nixon’s foreign pol- President’s Men (1976), based on the book by
icy achievements, especially the president’s trip Woodward and Bernstein. Nixon appears in
to China, which began the process of restoring the film only on television or in newspaper
diplomatic relations between China and the headlines. The movie follows the reporters’ in-
United States, and “détente,” Nixon’s policy of vestigation into the burglary at Democratic
easing Cold War tensions by negotiating nu- headquarters. As they pursue their inquiry,
clear arms control agreements with the Soviet Woodward (Robert Redford) and Bernstein
Union. Ambrose concludes that Nixon “had (Dustin Hoffman) come to realize that the
shown potential to be a great world statesman” burglary and other acts of espionage and sab-
(408). Joan Hoff, in Nixon Reconsidered otage against the Democrats have been fi-
(1994), emphasizes Nixon’s domestic achieve- nanced by a secret fund controlled by John
ments, especially progress in desegregating the Mitchell, Nixon’s former attorney general,
South, an increase in social-welfare spending, who heads Nixon’s reelection campaign, and
revenue sharing in which federal funds were H. R. Haldeman, Nixon’s chief of staff. The
sent to state and local governments, and estab- film implies that the actions of Nixon and his
lishment of the Environmental Protection aides threatened to undermine constitutional
Agency. By 2000, the arguments of these his- government. The film also implies that the re-
torians apparently had had an effect. A survey porters’ lives were in danger (in an interview,
of historians taken by C-SPAN in that year Woodward conceded that he did not know if
ranked Nixon twenty-fifth among forty-one their lives were actually in danger, but he ar-
presidents, and eighth among presidents in gued that the film did re-create accurately the
leadership in international relations. fear the reporters felt at the time).
182 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

Nixon’s physical awkwardness made him a statue of Lincoln and says, “That man up there
target for comic mimicry, just as his political lived in similar times. He had chaos and civil
excesses made him a target for satire. Director war and hatred between the races.” Toward the
Robert Altman’s Secret Honor (1984) presents end of the film, Nixon’s daughter Julie (An-
a clumsy, profane Nixon (Philip Baker Hall) nabeth Gish) tells him, “You’ve done what
tape recording a Checkers-style speech to de- Lincoln did. You’ve brought this country back
fend himself during Watergate. In Elvis Meets from civil war!” In comparing Nixon to Lin-
Nixon (1997), Nixon (Bob Gunton) is inspired coln, the film suggests that Nixon had the po-
by The Godfather to go after his political ene- tential to be a great president but that his inner
mies, spends the Christmas season making an flaws doomed his presidency. Henry Kissinger
enemies list instead of a Christmas list, and (Paul Sorvino) states the film’s point when,
joins Elvis Presley (Rick Peters) in a duet of near the end of the movie, he says about
“My Way.” Dick (1999) not only shows Nixon Nixon, “It’s a tragedy, because he had great-
and his aides as comic bumblers but also sat- ness in his grasp, but he had the defects of his
irizes All the President’s Men. In the film, two qualities.”
teenage girls (Kirsten Dunst, Michelle Wil- Nixon has been the subject of a number of
liams) stumble upon the Watergate burglary. documentary films. Speeches of Richard Nixon
To keep them quiet, Nixon (Dan Hedaya) ar- (1990) includes the Checkers speech; excerpts
ranges for them to work in the White House. from interviews with Nixon about Watergate;
One of the girls develops a crush on Nixon, and the press conference Nixon, angry at his
but both girls are disillusioned when they ac- treatment by reporters, gave after his 1962 gu-
cidentally hear Nixon’s tapes. The girls become bernatorial loss. The Kennedy-Nixon presi-
Deep Throat, whose identity the satirized dential debates (1960) are part of the video
Woodward and Bernstein keep secret out of record (radio listeners thought Nixon won;
embarrassment. television viewers gave the edge to Kennedy).
Writing in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971) uses video
Joan Hoff argues that director Oliver Stone’s clips of Nixon to create a bitter satire. Also
Nixon (1995) was “an attempt to implant an critical of Nixon is Watergate: The Corruption
even worse image of Nixon in the public mind of American Politics and the Fall of Richard
than existed when he was forced to resign” (8). Nixon (1994), produced by the BBC for The
To be sure, Nixon’s dark side is on display in Discovery Channel, which shows Nixon deeply
the film: the ruthless ambition, the insecurity involved in dirty campaign tricks against the
about his social background that led him to Democrats and participating in the cover-up
rage at anything he perceived as a slight, the almost immediately after the Watergate bur-
petty vindictiveness, the willingness to abuse glary. Nixon: The Arrogance of Power (2000),
power. But, drawing upon the revisionist view made for the History Channel, provides evi-
of Nixon (including the work of Joan Hoff ), dence that Nixon, to gain political advantage
the film also cites Nixon’s accomplishments. in the presidential election of 1968, covertly
In fact, Stone’s Nixon is more tragic than sabotaged the Johnson administration’s Viet-
evil. Stone’s film implicitly compares Nixon to nam peace negotiations and speculates that the
Abraham Lincoln. Nixon (Anthony Hopkins) purpose of the Watergate burglary was to dis-
first appears in the film in the Lincoln Sitting cover how much Democratic officials knew
Room of the White House, where a portrait of about what Nixon had done.
Lincoln hangs over the fireplace. Later, Nixon Nixon (1989), part of the PBS American Ex-
visits the Lincoln Memorial, where he talks perience series, portrays Nixon’s legacy as an
with war protesters. Nixon looks up at the ambiguous mixture of Watergate scandal and
 RICHARD NIXON ] 183

foreign policy triumph. Nixon’s China Game Peace, and No More Vietnams, all implied that
(2000), part of the same series, credits Nixon’s détente and other geopolitical maneuvers of
diplomatic opening to China with bringing an his administration . . . laid out the best hope
isolated China back into the world community that the United States could wage the Cold
and with putting pressure on the Soviets to War differently than it had since 1945” (123).
negotiate arms control agreements with the After the fall of the Soviet Union, both Presi-
United States. Detente, 1969–1975 (1998), an dent Bush and President Clinton sought
episode in CNN’s Cold War series, credits Nixon’s advice on dealing with Russia. Nixon
Nixon with making an all-out war between the had succeeded in rehabilitating himself as a
United States and the Soviet Union less likely. foreign policy expert. Four former presidents
The documentary most sympathetic to Nixon attended his funeral (actual footage of the fu-
is C-SPAN’s Life Portrait of Richard Nixon neral appears at the end of Oliver Stone’s
(1999), which features interviews with Joan Nixon). President Bill Clinton delivered a eu-
Hoff and with John Taylor, executive director logy in which he argued that Nixon should be
of the Nixon Presidential Library, who vigor- judged on his entire life and career.
ously defends Nixon. At the end of the twentieth century, histo-
In the years after he resigned from the pres- rians and filmmakers had begun to do that.
idency, Richard Nixon wrote eight books, in Both groups had come to see the Nixon ad-
which he put forward his vision of interna- ministration as more than just the Watergate
tional relations. As Joan Hoff has written in scandal. Historians and filmmakers alike had
Presidential Studies Quarterly: “His early post- begun to examine—even to praise—Nixon’s
presidential books, The Real War, The Real achievements, especially in foreign policy.

References
——. Nixon: Ruin and Recovery, 1973–1990. New
Filmography York: Simon & Schuster, 1991.
All the President’s Men (1976, F) ——. Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician, 1962–1972.
The Best Man (1964, F) New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.
Detente, 1969–1975 (1998, TV) Barber, James David. “The Nixon Brush with Tyr-
Dick (1999, F) anny.” Political Science Quarterly 92.4 (winter
Elvis Meets Nixon (1997, TV) 1977–78): 510.
The Final Days (1989, TV) Hamburg, Eric, ed. Nixon: An Oliver Stone Film. New
Forrest Gump (1994, F) York: Hyperion, 1995.
Life Portrait of Richard Nixon (1999, TV) Hoff, Joan, “About This Issue” and “A Revisionist
Millhouse: A White Comedy (1971, D) View of Nixon’s Foreign Policy.” Presidential Stud-
Nixon (1989, TV; 1995, F) ies Quarterly 26.1 (1996): 8–10, 107–29.
Nixon: The Arrogance of Power (2000, TV) ——. Nixon Reconsidered. New York: Basic Books,
Nixon’s China Game (2000, TV) 1994.
Secret Honor (1984, F) Kutler, Stanley. The Abuse of Power. New York:
Sleeper (1973, F) Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Speeches of Richard Nixon (1990, D) Monsell, Thomas. Nixon on Stage and Screen: The
Watergate: The Corruption of American Politics and Thirty-Seventh President as Depicted in Films, Tele-
the Fall of Richard Nixon (1994, TV) vision, Plays and Opera. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
1998.
Bibliography Wills, Garry. Nixon Agonistes. Boston: Houghton Miff-
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nixon: The Education of a Poli- lin, 1970.
tician, 1913–1962. New York: Simon & Schuster, Woodward, Bob, and Carl Bernstein. All the Presi-
1987. dent’s Men. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
[ MICHAEL S. SHULL ]

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt

robably no other modern president of that highlighted his seductively soothing voice,

P the United States has been as represented

in fictional film and documentaries as
the thirty-second, Franklin Delano Roosevelt
(1882–1945). FDR’s iconographic image, dis-
tremendously enhanced by the verisimilitude
of intimacy imparted by the comparatively
new radio and sound-newsreel media. FDR’s
vocal delivery seemed to reach out over the
tinctive voice or references to him as the pres- airwaves or onscreen soundtracks and touch
ident, the New Deal’s NRA (National Recovery his audience as though he were addressing
Administration) and WPA (Works Progress them personally—“my friends” sounded sin-
Administration), the wartime Allied leader- cere, inclusive, and not patronizing, despite his
ship, and so on appear in an extraordinary patrician upbringing.
number of films made during or representing What is also intriguing is the visual repre-
the period from 1933 to 1945—encompassing sentation of FDR—one that does not acknowl-
both the horrific Depression and the monu- edge his partial paralysis after a 1921 bout with
mental struggle to defend democracy during polio. Only a single nonfiction short, Roosevelt,
World War II. Though recent presidents have the Man of the Hour (MGM, 1933), is known
dominated the mass media while in office, few to have made a direct reference to this condi-
have had more than a couple of fictional cin- tion during his presidency. In fact, it would
ematic or made-for-TV treatments, and none not be until 1960, with the Warner Bros. pro-
has been warmly identified with a particular duction Sunrise at Campobello, that Roosevelt’s
era, other than the so-called Camelot associ- physical challenge would be frankly addressed.
ated with John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s ephem- But that biopic, featuring Ralph Bellamy in the
eral administration. lead role, ends with his decision to deliver the
The image of FDR that evolved was one of a 1924 Democratic presidential nomination
smiling, reassuringly avuncular man, witty and speech for Al Smith. It would be another forty-
energetic, wearing pince-nez glasses and often one years until a theatrically released film por-
smoking a cigarette in a holder jauntily traying FDR in office, Pearl Harbor (2001),
clenched between his teeth. During his twelve- would clearly show that the nation’s leader was
year presidency, Roosevelt was portrayed, im- dependent for his mobility upon a wheelchair
personated, or caricatured by Hollywood in or thirty-pound metal braces and the muscular
scores of fictional feature-length motion pic- assistance of aides.
tures, a few animated cartoons, fictional shorts, What amounted to a constructed identity of
documentaries, numerous nonfiction shorts, Roosevelt was valorized through the new
and countless newsreels—including filmed re- twentieth-century media. With the active col-
productions of his famous “Fireside Chats.” lusion of the political establishment, the press,
Roosevelt was the first truly radio-savvy and Hollywood during the 1930s, 1940s, and
president. He developed a broadcast persona beyond, Americans were presented with a less

184
 FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ] 185

and were directly linked to FDR and the Dem-

ocratic Party: “Happy Days Are Here Again”
and “We’re in the Money,” the NRA Blue Ea-
gle (“We Do Our Part”), and so on. The free-
dom from fear became, among other things, a
freedom to sing again—to embrace democracy
as the all-American antidote to authoritarian
solutions for alleviating the Depression’s
woes. The cumulative effect of this on the
public significantly contributed to its percep-
tions of the “reality” that had become FDR.
In effect, the iconography of the New Deal
FIGURE 22. Sunrise at Campobello (1960). Director
Vincent J. Donehue was the first filmmaker to picture subsumed the physical person.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt in a wheelchair. Many other After his 1932 landslide victory, Roosevelt
films have depicted FDR, who was paralyzed by a bout became “Dr. New Deal,” the man with the cure
of polio that struck in 1921; most have sidestepped
for the Depression’s ills. This theme is treated
controversial issues of a nation in war under the
leadership of a physically challenged president and the literally in Confidence, an animated short re-
complicity of the press in hiding his condition. Courtesy leased in July 1933 by Universal, featuring Os-
Schary Productions and Warner Bros. wald the Rabbit. The cartoon opens with the
dark cloud of the Depression rising out of the
than true image of FDR—as either standing in city dump, creating a bank scare, and then set-
a stationary position, perhaps the two most tling down upon Oswald’s farm. Oswald goes
mythic moments being his March 1933 inau- for a cure to “Dr. Pill,” who promptly points
gural address (“We have nothing to fear but to FDR’s photo. When the rabbit flies to
fear itself ”) and his December 8, 1941, “Date Washington and asks Roosevelt for the cure, a
which will live in infamy” war message, or as singing and dancing president leads Oswald in
seated behind a desk in his “Fireside Chat” performing the title song.
mode, adopted several times in fictional films An overt reference to reading FDR’s first in-
(but altered with behind-the-head shots). How- augural address is made by the unemployed
ever, the most familiar visual image of the pres- war veteran protagonist of Heroes for Sale
ident was in formal portraits or newsreel foot- (1933), implying that the president’s speech
age. Yet the majority of the American people, should inspire hope in all the “forgotten men”
irrespective of their political orientation, were wandering across the countryside. In director
probably not receptive to an alternate Roosevelt Frank Capra’s Lady for a Day (1933), the Da-
identity—preferring a wishful vision of a re- mon Runyonesque Apple Annie tells a fellow
stored, economically fit, national self as embod- panhandler to stop “yapping” about the par-
ied by a seemingly robust president. simonious passersby: “Didn’t you hear the
The creation of this image, or myth, of FDR president over the radio?” The message was
was fully established within a few months into obvious, as well as tendentious: Americans
his administration’s first term. Roosevelt and should stop complaining, because there was
the New Deal became inextricably linked with less to fear now that Roosevelt was in office.
confidence in a democratic nation whose citi- One of the best-remembered phrases from a
zens would now work together to ameliorate 1932 Roosevelt campaign speech, intoning that
the worst aspects of the Great Depression America cannot fail in its attempt to restore
(1929–40). Certain songs and symbols likewise “the forgotten man at the bottom of the eco-
became emblematic of this optimistic spirit nomic pyramid,” receives a stylized interpre-
186 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

tation, “Remember My Forgotten Man,” in in just over a year the Supreme Court would
Gold Diggers of 1933. This film is invariably declare the NRA unconstitutional.
cited as the quintessential Depression-era mu- Soon afterward, the Works Progress Admin-
sical owing to its opening number, with a cho- istration (WPA) would supersede the NRA as
rus line, dressed in cutout silver dollars, sing- the paramount New Deal agency. Likewise, it
ing the upbeat “We’re in the Money.” But the became the most commonly evoked symbol of
most blatant early cinematic homage to FDR FDR’s governance. Numerous films would re-
occurs during the finale of a 1933 Warner re- flect this, usually incorporating casual refer-
lease Footlight Parade, starring James Cagney ences to a character on relief work at a WPA
as a movie-palace stage director and self- project. A typical example is from Next Time
proclaimed “New Dealer.” In an overhead I Marry (1938), a screwball comedy featuring
shot, the chorus uses flash cards to display, in an heiress, played by Lucille Ball, who meets a
succession, a screen-filling American flag, college man digging a ditch on a WPA road
FDR’s beaming face, and the NRA eagle. gang.
The legislative onslaught of the Roosevelt Because of an ill-advised attempt by Roo-
administration’s first hundred days resulted in sevelt to “pack” the Supreme Court, another
the proliferation of New Deal agencies, iden- economic downturn, and labor unrest
tified by their acronyms. With many in Hol- throughout 1936–1937, the president’s popu-
lywood enthusiastically embracing the NRA larity declined. Despite his reelection to a sec-
concept of reducing individual job hours to ond term, the virulence of FDR’s critics in-
expand the workforce, several studios even be- creased, particularly amongst the business
gan including the NRA logo in the opening or elite. Although this was mainly reflected by a
end credits of their films. Throughout the lat- reduction in those fictional releases that re-
ter half of 1933, MGM’s popular Our Gang ferred to his leadership, at least one film con-
series displayed the NRA seal. tained negative allusions to Roosevelt, albeit in
Many Hollywood productions would incor- a comedy format. In Soak the Rich (1936) a
porate into their scripts more discreet refer- frustrated tycoon concedes that FDR has
ences to New Deal agencies—unambiguously “charm,” but adds, “Our president is blind to
reinforcing an iconographic linkage to FDR. In the woes of millionaires.” This stereotyped
Mr. Skitch (1933), with Will Rogers in the title capitalist antithesis to the New Deal spirit, who
role, the impecunious Skitch wryly states when is also plagued by an unruly daughter in col-
offered the “CM” (car manager) job at an auto lege, later moans, “Rockefeller, Ford . . . even
park: “There are a lot of initials in the country Roosevelt has good children.”
now.” Wild Boys of the Road, an oft-cited 1933 One of the more intriguing feature films
Warner Bros. release, chronicles the lives of from the later 1930s that unabashedly refers to
homeless teenagers. Following their infamous the Roosevelt administration is Ali Baba Goes
“sewer pipe city” battle with police, the down- to Town (1937). Singer-comedian Eddie Can-
trodden youth appear before a kindly judge tor plays an extra named Aloysius Babson on
(an FDR surrogate). After admonishing them, a desert picture set who, after overdosing on
he points to the NRA eagle on the wall, sug- painkillers, hallucinates being in Arabia in 937.
gesting it should become their inspiration. He encounters the troubled sultan, who fears
Even the classic melodrama, Imitation of Life that his starving people will revolt. Appointed
(1934), featuring a rags-to-riches business- his advisor, “Ali Baba” suggests that the sultan
woman, includes this frustrated suitor’s com- run for president, promising New Deal–style
ment: “In the name of the National Recovery reforms. Ali Baba then mimics FDR’s phrases
Act, will you give her a day free?” Ironically, and gestures of public address, with such cam-
 FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ] 187

paign slogans as “Put the people to work on Through her numerous public appearances
government projects. . . . Start federal theaters. and her weekly “My Day” newspaper column,
. . . Tax your wives to pay.” Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) became rec-
Throughout FDR’s second term, his most ognized as a spokesperson for FDR—much to
common appearance in fictional films was that the chagrin of conservative critics, who re-
of the presidential portrait, usually placed in peatedly attacked her outspoken liberal views.
some governmental setting. A typical example One of the earliest fictional film references to
is Gambling on the High Seas (1940), a gangster Mrs. Roosevelt occurs in Woman of the Year
tale that contains scenes at a district attorney’s (1942), when an award-winning female jour-
office, featuring side-by-side portraits of Roo- nalist comments on interviewing the First
sevelt and George Washington. During the war- Lady. During the war years Eleanor became the
time years, this type of onscreen appearance president’s legs, tirelessly traveling around the
multiplied. In Margin for Error (1943), a com- world visiting America’s troops. Bob Hope
edy with an espionage motif, the smiling photo even delivers a one-liner about these trips in
of FDR at a police station serves as a stark coun- They Got Me Covered (1943). But Eleanor Roo-
terimage to the pretentious portrait of a uni- sevelt would not be cinematically portrayed by
formed Hitler in the Nazi spies’ quarters. an actress until her appearance as Franklin’s
By early 1940 the “comforting” image of dutiful “missus” in Sunrise at Campobello,
FDR had more fully evolved. In John Ford’s played by Greer Garson. The personal as well
film adaptation of the John Steinbeck novel as political life of the Roosevelts, from Mrs.
The Grapes of Wrath (1940), a well-known Roosevelt’s perspective, is chronicled in the
scene unequivocally portrays a compassionate two-part made-for-TV film Eleanor and Frank-
government, thus making an associative link- lin (1976–77). Both the first episode of the TV
age with the New Deal and FDR. The migrant film and Sunrise at Campobello dramatize
Joad family, after suffering many indignities, Eleanor’s defying her domineering mother-in-
discovers the refuge provided at a sanitary, law’s attempt to persuade her paraplegic son
democratically administered Department of to abandon politics—the implication being
Agriculture motor camp. The dispirited fam- that Eleanor’s actions may have changed the
ily’s hope for their own future and faith in the course of history—a point that was further
country is restored through the kindness with elaborated on in the second part (“Fear Itself ”)
which they are treated by the camp’s “care- of PBS’s 1994 documentary, The American Ex-
taker,” an ambulatory Roosevelt look-alike perience: The Presidents—FDR. Today Mrs.
wearing pince-nez glasses. Roosevelt is most often remembered as a civil
As active participation of the United States rights champion. In a poignant scene from The
in World War II neared, this increasing iden- Tuskegee Airmen (1995), set in the middle of
tification with or reverence for FDR, with un- World War II, Eleanor visits the black flying
mistakable patriotic overtones, was manifested cadets’ base and insists on taking a flight with
in many films. A fall 1939 MGM musical, fea- one.
turing Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, FDR’s “Day of Infamy” war declaration was
Babes in Arms, concludes with the number “In both broadcast and recorded live and captured
God’s Country.” As the chorus sings in a stage on newsreel film. This seminal moment in mil-
setting, the juvenile stars, posing as Franklin lions of Americans’ lives is recreated in several
and Eleanor Roosevelt, are driven up to the prominent films. In both The Sullivans (1944)
Capitol in an open car—a grinning Mickey and Pride of the Marines (1945), families sol-
with FDR’s trademark cigarette holder emnly listen to the actual speech in the inti-
clamped in his mouth. macy of their own homes. On occasion, ex-
188 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

pressions of near veneration for FDR would umentaries. Fictional exceptions would be
also occur in Hollywood’s wartime produc- confined to the odd formal portrait and a few
tions, epitomized by the comment of a tough topical remarks referring to him in historical
merchant marine sailor in Action in the North dramas. A good example of the latter would
Atlantic (1943): “I got faith in God, FDR, and be A Man Called Peter (1955), a biography of
the Brooklyn Dodgers.” Peter Marshall, the beloved pastor of “the
Yet the myth of Roosevelt as the approach- church of the presidents” in Washington. FDR
able leader remained the most cinematically is referred to on several occasions, including
appealing. In Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), one instance regarding a presidential visit, and
starring James Cagney as actor, composer, and his death is mourned, but Roosevelt is never
director George M. Cohan (1878–1942), there actually portrayed.
is a stage sequence of Cohan impersonating In fact, casual iconic referents became the
FDR, musically exchanging quips with the most typical postwar portrayal of Roosevelt in
press while doing a lively dancing routine. The period films—vestigial visual or audio remind-
presidential repartee is punctuated by the re- ers of his greatness—most particularly his por-
prise that his comments are strictly “off the trait or passing comments referring to the
record”—a parody of the actual restrictions president or the New Deal. In The Group
placed on the White House press corps re- (1966), which centers on a group of 1933 Vas-
garding directly quoting Roosevelt at news sar graduates, one particularly vocal FDR sup-
conferences. This patriotic spectacular, which porter works for the NRA (posters of the Blue
metaphorically wraps FDR in the “Grand Old Eagle and FDR side by side); in the small town
Flag,” is framed by scenes of a personal visit to where the eponymous heroes of Bonnie and
the Oval Office by Cohan to receive a medal. Clyde (1967) share some intimate moments
The almost casual nature of the meeting shows before their final bloody rendezvous with the
Cohan as deferential but in no way obsequi- law, a large portrait of Roosevelt seems to
ous. Likewise, FDR engages the entertainer in watch over them; and in The Green Mile (1999)
an informal yet respectful manner—further Tom Hanks’s humane death-row officer sits in
emphasized by a very lifelike impersonation of his office beneath the benevolent gaze from a
Roosevelt’s voice. wall-mounted photograph of FDR.
The symbolism of FDR’s image, even fol- Interestingly, among Depression-era films
lowing his death in April 1945, could imply released since 1945, the more downbeat the
powerful social connotations. The film noir portrayal of 1930s America, the more likely the
classic Crossfire, RKO’s top grosser of 1947, film will not include specific references to the
centers on a psychopathic soldier who savagely New Deal or FDR. Ironweed (1987), featuring
kills a “Jew boy” veteran. A fellow member of an alcoholic drifter, is an obvious example.
his platoon exposes the murderer after being Two more compelling films are Night of the
lectured on prejudice by a detective. During Hunter (1955) and Bound for Glory (1976).
most of this darkly lit scene, a highlighted por- Although both eschew overt references to
trait of Roosevelt looms in the background— FDR’s administration, one could argue that
suggesting that FDR’s spirit continues to de- their protagonists capture the New Deal
mand the elimination of all forms of bigotry. spirit. For instance, in the former film, Lillian
The omnipresence of references to FDR and Gish’s simple farmwoman defends homeless
his administration in movie theatres during his children imperiled by an evil, predatory
presidency was followed by his virtual absence preacher. The latter film focuses on the wan-
from the screen until 1960—aside from rele- derings of singer-composer Woody Guthrie
vant actuality footage incorporated into doc- (1912–1967), whose music came to symbolize
 FRANKLIN AND ELEANOR ROOSEVELT ] 189

the American people’s struggle to surmount struggles out of his wheelchair, his braces
the Depression’s hardships. clearly visible, to a standing position, histri-
One might suppose that the first major post- onically proclaiming, “Do not tell me it can’t
war Hollywood production to depict the Pearl be done!”
Harbor attack fictionally, Tora! Tora! Tora! Fortunately, the previously mentioned doc-
(1970), would include scenes with Roosevelt. umentary, The American Experience: The Pres-
But FDR is absent from this film, despite its idents—FDR, provides a more historically re-
docudrama recounting of the activities of vir- liable full biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
tually all other key participants. However, Narrated by David McCullough, and with use-
there are numerous verbal references to “the ful insights by such individuals as one of the
president,” including those by aides who are president’s grandsons and the historian Doris
frantically attempting to keep him informed of Kearns Goodwin, it provides a balanced por-
Japan’s intentions. Perhaps, because these trait of both the private and public lives of
scenes tend to imply vacillation on the part of FDR and Eleanor. The first part, “The Center
the administration, the filmmakers chose to of the World,” examines the Roosevelts’ early
downplay Roosevelt’s direct involvement in years, including a frank discussion of FDR’s
the decision-making process. affair with Lucy Mercer Rutherford and its
When Pearl Harbor was released in 2001, profound impact on his relationship with
much was made of its candid portrayal of FDR, Eleanor. The next episode, “Fear Itself,” cen-
as well as its special-effects re-creation of Ja- ters on FDR’s struggle with polio, incorpo-
pan’s assault on the U.S. Pacific Fleet on De- rating some of the very rare footage and ex-
cember 7, 1941. Although one might dispute tant photo stills that clearly show him coping
the film’s historical accuracy, Pearl Harbor with his disability. The last two parts, “The
pointedly acknowledges Roosevelt’s physical Grandest Job Ever” and “The Juggler,” deal
condition. In every scene in which he appears, with FDR’s presidency. Though FDR is de-
the camera focuses on his wheelchair. This is scribed as “deeply shaken” by the attack on
epitomized by the dramatic (and totally fic- Pearl Harbor, the audience is shown, in its
tional) scene in which a grimacing president, entirety, the newsreel footage of a determined
played by Jon Voight, having listened to ex- FDR at the podium before the Congress de-
cuses from his advisors pertaining to the dif- livering his stirring “Day of Infamy” war
ficulty of militarily responding to the attack, speech on December 8, 1941.

References
Footlight Parade (1933, F)
Filmography Gambling on the High Seas (1940, F)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943, F) Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933, F)
Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937, F) The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F)
The American Experience: The Presidents—FDR The Green Mile (1999, F)
(1994, TV) The Group (1966, F)
Babes in Arms (1939, F) Heroes for Sale (1933, F)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F) Imitation of Life (1934, F)
Bound for Glory (1976, F) Ironweed (1987, F)
Confidence (1933, F) Lady for a Day (1933, F)
Crossfire (1947, F) A Man Called Peter (1955, F)
Eleanor and Franklin (1976, TV) Margin for Error (1943, F)
Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years Mr. Skitch (1933, F)
(1977, TV) Next Time I Marry (1938, F)
190 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE
Night of the Hunter (1955, F) Erenberg, Lewis A., and Susan E. Hirsch, eds. The
Pearl Harbor (2001, F) War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness
Pride of the Marines (1945, F) During World War II. Chicago: University of Chi-
Roosevelt, the Man of the Hour (1933, F) cago Press, 1996.
Soak the Rich (1936, F) Fleming, Thomas. The New Dealer’s War: Franklin D.
The Sullivans (1944, F) Roosevelt and the War Within World War II. New
Sunrise at Campobello (1960, F) York: Basic Books, 2001.
They Got Me Covered (1943, F) Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970, F) and Eleanor Roosevelt—The Home Front in World
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995, TV) War II. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Wild Boys of the Road (1933, F) Kennedy, David M. Freedom from Fear: The American
Woman of the Year (1942, F) People in Depression and War, 1929–1945. New
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, F) York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Ketchum, Richard M. The Borrowed Years, 1938–
1941: America on the Way to War. New York: Ran-
Bibliography dom House, 1989.
Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression Leuchtenburg, William E. Franklin Roosevelt and the
America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni- New Deal. New York: Harper & Row, 1963.
versity Press, 1971. McElvaine, Robert S. The Great Depression: America,
Blum, John Morton. V Was for Victory: Politics and 1929–1941. New York: Random House, 1984.
American Culture During World War II. New York: Muscio, Giuliana. Hollywood’s New Deal. Philadel-
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976. phia: Temple University Press, 1997.
Boime, Albert. The Unveiling of National Icons: A Plea Olson, James S., ed. Historical Dictionary of the New
for Patriotic Iconoclasm. Cambridge: Cambridge Deal: From Inauguration to Preparation for War.
University Press, 1998. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1985.
Burns, James MacGregor. Roosevelt: The Lion and Roffman, Peter, and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social
the Fox. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from
1956. the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana
——. Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom, 1940–1945. University Press, 1981.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1970. Shindler, Colin. Hollywood in Crisis: Cinema and
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884–1933. American Society, 1929–1939. London: Routledge,
New York: Viking, 1991. 1996.
——. Eleanor Roosevelt, 1933–1938. New York: Vi- Shull, Michael S., and David Edward Wilt. Hollywood
king, 1999. War Films, 1937–1945. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
Craig, Douglas B. Fireside Politics: Radio and Political 1996.
Culture in the United States, 1920–1940. Baltimore: Winfield, Betty Houchin. FDR and the News Media.
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Dick, Bernard F. The Star Spangled Screen: The Amer- Wolfskill, G., and John A. Hudson. All but the People:
ican World War II Film. Lexington: University Franklin D. Roosevelt and His Critics. London:
Press of Kentucky, 1985. Macmillan, 1969.
[ DOUGLAS A. NOVERR ]

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

portswriters have never been accused of seventeen, with Baltimore Orioles owner Jack

S trying to write history. Their time-bound

daily columns, reports, and features have
been largely snapshots or the game-by-game
record of a season. But contained within this
Dunn as his legal guardian. Gehrig, the son of
German immigrants, grew up in New York
City and attended Columbia University, where
he was a star athlete in baseball. Ruth spent
journalistic process and emanating from it are almost no time in the minor leagues before
the mythmaking and legend formulation cen- being sold to the Boston Red Sox and helping
tral to American sports, especially professional them, as their ace pitcher, win World Cham-
baseball. The accumulation of personal re- pionships in 1915 and 1916, Ruth’s first full
cords of performance and the detailing of spe- seasons with the club. Ruth came to the Yan-
cial exploits or events allow for the emergence kees with great fanfare in 1920 as part of a
of myth and legend. In baseball, well into the $425,000 financial deal and a newly acquired
modern era, sportswriters served as reporters, reputation as a slugging home-run hitter, hav-
official scorers, and record keepers. The term ing powered a then amazing twenty-nine
“scribe” fit them perfectly. round-trippers in his last season with the Red
With the advent of newsreels covering the Sox. Ruth then cranked up the home-run out-
World Series and early silent feature films put to fifty-four and then fifty-nine in his first
about baseball stars and with the beginning of two seasons with the Yankees. Gehrig came to
national and local broadcasts of games, the the Yankees after two seasons in the minors
mythmaking machinery found new, powerful with brief but impressive visits with the parent
means of transmission and dissemination. club at the ends of the 1923 and 1924 seasons.
Novels and stories spun out by the magazine He became a regular two years after signing a
syndicates fed the imaginations of young boys. contract and showed promise of extra-bases
George Herman “Babe” Ruth and Lou Geh- power and runs-batted-in capacity in the 1925
rig, two of the greatest legends of professional and 1926 seasons.
baseball, were created by their own athletic ex- In the 1927 season, on a team most baseball
ploits and records, by their visibility as the star historians consider the greatest of all time,
players of what became a two-part New York Ruth and Gehrig combined forces to take the
Yankees dynasty in the 1920s and 1930s, and Yankees to 110 regular-seasons wins and a
by their personal publicity agents, sportswrit- World Series sweep over the Pittsburgh Pi-
ers, and first biographers. rates. Ruth slammed sixty home runs and
Their personal backgrounds and stories scored 159 runs, while Gehrig drove in a
were dramatic opposites. Ruth came out of the league-leading 175 runs with a .373 batting av-
background of a family saloon in Baltimore erage (up sixty points from his 1926 average).
and the St. Mary’s Industrial Home, where he The two stars came into conjunction and
grew up and became a pro ballplayer by age would play ten full seasons together (1925

191
192 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

through 1934), with the Yankees winning four Gary Cooper, who was too old to enlist, went
league pennants and three World Series (each on a five-week tour of American bases in New
time in a sweep) during that span. After Ruth Guinea in 1943, and in his appearances before
was released from New York in 1934, Gehrig the troops he recited Gehrig’s famous and elo-
would play four more full seasons and in three quent Yankee Stadium speech, bringing the
consecutive World Series (1936–38) that the men to tears and then to a standing ovation
Yankees won and dominated. (Berg, 373). The film was widely distributed
overseas and seen by servicemen. Pride of the
Gehrig as Common-Man Hero Yankees proved to be a box-office success and
The first feature-film biographies of Ruth and a popularly embraced film because it celebrated
Gehrig were prompted by the debilitating ill- common American values of consistency, ded-
nesses and by the actual or impending deaths ication, and satisfaction gained from family and
of these two greats. The films commemorated marriage. Gehrig’s romance with Eleanor
their rise to stardom and their amazing indi- Twitchell and their mutual love and devotion
vidual success stories. are treated in the film as just as significant an
Pride of the Yankees was released in July accomplishment as Gehrig’s “Iron Horse” con-
1942, a year after Lou Gehrig died at age thirty- secutive-game record, his 1934 Triple Crown
seven of a rare muscular disease. The screen- achievement, and his success as a member of
play, by veteran writers Jo Swerling and Her- two great generations of Yankee ball clubs—the
man J. Mankiewicz, was based on Paul Murderer’s Row and Bronx Bombers teams.
Gallico’s moving biographical tribute pub- What gives Gehrig the composure and dignity
lished the same year. Gehrig’s quiet heroism in his farewell speech, in which he considers
and modesty, his consistency and reliability himself “the luckiest man on the face of the
(with 2,130 consecutive games played between earth,” is his knowledge of a job well done, of
1925 and 1939), his team leadership as captain, the respect of fellow players and fans, and of
and his overcoming social and physical awk- the love and support of a remarkable partner.
wardness to find a loving and beloved wife are Babe Ruth, Bill Dickey (who was Gehrig’s
all celebrated in the film. Eleanor Twitchell roommate), Bob Meusel, and Mark Koenig all
Gehrig provided special assistance to the film, played themselves in Pride, with Ruth dou-
and Teresa Wright (as Eleanor) and Gary Coo- bling for Cooper in the long shots. The film
per (as Lou) gave dignity and sensitivity to the was superbly edited by Daniel Mandell, with
story. Christy Walsh, Gehrig’s public relations documentary footage seamlessly woven in and
agent and good friend, also helped on the film. the staging of Gehrig’s day of honor and
Samuel Goldwyn was persuaded to make the speech done with careful and exact re-creation.
film after first saying a baseball story was “box-
office poison” and then that “if people want Film Hagiography for the Babe
baseball they go to the ballpark” (Berg, 370). The Babe Ruth Story was released in late July
But when Niven Bush, a story editor, showed 1948. Babe Ruth, dying of cancer in a New
Goldwyn newsreels of the Lou Gehrig Appre- York City hospital, saw the premier of the film
ciation Day held at Yankee Stadium on July 4, but, because of pain, was unable to sit through
1939, Goldwyn was moved to tears and or- it (Creamer, 424). The film was based on a
dered the project into production. In the film’s book by veteran sportswriter Bob Considine,
text prologue, Gehrig’s life and courageous who cowrote the script with George Callahan.
facing of death with “valor and fortitude” are Ruth traveled to California to assist in the film-
connected to the American soldiers then dying ing. His death on August 16, 1948, completed
on the far-flung battlefields of World War II. the story of the film, which in the final scene
 BABE RUTH AND LOU GEHRIG ] 193

saw him courageously accept the use of a “se- the deep disappointment of never becoming a
rum never before used in medicine” in the big-league manager and with his rapidly de-
hope of stemming the ravages of his cancer. As clining health. The game rejects him, but fans
the doctors wheel a hopeful Babe down the gather outside the hospital to sing a slow, dir-
hospital corridor, the voiceover narration de- gelike “Take Me out to the Ballgame,” while
scribes “the Babe who had performed mirac- thousands of letters fill his room and give him
ulous feats” making now the “greatest play of hope even in the darkest hours. In the end, this
his life” by offering “his life to help them [the story of a commoner’s rising to the status of
fans] and theirs.” national hero and icon is based on the theme
The film is filled with misrepresentations of never quitting and never forgetting that
and fictions about Babe’s life and career. Babe baseball is about the faith and support of the
did not submit to an untested experimental fans. Ruth’s actual life is elevated to a national
cancer treatment serum, nor did he show up tale about success and about aging, illness, and
in the hospital room of the just-deceased dying.
Yankee manager Miller Huggins to say he was The Babe Ruth Story was not as successful
sorry for giving Huggins grief, worry, and or popular as the Gehrig biopic because it
strain and to ask for his manager’s forgive- lacked the high production qualities, was not
ness. The film’s story of the “called shot” as skillfully edited, and did not have the im-
home run in the 1932 World Series has Ruth mediate connection to current history that
hitting it for a seriously ill boy named Johnny Pride of the Yankees had in its connection to
in Gary, Indiana, with Claire Ruth shouting the war and battlefield heroism in 1942. The
to him from the stands, “Don’t forget Ruth film story seemed more contrived and
Johnny.” William Bendix, playing the Babe, staged, and the Babe’s death overshadowed a
emphasizes the called shot by gesturing three film about his life. Grief and a national sense
times to the centerfield bleachers where he of loss made the film seem ill timed and even
would hit the next pitch. The biopic also inappropriate.
downplays Ruth’s private dissipation and ex-
cesses and his challenges to authority and in- Modern Updates of the Two Legends
stead focuses on the celebration of his rise to The original Gehrig story was updated in 1978
fame as the “Superman of baseball” and as a with an NBC feature called A Love Affair: The
personification of all that is essentially Amer- Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story, with Blythe Dan-
ican. His redeeming qualities are his love of ner and Edward Herrmann. Based on the 1976
baseball, his fondness for children and gen- book My Luke and I, by Eleanor Gehrig and
erosity toward them, and his incredible ability Joseph Durso, the film offers Mrs. Gehrig’s
to inspire hope and even effect miracles. At perspective and focuses on their six years of
one point, Claire Hodgson, who is not yet marriage and two years of courtship. It is a
Mrs. Ruth, tells a drunken Babe, dressed as sensitive and compelling love story that deep-
Santa Claus to give gifts to waiting hospital- ens an appreciation for Gehrig’s character, his
ized children, “Whether you asked for it or quiet heroism, and his deep attachment to his
not, you represent the dreams and ambitions home life.
of millions of kids. How you act, they act. In 1992 John Goodman starred in The Babe,
Never forget that.” Chastened, Babe sends his with Kelly McGillis as Claire and Trini Alva-
agent in to distribute the presents. rado as Helen Woodford, Ruth’s first wife.
The film evokes sympathy for the Babe when This film shows in full measure all of Ruth’s
his abilities begin to decline and he can no faults and excesses: his boorishness and cru-
longer deliver on the field. He has to deal with dity, unrestrained indulgence in food and sex,
194 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

arrogance and self-centeredness, and almost shown as cheated and misused by the owners
infantile and juvenile personality, which con- and, in the end, completely disillusioned by the
stantly sought novelty and sensual gratifica- game he loved. Critics and reviewers blasted
tion. Ruth is even shown coming apart emo- the film for its inaccuracies and fabrications,
tionally, attacking umpires and fans. Unsettled with Stephen Jay Gould saying the film “chose
and restless, Ruth refuses to accept rules and to follow the most vulgar, cardboard, clichéd
boundaries. He prevails only as long as his version of the [Ruth] myth” (34).
power and hitting eye can be drawn upon. The The story of Lou Gehrig has been treated sen-
story ends with his final game in 1935 for the sitively and movingly in two notable films,
lowly Boston Braves, when he belts three con- whereas Babe Ruth biopics have been less well
secutive home runs against the Pittsburgh Pi- received. Ruth’s life and career are more entan-
rates, takes the salute from the fans, and then gled in myth and legend and in a larger-than-
deliberately drops his cap at the feet of the life picture filled with irresolvable contradic-
Braves’ owner. As he leaves the field, he meets tions and complexities. The best dramatization
an adult Johnny Sylvester, a boy he had earlier of Ruth’s life turned out to be not a feature-
saved from death with a promised home run, length film but a 1984 play, The Babe, written
and Babe says, “I’m gone, Johnny, I’m gone,” by Bob and Ann Acosta, with Max Gail as Babe
while Johnny says “You’re the best. You’re the Ruth. Broadcast on ESPN, this one-character
best there’s ever been.” In the 1948 film, Babe show, set in the Yankees locker room, has three
hits the three round-trippers and then singles. scenes and allows the Babe to speak for himself
He calls a young rookie into running for him in his own voice with a poignancy and human-
and says “Run for me kid. Play for me too. ity neither Ruth biopic achieved. These films
. . . Be good to the game, kid. Give it everything show that Gehrig is eminently more under-
you’ve got. Baseball will be good for you.” standable and easier to identify with, while the
Directed by Arthur Hiller, the 1992 film Babe eludes our grasp and we stand in awe and
truncates Ruth’s life, noting only in an after- wonder at his feats and the extremes in his life.
word that he “never managed” and “died of In our imaginations and fantasies we dream of
throat cancer.” Goodman’s Babe is a flawed being capable of Ruthian exploits and having
and pathetic individual looking for the love, an insatiable zest for life, but in our waking
acceptance, and family he was denied as a boy hours we know that Gehrig-like consistency, re-
orphan. While he does gain a family life with sponsibility, and reliability will earn us true es-
Claire and two adopted daughters, Ruth is teem and personal rewards.

References
Filmography Bibliography
The Babe (1984, TV; 1992, F) Berg, A. Scott. Goldwyn: A Biography. New York: Bal-
Babe Ruth (1991, TV) lantine, 1989.
The Babe Ruth Story (1948, F) Bergan, Ronald. Sports in the Movies. New York: Pro-
Headin’ Home (1920, F) teus, 1982.
Lou Gehrig’s Greatest Day (1955, TV) Creamer, Robert W. Babe: The Legend Comes to Life.
The Lou Gehrig Story (1956, TV) New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig Story Gallico, Paul. Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees. New
(1978, TV) York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1942.
Pride of the Yankees (1942, F) Good, Howard. Diamonds in the Dark: America, Base-
Slide, Babe, Slide (1932, D) ball and the Movies. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1997.
 BABE RUTH AND LOU GEHRIG ] 195
Gould, Stephen Jay. “Say It Ain’t So, ‘Babe’: Myth Trachtenberg, Leo. The Wonder Team: The True Story
Confronts Reality.” New York Times, 26 April 1992. of the Incomparable 1927 New York Yankees. Bowl-
Manchel, Frank. Great Sports Movies. New York: ing Green, OH: Bowling Green State University
Franklin Watts, 1980. Popular Press, 1995.
Mote, James. Everything Baseball. Englewood Cliffs, Williams, Peter. The Sports Immortals: Deifying
NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1989. the American Athlete. Bowling Green, OH:
Smelser, Marshall. The Life That Ruth Built: A Biogra- Bowling Green State University Popular Press,
phy. New York: Quadrangle, 1975. 1994.
[ MARTIN A. JACKSON ]

Harry S. Truman

arry S. Truman’s historical stock stands As a twentieth-century president, Harry S.

H high in the new millennium. He is rou-

tinely listed among the “great” or “near
great” presidents in America’s past, and, even
thirty years after his death and a half century
Truman was often captured by the motion pic-
ture camera. The newsreels of the mid-1940s,
when Truman was a Missouri senator and later
vice president, give him ample footage, and
after his presidency (1945–52), he exerts a there is much to see of the prepresidential Tru-
powerful attraction on historians, political ex- man in these reels. Fox Movietone, Hearst, and
perts, and ordinary Americans alike. David Pathé all have extensive listings for Truman be-
McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize–winning biogra- fore April 1945, when he succeeded Franklin
phy Truman (1989) was a surprise best-seller, Roosevelt in the Oval Office. Once he was pres-
and Truman’s autobiography Memoirs (1955– ident, of course, the image of a feisty Truman
56) won a large popular readership, as have became familiar around the world, and espe-
other books about Truman such as Merle cially in American theaters. Films for the Hu-
Miller’s Plain Speaking (1974). Scholarly work manities, for example, offers a useful compila-
about Truman is considerable and ranges from tion in 1945: Year of Victory (1992), an overview
the laudatory to the critical, with debate con- that covers the crowded events of that water-
tinuing on such matters as the use of the shed year, including Truman at Potsdam, Tru-
atomic bomb and Truman’s civil rights record. man and the atomic-bomb decision, and the
Despite such controversy, in the years since his announcement of victory over Japan. On the
presidency Truman has achieved that rarest of controversial matter of the atomic bomb, Tru-
distinctions: standing as a politician who was man himself defends his decision in Hiroshima:
genuinely popular with the American people. The Legacy (1986) from Films for the Human-
The unassuming young man from Missouri, ities. As he did throughout his life, Truman ar-
a haberdasher and local judge, came late to gued that the bomb saved lives, both American
national attention, but once in the Oval Office and Japanese, by avoiding the perils of an in-
he displayed unimagined powers and depth. vasion of the Japanese homeland in 1945.
Simply and vigorously, Harry Truman The Cold War and the collisions of the late
reached out to the average American, taking 1940s may be seen in Superpowers Collide, also
the reins of government in the midst of war from Films for the Humanities. This episode
and in the footsteps of the awesome Franklin from Inside the Cold War (1990), hosted by Da-
Roosevelt. His strength was in speaking his vid Frost, explores the Berlin Airlift and other
mind, in making hard choices (the famous early Cold War issues in which Truman was
“The Buck Stops Here” sign on his desk prominently involved. The New York Times se-
speaks volumes about his own image), and in ries Origins of the Cold War (1990) features sev-
appearing to be an ordinary man in extraor- eral programs about Truman’s presidency, cov-
dinary circumstances. ering such issues as the Truman Doctrine and

196
 HARRY S. TRUMAN ] 197

the outbreak of the Korean War. Most pertinent

is The Cold War: Containing the Soviet Threat,
in which Truman plays a central role during the
crisis in Korea and the early Soviet-American
confrontations in Europe. Truman figures
prominently in another series, The Cold War,
produced in twenty-four episodes by CNN and
aired on that network in 1998 and 1999.
Hollywood has not yet portrayed Truman in
any feature films, but he is the subject of two
excellent made-for-TV films: Give ’Em Hell, F I G U R E 2 3 . Truman (1995). The HBO docudrama
realistically reenacts the famous moment when newly
Harry!, starring James Whitmore (1975), and elected President Harry S. Truman (Gary Sinise), who
Truman, starring Gary Sinise (1995). The first many people thought would be soundly defeated by
is taken from a successful one-man Broadway Thomas Dewey, holds up the premature newspaper
play based on the book by Merle Miller. Whit- headline announcing his defeat. Courtesy HBO and
Spring Creek Productions.
more speaks the words of Harry Truman as he
reminisces to the audience about a remarkable
life, from his frontier childhood in the Mid-
west to the meetings with world leaders during powerful biographical drama. Sinise achieves a
his term. The exuberance and solid values that form of theatrical magic by taking on the ap-
made Truman a popular figure are underlined pearance and voice of Truman, and it is not
in the show, and although some of the contro- hard to imagine that the man himself is speak-
versies are sidestepped, a rounded portrait of ing to the camera.
the man does emerge. The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in
The HBO feature-film production, with Sin- Independence, Missouri, commissioned a film
ise as a striking Truman portrayer, weaves to- in 1997 to orient visitors, and it offers a vig-
gether the career, both public and private, of orous (if hagiographic) account of his career.
the “Man from Missouri.” Truman’s happy Directed by Charles Guggenheim, Harry Tru-
marriage, his relations with Kansas City’s man, 1884–1972 is a forty-five-minute explo-
“Boss” Pendergast, and his recognition of Is- ration of Truman’s progress from Missouri to
rael are among the subjects dealt with in this the White House and afterward.

References
Bibliography
Filmography Hamby, Alonzo L. Man of the People: A Life of Harry
The Cold War (1998–99, TV) S. Truman. New York: Oxford University Press,
Give ’Em Hell, Harry! (1975, TV) 1995.
Harry Truman, 1884–1972 (1997, D) McCullough, David. Truman. New York: Simon &
Hiroshima: The Legacy (1986, D) Schuster, 1989.
H.S.T., Days of Decision (1963, TV) Miller, Merle. Plain Speaking. New York: Putnam,
Inside The Cold War (1990, D) 1974.
1945: Year of Victory (1992, D) Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States.
Truman (1995, TV) 2d ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1999.
 [ JOHN D. THOMAS ]

George Washington

e courteous to all, intimate with few.” After examining how historians currently

“B George Washington gave those words of

advice to his nephew, but they can also
easily be applied to the relationship our first
president has had with the American people.
view Washington, a considerably different,
more complicated and contradictory picture
emerges. Because so many portraits of Wash-
ington depict him as regal and reserved—
Almost every citizen knows Washington as which he quite often was—few people have
the mythic father of our nation, but very few any inkling of how volatile the man could be.
have a notion of what the man was really like. In fact, Washington had quite a temper and
Americans commonly know Washington as was prone to fits of cursing. He was also a very
the tenacious military leader whose defensive proud man who was deeply concerned with
strategies helped the fledgling nation win in- how history would remember him. In contrast
dependence. During his presidency (1789– to this pride and self-assurance, Washington
97), Washington kept the nation out of war, was quite insecure, not only because of the
created our cabinet and currency, and, per- death of his father when he was eleven, but also
haps more than any other Founding Father, because of his almost complete lack of formal
helped keep the country unified. The United education and his rural upbringing. He took
States named its capital for him, built the tow- great umbrage when anyone questioned his
ering Washington Monument in his honor, authority. In spite of his lack of schooling and
and put his solemn face on the ubiquitous dol- lack of exposure to culture as a youth, he grew
lar bill. to love theater and music, became an accom-
But that is all most Americans know. A great plished amateur architect, and earned a repu-
number would certainly be shocked to learn tation as an experimental farmer, one of whose
that Washington was also sensitive, unschooled, projects was to introduce the mule to this
emotional, pessimistic, and not an overwhelm- country. Washington was also quite stoic per-
ing intellect. The reason so many people have sonally, but he spent lavishly on entertaining.
such a sketchy impression of Washington is that A slaveholder, he was strict and demanding
he was a victim of his own good (and frequently with his slaves, but he grew to find slavery re-
apocryphal) press. Many of the common pugnant. (He took the radical step of freeing
myths about Washington—that he could not his slaves in his will.) Another surprising fact
tell a lie, that he threw a coin across the Rap- is that Washington was anything but a com-
pahannock, that he kneeled in prayer at Valley manding speaker.
Forge looking for divine guidance—were per- The popular impression of Washington as a
petrated by nineteenth-century biographer flawless military commander is something of a
Parson Weems. As a result, Washington is now myth. Although his army eventually wore
seen by many as remote, aloof, and not par- down the superb British forces in what
ticularly interesting. amounted to a war of attrition, during the

198
 GEORGE WASHINGTON ] 199

Revolutionary War the general fought in Jones (1959). Close examination reveals that
merely nine major battles and won only a third films about Washington’s life and character
of them. Washington was not beyond criticism unconsciously reflect the eras in which they
even in his own time. For example, in 1778, were made and that his image was manipu-
Pennsylvania attorney general Jonathan Dick- lated to meet the rhetorical needs of the pro-
inson Sergeant corresponded with Congress- ject. All of these films present Washington very
man James Lovell, telling him that “thousands much in the tradition of Parson Weems. And,
of lives and millions of property are yearly sac- keeping in mind the impact that Weems had
rificed to the inefficiency of the commander- on Washington’s legacy, it is important to note
in-chief. Two battles he has lost for us by two how these sorts of portrayals have kept those
such blunders as might have disgraced a sol- myths alive. As film scholar George F. Custen
dier of three months’ standing” (Randall, 354). writes, “While most biopics do not claim to be
But if Washington was such a flawed indi- the definitive history of an individual or era,
vidual, how did he manage to have such a pro- they are often the only source of information
found impact on the founding of our nation? many people will ever have on a given histori-
Part of the answer rests in his disciplined char- cal subject” (7).
acter. As Robert F. Jones notes, “His talents in The New York Times described D. W. Grif-
most fields were relatively commonplace; what fith’s America (1924) as a movie “that will stir
he did was to raise those talents to the level of the patriotic hearts of the nation as probably
superlative accomplishment by self-discipline, no other picture ever has done.” Apparently
a character trait in which he was certainly ex- American patriotism was not stirring enough
traordinary. This enabled him, in turn, to pay for Griffith, because he contrived a love story
unremitting attention to details, essential to to carry the plot. Two scenes are crucial to un-
coordinating all the disparate parts of an or- derstanding how Washington was shaped as a
ganization so they worked toward the accom- symbolic figure and contrived to fit the pur-
plishment of a goal, whether it be the lands poses of this film.
and slaves of Mount Vernon toward the at- In addition to chopping down the cherry
taining of personal wealth or the resources of tree and crossing the Delaware, one of the
the States and the soldiers of the Continental most persistent images of Washington is of his
Army toward a victory over the English” (157). time spent at Valley Forge during the winter
With such a fascinating and complicated of 1777–78. On one hand, Washington expert
subject with which to work, one might assume Willard Sterne Randall writes, “The pain and
that the Hollywood film industry would pro- suffering that Washington’s troops suffered
duce compelling cinema about the father of that winter . . . have become a cliché in Amer-
our new nation. Regrettably, this has not been ican history. . . . It was not an unusually cold
the case. winter: in fact, it was one of the warmest in
memory” (351). But warm memories are ex-
The Dramatic Washington actly what many people have of Valley Forge,
Though no Hollywood feature film has ever thanks to the apocryphal image of Washington
been made primarily about the life and times kneeling in the snow, praying for guidance.
of Washington, America’s first chief executive The myth lives on into our time in a manner
has appeared in supporting roles in about a clearly designed to inspire national admira-
dozen movies. Of those films, three are avail- tion: that image of Washington on bended
able on video featuring Washington as more knee with hands clenched in prayer has graced
than merely a spectral presence—America two postage stamps (1928 and 1977) as well as
(1924), Unconquered (1947), and John Paul J. C. Leyendecker’s famous cover of the Sat-
200 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

urday Evening Post in 1935. Like the U.S. Postal Nation (1915), a racist picture that proudly
Service, Griffith was not timorous about using displayed its nativist sentiments.
fiction to reinforce the American belief that A similarly iconic Washington appears in
Washington was a divinely inspired hero. Cecil B. De Mille’s Unconquered (1947). The
Through an intertitle, America informs the au- movie focuses on Captain Christopher Holden
dience that at Valley Forge “Washington’s (Gary Cooper), a frontiersman who saves both
army suffered through the winter of 1777–78, a fort and his love from the evil clutches of a
the worst in fifteen years.” Then the film cuts rogue (Howard Da Silva) attempting to under-
to the classic shot of Washington (Arthur mine America’s march toward independence.
Dewey) kneeling in the snow, hands folded in One scene is key in showing how De Mille
prayer, eyes to the sky, seeking guidance from worked to manipulate Washington’s life in or-
the Lord. der for it to match the hagiographic myth.
The final scene in America depicts the in- Washington (Richard Gaines) finds Holden
auguration of Washington in New York City. staring uneasily at an auction of white inden-
The image itself is not incorrect—Washington tured servants brought over from Britain
standing on a balcony with ecstatically cheer- (Holden’s love object, played by Paulette God-
ing crowds below him. The intent of the final dard, is one of them), and Washington ven-
tableau is to show America’s first president as tures this bit of personal information: “One of
an icon of strength and power, showered with my teachers was an indentured convict, Chris,
adulation. But at the time, Washington was a fine man, but he never could teach me to
feeling anything but strong and powerful. De- spell.”
scribing the new president’s mood as “pessi- Although it is true that Washington did re-
mistic and gloomy,” Harrison Clark writes ceive much of his education from an inden-
that, “for Washington, the thought that his tured servant, the film does not explain that
countrymen expected him to be a living god the man was owned by Washington’s father,
served only to deepen his human worries” that Washington’s father also owned dozens of
(132). That apprehension, however, was cer- slaves, and that Washington himself would
tainly not a color on the palette from which own some 350 after his marriage. Unconquered
Griffith painted his epic portrait. Still, at the premiered in 1947, when an offhand remark
time America was released, the country was about Washington’s being schooled by a white
dealing with corruption in Warren G. Har- indentured servant was one thing, but opening
ding’s administration, including the infamous the Pandora’s box of slavery at a time before
Teapot Dome scandal, and the resplendent, the nation had begun to deal adequately with
unimpeachable image of Washington on its racial divisions was quite another. De Mille,
movie screens would certainly have been re- for his part, kept the box hermetically sealed.
ceived as assuring and restorative. In addition, It is also important to note that the Cold War–
America was released the same year the xeno- inspired anticommunist investigations began
phobic Immigration Act of 1924 was passed. in Hollywood around the time of this film’s
The law was designed to maintain America’s release and that the film’s moral, dignified por-
putatively Nordic bloodlines through immi- trait of Washington could easily be seen as an
gration restrictions, and the image of the he- artistic salvo from the film industry to under-
roic, ever-so-white Washington in America score its faith in classic American (that is, an-
could easily have been seen as underscoring ticommunist) values.
the sentiment behind the law. It should also In 1959, Washington once again appeared
not be forgotten that America was made by the on the screen, this time playing muse to heroic
same filmmaker who created The Birth of a sea captain John Paul Jones (Robert Stack) in
 GEORGE WASHINGTON ] 201

a portrait not very different from that of Un- ample is Monsieur Beaucaire, a 1946 Para-
conquered. As a clue to understanding how mount release starring Bob Hope as the
America felt about Washington during the eponymous barber who flees France to set up
1950s, historian Karal Ann Marling writes that shop in the colonies. At the end of the picture,
“in his appearance as a kind of historical mi- Washington (Douglass Dumbrille) trots into
rage praying in the cold of Valley Forge on Beaucaire’s barber shop for a shave and a hair-
Norman Rockwell’s 1950 Boy Scout calendar, cut, and, when Beaucaire asks him what his
George Washington was a holy picture” (378). plans for the day are, Washington replies, “Oh,
In director John Farrow’s John Paul Jones, Jefferson and the boys are cooking up some
Washington ( John Crawford) is held in divine sort of a declaration or something. I thought I
reverence. The movie also underscores how might go over and watch them sign it.” Comic
filmmakers never allow facts to get in the way irony has never been so rich.
of national myths. The key scene in John Paul Washington once again plays the fool in the
Jones occurs as the captain, fed up with the 1942 Jack Benny film George Washington Slept
bureaucratic balderdash that is keeping him Here. The story hinges on the fact that Bill
from fighting the good fight on the high seas, Fuller’s (Benny) wife (Ann Sheridan) buys a
travels to Valley Forge during that historic dilapidated house in the countryside, mostly
winter of 1777–78 to deliver his letter of res- because she is in awe of the fact that Washing-
ignation personally. The future first president ton once spent the night there. When they be-
lectures Jones like a naughty schoolboy, asking gin renovating, the couple goes wildly into
him, “What are you fighting for, the principle debt, and things never stop going awry. At one
of liberty or promotion?” point, once again perpetuating the Weemsian
In fact, that dramatic encounter never hap- myth of Washington and his ax, the frustrated
pened, because that winter Jones had already family maid declares, “George Washington
sailed to France to see Benjamin Franklin. Bos- should have chopped this house down instead
ley Crowther of the New York Times, for one, of the cherry tree.”
felt that Farrow’s historic tinkering was over Watching and reading the critical responses
the top: “The old Hollywood disposition to re- to these films featuring Washington as a char-
construct American history in the spirit and acter, one is left with the feeling that a great
style of steel engravings or large patriotic lith- injustice has been done to our first president.
ographs is exercised again in [producer] Sam- Washington has been portrayed as a ridicu-
uel Bronston’s pseudo-biographical ‘John Paul lously virtuous one-trick political pony. In the
Jones.’ ” However, that type of portrait may same way that Jefferson Smith stands in naive
have been psychologically reassuring for many awe before the Washington Monument in
Americans at the time. President Eisenhower, Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,
a Washingtonesque war hero whose adminis- filmmakers have also treated Washington with
trations were characterized by peace and pros- a reverence that has done little more than per-
perity, was about to finish his second and final petuate the Washington of Weems’s didactic
term, potentially leaving the nation without a tales.
strong, experienced leader to deal with critical
issues including an international Cold War The Washington Myth
and increasing domestic racial tensions. Whatever Happened to George Washington?
(1996) has attempted to right some of these
The Comic Washington cinematic and historical wrongs. In it, Ben
Washington has also appeared as a flat char- Wattenberg moderates a roundtable discus-
acter in a number of comic farces. A good ex- sion with a quartet of Washington experts
202 [ NOTABLE PEOPLE

(Daniel Boorstin, Stanley Elkins, Edwin Yoder, gress, Washington’s relationship with women,
and James Rees) to “look beyond the mythol- and Washington’s connection to modern-day
ogy of the father of our country.” America. Perhaps the most compelling portion
The participants discuss matters including of the programming was a two-hour segment
Washington’s lackluster military record and during which historian Richard Norton Smith
his intellectual limitations; however, the issue answered questions of callers from all over
they continually return to is Washington’s America. Smith fielded questions that touched
character, which was most crucial to his suc- on everything from Washington’s sense of hu-
cess in helping to establish this nation. For ex- mor (he had a quite developed one) to whether
ample, as Yoder explains, “People forget that or not he had sexual relations with his slaves
at this time the infant United States was sur- (he did not). A twelve-year-old boy even called
rounded by hostile and alien powers—the to ask if the first president had indeed chopped
British in Canada, the French in the Missis- down the fabled cherry tree. Many of the call-
sippi Valley, the Spanish in Florida . . . and ers expressed a desire to know more about the
Washington had the vision and character to real Washington, as opposed to the saccharine
keep this struggling young nation out of this myths that have been disseminated so widely.
vortex of European rivalries and ambitions.” Judging from the hunger for knowledge
Although these experts do a good job of hu- about Washington expressed by those callers,
manizing Washington, their reliance on such it seems as if America is now ready and eager
an amorphous term as “character” makes their to get to know and truly understand its first
arguments somewhat imprecise. Even Wash- president. Hollywood films have shortchanged
ington demythologizer Marcus Cunliffe is Washington over the years, inflating his image
wary of attaching the term to our first presi- beyond recognition. Certainly, such studies as
dent, writing pejoratively that, in the work of Willard Sterne Randall’s George Washington: A
Weems, “character is the key word” (8). Life and William M. S. Rasmussen and Robert
A more solid, substantive and precise ex- S. Tilton’s George Washington: The Man Be-
amination of Washington was presented by the hind the Myths provide a basis of fact for future
C-SPAN series American Presidents: George films about our first president. When such
Washington. It ran for more than six hours, films are produced, Americans will rediscover
and segment topics included Washington’s Washington as a man much less precious than
boyhood home, Washington and slavery, they were led to believe, but just as important
Washington’s relationship with the first Con- in the founding of our country as they knew.

References
The Phantom President (1932, F)
Filmography The Remarkable Andrew (1942, F)
Alexander Hamilton (1931, F) Sons of Liberty (1939, F)
America (1924, F) The Spy (1914, F)
American Presidents: George Washington (1999, D) Unconquered (1947, F)
Are We Civilized? (1934, F) Whatever Happened to George Washington? (1996, D)
The Battle Cry of Peace (1915, F) Where Do We Go from Here? (1945, F)
Betsy Ross (1917, F)
The Dawn of Freedom (1916, F)
George Washington Slept Here (1942, F) Bibliography
Give Me Liberty (1936, F) Brookhiser, Richard. Founding Father: Rediscovering
John Paul Jones (1959, F) George Washington. New York: Free Press, 1996.
Monsieur Beaucaire (1946, F) Clark, Harrison. All Cloudless Glory: The Life of
 GEORGE WASHINGTON ] 203
George Washington from Youth to Yorktown. Wash- Colonial Revivals and American Culture, 1876–
ington, DC: Regnery, 1995. 1986. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
Crowther, Bosley. Review of John Paul Jones. New 1988.
York Times, 17 June 1959. Potter, David M. People of Plenty: Economic Abun-
Cunliffe, Marcus. George Washington: Man and dance and the American Character. Chicago: Uni-
Monument. Boston: Little, Brown, 1958. versity of Chicago Press, 1954.
Custen, George F. Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Con- Randall, Willard Sterne. George Washington: A Life.
structed Public History. New Brunswick, NJ: Rut- New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
gers University Press, 1992. Rasmussen, William M. S., and Robert S. Tilton.
Fraser, George MacDonald. The Hollywood History of George Washington: The Man Behind the Myths.
the World. New York: Ballantine, 1988. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1999.
Jones, Robert F. George Washington. New York: Ford- Smith, Richard Norton. Patriarch: George Washington
ham University Press, 1986. and the New American Nation. Boston: Houghton
Marling, Karal Ann. George Washington Slept Here: Mifflin, 1993.
IV.
Groups

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ DAVID E. WILT AND MICHAEL SHULL ]

African Americans After World War II

lthough slavery ended with the Civil War, variety of changes that were not necessarily

A progress toward racial equality was slow,

especially because of the so-called Jim
Crow laws enacted to maintain white suprem-
acy (see “The South”). African Americans
synchronized with the slow but fairly steady
progress being made in society.
Although the most offensive black stereo-
types generally vanished from Hollywood
made some progress over the eighty years fol- movies after World War II, filmmakers were
lowing the Civil War, but it took the total-war slow to replace them with positive images. Ma-
environment of World War II—“requiring jor African American roles in the 1950s and
black assistance, against an enemy that led U.S. 1960s were largely but not exclusively re-
elites to stress their more egalitarian principles, stricted to “message films” in which race
reinforced by internal pressures to live up to played an important part in the film’s plot. The
those principles” (Klinkner, 73)—to set in mo- 1970s saw the reemergence of films with pre-
tion major changes in society. dominantly African American casts, but—
However, the process was still a slow and dif- whether “serious” movies or the so-called
ficult one. The milestones are well known to- blaxploitation genre productions—these mov-
day: President Truman’s executive orders pro- ies were, like the black-cast movies of the 1930s
hibiting discrimination in employment and and 1940s, primarily intended for African
integrating the armed forces (1948); Brown vs. American audiences. Mainstream Hollywood
Board of Education (1954); the Montgomery began to introduce African American per-
bus boycott sparked by Rosa Parks’s action formers and themes into its productions.
(1955); federal troops helping integrate a school These included “color-blind” parts for black
in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957); the March on professionals, black policemen, and so forth,
Washington (1963); the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in which a character’s race was not relevant to
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965; race riots the plot; the presence of these minority roles
(1964–68); and the assassination of Dr. Martin signified a desire for a more realistic portrayal
Luther King Jr. (1968). The process may not yet of a multiethnic America. Major films with Af-
be complete, but few would deny that enor- rican American stars or costars were also pro-
mous strides were made in a relatively short duced, and these were expected to appeal to
period, as if to make up for nearly two centuries audiences white and black. This three-way split
of neglect (see “Civil Rights”). continues to the present: mainstream movies
Post–World War II Hollywood was not un- with African American performers, serious
aware of the gradual move toward social jus- films about the African American experience
tice and racial equality, but neither could it (some of which have a chance of becoming
ignore the resistance to this movement in some “crossover” hits), and popular films aimed at
segments of the population. Consequently, the a predominantly African American audience
African American image in films underwent a (which only rarely find a broader audience).

207
208 [ GROUPS
Social Problem Films egregious examples, and has been called “a
In the early 1940s, as the world crisis drew great leap backwards” (Nesteby, 228).
closer to the shores of the United States, it be- More in line with trends in society as a
came obvious that all Americans would have whole were the “social problem” films pro-
to cooperate if the forces of democracy were duced later in the decade. In addition to pic-
going to prevail against the totalitarian aggres- tures dealing with anti-Semitism (Gentleman’s
sors. Still, it took the threat of a massive protest Agreement and Crossfire, 1947), mental illness
march on Washington to prompt President (The Snake Pit, 1948), and juvenile delin-
Franklin D. Roosevelt to sign, in June 1941, an quency (Knock on Any Door, 1949), the issue
executive order prohibiting racial or religious of racial equality was also addressed. These
discrimination in defense industries. When films were undoubtedly produced for a variety
war came, African Americans served in the of reasons, not all of them altruistic, and they
armed forces and worked on the home front, are more well intentioned than realistic or
although often in segregated positions and fre- groundbreaking, but the very fact that they
quently in the face of prejudice. were made suggests a growing awareness of the
The need for a united front during wartime societal problems that needed to be addressed.
translated to the Hollywood screen. Immedi- The reason for the “social problem” films of
ately before and during World War II, a hand- the immediate postwar years is varied. The
ful of films made a particular point of includ- race hatred of the Nazis and its horrendous
ing atypically strong and admirable African results were widely known, as were the contri-
American characters. For instance, In This Our butions of African Americans to the war effort.
Life (1942) features an African American law Furthermore, almost as soon as the war ceased,
clerk (Ernest Anderson) who is framed by the the NAACP began a series of lawsuits chal-
unsympathetic protagonist (Bette Davis) for a lenging legalized discrimination and segrega-
hit-and-run accident. In Syncopation (1942), a tion. In December 1945, President Truman
young white musician learns jazz from an Af- formed the Committee on Civil Rights; its re-
rican American trumpeter (Todd Duncan). port, issued the following October, con-
Other movies, notably Bataan, Sahara, and demned racial injustice in the United States.
Crash Dive, were clearly an attempt to illustrate World War II had made racism undesirable, at
and foster national solidarity during wartime. least in principle.
Ironically, one of the first postwar films with The most noteworthy of the postwar era
a major African American role almost com- films with racial themes are Home of the Brave
pletely reversed this trend and prompted nu- (1949), Lost Boundaries (1949), Pinky (1949),
merous protests as a result: one historian in- Intruder in the Dust (1949), and No Way Out
dicates the film was “picketed more heavily (1950). Home of the Brave, directed by Stanley
than any film since The Birth of a Nation” Kramer, deals with Peter Moss ( James Ed-
(Leab, 37). This movie was Song of the South wards), an African American soldier who was
(1946), a part-animated, part-live action film stricken with hysterical paralysis after a war-
from the Disney Company, starring James Bas- time mission in the Pacific. A sympathetic psy-
kett as Uncle Remus, who tells stories to en- chiatrist discovers that Moss feels guilty for
tertain and educate a young white boy. The abandoning a fellow GI who had called him
paternalistic “Uncle Tom” stereotype, while “nigger” to the advancing Japanese. The doc-
not without its positive aspects, offended many tor shocks Moss into walking by repeating the
African Americans. Although it was not the slur and says that a history of social injustice
last such holdover from prewar Hollywood predisposed the soldier to react as he did. The
images, Song of the South was one of the most film was released two years after President
 AFRICAN AMERICANS AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 209

Truman’s order mandating equality of treat- school in the house. As with Lost Boundaries,
ment in the armed forces, a belated tribute to there are scenes that overtly depict discrimi-
African American fighting men during war. It nation and prejudice; however, the issue was
was not until October 1954, however, that the once more personalized, suggesting that ra-
last all-black unit was disbanded. cism could be overcome with good intentions
Intruder in the Dust, based on a novel by and that institutional racism was vanishing
William Faulkner, was shot on location in Mis- (Pinky wins a court case against Miss Em’s
sissippi and contains a fairly realistic portrayal white relatives).
of conditions in the South at the time. Lucas No Way Out was the last major entry in the
Beauchamp ( Juano Hernandez) is accused of first wave of racially oriented social problem
shooting a white man. Lucas is proud and films. Sidney Poitier, in his screen debut, plays
stubborn, and he knows what to expect from Luther Brooks, a newly certified doctor who
the white man’s justice. However, a coalition loses an emergency patient in a hospital prison
consisting of a white teenager, his African ward and is accused of murder by the dead
American friend, the white boy’s lawyer uncle, man’s virulently racist brother, Ray Biddle
and an elderly white spinster manages to pre- (Richard Widmark). Biddle foments a race riot
vent Lucas from being lynched and proves his (interestingly enough, the African American
innocence. targets of the planned attack stage a preemp-
Lost Boundaries and Pinky both deal with tive strike rather than wait passively to be as-
light-skinned African Americans who “pass” as saulted). In the end, Brooks proves his moral
white. The first film, based on an actual case, superiority by refusing to kill the racist when
tells the story of a doctor and his family who he has the chance, even after he is shot and
live and work in a white community in the wounded himself. While Ray Biddle’s racism
North, where they are assumed to be white is explained away as a result of his “sick mind”
(the doctor’s children are not even aware that (he is also referred to as a “mental case”), the
they are African American). There is some bitter and hostile actions of other white and
controversy when the truth comes out, but the black residents of the city (one woman spits in
film’s conclusion—which leaves a number of Luther’s face and says “keep your black hands
issues unresolved—suggests that in this partic- off my boy”) are not as easy to overlook.
ular case, the family’s race is irrelevant to their Nonetheless, the film does portray some open-
friends and associates. However, earlier scenes minded and reasonable characters of both
did clearly show that discrimination and prej- races, and the scenes of Luther and his family
udice were still present in the United States. were a rare Hollywood glimpse into middle-
Pinky, directed by Elia Kazan, was a major stu- class African American life.
dio (Twentieth Century–Fox) production with Hollywood’s brief flirtation with liberal
a “name” star ( Jeanne Crain) in the title role. causes faltered in the face of economics (the
Pinky is a light-skinned African American who challenge of television to some extent influ-
attended nursing school in the North. After a enced the types of films being made, and so-
white doctor proposes marriage, Pinky goes cially aware movies became somewhat more
home to the South to think things over. Her rare), and the emergence of more pressing is-
grandmother (Ethel Waters) criticizes Pinky sues (the Korean War, McCarthyism). While
for “passing,” feeling it is wrong to deny one’s images of African Americans did not revert to
identity and live a lie. Pinky inherits a mansion prewar stereotypes, major movies about race
from the white Miss Em, whom she nursed in relations in the United States, or even those
the older woman’s final days; she decides to with significant African American characters,
stay in the South and open a clinic and nursing became scarce, if not nonexistent. A handful
210 [ GROUPS
of sports films exalted the prowess of boxer Joe scheme of Hollywood productions they were
Louis (The Joe Louis Story, 1953), baseball little more than updated versions of prewar
player Jackie Robinson (The Jackie Robinson black-cast movies such as Green Pastures or
Story, 1950), and the Harlem Globetrotters Cabin in the Sky.
basketball team (The Harlem Globetrotters, Sidney Poitier, on the other hand, played
1950; Go, Man, Go! 1953). Although they con- roles in films that could not have been released
tained positive images of African Americans, before World War II. Many of his films dealt
these films were not aimed at a mass audience: overtly with racial issues, including The Defi-
only a limited number of whites with special ant Ones (1958), A Raisin in the Sun (1961),
interests would be expected to view these pic- In the Heat of the Night (1967; five Academy
tures, in addition to African American film- Awards, including best picture), and Guess
goers. Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). Nonetheless,
This relative eclipse came at a time when he was generally cast as such exceptional in-
legal barriers to equality were beginning to fall, dividuals that his race was, if not irrelevant and
although not without considerable resistance. never ignored, then certainly subordinate to
Brown vs. Board of Education, the landmark his characters’ other traits. Poitier earned a
Supreme Court decision declaring school seg- place in mainstream Hollywood never before
regation unconstitutional, was heard in May achieved by an African American actor, but
1954. Within a few months, school systems also a certain amount of hostility from mem-
around the country were forced to desegregate, bers of his own race: “At the height of his star
a process that led to the use of federal troops power . . . Poitier’s ‘ebony saint’ image was
in September 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, increasingly wearing thin for African Ameri-
where local officials refused to comply. The cans; it did not speak to the aspirations or an-
same year saw the passage of the Voting Rights ger of the new black social consciousness that
Act. In 1955 and 1956 the first wave of sit-ins was emerging” (Guerrero, 72).
and boycotts protesting discriminatory poli- One of Poitier’s most famous roles—Dr.
cies and laws took place. These steps irrevo- John Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Din-
cably altered the United States, but the change ner—illustrates both aspects of the controversy.
did not come overnight. Understandably, the Prentice is black, and the film’s raison d’être
controversy was frightening to Hollywood: al- hinges on his race, but he is also a world-
though they were in favor of “equality” and famous surgeon who lives in Switzerland. His
“brotherhood,” the studios saw nothing to engagement to the white Joey Drayton (Kath-
gain from making films about the civil rights arine Houghton) shocks both her parents and
struggle. Motion pictures produced in this era his parents, but the only argument against the
dealt with race obliquely, if at all. marriage is patently specious—namely, that
A number of movies did prominently fea- they are of different races. John and Joey are
ture African Americans, but these films gen- culturally compatible, and because they plan to
erally fell into two categories: mainstream live in Switzerland after they are married, even
movies with Sidney Poitier (or perhaps Harry the argument that their lives would be difficult
Belafonte), and specialty pictures such as in racially intolerant America is irrelevant. The
Bright Road (1953), Porgy and Bess (1959), and film thus boils down the racial issue to its low-
Carmen Jones (1954). The latter two pictures est, most superficial level (skin color), while at
were major studio productions (MGM made the same time ignoring many real questions
Bright Road, but on a low budget) with serious, about race relations in the United States.
respectful depictions of African Americans, Perhaps in response to comments from the
but in terms of their place in the overall African American community, Poitier tried a
 AFRICAN AMERICANS AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 211

(1959), Belafonte, Inger Stevens, and Mel Fer-

rer are the only three people left alive on the
earth after an atomic disaster. The racial sym-
bolism was obvious but muted, subordinate to
the romantic triangle (Stevens meets Belafonte
first and falls in love with him, which causes
trouble when Ferrer shows up, but in the end
they manage to work out their differences).
Belafonte’s third starring film in a row—and
his last for over a decade—was Odds Against
Tomorrow (1959). Slater (Robert Ryan), a rac-
ist southerner, and Ingram (Belafonte), a
FIGURE 24. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967). middle-class African American with gambling
Actor Sidney Poitier was at the height of his appeal and debts, are hired by a third man (Ed Begley) to
craft in this landmark 1960s film about racial tolerance. carry out a robbery scheme. The heist fails due
Joey (Katharine Houghton) shows Dr. John Prentice
(Poitier) photographs depicting her idyllic family, an to Slater’s racist attitudes, and he and Ingram
example of how the film skillfully deflects attention from are incinerated in a climactic explosion.
important racial issues. Courtesy Columbia Pictures. As the civil rights struggle continued in the
latter part of the 1950s and throughout the
few change-of-pace roles such as the romantic 1960s, a handful of films emerged that began
For the Love of Ivy (1968) and The Lost Man to look at the issue of race or featured pre-
(1969), a remake of Odd Man Out, substitut- dominantly black casts, including Take a Giant
ing Poitier for James Mason and black mili- Step (1958), Nothing but a Man (1964), and
tants for the Irish Republican Army. By shed- Hurry Sundown (1967). One interesting inde-
ding his “ebony saint” image, Poitier also gave pendent production was Black Like Me (1964),
up mainstream stardom, and since the 1970s an adaptation of a nonfiction book by John
he has appeared in relatively few movies (he Howard Griffin. John Horton ( James Whit-
also started directing films, which has occupied more) is a white Texas journalist who under-
much of his time). goes medical treatments to change his skin
Aside from Poitier, Harry Belafonte was the color because “I want to find out what it’s like
only other African American performer who to be a Negro in the South” (his publisher’s
even came close to sustained leading-man response is “You’re kidding!”). Although
status before the 1970s. After roles in Bright Whitmore never really looks like an African
Road and Carmen Jones, Belafonte appeared in American (especially when he shares the
three major movies (the latter two produced screen with actual African American actors),
by his own independent company) that, while the film is undeniably powerful in its depiction
using his race as a plot point, were not overt of racism. After weeks of discrimination and
“social problem” movies. Island in the Sun abuse, Horton is touched by the slightest ex-
(1957), set on a Caribbean island, stars Bela- ample of fair-mindedness he encounters from
fonte as a politically ambitious young man in a Southern white man, but this is an extremely
love with a rich society woman, played by Joan rare event: the film’s white characters are over-
Fontaine. Although this film broke the whelmingly overtly hostile, condescending, or
interracial-romance barrier (another “mixed” fearfully apologetic but unwilling to break the
couple is also featured in the movie), setting it color barrier. Black Like Me makes it clear that
in an exotic locale diffused the impact consid- “it doesn’t matter who you are or what you
erably. In The World, the Flesh, and the Devil are, the color of your skin is all that matters.”
212 [ GROUPS
Black Exploitation and Black Filmmaking
After the landmark legal rulings, laws, and civil
unrest of the 1950s and 1960s, the civil rights
movement seemed to fade into the back-
ground in the 1970s. Progress was still being
made but much more slowly and without the
fanfare that had accompanied earlier efforts,
and there were some who believed momentum
had been lost: “In spite of all the court deci-
sions, the sit-ins, marches and boycotts, the
average black American was disillusioned with
his status in American society, for he still
found himself . . . segregated and discrimi- F I G U R E 2 5 . Black Like Me (1964). Too risky and
nated against . . . in all walks of American life” daring for Hollywood, this story, adapted from John
Howard Griffin’s nonfiction book, could be made only
(Hornsby, xxxiv). The racial unrest of the late as an independent production. Investigative journalist
1960s and the burgeoning “black militant” John Horton ( James Whitmore) changes skin color to
movement came about after the major laws be confronted with despicable and vicious racism, a
concept many Americans, especially Southerners, had yet
and court decisions of the 1950s and 1960s,
to confront. Courtesy The Hilltop Company.
suggesting the process of achieving equality
was far from complete.
Similarly, the African American image in set of stereotypes, particularly the African
Hollywood films continued to evolve. The American superman (or, more rarely, super-
blaxploitation films of the early 1970s may be woman), capable of defeating (mostly white)
viewed as an outgrowth of the civil rights oppressors and performing prodigious feats of
movement: Hollywood was aware of the po- lovemaking. However, less admirable stereo-
tential African American audience, and this types also abounded in these films, including
audience was waiting for films specifically tai- gangsters, pimps, and women utilized as sex
lored for it. Ironically, these movies were often objects. A few of these films managed to cross
made by white film-industry veterans, and the over to whites, but the blaxploitation genre
profits went back to the Hollywood establish- was largely aimed at a minority audience.
ment. One exception was Sweet Sweetback’s At the same time, mainstream Hollywood
Baadasssss Song (1971), directed by Melvin continued the gradual integration of its casts,
Van Peebles, an independent production usu- and even a few “serious”—or at least non-
ally cited as the film that signified the existence blaxploitation—films about black topics were
and box-office potential of an urban, minority produced, often by African American film-
audience. Shaft (1971) and Superfly (1972) makers. These include The Learning Tree
were also made by African American directors (1969), directed by Gordon Parks; Sidney Poi-
(Gordon Parks and Gordon Parks Jr., respec- tier’s directorial debut, Buck and the Preacher
tively), but for major studios. Dozens of other, (1972); Sounder (1972), directed by Martin
lesser films followed, mostly adhering to “the Ritt; Aaron Loves Angela (1975), directed by
central narrative ingredients of the blaxploi- Gordon Parks Jr.; Cornbread, Earl and Me
tation formula: violent expressions of black (1975), directed by Joe Manduke; and Cooley
manhood or womanhood, and a black-white High (1975), directed by Michael Schultz.
confrontation that ends with the oppressed Though well received critically, these films
black coming out spectacularly victorious” failed to attract a significant crossover audi-
(Guerrero, 110). These films created their own ence, suggesting that whites were willing to ac-
 AFRICAN AMERICANS AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 213

cept African Americans in significant roles in (1977), Greased Lightning (1977), The Wiz
mainstream movies but were not particularly (1978), Some Kind of Hero (1981), and Bustin’
interested in viewing films with predominantly Loose (1981), with roles—generally paired with
black casts. Ironically, later in the decade, white actors—in mainstream films such as
Roots (1977) would earn record-breaking rat- Blue Collar (1978), Stir Crazy (1980), Super-
ings during its eight-night run on ABC tele- man III (1983), Brewster’s Millions (1985), and
vision, with nearly half the country (100 mil- See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Pryor’s most
lion people) watching the final episode. successful films at the box office were his cross-
During the presidencies of Richard Nixon over pictures, where he was either supported
and Gerald Ford, there were few major break- by or in support of white performers. Pryor
throughs in race relations, and the topic ceased did not have a single, signature screen persona,
to be of major interest to Hollywood. During which allowed him to avoid stereotyping, al-
the Carter administration, “President Carter’s though his quick wit was often used to portray
gestures . . . were not only hampered by a slow him as street-smart, particularly in contrast to
economy, but also by a growing white backlash naive white characters.
against affirmative action” (Hornsby, xxxix). Eddie Murphy, like Pryor a comedian before
During the two terms of President Ronald he became an actor, followed Pryor into films.
Reagan, the administration’s conservative ju- His first movie was 48 Hours (1982), a main-
diciary helped codify this opposition to pro- stream “buddy” film teaming convict Reggie
grams and policies like affirmative action. (Murphy) with police detective Jack Cates
Ironically, it was during this period that Afri- (Nick Nolte). Trading Places (1983) featured
can American performers achieved an unprec- another white-black combination, Murphy and
edented prominence in mainstream Holly- Dan Aykroyd. In Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Mur-
wood productions. phy was elevated to stardom, with white actor
Judge Reinhold playing a supporting role. Even
The Rise of the African American more than Pryor, Murphy capitalized on a
Crossover Star brash, smart-aleck persona, in some ways a ver-
Sidney Poitier—and, to a much lesser extent, sion of the folktale “trickster” who mocks, fools,
Harry Belafonte and even Sammy Davis Jr.— and manipulates his victims. Murphy’s film ca-
had crossed over to stardom in mainstream reer faltered for a time, and his mere presence
Hollywood, but their successors were not im- could not guarantee a film’s success. The Nutty
mediately forthcoming. Bill Cosby achieved Professor (1996), Dr. Dolittle (1998), and The
considerable success on television, but his film Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (2000) were
career was insignificant. Jim Brown became a crossover hits, but Metro (1997), Holy Man
leading player in action films of the late 1960s (1998), and Life (1999) were relative failures.
but was rarely asked to carry a film as the star A third African American performer who
until the blaxploitation era. The first African achieved mass-market popularity in the 1980s
American performer to sustain crossover suc- was Whoopi Goldberg. Although best known
cess in the 1970s was Richard Pryor. After an for comedy, Goldberg had major dramatic
apprenticeship in supporting roles, Pryor first roles in a variety of films, most notably The
achieved mainstream attention as Gene Wil- Color Purple (1985), Ghost (1990)—for which
der’s costar in Silver Streak (1976). Over the she won an Academy Award—The Long Walk
next few years he alternated appearances in Home (1990), Sister Act (1992), and Sarafina!
predominantly black-cast pictures such as The (1992). Several of these films dealt with racial
Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings issues or the African American experience, but
(1976), Car Wash (1976), Which Way Is Up? Goldberg usually works in mainstream films
214 [ GROUPS
where her race is not an issue. She often plays evident. There are mainstream Hollywood
outspoken, brash characters. Goldberg has also films starring African Americans but aimed at
appeared in a number of mainstream films as the mass audience, films about the African
housekeepers (Clara’s Heart, 1988; Corinna American experience or other racial topics that
Corinna, 1994) or nurses (Girl, Interrupted, are expected to cross over to the mass audi-
1999) who are employed by, or care for, whites. ence, and movies produced specifically for the
Regardless of the thrust of these films and the African American audience. Each of these
strength of Goldberg’s characters, some might types of films contains a variety of images of
consider such roles as throwbacks to older Hol- African Americans.
lywood images of African Americans. Con- Mainstream films such as Men in Black, Le-
versely, Goldberg’s role as a maid in The Long thal Weapon and its three sequels, Kiss the
Walk Home is justified by the historical context Girls, and Enemy of the State feature African
and the film’s plot, set during the 1955 bus boy- American stars or costars, but for the most
cott in Montgomery, Alabama. part these films are color-blind—the plot and
In the 1990s and beyond, a number of Afri- characterizations may take notice of the race
can American actors have risen to positions of of the performers, but this is not a significant
prominence. Rapper and TV sitcom star Will aspect of the film. A movie such as The
Smith transferred his hip, urban image to a Bodyguard (1992) may star a white actor
number of popular films, including Indepen- (Kevin Costner) and an African American ac-
dence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997), Wild tress (Whitney Houston), but the interracial
Wild West (2000), Men in Black II (2002), and component of their romance is most definitely
Ali (2001). Smith seemed to have become a not the focus of the film; either of the two ma-
bankable star, but even his presence in The Leg- jor stars could have been replaced with a per-
end of Bagger Vance (2000) could not help that former of another race and the film would
film—about an African American who helps a have been essentially the same. The actress
World War I veteran regain his lost golfing Halle Berry has similarly crossed over into
prowess—find an audience or turn a profit. color-blind romantic roles such as in Swordfish
Danny Glover achieved stardom with Lethal (2001) and Die Another Day (2002), though
Weapon (1987) and its sequels. Denzel Wash- her Academy Award–winning role in Marc
ington has forged a career in mainstream films Forster’s film Monster’s Ball (2001) certainly
as a handsome leading man, but it is interesting made ethnicity an issue.
to note that pictures such as The Pelican Brief In the past several decades Hollywood has
(1993), Crimson Tide (1995), Fallen (1998), The produced a fair number of films dealing with
Bone Collector (1999), Remember the Titans racial themes and intended for a mass (white
(2000), and Training Day (2001) do not present as well as black) audience. It may be signifi-
him in “romantic” leading man roles, and thus cant, however, that a number of these movies
the issue of an interracial romance is never are period pictures—thus avoiding a direct
raised. Samuel L. Jackson, Morgan Freeman, discussion of the state of current race relations
and Wesley Snipes have also starred in films in the United States. Examples include The
intended for a mass audience. All of these actors Color Purple (1985), Driving Miss Daisy (1989),
have also worked in serious “black” movies. Glory (1989), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996),
Rosewood (1997), Amistad (1997), and Beloved
Mainstream Films and the African American (1998). Most of these films were directed by
Experience whites: whether the race of the director influ-
Since the 1980s, a three-way division in films enced the portrayal of African Americans in
about or starring African Americans has been these films is open to debate, but the fact re-
 AFRICAN AMERICANS AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 215

mains that most African American directors (2000), Scary Movie (2000), The Original Kings
work in the third category, films aimed at Af- of Comedy (2000), and Barbershop (2002). Im-
rican American audiences. ages that might be perceived as racist if pro-
Whether serious dramas—Daughters of the duced by white filmmakers are more accept-
Dust (1991), Malcolm X (1992), and Eve’s able if created by African Americans for an
Bayou (1997), for example—or commercial internal audience because the motivations and
action films and comedies, one writer argues, portrayals originate in, and are intended for, a
“Hollywood makes these modestly budgeted different cultural context. Spike Lee’s Bamboo-
black features with the expectation of recov- zled (2000) nonetheless drew considerable
ering the capital invested and turning a profit criticism for its resurrection of black stereo-
from the black audience alone” (Guerrero, types from the minstrel show and early Hol-
166). Only rarely does one of these films cross lywood eras, even though the director used
over to the white audience. The most prolific these offensive images to make a satirical and
African American filmmaker today, Spike Lee, political point.
has had very little success with white audi-
ences, Do the Right Thing (1989) excepted. Reluctant Progress
Films such as She’s Gotta Have It (1986) and Since World War II, the visibility of African
School Daze (1988) explore the African Amer- Americans in motion pictures has increased
ican experience in terms that may be too nu- significantly. Although Hollywood is still re-
anced for whites: School Daze, for example, is luctant—with very few exceptions—to pro-
set at an all-black university and highlights the duce big-budget films with predominantly
competition between “jigaboos” and “wanna- black casts, this appears to be a function of the
bes,” cliques of students defined by their skin (perceived or real) limited audience for such
color and hairstyles, which signify their degree movies, rather than a decision based on racist
of cultural “blackness.” motives. African American performers are reg-
Features made by African American film- ularly cast in major roles, and race stereotyping
makers display their own sets of stereotypes, is extremely rare. The debate may now be be-
including rappers, “gangstas,” sexually objec- tween proponents of “color blindness” in films
tified women, and “buppies” (black urban and those who want greater attention paid to
professionals) in popular films such as I’m African American subjects. Although the
Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), House Party struggle for absolute racial justice has not con-
(1990), Boyz N the Hood (1991), Menace II So- cluded, in Hollywood movies as in real life,
ciety (1993), Booty Call (1997), Next Friday significant progress has certainly been made.

References
Black Like Me (1964, F)
Filmography Blue Collar (1978, F)
Aaron Loves Angela (1975, F) The Bodyguard (1992, F)
Ali (2001, F) The Bone Collector (1999, F)
Amistad (1997, F) Booty Call (1997, F)
Bamboozled (2000, F) Boyz N the Hood (1991, F)
Barbershop (2002, F) Brewster’s Millions (1985, F)
Bataan (1943, F) Bright Road (1953, F)
Beloved (1998, F) The Brother from Another Planet (1984, F)
Beverly Hills Cop (1984, F) Buck and the Preacher (1972, F)
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings Bustin’ Loose (1981, F)
(1976, F) Carmen Jones (1954, F)
216 [ GROUPS
Car Wash (1976, F) No Way Out (1950, F)
Clara’s Heart (1988, F) The Nutty Professor (1996, F)
The Color Purple (1995, F) The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (2000, F)
Cooley High (1975, F) Odds Against Tomorrow (1959, F)
Corinna, Corinna (1994, F) The Original Kings of Comedy (2000, F)
Cornbread, Earl and Me (1975, F) Panther (1995, F)
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970, F) The Pelican Brief (1993, F)
Crash Dive (1943, F) Pinky (1949, F)
Crimson Tide (1995, F) Porgy and Bess (1959, F)
Daughters of the Dust (1991, F) The Quiet One (1948, F)
The Defiant Ones (1958, F) A Raisin in the Sun (1961, F)
Do the Right Thing (1989, F) Remember the Titans (2000, F)
Dr. Dolittle (1998, F) Roots (1977, TV)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989, F) Rosewood (1997, F)
Enemy of the State (1999, F) Sahara (1943, F)
Eve’s Bayou (1997, F) Sarafina! (1992, F)
Eyes on the Prize (1986, TV) Scary Movie (2000, F)
Fallen (1998, F) School Daze (1988, F)
For the Love of Ivy (1968, F) See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989, F)
48 Hours (1982, F) Sergeant Rutledge (1960, F)
Ghost (1990, F) Sergeants Three (1962, F)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996, F) Shaft (1971, F)
Girl, Interrupted (1999, F) She’s Gotta Have It (1986, F)
Glory (1989, F) Silver Streak (1976, F)
Go, Man, Go! (1953, F) Sister Act (1992, F)
Greased Lightning (1977) A Soldier’s Story (1984, F)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, F) Some Kind of Hero (1981, F)
The Harlem Globetrotters (1950, F) Song of the South (1946, F)
Holy Man (1998, F) Sounder (1972, F)
Home of the Brave (1949, F) Stir Crazy (1980, F)
House Party (1990, F) Superfly (1972, F)
Hurry Sundown (1967, F) Superman III (1983, F)
I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988, F) Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971, F)
Independence Day (1996, F) Syncopation (1942, F)
In the Heat of the Night (1967, F) Take a Giant Step (1958, F)
In This Our Life (1942, F) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, F)
Intruder in the Dust (1949, F) Trading Places (1983, F)
Island in the Sun (1957, F) Training Day (2001, F)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950, F) Which Way Is Up? (1977, F)
The Joe Louis Story (1953, F) White Man’s Burden (1995, F)
Kiss the Girls (1997, F) Wild, Wild West (2000, F)
The Learning Tree (1969, F) The Wiz (1978, F)
The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000, F) The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (1959, F)
Lethal Weapon (1987, F)
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Klinkner, Philip A., and Rogers M. Smith. The Un- view, 2000.
steady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equal- Sampson, Henry T. Blacks in Black and White: A
ity in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Source Book on Black Films. 2d ed. Metuchen, NJ:
Press, 1999. Scarecrow, 1995.
Klotman, Phyllis R., and Janet K. Cutler, eds. Strug- Smith, Valerie, ed. Representing Blackness: Issues in
gles for Representation: African American Documen- Film and Video. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Uni-
tary Film and Video. Bloomington: Indiana Uni- versity Press, 1997.
versity Press, 1999. Snead, James A. White Screens/Black Images. New
Leab, Daniel J. From Sambo to Superspade: The Black York: Routledge, 1994.
Experience in Motion Pictures. Boston: Houghton Thernstrom, Stephan, and Abigail Thernstrom.
Mifflin, 1975. America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisi-
Levine, Michael L. African Americans and Civil Rights. ble. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1996. Willis, Sharon. High Contrast: Race and Gender in
Mungazi, Dickson A. The Journey to the Promised Contemporary Hollywood Film. Durham, NC: Duke
Land: The African American Struggle for Develop- University Press, 1997.
[ JACK G. SHAHEEN ]

Arab Americans

s of 2002, there were 3.5 million Arab Mr. Green. Butros became Peter; Haddad be-

A Americans in the United States. Four in

five were born in the country, and the
vast majority—75 percent—were Christians.
Arabs have been in America since at least 1854,
came Smith, and Peter Smith was born.
From the beginning, many engaged in ped-
dling. Fellow Arabs showed the new immi-
grants the routes and the ropes. They extended
when Antonius Bishallany, a Syrian, went to credit and gave the beginners needed supplies,
study in New York. From the turn of the nine- enabling them to fill their suitcases with a wide
teenth century through the early 1920s, there range of items, from notions to linens, that an
followed successive waves of immigrants—be- isolated farmer’s wife or city dweller might
tween five thousand and eight thousand an- want to buy. It was common to see family
nually. Most of them came from Mount Leb- members working side by side, sixteen hours
anon and Greater Syria. Contributing to a a day, seven days a week. Peddling required
growing America were Eastern Orthodox, little capital, but it necessitated learning En-
Maronite, and Melkite Christians, as well as glish, which helped the immigrants to become
some Muslims and Druze. The newcomers more quickly Americanized. This peddler im-
were so fond of America that they would fre- age was used for comedic purposes in the stage
quently repeat the phrase, “May God continue and screen version of Rodgers and Hammer-
to bless this country.” stein’s musical Oklahoma.
Like other immigrants passing through Ellis The immigrants soon established trading net-
Island, most Arab immigrants were desper- works throughout the country. After World
ately poor and discriminated against early on War I, they came to own and operate grocery,
for the mere fact that they were foreigners. Ma- fruit, and dry goods stores, offering much of
licious name-calling was commonplace. In the same merchandise they sold as peddlers.
1903, The Pittsburgh Leader described them as These entrepreneurs established a model for the
“undesirable Syrians, many degrading inhabi- residence and assimilation of later Arab immi-
tants of dives of disgusting depravity” (Pann- grants, notably those escaping Ottoman con-
backer, 48). In St. Louis, the press tagged them scription after 1909. Gradually, as family mem-
“Street Arabs” and “wandering Bedouins . . . bers brought over friends and relatives, whole
worthless of character in parents, immoral and village networks were created in the New
drunken fathers and mothers. What can they World’s urban centers. In Pittsburgh and Bir-
become? Only vagrants, tramps and prosti- mingham they worked the railroad freight yards
tutes” (Dacus, 407–408). Fearful that their and steel mills; in Detroit, the automobile as-
swarthy color and Arabic names might deny sembly lines; in Kansas City, the meat packing
them admittance to and acceptance in the plants; and in New England, the textile mills.
country, some immigrants Americanized their Arab Americans have since excelled as teach-
names: my cousin, Albert Shaheen, became ers, physicians, members of the armed ser-

218
 ARAB AMERICANS ] 219

vices, congressional representatives, journal- Inexplicably, the presence of Americans of

ists, athletes, homemakers, lawyers, and clergy. Arab heritage and their innumerable contribu-
Among thousands of notables are the poet and tions to our nation have been invisible. Four-
philosopher Kahlil Gibran; Dr. Michael teen of the twenty films surveyed in this essay
DeBakey, heart specialist; Helen Thomas, dean display them not as they are—typical hard-
of the White House Press Corps; Colonel working Americans—but as carbon copies of
James Jabara, our nation’s first jet ace; Donna Hollywood stereotypes. These fourteen films
Shalala, educator and secretary of health and project Americans of Arab descent as crude,
human services in the Clinton administration; disorderly, and burnoosed foreigners, covetous
actor Danny Thomas, founder of St. Jude’s Re- male rogues; bumbling buffoons; shady shy-
search Center; clothing designer Joseph Ab- sters; terrorists killing fellow Americans, even
boud; radio personality Casey Kasem; and children; and mute submissive maidens.
Ralph Nader, presidential candidate and con-
sumer advocate. The Arab American in Film
Ironically, the first and only silent film to fea-
Motion Pictures ture an Arab American character, Paramount’s
Despite the rich history and numerous contri- Anna Ascends (1922), stands in stark contrast
butions of Americans of Arab descent, motion to the injurious stereotypes. This rags-to-
pictures have singled them out for discrimi- riches immigrant story is, in fact, the only
nation, portraying them as the Other. Holly- movie ever to feature as the principal character
wood has failed to reveal their individual ac- an Arab American woman. The setting for this
complishments; nor have movies humanized lost film, which is based on Harry Ford’s suc-
them. I am still in search of a film that has cessful Broadway play, is New York City’s “Lit-
projected an Arab American family, with tle Syria,” where the newly arrived Anna Ay-
grandparents and children, as an integral part oub works as a waitress in Said Coury’s
of America’s cultural mosaic. And, though coffeehouse. After Anna bravely fends off the
most of America’s Arabs are Christians, no advances of a hustling pimp, she runs off to
movie has ever shown them worshiping in a attend night school, where she excels. Even-
church. In fact, films display most Americans tually, Anna goes on to write a best-selling
of Arab heritage as Muslims and link the novel. In the end she weds her long-lost suitor,
Islamic faith—a religion of peace—with vio- a wealthy New Yorker; they go on to live hap-
lence. Nor do films project Arab Americans pily ever after. “The idea of writing Anna As-
distinguishing themselves in the military. cends,” Ford told a Variety reporter, “came first
In contrast to these omissions and stereo- into my mind during the winter of 1912, when
types, consider, for example, two typical fam- I met and finally knew very intimately a Syrian
ilies—the Jacobs and the Rafeedies. My grand- family living in Washington, D.C. Their family
father, Jacob Mike Jacob, was a chanter at our life . . . impressed me. . . . Hence I figured why
church; he also worked in the mills outside of not write a Syrian [American] drama?”
Pittsburgh for nearly two decades. Albert Ra- Not until 1976, fifty-four years after the de-
feedie, my father-in-law, served in the U.S. but of Anna Ascends, did Arab American char-
Army during World War I. Following the war acters appear again on silver screens. This time
he ran dry goods stores in Minneapolis and the portraits were unsightly and heinous. The
Los Angeles. Both Albert and Jacob emigrated Next Man (1976), Cheech and Chong’s Next
to America in the early 1900s. Their families Movie (1980), and Wrong Is Right (1982) lam-
served their country during World War II and baste Arab Americans. Set in New York City,
the Korean War. The Next Man and Wrong Is Right present Arab
220 [ GROUPS
American students not as regular college kids, character, but a submissive caricature. The
but rather as shrill, militant radicals. They opening frames show a liberal Manhattan ex-
flaunt signs reading “Arabia for the Arabians,” ecutive (Diane Keaton) interviewing prospec-
“No More Lies, the Jews Own Television,” tive nannies to care for her infant daughter.
“Death to the Jews,” and “Kill the Jews.” Even- Instead of introducing an Arab American
tually New York City police officers subdue the woman applicant patterned after women’s-
protestors. Arab American agitators and stu- rights advocate Marlo Thomas, the producers
dents in Wrong Is Right are seen protesting present a nameless and rigid woman; she wears
America’s Mideast policies. How? Not peace- a black abaya that covers her from head to toe.
fully, like other Americans, but by blowing Hoping to be employed as the little girl’s
themselves up on Manhattan streets and nanny, the cloaked Arab American boasts not
launching terrorist attacks in Washington, about the importance of equal rights for
Chicago, and Detroit. women, but rather about female subservience:
Instead of projecting an archetypal Ameri- “I do not need a bed. I prefer to sleep on the
can, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie demeans floor.” And, “I speak only when spoken to. . . .
a mustached Arab American gas station owner. I will teach your daughter to properly respect
Quips Cheech: He’s “a [mute] dude too busy a man.” The executive grimaces; out the door
watching his money.” As the credits roll, he goes this backward applicant.
and Chong pilfer gas from the Arab Ameri- Another film of 1987, Wanted Dead or Alive,
can’s Texaco station. To ally the proprietor deals with Arab Americans residing in Los An-
with stereotypical oil-rich Arabs, the camera geles. In the film they function not as dignified
cuts to the Arab American’s tow truck. Em- neighbors but as deceitful villains. The grubby
blazoned on the door is the logo “Saydis and Arab Americans who own Amir’s restaurant
Saydat.” Chuckling, Cheech walks off with a are terrorists; they willingly assist a Palestinian
garbage can filled with stolen gas, singing: militant, Malak (Gene Simmons). Scenes re-
“Ahab the Ayrab, sheikh of the burning veal Malak and Americans of Arab descent
sands.” Taken together, the gas theft, truck blowing up hundreds of civilians. At Amir’s
logo, and “Ahab” tune unfairly equate an restaurant several sadists beat, torture, and
American proprietor with rich, desert Arabs. murder a CIA agent. The same kuffiyeh-clad
Wild Geese II (1985), a drama set in Berlin, Arab Americans operate a Los Angeles bomb
depicts John Haddad (Scott Glenn), a grim factory. They conspire with Malak to ignite
and unappealing Arab American mercenary fifty-plus bombs, the devastation in Los An-
from Pittsburgh. The dreadful film focuses on geles intended to make “Bhopal, India, look
Haddad and his cohorts as they attempt to kid- like a minor traffic accident.” In time, the CIA
nap Rudolf Hess from the infamous Spandau and the Los Angeles Police Department collar
prison. The drama has absolutely nothing to them. Earlier, UCLA’s Arab American students
do with the Arab-Israeli conflict. Yet, the pro- are tagged “desert dwellers and animals”; the
ducers inject unmerited dialogue. For exam- slurs are not contested. Would Wanted Dead
ple, instead of having Haddad express con- or Alive’s producers even think about—let
cerns for Palestinians under occupation, alone release—a similar film showing Amer-
cliché-ridden lines contend that Haddad hates ica’s Asians, blacks, Jews, or Latinos being so
them, for Palestinians, goes the stale scenario, unfairly vilified?
killed his family. Though most critics failed to address
Not until Baby Boom (1987) did Hollywood Wanted Dead or Alive’s stereotypes, one vocal
release another film featuring an Arab Amer- Hollywood reviewer strongly objected to the
ican woman—no heroic Anna Ayoub–type film’s hateful depictions. On January 30, 1987,
 ARAB AMERICANS ] 221

columnist Michael Medved wrote to me, say- heads.” Claire allows the slur to stand. Claire
ing that Arab Americans “are shown to be ac- sympathizes with the enemy. She knows where
tive supporters of a bloody vicious terrorist the lead terrorist, Shaheed, and his Palestinians
kingpin. This disturbed me precisely because are hiding out, but she refuses to help the
it bears no connection with reality.” Medved’s SEALs track the terrorists. To justify her be-
criticisms notwithstanding, one year later Ter- havior, Claire declares, “I’m a journalist.” Only
ror in Beverly Hills (1988) advanced Wanted after she watches a report on gun-toting “Al-
Dead or Alive’s hateful theme: Arab Americans gerians” shooting up a civilian jet does Claire
are terrorists. Instead of presenting generic ter- grudgingly agree to assist the SEALs. Instead
rorists, Terror, too, shows Arab American fa- of having an Arab American journalist refuse
natics bringing panic to California’s streets. In to help her country track down terrorists, the
Beverly Hills they and their Palestinian cohorts producers should have featured a patriotic re-
shoot and torture innocents. In addition, they porter, someone like Newsweek columnist Lor-
kidnap and hold hostage the American presi- raine Ali, eagerly assisting the SEALs.
dent’s daughter, as well as a Los Angeles po- Ever since the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Tay-
liceman’s wife. Ultimately, the LAPD frees the lor Father of the Bride debuted in 1950, each
hostages and wipes out the swarthy villains. In- and every Bride movie has successfully pro-
stead of showing America’s Arabs bonding jected a wholesome and universal theme—lov-
with America’s blacks to eradicate the kidnap- ing fathers being overly concerned about los-
ers, Terror’s closing scenes show present a ing their “little girls.” These same fathers also
hateful confrontation. An African American fret that outrageous price tags for simple wed-
policeman corners an Arab American thug. dings will bankrupt them. Never had a Father
Smiling, the officer empties his shotgun, boast- of the Bride movie strayed off course and in-
ing, “You’ve made my day!” jected shady manipulators until Disney’s Fa-
Nearly all Arab American cab drivers in New ther of the Bride Part II (1995). Set in Los An-
York City function as other cabbies do—they geles, this family film depicts, among its minor
are honest, helpful, and multilingual. Not so characters, the rich and miserly Mr. Habib
in Quick Change (1990). This film projects a (Eugene Levy), who speaks broken English
dim-witted New York cabby (Tony Shalhoub) with a thick Arab accent. When Habib’s wife
who listens to Arab music and mumbles only tries to speak—she appears for only seconds—
in Arabic. An angry passenger tries but fails to her husband becomes furious. Mr. Habib
direct the sheepishly smiling cabby to the air- shouts gibberish at her, a mix of Farsi and Ar-
port. “What da ya got, sand in your ears?” he abic. Instantly, Mrs. Habib heels, reinforcing
screams. Frustrated, the passenger exits the the stereotype of the Arab woman as a subser-
moving cab. The anxious cabby speeds vient nonentity. Throughout Bride II Mr. Ha-
through a red light, nearly injuring pedestri- bib functions as an unkempt swindler. He pur-
ans. The police arrive. Feeling degraded, the chases a neat house from the protagonists, the
cabby falls to his knees, cries, and begs the of- Banks family. The sentimental Mr. Banks,
ficers to arrest him. however, decides he wants his house back. The
Navy SEALs (1990) displays heroic U.S. next day he offers Habib a $50,000 bonus—
forces wiping out hundreds of Palestinian in- not bad for a day’s profit. Yet, Habib demands
surgents. The film also reveals brief images of even more cash. Only after Banks offers Habib
an Arab American reporter, Claire ( Joanne a $100,000 bonus does the covetous crook sell
Whalley-Kilmer). When Claire meets with the the home back to its “rightful owner.”
SEAL leader, Hawkins (Charlie Sheen), he Another Disney family film, Kazaam (1996),
barks, “Beirut [is a] shithole filled with rag- projects Arab Americans as gluttonous, greedy
222 [ GROUPS
gangsters; they speak with guttural accents, mila (Valerie Golina), as a casualty. After the
have a penchant for blondes, and are intent on U.S. government has initiated an undemo-
acquiring “all the money in the world.” The cratic profiling policy, officials decide that Tas-
antagonist is Malik (Marshal Manesh), a black mila and other law-biding Americans are “un-
marketeer engaged in “pirating tapes and desirable and unfit to live in moral America.”
CD’s.” The camera shows Malik voraciously They are removed from their homes and
devouring “goat’s eyes” as a pig swallows dung. shipped off to “Los Angeles Island.” On the
Malik and his two scruffy henchmen, Hassem island, Tasmila befriends and then guides the
and El-Baz, are 100 percent evil; these Arab movie’s protagonist (Kurt Russell) to a safe
Americans not only exploit the good genie place. The protagonist fails to understand how
(Shaquille O’ Neal), but they also trounce a the government could classify a decent and in-
teenager’s father then toss the boy down an telligent woman like Tasmila as an “undesir-
elevator shaft. Fortunately, the genie restores able.” He asks, “Why are you here?” Sighs Tas-
the fatally injured teen to life. In Disney’s close, mila, “I was a Muslim in South Dakota. All of
the genie transforms the Arab American into a sudden they made it a crime.” Suddenly, she
a bouncing ball, tossing him into a trash bin. is shot dead. Credit goes to producer-director
Audiences frequently howl at this scene. John Carpenter for revealing how unjust pro-
The movies Mother (1996) and Kingpin filing damages innocents.
(1996) advance myths that Americans of Arab Movies of the 1980s, such as Wanted Dead
descent speak with funny accents. Kingpin or Alive and Terror in Beverly Hills, featured
presents, briefly, Sayed, a gas station mechanic Arab Americans murdering residents of Los
called “Fatima.” Mother displays two unpleas- Angeles. Fast forward to 1998. This time
ant TV installers, one of whom (Richard As- around, auto mechanics, university students,
sad) is a dimwit who does not understand En- and a Brooklyn College professor of “Arab
glish and speaks with a thick Arab accent. Studies” link up with Arab Muslim fanatics in
When the homeowner asks whether he is mar- The Siege (1998) and kill more than seven hun-
ried, he chuckles, “Hee, hee, hee.” When she dred New Yorkers. The extremists blow up FBI
asks whether the TV picture is too green, he agents, blast theatergoers, bomb a crowded
grins, and says, “Yes, thank you.” His col- bus, and try to murder schoolchildren. Writes
league, who is all business, screams at his co- film critic Roger Ebert, “The prejudicial atti-
worker in Arabic, slaps him hard on the shoul- tudes embodied in the film are insidious, like
der, calls him a majnoon (idiot), and then the anti-Semitism that infected fiction and
shows him the door. Asks the homeowner, journalism in the 1930s—not just in Ger-
“What’s wrong with him?” Quips the installer, many but in Britain and America. . . . There’s
“He’s mentally ill, ma’am.” These bits of “hu- a tendency to lump together ‘towelheads’ (a
mor” give rise to several questions: why insert term used in the movie),” he notes. “Given
and paint Arab Americans as dumb and dis- how vulnerable Arab Americans are to defa-
agreeable? Why mock their ethnicity? Why not mation, was this movie really necessary?”
display them like the film’s other “regular” (Shaheen, 430)
characters? Denzel Washington portrays the FBI agent
Notably absent are Arab American women. responsible for eradicating terrorists in The
Films such as Baby Boom (1987), Navy SEALs Siege. His sidekick is an Arab American agent,
(1990), and Father of the Bride Part II (1995) played by Tony Shalhoub. Shalhoub does a
offer fleeting and derogative portraits. Escape fine job portraying a “good” Arab American.
from L.A. (1996) features, albeit briefly, a bright, But one minor supporting actor does not com-
attractive Arab American Muslim woman, Tas- pensate for the movie’s numerous Arab ste-
 ARAB AMERICANS ] 223

reotypes. The Arab American’s character vid Suchet). Mo befriends and speaks Arabic
brings to mind producers trying to justify their with the heroine, Emily (Gwyneth Paltrow).
pervasive, hostile depictions of Native Ameri- When Emily’s husband tries to murder her,
cans. Hollywood protestations notwithstand- Emily protects herself, killing him. Instead of
ing and “Indian sympathy films” taken into arresting Emily, Mo comes to her defense, say-
account, it is still true that the savage image of ing, “Allah ma cum” (God be with you). Emily
Native Americans has not been counterbal- replies, “And with you as well.” Emily’s re-
anced. What if The Siege had projected Irish or sponse solidifies her trust and faith in the Arab
Jewish Americans as undesirables? What if, American.
writes Washington Post reporter Sharon Wax- Andre Degas’s The Kitchen (2001), an in-
man, “A nefarious rabbi exhorts his extremist dependent film telecast only a few times in
ultra-Orthodox followers to plant bombs New York and San Francisco, is the only
against Arab sympathizers in America. Inno- American motion picture to display an Arab
cents are killed and maimed.” Would not American male lead character. The movie fo-
“such a provocative narrow-minded scenario cuses on the relationship of two regular New
suggesting every Jew was a terrorist . . . spark Yorkers—a shopkeeper named Farid (Mark
protests from Jews? Would Hollywood choose Margolis) and his son Jamal ( Jason Raize).
to portray them in the first place?” The Arab Americans function as an integral
Given the false lesson fiction films teach us part of America’s rainbow. Their roots become
about Americans of Arab heritage, it is not sur- apparent only when words like babaganoush
prising that many Americans believe that real (eggplant) are spoken, or when the camera
Arab Americans are the same as those reel bad cuts to “Ali Baba’s,” the store’s neon sign, or
Arabs. Note this November 6, 1998, conversa- when Farid tells Jamal, “I will get you an Egyp-
tion between Today host Matt Lauer and actor tian girl” to marry. Though most films allow
Denzel Washington about The Siege. Lauer told slurs against Arabs to remain, when the antag-
Washington, “You’re getting some heat from onist in The Kitchen spews out slurs such as
Arab groups”—not “Arab Americans.” Instead “camel jockeys,” they are contested.
of correcting Lauer’s mistake, Washington con- The Jennifer Lopez film Enough (2002) is the
curred, quipping, “[In] certain countries they first feature following the September 11 trag-
wouldn’t even be allowed to do that!” By de- edy to display an Arab American character. In
claring “they” and “certain countries,” Wash- lieu of advancing stereotypes, screenwriter
ington linked real Arab Americans with The Nicholas Kazan and director Michael Apted
Siege’s villainous movie Arabs. If media-savvy present fresh images. Credit them for portray-
Lauer and Washington cannot differentiate be- ing Phil (Christopher Maher), an Arab Amer-
tween our nation’s Americans of Arab heritage ican restaurateur, as a heroic father figure.
and Hollywood’s reel Arabs, how many mov- When Phil finds out that his former waitress
iegoers are making the same mistake? Slim (Lopez) is trapped inside her own house
Three turn-of-the-century movies not de- and being viciously beaten by Mitch, her hus-
meaning Arab Americans are A Perfect Murder band, he moves to save her. Acting as Slim’s
(1998), The Kitchen (2001), and Enough “surrogate father . . . who really loves her,” Phil
(2002). They present Americans of Arab de- and his friends crash into the house. Wielding
scent as everyday, neighborly Americans. The a baseball bat, Phil charges Mitch, then runs
set-in-Manhattan Murder, a remake of the away with the injured Slim and her baby girl.
1954 thriller Dial M for Murder, features in a Next, Phil pays for their plane fare, dispatching
supporting role a bright and soft-spoken bilin- them to Michigan. On arrival, Phil’s Arab
gual detective, Mohamed “Mo” Karaman (Da- American friends warmly greet Slim and her
224 [ GROUPS
daughter, then guide them to a safe place— the film industry; not one is a famous Holly-
proving the humanity of the real American wood mogul. And Arab Americans have been
Arab community. slow to mobilize, although the depiction of
Arab Americans as born terrorists in the Ar-
The Cultural Other nold Schwarzenegger vehicle True Lies (1994)
Fourteen of the twenty movies discussed here did stir widespread, vocal criticism that shows
do not present Americans of Arab descent as the possibilities of organized resistance to eth-
they should—as neighbors, friends, class- nic profiling. Mainstream movies such as A
mates, and coworkers. Instead, the industry Perfect Murder and Enough show that inclusion
has misrepresented and maligned them. Yet of Arab American characters is profitable and
openness to change is an American tradition. possible. These films suggest that Hollywood
Not so many years ago filmmakers projected is beginning to address hurtful stereotypes,
other ethnic Americans—Asians, Blacks, Ital- and that some producers are projecting Amer-
ians, Jews, and Latinos—as the cultural Other. icans of Arab descent as regular folk. As for the
No longer. Aware that these heinous stereo- future, when Americans of Arab heritage be-
types injure innocents, these Americans and come an integral part of the industry, when
others formed pressure groups and acted ag- they begin forming lobbying groups in Los An-
gressively against discriminatory portraits. Mi- geles, and when producers display them in
norities also became a key part of the indus- family films on a par with I Remember Mama
try’s creative work force, functioning as (1948) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002),
executives, producers, writers, and directors. perhaps moviegoers will finally begin to view
Not many Arab Americans are involved in them honestly—as true Americans.

References
Filmography Bibliography
Anna Ascends (1922, F) Abraham, Nabeel, and Sameer Abraham, eds. Arabs
Baby Boom (1987, F) in the New World. Detroit: Wayne State University
Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie (1980, F) Press, 1983.
Enough (2002, F) Dacus, J. A. A Tour of St. Louis. St. Louis: Western,
Escape from L.A. (1996, F) 1878.
Father of the Bride Part II (1995, F) Kasem, Casey, “I Want My Son to Be Proud.” Pa-
Kazaam (1996, F) rade, 16 January 1994.
Kingpin (1996, F) Naff, Alexia. The Arab Americans. New York: Chelsea
The Kitchen (2001, F) House, 1988.
Mother (1996, F) Pannbacker, Alfred Ray. The Levantine Arabs of Pitts-
Navy SEALs (1990, F) burgh, Pennsylvania. Ann Arbor: University Micro-
The Next Man (1976, F) films International, 1981.
A Perfect Murder (1998, F) Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
Quick Change (1990, F) can Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington:
The Siege (1998, F) University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Terror in Beverly Hills (1988, F) Saeed, Ahmed. “Overcoming the Stereotypes.” At-
True Lies (1994, F) lanta Journal-Constitution, 4 October 2001.
Wanted Dead or Alive (1987, F) Shaheen, Jack. Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood
Wild Geese II (1985, F) Vilifies a People. Northampton, MA: Interlink,
Wrong Is Right (1982, F) 2001.
[ TERRY HONG ]

Asian Americans

n 1587 the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora ceived then heavily taxed on what little they

I de Esperanza (Our Lady of Hope) landed in

California, bringing Filipino crewmembers
who acted as scouts for the landing party. Al-
most two centuries later, in the mid-1700s—
earned. Excluded from other forms of employ-
ment, they opened businesses such as “Chinese
laundries,” often providing services that their
white neighbors disdained to do.
well before the signing of the U.S. Declaration The influx of these Asian laborers led to ra-
of Independence—other Filipino sailors, es- cial tension, for many white Americans saw
caping the brutal conditions of conscripted la- these immigrants as a threat to their jobs and
bor on Spanish ships, arrived on the shores of their security. The “yellow peril” had to be
Louisiana, where they founded coastal fishing contained, lest American—read white—rule
villages. They were the first Asians known to be challenged. Such racially motivated preju-
have come to North America and stayed. dice and fears against Asians led to the 1882
In the next century, Chinese laborers arrived Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned the im-
in California, marking the first large-scale wave migration of Chinese laborers to the United
of Asian immigration. Although the common States. It was the first—although unfortunately
belief is that these immigrants came to “Gold not the last—institutionalized racist law to sin-
Mountain” (in Mandarin Chinese, gum san) to gle out Asians in America.
escape the hardships in their home country and Even birth on American soil did not guar-
take advantage of the potential wealth found in antee U.S. citizenship, even though the Four-
a land where the streets were rumored to be teenth Amendment asserted that right. Not
paved with gold, the more accurate explanation until 1898, when California-born Wong Kim
of the origins of Chinese immigration is mutual Ark challenged the Supreme Court, did
economic need between two countries. American-born Asians irrefutably earn the
With the end of legal slavery throughout the right to citizenship.
United States, the growing labor needs of a bur- In 1904, Congress amended the 1882 law to
geoning nation—especially the West Coast, exclude immigrants from the Philippines,
where there was no legacy of African American Guam, Samoa, and even Hawaii. In 1907, the
enslavement—turned to other “colored” work- so-called Gentlemen’s Agreement put an end to
ers for manpower. Chinese laborers, along with Japanese labor immigration. The Immigration
smaller populations of South Asian, Japanese, Act of 1917, also known as the Barred Zone Act,
and later Korean laborers, provided muscle to established a zone of countries that excluded
build the transcontinental railroad, develop the most of Asia, as well as parts of Russia, the Mid-
agricultural industry (including revolutionary dle East, and Afghanistan. In 1922, the Cable
irrigation systems), and work in newly estab- Act stripped American women of their citizen-
lished factories and canneries. They were paid ship if they married “aliens ineligible for natu-
a fraction of what their white counterparts re- ralization,” meaning Asians. In 1922 as well, the

225
226 [ GROUPS
Japanese-born Takao Ozawa was denied natu- Asian Americans in Film
ralization, in accordance with the 1790 Natu- Just as Asian Americans are a part of Ameri-
ralization Act, which allowed only “free White can history from the beginning, so, too, are
persons” to become U.S. citizens. In 1923, cit- Asian Americans participants in American
ing that he was biologically Caucasian and film history literally since its inception. In
therefore white, Bhagat Singh Thind applied for 1899, when Thomas Alva Edison began mak-
naturalization, but the U.S. vs. Bhagat Singh ing the very first films with his newly invented
Thind decision officially barred Asian Indians Kinetograph, among his simple attempts were
as well from citizenship. at least four films dramatizing the Philippines
By 1924, the National Origins Act effectively campaign of 1899, when the United States
ended all Asian immigration, except from the acquired the Philippine Islands at the end of
Philippines, which was by then a U.S. territory. the Spanish-American War. (The films can
But that, too, came to a virtual end with the be viewed at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act, which promised edhtml/edre.html.) Shot in New Jersey, the
independence in ten years but limited Filipino reenactments show the American army sub-
immigration to a mere fifty individuals a year. duing the cowardly, weak Filipinos. That de-
Less than ten years later, on February 19, piction of the great white man conquering the
1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive yellow enemy in effect laid the foundation for
Order 9066, sending 120,000 Americans of the representation of Asians and Asian Amer-
Japanese descent into concentration camps for icans for over a century of American celluloid
the duration of World War II. Ironically, the history. As the U.S. government sought to
442d Regimental Combat Team, predomi- control Asian Americans through exclusion-
nantly made up of second-generation Japanese ary and racist laws, Hollywood, too, at-
Americans and led by a Korean American, tempted to control the Asian American image
Colonel Young Oak Kim, became the most on film.
decorated military unit in U.S. history. Despite anti-Asian sentiment, three Asian
For Asian-born American residents, more- American actors managed to establish long-
over, the 1790 Naturalization Act remained in standing careers during the twentieth century:
effect until 1952, in essence relegating Asian Sessue Hayakawa (1890–1973), a Japanese-
Americans to foreigner status for almost two born American who became a silent film actor
centuries following the American Revolution, and was later nominated for an Academy
a war fought for and by immigrants to the Award in 1957 for The Bridge on the River Kwai;
then-new world. Philip Ahn (1905–1978), the son of Korean pa-
Not until 1965, with the Immigration and triot Ahn Chang Ho, who was the first U.S.-
Nationality Act, were anti-Asian immigration born Korean American; and the legendary
laws finally lifted. The result was drastic: from Anna May Wong (1905–1961), who was Asian
less than 1 percent of the U.S. population in America’s first internationally recognized actor.
1970, Asian Americans made up 4 percent of In spite of their unmistakable talents, all
the population in 2000. Today, Asian Ameri- three could not escape the trap of Hollywood’s
cans are the nation’s fastest-growing minority stereotypes. Hayakawa’s first great success was
population after Hispanics. But even with a in Cecil B. De Mille’s The Cheat (1915), in
history older than the nation, Asian Americans which he played a villain who victimized a
are, for the most part, still perceived as foreign, wealthy white woman. Variations of the dark,
as “other,” and continue to face racism that evil, plotting villain would be Hayakawa’s sig-
runs the spectrum from blatant exotification nature role throughout his career. Ahn was
to complete ostracism. originally rejected for his first major role in
 ASIAN AMERICANS ] 227

Anything Goes (1934) because, as a native- scenes suggesting miscegenation as desirable.

born American, his English was too good for Leading white actresses with faces altered by
the part. Only when he mimicked an artificial cosmetic tape, rather than Asian American
Asian accent did he get the role. Wong’s frus- actresses, were chosen for major Asian roles.
tration over being cast in limiting roles such By casting such actresses as Luise Rainer in
as a sacrificial Lotus Blossom in Toll of the Sea The Good Earth (1937), Katharine Hepburn
(1922), a slave girl in The Thief of Baghdad in Dragon Seed (1944), and Shirley MacLaine
(1924), the ultimate dragon lady in Daughter in My Geisha (1962), Hollywood redefined
of the Dragon (1931), and a prostitute in the notion of Asian beauty. To be a beautiful
Shanghai Express (1932), in addition to her Asian meant having more Caucasian features.
defeat over not getting the lead in the film On the other hand, famous Hollywood men
version of Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth continued to don yellowface as well, although
(1937), led her to leave Hollywood for inter- their portrayals of Asian men were hardly com-
national travel and performance. She re- plimentary: see, for example, John Wayne as the
turned in the 1950s to a television series, The war-crazed Genghis Khan in The Conqueror
Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, but it lasted (1956); Marlon Brando as the sneaky, back-
only a few weeks. stabbing Japanese interpreter in Teahouse of
Overall, anti-Asian sentiment persisted in the August Moon (1956); Ricardo Montalban
the United States in various forms throughout as the sexless dancing eunuch in Sayonara
most of the twentieth century and was well re- (1957); and Mickey Rooney as the squinty-
flected on the silver screen. As white America eyed, buck-toothed Japanese landlord in
had first perceived the immigrant laborers— Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)—whose hideous
the fear of yellow peril—Hollywood’s Asian caricature has recently resurfaced as Ice-
characters, too, were cunning, evil, and un- box.com’s objectionable Mr. Wong.
trustworthy. These Asian roles were not even As late as 1995, The Complete Make-Up Art-
played by actors of Asian descent but by white ist, by Penny Delamar, explained how to do
actors in hideous yellowface, complete with “Caucasian to oriental” and “Caucasian to In-
plastic prosthetics and overdone makeup. The dian,” complete with illustrations of a young
Swedish-born Walter Oland spent the majority blonde woman transformed to resemble Fu
of his career as the evil-incarnate Fu Manchu Manchu, still one of Hollywood’s favorite fake
in such films as The Mysterious Fu Manchu Asians. Yellowface also received international
(1929) and as the faux-Chinese detective Char- attention in the 1990s when non-Asian actor
lie Chan in such films as Charlie Chan Carries Jonathan Pryce was cast as a Eurasian engineer
On (1931). Similarly, Myrna Loy was often cast in Miss Saigon, a theatrical spectacle whose
as an exotic Asian woman (e.g., Mask of Fu producers insisted that no Asian American ac-
Manchu, 1933), whose dark sensuality threat- tors talented enough could be found to play
ened white America. Of course, in the end, the the London-originated role on Broadway.
honesty and purity of the white American hero Even more recently, the character of Miss
could not be overcome, and all yellow evil was Swan on Fox’s Mad TV has come under attack
vanquished. for non-Asian actor Alex Borstein’s recurring
In addition to anti-immigration laws, anti- portrayal of an English-challenged nail-salon
miscegenation laws emerged to fuel yellow- owner in heavy Asian-like makeup. Despite
face on film, and with them, new stereotypes adamant claims that the character is not of
emerged in the 1930s and beyond. With in- Asian origin, that she originally appeared in
terracial marriage now illegal, Hollywood’s the first sketch as the unmistakably Asian-
Motion Picture Industry Code prohibited any sounding Miss Kwan makes denials suspect.
228 [ GROUPS
Indeed, yellowface is, most unfortunately, alive a complete turnaround from less than ten
and well. years earlier, The House of Bamboo (1955)
found the Japanese working together with the
Beyond Yellowface and the Birth of New Americans, even falling in love with them in
Stereotypes Three Stripes in the Sun (1955). In 1955 as well,
In addition to the use of yellowface, Holly- John Sturges’s Bad Day at Black Rock, starring
wood continued to control the celluloid image Spencer Tracy, addressed anti-Japanese racism
of Asian America through new, insidious ste- and internment of the war years. What a dif-
reotypes. Beyond the yellow peril of the first ference a decade made.
Asian American immigrants, world events be- With the 1947 amendment to the 1945 War
gan to further shape depictions of Asians and Brides Act, which granted U.S. entry for the
Asian Americans in film. Asian wives and children of U.S. military, Hol-
With Japan’s expansion into Korea at the lywood discovered the box-office potential of
turn of the century and into China in the 1930s the love affair between the white male and the
came new fears of Asian domination. Now un- Asian female, as witnessed by the success of
der siege, the Chinese were more favorably de- Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), in
picted in Hollywood. Suddenly they were the which William Holden made his Asiaphile de-
“good Asian,” being threatened by the “bad but, falling for a Eurasian doctor played by
Asian”—the Japanese. The Chinese suffered Jennifer Jones. That Eurasian angle was key, as
most nobly as worthy peasants in The Good it was deemed permissible for non-Asian ac-
Earth (1937). Anna May Wong was twice the tresses in yellowface to be swept away by the
loyal Chinese ally plotting against the Japanese conquering white hero—but not permissible
enemy in Bombs over Burma (1942) and Lady for the truly Asian women to be so desired,
from Chungking (1943). Anthony Quinn much less conquered.
played a Chinese guerilla fighting the Japanese Hollywood exploited the demand for the in-
in China Sky (1945), while Chinese children terracial relationship, marked by the larger-
helped save American pilots in China’s Little than-life debut of the geisha in such films as
Devils (1945). With Japan’s bombing of Pearl Teahouse of the August Moon (1956) and Say-
Harbor in 1941, the vilification of the Japanese onara (1957)—she was beautiful and subser-
intensified. The Asian face in American film vient, a lotus blossom ready to please. Then
was associated with the cruel, non–English came The World of Suzie Wong (1960), in
speaking caricature of the demonized Japanese which William Holden returned to fall in love
soldier, as in films like The Purple Heart with Nancy Kwan, herself a Eurasian actress—
(1944), Back to Bataan (1945), and First Yank in this case, Kwan was just Asian enough and
in Tokyo (1945). yet not Asian enough to pose any sort of threat.
When World War II ended, leaving Japan in Suzie Wong became the ultimate Hollywood-
utter devastation, Hollywood abandoned its created Asian woman, a prostitute with a heart
version of the evil Japanese and reinstated the of gold, ever ready to offer pleasure to the
Chinese into the “bad Asian” slot just in time white man who could pay the highest price.
for the Red Scare of early 1950s McCarthyism. She was a sexual dynamo, more mysterious,
Flash Gordon, which debuted as a film in 1936 sultrier, more desirable than her earlier incar-
with evil Ming the Merciless, emperor of fu- nations. She remains, unfortunately, one of the
turistic Mongo—Mongolia? as in China?—re- most pernicious stereotypes today.
turned in 1952 as a full-blown television series. Fast forward to the mid-1960s, when exclu-
Shanghai Story (1954) had evil Red Chinese sionary immigration laws were finally lifted to
trapping innocent Americans. Furthermore, in allow for large numbers of Asians to enter the
 ASIAN AMERICANS ] 229

United States and anti-miscegenation laws racism two years later by its screenwriter,
were abolished nationwide with Loving vs. Vir- Oliver Stone, in American Film magazine: “I
ginia in 1967. The decade ended with the civil got the rap of racism . . . the complaints were
rights movement, when Orientals became certainly legitimate about Dragon.” Addition-
Asian Americans. Finally, despite various ally, even well-intentioned films ostensibly
backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, Asian about Asian or the Asian American experience
Americans began to find a united, organizing did not have Asian American lead roles. While
voice. With greater numbers came better rep- one might argue that yellowfacing is no longer
resentation. In a few surprising instances, the rampant, the audience must still question why
Asian man got the Asian girl, as in Walk Like Asian Americans are still subordinated even in
a Dragon (1960), when James Shigeta won their own stories: The Killing Fields (1984),
Nobu McCarthy from Jack Lord, or in Bridge about the horrors in Cambodia during the
to the Sun (1961) when James Shigeta even got Khmer Revolution in which Haing S. Ngor
the white girl Carroll Baker. Also in 1961, played a supporting role to Sam Waterston
Flower Drum Song, based on the 1958 Rodgers and John Malkovich, or Seven Years in Tibet
and Hammerstein Broadway musical about (1997) in which Brad Pitt was surrounded by
life in San Francisco’s Chinatown, became the extras in their own country, or The Lost Empire
first Hollywood film with an almost-all Asian (2001), in which a white businessman was the
cast. Song was not without controversy: de- vehicle to tell the tale of the legendary (and
tractors hated it for creating a whitewashed Chinese) Monkey King. Perhaps the worst of-
version of Chinatown filled with misconcep- fender of all was Hollywood’s version of the
tions and stereotypes, while supporters adored Japanese internment, Come See the Paradise
it because it was the first time stage and screen (1990), starring Dennis Quaid as the white
featured Asian-looking faces. husband of the imprisoned Tamlyn Tomita.
The 1970s saw the meteoric rise of Bruce Good intentions aside, other films contin-
Lee, who ironically had to abandon the United ued to find commercial success by furthering
States (he was born in San Francisco) to create new stereotypes. The Karate Kid series, which
the ultimate Hollywood fighting machine. Af- began in 1983, was one of many titles featuring
ter enduring growing racism in Hollywood, the wise Asian sage with mystical powers
Lee finally left for Hong Kong in disgust after rooted in martial arts. Sixteen Candles (1984)
David Carradine was cast in Kung Fu—yellow- introduced audiences to the sexless Asian geek.
face never dies—as the wandering monk char- The Asian/Japanese work ethic was lampooned
acter that Lee originally created for himself. in Gung Ho (1986). The Japanese became the
Lee’s legacy—stereotypes and all—remains ultimate mobsters in Black Rain (1989). The
timeless with Dragon-wannabes. Japanese businessman was vilified in Rising
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Holly- Sun (1993). The stingy Korean shopkeeper got
wood continued to churn out new variations his due in Falling Down (1993). Unfortunately,
of old stereotypes. One of the worst offenders the list goes on.
was Year of the Dragon (1985), complete with
a Connie Chung–like reporter who must be Asian American Filmmaking
tamed, then dominated by the white man who In reaction to Hollywood’s many irresponsible
is busy fighting the evil Chinese mafia who depictions, Asian American filmmakers con-
have overrun New York City. The film’s ram- tinue to reclaim the Asian American image.
pant, insulting stereotypical depictions of Three organizations have been essential in that
Asian Americans earned it nationwide objec- effort, beginning with Visual Communications
tions and protests, and even an admission of (VC), founded in 1970 in Los Angeles as a
230 [ GROUPS
community organization promoting media fight. Together, they helped reclaim the Asian
arts by and about Asian Americans. Asian American image.
CineVue (ACV) followed six years later in New One of those initial reclamations was Duane
York, supporting the production and exhibi- Kubo and Robert A. Nakamura’s first all–
tion of Asian American media, including the Asian American full-length film, Hito Hata:
founding of the Asian American International Raise the Banner (1980), which captured the
Film Festival which today is the longest- contributions and hardships of Japanese
running Asian American film festival in the Americans since the early 1900s through the
country. In San Francisco, the National Asian life of an immigrant Japanese laborer, Oda,
American Telecommunications Association played by the veteran actor/director Mako.
(NAATA) was established in 1980 to fund, The film opens with a wizened Oda and his
produce, and distribute films that encompass elderly friends—all men without families kept
the diversity of Asian America. NAATA also single by the long-lasting exclusionary immi-
sponsors the annual San Francisco Interna- gration laws—who are out in Little Tokyo cel-
tional Asian American Film Festival. Film fes- ebrating Nisei Week. Through flashbacks, the
tivals, especially Asian American–specific film film traces Oda’s experiences from a Southern
festivals, proved to be a remarkable venue for Pacific railroad worker to his experiences as a
reaching inquisitive, growing audiences. In community organizer struggling to keep devel-
recent years, Asian- and Asian American– opers from destroying the affordable residential
centered festivals have sprouted in cities hotels that are home to a generation of elderly
throughout the country, including Honolulu, single Japanese American men. From a young
Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Washington, disadvantaged immigrant to an old man fighting
Chicago, and Dallas. Furthermore, the watch- for his rights, the character Oda bore absolutely
dog group Media Action Network for Asian no resemblance to the fake, Hollywood-created
Americans (MANAA) was founded in 1992 to Asians and Asian Americans.
monitor portrayals of Asian Americans in the One year later came Wayne Wang’s debut,
media so that damaging stereotypes do not go Chan Is Missing, about a Chinese American
unnoticed and unprotested by the public. cabbie and his nephew’s search for a friend
The advent of these media-specific organi- who has gone missing with $4,000 of their sav-
zations marked a major milestone in Asian ings. On the surface, Chan is a clever detective
Americans in film. In addition to media or- story without an easy ending. But starting with
ganizations, Asian American actors proved to the film’s title—an obvious reference to the
be some of the most effective advocates for fake Charlie Chans populating the screens, in-
more accurate Asian American representa- cluding Peter Ustinov in the title role of Char-
tion. Walking a fine line between not perpet- lie Chan and Curse of the Dragon Queen just
uating stereotypes and the artistic and eco- one year earlier—Wang’s film is also a defin-
nomic need to work, the post–World War II itive statement about Asian Americans in film.
generation of Asian American actors, among In Wang’s world, Chan is truly of Chinese de-
them Mako, Soon-Tek Oh, Sab Shimono, scent. But just as the true Chan was never
James Shigeta, James Hong, Wood Moy, found—much less seen—in Hollywood’s ver-
Nobu McCarthy, and Beulah Quo, gave voice sions, so, too, must he remain missing in
to the fight against demeaning roles. In more Wang’s version. Because Chan is missing, his
recent years, distinctive actors such as Kelvin Asian American friends and relatives must con-
Han Yee, Lane Nishikawa, John Lone, Amy tinue to search for him, just as Asian Americans
Hill, Jodi Long, Joan Chen, Dennis Dun, and must continue to search for fair and accurate
Rosalind Chao remained committed to the representation in film and elsewhere.
 ASIAN AMERICANS ] 231

Social politics aside, Wang made an inven- Strong Clear Vision in 1994, Jessica Yu for
tive, enjoyable film—which also marked the Breathing Lessons in 1996, Chris Tashima for
birth of the independent Asian American film Visas and Virtue in 1997, and Keiko Ibi for The
movement. Chan Is Missing remains one of the Personals: Improvisations on Romance in the
most widely distributed Asian American titles Golden Years in 1998.
in film history. Wang went on to direct Dim Asian American filmmakers also found suc-
Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (1984), now a classic cess with a hybrid form that was part history
about the relationship between an Asian and part feature film. One of the most suc-
American mother and daughter, and Eat a cessful titles is Kayo Hatta’s Picture Bride
Bowl of Tea (1989), based on the novel by (1995), which introduced the picture-bride
Louis Chu about a young couple in Chinatown phenomenon to mainstream audiences. Be-
starting their lives together. Then came Joy tween 1908 and 1924, more than twenty thou-
Luck Club (1993), based on Amy Tan’s best- sand Asian women arrived in Hawaii to marry
selling novel and still the only major Holly- immigrant plantation workers, sight unseen,
wood studio–made film specifically about a with the exception of a single, often aged pho-
slice of the Asian American experience, featur- tograph sent by the bridegroom back to the
ing a stellar Asian American cast. The mother- home country in hopes of a making a long-
daughter relationship, which was at the heart distance match. The film focuses on the rela-
of the film, proved a resonating theme with all tionship between young, expectant Riyo, who
audiences, regardless of ethnic makeup. In- arrives in Hawaii in 1918 to marry weathered,
deed mothers and daughters have intricate, hard-working Matsuji, who is twenty years
complicated relationships in any culture, and older than his photograph. A beautifully ren-
in Joy Luck Club, those mothers and daughters dered, tender film, Picture Bride follows the re-
happened to be Asian American. Given its uni- lationship that blossoms between the mis-
versal theme, the film was a bona fide hit— matched pair while offering a glimpse of
and remains the only Asian American–themed immigration life in the early twentieth century.
film, made by and with Asian Americans, from Today, the latest feature films are just on the
a major Hollywood studio. cusp of breakout superstardom, led by Justin
In addition, documentary filmmaking by Lin’s Better Luck Tomorrow, which won inter-
Asian Americans grew especially quickly with national acclaim for its depiction a group of
great strength, led by such seminal works as overprivileged Asian American honor students
Unfinished Business (1985) by Steven Okazaki who steal, cheat, lie, and more in their free
and Who Killed Vincent Chin? (1988) by Chris- time. A major success at Sundance 2002, the
tine Choy and Renee Tajima-Peña. Stories of film was acquired by MTV for national distri-
immigration, internment, isolation and sepa- bution, making Asian American film history
ration, family history, and first-person narra- along the way: it was not only the first Asian
tives emerged and multiplied. Gone were the American film ever to be picked up at Sun-
stereotypes: Asian Americans told their Asian dance, but it also became the first film ever—
American stories in earnest, with Asian Amer- regardless of ethnic background—purchased
ican themes and subjects played out by Asian for distribution by MTV Films.
American actors. Asian American filmmakers At a question-and-answer session following
continued to fracture and break out of Hol- a Sundance screening, Lin was criticized by a
lywood’s suffocating molds while winning film critic for making “such a bleak, negative,
Hollywood’s accolades including several Acad- amoral film,” referring to the film’s main char-
emy Awards: Steven Okazaki for Days of Wait- acters, the Ivy-bound boys gone amok. “Don’t
ing in 1990, Frieda Lee Mock for Maya Lin: A you have a responsibility to paint a more posi-
232 [ GROUPS
tive and helpful portrait of your community?” Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine, 1993),
the critic demanded. Lin replied that he made along with the luminous actress Gong Li, has
the film he wanted to make, that what he de- created a new and viable celluloid niche. Ad-
picted was a reality among teenagers of any ditionally, the 1997 Hong Kong handover sent
ethnicity. Then came Chicago Sun-Times film reverberations through Hollywood, as seen in
critic Roger Ebert (he of international thumbs- the box-office success of Hong Kong director
up fame), to Lin’s defense, later devoting a col- John Woo and his blockbusters Broken Arrow
umn to the Sundance incident. “You would (1995), Face/Off (1997), Mission: Impossible 2
never make a comment like that to a white (2000), and, most recently, Windtalkers (2002).
filmmaker,” Ebert chastised the detractor. “If Jackie Chan is the comic answer to the
Justin Lin had a responsibility to ‘his com- Dragon—although one still has to ask, how
munity,’ it was to make the best film he pos- come he never gets the girl? The phenomenal
sibly could,” Ebert wrote—which certainly success of in-between Asian/Asian Americans
earned him countless thumbs-up from many such as Asian-born, U.S.-educated, U.S.-
communities. domiciled directors Ang Lee and Mira Nair fur-
Better Luck Tomorrow owes its success, in ther blurs the lines of Asian American film. Re-
part, to previous, smaller, no less notable films gardless of definitions, the phenomenal success
that capture Asian American life, with an em- of Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
phasis on the “American.” Whether coming- and Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (2002)—that the
of-age in Los Angeles on the eve of graduation former film won an Academy Award for best
for eight teenagers in Chris Chan Lee’s Yellow foreign film speaks volumes—can only further
(1996); or finding unexpected connections be- the efforts of Asian Americans working in film.
tween a lonely gay man, a quirky waitress and The latest crop of Asian American actors,
a distraught housewife in Quentin Lee and Jus- too, have benefited from the Asian crossovers:
tin Lin’s Shopping for Fangs (1997); or a final- the most visible, such as Tamlyn Tomita, Mar-
year medical student coping with the demands garet Cho, Ming-Na Wen, Rick Yune, Russell
of his domineering mother in Francisco Ali- Wong, Jason Scott Lee, John Cho, Eddie Shin,
walas’s Disoriented (1997); or two young men Garrett Wang, Keiko Agena, B. D. Wong, Alec
spending a last summer together before they Mapa, and Sandra Oh, have been joined by the
go their separate ways in Michael Idemoto and likes of Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Bai
Eric Nakamura’s Sunsets (1997); or a straight- Ling, Zhang Ziyi, and Tsui Hark, to name but
faced, Tony Award–winning playwright David a few.
Henry Hwang irreverently hawking porn fea- Ironically, with growing exposure, the most
turing “positive images of confident Asian- successful Asian American directors have
American men and women” in Greg Pak’s par- taken on projects that are out of the Asian
ody Asian Porn Pride (1999), today’s Asian American realm and are of the so-called Hol-
American films are best described as just lywood mainstream: Wayne Wang with Smoke
films—that happen to be populated with Asian (1995) and Maid in Manhattan (2003), Joan
American characters, crafted by makers whose Chen with Autumn in New York (2002), Ang
ethnic background is Asian American. Lee with Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Ice
Moreover, with growing interest in the Storm (1997), and The Hulk (2003). The criti-
foreign-film market, especially films from Asia, cism has been unnecessarily harsh. Asian
the definition of Asian American film has American filmmakers, like any others, deserve
blurred and grown. The commercial success of to choose their projects. Would Steven Spiel-
Asian directors such as Zhang Yimou (Red Sor- berg be attacked for not making only Jewish-
ghum, 1991; Raise the Red Lantern, 1997) and centered films?
 ASIAN AMERICANS ] 233

Clearly and steadily, the new generation of made. In a Hollywood-dominated celluloid in-
Asian American filmmakers, directors, pro- dustry, Asian Americans are still facing the
ducers, and actors and a growing Asian Amer- same challenges they did a hundred years
ican audience are helping to dismantle ago—the lack of opportunity coupled with the
Hollywood-created, Hollywood-insisted im- denial of accurate representation. But lest that
ages of what it means to be Asian and Asian glass be considered half-empty, be assured:
American. Certainly more progress needs to be we’ve come a long way, baby.

References
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[ PETER C. HOLLORAN ]

Catholic Americans

s their depiction in movies demonstrates, Despite the anti-Catholic attitudes of the

A no other religious minority in America

has been as reviled and misunderstood,
and then as accepted and admired, as Catho-
lics. The first Europeans to settle in America
Protestant majority, Catholics made signifi-
cant contributions to the colonies and the new
states. They numbered only forty thousand in
the new nation of four million people in 1780,
were Roman Catholics, but North American most in Maryland and scattered German and
anti-Catholicism is so deeply rooted that very Irish Catholic communities in Pennsylvania.
few Americans realize that Catholics predate However, Catholics became the largest de-
Protestants in the New World. In part, the bitter nomination in the United States by 1850 as
conflict between the British in the Americas and waves of French Canadian, German, and Irish
the rival Spanish and French colonial empires immigrants added to the expanding American
may account for this lingering antipathy. The Catholic Church. They still encountered
reformation of the Catholic Church in England deeply rooted prejudice because they resisted
(1530) under Henry VIII, however, led to an assimilation and were suspected of loyalty to
abiding mistrust of Roman Catholics among the pope, supposedly a foreign potentate. It
the English, and this attitude arrived in America was not until World War II that American
with the Pilgrims and the Puritans, who were Catholics began to be considered truly accul-
by definition anti-Anglican and anti-Catholic. turated Americans. Catholics appeared on the
The Huron tribes, allies of the French in Can- silver screen only as immigrants or as colorful
ada and converted by Jesuit missionaries, were ethnic background—most often as Mexican
another reason to fear Catholics, for they raided peons, sexy señoritas, Irish policemen, Italian
English and Dutch colonists in New York and gangsters, or Slavic industrial workers. In the
New England. As a result, no group was as silent movie era (1893–1929), the influential
hated in the British colonies as the Catholics, director D. W. Griffith included some Catholic
who were often prohibited from militia service, images and characters, and Mack Sennett, the
disarmed, and forced to pay double taxes by pioneer Irish Catholic director and producer,
colonial legislatures. Despite the alliance with based his Keystone Kops comedies on the
Catholic France and the Continental Army ser- ubiquitous Irish American policeman. Leading
vice of the marquis de Lafayette, patriotic “No man Rudolph Valentino, an Italian Catholic,
Popery” parades on Guy Fawkes Day were com- blazed across the silent silver screen, yet the
mon in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia first American Catholic movie actors to
before and after the American Revolution. Even achieve megastar status were urban Irish tough
prudent John Adams described a Catholic ser- guys like James Cagney and Spencer Tracy in
vice he attended in Philadelphia in 1774 as the 1930s. It is significant that the popularity
“most awful and affecting.” This was America’s of movies coincided with America’s rejection
oldest and most abiding prejudice. of Victorianism during the Jazz Age. Yet, even

234
 CATHOLIC AMERICANS ] 235

in Hollywood’s Golden Age (1930–40), Cath- remained available during World War II. Pan-
olics were more often than not merely exotic Americanism was popular, and the U.S. gov-
and appealing offbeat screen characters, stran- ernment was eager to maintain good relations
gers in the new land. during the war. Although some South Ameri-
The Catholic presence in the colonial era, can nations banned or censored Hollywood
the Revolutionary War, and the early national films deemed offensive—for example, RKO’s
period has not been explored well by Holly- Girl of the Rio (1932)—the Good Neighbor
wood. 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), a policy had the effect of adding Latin American
movie unsuccessful both at the box office and Catholics to the silver screen in new and pop-
with movie critics, does provide a rich portrait ular ways.
of the First Encounter and the Columbian Ex- In the silent movie era, Ramon Novarro, a
change from a Spanish viewpoint. The Mission Mexican actor, had played a Latin lover (like
(1986), a more popular and dramatic film, of- the Rudolph Valentino icon) but Dolores del
fers rich images of the conflict between the Jes- Rio and Lupe Velez both made a successful
uit priests and the avaricious conquistadors in transition from silents to talkies in the 1930s.
late-eighteenth-century Brazil. On a similar Carmen Miranda became the best-known
theme in North America, Black Robe (1991) Latin America Hollywood actress in the 1940s.
traces Jesuit missionaries among Native Amer- All shared an aggressive sexuality American
ican tribes in seventeenth-century Quebec. audiences found exotic and appealing. None-
Some Civil War movies, such as Gone with theless, Hollywood ignored Hispanic Catholics
the Wind (1939) and Gettysburg (1993), ac- as a central topic until West Side Story (1961)
knowledge the role of Irish Catholic soldiers in translated William Shakespeare’s Romeo and
the Confederate and Union armies. The Molly Juliet into a modern street ballet featuring rival
Maguires (1970) is a memorable portrait of New York City gangs, Puerto Rican and Anglo,
Irish miners who unionized Pennsylvania in the late 1950s. West Side Story, though better
coalminers in 1876, a year of unprecedented choreography than history, reveals some dis-
labor violence. Irish and German immigrants turbing trends in New York City social history,
dominated the American Catholic Church un- including ethnic prejudice, poverty, street
til the 1880s, when immigration by French Ca- crime, adolescent turmoil, and the challenge of
nadians, Italians, Poles, Hungarians, and oth- multiculturalism in modern society. Catholic
ers from eastern and southern Europe immigrants from Cuba more recently contrib-
expanded its ranks. The five million Italian uted to the American ethnic salad bowl, pro-
Catholics who entered the United States be- viding new exotic topics Hollywood exploited
tween 1880 and 1925 provided filmmakers in films such as Brian De Palma’s Miami gang-
with new ethnic stereotypes, first the Sicilian ster movie Scarface (1983) and Mira Nair’s ro-
street musician and fruit peddler and then, mantic comedy about refugees in Miami, The
more ominously, the Mafia gangster. This Perez Family (1995). The dramatic film Ro-
wave of immigration also brought families of mero (1988) depicted the life of Bishop Oscar
such future filmmakers as John Ford, Frank Romero, a Salvadoran cleric and human rights
Capra, and Martin Scorsese. leader whose assassination fueled dissent
In the 1940s Hollywood seized upon Latin among Americans unhappy with the Reagan
Americans to add ethnic spice to hundreds of administration’s dictatorship-friendly policies
movies. Latin American actors, music, stories, in Central America.
and locations were convenient Catholic flavor, By 2001, Catholics numbered more than
especially in westerns. One reason was that one-fourth of the U.S. population and had be-
Latin America was the only foreign market that come integrated into the American main-
236 [ GROUPS
stream. The Irish and Italian gangsters were, post–Civil War army. In each of these films
of course, Catholics, giving movies an oppor- Ford links the outsider status of Catholics to
tunity to depict exotic Roman rites in baptism, the doomed Native Americans.
marriage, confession, wake, and funeral scenes, American Catholics played a crucial role in
not to mention the caste of celibate priests and World War I, as depicted heroically in The
nuns. In the post–World War II age of afflu- Fighting 69th (1940), Fighting Father Dunne
ence, conformity, and consensus, Catholicism (1948), and The Iron Major (1943). But with
was no longer a hostile worldview; indeed, sec- the Roaring Twenties and the Prohibition Era
ularism and pluralism replaced interfaith rivalry (1920–33), Hollywood found more opportu-
for people of all faiths. The election of John F. nities to depict Irish and Italian immigrants as
Kennedy in 1960 encouraged Catholics to aban- gangsters and streetwise slum dwellers. Movies
don their defensive stance and quieted the ech- such as Little Caesar (1930), Scarface (1932),
oes of anti-Catholic bigotry. and The Roaring Twenties (1939) exploited the
In the 1930s, the first prominent Catholic underworld’s mostly Catholic gangsters, un-
filmmaker, John Ford, produced films that fairly slighting the criminal careers of Jewish,
were documents of Catholic culture. The German, and other ethnic bootleggers. The
tough Ford, son of Irish immigrants, was born Great Depression (1929–41) saw unemploy-
in Portland, Maine, and was a pious Catholic ment rates reach 25 percent in many commu-
all his life. From The Informer (1935) to Mary nities, and the Catholic Church’s response to
of Scotland (1936) or The Fugitive (1947), John this social upheaval is sensitively depicted in En-
Ford argued that Catholic spiritual values— tertaining Angels (1996), the story of Dorothy
loyalty to one’s faith, obedience to lawful au- Day, Peter Maurin, and the radical Catholic
thority, charity, and humility—were superior Workers movement. Boys Town (1938) earned
to material goals. In The Quiet Man (1952), Spencer Tracy an Academy Award for his role
Sean Thornton ( John Wayne) returns from a as Father Edward Flanagan, but—more impor-
career in America as a soldier and boxer, eager tant—it demonstrated the Church’s concern
to reenter the simple Irish village of his fa- with social justice and child welfare during the
ther—a yearning shown not only in his partic- Depression years. Another unforgettable view
ipation in Catholic parish church services, but of the Depression is Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath
also in the rituals and mores of a traditional (1940), based, according to the director, on par-
culture (Gallagher, 1986). allels between the uprooted Okies and the Irish
In his westerns, Ford evokes a sense of time, famine exiles. Both groups were poor, religious,
place, and Catholic people in the multicultural landless tenant farmers forced from their homes
American frontier. His silent movie The Iron and enduring enormous hardships. Social jus-
Horse (1924) documented the important role tice is also an important part of Catholic doc-
the Irish played in taming the Western fron- trine, and controversial leadership roles by
tier. In Rio Grande (1950), the goodhearted Catholics in the American labor movement are
Irish Sergeant Quincannon (Victor McLaglen) depicted in On the Waterfront (1954), The Molly
comically genuflects when the Indians attack a Maguires (1970), and Hoffa (1992).
Mexican Catholic Church. Two other films in World War II saw Catholics in the United
John Ford’s trilogy honoring the U.S. Cavalry, States and abroad confronting Nazis, and it
Fort Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Rib- gave Hollywood another chance to portray
bon (1949), accurately feature Irish Catholic Catholics as loyal and disproportionately
soldiers taming the Western frontier in the brave Americans. The Sullivans (1944) is
name of a WASP empire. Irish or Irish Amer- based on the actual story of five Irish Catholic
icans composed as much as one-third of the brothers lost when their ship, the USS Juneau,
 CATHOLIC AMERICANS ] 237

went down off Guadalcanal. John Huston’s recover the mayor’s seat in Boston, capping a
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) portrays a colorful career also depicted in the PBS doc-
Catholic nun stranded on a Japanese- umentary Scandalous Mayor (1998), which may
occupied Pacific island; she brings a very sec- be contrasted with the Chicago Irish political
ular marine closer to spirituality. The future machine in Daley, The Last Boss (1995). Preston
president John F. Kennedy had his own war- Sturges also found comedy in the urban politi-
time biopic, PT 109 (1963), an action film cal machine in The Great McGinty (1940). The
based on his heroism in the South Pacific and contributions of Catholics to American urban
timed to help Kennedy in his second presi- law enforcement are also numerous, perhaps
dential campaign (Fuchs, 1967). best depicted in The Naked City (1948) and
Hollywood studio bosses, who were often more darkly in Sidney Lumet’s Serpico (1973)
Jewish businessmen, were scrupulous about and Q & A (1990). Elia Kazan’s On the Water-
portraying the clergy in a sympathetic light. front (1954) features Karl Malden as a Social
This favorable treatment is personified in Bing Gospel priest fighting to raise the moral con-
Crosby, who created the ultimate image of the science of longshoremen exploited by a corrupt
engaging Catholic parish priest in Going My labor union. These films reveal the central di-
Way (1944) and reprised his role, with Ingrid lemma of American Catholics: they belong to
Bergman as a parochial-school sister, in The an immigrant, minority community separated
Bells of St. Mary’s (1945). Crosby also played a from the Protestant mainstream; they must de-
priest in Say One for Me (1959), as did Frank fine their own place so that they may make their
Sinatra in The Miracle of the Bells (1948). Pat own contributions to the United States in con-
O’Brien (in The Fighting 69th, Fighting Father sonance with Catholic values.
Dunne, The Fireball, and Angels with Dirty Similarly, Robert Altman, a Catholic born in
Faces) and Spencer Tracy (in San Francisco, Kansas City and educated at Jesuit schools,
Boys Town, The Men of Boys Town, and The uses a Catholic lens to examine tensions in
Devil at 4 O’Clock) were Irish American actors American culture. In MASH (1970), army
who wore the clerical collar in major roles. The chaplain Father John Patrick “Dago Red” Mul-
list of other Hollywood priests includes Ward cahy is ineffectual when the surgeons stage a
Bond, Montgomery Clift, Robert De Niro, parody of the Last Supper. Amid the death and
Henry Fonda, John Huston, Van Johnson, Jack turmoil of a “forgotten war” (1950–53), reli-
Lemmon, Karl Malden, Thomas Mitchell, gion and the bumbling padre are powerless to
Gregory Peck, Vincent Price, and Tom Tryon. redeem a fallen world. Altman seems to say
In post-Vietnam Hollywood, many antireli- that in an absurd world, only black humor can
gious films attempted to depict a darker side help American men and women cope. In
of the Catholic Church—rigid sexual morality Quintet (1978), Altman uses science fiction to
in The Cardinal (1963), satanic cultism in The satirize the Catholic principle of authority, and
Exorcist (1973), corruption in True Confessions in Nashville (1975) contemporary southern
(1981), and homophobia in Mass Appeal myths and rites are negatively equated with the
(1986)—supposedly in the name of realism. rituals of Catholicism. A Wedding (1978) ap-
Catholic contributions to American govern- propriates Catholic dualism in a mixed mar-
ment are seen in Edwin O’Connor’s witty po- riage of the Protestant Brenner and the Cath-
litical novel The Last Hurrah (1956), which was olic Corelli families. Like John Ford, Robert
the basis for a highly rated film of the same Altman’s vision of America is pervaded by rit-
name by John Ford (1958). It is a thinly veiled ual, a rejection of the good vs. evil dialectic,
account of Massachusetts Governor James Mi- and a preference for universalism, which is
chael Curley’s (1874–1958) last campaign to profoundly Roman Catholic. They argue that
238 [ GROUPS
this distinctive spiritual outlook coexists un- have a titillating fascination for American film-
certainly with American visions and values. makers and audiences. In Lilies of the Field
With The Godfather trilogy (1972, 1974, (1963), an African American carpenter (Sidney
1990) Francis Ford Coppola created one of the Poitier) builds a chapel for German missionary
best recent popular epics of any film genre, sisters in Arizona. Two Mules for Sister Sarah
based on Mario Puzo’s popular novels about (1970), a Clint Eastwood western comedy, of-
an Italian American organized-crime dynasty. fers few insights but exploits the whore/virgin
Like Italian opera, these films are profoundly dichotomies of a “sister” who was once a pros-
Catholic, steeped in tensions between inno- titute. Agnes of God (1985) shows a modern
cence and guilt, piety and profanity. Wed- sister superior faced with a skeptical doctor
dings, funerals, and baptisms are opportunities and a secret childbirth in a Canadian convent;
to see evolving Italian Catholic life in the first in the process, the film poses the issue of faith
half of the twentieth century. Similarly, Martin versus reason. The Whoopi Goldberg comedy
Scorsese’s Mean Streets (1973) uses its stylized Sister Act (1992) replays the stern sister supe-
focus on crime, religion, and free enterprise to rior cliché. Only Fred Zinnemann’s The Nun’s
define the Italian American underworld in Story (1959) offers an empathetic view of con-
New York City’s Little Italy. John Huston’s vent and missionary life. The true experiences
Prizzi’s Honor (1985) also weaves Catholic of a modern sister counseling Louisiana death
practices into his romantic Mafia spoof. More row inmates traced in Dead Man Walking
contemporary evidence of the non-Catholic (1995) is a powerful docudrama. Catholic pa-
fascination with the celibate Catholic clergy is rochial education may be responsible for the
Mass Appeal (1986), a film based on a Broad- irreverent comedy Dogma (1999), which as-
way play by Bill C. Davis. It explores the re- sumes religious faith but mocks doctrinal re-
lationship of a complacent parish pastor, Fa- ligion. Heaven Help Us (1985) is another satire
ther Farley ( Jack Lemmon), and a zealous of Catholic education, and, like the more sober
seminarian (Zeljke Ivanek) assigned to his af- Sidney Lumet film The Verdict (1982), it ques-
fluent suburban church. Like Lilies of the Field tions how relevant Catholic morality may be
(1963), Mass Appeal voyeuristically pries into in modern America.
the dim corners of a still foreign church. A Our comfort with such sidelong looks at
more controversial view into the Catholic rec- the institutional church, which some believe
tory was The Priest (1995), treating homosex- verge on blasphemy or cross the line entirely,
uality, alcoholism, and adultery by priests, a may be evidence that American Catholics
far cry from Bing Crosby’s Going My Way have entered mainstream society. Once de-
(1944) and as provocative as Martin Scorsese’s spised and shunned, American Catholics have
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). Clearly, achieved remarkable success, perhaps more
Hollywood makes these films because Ameri- success than any other immigrant group in the
can audiences are still curious about the arcane United States. Comparing the film record with
Roman Catholic Church. the historical record demonstrates the long
Since the era of antebellum nativism, the road Catholics have traveled and reveals the
Catholic nun (in convents) and sisters (in hos- suspicion and scrutiny the Catholic Church
pitals and schools), like the celibate priest, has endured.
 CATHOLIC AMERICANS ] 239

References
Filmography The Priest (1995, F)
Prizzi’s Honor (1985, F)
Agnes of God (1985, F)
PT 109 (1963, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F)
Q & A (1990, F)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945, F)
The Quiet Man (1952, F)
Black Robe (1991, F)
Quintet (1978, F)
Boys Town (1938, F)
Rio Grande (1950, F)
Brother Orchid (1940, F)
The Roaring Twenties (1939, F)
The Cardinal (1963, F)
Romero (1988, F)
Daley, the Last Boss (1995, D)
San Francisco (1936, F)
Dead Man Walking (1995, F)
Say One for Me (1959, F)
The Devil at 4 O’Clock (1961, F)
Scandalous Mayor (1998, D)
Dogma (1999, F)
Scarface (1932, F; 1983, F)
Entertaining Angels (1996, F)
Serpico (1973, F)
The Exorcist (1973, F)
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, F)
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985, F)
The Sign of the Cross (1932, F)
Fighting Father Dunne (1948, F)
Sister Act (1992, F)
The Fighting 69th (1940, F)
The Sullivans (1944, F)
The Fireball (1950, F)
Three Godfathers (1948, F)
Fort Apache (1948, F)
True Confessions (1981, F)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992, F)
Two Mules for Sister Sarah (1970, F)
The Fugitive (1947, F)
The Verdict (1982, F)
Gettysburg (1993, F)
A Wedding (1978, F)
Girl of the Rio (1932, F)
We’re No Angels (1989, F)
The Godfather (1972, F)
West Side Story (1961, F)
The Godfather II (1974, F)
The Godfather Part III (1990, F)
Going My Way (1944, F)
Gone with the Wind (1939, F)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F)
Bibliography
The Great McGinty (1940, F) Ahlstrom, Sydney E. A Religious History of the Ameri-
Heaven Help Us (1985, F) can People. 2 vols. Garden City, NY: Doubleday,
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957, F) 1975.
Hoffa (1992, F) Black, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored: Morality
The Informer (1935, F) Codes, Catholics, and the Movies. New York: Cam-
The Iron Horse (1924, F) bridge University Press, 1995.
The Iron Major (1943, F) Cogley, John. Catholic America. New York: Dial Press,
Jesus Christ Superstar (1973, F) 1973.
Jesus of Montreal (1989, F) Doherty, Thomas. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immoral-
Jesus of Nazareth (1978, F) ity, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930–
The Last Hurrah (1958, F) 1934. New York: Columbia University Press,
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, F) 1999.
Lilies of the Field (1963, F) Dolan, Jay P. The American Catholic Experience: A
Little Caesar (1930, F) History from Colonial Times to the Present. Garden
Mary of Scotland (1936, F) City, NY: Doubleday, 1985.
MASH (1970, F) Friedman, Lester D. Unspeakable Images: Ethnicity
Mass Appeal (1986, F) and the American Cinema. Urbana: University of
Mean Streets (1973, F) Illinois Press, 1991.
The Men of Boys Town (1941, F) Fuchs, Lawrence H. John F. Kennedy and American
The Miracle of the Bells (1948, F) Catholicism. New York: Meredith, 1967.
The Mission (1986, F) Gallagher, Tag. John Ford: The Man and His Films.
The Molly Maguires (1970, F) Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Monsignor (1982, F) Gillis, Chester. Roman Catholicism in America. New
The Naked City (1948, F) York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Nashville (1975, F) Hennesey, James J. American Catholics: A History
The Nun’s Story (1959, F) of the Roman Catholic Community in the United
On the Waterfront (1954, F) States. New York: Oxford University Press,
The Perez Family (1995, F) 1981.
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Kass, Judith M. Robert Altman: American Innovator. Culture and the War on Traditional Values. New
New York: Popular Library, 1978. York: HarperCollins, 1992.
Keyser, Les, and Barbara Keyser. Hollywood and the O’Connor, Edwin. The Last Hurrah. Boston: Little,
Catholic Church: the Image of Roman Catholicism in Brown, 1956.
American Movies. Chicago: Loyola University Press, Vizzard, Jack. See No Evil: Life Inside a Hollywood
1984. Censor. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970.
Meagher, Timothy J. Urban American Catholicism: Walsh, Frank. Sin and Censorship: The Catholic
The Culture and Identity of the American Catholic Church and the Motion Picture Industry. New Ha-
People. New York: Garland, 1988. ven: Yale University Press, 1996.
Medved, Michael. Hollywood vs. America: Popular
[ RON GREEN ]

Children and Teenagers

in the Twentieth Century
he twentieth century was fascinated with lock Jackson on children in films, plus David

T young people. Seen variously as victims,

villains, and the hope of the future, chil-
dren and teenagers in the United States have
been objects of care and concern in both the
Considine and Thomas Doherty on screen
adolescents. They have insightfully analyzed
their subjects both as reflections of the time
in which the movies were made and as influ-
popular consciousness and academic studies. ences on the behavior of youthful members
No longer viewed as miniature grownups or of movie audiences. More recently, a 1998
apprentice adults, they have come to be seen— journal article by Shirley R. Steinberg and Joe
and to see themselves—as distinctive groups L. Kinchloe reviewed some of the scholarship
with their own subculture and customs. Their concerning celluloid teenagers, and added
portrayal in films throughout the century has provocative cultural analysis of their own.
reflected changing perceptions and concerns Children and adolescents have appeared in
in the society as a whole. commercial film productions from the begin-
After 1900, children and teenagers increas- ning. Their changing roles throughout the
ingly became subjects of academic study. Begin- twentieth century reflected a society in tran-
ning with G. Stanley Hall’s 1904 pioneering sition, as traditional adult authority over
work Adolescence, sociologists and psychologists young people waned and youth culture grew
have examined the world of the young. The increasingly autonomous. In their earliest
widely read books of Robert Coles have inten- appearances, young actors portrayed charac-
sified and popularized a long fascination with ters who exemplified both innocence and de-
the psychology of the early stages of life and the pendence, love objects needing adult protec-
meaning of growing up in the changing cultural tion and guidance. Although occasionally
climate of the developed world. Historians, too, showing resourcefulness and an ability to
have found much social significance in the in- help adults—what Kathy Merlock Jackson has
stitution of childhood. Beginning with Philippe called “fix-it” children—their screen presence
Ariès’s Centuries of Childhood (1960), which represented a sentimental, adult view of
first postulated the “invention” of the notion of childhood. Occasionally amused by youthful
childhood as a separate and distinct life stage, quirks and often nostalgic, this perspective
the field today includes growing numbers of dominated films for the first half of the cen-
books, journal articles, college and university tury. A shift in the demographics of movie
courses, and online discussion groups. audiences and a rise in power among both
The concern for the social construction of children and teenagers, beginning in the
childhood and adolescence has also inspired 1940s and exploding in the 1950s and 1960s,
several scholars to examine the cinematic created a new, more independent—and often
portrayal of the young, notably Kathy Mer- more defiant—image.

241
242 [ GROUPS
The Silent Era: Guardians of Innocence beloved pet fawn, which ultimately he has to
As early as 1903 in The Great Train Robbery, a put down. After the passing of grief for the
child actor played a significant role. In that loss, his bonds with his parents provide the
film, the plucky little daughter of the overpow- basis for his own passage to adulthood. As in
ered stationmaster revives and frees him, en- many films about childhood, its setting in the
abling him to raise the alarm after robbers past emphasizes a strong sense of nostalgia.
leave him bound and unconscious. In 1908, a Two classic films from 1941 invoke this quality
child played the title character of D. W. Grif- as well: John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley
fith’s The Adventures of Dolly, an innocent vic- is an achingly poignant memory film, told by
tim of kidnapping who survives a harrowing the adult Huw Morgan (Roddy McDowall),
trip through river rapids and over a waterfall. about his childhood in the Welsh mining com-
Viewers identified with her distraught parents munity where his family had lived for gener-
and her brave young rescuers more than with ations; and Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane,
the happy, adorable child herself. Such a point though not ostensibly a film about children,
of view typified films throughout this era. based its narrative on its title character’s dying
Children served alternately as resourceful words “Rosebud,” harking back to Charles
helpmates or imperiled victims needing pro- Foster Kane’s childhood innocence in a pris-
tection and rescue. This period in film history tine Colorado from which he was so abruptly
coincided with the intense child protection torn.
campaigns of the Progressive era (1889–1920). Combining innocence and self-reliance, a
The Kid (1921), with seven-year-old Jackie “fix-it” child who still needed adult love and
Coogan in the title role, was Charlie Chaplin’s care, the biggest box-office attraction for four
first feature-length film and the first to star a years in the mid-1930s was a curly-haired
child actor. Its characteristically Chaplinesque moppet named Shirley Temple, who starred in
mixture of humor and sentiment appealed to more than twenty-five feature-length films as
audiences and set a pattern for future films to a child, among them Stand up and Cheer
follow. As in King Vidor’s early sound-era pro- (1934), Curly Top (1935), The Little Colonel
duction The Champ (1931), a child devoted to (1935), Captain January (1936), and Wee Wil-
his loving (but socially unacceptable) father lie Winkie (1937). Her characters’ inevitable
defied the busybodies of social convention overcoming of obstacles made her especially
who sought to separate them. Though these appealing to Depression-era audiences. Kathy
and similar subsequent films featured strong Merlock Jackson attributes the success of Tem-
performances by their child protagonists, the ple’s screen persona to an American sense of
point of view consistently was that of a pro- guilt combined with hope, regretting the mis-
tective adult. Children in danger gave the adult fortunes so many children had to endure and
the opportunity to play the part of rescuer. simultaneously seeing these children as prom-
ises of a brighter future.
The Early Sound Era: A Sense of Loss
When children died, as in Penny Serenade 1940–1980: Increasing Complexity
(1941) or Little Women (1933, 1949, 1994), The social upheaval that marked American life
films focused directly on the sorrow of those from World War II through the 1970s affected
left behind more than on the feelings of the children. From National Velvet (1944) and The
languishing child. All of the protagonist’s sib- Yearling (1946) through The Member of the
lings in The Yearling (1946) die young, leaving Wedding (1952) and Shane (1953), films re-
him as his parents’ only surviving offspring. flected the effects of this upheaval. The motion
The film emphasizes his relationship with his picture lives of children became increasingly
 CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ] 243

complex: the demands of the adult world im- has abandoned the family; the boy (Henry
pinged on them ever more severely, and the Thomas) finds love with an adorable alien
potential for psychic and physical perils creature. Resembling in many ways the child–
loomed large. The children themselves could animal films, E.T. is a remarkable celebration
become the villains, as they increasingly re- of the world of an innocent childhood, be-
sisted adult control, in film as well as in life. sieged by adult intrusions. As these examples
In The Bad Seed (1956), a demonic little girl indicate, the fragmented family became in-
(Patty McCormack) commits mayhem and creasingly the norm on the screen as it also did
murder until finally and fatally stopped by her in society, and the costs to children were evi-
mother. In Children of the Damned (1960), an dent even before the publication of Judith
entire village of monster children conceived by Wallerstein’s studies of the impact of divorce.
a mysterious extraterrestrial force seeks to In Irreconcilable Differences (1984), ten-year-
dominate and destroy the adult world. In The old Casey Brodsky (Drew Barrymore) seeks to
Innocents (1961), based on Henry James’s Turn divorce herself from her self-absorbed single
of the Screw, Deborah Kerr’s governess char- parents (Ryan O’Neal and Shelley Long). By
acter uncovers grotesque lasciviousness and the mid-1990s, child performers returned to
corruption in the two children under her care. the “cute kid” style on display in Jerry Maguire
While the children of To Kill a Mockingbird (1996), as a young boy ( Jonathan Lipnicki)
(1962) display traditional resourcefulness and charms everyone into wanting Tom Cruise for
wide-eyed wonder and must be rescued from his stepdad. Today’s movie children of divorce
deadly peril, the playful laughing children in are neither monsters nor simple innocents, as
the opening scene of The Wild Bunch (1969) they embody and reflect the social changes, the
find sadistic pleasure in torturing scorpions to single-parent families and the loss of com-
death, feeding them to swarming hordes of munity that have transformed the reality of
ants and then setting all the creatures on fire. American childhood.
Suddenly children were suspect: the spawn of
Satan in Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The The First of the Screen Teens
Omen (1976); possessed by a demon in The Hollywood’s attention to the American teen-
Exorcist (1973); prostitutes in Taxi Driver ager has been less enduring than that given to
(1976) and Pretty Baby (1978). the younger child. Though the American in-
terest in the teen years as a distinct phase of
1980–2000: Children of Change life began with the 1904 publication of G.
Yet, as the 1980s began, some children’s roles Stanley Hall’s Adolescence, motion pictures
returned to innocence and vulnerability. Kra- were slow to include recognizably teenage
mer vs. Kramer (1979) derives much of its characters. Comic-strip hero Harold Teen
emotional power from the love between the made the transition from the newspaper pages
Dustin Hoffman character and his little son to the movie screen in a 1928 silent feature
( Justin Henry) and the boy’s difficulty in un- directed by Mervyn Leroy and in a Warner
derstanding the departure of his mother Bros. musical in 1934. In both these films, and
(Meryl Streep). That same year, director Car- in the subsequent Andy Hardy (e.g., A Family
roll Ballard’s The Black Stallion reprised many Affair, 1937; You’re Only Young Once, 1938;
of the themes of the best of the child–animal Love Finds Andy Hardy, 1938) and Henry Al-
films such as National Velvet in a beautifully drich (e.g., Life with Henry, 1941; Henry Al-
realized movie that also emphasizes the pain drich for President, 1941; Henry and Dizzy,
of the loss of a parent. In E.T. (1982), Steven 1942) series, teenage life seemed to consist
Spielberg depicts a ten-year-old whose father largely of comic adventure. The occasional
244 [ GROUPS
moral or emotional conundrums faced by uation often played out in wartime America
Andy Hardy (Mickey Rooney) could be re- with considerably less amusement. Considine
solved with some sage advice from wise old explains Hollywood’s “obsession with adoles-
Judge Hardy (Lewis Stone). The beginnings of cence . . . and [its] tribal customs” as a product
a distinct adolescent subculture received treat- of a cultural crisis: “With the war on, adoles-
ment that was essentially humorous, often af- cence remained one of the few areas of society
fectionately nostalgic and sometimes conde- left intact” (42). Sociologist A. B. Hollingshead
scending, with almost none of the poignancy showed adolescent society as a mirror of the
or intense emotion associated with movies class divisions of the adult communities in
about younger children. Teenagers had a more which its members grew up. His Elmtown’s
problematic relationship with adults and thus Youth (1949) presents a darker view of youth
received a less sentimental treatment. Repre- behavior, stressing the secrets teenagers kept
sentative of the era’s attitude toward youth, from their parents about the breaking of social
Robert and Helen Lynd’s widely read Middle- taboos.
town (1929) and Middletown in Transition
(1937) portrayed the growth of a distinctive
adolescent subculture in a typical Midwestern The 1950s: Troubled Teens and Teenpics
American small city—Muncie, Indiana. Within the next several years, films such as the
Henry Aldrich and Andy Hardy series, Janie,
The 1940s: Teenagers as Beings Apart Margie, Junior Miss, and A Date with Judy,
Historian Grace Palladino notes that by 1936 were joined by productions featuring a much
nearly two-thirds of teenagers were in school, more troubled take on teenagers. This noir ap-
creating a social center for the teenage culture proach began in 1955 with The Blackboard
that emerged more fully during the early Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause, Running Wild,
1940s. As the wartime economy boomed and and Teenage Crime Wave. These films started
social upheaval diminished adult supervision what film historian Thomas Doherty calls a
of youth, Hollywood took note of increasingly glut of “teenpics,” often featuring young actors
autonomous adolescents. Youth Runs Wild playing juvenile delinquents engaged in excit-
(1944), a rare example of the movies sharing ing adventures designed to thrill the audience.
the popular press’s fears about rampant juve- The enduring classic of this genre is Nicholas
nile delinquency, came out the same year as Ray’s Rebel Without a Cause, with its remark-
Janie. The latter film, though very much in the ably effective ensemble of young actors includ-
comical teenage-hijinks mode typical of the ing Wendell Corey, Dennis Hopper, Sal Mi-
era, also depicts its title character ( Joyce Rey- neo, Natalie Wood, and, most especially,
nolds) as beyond her parents’ control. Her fa- James Dean. Though the script seems to em-
ther, David Considine writes, “can only de- phasize patriarchal values, subversive mo-
nounce ‘the way the children of today dance ments undercut conventionality throughout
and the records they play.’ . . . He looks upon the film, giving it an edge and an attitude that
his daughter as an alien; she speaks differently, continue to attract viewers. Its viewpoint re-
acts differently, and seems to live in a world sembled that of Paul Goodman’s influential
with customs and codes totally unknown to book Growing up Absurd: teenagers were right
him” (37). The comic plot hinges on the fa- to rebel against a deeply flawed social system.
ther’s attempts to keep a precocious Janie and In Goodman’s words, “the young really need
her friends away from romantic associations a more worthwhile world in order to grow up
with soldiers stationed at a nearby base, a sit- at all” (xvi).
 CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ] 245

American teenagers of the previous decade.

Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) displayed the
director’s penchant for Hitchcockian visions in
a film filled with Psycho references both in the
title character’s home and at Bates (as in Nor-
man) High School. In the course of the action,
the meanness and the petty exclusiveness of
teenage cliques were thoroughly roasted (as
were most of the teenagers, literally).

The Late 1970s and 1980s: A New Wave of

Teen Movies
FIGURE 26. Janie (1944). Hollywood capitalized on A new wave of teenager movies emerged in the
attracting a wartime demographic, the adolescent, in
popular films such as Janie. In the simple comedy, late 1970s. Although often cited as a teenage
Janie’s ( Joyce Reynolds) father tries constantly to film, Grease (1978) is self-consciously ironic
prevent her romantic rendezvous with soldiers from a and condescending toward 1950s popular cul-
nearby base. During wartime, this real social problem
ture, mocking its style and its characters. The
received no serious attention on film. Courtesy Warner
Bros. humor encouraged its audience to feel supe-
rior to the young people on display, making
the film the antithesis of the warmth and sen-
The 1960s and 1970s: A Revival of the timent that characterized American Graffiti.
Teenpic Amy Heckerling’s humorous, heartfelt Fast
The movies’ teenage werewolves and Frank- Times at Ridgemont High (1982) uses a con-
ensteins of the next few years represented a temporary setting rather than nostalgically
heightened sense of the distinctive youth cul- sending up the recent past. Sean Penn’s per-
ture that had emerged and its potential as a formance as the classroom surfer-dude Spicoli
market, with a subtext of adult fear of teen- set the tone for later awesome, gnarly charac-
agers as alien beings—and counterculture ones ters such as Bill and Ted (Bill & Ted’s Excellent
at that, as Village of the Giants (1965), starring Adventure, 1989) and Wayne and Garth
young Ron Howard and Beau Bridges, makes (Wayne’s World, 1992). Martha Coolidge’s
clear. After the late 1950s flood of “teenpics,” Valley Girl (1983) came close to matching the
though, the genre foundered. The youth of the effective mixture of humor, sentiment, and in-
Beach Party movies of the early 1960s and the sightful commentary on teenage society dis-
counterculture rebels of the latter part of the played by Heckerling. That same year, Tom
decade seemed well past their teenage years. Cruise starred in Paul Brickman’s satirical dark
Then, in 1973, George Lucas recalled his own comedy Risky Business, turning one upscale
teenage years in the late 1950s and early 1960s family’s teenage son into entrepreneurial pimp.
in the groundbreaking American Graffiti. As In another category altogether was the bleak vi-
nostalgic and affectionately humorous about sion of River’s Edge (1984), portraying the an-
its era as Margie (1946) had been about teens omie of a teenage wasteland where even murder
of the 1920s, American Graffiti features a within the group failed to register on the mal-
soundtrack of Golden Oldies, great pop songs functioning moral radar of clique members.
of the early years of rock and roll. It may have For four years in the mid-1980s, the king of
inspired Cooley High (1975), with the greatest the teenager film seemed to be director John
hits of soul music scoring a film about African Hughes, with his hit movies Sixteen Candles
246 [ GROUPS
(1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Sci- The subgenre’s apotheosis came in 1996 with
ence (1985), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), the entertainingly self-referential Scream, a vir-
and Some Kind of Wonderful (1987). Writer tual Cliff ’s Notes guide to teen slasher film con-
Jonathan Bernstein saw the Hughes films as so ventions.
emblematic of their era that he named his 1997 The mid-1990s also saw the release of one
book on “The Golden Age of Teenage Movies” of the best teenage comedies of many years,
after one of them: Pretty in Pink. As teenage written and directed by Amy Heckerling, and
culture became increasingly autonomous, a loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma. Clueless
trend that had begun in life and film some (1995) was even better than Heckerling’s Fast
forty years earlier, adults seemed increasingly Times at Ridgemont High. Sensitive, insightful,
irrelevant. The few adult characters appeared and witty, Clueless simultaneously celebrated
as occasional annoyances, largely stereotyped. and spoofed upscale Southern California teen
Mixing teen soul-searching, sentiment, and a culture. Though it recognized the cliques and
somewhat sophomoric sense of humor, the sometimes mean-spirited exclusiveness of
Hughes set the tone for many imitators. its social milieu, the film’s own point of view
Four end-of-decade films probed the outer is generous and kind-hearted. Although its
edges of the genre and showed teenage society adult figures are typically out of touch and
in a bitingly satiric light. Two starred the youth largely irrelevant, they are treated with some
culture’s version of Jack Nicholson, Christian amused affection.
Slater: Heathers (1989) and Pump up the Vol- From the Andy Hardy series to Janie to Bye
ume (1990). Two others displayed the outra- Bye Birdie to Clueless, viewers can see portraits
geous, campy vision of John Waters: Hairspray of a society in transition. Teenagers had cre-
(1988) and Cry-Baby (1990). All of these mov- ated a world of their own, and adult influence
ies exhibited considerable filmmaking talent as on that world decreased dramatically. As films
they examined teenage social conventions depicted this change, the point of view shifted.
from the point of view of adolescent outsiders. Filmmakers had shown teenagers from an
adult perspective, as parents and teachers were
The 1990s: New Directions alternately charmed, amused, alarmed, or even
Variations in the genre included racial minor- frightened by them. As teenagers became the
ities (a theme of Hairspray) and an amalgam dominant audience and as a new generation of
of teenage movie conventions with those of young filmmakers created the motion pictures,
other film types. Despite the whiteness of most they transformed Hollywood’s vision of chil-
screen teenagers, portrayals of black teenage dren and teenagers. Recent cultural studies of
culture also appeared occasionally, such as the youth such as Sydney Lewis’s A Totally Alien
rollicking House Party (1990), the bleak Boyz Life-Form (1996), Patricia Hersch’s A Tribe
N the Hood (1991), and the powerful Menace Apart (1998), and Barbara Schneider and Da-
II Society (1993). Another subgenre that vid Stevenson’s The Ambitious Generation
should be mentioned is the teenager-in-peril (1999), as well as studies of film such as Jon
“slasher” film. John Carpenter’s classic Hal- Lewis’s The Road to Romance and Ruin (1992),
loween (1978) spawned a host of less artful im- have described a further growth in peer group
itators such as Friday the 13th (1980) and its autonomy and alienation from adults as defin-
seemingly endless train of sequels. The under- ing characteristics of teen culture. Young
lying premise of the slasher film held that pre- screen characters have become more complex
mature sex kills, as sexually active teenagers and their situations more challenging, reflect-
became the victims of crazed, unstoppable ing the changed social reality of coming of age
murderers wielding butcher knives and axes. in America.
 CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ] 247

References
Penny Serenade (1941, F)
Filmography Pretty Baby (1978, F)
The Adventures of Dolly (1908, F) Pretty in Pink (1986, F)
American Graffiti (1973, F) Pump up the Volume (1990, F)
The Bad Seed (1956, F) Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938, F)
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989, F) Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F)
The Blackboard Jungle (1955, F) Risky Business (1983, F)
The Black Stallion (1979, F) River’s Edge (1984, F)
Boyz N the Hood (1991, F) Rosemary’s Baby (1968, F)
The Breakfast Club (1985, F) Running Wild (1955, F)
Bye Bye Birdie (1963, F) Scream (1996, F)
Carrie (1976, F) Shane (1953, F)
The Champ (1931, F) Sixteen Candles (1984, F)
Children of the Damned (1960, F) Some Kind of Wonderful (1987, F)
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Stand up and Cheer (1934, F)
Clueless (1995, F) Taxi Driver (1976, F)
Cooley High (1975, F) Teenage Crime Wave (1955, F)
Cry-Baby (1990, F) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, F)
Curly Top (1935, F) Valley Girl (1983, F)
A Date with Judy (1948, F) Village of the Giants (1965, F)
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982, F) Wayne’s World (1992, F)
The Exorcist (1973, F) Weird Science (1985, F)
A Family Affair (1937, F) The Wild Bunch (1969, F)
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982, F) The Yearling (1946, F)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, F) You’re Only Young Once (1938, F)
Friday the 13th (1980, F) Youth Runs Wild (1944, F)
Grease (1978, F)
The Great Train Robbery (1903, F)
Hairspray (1988, F)
Halloween (1978, F) Bibliography
Harold Teen (1928, F; 1934, F) Ariès, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood: A Social His-
Heathers (1989, F) tory of Family Life. New York: Vintage, 1965.
Henry Aldrich for President (1941, F) Austin, Joe, and Michael Nevin Willard. Generations
Henry and Dizzy (1942, F) of Youth: Youth Cultures and History in Twentieth-
House Party (1990, F) Century America. New York: New York University
How Green Was My Valley (1941, F) Press, 1998.
The Innocents (1961, F) Bernstein, Jonathan. Pretty in Pink: The Golden Age of
Irreconcilable Differences (1984, F) Teenage Movies. New York: St. Martin’s, 1997.
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957, F) Cary, Diana Serra. Hollywood’s Children: An Inside
I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957, F) Account of the Child Star Era. Boston: Houghton
Janie (1944, F) Mifflin, 1979.
Jerry Maguire (1996, F) Coles, Robert. The Moral Intelligence of Children. New
Junior Miss (1945, F) York: Random House, 1997.
The Kid (1921, F) ——. The Moral Life of Children. Boston: Atlantic
Kids (1995, F) Monthly Press, 1986.
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, F) ——. The Spiritual Life of Children. Boston: Hough-
Life with Henry (1941, F) ton Mifflin, 1990.
Little Women (1933, F; 1949, F; 1994, F) Considine, David M. The Cinema of Adolescence. Jef-
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938, F) ferson, NC: McFarland, 1985.
Margie (1946, F) Doherty, Thomas. Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juven-
The Member of the Wedding (1952, F) ilization of American Movies in the 1950s. Boston:
Menace II Society (1993, F) Unwin Hyman, 1988.
National Velvet (1944, F) Gaines, Donna. Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead-
The Omen (1976, F) end Kids. New York: Pantheon, 1990.
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Goodman, Paul. Growing up Absurd. New York: Vin- Lewis, Sydney. A Totally Alien Life-Form—Teenagers.
tage, 1960. New York: New Press, 1996.
Graff, Harvey J. Conflicting Paths: Growing up in Lynd, Robert S., and Helen Merrell Lynd. Middle-
America. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University town. New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1929.
Press, 1995. ——. Middletown in Transition. New York: Harcourt
——, ed. Growing up in America: Historical Experi- Brace and World, 1937.
ences. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. Modell, John. Into One’s Own: From Youth to Adult-
Hall, G. Stanley. Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its hood in the United States, 1920–1945. Berkeley and
Relation to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989.
Crime, Religion, and Education. New York: D. Ap- Palladino, Grace. Teenagers: An American History.
pleton, 1904. New York: Basic Books, 1996.
Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Postman, Neil. The Disappearance of Childhood. New
Heart of American Adolescence. New York: Fawcett, York: Delacorte, 1982.
1998. Schneider, Barbara, and David Stevenson. The Ambi-
Hollingshead, August B. Elmtown’s Youth: The Impact tious Generation: America’s Teenagers, Motivated
of Social Classes on Adolescents. New York: John but Directionless. New Haven: Yale University
Wiley & Sons, 1949. Press, 1999.
Jackson, Kathy Merlock. Images of Children in Ameri- Shary, Timothy. Generation Multiplex: The Image of
can Film: A Sociocultural Analysis. Metuchen, NJ: Youth in Contemporary American Cinema. Austin:
Scarecrow, 1986. University of Texas Press, 2002.
Kett, Joseph F. Rites of Passage: Adolescence in Amer- Wallerstein, Judith S., and Sandra Blakeslee. Second
ica, 1790 to the Present. New York: Basic Books, Chances: Men, Women, and Children a Decade Af-
1977. ter Divorce. New York: Ticknor and Fields, 1989.
Lewis, Jon. The Road to Romance and Ruin: Teen West, Elliott, and Paula Petrick, eds. Small Worlds:
Films and Youth Culture. New York: Routledge, Children and Adolescents in America, 1850–1950.
1992. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992.
[ PETER C. HOLLORAN ]

Irish Americans

he Irish may not have discovered Amer- rican American Sambo image, were derogatory

T ica, despite legends of St. Brendan’s voy-

age to the New World or the Galway sailor
said to be among Christopher Columbus’s
crew, but they have made significant contri-
ethnic stereotypes passing as humor—and,
sometimes, as scholarship. If Pat was the genial
stage actor who befriended leprechauns, the
pugnacious Mike was his negative counterpart.
butions to American culture. The Irish first Following the lead of historians and American
came to colonial America as indentured ser- popular culture, Hollywood produced many
vants, soldiers, and sailors; thousands of these now-forgotten silent movies incorporating
were Irish Presbyterian immigrants whose la- these shanty-Irish characters. Fights, broad
bor and skills were needed from New England slapstick, and beer kegs accompanied the stage
to Carolina. During America’s antebellum era, Irishman as he staggered from vaudeville to
200,000 Irish Catholics entered the country, movies in the nickelodeon era (1900–15); some
filling many roles both humble and honored popular examples are The Washerwoman’s
in the national pageant. The Irish were the first Daughter (1903) and Casey’s Christening (1906).
impoverished group to leave Europe in great By the 1920s millions of Irish immigrants
numbers in the nineteenth century. Discrimi- and their children had entered mainstream,
natory British laws, the enclosure movement on middle-class society and would no longer tol-
the land, and devastating famines sent them on erate the drunken Paddy buffoon on either the
crowded and disease-ridden “coffin” ships to stage or the screen. These assimilated Ameri-
America. Despite virulent ethnic and religious cans found one film of the 1920s to be most
prejudice, four million Irish immigrants arrived offensive: MGM’s The Callahans and the Mur-
by the end of the nineteenth century. Nonethe- phys (1927) was condemned by the Ancient
less, American historians have often ignored the Order of Hibernians, the Knights of Colum-
Irish in the master narrative of the nation. Re- bus, and other Celtic and Catholic organiza-
cently, Timothy Meager and Thomas Fleming tions. Several cities canceled the movie or
have attempted to redress the neglect of the forced the studio to make cuts. The prominent
Irish, and for good reason. One in five Ameri- creative and gatekeeper roles many Irish
cans today traces ancestry to “that most dis- Americans filled in the early movie industry—
tressful nation” celebrated in story, song, and including directors Francis and John Ford,
film as the Emerald Isle. Sidney Olcott, Mack Sennett, Hal Roach, and
Until recently, the image of Irish Americans Rex Ingram or studio executives Jeremiah J.
derived from nineteenth-century theatrical Kennedy, Winfield R. Sheeman, and Joseph P.
stereotypes, especially the stage Irishman with Kennedy——helped eliminate some discrim-
a musical lilt in his voice, a witty remark on ination against the Irish.
his lips, and whiskey on his breath. These In Old Chicago (1938) offers a genial view of
Paddy and Bridget cartoon figures, like the Af- Irish immigrants in the 1850–70 era, rehashing

249
250 [ GROUPS
the legend that Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started the Young) blessed Cohan’s musical contributions
devastating Chicago fire of 1871. Tyrone to the nation. Yankee Doodle Dandy and The
Power and Don Ameche play their roles with Seven Little Foys (1955), another view of the
a stage Irish brogue, while Alice Brady won an Irish on Broadway, reminded Americans of
Academy Award for her portrayal of Mrs. the role many Irish vaudeville, Broadway, and
O’Leary. Perhaps the best example of the stage Hollywood performers have played in defining
Irishman was Chauncey Olcott (1858–1932), popular culture. Cohan, one of the brightest
an Irish American from Buffalo who achieved vaudeville stars, the “man who owned Broad-
fame as an Irish tenor and composer in black- way,” was also the subject of a hit Broadway
face minstrel shows in the 1880s. His light- musical George M (1968).
opera career in London and America included With James Cagney in the 1930s, however,
his own hit songs “My Wild Irish Rose,” “Too- a new version of the Irishman came to the
Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral,” and “When Irish Eyes movies—the tough, streetwise Mick. No one
Are Smiling.” His songs became sentimental played these parts better than Cagney. The
classics, and his career was the basis for My dapper, cocky New York dancer and actor was
Wild Irish Rose (1947), a charming biopic with not overshadowed by the gangster persona; his
Olcott as a lovable rogue (played by Dennis Irish American character prevailed, especially
Morgan) singing his heart out as the stereo- as Tough Tommy Powers in Public Enemy
typical Irishmen—witty, handsome, and deb- (1931) or as a prohibition racketeer in The
onair. Although not politically correct today, Roaring Twenties (1939). Cagney defined the
this sentimental aspect of Irish American cul- role of America’s favorite tough guy. Playing a
ture and Irish contributions to American mu- gangster, boxer, truck driver, cabby, pilot, re-
sical theater deserves recognition, and Olcott’s porter, soldier, sailor, dancer, or G-man, the
career is worth reconsideration. Perhaps more lithe, handsome, redheaded Cagney invented
significant than Olcott was the Irish American the antihero and personified a new culturally
song-and-dance-man, actor, director, pro- diverse urban America. Cagney’s dynamic
ducer, and composer George M. Cohan swagger took him from New York’s Lower East
(1878–1942). His patriotic songs, such as Side to Broadway and Hollywood stardom, re-
“Over There” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” flecting modern America’s acceptance of the
marched Americans to war in 1917. Consid- Irish American contributions in all walks of
ered the father of the American musical com- life. Despite his average stature, the fast-talking
edy, Cohan produced more than eighty Broad- Cagney was dynamic on stage or screen with a
way shows in his fifty-year theatrical career, pugnacious physical style and raspy voice, the
had a brief Hollywood film career, and as a most impersonated man in show business. He
civilian earned a medal from Congress in 1940. was the vintage urban man and created a new
His distinguished career was the subject of the image of the cocksure Irish American hero in
Hollywood biopic Yankee Doodle Dandy Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Fighting
(1942) and starred another New York City 69th (1940), and Captains of the Clouds (1942).
Celt, James Cagney, who won an Academy Some Irish Americans, however, feared that
Award for his role as the “Prince of Broad- this stereotype of the “fighting Irish” might re-
way.” Cohan selected Cagney to star in the tard assimilation into mainstream society.
movie, and Cagney dubbed Cohan “the real Many Irish American actors, from Spencer
leader of our clan” and a “tough act to follow.” Tracy in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1933) to
Although more hagiography than history, this Robert Mitchum in The Friends of Eddie Coyle
film is a wartime celebration of an American (1973) and Sean Penn in We’re No Angels
success story, and even FDR (played by Jack (1989) and State of Grace (1990), played Irish
 IRISH AMERICANS ] 251

criminals on the screen long before Italian diverse, and most powerful union ever created,
Americans became typecast as the CEOs of or- with more than a million members by 1886.
ganized crime. Prohibition era (1920–33) Powderly was later an effective U.S. Commis-
crime was an equal opportunity industry in sioner of Immigration and wrote Thirty Years
which Irish Americans, like Germans and Jews, of Labor (1889) and The Path I Trod (1940).
played important roles, as seen in Gabriel Like Mother Jones, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,
Bryne’s performance as the Ohio gangster John Boyle O’Reilly, and the McNamara
Tom Reagan in Joel and Ethan Coen’s drama brothers, Terence Powderly brought organi-
Miller’s Crossing (1990). But one rare and re- zational skills and overlooked Celtic social
alistic view of law-abiding working-class Irish skills to the American labor movement.
American family life is found in A Tree Grows Coming from a revolutionary political tra-
in Brooklyn (1945). The Nolan family enjoys dition, the Irish brought to America a talent
life in Brooklyn at the turn of the century de- for organization and a liberalism far beyond
spite the uncertain income from Papa’s job as most ethnic groups. Like Powderly, the United
a singing waiter. Labor movement leadership Mine Workers’ John Mitchell was a union
by the Irish Americans is depicted in more se- leader in the liberal tradition, but Irish men
rious films with vivid performances by Sean and women also played key roles in Pennsyl-
Connery and Richard Harris in The Molly Ma- vania strikes as early as the 1850s as well as in
guires (1970) and John C. Reilly in Hoffa the Haymarket Riot (1886) and the Pullman
(1992). Similarly, the crucial role the Irish Strike (1894), and in the formative years of the
played in building the transcontinental rail- United Automobile Workers and United Steel
roads is seen in John Ford’s silent movie The Workers (1930s). Boston’s Mary Kenney
Iron Horse (1924) and Cecil B. De Mille’s O’Sullivan (1864–1943) founded the National
Union Pacific (1939). Recent scholarship on Women’s Trade Union League (1903) and was
the men who built the Union Pacific Railroad an effective feminist union organizer for fifty
(1863–69) and settled the frontier has recog- years. Hollywood has yet to tell the story of the
nized the unique role of Irish immigrants and Irish contributions to the labor union tradi-
Civil War veterans. Irish American achieve- tion. Irish political leadership has been ex-
ments on the football field are depicted in such plored by filmmakers, though, and contrasting
films as Knute Rockne, All American (1940) and views are seen in the comedy The Great
The Iron Major (1945) and in boxing by Gen- McGinty (1940), John Ford’s sentimental The
tleman Jim (1942). Last Hurrah (1958), and the documentaries
Irish contributions to the American labor Daley, the Last Boss (1995) and Scandalous
movement were profound. Consider Terence Mayor (1998).
Powderly (1849–1924), the son of immigrants Among the contributions of Irish immi-
to Pennsylvania, who worked on railroads at grants to America is their example of religious
age thirteen, joined the Machinists’ and Black- faith and devotion to the Roman Catholic
smiths’ National Union in 1871, and became Church. Movies such as The Fighting 69th
its president at age twenty-three. Moving in (1940), with Cagney as a wiseguy New Yorker
1874 to the Knights of Labor, a secret organi- turned coward and then hero in trenches of
zation the Catholic Church shunned, Powderly World War I and Pat O’Brien as the saintly
led it skillfully from 1878 to 1893. His ideal Irish Catholic chaplain, did much to shape
was to organize all workers, eliminate strikes public acceptance of the Irish. There is a long
or coercion, and establish labor-management roll call of Hollywood stars who portrayed
relations on a just basis without divisive trade priests and nuns in movies. From Bing Crosby
unionism. The Knights was the largest, most in Going My Way (1944) to Ingrid Bergman in
252 [ GROUPS

F I G U R E 2 7 . A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945). Ethnic depictions of the struggles in pre- and postwar America rarely
examined family dynamics, opting for stereotypes and violent situations. Director Elia Kazan focused on love as the
unifying factor in an Irish American family. Courtesy Twentieth Century-Fox.

The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), Catholic clergy his brother, a cynical police detective (Robert
provided examples of the selfless modern he- Duvall).
roes; Spencer Tracy defined the role of the John Ford, the son of Irish immigrants,
civic-minded priest in Boys Town (1938) and brought an Irish sensibility—unabashed sen-
won an Academy Award as Father Edward timentality, humor, nostalgia, courage, and
Flanagan rescuing Depression-era children patriotism—to his films. Ford met John
from poverty and delinquency; The Cardinal Wayne on the movie set for Mother Macree
(1963), starring Tom Tryon in the title role, is (1928), and their lifelong association produced
a rather dated but useful film on the rise of an some of Hollywood’s greatest westerns—
Irish Catholic from working-class Boston to Stagecoach (1939), Fort Apache (1948), She
the Vatican. It includes some often-overlooked Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), Rio Grande
episodes on the twentieth-century Klan’s anti- (1950), and The Searchers (1956). In each film
Catholicism as well as the Church’s ambiguous Ford used Maureen O’Hara and Thomas
role during the rise of European Fascism. The Mitchell, or characters such as Victor Mc-
postwar Catholic Church in affluent Los An- Laglen’s Sgt. Mulcahy, to illustrate the Irish
geles is subject to scrutiny in True Confessions side of American history. Ford cast Wayne as
(1981), focused on the parallel lives of an a brave PT-boat commander in They Were Ex-
ambitious Irish priest (Robert De Niro) and pendable (1945) and in the story of an Amer-
 IRISH AMERICANS ] 253

ican’s return to his Irish roots, The Quiet Man The Godfather (1972), State of Grace (1990),
(1952). In The Long Gray Line (1955), Ford and Q & A (1990), Irish American contribu-
celebrated once again Irish immigrants’ cour- tions to law enforcement have been a Holly-
age, humor, and patriotic service with Tyrone wood staple. It was Mack Sennett (1880–
Power and Maureen O’Hara as affectionate 1960), an Irish Canadian silent film pioneer,
parental figures to the cadets of the U.S. Mili- who created the mustachioed Irish American
tary Academy. Far and Away (1992) is a more Keystone Kop. Although one might assume
recent treatment of the Irish immigrant jour- most police officers are still Irish, in fact the
ney from the old country to the Boston water- Irish have advanced to a wide variety of
front ending in the multicultural Oklahoma professions since 1940. Nevertheless, Holly-
frontier. The Irish in America: The Long Jour- wood is fond of using Irish names for ethni-
ney Home (1998), a popular PBS documentary cally “neutral” characters, but most recent
based on fact rather than cinematic myths, films with Irish leading actors or Irish themes
demonstrates the public’s interest in the his- have avoided stereotypes. A touching con-
tory of Irish Catholics in America. temporary view of Irish family life and the
Bing Crosby—an Irish Catholic baritone ambiguous father-son relationship was Da
from Tacoma, Washington, educated at a Jes- (1988), with Martin Sheen playing an Irish
uit college—may have been the most popular American who returns to Ireland for his fa-
entertainer in Hollywood history. Although ther’s funeral.
Crosby played an easygoing parish priest in Finally, Irish Catholics have played a major
only three movies—Going My Way (1944), role in movie censorship. Conservative Irish
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), and Say One for Catholics controlled the Catholic Church in
Me (1959)—the public loved him in a clerical the United States for most of the film indus-
collar. The crooning priest made Catholicism try’s first decades (1900–1960), and Celtic or-
part of the movie and cultural mainstream in ganizations were quick to protest anti-Irish
the wartime 1940s. Like Spencer Tracy in San stereotypes and immorality in silent movies.
Francisco (1936), Crosby’s priest was as Amer- To counter these threats to society, the Cath-
ican as he was Irish Catholic. Crosby and Tracy olic Legion of Decency was created in 1934 by
did much to make the Irish Hollywood’s fa- prominent Irish Catholic leaders Father Daniel
vorite ethnic group, a tradition evident in Lord, Martin Quigley, and Joseph Breen. Hol-
movies and television today. lywood censorship czar Will Hays was quick
The long tradition of Irish and Irish Amer- to appoint Breen as head of the new Produc-
ican leading men in Hollywood—Errol Flynn, tion Code Administration in 1934. By con-
James Cagney, Gregory Peck, Peter O’Toole, trolling the PCA’s seal of approval, Breen had
Richard Harris, and Sean Penn among them— a profound influence in eliminating sex and
revived in the 1980s with new talent from Ire- violence from the screen. His conservative val-
land: Patrick Bergin, Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel ues shaped the American film industry until
Byrne, Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, and Ste- 1966, when the code was replaced by an age-
phen Rea. They play men’s men, but their based rating system.
tough exteriors are tempered by sensitivity and America’s most famous Irish Catholics are
vulnerability. certainly the Kennedy family, and with the
Although the soldier and the gangster are election of John F. Kennedy as president in
movie roles often assigned to the Irish, it is 1960 America’s deeply rooted anti-Catholic
certainly the cop who is most often portrayed and anti-Irish prejudices were overcome. The
as an Irishman. From “G” Men (1935) to The biopic PT 109 (1963) celebrated President
Great O’Malley (1937), The Naked City (1948), Kennedy as a World War II naval hero almost
254 [ GROUPS
as unrealistically as Oliver Stone exploited his clans with them to the White House and to
assassination in JFK (1991). But the Kennedy respectability. A long social and cultural jour-
clan had arrived, bringing all the other Celtic ney was over.

References
Ragtime (1981, F)
Filmography The Roaring Twenties (1939, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F) Rio Grande (1950, F)
The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945, F) San Francisco (1936, F)
Boys Town (1938, F) Say One for Me (1959, F)
The Brothers McMullen (1995, F) Scandalous Mayor (1998, D)
The Callahans and the Murphys (1927, F) The Searchers (1956, F)
Captains of the Clouds (1942, F) The Seven Little Foys (1955, F)
The Cardinal (1963, F) She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, F)
Casey’s Christening (1906, F) Stagecoach (1939, F)
Da (1988, F) State of Grace (1990, F)
Daley, the Last Boss (1995, D) They Were Expendable (1945)
Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959, F) Three Cheers for the Irish (1940, F)
Duffy’s Tavern (1945, F) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945, F)
Far and Away (1992, F) True Confessions (1981, F)
Fighting Father Dunne (1948, F) 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1933, F)
The Fighting 69th (1940, F) Union Pacific (1939, F)
The Fighting Sullivans (1944, F) The Washerwoman’s Daughter (1903, F)
Fort Apache (1948, F) We’re No Angels (1989, F)
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973, F) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, F)
The Frisco Kid (1935, F)
Gentleman Jim (1942, F)
“G” Men (1935, F)
The Godfather (1972, F) Bibliography
Going My Way (1944, F) Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like It in the World:
Gone with the Wind (1939) The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad,
The Great McGinty (1940, F) 1863–1869. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
The Great O’Malley (1937) Bayor, Ronald H., and Timothy J. Meagher. The New
Hoffa (1992, F) York Irish. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
In Old Chicago (1938, F) Press, 1996.
The Irish in America: The Long Journey Home (1998, Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression
D) America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni-
The Iron Horse (1924, F) versity Press, 1971.
The Iron Major (1945, F) Brown, Thomas N. Irish-American Nationalism.
The Iron Road (1990, D) Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1966.
JFK (1991, F) Clark, Dennis. Hibernian America: The Irish and Re-
Knute Rockne, All-American (1940, F) gional Cultures. New York: Greenwood, 1986.
The Last Hurrah (1958, F) ——. The Irish in Philadelphia: Ten Generations of
The Long Gray Line (1955, F) Urban Experience. Philadelphia: Temple University
Miller’s Crossing (1990, F) Press, 1973.
The Molly Maguires (1970, F) Curran, Joseph M. Hibernian Green on the Silver
Mother Macree (1928, F) Screen: The Irish and American Movies. Westport,
My Favorite Year (1982, F) CT: Greenwood, 1989.
My Wild Irish Rose (1947, F) Diner, Hasia R. Erin’s Daughters in America: Irish Im-
The Naked City (1948, F) migrant Women in the Nineteenth Century. Balti-
Patriot Games (1992, F) more: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983.
PT 109 (1963, F) Doherty, Thomas. Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immoral-
Public Enemy (1931, F) ity, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-
Q & A (1990, F) 1934. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
The Quiet Man (1952, F) Friedman, Lester D., ed. Unspeakable Images: Ethnic-
 IRISH AMERICANS ] 255
ity and the American Cinema. Urbana: University McCaffrey, Lawrence J. The Irish Diaspora in Amer-
of Illinois Press, 1991. ica. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976.
Greeley, Andrew M. The Irish Americans: The Rise to ——. Irish Nationalism and the American Contribu-
Money and Power. New York: Harper & Row, tion. New York: Arno, 1976.
1981. Meagher, Timothy J. From Paddy to Studs: Irish-
——. That Most Distressful Nation: The Taming of American Communities in the Turn of the Century
the American Irish. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, Era, 1880 to 1920. New York: Greenwood, 1986.
1972. O’Connor, Aine. Hollywood Irish: In Their Own
Griffith, William D. The Book of Irish Americans. New Words. Boulder, CO: Roberts Rinehart, 1997.
York: Times Books, 1990. Shannon, William V. The American Irish. New York:
Higgins, George V. The Friends of Eddie Coyle. New Macmillan, 1963.
York: Knopf, 1972. Vizzard, Jack. See No Evil: Life Inside a Hollywood
Kenny, Kevin. The American Irish: A History. New Censor. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970.
York: Longman, 2000. Walsh, Frank. Sin and Censorship: The Catholic
Lahue, Kalton C. Mack Sennett’s Keystone: The Man, Church and the Motion Picture Industry. New Ha-
the Myth, and the Comedies. South Brunswick, NJ: ven: Yale University Press, 1996.
A. S. Barnes, 1971. Williams, William H. A. ‘Twas Only an Irishman’s
McCabe, John. George M. Cohan: The Man Who Dream: The Image of Ireland and the Irish in Amer-
Owned Broadway. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, ican Popular Song Lyrics, 1800–1920. Urbana: Uni-
1973. versity of Illinois Press, 1996.
[ STACEY DONOHUE ]

Italian Americans

ost of the Italians who arrived in the Italian Americans have achieved success in

M United States during the Great Immi-

gration (1880–1920) were peasants who
left southern Italy only to exchange rural for
urban poverty. Given the corruption of the pa-
politics, education, law, and even film, Holly-
wood persists in depicting only working-class
urban Italians, tapping a stereotype that has
lingered since the origin of motion pictures.
drone system both in Italy and in urban Amer-
ica with its ethnic labor contractors, the family Hollywood’s Italian Immigrants
was considered the only functioning institu- The Hollywood film industry originated dur-
tion; as a result, most Italian immigrants were ing the largest wave of immigration to the
alienated from both the Italian language and United States: not only were many of the film
Italy and then from English and America—a producers immigrants, but so were their au-
double exile. Even the Catholic Church, a po- diences. Many early films, including the first
tential facilitator of the assimilation process, “talkie,” The Jazz Singer, dramatized the im-
was closed to Italians, for the American Cath- migrant experience. It is not surprising, then,
olic Church was Irish-dominated. Arriving at that immigration has been a popular theme in
a time of economic upheaval in the United Hollywood ever since—although Hollywood’s
States, Italian immigrants were often forced to perception of the immigrant varied with the
take the most menial of jobs. Roger Daniels varying attitudes toward newcomers in the
notes that “the pushcart became one of the ste- United States: ambivalence, fear, sympathy,
reotypes of Italian American life, as did what nostalgia. Films not only reflected public opin-
must have been a relatively rare occupation, ion about immigrants, but also helped shape
that of the organ grinder with monkey” (195). it: they “provided audiences with information
In the decades following World War I, Ital- (including misinformation), interpretations,
ian Americans began to assimilate both socially and frames of reference” for Americans who
and economically, though still at slower rates had no contact with denizens of the ghetto
than other ethnics. Many second-generation (Cortes, 53). For the most part, Hollywood re-
Italian Americans grew up in communities lied on ethnic stereotypes to define the immi-
where gangsters were respected for their grant experience, and, according to Carlos
power. This misguided admiration, along with Cortes, has dealt with the following—not nec-
the persistent Italian-immigrant distrust of essarily progressive—themes: the processes of
education and politics, kept many second- and assimilation; the quest for the American
even third-generation Italian Americans in the Dream as well as the immigrant as valuable to
working class. By the 1960s, however, most America; and the immigrant as societal victim
Italian Americans had become solidly middle (54). Although other groups were also stereo-
class, although the self-destructive devaluation typed, perhaps because the Irish and the Jews
of higher education continued. Although most gained influence in Hollywood before Italians,

256
 ITALIAN AMERICANS ] 257

derogatory myths associated with Italian of Fate (1921), another “good” Italian is
Americans became entrenched. cheated by an Anglo-American, yet here his
Hollywood films reflect several stereotypes passionate nature is used against him. The
about Italians, almost all stemming from the owner of a puppet show in Italy is forced to
idea of Italian “passion”; thus we see Italian immigrate without his Italian wife. The brunt
Americans in family melodramas and big wed- of the punishment goes to Gabriel, whose big-
dings, as in Love with the Proper Stranger amy with an Anglo woman is the result of his
(1963) and True Love (1989); the Italian im- unrestrained lust.
migrant as passionate Latin lover, from Ru- Three stereotypes of the Italian immigrant
dolph Valentino in the 1920s to John Travolta male were entrenched during this time: the vi-
in the 1970s; and the distortion of passion by olent criminal, the victimized working-class
the violent Italian gangster/working class in family man, and the Latin lover. Rudolph Val-
movies from the 1930s through today, such as entino was one of the few Italian leading men
Little Caesar (1930) and The Godfather (1972). in early Hollywood films, yet in only one film
America “forced” the many separate peoples did he play an Italian, an immigrant nobleman
of what is now southern Italy to take on one in Cobra (1925). Count Rodrigo summarizes
identity. Hollywood followed suit and created his fate: “Women fascinate me, as the Cobra
for American viewers the screen “Italian”— does his victim.” Again, the fatalistic message
not Sicilian, not Calabrian. is that Italian men are destined to be destroyed
by their lust.
Silent Era: Puppets of Fate By 1920, the United States had absorbed
The silent films provide clues about the pop- eighteen million immigrants over the previous
ular attitudes toward immigrants and their fifty years, more than four million of them
families, cultures, and neighborhoods during from Italy. Catholicism and ethnicity were
the period of mass immigration. Silent films seen as threatening by the Anglo majority. But
portrayed these newcomers as either a poten- by the mid-1920s, restrictive immigration laws
tial threat or, more often, as a “cultural oddity” and recognition of the Catholic Church as an
(Cortes, 55). D. W. Griffith’s 1909 film At the Americanizing influence tempered anti-
Altar depicted a clichéd—but “good”—Italian immigrant sentiment in film—but not interest
family eating spaghetti on a checkered table- in these “foreign” cultures. (Of course immi-
cloth while a violin is playing. The film’s plot grants themselves were a large part of the au-
suggests ambivalence toward Italian immi- dience, and that fact enhanced these films’
grants, specifically, fear of their fertility and proliferation.) In the decade following the De-
passion, yet also admiration for their strong pression, however, Hollywood returned to de-
family values. This fear is more evident in Grif- picting the Italian American as uncontrollably
fith’s The Avenging Conscience (1914), based violent, reflecting a regressive fear of foreigners
on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart,” during hard times.
which depicts the Italian as a sneaky black-
mailer. However, the 1915 film The Italian The Italian Gangsters
sympathetically portrayed a quest for the The 1930s urban gangster film focused on the
American dream thwarted by prejudice. young, usually ethnic, man who uses crime to
The “good” but weak Italian, victimized by overcome deprivation and poverty and to
society, becomes more prevalent in the 1920s. achieve wealth and status—and thus, assimi-
In Society Snobs (1921), socialite Vivian For- lation. These characters confirmed the earlier
rester falls in a trap set by a rejected suitor, Hollywood stereotype of the Italian immigrant
with an unemployed Italian as bait. In Puppets as criminal and ethnic neighborhoods as dan-
258 [ GROUPS
Americans, as the gangster films warned Italian
Americans, who sacrifice family for wealth, and
privilege the family values of poor ethnics.

Becoming American
Although fascist Italy was an enemy power
during World War II, Italian Americans were
not vilified by Hollywood. Relatively few Ital-
ian Americans were incarcerated for treason,
and Italian American leaders at the time pub-
licly declared their loyalty to the United States
soon after war was declared against Musso-
F I G U R E 2 8 . Cobra (1925). The popular and attractive lini’s regime in 1941; indeed, more than half a
Rudolph Valentino brought some dignity to the role of million Italian American men served in the
an immigrant Italian nobleman. Playing on a stereotype,
armed forces (Mangione and Moreale, 241,
the film sees lust as a fatal flaw in Italian men. Count
Rodrigo Torriani (Valentino) makes his desire perfectly 340). Most postwar films were sympathetic
clear with a piercing stare at the secretary. Courtesy Ritz- portraits of first- and second-generation Ital-
Carlton Pictures. ian Americans.
Italian directors and writers, including the
gerous (See “Crime and the Mafia” for a more Sicilian immigrant Frank Capra, who began
thorough analysis of this popular film genre.) making films in 1922, suppressed their ethni-
In films such as Little Caesar (1930) and city to conform to the Hollywood studio sys-
Scarface (1932), the gangster is lost in the gap tem. Frank Capra’s only explicit depiction of
between traditional Italian culture and the Italian Americans is in It’s a Wonderful Life
American dream of economic and social suc- (1946), where Italian family values win out.
cess. Echoing the silent films, gangster movies Although Italian immigrants live in Potterville
of the 1930s suggested that Italian immigrants shanties, their family ties and work ethic are
were too completely “puppets of fate” to suc- strongly emphasized—and rewarded, in that
cessfully join American society. This fatalism they achieve the American dream of home
was depicted both as a product of their ethnic ownership. James Stewart’s character, al-
neighborhood and a result of displaced and though clearly Anglo-American, adopts Italian
dysfunctional Italian survival mechanisms. family values, refusing to sell out to Mr. Potter
The traditional Italian cultural baggage either and ultimately saving both the honor of his
led to a life of crime or a life as an unassimi- family and the homes of the newcomers.
lated outsider. Another film of the 1940s that connected
By the late 1930s, more sympathetic portraits Italian family values and the American work
competed with gangster images. An apprecia- ethic was Give Us This Day (1949), based on
tion for the hard-working Italians is seen in the 1930s novel Christ in Concrete by Pietro Di
Shirley Temple’s 1936 film Poor Little Rich Girl. Donato. Di Donato portrayed the Italian-
A wealthy Anglo-American daughter gets lost immigrant working man as sympathetically
in the city and is saved by Tony the organ and powerfully as did John Steinbeck the
grinder, who takes her home for spaghetti and “Okies” in The Grapes of Wrath. Immigrant
meatballs served by his big wife to a large, lov- Geremio and his wife Anunciata dream of buy-
ing family. His home is not as clean or man- ing a house in Brooklyn, but they are thwarted
nerly as her rich mansion, but “richer” in family by the Depression and then later by Geremio’s
love. The film explicitly criticizes those Anglo- death in an accident at his construction site.
 ITALIAN AMERICANS ] 259

The money the family receives due to contrac- ter of chance” (339). The opening image of the
tor negligence allows them to buy the house: strings of a puppet at the start of The Godfather
“At the end the grief-stricken widow voices the is echoed later in the film when Don Corleone
irony of their immigrant quest, ‘At last Gere- says to his son, Michael, “I refused to dance
mio has bought us a house’ ” (Cortes, 64). In on a string. . . . I thought it was you who would
a very literal way, Di Donato’s immigrants be controlling all the strings.”
fight to give their children access to an Amer- The Godfather II (1974) focuses on the im-
ican Dream they cannot share. migrant who became Don Corleone (Marlon
Hollywood dramatized the gains and losses Brando), comparing his life and values to his
associated with assimilation in conflicts be- son Michael’s. The film begins with the death
tween the immigrant generation and their chil- of his mother and young Corleone’s (Robert
dren. In 1955, two popular films dealing with De Niro) emigration to the United States,
such conflicts were released: Marty (based on where his first words are from an aria about
a Paddy Chayefsky play) and The Rose Tattoo maternal love. The film’s target is the Italian
(based on the Tennessee Williams play). Marty American son who tragically chooses the cor-
is a bachelor loner living with his widowed rupting American dream over Italian values.
mother, and in The Rose Tattoo, Rose is the Post-Vietnam America was open to films criti-
Americanized daughter of a Sicilian immigrant cal of American institutions, and the first two
widow, Serafina. Both films are negative por- Godfather films appealed to many Americans’
traits of the asphyxiating Italian American sense of anger and mistrust, as well as a hope
family and its overprotective Italian mama; for a leader who respected la famiglia over
both depict Americanization as requiring a money.
painful rejection of a traditional culture.
“Guidos”
Return of the Gangster Crime and athletics were the means to upward
By the 1970s Italian American women no mobility for many immigrants, and thus it is
longer worked in the textile industry: instead, no surprise that these subjects are quite com-
40 percent were now employed in clerical and mon in films about Italian Americans. Pelle-
“women’s” professional fields such as nursing, grino D’Acierno also sees a subgenre of blue-
social work, and teaching (Mangione and Mo- collar cinema as “cinema of the Guido”—“a
reale, 338–339). Italian American men were pejorative term applied to lower class, macho,
also moving from working-class to managerial gold-amulet-wearing, self-displaying neigh-
positions. Yet Hollywood ignored these eco- borhood boys”—or the “guidette,” “their
nomic and social advances. gum-chewing, big-haired, air-headed female
The 1970s saw the advent of film school– counterpart” (628), in films such as Saturday
trained Italian American directors such as Night Fever (1977), True Love (1989), and My
Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Cousin Vinny (1992). Although most Italian
Both chose to represent Italian Americans, and Americans were solidly middle class, the still-
both also returned to the fatalism of their fore- extant urban ghetto setting offered too much
fathers. Paul Giles argues that Scorsese’s Mean dramatic possibility for Hollywood to ignore.
Streets (1973) is about the American Dream, Saturday Night Fever depicts conflict be-
Catholic style: “The representation here of the tween working-class parents and their secular,
San Gennaro feast . . . features a shot of a large upwardly mobile American son (played by
wheel of fortune, as if to demonstrate how John Travolta). The neighborhood and family
these immigrant communities . . . perceive depicted in the film are particularly ghastly: a
their life in the New World to be largely a mat- community of abusive fathers, mothers who
260 [ GROUPS
have forgotten how to cook, soulless sex, showed up at a pizzeria. African American di-
mindless entertainment, and dead-end jobs. rector Spike Lee depicted the race and class
Although there is only a river separating the issues facing those working-class Italians and
Italian world of Staten Island and the non- their black neighbors in Do the Right Thing
Italian world of Manhattan, most cannot suc- (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991). Intergenera-
cessfully cross it. The American Dream is not tional conflicts were still the norm.
dead, but the film does not have the optimism Robert De Niro’s directorial debut, A Bronx
of Rocky (1976) and its sequels. In the latter Tale (1993), depicts the hard-working immi-
film series, Sylvester Stallone’s eponymous grant father who watches his son won over by
character chooses athletics over crime as a a local crime boss. John Turturro’s semi-
ticket out of a stultifying life, yet unlike Tra- autobiographical Mac (1993) is also a portrayal
volta’s character, Rocky does not have to reject of the working-class father-and-son relation-
culture and family to succeed. He even gets to ship, yet, for what seems like the first time, a
marry a nice Italian girl (Talia Shire, née Cop- life of crime does not come up as an alterna-
pola) whose shared cultural background helps tive. The film uses unsubtitled Italian and is
him maintain the positive values of fairness set in Brooklyn rather than the grittier streets
and hard work. However, another boxing film, of Little Italy. It is an update of the Michael
Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980), returns Corleone story: Mac, like Michael—albeit in
to the theme of what can happen to second- an honest business—chooses power and eco-
generation Italian Americans obsessed with nomic success over family and thus ends up
success. Based on the life and career of boxer alone.
Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull focuses on Jake’s The 1990s also revealed the talents of Italian
rage and violence that make him virtually un- American woman director Nancy Savoca, who
stoppable in the ring. The same anger also was born in the Bronx to immigrants from Sic-
drives Jake to beat his wife and his brother Joey ily and Argentina. Her 1993 film Household
and sends Jake down a self-destructive spiral Saints is the story of three generations in two
of self-hatred, paranoia, and rage. working-class Italian American families in Lit-
With some exceptions, the films of the 1970s tle Italy. Joseph Santangelo’s superstitious,
and 1980s, including those directed by Italian immigrant mother disapproves of his wife
Americans, returned to the Italian-as-criminal Catherine’s inability to cook and be a good
trope for one of two reasons: to challenge the housewife. After the grandmother dies, Cath-
possibility of maintaining cultural and reli- erine exorcises her presence by modernizing
gious ties while pursuing the American dream, the decor of the home and getting rid of her
or, for parodic purposes, as in Prizzi’s Honor Catholic icons. Oddly, her daughter Teresa as-
(1985) and The Freshman (1990). pires to be a saint, to the horror of her Amer-
icanized and secularized parents, and she un-
The 1990s packs and returns her grandmother’s religious
By the end of the 1980s, Hollywood films con- icons to their original places. The film reflects
tinued to focus on those urban Italian Amer- the sociological phenomenon of the second
icans “still locked in a self-imposed ghetto,” and third generations of immigrants: the sec-
continuing to resist education and its resulting ond generation seeks to reject its ethnic heri-
social and economic mobility (Mangione and tage, whereas the third and most Americanized
Moreale, 455). In 1986, the neighborhood of generation often returns to it.
Howard Beach, the home of the late mobster It is difficult to ignore the popularity and the
John Gotti, was also the scene of an infamous controversy of the HBO dramatic series The
race riot that began when three black men Sopranos. As with Scorsese’s GoodFellas (1990),
 ITALIAN AMERICANS ] 261

the award-winning series both criticizes and and solidly established world of organized
idealizes a Mafia boss as the last of a dying crime . . . cannot stand up against the over-
breed. Tony Soprano ( James Gandolfini), as whelming banality of the consumer culture in
any second-generation Italian American, turn-of-the-century suburban New Jersey with
wants upward mobility; at the same time, he which it is juxtaposed in a mock-heroic way”
is well aware that the mob is an anachronistic (86). Although media outlets gave currency to
institution. He moves to the suburbs, his the criticism of The Sopranos, the series con-
daughter goes to Columbia, and his son plans tinued to be a major success.
to apply to West Point. Yet the show disproves
the myth that being in the mob is one of the
only ways for Italian immigrants to get ahead. Into the Twenty-First Century
Tony’s wealthy neighbors are Italian, as is his Faced with a film history filled with stereotypes
doctor, and, though he disapproves of their as- and common themes, Italian American writers
similated ways, he also aspires to be like them. and directors need to forge new territory.
The mobsters on The Sopranos love films like Some will have no need to recover the Italian
GoodFellas and The Godfather, and it shows in immigrant experience in their art. Fourth-
their mimicry of the lines and clothing from generation Italian American Sofia Coppola’s
these movies. Celia Wren notes that the reason directorial debut, The Virgin Suicides (1999),
why the mobsters sense that their roles are for example, does not depict the Italian Amer-
soon to be out of date is that “the artificiality ican experience. But others, perhaps, may take
of their mobster identities—inherited in large on Pellegrino D’Acierno’s challenge. He notes
part from Francis Ford Coppola—makes their that no extant film deals with Italian American
whole existence feel artificial” (20). They are political and social history or radical politics:
dinosaurs trying to live out a dysfunctional none yet tell the story of immigrant anarchists
myth. Sacco and Vanzetti, whose execution shocked
The Sopranos has led to a resurgence of criti- the nation in 1927. Nor has there been a gen-
cism not seen since the Godfather movies. The erational saga that excludes gangsters, no Ital-
National Italian American Foundation argues ian American equivalent of Avalon ( Jewish
that the show perpetuates unflattering stereo- Americans) or Roots (African Americans). Per-
types. James Bowman, however, recognizes the haps the twenty-first-century image of Italian
attraction of The Sopranos, noting that Tony’s Americans in film will move from stereotypes
appeal is his devotion to traditional Italian pa- to historical realism and the depiction of con-
triarchy and Sicilian values and that “we are temporary Italians who contribute to a diverse
drawn in by the assumption that even the scary and prosperous America.

References
A Bronx Tale (1993, F)
Filmography The Brotherhood (1969, F)
Across 110th Street (1972, F) Cobra (1925, F)
Angie (1994, F) Diane of Star Hollow (1921, F)
At the Altar (1909, F) Do the Right Thing (1989, F)
The Avenging Conscience (1914, F) The Fortunate Pilgrim (1988, TV)
Baby It’s You (1983, F) Full of Life (1957, F)
The Beautiful City (1925, F) The Funeral (1996, F)
Big Night (1996, F) Give Us This Day (1949, F)
The Black Hand (1950, F) The Godfather (1972, F)
The Bridges of Madison County (1995, F) The Godfather II (1974, F)
262 [ GROUPS
The Godfather Part III (1990, F) Godfather: Italian American Writers on the Real
GoodFellas (1990, F) Italian American Experience. Hanover, NH: Univer-
The Greatest Love of All (1925, F) sity Press of New England, 1997.
Household Saints (1993, F) Cortes, Carlos E. “Them and Us: Immigration as So-
The Italian (1915, F) cietal Barometer and Social Educator in American
Italianamerican (1974, D) Film.” In Robert Brent Toplin, ed., Hollywood as
Italian in America (1998, D) Mirror, 57–73. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) D’Acierno, Pellegrino, ed. The Italian American Heri-
Jungle Fever (1991, F) tage: A Companion to Literature and Arts. New
Little Caesar (1930, F) York: Garland, 1999.
Little Italy (1921, F) Daniels, Roger. Coming to America: A History of Im-
The Lords of Flatbush (1974, F) migration and Ethnicity in American Life. New
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970, F) York: HarperCollins, 1990.
Love with a Proper Stranger (1963, F) Gambino, Richard. Blood of My Blood. New York:
Mac (1993, F) Anchor, 1975.
The Man in Blue (1925, F) Giles, Paul. American Catholic Arts and Fictions: Cul-
Marty (1955, F) ture, Ideology, Aesthetics. New York: Cambridge
Mean Streets (1973, F) University Press, 1992.
Moonstruck (1987, F) La Sorte, Michael. La Merica: Images of Italian Green-
My Cousin Vinny (1992, F) horn Experience. Philadelphia: Temple University
Prizzi’s Honor (1985, F) Press, 1985.
Puppets (1926, F) Lourdeaux, Lee. Italian and Irish Filmmakers in
Puppets of Fate (1921, F) America: Ford, Capra, Coppola, and Scorsese. Phila-
Raging Bull (1980, F) delphia: Temple University Press, 1990.
Rocky (1976, F) Mangione, Jerre, and Ben Moreale. La Storia: Five
Rose of the Tenements (1926, F) Centuries of the Italian American Experience. New
The Rose Tattoo (1955, F) York: HarperPerennial, 1993.
Saturday Night Fever (1977, F) Miller, Randall M., ed. The Kaleidoscopic Lens: How
Scarface (1932, F) Hollywood Views Ethnic Groups. New York: Jerome
Society Snobs (1921, F) S. Ozer, 1980.
The Sopranos (1999–, TV) Novak, Michael. The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics:
True Love (1989, F) Politics and Culture in the Seventies. New York:
A View from the Bridge (1962, F) Macmillan, 1972.
When the Clock Strikes Nine (1921, F) Parillo, V. N. Strangers to These Shores: Race and Eth-
Who’s That Knocking at My Door? (1969, F) nic Relations in the United States. Boston: Hough-
Wise Guys (1985, F) ton Mifflin, 1980.
Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
can Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington:
Bibliography University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Bowman, James. “Mob Hit.” American Spectator, Winokur, Mark. American Laughter: Immigrants, Eth-
April 2001. nicity, and 1930s Hollywood Film Comedy. New
Caso, A. Mass Media vs. the Italian Americans. Bos- York: St. Martin’s, 1996.
ton: Brenden, 1980. Wren, Celia. “Melancholy Mobsters.” Commonweal,
Ciongoli, A. Kenneth, and Jay Parini, eds. Beyond the 28 January 2000.
[ SOLOMON DAVIDOFF ]

Jewish Americans

here were Jews in America long before the life or achievement in the United States that

T creation of the United States. As Howard

Sachar points out in A History of the Jews
in America, not only were there Jewish settlers
arriving in New Amsterdam as early as 1654,
has not benefited from Jewish involvement.
The first major wave of Jewish immigration
to the United States took place during the pe-
riod of western expansion (1880–1924), when
but the crew of Christopher Columbus also al- approximately ninety thousand Ashkenazi
most assuredly included marranos ( Jews who ( Jews of Eastern European descent) came to
hid their religion to escape the Spanish Inqui- the United States from Germany and Poland.
sition) and conversos ( Jews who converted They were followed by settlers from Russia and
during the Inquisition). Jewish people have Poland in a wave of immigrants known as the
made a wide variety of contributions to Amer- “Yiddish Migration” (Gonzalez, 352).
ican life and culture, including the blue jeans There were marked differences between the
devised by Levi Strauss (1829–1902), the polio earlier Jewish settlers (who were not identified
vaccine formulated by Dr. Jonas Salk (1914– as arriving in an identifiable “wave”), the Se-
1995), and the modern Hollywood film stu- phards ( Jews of Spanish descent) and the West-
dios, created by men such as Sam Goldwyn ern European Jews, and the Jews of the Yiddish
(born Samuel Goldfish, 1882–1974), Louis B. Migration. Whereas Western European Jews as-
Mayer (1891–1957), Jack Warner (1892– similated and blended into American society,
1981), and Adolph Zukor (1873–1976). In the latter group was far more noticeably “Jew-
fact, there have been contributions by Jewish ish” in appearance and tradition—in large part
people to every field of endeavor throughout owing to its unfamiliarity with Western culture
American history. Asser Levy’s (1628–1682) as well as its insular experience within ghetto-
early efforts to convince Peter Stuyvesant that ized communities. Once on American shores,
Jewish people should have the right to settle in this community continued to be close-knit; ini-
the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam led to a tially, the vast majority settled in the Lower East
constitutional precedent of immigration law, Side of New York City. Just before the advent
that people of all religious extractions should of World War I, nearly half of the 3.5 million
have the opportunity to settle in the New Jews in America lived in New York City—the
World (Koppman, 35). From the scientific ex- sheer number of Jewish New Yorkers (1.6 mil-
plorations of Julius Oppenheimer (1904– lion) surpassing the population size of every
1967) to Emma Lazarus’s (1849–1887) poem major American city save for New York, Chi-
“The New Colossus” at the base of the Statue cago, and Philadelphia (Sachar, 174).
of Liberty, from the philanthropy and legacy The era of the Depression was also the start
of Meyer Guggenheim (1828–1905) to the of the era of modern European immigration
sporting achievements of Sandy Koufax (b. to the United States. This phase of immigra-
1935), to name but a few, there is no area of tion, from 1925 to 1945, is notable mostly for

263
264 [ GROUPS
the exodus of Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. It who speaks for the entire Jewish community.
is during this period that an association be- As a result, behavior and attitudes are based
tween the Jewish people and show business was more on personal choice that may change
most clearly formed in the American mind. with the mores of the time. The current trend
This connection was fueled by vaudeville per- is more toward acculturation—that is, con-
formers such as Jack Benny (1894–1974) and current acceptance of the dominant culture
Groucho Marx (1890–1977), famed radio per- of the United States while maintaining and
former Gertrude Berg (1899–1966), and Hol- cultivating qualities and traditions that are
lywood personalities such as Eddie Cantor unique to the Jewish people. Examples of this
(1892–1964) and George Jessel (1898–1981). evolution of attitude can best be seen in the
The next major phase of Jewish immigration various interpretations of The Jazz Singer
to the United States was the postwar period, (1927, 1943, 1980), wherein the main char-
which lasted from 1946 to 1980. The most acter chooses American popular music over
publicized of these Jewish immigrants were his religion in the original film but in later
refugees from the Soviet bloc nations, al- versions accepts the importance of his heri-
though Eastern European and Israeli immigra- tage more and more; The Chosen (1981),
tion continued. The final phase, still in pro- which shows the differing worlds of Orthodox
cess, began in 1980 and continues today. The and Conservative Judaism at the dawn of
majority of Jewish immigrants to the United World War II; and A Woman Called Golda
States in this period have come from Israel, (1982), portraying the influence that Ameri-
itself a nation of immigrants. can Judaism had on the history of Israel.

The Cinematic History of Jewish Americans Arrival to American’s Shores

Jewish American history, when explored in The earliest portrayal of American Jews in
American film, focuses primarily on the ques- American cinema can be seen within the com-
tion of assimilation versus acculturation. edies, ghetto films, and Yiddish films of the
Films such as American Matchmaker (1940), early 1900s. The films of this period portrayed
Hester Street (1975), and Avalon (1990) por- both the very isolated community of the Jewish
tray Jewish lives within the melting pot of the ghettos of the new world, and the anti-Semitic
United States and focus on how difficult it can views of the WASP culture in a period of great
be for Jewish people to meld into American social change and “status anxiety.” These com-
culture. Michael Kassel finds that Avalon, edies included films such as Cohen’s Advertis-
“viewed in historical perspective . . . demon- ing Scheme (1904) and The Fights of Nations
strates that progress and assimilation had a (1907), which used a negative stereotype of the
detrimental effect on the Jewish immigrant money-grubbing Jew to evoke laughter. These
family” (52). It is notable that assimilation is were not religious characters, but people with
now one of the greatest worries to the Jewish large noses and “Jewish” names who were pos-
community in America. Although assimilating sessed by greed. A wide variety of films during
into the anglocentric culture of the United the silent era dealt with this population; a pop-
States allowed the Jewish people to advance ular formula juxtaposed the immigrant Jewish
and progress, this advancement has eroded a and Irish populations, as in Edward Sloman’s
unique culture, making it more liberal and His People (1925), Victor Fleming’s Abie’s Irish
secular. Furthermore, the Jews of America are Rose (1928), and Harry Pollard’s The Cohens
different from those in other countries in that and the Kellys (1926).
in the United States there has never been a The ghetto films, such as D. W. Griffith’s
national “Chief Rabbi” or dominant voice Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (1908) and A Child
 JEWISH AMERICANS ] 265

of the Ghetto (1910), focused on the pervasive is also fascinating, in light of how many Jewish
poverty of the New York immigrants, showing people were in the public eye at the time, both
that not all Jews were rich and powerful. These as performers and workers behind the scenes
films also differed greatly from the early com- in show business.
edies in presenting a far less stereotypical im- Jewish people also shared a rich heritage of
age of Jews while illustrating the ways in which humor. In fact, the most noticeable contribu-
the people were, in fact, different from WASP tion to American society by Jews at this point
America. Joseph Cohen suggests that the Yid- was actually in the arena of light entertain-
dish films served the Jewish community as an ment. The early “talkies” were notable for the
aid to transition: “American Matchmaker . . . number of dialect-oriented ethnic comedies.
deals with the serious issue of transition in per- Parodying and emphasizing the Yiddish accent
sonally reconciling tradition and the modern, or the Germanic sentence structure became
finding the “golden mean” between Jewish and quite popular in films such as Roy Del Ruth’s
secular identity” (41). Outside of these early Taxi! (1932) and George Stevens’s The Cohens
efforts, this period in Jewish history has been and Kellys in Trouble (1933). This form of hu-
filmed rarely; a fortunate exception is Hester mor can also be seen in the works of up-and-
Street (1975), an independent production di- coming Jewish comedians such as the Marx
rected by Joan Micklin Silver. An excellent ex- Brothers. It was during this period that many
amination of immigration and assimilation, actors changed their names from “ethnic” to
Hester Street shows the toll of change not only “American” forms: Muni Weisenfreund to Paul
on individuals but also on the family and tra- Muni, Julius Garfinkle to John Garfield, David
dition. It is the abandonment of his religion Kominski to Danny Kaye, Betty Perske to Lau-
and tradition that dooms Yankel’s (Steven ren Bacall, Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis.
Keats) marriage to Gitl (Carol Kane), not The studios insisted on these name changes,
through small adaptations (such as changing fearing that audiences would notice a growing
his name to Jake) but major ones (such as an Jewish presence in American entertainment.
extramarital affair). Modern popular films seldom portray the
Jews of the 1920s and 1930s, with a major ex-
Assimilation into American Society ception: gangster movies. Jewish presence in the
The next phase of Jewish life in the United gangster mobs of the Roaring Twenties was
States, between 1925 and 1945, was marked by quite pronounced, considering the involvement
attempts at assimilation. Immigration to the of Benny “Bugsy” Siegel, the Purple Gang, and
United States was a time of new beginnings, others. Films such as William Nigh’s Four Walls
and it makes perfect sense that some of these (1928), Burt Balaban’s Lepke (a.k.a. Murder,
immigrants took advantage of the opportunity Inc.) (1960), Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time
to discard some of the more visible aspects of in America (1984), and Barry Levinson’s Bugsy
their traditions. To this end, Jewish people em- (1991) highlight some of the Jewish players in
braced new fields and professions, particularly organized crime. As in the case of other ethnic
in the sciences and education. But the Jews of groups, there was no objection to this sort of
the time also tried to maintain a low profile— presentation of the real lives of Jewish people,
as in 1939, when several influential Jewish ad- as opposed to the representation of more note-
visors asked President Roosevelt to reconsider worthy Jewish personages—for example, in the
the appointment of Felix Frankfurter to the areas of science and politics.
Supreme Court. They were concerned that Although the influx of Jewish immigration
such an appointment would incite a wave of did not yet affect the content of the movie in-
anti-Semitism (Whitfield, 101). This timidity dustry to a remarkable degree, World War II
266 [ GROUPS
certainly led to changes in the theme and scope toward acculturating themselves—more than
of films. One of the first productions to con- assimilating—into mainstream culture. The
front the horrors taking place in Europe was cries of “Remember,” and “Never Forget” in
Charles Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940), reference to those who died in European con-
which included Chaplin’s only onscreen per- centration camps forced Jewish people to focus
formance in a clearly identifiable Jewish role. on and embrace their differences. Although this
In time, depictions of World War II would change in behavior has increased the cultural
lead to productions concerning the Jewish Ho- visibility of worldwide Jewry, a further result
locaust; films dramatizing this aspect of the has been more frequent acts of anti-Semitism.
war have grown more numerous. Notable con- Jewish involvement in the creation and success
tributions to the genre are Alan J. Pakula’s So- of labor unions and political action organiza-
phie’s Choice (1982) and Stephen Spielberg’s tions, such as the NAACP and the ACLU, have
Schindler’s List (1993). often equated the terms “Jew” and “liberal,”
If there is a more modern presentation of which often has led to inflammatory rhetoric
Judaism in American film, it consists of assim- and violence. But anti-Semitism was being dealt
ilated Jews, such as the Jewish characters in with for the first time as a matter of civil rights,
Quicksilver (1986) and Rebel Without a Cause and civil rights were a new focus for the general
(1955). Jewish faith and culture is not a real population as well.
part of the lives of these characters, and reli- Films such as Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agree-
gious identity seems to be inconsequential to ment (1947) and Edward Dmytryk’s Crossfire
them. This is different from the presentation (1947) deal with anti-Semitism, just as later
of secular Jewish characters in films such as films would deal with prejudice against people
Otto Preminger’s Exodus (1960), which depicts of color and other minority groups. The im-
the origin of Israel and focuses on secular Jew- portance of these films is the way in which they
ish characters rather than religious ones. Exo- lay the blame for intolerance at the feet of those
dus features characters who feel passionately responsible, rather than on the persecuted
about their Jewish identity, though it lies in themselves. (This notion, that members of a
culture more than religious beliefs. More mod- group should not bear responsibility for unrea-
ern efforts, such as Quicksilver, feature char- sonable hatred toward them, is perhaps the first
acters who may be portrayed as celebrating educational step toward understanding of,
Chanukah rather than Christmas, but their re- rather than mere tolerance for, difference.)
ligious and cultural differences from main- Although many humorous films of this pe-
stream society are normally mentioned only to riod had notable Jewish characters, such as
serve as the springboard for a brief statement, Walter Hart’s The Goldbergs (1950) and Wil-
highlighting the similarities between their re- liam Wyler’s Funny Girl (1968), the majority of
ligion and those of other characters. This trend Jewish characters in comedic films were only
may be changing, however, as seen by Jewish incidentally Jewish. Judaism is present primarily
characters in films such as Independence Day in themes and styles of humor, in such films as
(1996) and Keeping the Faith (2000) who prac- Larry Peerce’s Goodbye, Columbus (1969) and
tice their faith and celebrate their culture while Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977). In fact, all
living lives otherwise identical to those of their the work of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, and Carl
fellow Americans. Reiner can be seen as defining the filmed genre
of Jewish humor. The early portrayals of ste-
Acculturation reotypical Jews that focused on businessmen
In part influenced by the horrors of World War with thick accents changed over to the mother’s
II, Jewish people in the United States turned boy who walks through life hampered by guilt
 JEWISH AMERICANS ] 267

and attached to maternal apron strings—a fully formed characters who are just as capable
character best seen in Neil Simon’s two auto- as anyone else of committing heresies and her-
biographical films Brighton Beach Memoirs oism. But it must also be noted that, even to-
(1986) and Biloxi Blues (1988). day, films are aimed at a general audience. For
Perhaps it was the influence of Alex Haley’s example, in Brenda Chapman and Steve Hick-
Roots (1977) more than any other novel or over’s animated film The Prince of Egypt
film that focused the interest of all Americans (1999), Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt
upon the details of their heritage—and this and beyond; although the story’s conclusion
focus is plainly visible in films dealing specif- may allude to the religion to come, Judaism
ically with Judaism. Joan Micklin Silver’s per se is never explicitly explored or men-
Crossing Delancey (1988) and Barry Levin- tioned. The question must be raised: Why cre-
son’s Avalon (1990), as noted earlier, deal ate a film about one of the most defining mo-
with the old world intruding on the new, con- ments of a people without exploring its
sidering which was “better,” and how the sim- spiritual significance? In a country that gives
ilarities of these worlds bridge the generations. “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no as-
sistance,” as George Washington wrote in his
From Stereotype to Character famous letter to the Touro Synagogue of
The film industry has progressed from show- Rhode Island in 1790, perhaps it is time for a
ing Jewish characters as mere stereotypes to change.

References
Keeping the Faith (2000, F)
Filmography Lepke (a.k.a. Murder, Inc.) (1960, F)
Abie’s Irish Rose (1928, F) Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker (1908, F)
Almonds and Raisins: A History of the Yiddish Cinema Once Upon a Time in America (1984, F)
(1983, D) The Prince of Egypt (1999, F)
American Matchmaker (Amerikaner Shadchen) Quicksilver (1986, F)
(1940, F) Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F)
Annie Hall (1977, F) Roots (1977, F)
Avalon (1990, F) Schindler’s List (1993, F)
Biloxi Blues (1988, F) Sophie’s Choice (1982, F)
Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986, F) Taxi! (1932, F)
Bugsy (1991, F) A Woman Called Golda (1982, TV)
The Chosen (1981, F)
Cohen’s Advertising Scheme (1904, F) Bibliography
The Cohens and the Kellys (1926, F) Anklewicz, Larry. Guide to Jewish Films on Video. Ho-
Crossfire (1947, F) boken, NJ: Ktav Publishing, 2000.
Crossing Delancey (1988, F) Bernheimer, Kathryn. The 50 Greatest Jewish Movies:
Exodus (1960, F) A Critic’s Ranking of the Very Best. Secaucus, NJ:
Fiddler on the Roof (1971, F) Birch Lane, 1998.
The Fights of Nations (1907, F) Cohen, Joseph. “Yiddish Film and the American Im-
Funny Girl (1968, F) migrant Experience.” Film & History 28.1–2
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947, F) (1998): 30–44.
The Goldbergs (1950, F) Cohen, Sarah Blacher, ed. From Hester Street to Hol-
Goodbye, Columbus (1969, F) lywood: The Jewish-American Stage and Screen.
The Great Dictator (1940, F) Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983.
Hester Street (1975, F) Cohen, Steven M. American Assimilation or Jewish
His People (1925, F) Revival? Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own (1997, D) 1988.
Independence Day (1996, F) Dimont, Max I. Jews, G——D and History. New
The Jazz Singer (1927, F; 1943, F; 1980, F) York: Signet, 1962.
268 [ GROUPS
Erens, Patricia. The Jew in American Cinema. Bloom- Family in Film and History: The Historical Accu-
ington: Indiana University Press, 1984. racy of Barry Levinson’s Avalon.” Film & History
Fast, Howard. The Jews: Story of a People. New York: 26.1–4 (1996): 52–60.
Dell, 1968. Kemelman, Harry. Conversations with Rabbi Small.
Friedman, Lester D. The Jewish Image in American New York: Fawcett, 1993.
Film. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel, 1987. Koppman, Lionel, and Bernard Postal. Guess Who’s
Gabler, Neal. An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Jewish in American History. New York: Signet,
Invented Hollywood. New York: Crown, 1988. 1978.
Gonzales, Juan L. Racial and Ethnic Groups in Amer- Levitan, Tina. First Facts in American Jewish History:
ica. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1996. From 1492 to the Present. Northvale, NJ: Joseph
Gordis, David M., and Dorit P. Gary. American Jewry: Aronson, 1996.
Portrait and Prognosis. West Orange, NJ: Behrman Lipset, Seymour Martin. American Pluralism and the
House, 1997. Jewish Community. New Brunswick, NJ: Transac-
Gurock, Jeffrey S. American Jewish History. 13 vols. tion, 1990.
New York: Routledge, 1998. Mack, Stanley. The Story of the Jews: A 4,000 Year Ad-
Guttman, Allen. The Jewish Writer in America: Assim- venture. New York: Villard, 1998.
ilation and the Crisis of Identity. New York: Oxford Marcus, Jacob Rader. United States Jewry, 1776–1985.
University Press, 1971. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1989.
Howe, Irving. World of Our Fathers. New York: Sachar, Howard M. A History of the Jews in America.
Schocken, 1976. New York: Knopf, 1992.
Insdorf, Annette. Indelible Shadows: Film and the Ho- Sklare, Marshall. American Jews: A Reader. West Or-
locaust. 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University ange, NJ: Behrman House, 1983.
Press, 1989. Whitfield, Stephen J. American Space, Jewish Time.
Kassel, Michael B. “The American Jewish Immigrant Hamden, CT: Archon, 1998.
[ SCOTT L. BAUGH ]

Mexican Americans

efore the Spanish conquest of Mexico in as the Mexican American or, later, Chicana

B 1521, an assemblage of diverse indige-

nous societies developed alongside one
another in what is now considered North
America. Spain saw America as a land to be
and Chicano. More importantly, this political
event made possible a new cultural enterprise,
progressively evolving as chicanismo. Echoing
Octavio Paz and José Vasconcelos, Arnoldo
colonized, and, after conquering the Aztecs, Carlos Vento and other Chicano historians ar-
Spanish forces allied with some Native Amer- gue that the definitive characteristic of Chi-
ican societies and began establishing New cano culture is its existence in between dom-
Spain. Spanish-sponsored explorations sought inant cultures, assembling the very best of the
out fabled riches and new settlement locations divergent American cultures into movidas or
in what is now the southwestern United States, modes of survival (281). In its mixture his-
but in the process they encountered and bat- torically are various Native American, Iberian
tled more Native American tribes, including Spanish, Moorish, Celtic-Gaelic, Jewish, and
the Apache and Pueblo peoples. Over the next colonial Mexican influences, all of which play
three centuries, although the Spanish throne a part in Chicano identity in the face of the
ruled the land and its imperial power grew, larger American society.
intermarriages between Spanish colonialists Feature films made in the United States have
and Native Americans spawned significant po- chronicled Mexican American history and
litical, social, and racial mixtures, the phenom- Chicano culture in many ways. The earliest pe-
enon called mestizaje. riod is marked by some social problem melo-
By the time Mexico had gained its indepen- dramas and many westerns that often misrep-
dence from Spain in the early 1820s, other Eu- resented U.S.-Mexican themes and characters,
ropean immigrants had begun trekking across stressing an assimilationist view. After World
the ever-growing United States in fulfillment War II and reaching a fevered pitch in the late
of Manifest Destiny, some homesteading in the 1960s and 1970s, militarist and nationalist sep-
Texas portion of the Spanish empire. In 1836, aratism marked a new generation of Chicanos
perhaps carried by the spirit of the Alamo, and Chicanas who fought for their social rights
Texas won independence from Mexico and, and expressed the significance of their cultural
along with much of the adjacent territory, in- background; some films treating this period
cluding portions of New Mexico, Arizona, revise cultural statements made by earlier films
California, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado, be- and social histories and highlight issues of con-
came part of the United States in 1848 with cern often overlooked by studio fare. Finally,
the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hi- from 1980 to the present, films depicting Mex-
dalgo. In one stroke of the pen, natives of the ican Americans have crossed over into the
region became U.S. citizens. Politically, a new mainstream while at the same time allowing
identity was formed: what came to be known mainstream culture to cross over to Mexican

269
270 [ GROUPS
American cultural expressions. This period being ruled by their passions—both violent
celebrates American multiculturalism and and romantic—and reveal contempt on the
hints at the benefits of pluralistic social politics part of mainstream society for Mexican and
through cultural syncretism or mestizaje in Mexican American culture.
U.S. films. These character types appear in the earliest
silent westerns, such as Griffith’s The Greaser’s
Losing Ground: 1848–1940 Gauntlet (1908), William S. Hart vehicles like
Traditionally, United States social histories The Grudge (1915), and a string of other
rely upon an immigration narrative, charac- “greaser” films, and continue in the sound era
terizing American society according to what as the bandit/bandito stereotype in Western
Caroline Ware calls a “common rootlessness” Code (1933), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
shared by immigrants to the “New World” (1947), and, to violent extremes, in Ride Va-
(62–64). Overlooking indigenous populations quero (1953) and Bandolero! (1968). One
and their varied cultures, social histories favor strand of the western reveals the greaser-
a Eurocentric vision of the United States. Stu- bandit in the form of the “good badman,”
dio films generally have upheld the perdurable modeling a Hispanic Robin Hood. Perhaps the
Anglo-Saxon vision of America, and this is two most popular of this type are the Cisco
most easily recognized in the majority of films Kid series and the Zorro franchise, both in-
treating the historical period before World spired by The White Vaquero (1913) and The
War II. Caballero’s Way (1914). The Zorro films center
The very few studio films that treat pre- on an American of Spanish ancestry in Old
Columbian America tend to show natives as California who tirelessly fights tyrannical
“savages.” The Fall of Montezuma (1912), The power in the name of American-style justice
Captive God (1916), and Kings of the Sun with bandit-style methods. The series begins
(1963) generalize Europeans as civilized and with Douglas Fairbanks starring in the title
the natives as warring, if “noble,” brutes. More role in The Mark of Zorro (1920) and Don Q,
often than not, however, studios overlook this Son of Zorro (1925) and subsequently stars
period in favor of an America with European Robert Livingston in The Bold Caballero (1936),
settlers. Duncan Renaldo in Zorro Rides Again (1937),
The vast majority of feature films that treat Reed Hadley in Zorro’s Fighting Legion
U.S.-Mexican themes and characters from the (1939), and Tyrone Power in The Mark of
nineteenth century to World War II are west- Zorro (1940). The Cisco Kid series, the more
erns, resulting in easily prescribed and negative prolific of the two, also features a Robin
stereotypes—for male characters, the greaser- Hood–type bandit slightly more in touch with
bandit, the lecherous “Latin lover,” and the his “Latin lover” side. The series stars Warner
doltish sidekick; for females, the self- Baxter, Cesar Romero, Duncan Renaldo, and
sacrificing maiden and the cantina whore. Gilbert Roland in the title role with such titles
Many of the most popular westerns subsume as In Old Arizona (1929), The Arizona Kid
these stereotypes, as in Howard Hawks’s classic (1930), and The Cisco Kid (1931). The Cisco
Red River (1948), when two Tejanos are shot Kid and Zorro series both eventually made
for defending their homeland, or John Ford’s their way to television and had a lasting influ-
classic The Searchers (1956), which portrays ence on the bandit character, for example in
natives of the region as frighteningly inhuman. Anthony Quinn’s martyr character in The Ox-
By definition, these stereotypes give oversim- Bow Incident (1943) or his dignified marquis
plified and one-dimensional characterizations, character in California (1946) and the parodic
but worse yet they unfairly define natives as Three Mesquiteers series beginning in 1935.
 MEXICAN AMERICANS ] 271

Over time, as the stereotypes developed, ative Hispanic stereotypes in the American
their social functions gradually grew. Two collective imagination (Keller, 71; Richard,
other strands of westerns that treat specifically xxv). The Mexican Joan of Arc (1911) and The
the Battle of the Alamo and the Mexican Rev- Mexican Revolutionists (1912), although por-
olution reflect this development in Hispanic traying a slightly more sympathetic portrait of
characters and their relationship to U.S. citi- the Mexican Indian rebels, still offer stereotyp-
zens of Mexican descent. In treating the Alamo ical characters, mostly bandits; others are less
and the events in the mid-1830s surrounding politically sensitive through their use of
the Texas War for Independence, studio films bandit-revolutionary characters, the most sen-
often portray Mexicans and Tejanos as villains sationalistic of which include Villa Rides
or hapless victims of their nation’s social con- (1968), The Professionals (1966), and The Wild
dition; in either form, the characters’ downfalls Bunch (1969). The Treasure of Pancho Villa
simply allowed studios to appease contempo- (1955), They Came to Cordura (1959), and The
rary mainstream tastes. Martyrs of the Alamo Old Gringo (1989) and deal only indirectly
(1915), directed by W. Christy Cabanne and with the revolution or its history, using it as a
produced by D. W. Griffith, remains one of the backdrop for romantic adventures with vary-
most controversial inasmuch as it borrows ing degrees of success and, as a result, ignore
some racist politics from the contemporary the significance of the Mexican Revolution to
Griffith hit film Birth of a Nation; as a matter American history.
of fact, the production company advertised the The most provocative films treating Chicano
film as The Birth of Texas to resonate with Grif- themes and characters combine the western
fith’s classic Civil War film. In Martyrs, The with the social problem genre, drawing atten-
Man from the Alamo (1953), The Last Com- tion to issues of concern to Americans. In The
mand (1955), and The Alamo (1960), historical Man from Del Rio (1956), Anthony Quinn plays
veracity appears less important than dramati- a Texas sheriff of Mexican descent, who never
zation of a staunch patriotism that has become wins over the bigoted townspeople whom he
practically synonymous with the battle’s leg- protects, and in The Outrage (1964), an adap-
end. John Wayne’s The Alamo, for example, tation of Akira Kurosawa’s classic Rashomon set
provides only glimpses of General Santa Anna in the Wild West, a Mexican bandit serves as
and his Mexican troops and instead attacks the the villain and raises awareness to the stereo-
disloyalty of a fellow Anglo as a covert state- types surrounding the character; both films
ment against the communist threat of the pre- highlight the discrimination and racial inequity
vious decade. in American culture. Giant (1956) symbolizes
Similarly, Viva Zapata! (1952) treats the through the marriage of a white cattle baron’s
Mexican Revolution of 1910 but stands instead son to a Tejana and the birth of their son the
as an expression of explicitly anticommunist “browning” of the Texas family as well as the
values during the Cold War. Many silent films fading Eurocentricism of its patriarch. And in
reveal a racist contempt for Mexican history the Cold War classic High Noon (1952), Katy
and, by extension, U.S. citizens of Mexican Jurado’s character is introduced as the stereo-
heritage. Gary D. Keller, Alfred Charles Rich- typical cantina whore with a heart of gold, yet
ard Jr., and other film historians note that be- by the end of the story she centralizes the ethic
cause the Mexican Revolution occurred just as of social responsibility and convinces other wa-
the U.S. film industry began gaining power vering characters to deny their own selfishness
and prestige, the revolution and its characters and to act in the name of justice.
provided filmmakers with a convenient villain, Other social problem films treat contem-
and consequently these films entrenched neg- porary periods and raise consciousness to is-
272 [ GROUPS
sues of concern. In Bordertown (1935), Paul reotypes and themes, while initiating new film
Muni portrays an intelligent and motivated forms and aesthetics. These filmmaking strat-
Mexican American law student, who, in spite egies appear even more prominently in Chi-
of graduating at the top of his class, is thrown cano films that treat American society during
out of a courtroom and disbarred for his tem- and after World War II.
per. Although the messages in the film are in-
consistent—when the Mexican American tells Moving Forward: 1945–1990
a white woman of his love for her, her reply Historians point to World War II as a signifi-
is, “We aren’t from the same tribe, savage!”— cant turning point for U.S. citizens of Mexican
the film draws critical attention to the prevail- heritage (Gutiérrez, 312–18). War films that
ing attitudes toward the Mexican American reveal their service and sacrifice in wartime in-
generation before World War II and sets the clude A Medal for Benny (1945) and Hell to
stage for later social problem films. Chicano Eternity (1960), highlighting the irony of eth-
historians point to the discrimination sur- nic discrimination in American culture. A
rounding the mass deportations of Mexican number of melodramas and social problem
Americans during the Depression, which is films carry forth this point and advocate equal-
treated in several films. Break of Dawn (1988), ity in a statement of American democracy in
based on the documentary Ballad of an Unsung the post–World War II years.
Hero (1983), tells the story of Pedro J. Gon- The noted actor Ricardo Montalbán,
zalez, a telegraph operator for Villa in the Rev- founder of NOSOTROS, an organization ded-
olution who comes to the United States after icated to improving the representation of U.S.
the war and earns a reputation as a popular citizens of Mexican heritage in popular cul-
radio personality. Gonzalez uses his on-air in- ture, plays in several social problem films.
fluence to draw attention to the discriminatory Montalbán brings to the big screen sympathy
practices of the Department of Labor’s for characters who struggle against ethnic and
“Operation Deportation” during the Depres- class discrimination—in Right Cross (1950) as
sion and is subsequently deported himself. a young Chicano boxer, in Mystery Street
Like Break of Dawn, The Ballad of Gregorio (1950) as a police officer fighting for justice,
Cortez (1983) and a short, Seguin (1981), em- and in My Man and I (1952) as a fruit picker
ploy independent production methods to cre- who is cheated out of his wages. Orson
ate more explicitly subversive social state- Welles’s Touch of Evil (1958) dramatizes the
ments. Seguin revises the history of the landed injustice that is part of bordertown life for Chi-
Tejanos who fought in the Battle of the Al- canos and Chicanas in the 1950s, although it
amo. A revisionist western, Gregorio Cortez indulges in sensationalism and ignores the
reveals one plot in English that follows a typ- irony of Mexican immigrants to the United
ical western plot of a posse hunting a fugitive States being political aliens in a land once con-
Mexican bandit interwoven with a subversive sidered their homeland. From midcentury up
plot in the form of a Spanish-language cor- through the 1970s, Chicano social history and
rido, a border ballad, that provides his per- the films that chronicle it put to test the debate
spective and defends his actions. Code- over assimilation and nationalism; this can be
switching English and Spanish, not only in seen most clearly in film treatments of immi-
the dialogue but imbedded in the continuity, gration.
hints at the multicultural strength inherent in Only a few films present sympathetic and, at
filmed histories. These three films recount times, accurate depictions of life on the border
historical material treated unfavorably in and the act of crossing the border. Films such
some studio films and critically revise the ste- as El Norte (1983), told from the perspective
 MEXICAN AMERICANS ] 273

of a Guatemalan brother and sister, and The Chicano generation, especially in treating
Border (1982) dramatize injustices in U.S. im- gangs—in Warriors (1978), Walk Proud
migration policy and the horrific extent to (1979), Boulevard Nights (1979), and Blood
which immigrants will go to get to the North. In, Blood Out: Bound by Honor (1993). Ed-
Esperanza (1985), directed by Sylvia Morales, ward James Olmos’s American Me (1992)
and Despues del Terremoto/After the Earth- subverts the violence of the gang exploitation
quake (1979), directed by Lourdes Portillo and films by naturalistically depicting the life
Nina Serrano, are two shorts that offer a story of the father of one of the largest gang
uniquely Latina perspective on immigration and prison “families,” looking back to the
issues. Alambrista! (1977) and Raices de Sangre 1940s through the 1970s. The first studio-
(1976) use border crossing as a trope for a na- produced feature film directed by a Chicano,
tionalistic argument against economic exploi- Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit (1981) presents a re-
tation of immigrants. Similarly, Salt of the visionist history of a significant moment in
Earth (1954), The Lawless (1950), and El Cor- the formation of Chicano culture; American
rido (1976) treat the conditions of working- Me and many of the most effective Chicano
class Chicanos after World War II and point films produced since 1980 enact this strategy.
to the function of labor-reform activism and In Zoot Suit, as in Distant Water (1990), the
unionization as socially acceptable modes of Southern California zoot-suit riots of the
political resistance, a matter revisited in Jer- 1940s are dramatized. Pachucos and pachucas
emy Paul Kagan’s crime thriller The Big Fix wore “drape shapes” as a self-expressive act
(1978). of independence and rebellion against a bi-
In opposition to the tradition of immigra- ased society; mainstream society saw their
tion suggested by most U.S. histories, historian nonconformity, especially during the tense
Rudolfo Acuña argues that, because the Amer- period of World War II, as un-American.
ican Southwest is a native territory for Chica- Zoot Suit further reveals the discrimination
nos and Chicanas, crossing the border can be that the legal system brought against one
a figurative reclamation of Aztlán, their an- zoot-suit gang in the Sleepy Lagoon murder
cient homeland. During the turbulent civil trial. Valdez highlights the biases and subjec-
rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, tivity of mainstream society in the 1940s mal-
Acuña’s thesis gives rise to Chicano national- treatment of Chicano youth by counteracting
ism, a separatist social policy in counterattack the law and state authority with multiple per-
against an equally exclusionary U.S. domestic spectives and even multiple endings to this
social policy. Much of the literature written at film story. After Valdez failed to reach as wide
the time by Chicanos and Chicanas professes an audience as he had wished with Zoot Suit,
nationalism, and several films, such as I Am he was determined to make a film with social
Joaquin (1969), which adapted Corky Gonza- relevance that a mainstream audience would
lez’s legendary epic poem and became the first appreciate. La Bamba (1987) depicts working-
Chicano film, and the documentary-styled Yo class conditions to emphasize the success-
Soy Chicano (1972), carry forward this social story of Ritchie Valens, a Chicano rock and
philosophy. Several film scholars, including roll singer, and his climb to fame.
Chon Noriega, locate oppositional and resis- Of course, La Bamba does more than simply
tant politics at the core of Chicano film, pri- tell this biographical story. Released within
marily as these films respond to misrepresen- months of Born in East L.A. (1987), The Mil-
tation in mainstream films. agro Beanfield War (1988), and Stand and De-
Studio-produced films misrepresent to a liver (1988), La Bamba heads what has been
large degree the anger and frustration of the called “Hispanic Hollywood,” mainly due to
274 [ GROUPS
gest movement away from the traditional ste-
reotypes and toward multiculturalism.
In “crossing over” markets and traditions in
the 1980s, Chicano films took advantage of big
budget production and distribution methods;
more audiences seeing such films made them
that much more effective as vehicles for change
in a democratic, multicultural society. More-
over, that mainstream audiences had been
“crossing over” to traditionally marginalized
cultural ideas and values hinted at a shift away
from nationalistic debates to pluralistic syn-
cretism in late-twentieth-century American
society. The diversity of production methods
and stories reflect how many recent Chicano
films disrupt previously drawn film types and
contribute to American multiculturalism.
Films such as Born in East L.A. and A Million
F I G U R E 2 9 . Zoot Suit (1981). Playwright and director
Luis Valdez uses theatrical techniques in the film when
to Juan (1993) use comedy to undercut the
he has El Pachuco (Edward James Olmos) directly greaser-bandit-vato stereotype. These two
address the audience, informing them that Zoot Suit films, along with Stand and Deliver and The
combines fact and fiction to explore a chapter of Milagro Beanfield War, effectively appeal to a
Mexican American history. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
mass market and present a socially conscious
statement about Chicano rights without enact-
its box-office and critical success. Coming on ing a defensive, exclusionary nationalism.
the heels of Zoot Suit and Gregorio Cortez, Moreover, as films reveal specific aspects of
these four films and the debates surrounding Chicano culture for a mainstream audience,
their production and marketing centralize the such as Valdez’s rendition of the Christmas Pas-
most controversial and critical issue involved torela (1991) or the handful of films on the Day
in Chicano studies. In film as well as social of the Dead holiday like Anima (1989), a fuller
history, the main issue is acculturation: to appreciation of American multiculturalism re-
what extent should a native minority assimi- sults. Like Zoot Suit and American Me, the short
late into or separate from a dominant main- Espejo (1991) and Mi Vida Loca (1994) portray
stream? Where most studio films from the first an insider’s view of the inner-city social con-
half of the century favor assimilationism and dition and from a Latina perspective. As these
some post–World War II independent films al- topics are treated for a mainstream audience,
low Mexican Americans self-expression of na- traditionally ignored viewpoints are shared with
tionalism, by the late 1980s, studios and the more of American society. Films such as Fools
mass market to which they make appeals Rush In (1994), the love story of a Chicana artist
showed interest in depictions of Chicano cul- and an Anglo architect; Selena (1997), a biopic
ture, just as many filmmakers—including Luis reminiscent of La Bamba though offering a La-
Valdez, Moctesuma Esparza, Jesús Salvador tina hero; and Spy Kids (2001), a family-
Treviño, Ramon Menendez, Alfonso Arau, oriented spy spoof, treat the theme of multi-
and Robert Rodriguez—have benefited by culturalism explicitly.
crossing over to the mainstream. Depictions of Like American Me, Zoot Suit, Gregorio Cor-
Mexican American characters and themes sug- tez, Seguin, and several others, My Family/Mi
 MEXICAN AMERICANS ] 275

Familia (1995) offers a revisionist history of Into the Future

Chicanos through its story. The film set a The twenty-first century promises a hopeful fu-
weekend per-screen average record when it ture for multiculturalism. The 2000 Census re-
opened as part of Cinco de Mayo celebrations ports that Latinos and Latinas, two-thirds of
in 1995, helping to prove its acceptance in them of Mexican heritage, constitute 12 percent
American culture. My Family comes as close of the U.S population, and it projects that the
to epic as any Chicano film, covering three Hispanic population will increase by more than
generations of Chicanos in California starting 2 percent over the next three decades. Across a
before the territory was part of the United variety of areas, including politics, education,
States. The father’s migration north from “un commerce, and arts, Mexican Americans con-
otro pais,” another country and another tinue to contribute in increasing numbers to
world, the mother’s deportation during the America’s multicultural, democratic society.
Depression, one son’s involvement in World U.S. feature films have become significantly
War II, another son’s assimilation and up- more diverse, especially in terms of themes,
ward mobility through becoming a lawyer, characters, production methods, and an ever-
one daughter’s involvement in the Catholic growing appreciation by mainstream audiences
Church—each family member disrupts a ste- since World War II. The diversity of film types
reotype and becomes part of a larger Mexican and characters benefits modern American so-
American family and an American cultural ciety as an expression of democracy and mul-
constellation. Perhaps the most significant ticulturalism. Many of the earliest character
part of the family history covers the two types and themes in U.S. film reflect the legacy
youngest sons, the older involved in zoot- of colonization. Where the Chicano civil rights
suit-type gangs and eventually executed by a movement provided independent cultural ex-
policeman, the younger, scarred by witness- pressions, it injected an exclusionary social poli-
ing the elder’s death, becomes a prison inmate tics to counteract an equally exclusionary Eu-
and must overcome a tradition of victimiza- rocentric American tradition. The last years of
tion. In retelling the histories, My Family pro- the twentieth century offered hope through cul-
vides mainstream audiences traditionally ig- tural syncretism and pluralistic integration of
nored aspects and viewpoints that are part of U.S. society, highlighted by film treatments of
American multiculturalism. Mexican American history.

References
Despues del Terremoto/After the Earthquake (1979, F)
Filmography El Norte (1983, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) Espejo (1991, F)
American Me (1992, F) Esperanza (1985, F)
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1983, F) The Fall of Montezuma (1912, F)
Bandolero! (1968, F) Fools Rush In (1994, F)
Blood In, Blood Out: Bound by Honor (1993, F) Giant (1956, F)
The Border (1982, F) The Greaser’s Gauntlet (1908, F)
Bordertown (1935, F) The Grudge (1915, F)
Born in East L.A. (1987, F) Hell to Eternity (1960, F)
Boulevard Nights (1979, F) High Noon (1952, F)
Break of Dawn (1988, F) I Am Joaquin (1969, F)
The Caballero’s Way (1914, F) In Old Arizona (1929, F)
California (1946, F) Kings of the Sun (1963, F)
The Captive God (1916, F) La Bamba (1987, F)
The Cisco Kid (1931, F) The Last Command (1955, F)
276 [ GROUPS
The Man from Del Rio (1956, F) The Wild Bunch (1969, F)
The Man from the Alamo (1953, F) Yo Soy Chicano (1972, F)
The Mark of Zorro (1920, F; 1940, F) Zoot Suit (1981, F)
Martyrs of the Alamo (1915, F)
A Medal for Benny (1945, F)
The Mexican Joan of Arc (1911, F) Bibliography
The Mexican Revolutionists (1912, F) Acuña, Rodolfo. Occupied America: The Chicano’s
The Milagro Beanfield War (1988, F) Struggle toward Liberation. New York: Harper &
A Million to Juan (1993, F) Row, 1972.
Mi Vida Loca (1994, F) Gutiérrez, David. “Ethnic Mexicans and the Transfor-
My Family/Mi Familia (1995, F) mation of ‘American’ Social Space: Reflections on
My Man and I (1952, F) Recent History.” In Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco,
Mystery Street (1950, F) ed., Crossings: Mexican Immigration in Interdisci-
The Old Gringo (1989, F) plinary Perspectives, 309–335. Cambridge, MA:
The Outrage (1964, F) Harvard University Press, 1995.
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943, F) Keller, Gary D. Hispanics and United States Film: An
Pastorela (1991, F) Overview and Handbook. Tempe, AZ: Bilingual
The Professionals (1966, F) Press, 1994.
Red River (1948, F) Noriega, Chon A. Chicanos and Film: Essays on Chi-
Ride Vaquero (1953, F) cano Representation and Resistance. New York:
Right Cross (1950, F) Garland, 1992.
Salt of the Earth (1954, F) ——, ed. Shot in America: Television, the State, and
The Searchers (1956, F) the Rise of Chicano Cinema. Minneapolis: Univer-
Spy Kids (2001, F) sity of Minnesota Press, 2000.
Stand and Deliver (1988, F) Richard, Alfred Charles, Jr. The Hispanic Image on the
Touch of Evil (1958, F) Silver Screen: An Interpretive Filmography from Sil-
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1947, F) ents to Sound, 1898–1935. Westport, CT: Green-
Villa Rides (1968, F) wood, 1992.
Viva Zapata! (1952, F) Vento, Arnoldo Carlos. Mestizo: The History, Culture,
Walk Proud (1979, F) and Politics of the Mexican and the Chicano. Lan-
Warriors (1978, F) ham, MD: University Press of America, 1998.
Western Code (1933, F) Ware, Caroline. The Cultural Approach to History.
The White Vaquero (1913, F) New York: Columbia University Press, 1940.
[ JACQUELYN KILPATRICK ]

Native Americans

n 1893 Frederick Jackson Turner presented noble savage and the bloodthirsty savage—in

I a paper titled “The Significance of the

Frontier in American History,” which has
provided grist for study and argument ever
since. In it he states, “Up to our own day
the realm of popular fiction. The lasting qual-
ity of the expectations for the behavior of Na-
tive Americans he introduced are made obvi-
ous by the fact that his most famous novel, The
American history has been in a large degree Last of the Mohicans, was made into a Holly-
the history of the colonization of the Great wood film five times, the latest in 1992, a time
West. . . . In the case of most nations . . . of supposedly new sensitivity and sensibilities.
development has occurred in a limited area; In effect, Cooper was building an American
and if the nation has expanded, it has met nationalist mythology through identification
other growing people whom it has conquered. with the natural landscape and its original in-
But in the case of the United States we have habitants. His work, even when using histori-
a different phenomenon. . . . The frontier is cal events or characters such as the siege at Fort
the outer edge of the wave—the meeting point Henry or the Delaware Chief Tamenund, is an
between savagery and civilization.” Historians elaborate fabrication of myth. The “history” he
such as Ray Allan Billington, D. W. Meinig, presents renders the complex societies of the
and Patricia Nelson Limerick have taken vari- Native Americans of the northeastern United
ous positions on Turner’s vision of the fron- States into a simple background for a colonial
tier, but one thing seems to remain constant— story, and Cooper’s creation of the Indianized
“frontier” and “Indian” (the presumed “sav- white intermediary and hero of the new Amer-
ages”) have been inextricably connected. If in- ican mythology would later become a buttress
deed America’s idea of itself is the product of of the film industry, with stars such as Gary
the movement of that frontier across the con- Cooper, John Wayne, and even Paul Newman
tinent, then the way America sees itself is playing savvy woodsmen or plainsmen who
deeply connected to attitudes and ideas about were raised by Indians. They were, in fact, gen-
Native Americans. Those ideas fall roughly erally better at being Indian than the Indians,
into three categories: noble savage, blood- just as Cooper’s Natty Bumppo always man-
thirsty savage, and a nostalgically envisioned aged to be a better Indian than either Chin-
part of a vanishing and vanquished nature. gachgook or Uncus.
When James Fenimore Cooper wrote The Robert Montgomery Bird’s Nick of the
Leather-Stocking Tales in the first decades of Woods (1837) was second in popularity only
the nineteenth century, he had a wealth of lit- to Cooper’s Leather-Stocking Tales. Bird’s
erature, mostly “nonfiction,” filled with good hero’s name was Nathan Slaughter, a one-man
and bad Indians to draw upon. But it was Coo- genocide squad who made his way through
per himself who most thoroughly established twenty-four American editions, echoing the
the stereotypical extremes of the Indian—the creed that the Indian race was made up of bru-

277
278 [ GROUPS
a reading public that was well prepared for the
heroic Indian-fighter of the dime novels, first
published by Irwin P. Beadle & Company in
1860. The authors of these short, fast stories
took the ingredients in Cooper’s works about
Woodland and Plains Indians, Bird’s negative
attitudes about all American Indians, and the
romance and danger of the frontier and made
them into a mix-and-match recipe for western
fiction that has survived well over a hundred
years of use in novels and provided the basis
for the model Indian in Hollywood’s movie-
FIGURE 30. The Last of the Mohicans (1936). making.
Hawkeye (Randolph Scott) must decide whether to side
The time zone for the dime novel and most
with the British protecting the colonists or honor his
long-standing allegiance to the Mohican people. western films is necessarily at the point of con-
Courtesy Reliance Productions of California. tact between the civilizing white presence and
the “savages” of the West, which provides the
tal beasts beyond redemption and beneath conflict central to the genre. These stories bear
contempt. Aside from the bloodthirstiness of little resemblance to the actual, historical facts
his savages, Bird’s Indians were only slightly of the points of contact, which were well doc-
more intelligent than the rocks they hid behind. umented by the Board of Indian Commission-
His very effective method for transmitting their ers appointed by President Grant. In its report
lack of intelligence to the reader was the crea- of November 23, 1869, the board stated, “The
tion of Indianese, which most of us recognize history of the border white man’s connection
as Tonto-talk. Bird’s Indians were the first to with the Indians is a sickening record of mur-
discover they were pronoun-challenged. In der, outrage, robbery, and wrongs committed
Nick of the Woods, Nathan Slaughter meets by the former as the rule, and occasional savage
Wenonga, a villainous Shawnee. “ ‘Me Injun- outbreaks and unspeakably barbarous deeds of
man!’ . . . ‘Me kill all white-man! Me Wnonga: retaliation by the latter as the exception. . . .
me drink white-man’s blood: me no heart!’ ” The testimony of some of the highest military
(Stedman, 68). Unfortunately, the pronoun officers of the United States is on record to the
fault and the addition of “um” to every other effect that, in our Indian wars, almost without
word became the all-purpose Indian speech for exception, the first aggressions have been made
authors who came after Bird and for the only by the white man, and the assertion is sup-
recently diminishing dialect of the all-purpose ported by every civilian of reputation who has
Hollywood Indian. studied the subject” (Prucha, 63).
As the “frontier” moved west, the opening This was definitely not the picture a
of the Oregon Trail and the gold strikes in nineteenth-century Euroamerican reader re-
California produced a swarm of white men, ceived of the interaction between the Native
women, and children moving across Native tribes and the white people of the “frontier”
American lands. Clashes were frequent, and borderlands.
the government assigned thousands of military
men to stand between Euroamerican citizens The “Indian” as Spectacle
and noncitizen American Indians. It was the By the late nineteenth century, the blood-
stuff of which legends are made, and the ex- thirsty savage was firmly entrenched in the
citement of real and imagined dangers assured new American mythology, and one of the
 NATIVE AMERICANS ] 279

American heroes in perpetual confrontation accepted as true what they saw in the darkened
with him was Buffalo Bill Cody. A prolific self- nickelodeons. Moving pictures were persua-
promoter, Buffalo Bill was one of the most sive, and they were seen on the same screen as
popular of the dime novel heroes and an im- the newsreels that told them of real-world
portant figure in the rise of the modern cine- events. Although they understood the stories
matic western. A natural showman, he used his to be fiction, they trusted in the images. The
popularity to launch his Wild West Show and, particular Indian, whether noble or savage,
later, his film company. The Wild West Show might have been a screenwriter’s invention,
provided the simplified, standardized, and but they believed completely in the idea of In-
largely erroneous conceptions of what a Native dianness he or she represented.
American “is” for American and European au- Filmmakers knew the impact their films had
diences of his time and for film audiences on their audiences. In an article D. W. Griffith
around the world since that time. His imagi- wrote for The Independent in 1916, he referred
native, staged encounters have provided grist to his films as “influential” and noted that “last
for the Hollywood mill for over a century. year in twelve months one of many copies of
The Wild West Show lost its glamour and a single film in Illinois and the South played
sparkle before it faded away in the early 1900s. to more people and to more money than all
It had been replaced with the new invention, the traveling companies that put out from New
the moving picture. But in many ways, the York play to in fourteen months.” The sheer
dime novel and the Wild West Show lived on volume of viewers, as well as the persuasive
in those movies, a large percentage of which nature of film, made the nascent film industry
were westerns, and most westerns included at immensely important in perpetuating the No-
least an Indian or two. Unfortunately, the ac- ble Savage and Bloodthirsty Savage stereotypes
tual people remained unseen, replaced by the to new generations of Euro-Americans.
“Hollywood Indian.” By the second decade of filmmaking, America
By the year 1894, when Thomas Edison pre- was involved in or preparing for World War I.
sented to the world the first Kinetoscope, Americans wanted to see the all-American hero,
Native Americans were no longer perceived as the hero best described by the frontier tamer.
a threat of any kind, and the Euro-American The war had started in Europe, and although
consciousness was ready to look back on the President Woodrow Wilson issued a procla-
noble savage, the “first” Americans, nostalgi- mation of neutrality, the War Department was
cally. It was therefore understandable that Ed- concerned about the image of the American
ison’s first film vignettes would include titles military as well as with attracting as many vol-
such as Sioux Ghost Dance (1894), Parade of unteers as possible. Three years later the Wilson
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (1898), Procession of administration would form the Committee on
Mounted Indians and Cowboys (1898), Buck Public Information, which mobilized 75,000
Dance (1898), Eagle Dance (1898), and Serving speakers to deliver patriotic talks across the
Rations to the Indians (1898). Two years later, country. It also distributed 75 million pam-
in 1896, the peep shows were projected onto a phlets, sponsored war expositions in dozens of
screen at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall in New cities, and produced propaganda films with ti-
York City, and the strange representation of tles such as The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin.
the American Indian began in earnest, with Actually, the first of those propaganda films
flickering ghosts of invented as well as real Na- was produced in 1914, when the United States
tive people. was still politically neutral. It was The Indian
Because they lacked the experience to view Wars, a highly exaggerated film by Buffalo Bill
the images critically, the early audiences largely Cody about the battles he fought against the
280 [ GROUPS
Indians, bloodthirsty foes that Americans of proponent of the Progressive attitude in film-
the time generally viewed as vanquished and making. In an article, “The ‘Bison 101’ Head-
vanishing. The U.S. Army sent troops and liners,” in the April 27, 1912, issue of The Mov-
equipment for the filming, General Nelson ing Picture World, he described American
Miles himself agreed to appear in the film, and Indians as “cruel, crafty, and predatory with
the War Department put the Pine Ridge Sioux no universal language, no marks of gradual en-
at Cody’s disposal. Such astonishing support lightenment and incapable of contributing
was possible because the film was to be used anything of value to human evolution. . . . Race
for War Department records and to enlist re- hatred was unavoidable and it is only modified
cruits. As the United States prepared, overtly today. The average descendant of colonial
or not, to enter World War I, it was important families has little use for the red man, regards
to bolster morale and present the military as a him with distrust and, with poetic exceptions,
force with a noble history, invincible, and considers him hopelessly beyond the pale of
quintessentially American. social contact” (Friar and Friar, 56). Harrison
The film, directed by Theodore Wharton, was may have had little use for the “red man,” but
first shown to cabinet members, congressmen, he did agree with the many directors and pro-
and other dignitaries in Washington, and it ducers of silent films that the Indian made an
became an “official” government record—a interesting museum piece, if nothing else. He
frightening thought, considering the absolute continued, “The Indian, however, remains one
dedication of its primary producers to present- of the most interesting and picturesque ele-
ing the battles as unquestionably justifiable and ments of our national history. . . . He was es-
heroic. In particular, the 1890 massacre at sentially a man of physical action, using only
Wounded Knee, South Dakota, of more than that part of his brain which enabled him to be
three hundred Sioux, the majority of whom crafty in the hunt for food, though he had
were women and children, was presented as a vague poetic ideals and nebulous dreams of
valiant victory. As a propaganda piece, the film barbaric splendor” (Friar and Friar, 56).
was a great success. It tied up “the Indian prob- Being a “man of physical action” made the
lem” in a neat package to be purchased for the Indian a perfect foil for the heroic white man
price of a ticket. It validated and valorized the in the silent films, and it was perhaps those
cavalry troops who fought the American Indi- “vague poetic ideals and nebulous dreams of
ans, and it showed the generosity and humanity barbaric splendor” that he was suspected of
of the U.S. government toward a defeated en- harboring that could occasionally make him
emy. This is a blatant rewriting of the history Noble, especially in the past tense.
of Indian-white relations, with the cinematic
version becoming a hyperreality. “Friends of the Indians”
However, by the early 1920s many Americans
Silent Stereotypes had become frustrated with the government’s
The one-dimensional stereotyping of Native inability to solve the “Indian problem,” and
Americans in silent films was largely due to the there was widespread misperception of, dis-
melodramatic nature of the early cinema. The agreement about, and dissatisfaction with the
dependable happy ending, where the villains treatment of Native Americans. One of the
get what is coming to them, was also a typical most outspoken critics of the government’s
popularization of the ideals and attitudes of treatment of the American Indian was Zane
the Progressive era. Grey. Grey’s novels often depicted the Native
Louis Reeves Harrison, a very influential re- Americans as victims of Euroamerican greed,
viewer for Moving Picture World, was a major betrayal, and neglect, but the first of his novels
 NATIVE AMERICANS ] 281

to specifically focus on the American Indian language or, perhaps more importantly, the
was The Vanishing American. It must have lack of language. The signs that accompanied
seemed the perfect time for Grey, who had the Indian of the silent film (the scowling face,
firsthand knowledge of the American Indians rigid body, and anything-goes wardrobe) were
of the Southwest and thought of them as carried over to the sound western as the “nat-
something more than artifacts, to tell an ural” pose of a Native American. Rarely was
American Indian story through the newest and an articulate Indian heard, and Indians were
most persuasive of media, the motion picture. depressingly devoid of humor. Most Native
However, the new film industry was concerned Americans in western films had very little to
with giving audiences what they wanted and say beyond the ubiquitous grunt or war whoop
expected, not in educating them in the realities inherited from the dime novel, and it did not
of Native American life. get much better when those early directors and
In a letter to William H. Briggs on May 23, scriptwriters did give their Indians voices. Use
1924, Grey wrote, “I have studied the Navajo of an alien-sounding language, rarely genuine
Indians for twelve years. I know their wrongs. native languages, also contributed to the “oth-
The missionaries sent out there are almost ev- ering” of the Native American for mainstream
eryone mean, vicious, immoral useless men audiences. Hollywood had its own ideas of
[sic] . . . and some of them are crooks. They what an Indian sounded like and went to ex-
cheat and rob the Indian and more heinously treme lengths to get the “authentic” sound. In
they seduce every Indian girl they can get hold Scouts to the Rescue (1939), for instance, the
of ” (Aleiss, 470). He was not disposed to Indians were given a Hollywood Indian dialect
change his story of reservation reality in favor by running their normal English dialogue
of purifying the missionaries’ image, but the backward. By printing the picture in reverse, a
studio that made his story into a film most perfect lip-sync was maintained, and a new
definitely was. “Indian” language born.
The final cinematic version of The Vanishing Historian Patricia Nelson Limerick writes,
American illustrates the noble but doomed sav- “If Hollywood wanted to capture the emo-
age stereotype, the brave warrior who loses the tional center of Western history, its movies
Darwinian battle for survival, the villainous would be about real estate. John Wayne would
agent, and missionaries that are plain good have been neither a gunfighter nor a sheriff,
folk. Paramount also added an interesting pro- but a surveyor, speculator, or claims lawyer.”
logue which depicts human evolutionary his- She makes the point that the intersection of
tory, starting with the cavemen, which effec- races and the allocation of property unified
tively places the American Indian firmly in the Western history, since that history has been an
line of development—further along than the “ongoing competition for legitimacy—for the
cavemen but not as evolved as the white men. right to claim for oneself and sometimes for
The film is decidedly sympathetic to the Na- one’s group the status of legitimate beneficiary
tives, but the changes made between Grey’s of Western resources” (Wexman, 71–76).
script and Paramount’s film very clearly define Land is at the center of virtually every western
what was acceptable to the American public at ever made in which Indians appear. Even when
the time of the film’s release. it is not overtly at issue, its place is irrefutable,
and scenes of natural beauty or harsh sur-
roundings abound. Often, the land is impres-
The “Talkies” sive but arid or wild and therefore of no value
In the early sound films, stereotypes of Native as “raw” land. The value, then, lies in the sac-
Americans were conveyed to a large degree by rifice and hard work poured into the land by
282 [ GROUPS
the settlers. In films such as William Seiter’s ducers and directors to a white North Amer-
Allegheny Uprising (1939), the appropriation ican audience, assuming and building the plot
of the land is justified by the labor invested by from anti-Indian attitudes and prejudices”
the settler who has made the uncharted wil- (76). Native Americans became part of the
derness his home and assumed his position as landscape as the history of the West became
the “natural” proprietor. The land becomes an allegorical history, and the western became
the fruit of his labor, and his physical and a system of symbols supporting a self-
emotional investments give him a moral right justifying history.
to it. Americans of the 1940s and 1950s rarely
Most early Euroamericans believed that land questioned the images Hollywood provided of
not used was wasted. The idea was that to use the American Indian, and movies with slaugh-
it properly, one should invest oneself in that ters of and by Native Americans were so ac-
land, make something of it, as did the settlers cepted that they were used to teach children in
in Allegheny Uprising (1939). The Euro-Amer- public schools. For instance, the 1940 film
ican ideal of the family farm is presented as Northwest Passage was chosen by the Depart-
obviously superior to the Native American at- ment of Secondary Teachers of the National
titude toward land, where all was held com- Education Association for study because Rog-
munally. The general assumption was that the ers, of Rogers’ Rangers fame, “comes to per-
Native Americans were not using the land sonify man’s refusal to bow to physical forces,
properly and that dispossession was not only and the success of this hardy band of early pi-
inevitable but also righteous. The concept of oneers symbolizes our own struggle against
land as property is one of the fundamental bitter enemies in the modern world” (Sterner,
ideas upon which the American ideal of free- 2). The symbol in question, the Indians, are
dom is based. If one owns the land one lives presented as a bloodthirsty bunch of heathen
upon, security is nearly absolute. American In- devils who get what they deserve for attacking
dians had not generally adhered to the prin- innocent settlers. The Native American made
ciples of individual ownership, so their claims a perfect stand-in for the enemies of World
were easily ignored and the settling of the West War II America, especially because it was
became a heroic enterprise, an idea that carried firmly believed that all “real Indians” had van-
over to the western movie. ished.
Most films made in America that portray In-
dians take place in the nineteenth century, and The Cold War
virtually all westerns are placed between 1825 In post–World War II America, life was good
and 1880, the time of westward expansion— once more. However, by the early 1950s, con-
the ultimate land grab, from the Native Amer- cern about the possibility of the communists
ican point of view. The result is a perception provoking a nuclear war was sending children
by the American public that would be, even if scooting under desks in bomb drills, and the
the depictions were historically accurate, con- Cold War was on. One result of the fear of
fined to a period of fifty-five or so years, which Communism in America was the development
is a very short piece of a Native American his- of McCarthyism. Congressional committees
tory that goes back thousands of years. There were set up to investigate anti-American activ-
is no pre-white world in these films, and rarely ities and blacklists were developed. One result
was a “modern” American Indian seen. of the blacklists was a climate of fear and, in
John Price describes the development of the Hollywood, the shock of suddenly finding one-
pseudohistory of white/Native interaction as self one of the oppressed. Films of the 1950s,
a “movie story told by white American pro- therefore, ran the gamut from racist, political
 NATIVE AMERICANS ] 283

propaganda to a type of enlightenment not

seen in Hollywood since the days of the silent
film.
Broken Arrow (1950) has been consistently
cited as an example of the burgeoning cultural
awareness in Hollywood, prompted at least in
part by resistance to McCarthyism. Stereotypes
were reinvestigated and cultural norms, such
as the righteousness of Manifest Destiny, were
questioned. There was an attempt in this film
to create multidimensional human beings who
were Apache—an unusual idea in Holly-
wood—but five centuries of stereotypes still
cast their shadows over Broken Arrow. For in-
stance, the idea of miscegenation got the same
old treatment. Tom Jeffords ( James Stewart)
falls immediately in love with Sonseeahray,
played by a darkened and contact lens–wearing
Debra Paget. They are married and deliriously
happy until they are ambushed by villainous F I G U R E 3 1 . Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). In
whites, and Sonseeahray is killed. Jeffords rides 1909, a reluctant sheriff, Christopher Cooper (Robert
off alone into the sunset, alone once more. It Redford), hunts a California Indian (played by Robert
Blake) who has killed his father-in-law in self-defense.
is a touching love story, but it could not con- Redford has just discovered the body of Willie Boy’s
tinue. The same would hold true in films made Native American girlfriend Lola (Katharine Ross). The
through the 1990s. film, based on an actual event, is a study in the racist
attitudes prevalent at the beginning of the twentieth
Most Americans defined the civil rights
century. Courtesy Universal Pictures.
movement as the struggle of black people to
gain equal status with the white majority, but
many Americans in the late 1960s and early way—the Paiutes are mere symbols for the op-
1970s were not yet willing to pay to see a film pressed in America, and Willie Boy acts as a
about an oppressed African American. One stand-in for the youth culture of the late 1960s.
“safe” way to tell the story of society oppress- (If Willie is the rebel youth, his people emerge
ing a minority was to make a movie about a as the mindless, oppressed masses who have
Native American. The images and stereotypes bought the system, or who have at least given
of Native Americans during this period made up on fighting it.) Pauline Kael, in a New
them rather perfect as complex, sympathetic Yorker review, insists that Willie is definitely a
subjects because they were seen as not only metaphor for the militant African American
poor and oppressed but also mystical and nat- men of the era, and “since a Black man (the
ural, to say nothing of vanished. The Native Indian pretense isn’t kept up for long) can’t
American was reinstated as Hollywood’s fa- trust any white man—not even Coop—there
vorite metaphor. can be no reconciliation of the races, so he
For instance, when Abraham Polonsky re- should try to bring everything down.” Al-
turned to Hollywood after two decades on the though better than most, this film makes the
blacklist, the film he chose to make was Tell Indians, en masse and in particular, stand-ins
Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969). It shows so- for other people and other ideas, as did many
ciety’s faults, but in a very one-dimensional other films of the era.
284 [ GROUPS
By 1970, the Vietnam War was winding personally, so their slaughter is more heart-
down, and atrocities such as My Lai were be- rending than the butchery of unknowns in Sol-
coming public knowledge. Director Ralph Nel- dier Blue. Perhaps that simple fact makes a bet-
son wanted to make a statement about the war ter point than any other in the film.
and its excesses, and he chose as his vehicle the
all-purpose metaphor for the oppressed, the The 1980s and 1990s
American Indian. Soldier Blue has received In 1986, the Academy Award for best docu-
criticism from various sources for being much mentary feature was given to Maria Florio and
too violent and much too graphic in its rep- Victoria Mudd for Broken Rainbow (1985), a
resentation of the 1864 massacre at Sand documentary about the forced relocation of
Creek, where volunteer soldiers from Denver the Navajo so that their land in the Four Cor-
slaughtered a band of Cheyenne, though a ners region of the Southwest could be strip-
filmmaker would be very hard pressed to mined. Shots of Black Mesa being ripped
match the actual violence and cruelty of the apart, old men and women forced into gov-
actual massacre. Nelson’s intention was to sen- ernment housing and then evicted for not pay-
sitize the American public to the “plight” of ing taxes, livestock slaughtered by the govern-
the Vietnamese by relating the similar atroci- ment, and federal tractors plowing under the
ties committed by the U.S. government ninety scrub grass necessary for sustaining stock fill
years before. He was evidently at least some- the film. It is impossible to view Broken Rain-
what successful in that attempt, but it is an bow without emotion, and it is particularly im-
unfortunate thing for Native Americans be- portant because it brought into focus for the
cause they are once again presented as victims American people that all those atrocities they
who lost and then disappeared. If the scene at came to know about in Little Big Man, Soldier
Soldier Blue’s end were not so bloody and hor- Blue, and other films from the 1960s and 1970s
rible, this film would not have found its way were not isolated horrors from the past but
onto anyone’s list of “meaningful” films about part of an ongoing oppression.
Native Americans. Still, as the yuppies replaced the hippies, the
On the other hand, Little Big Man (1970) has very cyclical American fascination for the
been called the “best yet” film about Native American Indian definitely waned, but a few
Americans. It also used a white hero to depict decent films from the 1980s had Native Amer-
the Indian experience, but of all the films made icans as their subject. One of those is Powwow
in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s that were sym- Highway (1989), an odd little film that almost
pathetic portrayals of the American Indian, it everyone likes for one reason or the other. It
has received the most positive response. It is a has been called a comedy, a thriller, a road
well-made film—well acted, directed, and ed- film, a western, an action film, a buddy film,
ited, and very entertaining. even a mystical movie, and each of these fits
The 1868 massacre of the Cheyenne at the to at least a small degree. This shape-shifting
Washita River in Oklahoma is much less is intentional and very effective in taking apart
graphic and bloody than the scene of the mas- the old stereotypes of the American Indian.
sacre at Sand Creek in Soldier Blue, but it is The “sets” in this film are real locations and
much more effective. One reason for this is include poverty-stricken reservations, a ratty
that in Little Big Man the Cheyenne are peo- pool room, a powwow in a high school gym,
ple—not as fully realized as in Thomas Ber- and a middle-class Denver suburb as well as
ger’s novel but much more so than in previous road shots and location shots in Santa Fe,
films. Cheyenne voices, laughter, and cries be- New Mexico. One reason this film was so well
come real, and it is possible to care about them received by American Indians is that they rec-
 NATIVE AMERICANS ] 285

ognized the story, the people, and the places— Greene), and Wind in His Hair (Rodney A.
a rare thing in depictions of Native Ameri- Grant) are very individualized, respectable,
cans. and intelligent men, the cavalry officers are
The two buddies in the film are Buddy Red misfits at best and psychotics at worst. Even
Bow (A Martinez) and Philbert Bono (Gary Costner’s character, Lieutenant John Dunbar,
Farmer). Buddy is a Vietnam veteran, an AIM begins the film as one of those whose screws
member who was part of the Wounded Knee are a bit loose. Given his choice of assignments
standoff, a volatile young man who is not shy in payment for his bravery, Dunbar chooses to
about expressing his point of view, verbally or go west. He wants to see the frontier “before
physically, and a respected member of his it is gone.” He is another white hero going in
tribe. He is in many ways like his cinematic search of the Vanishing American.
predecessor Willie Boy. The other buddy, Phil- Given that the film attempts to turn around
bert, initially seems to be Buddy Red Bow’s the stereotypes developed over hundreds of
absolute opposite. Phil is a big man with a years in a little over three hours, it is under-
sweet smile, a soft look, and an open sincerity standable that the characterizations of the
that seems, at first, very simple. That simplicity white people in the film would be one-
is easily misunderstood as simplemindedness, dimensional, but that, too, buys into other ste-
but he is actually quite bright. He has chosen reotypes that are equally unfair. Not all white
the “old way” and moves to a different rhythm. men of the 1800s were stupid or cruel, and not
Usually, the Hollywood Indian who makes many were crazy. The mentally unbalanced of-
that choice, rare though that is, behaves as ficer (such as Dunbar’s commanding officer at
though he has had a lobotomy and forgotten Fort Hays) is quickly becoming stereotypical
that he actually lives in the twentieth or in films that are supposed to be sympathetic
twenty-first century. Philbert has no such to the American Indians or Vietnamese or
problem. other oppressed groups, and this is a problem.
Other characters and places are recogniza- It releases the general public from responsi-
ble—for instance, the Pine Ridge “goons” the bility and relates violence and cruelty to the
pair encounters and the family moving away madness of a few.
from the reservation for better opportunities The main flaw of Dances with Wolves, how-
and more safety. It is a good film about real ever, remains the problem of appropriation of
people who are Native American—a rarity. identity. John Dunbar is the white narrator of
In 1990, the more mainstream Dances with an Native American existence who, when the
Wolves was hailed as a landmark film because white men become so loathsome to him he can
it treated the American Indians as fully realized no longer stand being identified as one of
human beings, and it does make a serious at- them, shouts, “I am Dances with Wolves!” Like
tempt to do so. Kevin Costner, the director, so many “heroes” before him, he becomes a
producer, and star of the film, chose to use better Indian than the Indians. He also marries
talented Native American actors from the a woman from the Sioux camp; however, she
United States and Canada for the Native does not die at the film’s end. This would be
American parts, with the result that they are a breakthrough for miscegenation in Holly-
believable, likable, and interesting. wood films, except that Stands with a Fist
However, every positive trait of the Lakota (Mary McDonnell) is a white woman saved by
has a correlative and opposite trait in the white the Lakota as a young child, so the taboos ap-
world of the film, a white world represented parently still exist in Costner’s film. In fact,
by the U.S. Army. Whereas Ten Bears (Floyd when Kicking Bird asks his wife, Black Shawl
Red Crow Westerman), Kicking Bird (Graham (Tantoo Cardinal), what the people think of
286 [ GROUPS
the match, she responds, “They like the idea. esque, like a favorite snapshot in a very old
It makes sense. They’re both white.” album.
The film is also set within the “comfort The most positive point about the current
zone”—that fifty-year period of cinematic In- Native American image in film is the fact that
dian existence in the “Wild West.” As Jan El- many Native Americans are now telling their
liott, editor of Indigenous Thought, states, “In- own stories. Writers such as Tom King, Ger-
dians are the only minority group that the ald Vizenor, and Sherman Alexie are writing
Indian lovers won’t let out of the nineteenth films that tell the story from a contemporary
century. They love Indians as long as they can native point of view and that privilege a native
picture them riding around on ponies wearing audience. Directors such as Lena Carr,
beads and feathers, living in picturesque tepee George Burdeau, Victor Masayesva, Geral-
villages and making long profound speeches. dine Keams, and many more are directing
Whites still expect, even now, to see Indians as films with native actors and writers. There are
they once were, living in the forest or perform- also syncretic partnerships between nonna-
ing in the Wild West shows rather than work- tive and Native American artists that produce
ing on the farm or living in urban areas” films with the better parts from each, with
(Weaver 27). Elliott’s description fits Costner’s fewer stereotypes of either kind. All in all,
invention very nicely. They are indeed pictur- things are looking up.

References
Filmography Northwest Passage (1940, F)
Allegheny Uprising (1939, F) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, F)
Bad Bascomb (1946, F) Pocahontas (1995, F)
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914, F) Powwow Highway (1989, F)
Broken Arrow (1950, F) A Pueblo Legend (1912, F)
Broken Rainbow (1985, F) Pueblo Peoples: First Contact (1992, F)
Buffalo Bill (1944, F) The Real People (1976, F)
Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976, F) The Redman and the Child (1908, F)
Cheyenne Autumn (1964, F) Renegades (1989, F)
Cheyenne Warrior (1994, F) Ritual Clowns (1988, F)
Clearcut (1993, F) Scalphunters (1968, F)
Dances with Wolves (1990, F) Scouts to the Rescue (1939, F)
Dead Man (1996, F) The Searchers (1956, F)
The Emerald Forest (1985, F) Smoke Signals (1998, F)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992, F) Soldier Blue (1970, F)
Geronimo (1993, F) Stagecoach (1939, F; 1966, F; 1986, F)
Harold of Orange (1984, F) The Sunchaser (1996, F)
House Made of Dawn (1972, F) Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969, F)
Imagining Indians (1992, F) They Died with Their Boots On (1942, F)
Incident at Oglala (1992, F) Thunderheart (1992, F)
The Indian Wars (1914, F) Two Rode Together (1961, F)
Itam Hakim Hopitt (1980, F) Ulzana’s Raid (1972, F)
Laguna Woman (1992, F) The Vanishing American (1925, F)
The Last of the Dogmen (1995, F) War Code: Navajo Code Talkers (1996, F)
The Last of the Mohicans (1936, F; 1992, F) War Party (1988, F)
Little Big Man (1970, F) White Fawn’s Devotion (1910, F)
Lonesome Dove (1990, TV) Witness (1996, F)
A Man Called Horse (1970, F)
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and the Shaping of American Literature. Philadel- Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1993.
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Bird, Robert Montgomery. Nick of the Woods. 1837. Indian Policy. 2d ed. Lincoln: University of Ne-
Ed. Curtis Dahl. New Haven: College and Univer- braska Press, 1990.
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Friar, Ralph E., and Natasha A. Friar. The Only Good in a Cultural Context. Lexington: University Press
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Griffith, David Warik. “Pictures vs. One Night dian: The Portrayal of the Native American in Film.
Stands.” The Independent, 11 December 1916. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Hilger, Michael. From Savage to Nobleman: Images of Stedman, Raymond William. Shadows of the Indian:
Native Americans in Film. Metuchen, NJ: Scare- Stereotypes in American Culture. Norman: Univer-
crow, 1995. sity of Oklahoma Press, 1982.
Huhndorf, Shari M. Going Native: Indians and the Sterner, Alice P. “A Guide to the Discussion of the
American Cultural Imagination. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Technicolor Screen Version of Northwest Passage.”
University Press, 2001. Photoplay Studies, vol. 6. New York: Educational
Kilpatrick, Jacquelyn. Celluloid Indians: Native Ameri- and Recreational Guides, 1940.
cans and Film. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Weaver, Jace. “Ethnic Cleansing, Homestyle.” Wicazo
Press, 1999. Sa Review 10.1 (1994): 25–31.
Price, John A. “The Stereotyping of North American Wexman, Virginia Wright. Creating the Couple: Love,
Indians in Motion Pictures.” In Gretchen Bataille Marriage, and the Hollywood Performance. Prince-
and Charles L. P. Silet, eds., The Pretend Indians: ton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
[ MICHAEL SHULL AND DAVID E. WILT ]

Radicals and Radicalism

ears and concerns about radicalism have the notorious German-American Bund—

F been a familiar theme in U.S. history. In-

deed, David Caute writes, “The great fear,
like the threat of upheaval and expropriation
that inspires it, has been a recurrent phenom-
sparked contemporary concern. In the 1960s
and 1970s, when such groups as the John Birch
Society and the Minutemen sprang up, an-
other wave of anxiety swept the land. And in
enon in the history of the bourgeoisie since the the 1990s, with the legacy of the Oklahoma
French Revolution” (17). The United States is City bombing and other acts and plots attrib-
not the only nation to have suffered from (and uted to the “militia” movement, the radical
reacted to) anxiety about radicals in its popu- right has once again become a popular bo-
lation: England, France, Italy, Germany, and geyman.
Spain are a few of the other countries that have Despite the ebb and flow of left-radical and
experienced similar “fears.” right-radical bogeymen, Hollywood has been
In the United States, fear of leftist radical- remarkably consistent in its outlook: radical-
ism, most particularly militant labor, anar- ism is bad, particularly in the United States. It
chism, and communism, bordered on mass is the rare film indeed that presents a positive
hysteria during brief periods of the twentieth portrait of radicals in a contemporary, domes-
century. This kind of fear flared up after the tic setting.
Russian Revolution in the form of the “Red
Scare” of 1918–1920, “a nationwide antiradical The Early Years
hysteria provoked by a mounting fear and Reflecting the turmoil and diversity of America
anxiety that a Bolshevik revolution in America during the decade preceding World War I,
was imminent” (Levin, 29), and after World early silent films gave voice to a surprisingly
War II, when the Soviet Union took control of wide spectrum of political viewpoints. In this
much of Eastern Europe and the Chinese period the film industry repeatedly questioned
mainland fell to the Communists, with the re- the abuses of individual capitalists and their
sultant anticommunist excesses of the late underlings, while simultaneously cautioning
1940s and early 1950s, stigmatized by the the working class to shun militant labor radi-
name “McCarthyism.” calism and to seek peaceful accommodation
Fear of the extreme right—native fascists, with the system.
ultraright nationalists, even the “military- The influence of the Progressive movement,
industrial complex”—has not been so concen- which began in the late nineteenth century,
trated. The right radicalism of the 1930s—ex- may be seen here. “Progressivism . . . was a
emplified by the brief popularity of such ‘reform’ movement. It aimed not at the radical
homegrown radicals as William Dudley Pel- replacement of existing institutions, but at
ley’s “Silver Shirts” and the Christian Front of their peaceable modification” (Kennedy, xiv).
radio priest Father Coughlin, not to mention Hollywood’s distrust of radical solutions to so-

288
 RADICALS AND RADICALISM ] 289

cial, economic, and political problems seems get, the young man learns just in time, is to be
consonant with the meliorist approach: while the father of his sweetheart.
injustices should be addressed, extreme mea- Satirical films often ridiculed radicals, some-
sures should be distrusted. On the Progressive times suggesting that only minds made unsta-
agenda were issues such as prohibition, ble by alcohol or otherwise undeveloped could
women’s suffrage, an income tax, regulatory possibly take seriously the concepts of social-
commissions, restrictions on child labor, gov- ism or labor militancy. An amusing example
ernment aid to farmers, and the right of labor of this approach is Bill Joins the WWWs (1914).
to organize (MacKay, 11). Although some at An office boy named Bill stops to listen to a
the time felt that the Progressives were radical, “W.W.W.” street rally (the initials stand for
and even antibusiness, their ideas struck a re- “We Won’t Work,” satirizing the anarcho-
sponsive chord in many: in the 1912 presiden- syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World, or
tial election, Teddy Roosevelt (the “Bull IWW). The message of resistance to the iron
Moose” party candidate but a long-time heel of capital so impresses Bill that he cannot
spokesman for Progressivism) received 27 per- wait to tell his boss, who turns out to be a very
cent of the popular vote and eighty-eight elec- unreceptive audience.
toral votes. Twelve years later, Robert La-
Follette polled 4.8 million votes for president The Red Scare and the 1920s
on the Progressive ticket. Both Roosevelt and Films with sociopolitical themes—in which
LaFollette were third-party candidates in these radical messages, although somewhat muted,
elections. were given a voice—all but disappeared by the
Although Progressivism, socialism, and end of 1918. This retrenchment was a direct
communism were rarely broached in Ameri- result of America’s participation in the war-
can films prior to 1918, the capital-labor issue time effort to defeat Germany, the fall of tsarist
and its linkage to the radical left was addressed Russia, and the subsequent rise of Red Russia.
in several hundred films; labor strife, most par- With the conclusion of the war in November
ticularly violent strike actions instigated by la- 1918, there arose a coalition determined to
bor agitators, was a significant factor in more subdue labor militancy and destroy left-wing
than a hundred of these motion pictures. Un- challenges to American institutions. Two
fortunately, few of these films remain extant, right-wing groups during this period were the
and, even among those surviving, many are American Protective League (APL) and the
damaged or incomplete, and some of them American Legion. From the spring of 1918
may be viewed only in archives or private col- through the fall of 1920, the American motion
lections such as the George Eastman House, picture industry helped shape, channel, and
the Library of Congress, and the Museum of sustain the nation’s collective loathing of for-
Modern Art. eign enemies and domestic radicals. Screen vil-
With that in mind, there remain a few im- lains included the radical “new woman,”
portant examples of early silent films that treat spineless intellectuals, malevolent Jews, and
the topic of left-wing radicalism. In The Voice “free lovers.” Even the American West was en-
of the Violin (1909), directed by D. W. Griffith, dangered: in Mr. Logan, U.S.A. (1918), featur-
a German-born violin instructor with socialist ing cowboy star Tom Mix, German agents and
tendencies falls in love with his student, a cap- World War I agitators collaborate in an at-
italist’s daughter. Fired by the young woman’s tempt to disrupt production at a strategically
father, the violinist puts down his instrument important tungsten mine.
and picks up a bomb to assist swarthy anar- By the summer of 1919 the Red Scare was
chists in obliterating an evil capitalist. The tar- in full stride. In The Undercurrent (1919), a
290 [ GROUPS
veteran named Jack (real-life war hero Guy Red hero played by matinee idol William Boyd
Empey) returns to his old job in the steel mills (who later became the beloved Hopalong Cas-
only to be laid off through Bolshevik machi- sidy).
nations. Unemployed and emotionally vulner-
able, Jack comes under the influence of a rad- The 1930s: The “Red Decade”
ical intellectual and a lascivious communist During the early years of the Depression, the
vamp. But Jack comes to his senses and em- economic distress in the United States was so
barks on an antiradical rampage, assisted by acute—and the government response so slow
soldiers from a nearby Army barracks. and restricted—that the virtues and efficacy of
The confrontational nature of earlier capitalism were seriously questioned: “Amer-
capital-labor films and the viciousness of ican capitalism was facing the greatest crisis in
World War I propaganda carried over into its history, and there was sporadic talk of rev-
movies of the Red Scare era. Militant laborers olution both from resuscitated radicals and
are often punished or killed without remorse. from conservatives” (Heale, 103). Given the
In Riders of the Dawn (1920), based on a pop- misery and social disruption that accompanied
ular Zane Grey novel, a veteran leads a group the Depression, it is not surprising that some
of paramilitaries against a group of labor mil- cast an approving eye on the “order” estab-
itants threatening the wheat harvest in Amer- lished in fascist countries like Germany and
ica’s heartland. Bolshevism on Trial (1919) fea- Italy. Gabriel Over the White House (1933)
tures wealthy radical idealists and assorted stars Walter Huston as a president who, after
opportunists who are led astray by a Red ide- undergoing a near-death experience, suspends
ologue. They finance an experimental socialist Congress and temporarily rules the United
community on “Paradise Island,” where social States as a dictator (with noble motives, of
harmony quickly degenerates after work as- course). His actions include the arrest and
signments are made: a cinematic mockery of summary execution of gangsters, and the mili-
Marx’s “workers’ and peasants’ paradise.” tary blackmail of foreign nations into signing
After 1920, there was a dramatic decline in a disarmament treaty. But such extremist so-
political anxiety. As historian M. J. Heale puts lutions, rare in Hollywood films (aside from
it, “the Big Red Scare had largely succeeded in individual vigilantes who began to crop up as
cutting down radicalism” (75), and the pros- protagonists in the 1970s and beyond), were
perity of 1920s America alleviated the public’s ultimately rejected in real life by most Amer-
fear of internal revolution. This lack of interest icans, particularly after the initiation of Presi-
was directly reflected in motion pictures. Even dent Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal.
in those comparatively few films that still In the early part of the decade there were at
touched on radicalism of either the left or the least some positive images of the left, along
right, the propensity for rhetorical shrillness with attacks on right-wing radicalism. In Our
and graphic violence was substantially toned Daily Bread (1934), a young urban couple is
down. For instance, most relevant films set in given a small farm; they establish a coopera-
America portrayed gangster-like agents of the tive, recruiting from people displaced from
Soviet state, not domestic radicals. Beyond the their homes and jobs by the Depression. Al-
occasional reference to “the Revolution,” poli- though quite mild overall, the film was severely
tics and the contemporary leadership of the attacked at the time for its “socialist” ideas. The
Soviet regime were seldom mentioned. By the Front Page (1931) mocks the anticommunist
middle of the decade, the Bolshevik revolution political slogan of the city’s corrupt sheriff and
was actually the subject of a romantic melo- mayor: “Reform the Reds with a Rope.” A no-
drama, The Volga Boatman (1926), featuring a torious police “Red Squad” appears in Heroes
 RADICALS AND RADICALISM ] 291

for Sale (1933), intimidating a World War I as the Workers’ Film and Photo League, NY
veteran who has been falsely convicted of labor Kino, and Frontier Films. From the early 1930s
agitation. Modern Times (1936) burlesques the through the end of the decade, filmmakers in-
irrational fear of communists: Charles Chap- cluding Leo Hurwitz and Paul Strand, mostly
lin’s Tramp character is mistakenly arrested af- based in New York City, made movies such as
ter waving a red flag (actually a construction Bonus March (1932), Native Land (1942), and
warning pennant) during a strike march. Such Return to Life (1938). These were mostly doc-
overreaction to innocuous acts mocked the umentaries using footage shot at rallies and
paranoia of the Red-baiters. Another film that demonstrations, and they only occasionally re-
condemned right-wing extremism even more ceived general release. They also differed from
strongly is Black Legion (1937), which features standard Hollywood product in that they es-
a xenophobic secret society opposed to for- pouse a particular point of view and do not
eigners, “anarchists, and the Roman hierar- automatically reject radical action as a solution
chy.” The Black Legion—whose robes and to society’s problems (although they generally
hoods resemble those of the Ku Klux Klan— stopped short of fomenting armed revolution
was excoriated as un-American and harmful, against the government).
despite its alleged “patriotic” goals. As the decade ended, warfare in Europe and
However, extremists on the left were not Asia highlighted the international struggle
spared. A number of films mocked crazy left- among fascism, democracy, and communism,
ists in urban working-class or lower-middle- but Hollywood’s depiction of the growing
class settings. The Merry Frinks (1934) features global conflagration stressed melodrama over
Allen Jenkins in a comic supporting role as a politics. The leftist documentary The Spanish
self-appointed “peoples’ lawyer” who owns a Earth (1937) describes the political nature of
prized portrait of Josef Stalin. Campus radicals the Spanish Civil War, unlike fictional films on
and the 1930s student peace movement were the topic such as Last Train to Madrid (1937)
attacked in Fighting Youth (1935), in which a and Blockade (1938)—and it was still contro-
radical coed (played by Ann Sheridan) is as- versial during the McCarthy period. On the
signed to vamp the quarterback and thereby home front, The Grapes of Wrath (1940), while
subvert the football team. Red Salute (1935) sympathetic to the working class, warns
stars Barbara Stanwyck as a general’s daughter against involvement with organized radicalism
enamored of left-wing causes who eventually and extremism. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) says,
winds up romantically linked with an Army “if only all the folks got together and yelled,”
corporal (Robert Young). Her previous para- but backs away from even this mild stance
mour, a foreign-born student radical leader, is when his mother objects. In Meet John Doe
taken out of the picture when he is arrested by (1941), villain D. B. Norton (Edward Arnold)
immigration authorities. The notorious San reveals his true, far-right colors by his admi-
Francisco general strike of 1934 is featured in ration of Napoleon, his formation of a motor-
Together We Live (1935): a group of elderly cycle corps with fascist trappings, and his ruth-
Civil War veterans help round up alien Red less destruction of the John Doe movement
agitators who have duped honest, native-born when it develops a true democratic base.
workers and are planning a terrorist bombing.
The Postwar Era and McCarthyism
Political Filmmaking of the 1930s and 1940s During World War II, Hollywood concen-
Out of the commercial mainstream but still trated on outside foes and put domestic radi-
worthy of examination were the politically ori- cals—both left and right—on the back burner.
ented films produced by leftist groups such There were a few portrayals of homegrown
292 [ GROUPS
Nazis, but these villains were generally por- a civilian employee of the Navy is suspended
trayed as mere pawns of their German masters, as a security risk on the word of his right-wing
as in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939). The fact neighbor, who has an ax to grind, and discov-
that the Soviet Union was a cobelligerent ers that “innocent until proven guilty” does
sharply reduced anti-left messages in films. In- not apply in his case. These films were each
deed, such films as Mission to Moscow (1943) directed by a screenwriter turned director,
and Song of Russia (1943) whitewashed Soviet Daniel Taradash and Philip Dunne, respec-
excesses at the time because at the time it was tively. Both men were liberals, although none
believed that Americans needed to feel positive of their previous work was as politically ori-
about an ally. However, once the war ended, ented as these pictures. However, both films
fears resurfaced of internal groups that might take pains to make it clear they are not sym-
threaten the democratic system. pathetic to communism, but point out that ir-
Although the Red Menace was one of the rational persecution is also “un-American.”
major issues in postwar cinema, there were Salt of the Earth (1954), on the other hand, was
other films about domestic radicalism: several the product of an openly leftist director (Her-
of these featured right-wing, populist dema- bert Biberman) and screenwriter (Michael
gogues inspired by Louisiana’s Huey Long. All Wilson), both of whom had already been
the King’s Men (1949), based on Robert Penn blacklisted by the film industry. Yet its tale of
Warren’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, is the labor strife at a New Mexico copper mine is
story of Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford), a surprisingly restrained. The miners go on
country lawyer who claws his way to the gov- strike, but when they are legally prevented
ernorship of an unnamed southern state by from picketing, they do not resort to violence
ruthlessly manipulating his friends and asso- or other extreme measures. Instead, the min-
ciates and by his cynical exploitation of the ers’ wives take their places on the picket line.
masses. Like Huey Long, Willie Stark is assas- Thus, even a film with impeccable leftist cre-
sinated in the state capitol building at the dentials, made outside the mainstream, es-
height of his power. A Face in the Crowd (1957) chewed advocating radical action.
addresses many of the same issues in its tale of
Lonesome Rhodes (Andy Griffith), a hillbilly The 1960s and Beyond
singer who parlays his television popularity The Cold War spawned a number of right-
into a political movement promoting the pres- wing extremist groups, such as the John Birch
idential campaign of the right-wing Senator Society, named after an Army captain killed by
Fuller, “last of the isolationists.” Rhodes is be- Chinese Communists shortly after the end of
trayed by an open microphone that allows the World War II, and the undercover Minute-
audience for his nationwide broadcast to hear men, who trained themselves to serve as guer-
his contemptuous statements about the rilla fighters in the event of a communist take-
“sheep” who believe his speeches. over of America. With the abuses of the HUAC
An anti-McCarthy backlash produced films witch hunts fresh in their minds, many Amer-
such as Storm Center (1956), in which a small- icans of more moderate views saw these or-
town librarian (Bette Davis) is attacked by ganizations as threats to democracy: one writer
anticommunist zealots for refusing to remove claimed that “Far Right activity has been in-
a book entitled The Communist Dream from tense and widespread since 1958,” although
her library. She defends the freedom of expres- exact membership numbers for any of the or-
sion guaranteed under the Constitution, even ganizations were difficult to obtain (at the far
though she does not personally subscribe to the end of the spectrum, the American Nazi Party,
book’s credo. In Three Brave Men (1957), though notorious, may have had only a few
 RADICALS AND RADICALISM ] 293

the United States out of Vietnam, thus “turn-

ing over Asia to the Communists.” The con-
spirators include an ex-CIA agent, a politician,
a business tycoon, and a right-wing college
professor. (Oliver Stone’s JFK would revive
this plot.)
On the other side of the political spectrum,
leftist—especially student—radicalism also ap-
peared in films of the 1960s and 1970s. An
early example is Take Her, She’s Mine (1963),
in which a complacent suburban lawyer
( James Stewart) must cope with his daughter’s
FIGURE 32. All the King’s Men (1955). In a thinly involvement in various “causes” and “move-
veiled biographical sketch of the demagogue Huey Long, ments” when she goes off to college. A “Ban
the suspicious Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) keeps
the Bomb” protest, a sit-in, and “beatniks” are
close watch over his campaign workers to win at any
cost. Courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. featured, but in an essentially harmless, un-
threatening context. The antiwar movement
score members). Hollywood was a little behind and student unrest inspired some films in the
the curve, but, beginning in the 1960s, a num- late 1960s and early 1970s, such as The Revo-
ber of pictures with political themes featured lutionary (1970), RPM (1970), and the semi-
extremist characters of the right wing. In The documentary Medium Cool (1969). The Revo-
Manchurian Candidate (1962), a brainwashed lutionary shows college student “A” ( Jon
Korean War veteran (Laurence Harvey) is the Voight) going from peaceful protest and
pawn in a plot—masterminded by his own leaflet-passing to affiliation with a militant
mother—to assassinate a presidential candi- group of radicals and, finally, partnership with
date. Ironically, given that communists are be- an anarchist bent on killing a judge. The edge
hind the scheme, the film portrays Senator Is- was taken off this film by setting it in an un-
elin ( James Gregory) as a buffoonish pseudo- named European country rather than the
McCarthy, ineptly ranting about his list of United States, but its criticism of radicalism
communists in the State Department. was still pointed. Student protests in films of
Seven Days in May (1964) depicts a planned the era were generally shown to be foolish and
coup d’état, spearheaded by Air Force General self-indulgent at best, subversive and danger-
Scott (Burt Lancaster) and a right-wing sena- ously violent at worst. As recently as Forrest
tor, in response to the signing of a nuclear dis- Gump (1994), there was an unsympathetic
armament treaty with the Soviet Union. Scott, portrait of the 1960s radical group Students for
an extreme “hawk,” feels that the president’s a Democratic Society. Patty Hearst (1988) is
desire for peace “has stripped the muscle off sympathetic to its title character (played by
this nation.” In the end, a loyal Marine colonel Natasha Richardson), but her kidnapers, the
(Kirk Douglas) exposes the plan and democ- Symbionese Liberation Army, are depicted as
racy is preserved. Other examples include Ad- unrealistic, self-absorbed, and feckless “revo-
vise and Consent (1962), Billion Dollar Brain lutionaries.”
(1967), and Executive Action (1972). The last A few films did feature committed, rational,
picture portrays a right-wing cabal plotting the “radicals.” One of the rare films in which rad-
assassination of President John F. Kennedy, a icals—of any stripe—are favorably portrayed
response to his alleged liberal policies such as in a contemporary U.S. setting is Shadow on
the nuclear test ban treaty and his plans to pull the Land (1968), a made-for-TV movie that
294 [ GROUPS
depicts the United States under a military dic- muted by the passage of time, by downplaying
tatorship in the very near future. Although the leftist ideology of the Panther leadership
written by McCarthy-era blacklist figure Ned- and—once again—by the fact that the group
rick Young, the picture does not present its in question is no longer in existence and there-
rebels as identifiably right or left-wing: they fore poses no current threat to American so-
just “love freedom.” Shadow on the Land more ciety.
closely resembles a film about the European With very few exceptions, however, the film
resistance of World War II, but nonetheless it producers—whether established companies or
is quite exceptional in making heroes out of upstart independents—stopped short of en-
Americans trying to overthrow the govern- dorsing extreme positions on either end of the
ment. The right-wing equivalent is Red Dawn spectrum. Instead, the dire consequences of
(1984), but in this instance the ideology is radicalism were highlighted. In WUSA (1970),
clearer: red-blooded American teenagers re- the ultraright programming of the eponymous
fuse to submit to Communist rule after Soviet radio station results in protests, a near riot,
and Cuban troops invade the United States. attempted murder, and a suicide. The abuses
Several films dealing with actual historical of the McCarthy anticommunist witch hunts
figures also treat radicals positively. Reds are depicted in The Way We Were (1973), The
(1981) stars Warren Beatty as famed leftist Front (1976), and Guilty by Suspicion (1991).
journalist John Reed. A big-budget, romanti- Not surprisingly, the impact on the entertain-
cized portrayal of radicals in the 1910s and ment industry was highlighted over the nega-
1920s, Reds spends a lot of time on the rocky tive impact in other professions (such as aca-
love relationship between Reed and Louise demia).
Bryant (Diane Keaton), although other real- Hollywood depictions of contemporary do-
life characters such as Emma Goldman (Mau- mestic radicalism moved firmly to the right in
reen Stapleton) and Big Bill Haywood (Dolph the late 1980s and 1990s, reflecting the public’s
Sweet) also appear. Contemporary interviews opinion that “as of the moment, the most ter-
with “witnesses” (such as Will Durant, Henry rifying threat to the well-being of the center
Miller, Hamilton Fish, and even George Jessel) appears to come from the extremists of the
add a semidocumentary veneer to the drama. right” (Gardner, 31). Betrayed (1988) and
Reed eventually travels to Russia and witnesses American History X (1998) deal with the im-
the Bolshevik Revolution firsthand. Sixty-odd pact of the white supremacy movement. The
years after the fact, the “radicalism” presented first film contains a fictionalized representa-
in Reds was not ideologically threatening, soft- tion of the murder of radio talk-show host
ened by time and by the audience’s knowledge Alan Berg by militants; an undercover FBI
that the Communist system proposed by the agent (Debra Winger) falls in love with the
protagonists had failed anyway. Panther (1995) protagonist (Tom Berenger), a decorated Viet-
is an admittedly fictionalized history of the nam veteran who now owns a farm in Amer-
Black Panthers, glorifying their free lunch pro- ica’s heartland, only to discover that he is a
grams and their efforts to promote racial member of a sinister anti-Semitic, racist or-
awareness among African Americans in the ganization. American History X depicts the
1960s, and portraying the establishment—es- world of neo-Nazi skinheads, one of whom
pecially J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI—as cor- (Edward Norton) sees the error of his ways
rupt and racist. The FBI and the Mafia coop- and tries to save his younger brother (Edward
erate to end the threat of black revolution by Furlong) from involvement in the hate group.
flooding the ghetto with cheap narcotics. The Arlington Road (1999), in which an antiterror-
controversy around this film’s content was also ism expert ( Jeff Bridges) discovers that his
 RADICALS AND RADICALISM ] 295

ordinary-Joe next-door neighbor is a radical

bomber, makes veiled references to the Ruby
Ridge incident (often cited as the catalyst for
the upsurge in the militia movement in the
United States) and the 1995 Oklahoma City
bombing (here transposed to St. Louis).

The Hollywood Extremist

In Hollywood cinema, extremists—including
political, religious, and social radicals—are vir-
tually always treated with suspicion. Citizen
F I G U R E 3 3 . Reds (1981). Radical American
Ruth (1996) is a good example, criticizing both journalists John Reed (Warren Beatty) and Louise Bryant
pro-life and pro-choice activists who try to ex- (Diane Keaton) travel to the epicenter of the Russian
ploit the title character (Laura Dern), a drug- Revolution of 1917. The setting and extras generate a
semidocumentary, historical look. Courtesy Paramount
abusing, pregnant woman. Radical attitudes
Pictures.
and actions—particularly in a contemporary
American setting—are simply not acceptable.
As Murray Levin puts it, “a country that loves least some portion of the paying audience.
change but hates revolution is not going to Even films that do take an ideological stand
warmly receive radicals and radical ideas” draw the line at sympathetically portraying ex-
(241). treme behavior, particularly in contemporary,
Despite its liberal reputation, Hollywood domestic settings. Regardless of the validity of
generally treats left-wing radicalism as nega- one’s beliefs, violent, illegal, disruptive acts are
tively as it does right-wing extremism. After negatively portrayed. In Hollywood, activism
all, films must appeal to a broad audience, and and radicalism are seen as one small step away
extremist viewpoints are likely to offend at from fanaticism—and even terrorism.

References
Heroes for Sale (1933, F)
Filmography Matewan (1987, F)
Advise and Consent (1962, F) Medium Cool (1969, F)
All the King’s Men (1949, F) Meet John Doe (1941, F)
American History X (1998, F) The Merry Frinks (1934, F)
Arlington Road (1999, F) Modern Times (1936, F)
Betrayed (1988, F) Mr. Logan, U.S.A. (1918, F)
Billion Dollar Brain (1967, F) Our Daily Bread (1934, F)
Bill Joins the WWWs (1914, F) Panther (1995, F)
Black Legion (1937, F) Patty Hearst (1988, F)
Bolshevism on Trial (1919, F) Red Dawn (1984, F)
Citizen Ruth (1996, F) Reds (1981, F)
Executive Action (1972, F) Red Salute (1935, F)
A Face in the Crowd (1957, F) The Revolutionary (1970, F)
Fighting Youth (1935, F) Riders of the Dawn (1920, F)
Forrest Gump (1994, F) RPM (1970, F)
The Front (1976, F) Seven Days in May (1964, F)
The Front Page (1931, F) Shadow on the Land (1968, F)
The Godless Girl (1927, F) The Spanish Earth (1937, D)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F) Storm Center (1956, F)
Guilty by Suspicion (1991, F) Take Her, She’s Mine (1963, F)
296 [ GROUPS
Three Brave Men (1957, F) Enemy Within, 1930–1970. Baltimore: Johns Hop-
Together We Live (1935, F) kins University Press, 1990.
The Undercurrent (1919, F) Hofstader, Richard. The Age of Reform. New York:
The Voice of the Violin (1909) Knopf, 1968.
The Volga Boatman (1926, F) Horowitz, David. The Politics of Bad Faith. New York:
The Way We Were (1973, F) Free Press, 1998.
WUSA (1970, F) Janson, Donald, and Bernard Eismann. The Far Right.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963.
Kennedy, David M. Progressivism: The Critical Issues.
Bibliography Boston: Little, Brown, 1971.
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence: Sex, Levin, Murray B. Political Hysteria in America: The
Violence, Prejudice, Crime—Films of Social Con- Democratic Capacity for Repression. New York: Ba-
science in the Silent Era. Berkeley: University of sic Books, 1971.
California Press, 1990. MacKay, Kenneth Campbell. The Progressive Move-
Campbell, Russell. Cinema Strikes Back: Radical Film- ment of 1924. New York: Octagon, 1966.
making in the United States, 1930–1942. Ann Ar- Renshaw, Patrick. The Wobblies. Garden City, NY:
bor: UMI Research Press, 1982. Doubleday, 1967.
Caute, David. The Great Fear. New York: Simon & Ribuffo, Leo P. The Old Christian Right: The Protes-
Schuster, 1978. tant Far Right from the Great Depression to the Cold
Ceplair, Larry, and Steven Englund. The Inquisition in War. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983.
Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community, 1930– Roffman, Peter, and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social
1960. Berkeley: University of California Press, Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from
1979. the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana
Dees, Morris. Gathering Storm: America’s Militia University Press, 1981.
Threat. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. Rosenstone, Robert A. Visions of the Past: The Chal-
Gardner, James. The Age of Extremism. Secaucus, NJ: lenge of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge,
Carol, 1997. MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Goldstein, Robert J. Political Repression in Modern Sherwin, Mark. The Extremists. New York: St. Mar-
America: From 1870 to the Present. Boston: G. K. tin’s, 1963.
Hall, 1978. Shull, Michael Slade. Radicalism in American Silent
Hartz, Louis. The Liberal Tradition in America. New Films, 1909–1929. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.
York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1955. Snow, Captain Robert L. The Militia Threat. New
Heale, M. J. American Anticommunism: Combating the York: Plenum, 1999.
[ DAVID E. WILT AND MICHAEL SHULL ]

Robber Barons, Media Moguls,

and Power Elites
n post–Civil War America, a new class of ing, unscrupulous, domineering businessman

I mythic character arose in American culture.

Described as “fat cats,” “robber barons,”
“titans,” “tycoons,” or “plutocrats,” these busi-
ness magnates and Wall Street manipulators,
and his corrupt political ally got into fiction
and on the stage” (Flynn, 3) and into a new
mass communications medium—the motion
picture. By 1910, the primary molder of such
Earl Latham writes, were “attacked and de- images in the popular culture was the movie
fended with violent passion by the struggling industry.
partisans of industrialism and of social re- However, there was another side of the rob-
form” (v). The “robber barons” of the Gilded ber barons that did not as readily become part
Age included J. P. Morgan, Cornelius Vander- of the image in popular culture. The father of
bilt, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Standard Oil, John D. Rockefeller, “a semile-
and Jay Gould. The foundations of their for- gendary character . . . appeared to the general
tunes were railroads, steel, oil, and banking. public either as a demon of avarice and extor-
These powerful men sometimes became tion, crushing without scruple those who
household names: Rockefeller, for instance, stood in his way, or as a high-minded philan-
“was the most famous American of his day” thropist, bestowing his bounty with charitable
(Chernow, xiii). devotion to good works” (Latham, v). The
These “Captains of Industry” were both en- Rockefeller Foundation, created for the “well-
vied and feared: some were real-life Horatio being of mankind,” has distributed millions
Alger characters who rose from humble origins of dollars since its inception in 1913, but this
to positions of fantastic wealth. These tycoons largess was discounted by anti-Rockefeller
were not necessarily disliked for their immense forces, which “succeeded in fixing an ugly ste-
fortunes and the conspicuous consumption of reotype of Rockefeller and the Trust upon the
their lifestyles—the rich may have been envied, public mind” (Nevins, 334). Andrew Carne-
but they were not always hated. Rather, it was gie, a Scots immigrant who amassed an un-
turn-of-the-century muckrakers who excori- believable fortune in the steel industry, gave
ated the robber barons for the way they “ex- 90 percent of his money away during his life-
ploited national resources . . . made private time (Wall, 882–883). In keeping with the
capital out of the public domain, and used any philosophy expressed by Carnegie in his fa-
and every method to achieve their aims” mous 1889 essay (later popularly called “The
(Mills, 95). But these capitalists were also, Gospel of Wealth”), this money was used for
paradoxically, admired by those who saw them the “public benefit,” endowing universities,
as “pace-setters of the capitalist motion itself ” free libraries, parks, halls, and the like so that
(Mills, 96), demonstrating the awesome eco- individuals with superior talents—whatever
nomic power and innovative spirit of the their socioeconomic status—could rise to po-
United States. “The whole subject of the grasp- sitions of leadership.

297
298 [ GROUPS
Given these undeniably altruistic acts, why Society,” the capitalist agrees, coldly noting
did the negative stereotype of the robber baron that he will raise the funds by cutting his work-
persist? The well-publicized beliefs of the Pro- ers’ wages by 10 percent.
gressive movement, which spanned the late The free enterprise system itself is seldom
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, de- attacked directly in movie portrayals of robber
serve some credit. The Progressives “saw the barons. But a comeuppance for greedy capi-
central issue of their age as the relation of pub- talists does occur in a number of films, such
lic to private power, or, more precisely, of the as Money (1915). After scenes of a lavish “mil-
government to the economy. . . . As they de- lion dollar dinner” for the rich—contrasted
picted it, [Progressivism] was a moral drama, with scenes of starving workers on strike—this
pitting the people, who embodied all that was film concludes with the death of a Rockefeller
good about democracy, against big business, surrogate named “John D. Maximilian” and
which represented the evils of corruption, the destruction of his palatial home by a cli-
privilege and exploitation” (Kennedy, vii–viii). mactic storm.
And big business, at least in the early part of Capitalists were not always beyond redemp-
the century, was identified with the mogul, the tion. The Blacklist (1916) is a thinly veiled
tycoon, the robber baron. dramatization of the 1914 Ludlow massacre, in
Another factor, and one that cannot be dis- which the Colorado militia killed nineteen
carded out of hand, is the greater dramatic miners and family members. The film depicts
potential in the depiction of a callous, even the harsh life imposed on workers in the
sinister capitalist as opposed to a saintly phi- owner’s absence. In response to various injus-
lanthropist. Films were quick to seize upon the tices, the miners protest; when management
cigar-puffing, well-dressed, money-obsessed compiles a “blacklist” of troublemakers, the
capitalist caricature. These outward attributes workers go on strike. In a melodramatic face-
were intended to illustrate the robber baron’s off in the company’s offices, miner’s daughter
wealth, power, social status, and separation Vera (Blanche Sweet), shoots and wounds the
from the “common man.” Early film examples owner. But, in the end, the injured villain re-
include D. W. Griffith’s A Corner in Wheat pents and asks Vera to teach him to love her
(1909), which portrays a Wall Street financier people.
whose manipulations of the wheat market lead
to massive hardships for the working class. Fat Cats and Radicals: 1910–1940
Oblivious to the repercussions of his actions, The struggles between capital and labor abated
he throws a lavish party to celebrate his suc- during the years of America’s active partici-
cess. While the rich revel in decadent excess, pation in World War I as the nation focused
Griffith cuts to a suffering working-class on the conflict. During the “Red Scare” at the
mother: after waiting patiently in line to buy a end of the decade, militant labor was tarred
loaf of bread for her starving child, she can no with the “Communist” brush and accordingly
longer afford it, the price having risen during crushed by Attorney General A. Mitchell
her time in the queue. Justice prevails, ulti- Palmer and federal and state authorities in the
mately, when the boastful capitalist is acciden- so-called Palmer Raids. Film images of “fat
tally suffocated in one of his silos filled with cats” also changed: while capitalists were oc-
hoarded grain. The negative portrayal of the casionally figures of fun, portrayal of abuses by
wealthy elite is particularly vigorous in the sinister “robber barons” largely disappeared
“modern” story section of Griffith’s Intolerance during an era of widespread prosperity.
(1916). When mill owner Jenkins is ap- Instead, there were some depictions of the
proached to financially support the “Uplifters rich who “redeem” themselves by joining the
 ROBBER BARONS, MEDIA MOGULS, AND POWER ELITES ] 299

working class. In Triumph (1924), a young median Pinky Tomlin)—spoofing automotive

man violates the stipulations of a will and in- magnate Henry Ford—takes up with a pair of
stead of inheriting a cannery, he loses the busi- Russian immigrants and finances a chain of
ness to his womanizing half-brother. The new numbered restaurants (a reference to the num-
boss, a former socialist sympathizer, adopts bered Ford truck factories set up in the Soviet
ruthless policies that nearly ruin the business, Union a few years earlier). Henry Ford is justly
while the disinherited young man achieves re- remembered for pioneering mass production
demption by working his way up from the of automobiles, but he was not immune to
ranks of labor. public criticism in this era, especially for his
Ironically, the Depression, which evolved outspoken anti-union views.
from the stock market crash in October 1929, Conservative millionaire Humphrey Craig
did not wipe out the vast fortunes of most of (Walter Connolly), tormented by fears of the
the tycoons, which now included Henry Ford, New Deal in Soak the Rich (1936), becomes so
the richest man in American as of 1925. In- irrationally afraid of the “radical” threat that
stead it was small investors who lost their sav- he drowns a package he believes to be a bomb
ings and workingmen who lost their jobs as but that actually contains cigars. Neither these
the economy staggered. Film images of capi- screwball comedies nor the earlier pseudo-
talists underwent some changes, although the biographies openly criticize the American free
well-fed tycoon stereotype persisted, often in enterprise system, instead choosing to suggest
the persons of actors Edward Arnold, Walter that as people become more rich and powerful,
Connolly, Eugene Pallette, and George Bar- they become removed from the emotions, de-
bier. In the early years of the decade, there sires, and pleasures of everyday people—in es-
were some fictionalized “biographies” of ty- sence, less human. Hollywood’s prescription is
coons, including The Conquerors (1932), star- that this problem can sometimes be remedied
ring Richard Dix as a banking magnate in the by contact (especially a romance) with the
American West, and Come and Get It (1936), working classes.
with Edward Arnold in Edna Ferber’s story of
the lumber industry. These films, which fre- World War II, the 1950s, and Beyond
quently show the protagonist making his “long In a spirit of national cooperation—similar to
crawl” up the social ladder (Mills, 113), often that seen during World War I—labor and
depict the protagonists as neither wholly vil- management put aside their differences to
lainous nor heroic. One of the most interesting work on the war effort (at least, this is the im-
films of this type is The Power and the Glory age portrayed in films, although in reality there
(1933). Tom Garner (Spencer Tracy) starts out were a number of incidents of labor unrest on
as an illiterate railroad trackwalker but even- the home front). Consequently, the robber
tually rises to fame and fortune as a railroad baron image was downplayed, except where
magnate. Garner is a heroic but flawed char- such characters could be utilized as negative
acter who becomes ruthless and cold as he example of “war profiteers.” These were bal-
moves up in the world, abandoning his faithful anced by films like An American Romance
wife (who had taught him to read). When he (1944), the rags-to-riches story of an immi-
finally dies, Garner is mourned by few—a fit- grant ironworker turned automobile manufac-
ting reward for his selfish quest. turer. After Stefan Dangos (Brian Donlevy)
As the decade went on, “fat cat” capitalists builds an industrial empire, he is eased out of
were frequently figures of fun, whether sym- power in his own company but returns to lend
pathetic or villainous. In Paddy O’Day (1936) his managerial expertise to the government’s
the wealthy, inhibited, reclusive Roy Ford (co- war production effort.
300 [ GROUPS
The traditional robber baron image per- were depicted as huge and powerful, but the
sisted only in isolated films, often period executives at the top were vulnerable to chal-
pieces. Henry F. Potter (Lionel Barrymore) in lenges from within and without. Best-selling
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) dominates the novels, adapted into such films as Executive
town of Bedford Falls and everyone who lives Suite (1954) and The Man in the Gray Flannel
in it, although he is not identified with a par- Suit (1956), introduced the concept of corpo-
ticular industry like mining or manufacturing rate culture: the president of a company could
(“I run practically everything in this town,” he be deposed and replaced via political infighting
says). Like earlier versions of the stereotype, with little effect on the company itself, a far cry
Potter cares only for money, and the suffering from the personalized leadership prevalent in
of others means nothing to him. Bright Leaf earlier screen images. This tended to displace
(1950) features two tycoons: Major James Sin- responsibility from a single “robber baron”
gleton (Donald Crisp) is the old-fashioned to- and focus on the perverse and impersonal na-
bacco magnate who loses out to the younger ture of the system itself. A more recent and
Brant Royle (Gary Cooper) when the latter extreme example is Robocop (1987): in the near
gains control of a cigarette-rolling machine future, the city of Detroit is controlled by a
(new technology wins out over traditional large corporation with an eye toward profits.
methods). However, Royle is finally defeated The powerful CEO (Dan O’Herlihy) is the pri-
when his own wife denounces his harsh, mo- mary villainous figure, but there is no real sug-
nopolistic practices to the government. As gestion that his death or removal from office
Brant Royle, Gary Cooper is by no means a would make a significant difference in the sit-
heroic figure: rather, he is a ruthless business uation. Indeed, The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is
predator. based on the premise that the head of a cor-
Post–World War II America underwent poration can be replaced by a naive newcomer
enormous changes, and films reflect the social, (Tim Robbins) as part of a plot by the sinister
political, and economic metamorphoses of the chairman of the board (Paul Newman). When
era. Along with the postwar baby boom, the the new “boss” outlives his usefulness, his re-
growth of suburbs, and the rise of television moval by murder is ordered.
came the Cold War, McCarthyism, the Korean The change in focus from individuals to cor-
War, the beginning of the civil rights move- porations should not suggest tycoons disap-
ment, and a general feeling that the pace of life peared from films entirely. The Carpetbaggers
had accelerated. (1964) is based on Harold Robbins’s roman à
The concept of business and industry also clef about Howard Hughes, here called “Jonas
evolved away from companies identified with Cord” (George Peppard). Later screen images
their founder—although “faceless” corpora- of the enigmatic Hughes include Hughes and
tions had existed prior to the 1950s—toward Harlow: Angels in Hell (1977) and Melvin and
a corporate culture. “The type of the captain Howard (1980). Billion Dollar Brain (1967) re-
of industry no longer runs business. . . . One lates the tale of Texas billionaire General Mid-
can see that there are few survivals of the kinds winter’s plan to overthrow the communist
of dealings—with other business, with labor, bloc with a private army. Another evil magnate
with the government—that were standard op- can be found in Chinatown (1974): Noah
erating practice for the pre–World War I ty- Cross ( John Huston) plots to monopolize the
coons” (Riesman, 238, 249). A new breed of water supply of Southern California—he
tycoon emerged, the corporate executive. No wants to control “the future”—and is also re-
longer were companies dominated by, and vealed to be morally corrupt in his personal
identified with, a single man. Corporations life, yet no one can stop him. The tycoons of
 ROBBER BARONS, MEDIA MOGULS, AND POWER ELITES ] 301

Trading Places (1983)—the Duke brothers Brosnan) to preserve her life and wealth, an
(Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche)—demon- ironic twist in which the hero works with—
strate their almost godlike power by switching rather than against—a corporate magnate. A
the lives of a black street hustler (Eddie Mur- more traditional tycoon figure appears in The
phy) and a yuppie junior executive (Dan Ayk- Big Lebowski (1998). A case of mistaken iden-
royd). They also scheme to steal government tity throws “Dude” Lebowski ( Jeff Bridges)
information to corner the orange juice market. into contact with his millionaire namesake
Some films of the past several decades have (David Huddleston). The rich Lebowski is a
concentrated on individuals who manipulate crusty, wheelchair-bound, Republican indus-
the capitalist system to enrich themselves, of- trialist with an unfaithful young “trophy wife”
ten disregarding the rights of others, but the and an eccentric artist daughter. He sponsors
traditional, direct linkage between robber a foundation that helps inner-city youth but is
baron and worker has been broken. Films like less than charitable toward the Dude.
Wall Street (1987) and Head Office (1986) fea- New technology and business methods
ture characters who crunch numbers to make breed new moguls, and the computer revolu-
(and lose) “paper fortunes” in a sterile office tion has its share of techno-tycoons. Triumph
environment, far removed from the companies of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires
and employees whose fates they are manipu- (1996) and Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the
lating. The former picture contains the famous Internet (1998) are TV documentaries directed
“greed is good” quote, uttered by the unpleas- by Robert X. Cringely. Bill Gates and Steve
ant Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a fitting Jobs, who appear in these films discussing their
successor to Henry Potter from It’s a Wonder- rise to prominence, were also the subjects of a
ful Life, except that Gekko never comes into television docudrama, Pirates of Silicon Valley
contact with his victims. An exception to this (1999). As the titles of the two documentaries
broken linkage occurs in Roger & Me (1989), suggest, these new tycoons are seen as “nerds”
a semidocumentary directed by and starring rather than dangerous “robber barons,” al-
Michael Moore, which chronicles Moore’s though the aggressive business methods of
protracted efforts to confront General Motors Gates are depicted in some detail.
president Roger Smith with evidence of the
poverty and despair afflicting Flint, Michigan, The Forgotten Robber Baron
after the closing of many GM plants. Since the 1950s, the concept of personal lead-
Not all tycoons have vanished or been sub- ership—good or bad—in business has been
ordinated to the corporate culture. One of the supplanted by the idea of wide-reaching, mul-
protagonists of Meet Joe Black (1998) is Bill tinational corporations; thus, the “robber
Parrish (Anthony Hopkins), a media mogul baron” character as the individual, antagonistic
who—against type—is depicted as a kind, focus of films has become much less prevalent.
happy, family-oriented man, respected by even In real life, the situation is much the same.
his business rivals. Even before he gets advance Aside from a few notable exceptions such as Bill
notice of his impending death, Parrish is de- Gates, Ted Turner, or Rupert Murdoch, the era
picted as a caring father and ethical business- of the tycoon as public figure has passed. Few
man. The World Is Not Enough (1999) begins can name the presidents of major corporations,
with the murder of an oil tycoon, leaving his and in any case, as noted earlier, corporate lead-
daughter Elektra (Sophie Marceau) in charge ership is not the same as personal ownership of
of his financial empire. Elektra is depicted as a company. However, the image of the robber
competent and ambitious, although she does baron has not completely disappeared. Dra-
require the assistance of James Bond (Pierce matic works prefer to focus upon an individual
302 [ GROUPS
villain, even if he is merely the representative of theless, absent the sociopolitical conditions that
a larger organization, so the maleficent magnate led to the creation of the robber baron stereo-
who believes his wealth and power place him type, the character lacks much of its previous
above the law may still be seen in films. None- ideological resonance.

References
tans: The Progressive Era and World War. New
Filmography York: New York University Press, 1988.
The Big Lebowski (1998, F) Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller
Billion Dollar Brain (1967, F) New York: Random House, 1998.
Boy Meets Girl (1938, F) Flynn, John T. “The Muckrakers.” In Earl Latham,
Bright Leaf (1950, F) ed., John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or Industrial
The Carpetbaggers (1964, F) Statesman, 1–6. Boston: D. C. Heath, 1949.
Chinatown (1974, F) Gordon, John Steele. The Scarlet Woman of Wall
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Street. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988.
Come and Get It (1936, F) Hacker, Louis M. The World of Andrew Carnegie.
A Corner in Wheat (1909, F) Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1968.
Executive Suite (1954, F) Kennedy, David M. Progressivism: The Critical Issues.
The Great Man (1957, F) Boston: Little, Brown, 1971.
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994, F) Latham, Earl, ed. John D. Rockefeller: Robber Baron or
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, F) Industrial Statesman? Boston: D. C. Heath, 1949.
The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956, F) Mills, C. Wright. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford
Meet Joe Black (1998, F) University Press, 1956.
Melvin and Howard (1980, F) Nasaw, David. The Chief: The Life of William Ran-
Nerds 2.0.1.: A Brief History of the Internet (1998, D) dolph Hearst. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Paddy O’Day (1936, F) Nevins, Alan. Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, In-
Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999, F) dustrialist and Philanthropist. New York: Scribners,
Robocop (1987, F) 1953.
Roger & Me (1989, D) Palmer, William J. The Films of the Eighties: A Social
Soak the Rich (1936, F) History. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University
Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires Press, 1993.
(1996, D) Riesman, David. The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the
Wall Street (1987, F) Changing American Character. Rev. ed. New Ha-
The World Is Not Enough (1999, F) ven: Yale University Press, 1961.
Schatz, Thomas. The Genius of the System: Hollywood
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Bibliography Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Biskind, Peter. Seeing Is Believing: How Hollywood tory of American Movies. New York: Random
Taught Us to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties. House, 1975.
New York: Pantheon, 1983. Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood: The Use
Cagin, Seth, and Philip Dray. Hollywood Films of the and Abuse of the American Past. Urbana: University
Seventies: Sex, Drugs, Violence, Rock ‘n’ Roll & Poli- of Illinois Press, 1996.
tics. New York: Harper & Row, 1984. Wall, Joseph Frazier. Andrew Carnegie. Pittsburgh:
Cashman, Sean Dennis. America in the Age of the Ti- University of Pittsburgh Press, 1989.
[ SARAH PEARSALL ]

Women from the Colonial Era to 1900

arly in John Ford’s classic 1939 film addition, films reveal more about the sensibil-

E Drums Along the Mohawk, Gilbert Martin

(Henry Fonda) tries to prevent his re-
cently transplanted wife Magdalena (Claudette
Colbert) from helping on their frontier farm.
ity of the times in which they were made than
the times they depict. Despite these caveats,
filmmakers offer intriguing glimpses of Amer-
ican women’s lives.
When Gilbert asserts that haying is “no job for
a woman,” she retorts, “Now there you go. Just The Colonial Era
because a woman is raised in a town she has Pocahontas (1995) features a famous early
to be frail. I’m not. I’m strong. You said your- American woman. As reviewers complained,
self you couldn’t have done without me.” As this film misrepresents the sequence of events
proof, Magdalena goes on to hay, help settlers and cultural mores of both Indians and En-
flee from enemy Indians, locate her husband glish. For instance, Pocahontas had no love
after battles, nurse him, give birth during a affair with John Smith. Pocahontas’s relation-
war, and shoot an attacking Indian. ship with nature reflects a strange combina-
Magdalena Martin embodies a central film tion of scholarship by William Cronon and
image of women in America before 1900: the others and the modern idealization of Native
strong frontierswoman. Historical films gen- life. Pocahontas is also a symbol of the mul-
erally do not endear themselves to historians, ticultural 1990s. The movie does echo recent
for they rely on such stereotypes and often ma- scholarship by Helen C. Rountree on the
nipulate history for dramatic effect. Neverthe- Powhatans, the Indian nation to which Po-
less, films command vast audiences and often cahontas belonged. The film places the Native
teach people the history they do know. Thus, American woman’s story at the center, a rarity
despite films’ reliance on stock visions—of in films. The film also presents a more com-
strong settlers, bad girls, and women ahead of pelling narrative than that of the documen-
their times—they are worth studying. The tary Pocahontas: Her True Story (1995), which
scholarship on American women’s lives has is guilty of an overdependence on interviews
blossomed rapidly in the past thirty years. In with Pocahontas’ descendants, who have their
1986 Linda Kerber declared that women’s his- own idealized vision of her life. Nevertheless,
tory “is now the fastest-growing field within this documentary captures her existence with
the profession” (vi), and ten years later Carol greater accuracy.
Berkin added that the field “has flourished Settler women have fared little better. Laurel
during my decade of work” (vii). The thriving Thatcher Ulrich, Mary Beth Norton, Carol F.
condition of American women’s history has Karlsen, and John Demos have painted vivid
not been matched by Hollywood, probably be- portraits of Puritan women in New England.
cause of the traditionally poor box-office per- Ulrich declares, “A married woman in early
formances of films about the distant past. In New England was simultaneously a housewife,

303
304 [ GROUPS
a deputy husband, a consort, a mother, a mis- ican isolationism just before World War II.
tress, a neighbor, and a Christian” (9). Demi Jane MacDougall’s (Claire Trevor) resource-
Moore’s portrayal of Hester Prynne in The fulness reflects the “New Woman” persona of
Scarlet Letter (1995), “freely adapted” from the 1930s. A “dead shot,” Jane leads the protest
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel (a very free ad- against the British. Jane’s plucky self-reliance
aptation indeed) fails to convey these complex stands in contrast to the limp passivity exhib-
roles. In fact, the film so wildly conflates his- ited by Cora Monroe (Madeline Stowe), in a
torical subjects—witchcraft, adultery, slavery, more recent film about this era, The Last of the
Anne Hutchinson, Quakerism, and the Indian Mohicans (1992). Based on James Fenimore
wars—that it creates instead a muddled pas- Cooper’s novel, this film’s depiction of women
tiche. The fit, emancipated Prynne must have leaves much to be desired. Cora does shoot an
been seen by the filmmakers to represent a Indian in self-defense, but her demeanor can
1990s ideal. A 1996 film, The Crucible, is also best be described as sappy. She relies con-
based on history and literature. Arthur Miller’s stantly on men’s protection. Indian women
original play was less a study of Puritan New fare no better; indeed, they are conspicuous by
England than a condemnation of 1950s Mc- their near-total absence.
Carthyism. Like The Scarlet Letter, this film re- The revolutionary era remains largely ne-
flects a 1990s sensibility in which forces of au- glected by filmmakers. Based on a play by Peter
thority repress a woman ahead of her times, Stone, 1776 (1972) features only two women:
along with her sensitive male partner. The film Abigail Adams (Virginia Vestoff ) and Martha
somewhat caricatures the complex intercon- Jefferson (Blythe Danner). The film does at-
nections between Puritan theology and tempt to portray the correspondence between
women’s status explored by historians such as Abigail and John Adams. Still, Abigail’s com-
Karlsen, who posits that “Puritans’ witchcraft plaints about running a farm and Martha Jef-
beliefs are finally inseparable from their ideas ferson’s dance sequence do not advance an un-
about women” (181). The film, with its igno- derstanding of women’s role in the Revolution.
rant and slovenly midwives, also bypasses re- Abigail Adams and her experiences receive far
cent scholarship on the skill and respectability better treatment in a popular PBS documen-
of such women. However, the film does convey tary, The Adams Chronicles (1975). A significant
the status hierarchy of early New England. innovation in the 1970s, this series gives a much
more rounded depiction of this famous first
lady.
Revolutionary Times Two films purport to tell stories about
Historians such as Linda K. Kerber and Mary women’s lives during the Revolution. One, The
Beth Norton have explored women’s roles in Howards of Virginia (1940), does so with little
the revolutionary era. Norton suggests that “as success. It tells the story of the freedom-loving
the nature of American government and so- Matt Howard (Cary Grant) and his snobby
ciety had changed during the half-century that wife, Jane Peyton Howard (Martha Scott). Jane
witnessed the Revolution, so too had American is prone to sob and eager to transplant a
notions of womanhood” (296–297). Filmmak- hierarchy-based plantation life to the West.
ers have been less ambitious in their coverage. Her slave companion, Dicey (Libby Taylor), is
However, the Seven Years’ War receives atten- in the tradition of eye-rolling, mistress-loving
tion in two films: Allegheny Uprising (1939) slaves of old Hollywood. This film stands in
concerns the revolt by American colonists contrast to Drums Along the Mohawk. Al-
against their British officers, a foreshadowing though the configuration (privileged wife
of the Revolution. It can also be read as Amer- taken to western farm by independence-
 WOMEN: COLONIAL ERA TO 1900 ] 305

minded husband) is similar, the results are dif- Antebellum Life, the Civil War, and
ferent. While both Jane Howard and Magda- Reconstruction
lena Martin enjoy twentieth century–style Few films focus on the American experience in
weddings (complete with white dresses, bou- the first half of the nineteenth century. The
quets, and bridesmaids), the representation of War of 1812 receives treatment in the two ver-
the wife is more multidimensional in Drums sions of The Buccaneer (1938 and 1958). In
Along the Mohawk. Another 1930s “New both films, women are cast as two archetypes:
Woman,” Magdalena joins her husband in the nice woman and the naughty-but-nice
fighting during the Revolutionary War. The woman. Neither film conveys the complexities
film does an especially fine job of capturing of women’s lives. The most famous film about
the daily lives of ordinary white people on the the Civil War is of course Gone with the Wind
frontier, although Indian women make no ap- (1939), based on Margaret Mitchell’s novel. Its
pearance. In the European Magdalena, direc- portrayal of black women is based on a view
tor John Ford also tried to recreate, however of slavery popular at the 1930s: that of Ulrich
minimally, multiethnic frontier society. The B. Phillips and the “plantation school” who ar-
film’s military sequences are undeniably gued that blacks were happy with their kindly
flawed, but the attention to daily life makes masters. Mammy (Hattie McDaniel), the faith-
this film a strong partner to much recent social ful family retainer, epitomizes this school. The
history on women. horrors of slavery for black women, and their
So, too, do two documentaries. The first, resistance to it, so eloquently described by later
Mary Silliman’s War (1993) tells the true story historians such as Deborah Gray White and
of Mary Silliman (Nancy Palk), whose hus- Ella Forbes, are elided. The film is somewhat
band was taken captive during the Revolution- more realistic in its depiction of the lives of
ary War. Based on a history by Joy Day Buel elite white Southern women. Scholars such as
and Richard Buel Jr., this film employed nu- Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Drew Gilpin
merous historians as consultants. The film ac- Faust have suggested the vital role played by
curately depicts the suffering of one family white mistresses in managing households.
during the war, but it also demonstrates that Faust has postulated that “the harsh realities
women were not passive victims of either the of military conflict and social upheaval pushed
British or their husbands. It restores the agency women toward new understandings of them-
of an early American woman, as does A Mid- selves and toward reconstructions of the
wife’s Tale (1996), which tells the story of Mar- meanings of southern womanhood that would
tha Moore Ballard (Kaiulani Lee). Based on a last well beyond the Confederacy’s demise” (7–
book by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, the film is 8). Scarlett O’Hara’s (Vivien Leigh) strength
most innovative in its techniques. Rather than and her determination to remake herself after
simply showing Ballard’s experiences as a mid- the war thus parallel the experience of such
wife in early republican Maine, the film alter- women. Bette Davis in Jezebel (1938) equally
nates between Ballard’s life and the ways in merits applause for her vibrant spirit. Again,
which Ulrich pieced together Ballard’s life these films reflect a 1930s project of featuring
from her diary. Ulrich reminds us of the dif- strong women in films.
ficulty of this sort of task: “Without docu- The film version of Toni Morrison’s ac-
ments, there’s no history. And women left very claimed novel Beloved (1998) also focuses on
few documents.” However, Ulrich, along with strong women, in this case African American
director Richard P. Rogers and producer Lau- ones. Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) and Beloved
rie Kahn-Leavitt, capture the life of this mid- (Thandie Newton) epitomize the agonizing
wife with grace and aplomb. choices inflicted by the brutal slave system.
306 [ GROUPS
The film also conveys the challenges African carefully over each Christmas gift), much as
American women continued to face during postwar housewives were expected to contrib-
Reconstruction. Finally, Beloved’s daughter ute by purchasing goods. That each of these
Denver (Kimberly Elise) suggests the ways in “poor” girls has a bedroom of her own reflects
which African American women overcame the dreams of postwar homemakers (and
these obstacles. These themes echo recent builders), not the reality of nineteenth-century
scholarship on women during Reconstruction life. The 1995 version, directed by Gillian
and capture both the restrictions and the drive Armstrong, borrowed aspects of Alcott’s life to
for autonomy by black women. present a feminist tribute to Alcott as a writer
Beloved is very different from the most in- who refused to give up her ambitions for mar-
famous representation of Reconstruction: riage, as embodied by Jo March (Winona Ry-
D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), der). A preachy Marmee (Susan Sarandon),
based on Thomas Dixon’s novel and a deeply sounding very modern indeed, instructs her
flawed view of Reconstruction. Black charac- girls to exercise and to avoid staying in “the
ters, mostly white actors in blackface, seeking house bent over their needlework in re-
to deprive white women of their virtue prowl strictive corsets.” These three versions dem-
throughout the film; black women receive little onstrate the challenges of using films as
attention. Indeed, even when Silas Lynch sources for the period they purport to de-
(George Siegman) founds “a Black Empire,” pict. Finally, Joan Micklin Silver beautifully
he chooses a white woman for his “queen.” captures the nineteenth-century immigrant
White women (especially as portrayed by Lil- experience (and a 1970s-style heroine) in Hes-
lian Gish) are weeping victims of the black ter Street (1975), in which Gitl (Carol Kane)
man. This pernicious distortion of Recon- adapts to a new life in New York.
struction arose in part from a contemporane-
ous school of history that argued that Recon- The West
struction represented the “tragic era” of A popular genre, the western has at least in-
American history in which blacks terrorized cluded women at a time when few historians
whites. Needless to say, historians have thor- considered them. The danger is that historians
oughly rejected this interpretation. working on women in the West have had to
Northern women have received less atten- fight the stock characters perpetuated by film-
tion than their southern counterparts, al- makers. Women in westerns tend to fill key
though scholars such as Jeanie Attie and Eliz- stereotypes: the proper, Eastern ingénue; the
abeth D. Leonard have partially rectified this saucy, singing Mexican woman of easy virtue;
situation. Three versions of Louisa May Al- the prostitutes and dancehall girls; the disap-
cott’s novel Little Women (1933, 1949, and proving town matrons. Historians such as
1994) reveal more about their own times than John Mack Faragher, Glenda Riley, Paula Pe-
those of Alcott. In the 1933 version, Marmee trik, and Judy Yung have complicated these
(Spring Byington) is shown as an active care- stereotypes considerably by exploring the
giver. Director George Cukor, targeting range of women on the frontier. Yung, for ex-
Depression-era audiences, highlights the ample, returns Chinese American women to
Marches’ charity toward the hungry Hummels. this narrative. Pascoe conveys the search for
Katherine Hepburn sparkles as Jo March, an- female moral authority in the Old West. Petrik
other “New Woman” of the 1930s. In contrast, has declared that women’s move to the West
Mervyn LeRoy’s 1949 version paints these “lit- resulted in a “metamorphosis of women’s per-
tle women” as wives of veterans and loving ceptions of their public and private roles and
consumers of shop products (the camera pans a new definition of womanhood” (xiii). As in
 WOMEN: COLONIAL ERA TO 1900 ] 307

other genres, filmmakers have yet to capture blonde who arrives from the East to marry Will
these subtle visions. Kane (Gary Cooper). Already in the town is
Native women often inhabit the shadowy Helen Ramirez (Katy Jurado), who is dark and
backgrounds of films, but a few films do high- sexy, in contrast to the ladylike Fowler. Much
light their experiences. Broken Arrow (1950) the same configuration occurs in the famous
focuses on a Native woman’s story at a time John Ford western My Darling Clementine
when few films did so. The film’s concern with (1946). Again, a contrast is drawn between the
ethnic harmony reflects a fascinating post- pale, modest Clementine Carter (Cathy
Holocaust, pre–civil rights movement sensi- Downs) and the sensual Mexican, Chihuahua
bility. It also mirrors its times in its portrayal (Linda Darnell). These films suggest the 1950s
of women. Morning Star (Debra Paget), not idealization of and ambivalence about the staid
played by a Native woman, is a good 1950s “good girl.” A similar contrast, without the
housewife, despite her fringed leather gar- ethnic dimension, occurs in the early John
ments. She prepares food, washes, and finds Ford classic Stagecoach (1939). Dallas (Claire
happiness in marrying Tom Jeffords ( James Trevor), the prostitute with a heart of gold,
Stewart). A more recent treatment of Native learns to be maternal, like the respectable
American women is Kevin Costner’s Dances women around her, and so wins the affections
with Wolves (1990). This film does aim to gain of Ringo ( John Wayne).
audience sympathy for the plight of Native Some white women are vital to the films and
Americans dispossessed from their lands. The are not expected to remain domestic. At the
lead female character is in fact a white woman beginning of Red River (1948), Tom Dunson
who has been adopted by a tribe of Sioux, but ( John Wayne) refuses to let his fiancée accom-
the film does attempt to show the strength of pany him to the Red River. She asserts, “I’m
Native American women. strong. I can stand anything you can,” but
Conversely, white women remain almost ex- Tom remains unconvinced. However, ulti-
clusively within the domestic sphere. Although mately, Tom and Matt (Montgomery Clift) re-
they may dress like men at times, they stay at alize that women like Tess Millay ( Joanne
home while their husbands depart to fight the Dru) are strong enough to join them in the
Indians. In Shane (1953), for example, Jean conquest of the American West. Although a
Arthur plays Mrs. Joe Starr, who is introduced satire of westerns, My Little Chickadee (1940)
as the “little woman.” She is a good “Baby includes a Flower Belle Lee (Mae West) who
Boomer” mother, eager to nurture (and cook is more than a match for men. As the sassy
for) her men. Likewise, in The Searchers Flower Belle drawls, “Funny. Every man I meet
(1956), women are portrayed as keepers of wants to protect me. I can’t figure out what
home and hearth, in contrast to the roving from.” Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s,
Ethan Edwards ( John Wayne). It is up to him such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
to rescue his niece from the Comanches. These (1968) and McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971) echo
films present a 1950s vision in which post– this earlier portrayal of women who are both
World War II women were expected to stay sensual and strong. Indeed, Mrs. Miller ( Julie
home while men engaged in more public suc- Christie), a typical madame, is also a savvy
cesses. businesswoman. These films offered heroines
There are two types of western women: the for this liberated generation.
“good girl” and the “bad girl.” Often the “bad So does Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992),
girl” is deliberately rendered as ethnic, usually which offers a meditation on the very genre of
Mexican. In High Noon (1952), for example, the western. In the friendship between Will
Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) is the demure (Clint Eastwood) and Ned (Morgan Freeman),
308 [ GROUPS
the film also echoes a 1990s multicultural sen-
sibility. These older, reformed killers can be
seen as escapees from a past haunted by the
Vietnam War. At first glance its portrayal of
women appears quite traditional; women are
wives or whores. But the film subverts its ste-
reotypes. The prostitutes refuse to accept cat-
egorization as property, as when Strawberry
Alice (Frances Fisher) cries, “by God, we ain’t
horses.” Equally, the never-seen Mrs. Horn
was the redemption of her troubled husband, F I G U R E 3 4 . Unforgiven (1992). Anna Thomson
(Anna Levine) comforts the wounded William Munny
Will. Salvation lies in men embracing roles as
(Clint Eastwood). Anna’s fellow prostitutes have hired
fathers, not killers; it is thus an uneasy ac- Munny to revenge the mutilation of Anna’s face by a
knowledgment of the shifting terrain of mas- gang of vigilantes. Munny defends the prostitutes in this
culinity and gender roles in the 1990s. revisionist tale of women in the West, insisting that they
be treated with respect. Courtesy Malpaso Productions
The most powerful visions of western wom- and Warner Bros.
anhood occur when the feminist-minded have
reinterpreted westerns. A sharp-tongued Ellen Films as Avenues to the Past
(Sharon Stone) overcomes childhood fears to Films simplify a complex and thriving histori-
fight equally with men in The Quick and the cal literature. Often relying on stereotypes to
Dead (1995). In The Ballad of Little Jo (1993) advance a two-hour narrative, movies none-
the heroine (Suzy Amis) dresses as a man and theless offer compelling visual and audible
hoodwinks a town into believing that she can representations of the past. Moreover, there is
run his (her) own affairs. In Bad Girls (1994), often some slight echo of current scholarly de-
brutal customers and censorious townspeople bates (about female agency, for example) in
attack prostitutes who then turn to violence film portraits. In addition, films provide an ex-
themselves. In these remakings, the women are cellent avenue for understanding representa-
victims of male abuse who then resort to simi- tions of women in the eras in which the films
lar tactics. Filmmakers, reversing the old for- were made. Although caution is required,
mula of westerns, must have thought that these movies are an entertaining route to learn
women in the 1990s would respond positively more about the myriad ways in which women
to these portraits of women. These films are have been represented and understood. Or, as
still not especially inclusive of women of color. Flower Belle Lee remarks of Cleopatra in My
However, they have introduced interesting in- Little Chickadee, “She lived way back in the
novations to a traditional genre. early times. And what a time she had!”

References
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F)
Filmography Broken Arrow (1950, F)
The Adams Chronicles (1975, D) The Buccaneer (1938, F; 1958, F)
Allegheny Uprising (1939, F) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1968, F)
America (1924, F) Calamity Jane (1952, F)
Annie Oakley (1935, F) The Crucible (1996, F)
Bad Girls (1994, F) Dances with Wolves (1990, F)
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993, F) Drums Along the Mohawk (1939, F)
Belle Starr (1941, F) Gettysburg (1993, F)
Beloved (1998, F) Gone with the Wind (1939, F)
 WOMEN: COLONIAL ERA TO 1900 ] 309
Hester Street (1975, F) Faust, Drew Gilpin. Mothers of Invention: Women of
High Noon (1952, F) the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War.
The Howards of Virginia (1940, F) New York: Vintage, 1996.
Jezebel (1938, F) Forbes, Ella. African American Women during the
Johnny Guitar (1954, F) Civil War. New York: Garland, 1998.
The Last of the Mohicans (1992, F) Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth. Within the Plantation
Little Big Man (1970, F) Household: Black and White Women of the Old
Little Women (1933, F; 1949, F; 1994, F) South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Mary Silliman’s War (1993, D) Press, 1988.
The Maverick Queen (1956, F) Jeffrey, Julie Roy. Frontier Women: The Trans-
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, F) Mississippi West, 1840–1880. New York: Hill &
A Midwife’s Tale (1996, D) Wang, 1979.
Montana Belle (1952, F) Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman:
My Darling Clementine (1946, F) Witchcraft in Colonial New England. New York:
My Little Chickadee (1940, F) Random House, 1987.
The Outlaw (1943, F) Kerber, Linda K. Women of the Republic: Intellect &
Pocahontas (1995, F) Ideology in Revolutionary America. New York: Nor-
Pocahontas: Her True Story (1995, D) ton, 1986.
The President’s Lady (1953, F) Lackmann, Ron. Women of the Western Frontier in
The Quick and the Dead (1995, F) Fact, Fiction and Film. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
Red River (1948, F) 1997.
The Scarlet Letter (1995, F) Leonard, Elizabeth D. Yankee Women: Gender Battles
The Searchers (1956, F) in the Civil War. New York: Norton, 1994.
1776 (1972, F) Norton, Mary Beth. Founding Mothers and Fathers:
Shane (1953, F) Gendered Power and the Forming of American Soci-
Stagecoach (1939, F) ety. New York: Knopf, 1996.
Unconquered (1948, F) ——. Liberty’s Daughters: The Revolutionary Experi-
Unforgiven (1992, F) ence of American Women, 1750–1800. Boston: Lit-
tle, Brown, 1980.
Pascoe, Peggy. Relations of Rescue: The Search for Fe-
Bibliography male Moral Authority in the American West, 1874–
Attie, Jeanie. Patriotic Toil: Northern Women and the 1939. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
American Civil War. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Petrik, Paula. No Step Backward: Women and Family
Press, 1998. on the Rocky Mountain Mining Frontier, Helena,
Berkin, Carol. First Generations: Women in Colonial Montana, 1865–1900. Helena: Montana Historical
America. New York: Hill & Wang, 1996. Society Press, 1987.
Buel, Joy Day, and Richard Buel Jr. The Way of Duty: Riley, Glenda. Women and Indians on the Frontier,
A Woman and Her Family in Revolutionary Amer- 1825–1915. Albuquerque: University of New Mex-
ica. New York: Norton, 1984. ico Press, 1984.
Clinton, Catherine. The Plantation Mistress: Woman’s Rountree, Helen C. The Powhatan Indians of Virginia:
World in the Old South. New York: Pantheon, Their Traditional Culture. Norman: University of
1982. Oklahoma Press, 1989.
Cott, Nancy F. The Bonds of Womanhood: ‘Woman’s Scott, Anne Firor. The Southern Lady: From Pedestal
Sphere’ in New England, 1780–1835. New Haven: to Politics, 1830–1930. Chicago: University of Chi-
Yale University Press, 1977. cago Press, 1970.
Cronon, William. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colo- Smith-Rosenberg, Carroll. Disorderly Conduct: Visions
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Demos, John Putnam. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. Good Wives: Image and Real-
and the Culture of Early New England. Oxford: Ox- ity in the Lives of Women in Northern New En-
ford University Press, 1982. gland, 1650–1750. New York: Vintage, 1980.
Edwards, Laura F. Gendered Strife & Confusion: The White, Deborah Gray. Ain’t I a Woman? Female
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[ JUNE SOCHEN ]

Women in the Twentieth Century

he history of twentieth-century American the heroes, the active centers of a thriller, a

T women is inextricably tied to the history

of men and children. As family members,
women have lived their lives as part of a larger
unit—first as daughters and then as wives and
Lilith among the many Eves and Marys. Oc-
casionally, at certain times in Hollywood his-
tory, women have been portrayed as careerists,
independent people with identities of their
mothers. Only in the last third of this century own. Sweet young things and sultry Eves, how-
have large numbers of American women lived ever, dominated silent film; Bara, Jean Harlow
alone or in relationships without marriage and (China Seas, 1935), and Garbo starred in film
worked outside of the home in various occu- after film where their astonishing beauty
pations and professions. Hollywood movies baited weak but willing men. Sound movies,
have always included women in both starring beginning in the 1930s, built on the formulaic
and supporting roles, but always within clearly images of the past but added more renditions
defined images: as the virginal Mary, such as of all three types.
Mary Pickford in the silent Pollyanna (1920); Paradoxically, though the material condi-
as sexual temptresses or Eves, such as Theda tions of women’s lives have changed enor-
Bara in A Fool There Was (1915), in which she mously during the century, neither dominant
defined the vamp; or as an independent cultural values nor cinematic treatments have
woman or Lilith. (All of Katharine Hepburn’s kept pace. Molly Haskell’s classic study of
movies fit into this last category.) women’s roles in the movies, From Reverence
The most interesting portrayals of women to Rape (1974), effectively captures this view.
combine two of these images, with the Eve- Society and Hollywood hold on to traditional
Lilith synthesis being the most powerful. Greta values about women simultaneous with ob-
Garbo in Flesh and the Devil (1920), for ex- serving their new behaviors. Even the fiercely
ample, is a temptress who exudes individuality independent Katharine Hepburn falls into
and audacity. Bette Davis in A Marked Woman Spencer Tracy’s arms at the end of Woman of
(1937) is a prostitute with integrity and courage the Year (1942), the quintessential Lilith role.
willing to stand up to ruthless gangsters. Mary More women work outside of the home for
Pickford in Way Down East (1920) is a woman more years of their lives than ever before, but
seduced by an unscrupulous man who survives, recent films rarely show working women in
thanks to her tenacity and good spirit. their workplace. Working Girl (1988), with
Women’s filmic roles reflect the larger cul- Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith, is a no-
ture’s view of women and are shown within table exception to this rule. Effective birth con-
familiar film genres. In adventure movies of all trol has given women choices as to when, or
sorts, for example, women are the damsels in if, they are to become mothers, yet this very
distress (the Marys) or attractive sexual deco- basic subject rarely surfaces in Hollywood
rations (the Eves). Less frequently, women are films.

310
 WOMEN: TWENTIETH CENTURY ] 311

Although the relationship between filmic re- It was not until the early 1970s, and then for
ality and historic reality is not simple, linear, or a rare and brief moment, that a black actress,
predictable, there are some correlatives. Strong, Pam Grier, was allowed to play the star in an
independent women were needed during the atypical female role, the adventure heroine, in
dark days of the Depression in the 1930s as well movies such as Foxy Brown (1973) and Coffy
as in World War II, for example, so Hollywood (1974). The so-called blaxploitation films usu-
delivered with an unprecedented number of ally starred Richard Roundtree, but Grier of-
films featuring stars such as Katharine Hepburn fered a variation on the theme and attracted
(Spitfire, 1934), Barbara Stanwyck (Golden Boy, large audiences; unfortunately, she had few
1939), Joan Crawford (Sadie McKee, 1934), imitators or followers. Latin American ac-
Bette Davis (Ex-Lady, 1933), and Rosalind Rus- tresses fared even worse. A recent documen-
sell (His Girl Friday, 1940) playing professional tary on the life and career of Carmen Miranda
women as well as working-class women. But during the 1940s and 1950s effectively captures
there is no simple equation. both her dilemma and the dilemma of all La-
During the post-1945 years, America’s older tina stars.
stars found few roles open to them. Joan Craw-
ford in Queen Bee (1955) plays a manipulative Early Film
woman, while she is duped by a younger man Silent movies established the pattern for all
in Autumn Leaves (1956). The problems of time with the Mary image dominating. Direc-
mature women were not treated sympatheti- tor D. W. Griffith became a father figure to
cally on the screen or in the culture. The new actresses Dorothy and Lillian Gish, sisters who
generation of stars played classic Eves, no one played sweet young things. Lillian starred in
more effectively than Elizabeth Taylor. Her Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intol-
portrayal of the frustrated wife, Maggie, in erance (1916), and Broken Blossoms (1919).
Richard Brooks’s version of Tennessee Wil- Mary Pickford, the most popular ingénue, also
liams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) displayed showed pluck and risk taking in her movies.
her beauty and her unfulfilled yearnings. Way Down East (1920) was a good example of
In the segregated days of the 1930s and a Mary-Lilith role. Mabel Normand departed
1940s, Hollywood would not star the beautiful from the Mary by being a daredevil comic in
and talented African American actor Lena many silent movies with Charlie Chaplin; she
Horne in a romantic lead role for fear of of- jumped out of airplanes, drove a car, and
fending many American moviegoers; indeed, threw coconut pies in men’s faces. She ran
her scenes in Stormy Weather (1943) were cut with the Keystone Kops and was viewed by her
out when the movie played in the South. Car- contemporaries as every bit as talented as Kea-
men Jones (1954) starred Dorothy Dandridge ton and Chaplin. Unfortunately, her fame did
opposite Harry Belafonte in a rare offering of not survive the period nor did prints of her
a classic story performed with an African movies. Normand was a classic slapstick, a
American cast. Ignoring race and denying Af- form unbecoming to a lady; it was not until
rican American actresses job opportunities in Lucille Ball brought the format to television, a
film, except for the most predictable and ste- more intimate environment, that slapstick
reotypical roles, became the practice. Hattie again became acceptable as a woman’s genre.
McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen could ap- In the adventure serials that were very pop-
pear on the screen as maids and nursemaids ular from the early years of the century
in Gone with the Wind (1939), but neither through the 1930s, The Perils of Pauline cap-
could portray the heroine in a melodrama or tured thousands of devoted child viewers.
drama. Pearl White, as Pauline, had daring experi-
312 [ GROUPS
ences overcoming kidnappings, dangerous Christina (1933) and a doomed woman in
physical encounters, and many villains. There Anna Karenina (1935). Her fabulous beauty,
was also a series of Nancy Drew serials, based however, always determined her outcome.
upon the popular novels for adolescent girls Men flocked to her like bees to clover, but they
and boys; kids thrilled to the multiple esca- usually punished her for her seductive power
pades engaged in by Nancy and her friends. over them. Eves had to be contained.
Both Pauline and Nancy, as young women, The stars also played ordinary women who
could have adventures, but grown-up women suffered during hard, economic times. They
had romance. The cultural message clearly were Liliths out of necessity. Crawford in Sadie
stated that young girls grow up to become McKee (1934), Hepburn in Alice Adams
wives and mothers who then appear in melo- (1935), and Davis in A Marked Woman (1937)
dramas and domestic comedies. represented different social classes and differ-
ent circumstances, but they were all needy
The Golden Era, 1933–1950 women surviving during the Depression.
When sound movies took over in the 1930s, When Barbara Stanwyck played a world-weary
movies were still being made for all ages and mistress in Golden Boy (1939), she did it with
both sexes; actresses, though caught in pre- both strength and vulnerability, thereby mak-
dictable images, had many movie roles. Hol- ing her enormously popular to her woman
lywood studios churned out “A” and “B” qual- fans. Joan Crawford had the largest network of
ity movies. MGM, one of the largest studios, fan clubs around the country.
bragged that it had more stars under contract Mildred Pierce (1945), Crawford’s award-
than in the sky. The “weepies,” the melodra- winning role, described, rather prophetically,
mas of the period (one of the most popular the dilemma many women faced as World
genres, now seen on daytime soap operas), al- War II ended. A weak husband and the need
ways featured long-suffering women. Barbara to earn a living and support her two young
Stanwyck in Stella Dallas (1937) had to endure daughters became the new reality for Mildred
many obstacles, but she, like many others, per- Pierce. Her baking skills ultimately led her to
sisted and often prevailed. Joan Crawford be- open a restaurant, and then a series of suc-
came a well-known star playing working-class cessful restaurants. The plot, however, pre-
women whose good looks snared her a wealthy served the traditional value system and ex-
husband, as in Mannequin (1937). Clearly the pected Mildred to remain an at-home mom
search for romance on a rocky road has lived even after she became an entrepreneur. Her
on as the dominant subject of women in film. romantic interlude with a playboy, (while her
Katharine Hepburn was often a career ex-husband was caring for her daughters) led
woman—a pilot in Christopher Strong (1933) to a family tragedy and what was viewed at the
or a journalist in A Woman Rebels (1936) and time as apt punishment for an (allegedly) neg-
Woman of the Year (1942). Rosalind Russell ligent mother.
and Bette Davis also played professional Mildred Pierce captured many of the new
women, both journalists, Russell in His Girl conflicts facing women while preserving the
Friday (1940) and Davis in Front Page Woman old-time values regarding women’s roles. The
(1935). When Hepburn was not pursuing a ca- imaginative universe of a good film enabled
reer, she was an aristocratic woman whose audiences to consider competing values,
wealth insured her independence. The Phila- though, in 1945, the consensus upheld the old
delphia Story (1940) and Bringing Up Baby and rejected the new. Mildred was expected to
(1936) are good examples of this formula. sacrifice her personal happiness for the sake of
Greta Garbo played a real-life queen in Queen her daughters. Working mothers may have
 WOMEN: TWENTIETH CENTURY ] 313

But even beauties projected other character-

istics, a sure sign of the multiple meanings pro-
duced by movie stars’ portrayals. Taylor, as the
wife of a cattle baron in Giant (1956), director
George Stevens’s film adaptation of the Edna
Ferber novel, defied the stereotype in that she
displayed tenacity, tolerance, and indepen-
dence as well as obvious beauty. The film also
discussed anti-Mexican prejudice, a subject
rarely shown in American movies. Monroe, on
the other hand, played a shrewd blonde play-
ing a dumb blonde in How to Marry a Mil-
FIGURE 35. Mildred Pierce (1945). Mildred Pierce
lionaire (1953).
( Joan Crawford, left) confronts her spoiled daughter
Veda (Ann Blythe, right), who is ashamed to learn that The unfair view that beautiful women have
her mother was once a waitress. The acting captured the empty heads had existed throughout Holly-
differences between the generation of Mildred Pierce and wood’s history, from the silent era onward,
the materialistic generation of her daughter. Courtesy
Warner Bros.
and Hollywood’s unwillingness to give Mon-
roe roles other than those that emphasized her
physical assets perpetuated the image. Gentle-
been a new reality, but old views die hard and men Prefer Blondes (1953) and The Prince and
1945 audiences shared those attitudes. Mar- the Showgirl (1957) typecast her. Further, this
jorie Rosen in Popcorn Venus (1975) offered image operated most successfully in comedy
analyses of women’s films in the 1940s and the and thus remained the genre within which
new challenges facing women. Monroe got most of her parts. While Monroe
yearned for serious dramatic roles, projects
The New Generation such as Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch
As the 1930s generation of actresses matured, (1955) were offered to her.
a new crop of young stars emerged. Older stars
found themselves with few good roles—All Darker Days Ahead
About Eve (1950) effectively explores the sub- The 1940s and 1950s also introduced a genre
ject—as the general social attitude was that ro- called film noir, a style in which directors em-
mance and physical beauty was the monopoly phasized the sinister, the tawdry, and the mean
of the young. In this sense, films ignored an qualities of people. Cinematically, the noir
important stage in women’s lives—their ma- movie often took place at night on dark streets
ture years. Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Mon- and with dark deeds lurking around every cor-
roe dominated the 1950s as superstars, with ner. The women in these movies were either
movie magazines splashing their faces on fre- the victims of crimes or the perpetrators of
quent covers. Romance became the major them. Barbara Stanwyck wanted to murder her
genre, with women adventurers and careerists husband for his insurance money in Billy Wil-
finding few role opportunities. Both Taylor der’s adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Dou-
(Butterfield 8, 1960) and Monroe (Some Like It ble Indemnity (1944), but the roles were re-
Hot, 1959) learned very quickly that their versed for her in Anatole Litvak’s Sorry, Wrong
screen roles were shaped by their physical ap- Number (1948) when her husband tried to
pearance; they would always be the femmes have her murdered. Even Grace Kelly, the aris-
fatales, the gorgeous women whose attractive- tocratic beauty of the 1950s, became a victim
ness trumped all other features. in Alfred Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder
314 [ GROUPS
(1954) when she discovered that her husband reporter, and a working woman fighting for a
wanted to kill her. union.
The easy targets, whatever the reason, were Sally Field, in the role of Norma Rae, offered
women. As a result, a strange phenomenon oc- a rare portrait of an indomitable working
curred: after film noir lost its appeal, sometime woman in small-town America, a woman rais-
in the 1960s, and continuing on to today, the ing two children while living uncomfortably
number and type of roles available for women with her family. Her awakening as a voice for
declined precipitously. Film critic Pauline Kael workers, thanks to the aid of a New York City
discussed how the male buddy film took over Jewish union organizer (played by Ron Lieb-
and jokingly called Paul Newman and Robert man), was unique because no romance in-
Redford the romantic duo of the decade. Of trudes upon their relationship; they work to-
the new generation of actresses in the 1960s, gether, trying to convince apolitical reluctant
only a few got many parts. The best roles went workers to stand up to the textile company
to Jane Fonda, who began as a sweet, young managers. Field’s marriage to a fellow worker
thing in Barefoot in the Park (1967), moved (played by Beau Bridges) is treated neither ex-
into sexual temptress roles (Barbarella, 1968), tensively nor sentimentally. In fact, because of
and then to independent women parts (The her increased work for the union, she neglects
China Syndrome, 1979); Liza Minnelli (Caba- both her husband and children. (Field won the
ret, 1972); and Barbra Streisand, who played Academy Award for her performance.) This
in musicals (Funny Girl, 1968), comedies Martin Ritt film is important for its intrinsic
(What’s Up Doc? 1972), and dramas (The Way interest, but more so because it was a rare foray
We Were, 1973). into the world of working mothers.
Musicals seemed safe for wary Hollywood By the 1970s, Hollywood no longer made
producers, and My Fair Lady (1964) and The two hundred movies a year, and the studio sys-
Sound of Music (1965) were very popular. In tem had given way to independent produc-
Cabaret, Minnelli offered a sexy, decadent tions. The cost of movies grew each year, and
young singer in 1920s Berlin. Diana Ross, as filmmakers seemed content to make Mafia
legendary blues singer Billie Holiday in Lady movies (The Godfather, 1972), war stories
Sings the Blues (1972), gave audiences a melo- where women were absent (Patton, 1970), and
drama with music while displaying her acting thrillers where women were largely extraneous
and singing talent; she was the second African (Jaws, 1975). This disturbing trend was fueled
American actress to be nominated for a best by the growth in the youth market, particularly
actress award (the first was Dorothy Dandridge young boys, who had become the major pa-
for Carmen Jones). Ross lost to Minnelli. Mi- trons of movies; male adolescents’ love for ac-
nority women, Latinas and Asians particularly, tion, destruction, and violence in film as well
continued to be ignored by Hollywood. as their willingness to see the same movie
many times encouraged filmmakers to pro-
Toward the Future duce the same mindless action movies again
By the end of the 1970s, Hollywood ventured and again. In the meantime, adult Americans
to treat some of the dramatic changes in watched broadcast or cable television or rented
women’s lives. Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried classic videos.
Woman (1977), Jane Fonda in Coming Home By appealing to the market’s wishes, film
(1977) and China Syndrome (1978), and Sally producers can easily justify their continued re-
Field in Norma Rae (1979) are among the se- liance on tried-and-true formula films starring
lect few roles that looked at a wife facing life action heroes. No one can accuse them of will-
after divorce, a wife of a Vietnam soldier, a fully ignoring women; rather, they can easily
 WOMEN: TWENTIETH CENTURY ] 315

argue that they just make the movies audiences

want to see. At the beginning of the twenty-
first century, there are still few women pro-
ducers, directors, or writers, and even fewer
male feminists in charge. By the 1980s, the
roles for women were so few and far between
that the same fine actresses received the slim
pickings. Meryl Streep, undeniably one of the
great actors of any period, had eight Academy
Award nominations between 1981 and 1995,
including Sophie’s Choice (1982) and Out of
Africa (1985). Jessica Lange had five nomina-
tions with stellar performances in films such F I G U R E 3 6 . Norma Rae (1979). Reuben Warshawky
as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and (Ron Liebman), a New York union organizer, convinces
a factory worker, Norma Rae (Sally Field), to help him
Blue Sky (1994). unionize her fellow laborers in order to secure better
With fewer movies being made, and fewer wages and working conditions. Courtesy Twentieth
starring roles for women, no actress today can Century-Fox.
compete with the large output of films made
by Golden Age stars such as Joan Crawford, occupy themselves between the film offers. Al-
Bette Davis, and Barbara Stanwyck. Today’s though women are very much alive in real
actresses rely on cable movies and theater to time, they are largely absent in reel time today.

References
Out of Africa (1985, F)
Filmography The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981, F)
Alice Adams (1935, F) The Seven Year Itch (1955, F)
Barbarella (1968, F) Sophie’s Choice (1982, F)
Barefoot in the Park (1967, F) Sorry, Wrong Number (1948, F)
Blue Sky (1994, F) Stella Dallas (1937, F)
Butterfield 8 (1960, F) An Unmarried Woman (1977, F)
Cabaret (1972, F) The Way We Were (1973, F)
Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My Business (1995, D) What’s Up Doc? (1972, F)
A Century of Women (1994, D)
China Syndrome (1978, F)
Coming Home (1977, F) Bibliography
Dial M for Murder (1954, F) Basinger, Jeanine. A Woman’s View: How Hollywood
Double Indemnity (1944, F) Spoke to Women, 1930–1960. Hanover, NH: Uni-
Funny Girl (1968, F) versity Press of New England, 1993.
Giant (1956, F) Haskell, Molly. From Reverence to Rape. New York:
Golden Boy (1939, F) Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1974.
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful (1997, D) Robinson, David. Hollywood in the Twenties. New
How to Marry a Millionaire (1953, F) York: A. S. Barnes, 1968.
Lady Sings the Blues (1972, F) Rosen, Marjorie. Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies, and
Mildred Pierce (1945, F) the American Dream. New York: William Morrow,
Norma Rae (1979, F) 1985.
Not a Bedroom War: New Visions of Feminism Woloch, Nancy. Women and the American Experience.
(1993, D) New York: McGraw Hill, 1994.
V.
Institutions and
Movements
夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ GREGORY MCNAMEE ]

Baseball

opular legend, repeated in textbooks un- its prestige as our National Game to the fact

P til very recently, has it that the game of

baseball sprang, Athena-like, from Ab-
ner Doubleday’s thoughtful brow somewhere
in the vicinity of Cooperstown, New York, in
that as no other form of sport it is the expo-
nent of American Courage, Confidence, and
Combativeness; American Dash, Discipline,
Determination; American Energy, Eagerness,
the spring of 1839. Doubleday (1819–1893) Enthusiasm; American Pluck, Persistence, Per-
was a man of many accomplishments, to be formance; American Spirit, Sagacity, Success;
sure: a capable Union officer, he fought in sev- American Vim, Vigor, Virility.”
eral major Civil War battles, including Second Whatever its ultimate origins, and whatever
Manassas and Gettysburg; a capable capitalist, the claims that can be made for it as an ex-
he founded the first cable-car company in San pression of homegrown values as against those
Francisco. But even Doubleday claimed credit, of other lands, baseball has been a vitally im-
and then quietly, only for codifying and reg- portant American pastime since at least the
ularizing the rules of a game that had been time of the Civil War, when Union and Con-
developing over the course of several centuries, federate soldiers played it among themselves,
born of a colonial New England game called and sometimes even crossed the lines to play
“town ball” that in turn descended from the against each other. After Appomattox, those
English field game called “rounders,” an an- soldiers then spread the game to every corner
cestor of not only baseball but also cricket, a of the land almost overnight, a development
game played enthusiastically in every former that led Mark Twain to remark that baseball
English colony save the United States. Albert was “the outward and visible expression of the
Spalding (1850–1915), a pitcher, manager, and drive and push and rush and struggle of the
entrepreneur who founded the sporting- raging, tearing, booming nineteenth century.”
equipment company that still bears his name, External contacts—sometimes war, sometimes
acknowledged that English descent in his book peaceful economic exchange—spread the
America’s National Game (1911), though game beyond America’s shores as well, and to-
grudgingly, for it was he who gave Doubleday day baseball is flourishing in such places as Ja-
so much credit to begin with. Having allowed pan, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, and even En-
its similarities to cricket, however, Spalding gland. The game flows like a mighty river
was quick to point out that baseball distin- through the nation’s, and the world’s, history,
guished our national qualities from those of and millions on millions have bathed in its wa-
our former rulers: the English “play Cricket ters: Geronimo, the famed Apache war leader,
because it accords with the traditions of their who played baseball avidly throughout his
country to do so; because it is easy and does years of captivity in Florida and Oklahoma; Fi-
not overtax their energy or their thought,” del Castro, the Cuban revolutionary, who as a
whereas, Spalding continued, “Base Ball owes young man wanted nothing more than to pitch

319
320 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

for a major-league American team; William 1960s), major-league baseball proved to be

Howard Taft, the portly president who, it highly profitable for owners and investors, but
seems, inadvertently invented the seventh- less so for players, who would struggle for de-
inning stretch and who found sublime plea- cades to organize themselves in the manner of
sure in throwing out the game ball on opening other skilled trade workers. (See “The Labor
day; Moe Berg, the Sanskrit-speaking scholar Movement and the Working Class.”) Fans to-
who combined an indifferent record as a day grumble about players’ inflated salaries
major-league catcher with a somewhat more and perks—matters of economics that David
illustrious career as a spy on three continents; Ward’s altogether pleasing film Major League
Johnny Ventura, the Dominican politician and (1989) and Michael Ritchie’s worthy comedy-
bandleader, who abandoned a promising ca- drama The Scout (1994) address, if only as sub-
reer in baseball to bring the folk music called text—but most are still inclined to agree, along
merengue to a waiting world; Sadaharu Oh, with filmmakers and sports commentators,
arguably the greatest player in Japanese base- that the players have at least some inkling of
ball history, who brought Zen understanding the game’s soulful dimensions, whereas, in the
to the game when he observed, “As the ball words of sportscaster Bob Costas, “baseball
makes its high, long arc beyond the playing owners, by and large, are soulless and incom-
field, the diamond and the stands suddenly be- petent.” Those fans have tended to rally to the
long to one man. In that brief, brief time, you side of players through thick and thin, and, in
are free of all demands and complications”; the main, to overlook failure and scandal,
Tallulah Bankhead, the imposing Alabama- whether the drug-related arrests of major-
born actor, who famously remarked, “There league players throughout the 1980s and 1990s
are only two geniuses in the world: Willie Mays or the organized corruption that has flared up
and Willie Shakespeare.” from time to time throughout the history of
Baseball insinuated itself into American the game, corruption for which the 1919 Chi-
folklife early on. Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s cago “Black Sox” scandal, memorialized in
spirit-crushing poem “Casey at the Bat” (1888) John Sayles’s superb film Eight Men Out
was a part of the national vernacular well be- (1988), remains a byword.
fore it was translated into the 1896 feature film Baseball has both reflected the dominant
of that name, and words and phrases from the mores of the larger society and served to
game (fan, to root, to strike out) joined the change them, especially in the troublesome, of-
American lexicon throughout the nineteenth ten shameful matter of ethnic relations. In the
century. Folklife became commodity, too, early days of the game, a handful of African
early on, and baseball grew into a big business Americans played in the majors, notably the
almost as soon as the first teams were formed, brothers Welday and Moses Walker, who
with squads such as the Brooklyn Atlantics and graced the roster of the Toledo Mud Hens in
Cleveland Red Stockings barnstorming their 1884; games between all-white and all-black
way across the country on newly constructed clubs were not uncommon, even in the South.
rail lines and, in the process, building a na- Even so, black players were generally not wel-
tional following for the professional sport and comed on white teams or in white leagues, and
for individual players such as Amos Rusie, Cap by the early twentieth century African Ameri-
Anson, and Cy Young, the forerunners of to- cans had been effectively barred from profes-
day’s superstar athletes. Exempted from anti- sional baseball, owing to Jim Crow laws, the
trust laws in the early twentieth century, and antipathy of management and some players
sometimes subsidized by municipal levies (Ty Cobb and Cap Anson particularly vocal
(which would become standard after the among them), and, later, the active resistance
 BASEBALL ] 321

of baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain als, a Dodgers subsidiary. Robinson would not
Landis to integrated play. African American stay with Montreal long, for Rickey had been
entrepreneurs formed the separate but decid- planning to cross the color line for quite some
edly unequal Negro League in 1920, an asso- time, and after gaining a little big-league sea-
ciation made up of teams that played a long soning Robinson moved south to New York.
season in the United States and then barn- Rickey “knew that with the war over, things
stormed for the rest of the year in Latin Amer- were going to change, that they were going to
ica; among its ranks figured such legendary have to change,” recalled Dodgers assistant
players as James “Cool Papa” Bell, Josh Gib- manager Clyde Sukeforth. “When you look
son, and, most famous of them all, Satchel back on it, it’s almost unbelievable, isn’t it? I
Paige, the subject of the docudrama Don’t Look mean, here you’ve had fellows going overseas
Back (1981). Craig Davidson’s documentary to fight for their country, putting their lives on
There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace the line, and when they come back home
(1984) traces the history of the Negro League again, there are places they’re not allowed to
and features interviews with some of its best- go, things they’re not allowed to do. . . . Do
known players, including Paige, many of you know for how long the idea was in Mr.
whom figure in fictionalized form in John Rickey’s head? More than forty years. For
Badham’s excellent film The Bingo Long Trav- more than forty years he was waiting for the
eling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976). right moment, the right man. And that’s what
Despite growing resistance to segregation he told Robinson.”
during World War II, the time of the “double- Rickey’s gamble paid off, for in his first sea-
V” campaign—victory, that is, against fascism son of play for the Dodgers, Robinson racked
abroad and inequality at home—the owners of up an enviable .311 batting average against
major-league clubs still refused to admit Af- some of the best pitchers to have ever played
rican American players onto their rosters, re- the game, an accomplishment he replayed be-
laxing their guard enough to consent to a fore the cameras in the 1950 biopic The Jackie
handful of exhibition games with Negro Robinson Story. Other African Americans soon
League teams. Worried about declining sta- followed Robinson into the major leagues,
dium attendance during the war years, Chi- welcomed onto the field by veterans who
cago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley was sympa- themselves had battled discrimination, such
thetic to the desire of African American players as Detroit Tigers first baseman Hank Green-
to join the show, but, rather than integrate his berg, the subject of the documentary The Life
squad, he put his energies instead into orga- and Times of Hank Greenberg (2000), who
nizing the All-American Girls Professional Ball once remarked, “I was representing a couple
League, which eventually numbered ten female of million Jews among a hundred million
teams throughout the Midwest. Disbanded al- gentiles. . . . As time went by I came to feel
most as soon as male players returned from that if I, as a Jew, hit a home run I was hitting
the war, the All-American Girls are the subject one against Hitler.”
of Penny Marshall’s comedy A League of Their Baseball is by no means free of ethnic ten-
Own (1992), which drew on interviews with sion today, as witness the well-publicized racist
league veterans as background for its histori- outbursts of former Cincinnati Reds owner
cally faithful, good-natured script. Marge Schott and the controversy over the car-
In 1945, Brooklyn Dodgers general manager toonish logos and cheers of the Atlanta Braves
Branch Rickey recruited former army lieuten- and Cleveland Indians. Neither is it untouched
ant Jackie Robinson, an African American by scandal; far from it. All the same, Americans
from California, to play for the Montreal Roy- continue to locate many of their popular he-
322 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

roes on the diamond, just as they have over rig in the national pantheon of sports heroes.
two centuries, which is perhaps why American The Babe Ruth Story (1948) attempted to do
politicians have for so long thought it advan- the same for George Herman “Babe” Ruth in
tageous to be seen at the ballpark from time to its time, though the script erred badly in trying
time. (Indeed, some have made more than to sugarcoat a life filled with violence, alco-
passing visits to the stadium: Dwight Eisen- holism, and excess, a reality that fans knew all
hower played minor-league ball; George W. too well. For its part, The Pride of St. Louis
Bush earned a fortune as a club owner; and (1952) offered a sentimental portrait of the far
Ronald Reagan handled the ball admirably be- more sympathetic Jay “Dizzy” Dean, who at
fore the camera in Lewis Seiler’s The Winning the height of segregation reckoned Satchel
Team [1952], which treats the troubled life of Paige the greatest pitcher to have ever drawn
the legendary pitcher Grover Cleveland Alex- breath, while The Stratton Story (1949)
ander.) Those party operatives and flesh- brought to the screen the life of Chicago White
pressers may make their share of devil’s bar- Sox pitcher Monty Stratton (played by James
gains—a matter treated by the immensely Stewart), who lost a leg in a 1938 hunting ac-
popular Broadway play Damn Yankees (film, cident but continued to pitch in the minor
1958), which finds much pleasure in poking leagues into the 1950s.
fun at the practical implications of a Washing- Hollywood stepped away from the business
ton Senators fan’s selling his soul to Lucifer, of hero making in the iconoclastic 1970s, and
and which finds a lighthearted opposite in An- the subsequent decades have seen few portraits
gels in the Outfield (1951 and 1994)—but all of baseball players as worldly saints, with the
the same they have been welcomed alongside notable exception of the tearjerker Bang the
the diamond, a secular cathedral where Amer- Drum Slowly (1973), starring a young Robert
icans have witnessed countless acts of resur- De Niro as a slow-witted catcher stricken with
rection, passion, and sacrifice, countless mo- cancer. The 1992 biopic The Babe, starring
rality plays. John Goodman in a startling likeness of the
Such life-transforming moments have been lumpy, hard-living Babe Ruth, comes far
grist for the Hollywood mill, which has long closer to telling the truth of the matter than
taken emblematic baseball figures and remade does the 1948 William Bendix vehicle, though,
them into national heroes beyond the field, for all its debunking, it does not deny Ruth’s
pressing them into service as living legends inarguable greatness as a baseball virtuoso.
that “exemplify the cardinal myths of our cul- Neither does the far harsher Cobb (1994) de-
ture,” in the words of the exemplary fan Ste- tract from the equally estimable achievements
phen Jay Gould. Lou Gehrig was well known of Tyrus “Ty” Cobb (Tommy Lee Jones), who
even to those who did not follow the fortunes brought Social Darwinism to the field, pro-
of New York’s leading ball club when, in 1939, claiming, “Baseball is something like a war . . .
the debilitating illness that bears his name a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fit-
forced him into retirement and soon thereafter test,” and who vigorously opposed the integra-
killed him. Gehrig was honored soon after tion of the game until his death in 1961. (A
death by the fine film Pride of the Yankees teammate of Cobb’s from 1905 to 1917, the
(1942), which took some liberties with his magnificent power hitter Sam Crawford, sagely
famed farewell address to his fans—“People all recalled, “He came from the South, you know,
say I’ve had a bad break. But today I consider and he was still fighting the Civil War. As far
myself the luckiest man on the face of the as he was concerned, we were all damn Yan-
Earth”—but, thanks to Gary Cooper’s mem- kees before he even met us. Well, who knows,
orable portrayal, permanently enshrined Geh- maybe if he hadn’t had that persecution com-
 BASEBALL ] 323

pitching a major-league game; and Brian Rob-

bins’s well-played Hardball (2001), in which a
gambling addict (Keanu Reeves) finds re-
demption for his manifold sins by coaching a
Little League team made up of African Amer-
ican boys from Chicago’s battle-scarred Ca-
brini Green housing project. And baseball is
about communing with the past, about dip-
ping a hand into that great river of history.
Tom Stanton puts it well, in his memoir Final
Season (2001), when he writes, “If you listen
FIGURE 37. Pride of the Yankees (1942). Lou Gehrig
beyond the silence, if you listen with your
(Gary Cooper, right) brought to baseball dignity and heart, you can hear all sorts of things. You can
restraint, as well as a sincere appreciation at the public’s hear your childhood, you can hear your dad
outpouring of support on learning of the illness that and your uncles, you can hear [Tigers batting
would soon kill him. Cooper exhibits those qualities in
the gesture of love and support during the presentation great Al] Kaline connecting, you can hear the
of a plaque by the real-life baseball hero Babe Ruth. muted cheers of distant, ghost crowds, and you
Courtesy RKO Radio Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn can hear your grandpa calling out from the
Company.
bleachers.”
That joining of personal and cosmic history
plex he never would have been the great ball- forms the heart of Phil Alden Robinson’s Field
player he was.”) Even Billy Crystal’s worshipful of Dreams (1989), the most nuanced explora-
61* (2001), which celebrates the race between tion of the role of baseball in American life and
Roger Maris (Barry Pepper) and Mickey Man- thought. In it, a back-to-the-land, idealistic
tle (Thomas Jane) to beat Babe Ruth’s home- farmer, Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner), a vet-
run record, takes pains to paint its protagonists eran of the Berkeley antiwar movement, finds
as flesh-and-blood figures with the full com- his finances and sanity imperiled when he re-
plement of human frailties, anticipating Man- sponds to a mysterious voice that whispers,
tle’s later admission of longtime alcoholism. barely audible among the rustling corn stalks,
But baseball is not only about finding dia- “If you build it, he will come.” “He” is none
mond heroes on whom to shower praise or other than Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta),
through whom to live vicariously. It is about the disgraced victim of the Black Sox scandal,
the simple pleasure of taking the air on a warm who finds in “it,” the diamond that Kinsella
day, of trading quips, statistics, and favorite carves from his heavily mortgaged field, an
moments with neighbors in the stands. For earthly paradise. Other ghosts come to join
sandlot players, it is about finding a bit of hope Shoeless Joe, all manner of men whose lives
and glory on the field, a dream celebrated by baseball has touched, from the kindly small-
Lloyd Bacon’s delightful film It Happens Every town doctor Archibald “Moonlight” Graham
Spring (1949), which hints that even in the (Burt Lancaster) to Kinsella’s long-estranged
most otherworldly college professor (Ray Mil- father (Dwier Brown), who once hoped to
land) the heart of a Babe Ruth lies beating; bridge the gulf between him and his son by
John Lee Hancock’s The Rookie (2002), which playing a simple game of catch, as well as the
relates the true, if somewhat romanticized, living and thoroughly disillusioned radical
story of a Texas high school coach, Jimmy writer Terence Mann ( James Earl Jones), who
Morris (Dennis Quaid), whose students spur at first rebuffs Kinsella’s plea for help with the
him to realize his long-deferred dream of memorable lines, “Back to the sixties! No place
324 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

for you in the future! . . . Peace, love, dope— Crash’s task to tame one of those players, a
now get the hell out!” (See “The 1960s.”) hotheaded pitcher named “Nuke” LaLoosh
Mann comes around, though, after sharing a (Tim Robbins) whose thoughts are less on
telepathic moment with Kinsella at Boston’s baseball than on a more vivacious tutor, Annie
Fenway Park. When he does, his bitterness Savoy (Susan Sarandon), a self-assured, inde-
over the broken promise of his own era dis- pendent woman of a kind too rarely seen on-
appears, and Mann is left free to celebrate “the screen. (See “Feminism and Feminist Films.”)
one constant in all the years”: baseball, a game But tame him Crash does, expanding on Rig-
that “reminds us of all that was once good and gins’s simple schematic with sentiments that
that could be again” in an America “that has could have come from a funnier version of The
been erased like a blackboard”—including, we Grapes of Wrath: “Quit trying to strike every-
might imagine, a return to a time of solvent one out,” he instructs LaLoosh. “Strikeouts are
farmers and unbroken families, the vision with boring. And besides, they’re fascist. Throw
which the film’s closing shot leaves its viewers. some ground balls. They’re more democratic.”
Also inclining toward an aoristic mysticism A players’ strike and ever-increasing ticket
in which time has no meaning, though clearly prices diminished public interest in major-
set in the Depression era, is The Natural (1984), league baseball in the 1990s, and Americans’
director Barry Levinson’s adaptation of Bernard minds were on more pressing matters at the
Malamud’s acclaimed 1952 novel. The film dawn of the twenty-first century. Even so, and
loses much of Malamud’s carefully constructed even despite the rapid ascent of basketball (an-
Arthurian-cycle symbolism, by which Roy other quintessentially American game, in-
Hobbs’s (Robert Redford) lightning-born bat vented by a Canadian) as a money-drawing
“Wonderboy” is a mythical reflex of the leg- spectator sport, baseball in its many forms—
endary Celtic king’s sword Excalibur, his pur- professional, semiprofessional, collegiate, in-
suit of the World Series pennant a latter-day tramural, junior, peewee, and sandlot—re-
quest for the Holy Grail. Even so, and even mains the most popular of American athletic
though it inclines to an awkward sentimental- pastimes. It is comforting to think, with Crash
ity, and even though Redford is much too old Davis, that this is at least in part because base-
for the part, The Natural captures the tremen- ball speaks to our better angels: to a vision of
dous affection, inexplicable to many an outside life that honors both individual achievement
observer, that Americans feel for the game. and team play, and always with an insistence
But the favorite film of fans today, and ar- on fairness; to our long-held belief that al-
guably the greatest baseball film yet made, is though there are surely winners and losers in
Bull Durham (1988), Ron Shelton’s light- life, a reversal of fortunes can make one of the
hearted but on-the-money look at the big busi- other in an instant; to the American promise
ness of a game that finds little room for aging of equal opportunity for all, a leveling ethic by
men—or, for that matter, simple loyalty. which players of all ethnicities and classes can
Kevin Costner plays a fading player, Crash Da- play as one and fans do not hesitate to roar
vis, who, having been demoted from the ma- equally for men—and one day, perhaps,
jors, finds a new home on a North Carolina women—with names like Alou, Clemente,
minor-league club whose manager, Skip Rig- DiMaggio, Hallahan, Koufax, Lajoie, Nomo,
gins (Trey Wilson), is driven to remind his Stahl, and Yastrzemski. Those are all ideals, of
young, untested players of the fundamental course. It remains to be seen whether baseball,
simplicity of the game: “You throw the ball, Hollywood, and America will rise to the diffi-
you catch the ball, you hit the ball.” It is cult task of making them real.
 BASEBALL ] 325

References
Dulles, Foster Rhea. America Learns to Play: A History
Filmography of Popular Recreation, 1607–1940. New York:
Angels in the Outfield (1951, F; 1994, F) Appleton-Century, 1940.
The Babe (1992, F) Gould, Stephen Jay. Triumph and Tragedy in Mud-
The Babe Ruth Story (1948, F) ville: A Lifelong Passion for Baseball. New York:
Bang the Drum Slowly (1973, F) Norton, 2003.
Baseball (1994, TV) Honig, Donald. Shadows of Summer: Classic Baseball
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings Photographs, 1869–1947. New York: Viking, 1994.
(1976, F) Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Di-
Bull Durham (1988, F) vided: The Civil War of the 1960s. New York: Ox-
Casey at the Bat (1896, F) ford University Press, 1999.
Cobb (1994, F) Mandell, Richard D. Sport: A Cultural History. New
Damn Yankees (1958, F) York: Columbia University Press, 1984.
Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy “Satchel” Paige Peterson, Robert W. Only the Ball Was White: A His-
(1981, TV) tory of Legendary Black Players and All-Black
Eight Men Out (1988, F) Teams. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1970.
Field of Dreams (1989, F) Plimpton, George, ed. Home Run. San Diego: Har-
Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1996, D) court, 2001.
Hardball (2001, F) Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The
It Happens Every Spring (1949, F) Story of the Early Days of Baseball by the Men Who
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950, F) Played It. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
A League of Their Own (1992, F) Ruth, George Herman. Babe Ruth’s Own Book of
The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (2000, D) Baseball. 1928. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Major League (1989, F) Press, 1992.
The Natural (1984, F) Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History
The Pride of St. Louis (1952, F) of American Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Vintage,
Pride of the Yankees (1942, F) 1994.
The Rookie (2002, F) Spalding, Albert G. America’s National Game. 1911.
The Scout (1994, F) Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.
61* (2001, TV) Stanton, Tom. Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and One
The Stratton Story (1949, F) Last Season in a Classic American Ballpark. New
There Was Always Sun Shining Someplace (1984, D) York: St. Martin’s, 2001.
The Winning Team (1952, F) Stump, Al. Cobb: A Biography. Chapel Hill, NC: Al-
gonquin Books, 1994.
Sullivan, Dean A. Late Innings: A Documentary His-
tory of Baseball, 1945–1972. Lincoln: University of
Bibliography Nebraska Press, 2002.
Bouton, Jim. Ball Four. New York: World, 1970. Tygiel, Jules. Past Time: Baseball as History. New
Dawidoff, Nicholas. The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mys- York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
terious Life of Moe Berg. New York: Pantheon, Ward, Geoffrey C., and Ken Burns. Baseball: An Illus-
1994. trated History. New York: Knopf, 1994.
[ DOUGLAS MUZZIO, THOMAS HALPER, AND JESSICA MUZZIO ]

City and State Government

ollywood’s portrayal of city and state my opportunities and I took ’em” (Riordon,

H government and politics has tended to

reflect its portrayal of American govern-
ment and politics generally as corrupt, self-
interested, and indifferent to the common
62). The pols, typically allied with if not sub-
ordinate to gangsters, build their machines on
graft and deceit, as in such Progressive-era sil-
ents as A Dainty Politician (1910), The Grafters
good, though the subnational levels lack the (1913), and The Politicians (1915).
sinister, omniscient, conspiratorial quality that With the talkies, Hollywood’s stance toward
is often ascribed to the much larger and more the machine grew ambivalent. On the one
powerful national government in films such as hand, numerous movies depicted urban poli-
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The tics as a kind of simple-minded metaphor for
Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Parallax evil. This was particularly true of the so-called
View (1974), and JFK (1991). B movies that were produced in assembly-line
State and local governments have not widely fashion to fill out the double features that au-
figured as a central subject of urban films (see, diences demanded in the era before television
for example, 8 Mile, 2002), though the city po- (e.g., Star Reporter, 1939; Boss of Boys Town,
lice (Dead End, 1937) or the state prison (An- 1943). Typical was a remark in You and Me
gels with Dirty Faces, 1938) may represent of- (1938): “The big shots ain’t crooks like you
ficial authority. Government here is less an and me. They’re politicians.”
actor than a reactor, usually cleaning up a mess On the other hand, a number of city movies
created by larger social forces or strong indi- depicted pols as lovable rogues, softening their
viduals. However, even the police are often dishonest image with comedy or tear-jerking
presented as unequal to the task, as in the vig- sentimentality. What these films communi-
ilante shoot-‘em-up in the early Depression cated was that, though flawed, the machine
(e.g. The Secret Six, 1932) and the early to mid- was human in its creation and operation—and
1970s (e.g., Death Wish, 1974), both periods that it performed valuable functions that high-
when established authority at all levels seemed minded reformers were incapable even of rec-
overwhelmed by the problems confronting it. ognizing.
Sometimes, cops constrained by weak—usu- The chief example is The Last Hurrah
ally liberal—administrations must themselves (1958), directed by John Ford and based on
go beyond the law (e.g., Dirty Harry, 1971). Edwin O’Connor’s (1956) best-selling roman
à clef about Boston’s notorious James Michael
Machine-Driven Politics Curley, and starring Spencer Tracy as the eye-
Political machines govern the reel city, the twinkling boss with a heart of gold. Lamenting
boss, and his minions following turn-of-the- the last days of a colorful and caring Irish ma-
century New York City ward heeler George chine, the movie looks disdainfully at a future
Washington Plunkitt’s famous adage, “I seen dominated by bland mediocrities whose only

326
 CITY AND STATE GOVERNMENT ] 327

(1989) and Dick Tracy (1990). The economi-

cally and politically powerful scam the system
for their own aggrandizement. The citizenry,
whom the politicians are sworn to serve, is
bilked and usually does not even know it.
Of these films, Roman Polanski’s Chinatown
(1974), a noir tale of disgrace, intrigue, and
greed, is the most widely praised. Set in the
sun-drenched Los Angeles of 1937, it exposes
the foundations of rapaciousness upon which
the glittering metropolis was built. Los Angeles
is a moral and physical wasteland, intensely
FIGURE 38. The Last Hurrah (1958). With the arid, a virtual desert. In this context, water—
introduction of television into politics, media attention
and political corruption follow the political career of
the seemingly most innocuous natural sub-
Mayor Frank Skeffington (Spencer Tracy) as he fights stance—becomes a highly prized political
for election one last time. Courtesy Columbia Pictures. commodity, inspiring the most abominable
acts. Water, tied to money via economic de-
velopment, elicits the evil in the film, con-
apparent skill is a bloodless ability to play the necting public scandal with private perversion.
ancient game of politics with the modern tool Noah Cross ( John Huston), city father, water
of television. Accompanying the faltering of the magnate, and land speculator, rapes the land
machine is a decline in the sense of community and rapes his daughter (Faye Dunaway). He
on which it rested. Bonds of obligation, tradi- manipulates the city’s water supply to worsen
tion, and emotion are replaced by the manip- a drought and lower adjacent farmland prices
ulative tactics of public relations. The most vul- so that he can buy them for a song; he also
nerable, whom the machine looked after for its uses the drought to justify a dam to be built
own interests, are now without protectors. An- by a public bond issue. The result, he thinks,
other example in the pol-as-lovable-rogue will be thousands of acres of housing devel-
genre is Beau James (1957), a leaden confection opments that would make a very wealthy man
starring Bob Hope as Jimmy Walker, a famous even wealthier.
(and crooked) mayor of New York during the
Roaring Twenties. Cities as Growth Machines
Chinatown was one of the first prominent
The Rebirth of Cynicism movies to present the city as a growth machine
Since the 1960s, a watershed for cynicism to- dominated by “a small, parochial elite whose
ward authority generally, Hollywood’s ambiv- members have business or professional inter-
alence toward city politics and government has ests that are linked to local development and
all but vanished in a pervasive sense of be- growth” (Molotch, 392). These elites use pub-
trayal, distrust, and greed. This view domi- lic authority and private power to stimulate
nates in period movies such as Chinatown economic development in order to enhance
(1974), Kansas City (1996), L.A. Confidential their own business interests, although they
(1997), and Gangs of New York (2002) as well may also genuinely believe that development
as in contemporary movies such as The God- serves the public interest. As growth machines
father (1972, 1974), Serpico (1973), Miller’s seek to provide an environment for private
Crossing (1990), Q & A (1990), and Narc capital accumulation, cities redirect resources
(2002), and even in fantasies such as Batman away from social programs toward uses ben-
328 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

efiting the ambitious wealthy. The city may feel dependent on the developers (and the financial
that it has no other choice: it needs private in- interests that support them) to resurrect the
vestment to generate jobs and taxes (and to buy city—and to provide graft for a multitude of
off pols). But in any case the elites do very well public officials at all levels. Mayor Baci (“the
while telling everyone that they are doing good. second most indictable mayor in the state”)
The most realistic and sophisticated growth awards contracts, enforces regulations, and
machine movie is John Sayles’s City of Hope distributes city financial assistance in exchange
(1991), perhaps the only important urban film for concessions, legal and otherwise, to those
that is not hopelessly personalized. A product on whom he depends: large-parcel landown-
of the Reagan-Bush years, when cities seemed ers, local developers, and the police. He with-
to have dropped off the national agenda, the holds public services from uncooperative
movie neither sought nor won mass audience slum-housing residents, physically threatening
appeal. However, urbanists continue to work those who refuse to be displaced or have no
the movie into their conversations the way other place to go. City politics, in this view, is
basketball fans end up discussing Michael Jor- above all the politics of land use, for land is
dan. City of Hope revolves around the effort to the factor of production over which city gov-
build a mammoth office and housing complex ernments exercise the greatest control.
financed, in part, by foreign ( Japanese) capital Ethnic and racial inequalities are embedded
in a broken-down industrial city in New Jer- in the structure of relations in the growth ma-
sey. The problem is that the preferred site is chine. Baci and the Italian American–majority
occupied by low-income housing. Every effort council exploit the racist fears of their constit-
has been made to remove the tenants—cutting uents. The growth coalition’s strategy toward
off heat, water, and maintenance—but to no minority groups—as expressed by the princi-
avail. With investors threatening to pull out of pal minority character in the film—is “burn us
the deal, a corrupt district attorney (Bob out, plow us under and drive a wedge through
North) seeking substantial contributions from the community.” It succeeds because “we are
the investors blackmails a corrupt mayor blacks and Hispanics who can’t get it together,
(Louis Zorich) to clear the site once and for can’t work together, don’t even vote.”
all. The mayor’s assistant pressures his brother The political machine is morally repellent,
(Tony Lo Bianco), the developer of the apart- but also a product of history—a vehicle for each
ments, to “take care of things.” The buildings new ethnic and racial group to take over the
are torched, killing an infant and his mother. levers of power, build self-esteem, and serve its
The obstacle has been removed. own. What is striking is the stability of the
The governing regime in City of Hope is a power relations—the continuity of the regime.
complex and interdependent growth coalition Only the faces change, not the arrangements of
of property entrepreneurs, financial interests, cooperation and compromise. New York’s no-
and politicians. There is a loosely organized torious Boss Tweed builds his Tammany Hall
and fading white ethnic (Irish and Italian) po- political machine on the murderous muscle of
litical machine and a less visible but far more the Irish immigrant gangs of Manhattan’s Five
powerful constellation of local, national, and Points slum in Gangs of New York (2002).
international real estate and financial inter-
ests—plus Mafia-controlled construction City Hall
unions and disaffected racial minorities. In this City Hall (1995), based on a story by former
web of interdependence, no single interest, de- New York City deputy mayor Kenneth Lipper
spite disparities in power, possesses sufficient and cowritten by, among others, prominent
clout to make growth happen. Government is investigative urban journalist Nicholas Pileggi,
 CITY AND STATE GOVERNMENT ] 329

promises a realistic view of big city politics. ernor an unwed mother. After an ensuing fight
Mayor John Pappas (Al Pacino) is charming, involving her son, he is charged with murder
warm, smart, savvy, literate, and decent. He and she is impeached; but, just in time, the real
often dismisses his staff ’s warnings by declar- murderer is caught and a record of her hus-
ing that his choice is “the right thing to do.” band’s divorce is found. The story, of course,
Frank Anselmo (Danny Aiello), the boss of is all stock characters and hokey melodrama.
Brooklyn, is a backroom wheeler-dealer and a Still, in portraying a woman politician as a
tool of the Mob, whose hard edges are rounded strong, independent force and not a “Ma” Fer-
by his obvious love for his wife and by his ob- guson stand-in for her husband—and this only
session with Rodgers and Hammerstein mu- six years after the Nineteenth Amendment
sicals. Anselmo works through his friend, the gave women the vote—the movie must be
mayor, to get a judge to grant probation to a considered pathbreaking.
violent nephew of a Mafia leader; the nephew The best-known film on state government is
kills a policeman and a young black bystander; All the King’s Men (1949), based on Robert
the media focus on the killings; and the careers Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize–winning noveli-
of the mayor, the boss, and the judge unravel. zation of the life of Louisiana governor Huey P.
Until the shootings come to dominate the Long. Scoundrel, charmer, defender of the
plot, economic development is the main con- downtrodden, crook, fighter for progress, foe of
cern. The mayor wants to relocate a corporate democratic accountability, Warren’s Huey
megadevelopment to create jobs for the poor; Long was far more complex than O’Connor’s
Anselmo, fronting for greedy real estate devel- Michael J. Curley—and Long had a capacity for
opers, wants the mayor to commit to an ex- violence and met his death through it. So dom-
pensive highway off-ramp and subway stop as inant is the Long character, Willy Stark (Brod-
a price for his support. The mayor finally com- erick Crawford), that the state government is
mits to the infrastructure for the following seen as simply a tool in his hands, as it had been
year, a compromise that satisfies all parties. a tool in the hands of the economic oligarchy
Such deals, the movies implies, are not wicked, that preceded him. With this dark portrait, the
but merely the way the world works. Corrup- tendency of movies to personalize politics at the
tion pervades Borough Hall in Queens, N.Y., expense of institutions, structures, and pro-
in The Yards (2000) where bribes, kickbacks, cesses is carried to its logical conclusion.
payoffs and contracts are the quid pro quos Nine years earlier, Preston Sturges’s classic
among the borough president and other pols, comedy The Great McGinty (1940) traced the
cops, labor leaders, and businessmen. rise of a hobo (Brian Donlevy) from profes-
sional voter (casting thirty-seven ballots at two
State House dollars apiece under assumed names in various
Perhaps because state governments tend to be precincts) to alderman, mayor, and governor.
perceived as less salient and more remote than When, pressured by his wife, he decides to re-
city governments, movies have only rarely de- form, confessing to a graft-ridden bridge con-
picted them. An early example was the silent, tract, his honesty is rewarded by a term in jail.
Her Honor, the Governor (1926), a weeper star- For all its charm, however, the movie does not
ring Pauline Frederick. A high-minded woman focus long on state politics. Instead, there is a
is elected governor of Oklahoma, only to be parade of local hacks, one of whom famously
told by a senior pol that he will wield the real remarks, “If it wasn’t for graft, you’d see a very
power. She thwarts one of his pet projects; he low type of people in politics—men without
responds by revealing that her late husband ambition—jellyfish.” At the end, the pol-
never divorced his first wife, making the gov- turned-waiter moans, “Here we go again!”
330 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

The Documentary Vision major public issues affecting modern urban

Few movie documentaries focus on American America.
city and state governments; indeed, the best- City of Promise (1995), part of a Ford Foun-
known of them touch on the subject only dation–funded PBS television series on the re-
tangentially. Roger & Me (1989), Michael discovery of poverty in America in the 1960s,
Moore’s polemic against General Motors’ lay- looks at Newark, New Jersey. It opens in the
offs at its Flint, Michigan plant, attracted an un- summer of 1965, after Lyndon Johnson had
usually large audience. The film details what declared war on poverty and directed that the
Moore sees as the city’s victimization at the war was to be fought primarily in the nation’s
hands of rapacious capitalism and the banality cities by empowering the poor to design and
of the policy responses of the city government. run antipoverty programs through their “max-
More complex and ambitious is Public Housing imum feasible participation.” City of Promise
(1997), by cinema verité director Frederick contrasts the rise of urban black political
Wiseman. A many-layered investigation of the power with the complacent inertia of the white
residents of a large Chicago housing project, the power structure, recounting the bitter political
movie reflects the hopes, fears, and moral am- battles and the racial rioting that erupted over
biguities of real life in the big city. Although the next several years. In the end, in real life
neither Roger and Me nor Public Housing fo- as in the movies, the promise of the city did
cuses principally on government, both address not materialize.

References
L.A. Confidential (1997)
Filmography The Last Hurrah (1958, F)
All the King’s Men (1949, F) The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F) Miller’s Crossing (1990, F)
Batman (1989, F) Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F)
Beau James (1957, F) The Parallax View (1974, F)
Boss of Boys Town (1943, F) The Politicians (1915, F)
Chinatown (1974, F) The Power of the Press (1928, F)
City Hall (1995, F) Public Housing (1997, D)
City of Hope (1991, F) Q & A (1990, F)
City of Promise (1995, TV) Roger & Me (1989, D)
A Dainty Politician (1910, F) Scandalous Mayor (1991, F)
Dead End (1937, F) The Secret Six (1932, F)
Death Wish (1974, F) Serpico (1973, F)
Dick Tracy (1990, F) Star Reporter (1939, F)
Dirty Harry (1971, F) This Day and Age (1933, F)
8 Mile (2002, F) Traffic in Hearts (1924, F)
Exclusive Rights (1926, F) The Yards (2000, F)
Far and Away (1992, F) You and Me (1938, F)
Gangs of New York (2002, F)
The Glass Key (1935, F)
The Godfather (1972, F) Bibliography
The Godfather II (1974, F) Molotch, Harvey. “The City as a Growth Machine:
The Grafters (1913, F) Toward a Political Economy of Place.” American
The Great McGinty (1940, F) Journal of Sociology 82.2 (1976): 309–330.
Her Honor, the Governor (1926, F) O’Connor, Edwin. The Last Hurrah. Boston: Little,
His Girl Friday (1940, F) Brown, 1956.
JFK (1991, F) Riordon, William L. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. New
Kansas City (1996, F) York: St. Martin’s, 1994.
[ RAYMOND ARSENAULT ]

Civil Rights

he modern American civil rights move- and innovative tactics of the civil rights move-

T ment is arguably one of the most impor-

tant developments of the twentieth cen-
tury. Rooted in the abolitionist movement and
the postemancipation efforts of the Recon-
ment left an enduring legacy that continues to
influence everything from public policy to in-
dividual views about race, culture, and citizen-
ship.
struction era (1865–77), and nurtured by the The periodization and parameters of the
National Association for the Advancement of civil rights movement are subjects of contin-
Colored People’s (NAACP) legal campaign uing debate among scholars, but it is no longer
against racial segregation and discrimination, fashionable to limit the movement to the ac-
the movement evolved into a sweeping strug- tivities following the Brown school desegre-
gle for social justice and human dignity. By gation decisions of the mid-1950s. Although
prodding the nation to live up to the promises the national civil rights movement did not
of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of reach maturity until the 1960s, the contribu-
Rights and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and tions of early activists such as W. E. B. Du Bois,
Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, Paul Robeson, William Hastie, Bayard Rustin,
civil rights activists redefined the nature of Ella Baker, Pauli Murray, and Mary McLeod
American citizenship, bringing a measure of Bethune—all of whom were actively working
redemption to a society plagued by racial in- for civil rights in the 1930s and 1940s—are
equality and injustice. Partially inspired by the now considered to be an essential part of the
ongoing decolonolization of the Third World, civil rights story. However, beyond this rec-
including the triumph of Gandhian nonvio- ognition of the movement’s pioneers there is
lence in India and the creation of independent little consensus about the evolution of the
nations in Africa, the battle for civil rights in struggle. Among civil rights scholars, there are
the United States in turn provided inspiration sharp differences of opinion about King’s lead-
for liberation movement across the globe. ership, the significance of Malcom X and other
During the 1960s, figures such as Thurgood black nationalists, and the relative importance
Marshall (the leader of the NAACP’s effort to of various aspects of the movement: local ver-
strike down legalized segregation and the first sus national civil rights organizations; federal
black to serve on the Supreme Court) and initiatives versus movement activities; legal
Martin Luther King Jr. (the founder of the versus direct action; and the contributions of
Southern Christian Leadership Conference the NAACP versus those of SCLC, the Con-
[SCLC] and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize) gress of Racial Equality (CORE), and the Stu-
became international symbols of that came to dent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
be known as the “freedom struggle.” With the (SNCC). Several important recent studies—
murder of King in 1968, the classic phase of most notably those of Taylor Branch, John
the struggle ended, but the ennobling ideals Dittmer, and Adam Fairclough—have ac-

331
332 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

knowledged tensions within the movement equally strong performance by Ken Kercheval
and have attempted to demythologize national as prosecuting attorney Thomas Knight. A sec-
leaders such as King, Malcolm X, and Mar- ond docudrama, the 1993 production Simple
shall. Other works, such as Joanne Grant’s bi- Justice, focuses on the NAACP’s early efforts
ography of Ella Baker, have stressed the critical to dismantle the Jim Crow system of legal seg-
role of women in the movement. regation and discrimination. Based on Richard
Civil rights scholarship has become one of Kluger’s magisterial 1976 book of the same
the most vital areas of American historiogra- name, the film traces the early life and career
phy, but the motion picture industry has not of Thurgood Marshall, paying particular atten-
kept pace with growing interest in the civil tion to the mentoring role of Charles Hamil-
rights saga. Although a number of interesting ton Houston, who taught Marshall at Howard
films shed light on race relations in modern University Law School in the 1930s and who
America, very few focus on civil rights activists later collaborated with him in the development
or organizations. With few exceptions, the best and implementation of the NAACP Legal De-
civil rights films are adaptations of historical fense Fund’s complex legal strategies. Another
fiction, television docudramas, or documen- notable and compelling television docudrama,
taries. Feature films based on historical ac- Miss Evers’ Boys (1997), tells the grim story of
counts of actual incidents or real adventures the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study initiated
are rare, and the few high-profile civil rights by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1932. Alfre
features that do exist, such as Mississippi Burn- Woodard’s performance as Miss Evers, the
ing and Malcolm X, have tended to create more conscience-stricken nurse who helped expose
confusion and misinformation than enlight- the government’s callous disregard for the lives
enment. Nevertheless, these and other civil of the black syphilis patients, is riveting, and
rights movies have had a significant impact on the entire production—an adaptation of a play
American popular culture and thus deserve at- by David Feldshuh—is reasonably faithful to
tention, if not always respect. the historical record.
The only notable feature film to focus on
Seedtime for Civil Rights: 1930–1945 civil rights during the 1930s is To Kill a Mock-
In recent years, historians have developed a ingbird, the 1962 movie version of Harper
greater appreciation for the scope and vitality Lee’s celebrated novel. Though fictional, Hor-
of the nascent civil rights movement of the oton Foote’s Oscar-winning screenplay pres-
1930s and 1940s. Unfortunately, only a hand- ents Atticus Finch, a white lawyer representing
ful of filmmakers have taken advantage of the a black man charged with rape, as a historically
growing body of research detailing the early credible (though clearly unusual) character.
years of the struggle. Judge Horton and the Gregory Peck’s portrayal of Finch is unforget-
Scottsboro Boys, a 1976 NBC docudrama based table, and the entire production, despite ob-
on historian Dan Carter’s groundbreaking vious touches of sentimentality, successfully
study Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American captures the mood of the small-town South
South, provides an accurate and gripping re- during the Great Depression.
construction of the arrest and trial of nine World War II was an important watershed
black men falsely accused of raping two white for black Americans, who witnessed the crea-
women on an Alabama train in 1931. The film tion of the Fair Employment Practices Com-
features Arthur Hill’s convincing and sympa- mission in 1941, the Supreme Court’s decision
thetic portrayal of James Horton, the Alabama outlawing white primaries (Smith v. Allwright,
judge who sacrificed his career in an attempt 1944), and the proliferation of the Double V
to save the Scottsboro defendants, and an campaign—the determination to win twin vic-
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 333

tories over foreign enemies on the battle field

and racial discrimination at home. Clearly, this
era of racial transition warrants the attention
of filmmakers, but to date such attention has
been severely limited. Both during and after
the war, Hollywood produced a flood of World
War II films, but very few touched upon the
experiences of black servicemen or the black
home front. The most obvious exception is the
classic 1944 documentary The Negro Soldier,
produced as part of director Frank Capra’s
memorable Why We Fight series. Among
World War II feature films, the earliest attempt
to deal with the black experience was Home of
the Brave (1949), a powerful drama based on
a play by Arthur Laurents. Produced by Stan-
ley Kramer and directed by Mark Robson, the
landmark film depicts the wartime saga of a F I G U R E 3 9 . Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys
black soldier named Mossy, played by war vet- (1976). Judge Horton (Arthur Hill) listens intensely to a
eran James Edwards. Tormented by his fellow defendant. The NBC docudrama using trial transcripts
focused on the human interactions during the trial of the
GIs’ racial prejudices, Mossy survives brutal major courtroom figures and the toll it took on their
combat in the Pacific but ends up in an army lives. Courtesy Tomorrow Entertainment.
hospital, where he develops a redemptive
friendship with a white amputee, tence of military segregation during the war is
In A Soldier’s Story, released in 1984, direc- also the theme of the 1995 HBO docudrama
tor Norman Jewison offers a less hopeful view The Tuskegee Airmen. Featuring an all-star cast
of black army life in the 1940s. Based on led by Lawrence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Charles Fuller’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play, Andre Braugher, and John Lithgow, the film
the film tells the story of a black officer’s mur- makes an honest attempt to depict the exploits
der at a Southern army camp. Strong perfor- of black flyers, the impositions of racial prej-
mances by Howard E. Rollins Jr. and Adolph udice and condescension, and the common re-
Caesar dramatize the connection between ra- solve among black servicemen to be treated
cial discrimination and pathological interac- with respect. Unfortunately, the script is too
tion among black soldiers during the Jim Crow formulaic to do justice to the complexities of
era. An equally absorbing treatment of black the Tuskegee airmen’s bittersweet experiences.
military life can be found in the 1990 television A more recent film with similar strengths and
movie The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson, weaknesses is Mutiny, a 1999 docudrama that
based on a 1944 incident in which a black army profiles the fate of fearful black munitions
lieutenant and future Hall of Fame baseball loaders following a deadly explosion at Port
star faced an army court-martial after refusing Chicago, California, in 1944, in which more
to comply with a Texas segregated-bus-seating than three hundred black servicemen died.
ordinance, this carefully constructed film re-
veals the indignities of Jim Crow transit, re- The Postwar Decade: 1946–1955
minding us that the determination of Robin- The “crucial decade,” as historian Eric Gold-
son and others to buck the system antedated man dubbed the immediate postwar era, wit-
the later heroism of Rosa Parks. The persis- nessed important developments in civil rights,
334 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

F I G U R E 4 0 . A Soldier’s Story (1984). Director Norman Jewison’s film explores tensions in the closed community of
African American soldiers during World War II. Courtesy Caldix and Columbia Pictures.

including the gradual desegregation of the twyck School in Harlem. Utilizing nonprofes-
military and a series of liberal Federal court sional actors, the film offers an unromantici-
decisions culminating in the Brown v. Board of zed look at the life or a ten-year-old boy
Education rulings of 1954 and 1955. The first trapped in a life of crime and neglect.
films to explore the changing character of As the 1940s drew to a close, Hollywood re-
postwar race relations appeared as early as leased a spate of “social problem” films focus-
1946. It Happened in Springfield (1946) tells the ing on contemporary race relations. Pinky
story of a Massachusetts city rocked by inter- (1949), a collaborative effort of producer Dar-
racial tensions. Based on an actual incident ryl F. Zanuck and director Elia Kazan, and Lost
and filmed on location by Warner Bros., the Boundaries (1949), a Louis DeRochement pro-
early docudrama traces a grassroots effort to duction starring Mel Ferrer in his first role,
extend the “melting pot” ideal to black Amer- both focus on the theme of racial “passing.”
icans. Unfortunately, in the final cut all refer- Jeanne Crain’s melodramatic portrayal of a
ences to homegrown racism are excised, leav- light-skinned “Negro” nurse and Ethel Wa-
ing Nazi propaganda, not traditional American ters’s strong performance as her dark-skinned
bigotry, as the designated culprit. A more cou- mother make Pinky an interesting if not alto-
rageous film, one that deals more directly with gether convincing film. Similarly, Lost Bound-
the social pathology and enforced limitation of aries, which received widespread critical ac-
Northern black life, is The Quiet One (1947), claim upon its release, is a well-intentioned but
a semidocumentary on the all-black Will- flawed production that skirts many of the im-
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 335

portant issues related to class and the color long road to the Brown decisions. A third tele-
line. vised docudrama, The Vernon Johns Story: The
A less pretentious and ultimately more in- Road to Freedom (1994), profiles the career of
teresting effort to dramatize the declining years one of the postwar South’s most courageous
of Jim Crow is the 1949 film adaptation of Wil- black ministers. Brought back to life in a bril-
liam Faulkner’s novel Intruder in the Dust. liant performance by James Earl Jones,
Filmed in Oxford, Mississippi, and directed by Johns—who preceded Martin Luther King Jr.
Tennessean Clarence Brown, Intruder in the as pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
Dust focuses on a small band of fair-minded Montgomery, Alabama—is an unforgettable
white Mississippians who prevent the lynching and inspiring character.
of Lucas Beauchamp, a fiercely proud black
farmer falsely accused of murder. Parts of the The Rise of Massive Resistance: 1955–1960
film have an adolescent Disneyesque quality, The tense period following the Brown school-
but it remains an intriguing piece. Two other desegregation decisions of the mid-1950s wit-
notable efforts to capture the racial aura of the nessed the emergence of nonviolent direct ac-
1940s on film are The Jackie Robinson Story tion during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of
(1950), a charming and disarmingly straight- 1955–56, the creation of the Southern Chris-
forward film starring Robinson himself, and tian Leadership Conference in 1957, the crisis
No Way Out (1950), a Joseph L. Mankiewicz– at Little Rock’s Central High School in 1957,
directed crime drama that marked the film de- the growth of White Citizens’ Councils and the
buts of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Ossie rise of massive resistance among ultrasegra-
Davis. In No Way Out, Richard Widmark plays gationists in the Deep South, and the birth of
a cold-hearted, racist gangster who avenges his the student-led sit-in movement in Greens-
brother’s death by inciting a race riot. boro, North Carolina, in 1960. Contemporary
The films described above are useful sources filmmakers studiously avoided the subject of
for the study of postwar relations, but none of the Southern civil rights movement, but they
them deals directly with the emerging civil did produce several “race” films that implicitly
rights movement of this era. Fortunately, three endorsed racial tolerance and civil rights. Sid-
creditable television movies fill part of the gap. ney Poitier starred in Edge of the City (1957),
Separate but Equal, a 1991 production written a provocative tale of working-class life in New
and directed by George Stevens Jr., is an out- York directed by Martin Ritt; The Defiant Ones
standing dramatization of the final stages (1958), director Stanley Kramer’s masterwork
(1950–55) of the NAACP Legal Defense about two shackled convicts, one black and
Fund’s campaign to strike down the separate one white, fleeing the police; and A Raisin in
but equal doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). the Sun (1961), a powerful adaptation of Lor-
With a few minor exceptions, the three-hour raine Hansberry’s celebrated play about sur-
film is historically sound, and Sidney Poitier vival in black Chicago. Two films featuring
delivers a memorable performance as Thur- Harry Belafonte, Island in the Sun (1957) and
good Marshall, the attorney who spearheads Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), offered, re-
the NAACP’s efforts in the landmark Brown spectively, a comparative look at contempo-
desegregation cases. A second docudrama that rary racial struggles in the Caribbean and the
offers a somewhat longer view of the NAACP’s unhappy story of an interracial band of bank-
campaign is Simple Justice. The 1993 PBS film’s robbers stymied by racial dissension.
hour-long section on the post–World War II The first feature film to focus squarely on
era offers a compressed but generally accurate the racial dilemmas of the post-Brown South
description of the final twists and turns in the was Black Like Me, a 1964 release starring
336 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

James Whitmore as investigative journalist the boycott, The Rosa Parks Story, is somewhat
John Howard Griffin. From October to De- less successful as a re-creation of the complex
cember 1959, after temporarily darkening his origins and evolution of the Montgomery Im-
skin to achieve the appearance of a “Negro,” provement Association. Although the film’s
Griffin wandered through Mississippi, Ala- depiction of Rosa Parks, the forty-three-year
bama, Georgia, and Louisiana in an attempt to old seamstress and local NAACP leader who
experience the difficult realities of black life. became a folk hero after refusing to give up
Based on a best-selling 1961 book, Whitmore’s her seat on a crowded Montgomery bus, is
Jim Crow odyssey provided moviegoers with a generally accurate, the consistently celebratory
believable and searing portrait of Deep South tone of the script is somewhat problematical.
racism. An even better film, a major produc- The only other civil rights film to focus on
tion that represents one of the first efforts to the mid- or late 1950s is The Ernest Green
deal with the civil rights movement itself, is Story, a television docudrama produced for the
The Long Walk Home (1990). Set in Montgom- Disney Channel in 1993. One of the nine black
ery, Alabama, in 1956, this carefully scripted students who desegregated Little Rock’s Cen-
drama explores the evolving relationship be- tral High School in 1957, Green survived the
tween a privileged white woman (Sissy Spacek) taunts and assaults of angry white suprema-
and her dignified black housekeeper (Whoopi cists and went on to become an important of-
Goldberg) during the bus boycott. John Cook’s ficial in the Carter administration and a suc-
script is fictional, but the film’s depictions cessful business executive. The film takes a few
of resolute white supremacists, vulnerable liberties with chronology and melodramatic
Southern moderates, and black Montgomeri- dialogue, but overall it offers a balanced and
ans discovering the power of a faith-based credible picture of the “Little Rock Nine.”
“movement culture” have the ring of truth.
Perhaps most important, the strong and subtle The 1960s and Beyond
performances by Spacek and Goldberg under- The sit-in movement that spread across the
score the key role that women, both black and South in 1960, and the Freedom Rides initiated
white, played in sustaining the boycott and by CORE in May 1961 kicked off the most
other mass protests. intense phase of the civil rights struggle.
The Montgomery bus boycott also inspired Throughout the turbulent decade of the 1960s,
the production of two well-made television mass protests and militant activism comple-
docudramas: Boycott (2001), and The Rosa mented the NACCP’s ongoing legal and leg-
Parks Story (2002). Shown on the Home Box islative challenges to segregation and discrim-
Office cable channel, Boycott successfully com- ination. Clashes with demagogic politicians
bined documentary footage and carefully ren- and violent white supremacists attracted the
dered historical drama. Ably directed by Clark attention of the national media and the Ken-
Johnson and filmed on location in Montgom- nedy and Johnson administrations, as thou-
ery, it set a new standard for cinematic dram- sands of civil rights activists took to the streets
atization of King’s emergence as a national demanding an end to Jim Crow. Martin Luther
civil rights leader and the internal dynamics of King and the other movement leaders pro-
the bus boycott. Fine performances by Jeffrey voked major confrontations in Alabama,
Wright as King, Iris Little-Thomas as Rosa where Governor George Wallace “stood in the
Parks, and Terrence Howard as Ralph Aber- schoolhouse door” to prevent integration and
nathy give the film an emotional power that Birmingham public safety commissioner Bull
few civil rights docudramas have been able to Connor used fire hoses and attack dogs to con-
muster. The most recent effort to dramatize trol demonstrators, and in Mississippi, where
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 337

the 1964 Freedom Summer voting rights cam- on contemporary black revolutionaries. Direc-
paign challenged the traditions of the South’s tor Jules Dassin’s collaboration with black
most conservative state. screenwriters Ruby Dee and Julian Mayfield
The passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and produced a hard-hitting, if somewhat unreal-
the 1965 Voting Rights Act represented major istic portrait of black militants shredding the
movement victories, but disillusionment born remains of a nonviolent movement. A com-
of rising expectations, economic hardship, and panion film, Putney Swope, a farcical comedy
persistent prejudice helped fuel the Black about black militants taking over a major New
Power movement and urban riots of the late York advertising agency, appeared in 1969. Af-
1960s. The assassination of Martin Luther ter changing the agency’s name to Truth and
King in 1968, the diversions of the Vietnam Soul, Inc., the militants wreak havoc with a
War, the belated implementation of school de- clever parody of the Black Power movement.
segregation and fair housing and employment Less satisfying is The Liberation of L. B. Jones
laws, and white backlash against groups such (1970), the last film of legendary director Wil-
as the Black Panthers brought the mass-protest liam Wyler. Based on a popular Jesse Hill Ford
phase of the movement to a close by the end novel, the movie profiles the saga of a black,
of the decade. middle-class couple terrorized by white racists
Despite the obvious drama and historical in a Tennessee town. Although the film’s over-
importance of the civil rights struggles of the all depiction of the black bourgeoisie is some-
1960s, the motion picture industry has made what hackneyed, Roscoe Lee Browne’s por-
only a half-hearted attempt to put this tumul- trayal of the long-suffering undertaker L. B.
tuous era on film. A notable early effort is Jones is convincing, as is Yaphet Kotto’s role
Nothing but a Man (1964), a powerful dram- as a black radical who dispatches a white racist
atization of a romance between a black rail- in a hay cropper.
road worker and a black middle-class school- Predictably, Hollywood’s brief flirtation
teacher. This low-budget film makes only with civil rights themes all but disappeared in
passing mention of the civil rights movement the early 1970s as the white backlash, propelled
but offers a sensitive and moving treatment of by Richard Nixon’s “Southern strategy” of so-
the complications of class and race in the early liciting the votes of disaffected segregationists,
1960s. gained momentum. With the exceptions of
In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s The Man (1972), a mediocre adaptation of Ir-
Coming to Dinner—the first major feature ving Wallace’s bestseller about America’s first
films to focus on race relations in the waning black president, and The Klansman (1974), a
years of Jim Crow—broke new ground when sensationalist potboiler based on William
they were released in 1967. In both cases, Sid- Bradford Huie’s novel about racial turmoil
ney Poitier’s suave upper-middle-class persona and white resistance in the contemporary
limited his character’s relevance to the expe- South, feature films studiously avoided the
riences of most black Americans, but the posi- modern civil rights scene until the mid-1980s.
tive response to these films among whites sug- Fortunately, in the interim, television took up
gested that sensitive topics such as interracial some of the slack by offering several notable
marriage and black empowerment were no civil rights docudramas. In 1974, the ABC net-
longer taboo. In 1968, the release of Up Tight!, work broadcast a powerful adaptation of Er-
a remake of the 1935 classic The Informer reset nest Gaines’s novel The Autobiography of Miss
in a Cleveland ghetto following the assassina- Jane Pittman. Featuring an unforgettable per-
tion of Martin Luther King, demonstrated that formance by Cicely Tyson, this Emmy Award–
one producer was even willing to make a film winning film uses the reminiscences of a fic-
338 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

tional 110-year-old woman to trace the evo- moving story of a white army officer battling
lution of civil rights from the Civil War to the racism during an attempt to bury a black Viet-
1960s. The script’s focus on ordinary individ- nam War hero in an all-white cemetery in
uals involved in local civil rights struggles Georgia in the 1970s; a year later Louis Gossett
makes the film especially valuable. Though Jr. led an all-star cast in a memorable televised
well intentioned, a second ABC docudrama, version of A Gathering of Old Men, Ernest
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. The Ku Klux Klan Gaines’s story of a group of aging Louisiana
(1975), offers a more problematic view of the blacks who belatedly take collective responsi-
movement and its alleged allies. The first of bility for the murder of a local white suprem-
several films to explore the murders of three acist.
civil rights activists—Andrew Goodman, Mi- Television’s reliance on historical fiction to
chael Schwerner, and James Chaney—during dramatize the civil rights struggle continued in
Mississippi’s Freedom Summer of 1964, Attack the early 1990s with the airing of a short-lived
on Terror details and glorifies the efforts of but remarkable weekly NBC series I’ll Fly Away
white FBI agents but pays only fleeting atten- (1991–93). Reminiscent of To Kill a Mocking-
tion to movement participants, black or white. bird but more subtle in its depiction of south-
Television’s most ambitious effort to inter- ern race relations, I’ll Fly Away presents the
pret the civil rights movement—director- interrelated stories of two Deep South families
writer Abby Mann’s lavish four-hour produc- in the 1960s. The lead characters—Forrest
tion, King—appeared in 1978, on the heels of Bedford, a politically ambitious district attor-
Arthur Haley’s spectacularly successful mini- ney played by Sam Waterston, and Lilly
series Roots (1977). Though marred by hagi- Harper, a black housekeeper and single
ographic reverence, Mann’s script presents a mother played by Regina Taylor—grapple
vivid dramatization of Martin Luther King’s with life’s challenges amid the complexities of
life. Paul Winfield’s portrayal of the martyred a changing racial order. Several episodes focus
civil rights leader is mesmerizing, especially on Lilly’s growing awareness of and involve-
during the film’s depictions of King’s struggles ment in civil rights activities, including a voter
in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. Un- registration drive and a sit-in on the court-
fortunately, the film’s tight focus on King and house steps. Lilly’s rising expectations and
the SCLC leaves little room for a serious treat- sense of self-respect clash with her employer’s
ment of other civil rights leaders and organi- mixed feelings about the civil rights move-
zations and at times gives the misleading im- ment, but in the end the series offers a hopeful
pression that he alone created and led the projection of racial adjustment and redemp-
modern civil rights movement. Despite this tion. In October 1993, PBS broadcast a two-
limitation, or perhaps because of it, Mann’s hour movie sequel featuring Lilly as a success-
effort attracted enough viewers to sustain the ful sixty-year-old novelist recounting the
television industry’s interest in civil rights dra- tumultuous civil rights era to her son. Al-
mas. In 1979 the four-part miniseries Roots: though less satisfying than the original epi-
The Next Generation, extended Alex Haley’s sodes, the sequel represents an interesting at-
family saga from 1882 to the 1970s, including tempt to put the series in historical context,
an episode on Haley’s relationship with Mal- using Lilly’s encounters with an aging Bedford
colm X; in 1986 director John Korty (also the and other figures from her past as an allegory
director of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitt- of the New South.
man) and screenwriter Morgan Halsey Davis Hollywood has never produced a civil rights
joined forces with actors John Lithgow and film approaching the quality of I’ll Fly Away,
Morgan Freeman to produce Resting Place, the but after fifteen years of silence it finally re-
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 339

a seriously distorted view of the bureau’s pos-

ture toward the Freedom Summer and the civil
rights movement in general. The film also
grossly understates the role of the media in
forcing federal officials to investigate the mur-
ders and all but ignores the real sacrifices of
the Freedom Summer activists and “local peo-
ple,” who risked their lives to bring a measure
of justice to Mississippi. Not surprisingly, Mis-
sissippi Burning’s highly publicized release trig-
gered a firestorm of criticism among move-
ment veterans and historians, prompting a
third attempt to put the Freedom Summer case
on film—the 1990 television docudrama Mur-
der in Mississippi, a straightforward account
that offers the most accurate and balanced
treatment to date.
Mississippi is also the setting for four recent
efforts to dramatize the interracial violence
that punctuated the civil rights struggles of the
1960s. In A Time to Kill (1996), a faithful ad-
aptation of John Grisham’s first novel, Mat-
thew McConaughey plays a white lawyer rep-
resenting a black man (Samuel L. Jackson)
FIGURE 41. I’ll Fly Away (1991–1993). District
Attorney Forrest Bedford (Sam Waterson) and his black
who murdered two poor whites who had raped
housekeeper Lilly Harper (Regina Taylor) personify the his ten-year old daughter. Although pure fic-
changing dynamics of southern race relations in the tion, the film offers a nuanced and believable
1960s. Courtesy NBC Television. picture of Mississippi race relations and invites
comparison with the 1949 film Intruder in the
turned to civil right themes with the 1988 re- Dust. The same could be said for Freedom Song
lease of Mississippi Burning. Directed by noted (2000), a sophisticated and moving explora-
British filmmaker Alan Parker, this second at- tion of SNCC involvement and local activism
tempt to dramatize the Freedom Summer in a small Mississippi town during the 1960s.
murders of 1964 features a scathing indict- Directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring
ment of Mississippi segregationists, Academy Danny Glover, Freedom Song is the first film
Award–winning cinematography, and strong to provide a credible, fiction-based dramati-
performances by Willem Dafoe and Gene zation of SNCC’s extraordinary impact on the
Hackman as the two FBI agents who cracked freedom struggle in Mississippi.
the case. Regrettably, what it does not feature Less concerned with the movement but per-
is historical accuracy. Although marketed as a haps more valuable as a cinematic depiction of
faithful reconstruction of the FBI’s attempt to black life in Mississippi during the post–World
solve the murders, the film is riddled with fac- War II era is Once Upon a Time . . . When We
tual errors and questionable interpretations. Were Colored (1996). Based upon an autobio-
Downplaying the racial and political conser- graphical novel by Clifton L. Taulbert and di-
vatism that pervaded the J. Edgar Hoover–led rected by Tim Reid, this feature film chronicles
FBI in the 1960s, Chris Gerolmo’s script offers a decade and a half (1946–62) of cultural and
340 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

political change among the black residents of bama. In George Wallace, Gary Sinise’s riveting
Glen Allan, Mississippi. A carefully crafted portrayal of the race-baiting Alabama gover-
script and powerful performances by Al Free- nor has an air of authenticity, but invented
man Jr., Richard Roundtree, and Phylicia Ras- characters, factual errors, and garbled chro-
had make this one of the most emotionally en- nology detract from the film’s historical value.
gaging “civil rights films” yet produced by These problems are even more apparent in The
Hollywood. An equally ambitious but ulti- Sins of the Father, though the film does have
mately less satisfying film, Ghosts of Mississippi the virtue of making an honest effort to rep-
(1997), tells the story of Assistant District At- resent the psychological complexity and cul-
torney Bobby DeLaughter’s belated but ulti- tural context of the white segregationist mind-
mately successful prosecution of Byron De La set.
Beckwith, the white supremacist who assassi- George Wallace’s racial demagoguery is an
nated Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers important part of the civil rights story, pri-
in 1963. James Woods’s portrayal of De La marily because his attempt to mobilize disaf-
Beckwith is chilling, and Whoopi Goldberg’s fected white supremacists in the presidential
understated performance as Myrlie Evers, the campaigns of 1964 and 1968 helped to precip-
long-suffering widow who questioned the re- itate the fragmentation of the civil rights
solve and integrity of DeLaughter and other movement. During the mid- and late 1960s, as
white law enforcement officials, is convincing. Martin Luther King and SCLC conducted
Even so, for historians of the civil rights move- campaigns against de facto segregation and
ment the film represents a missed opportunity. discrimination in Chicago and other northern
The filmmaker’s decision to focus almost ex- cities, both the politics of white backlash and
clusively on DeLaughter and the 1990s retrial the civil rights struggle itself became national
of De La Beckwith left no room for even a in scope. At the same time, major “race riots”
cursory treatment of Medgar Evers and the erupted in Watts and other urban ghettoes,
civil rights struggle in Mississippi. The film fueling the fires of reaction and bringing black-
fails to communicate why Evers was willing to nationalist groups such as the Nation of Islam
risk his life for the civil rights movement or and the Black Panthers to the fore. By the end
why De La Beckwith was so determined to of the decade, the movement had devolved
eliminate Evers. The script’s inattention to his- into a welter of competing ideologies and so-
torical context is consistent with the film in- cial confusion, which may help to explain why
dustry’s longstanding reluctance to explore the reliable scholarly accounts of this phase of the
passions that animated and divided the con- movement are rare and cinematic treatments
tending forces of the civil rights struggle. are even rarer. Other than the 1968 film Up
This tradition of avoidance has been espe- Tight! mentioned earlier, the only feature film
cially true with respect to the white suprema- to grapple with this subject is Spike Lee’s Mal-
cist side of the struggle. Indeed, the only seri- colm X. Released with great fanfare in 1992,
ous effort to dramatize the segregationist Lee’s three-and-a-half-hour epic recounts the
movement of the 1960s are the 1997 miniseries remarkable life and death of the charismatic
George Wallace, a melodramatic screen biog- Black Muslim leader, assassinated in 1965. An-
raphy directed by John Frankenheimer, and chored by Denzel Washington’s riveting per-
The Sins of the Father (2002), a semifictional formance, Lee’s mythic reconstruction of Mal-
account of a man’s attempt to come to terms colm X’s odyssey from street hustler to prison
with his father’s involvement in the infamous inmate to national icon offers good drama—
September 1963 church bombing and murder but bad history. Invented characters and a
of four young black girls in Birmingham, Ala- heavily politicized and fanciful reinterpreta-
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 341

tion of Malcolm X’s later years compromise the best available documentary on the most
the film’s value as a work of history. Movie- influential black nationalist of the 1960s;
goers in search of a more faithful account of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices
the political and philosophical adjustments (1996), a carefully rendered study of the leg-
that followed Malcolm X’s break with Nation endary black intellectual who helped found the
of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad should con- NAACP; First Person Singular: John Hope
sult the excellent 1994 Blackside documentary Franklin (1997), an enlightening biographical
Malcolm X: Make It Plain. portrait of a courageous African American his-
torian and activist; The Promised Land (1997),
Documentaries an engrossing study of post–World War II
The struggle for civil rights has inspired a large black migration to northern cities; Scottsboro:
number of documentary films. With a few no- An American Tragedy (2001), a beautifully ed-
table exceptions, civil rights documentaries ited collage of photographs and interviews that
tend to be brief, low-budget productions that easily supercedes the 1976 docudrama Judge
focus on a particular incident or individual. Horton and the Scottsboro Boys; and Freedom
Most rely heavily on television news footage Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore
and videotaped interviews of activists, and (2000), a sophisticated and eye-opening look
more than a few are makeshift, semiprofes- at life and death of the controversial Florida
sional productions initiated by movement par- NAACP and voting rights leader who, along
ticipants. The filmography includes a listing of with his wife Harriet, was murdered by Klans-
significant civil rights documentaries, ranging men in December 1951.
from Frank Capra’s seminal 1944 film The Ne- The most ambitious and unquestionably
gro Soldier to Spike Lee’s 1997 Academy most successful attempt to provide a docu-
Award–nominated documentary Four Little mentary record of the civil rights movement is
Girls, a heartrending account of the September African American producer Henry Hampton’s
1963 bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth monumental PBS series Eyes on the Prize. Nar-
Street Baptist Church, as seen through the eyes rated by movement veteran Julian Bond, the
of friends and relatives of the four young girls fourteen-part series uses a skillful blend of
killed by the blast. Nearly all of these films in- news footage and retrospective interviews fea-
clude stirring reminders of the sights and turing movement participants, government of-
sounds of the movement, but only a few pro- ficials, white segregationists, and other observ-
vide a contextual framework or serious his- ers. In preparing the series, Hampton enlisted
torical analysis. Among the best are No Viet- several leading civil rights historians as re-
namese Ever Called Me Nigger (1968), a search consultants and assembled hundreds of
wrenching look at black soldiers fighting in rare and evocative photographic and video im-
Vietnam; King: A Filmed Record . . . From ages of the civil rights struggle. The first six
Montgomery to Memphis (1968), a well-edited episodes, released as Eyes on the Prize I in 1986,
biographical portrait produced just after trace the evolution of the movement from the
King’s death; Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker Brown decision of 1954 to the Selma-to-Mont-
(1981), an inspiring profile of an important gomery march of 1965. All of the episodes of-
but often overlooked movement organizer; fer accurate and balanced accounts of the
Never Turn Back: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer movement’s triumphs, failures, and limita-
(1983), a biography of the Mississippi Free- tions, but episodes 2 and 3, Fighting Back
dom Democratic Party activist who caused a (1957–1962) and Ain’t Scared of Your Jails
sensation at the 1964 Democratic National (1960–1961), are especially good. Eyes on the
Convention; Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994), Prize II, released in 1989, extends the story
342 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

from the 1965 Voting Rights Act to the early sented a series of challenges to other filmmak-
years of the Reagan administration. With the ers: to overcome the film industry’s traditional
exception of the episodes on the riots and black reluctance to deal with the history of social and
power movements of the mid- and late 1960s, political movements; to take full advantage of
Eyes on the Prize II is less compelling than Eyes the recent proliferation of civil rights scholar-
on the Prize I, but the intellectual quality of the ship; to recapture the history, not the mythol-
series is uniformly high. For a reliable and com- ogy, of the civil rights struggle; and, in general,
prehensive survey of the modern civil rights to fulfill the educational promise of film in an
movement, there is no better source, in print area of American life that affects us all. More
or on film, than Eyes on the Prize. than a mere genre, civil rights films carry the
By proving that it is impossible to put an en- potential to illuminate, and perhaps even to en-
gaging and sophisticated version of the civil hance, the ongoing effort to resolve the racial
rights story on the screen, Henry Hampton pre- dilemmas of America’s pas and present.

References
The Klansman (1974, F)
Filmography The Liberation of L. B. Jones (1970, F)
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan Lilies of the Field (1963, F)
(1975, TV) The Long Walk Home (1990, F)
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974, TV) Lost Boundaries (1949, F)
Black Like Me (1964, F) Malcolm X (1992, F)
Boycott (2001, TV) Malcolm X: Make It Plain (1994, D)
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990, TV) The Man (1972, F)
The Defiant Ones (1958, F) Miss Evers’ Boys (1997, TV)
Driving Miss Daisy (1989, F) Mississippi Burnning (1988, F)
Edge of the City (1957, F) Murder in Mississipi (1990, TV)
The Ernest Green Story (1993, TV) Mutiny (1999, TV)
Eyes on the Prize (1986, D) The Negro Soldier (1944, D)
Eyes on the Prize II (1989, D) Never Turn Back: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer
First Person Singular: John Hope Franklin (1997, D) (1983, D)
Four Little Girls (1997, D) Nothing but a Man (1964, F)
Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore No Vietnamese Ever Called Me Nigger (1968, D)
(2000, D) No Way Out (1950, F)
Freedom Song (2000, TV) Odds Against Tomorrow (1957, F)
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker (1981, D) Once Upon a Time . . . When We Were Colored
A Gathering of Old Men (1987, D) (1996, F)
George Wallace (1997, TV) Pinky (1949, F)
Ghosts of Mississippi (1997, F) The Promised Land (1997, D)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, F) Putney Swope (1969, F)
Having Our Say: The Delaney Sisters’ First Hundred The Quiet One (1947, F)
Years (1999, TV) A Raisin in the Sun (1961, F)
The Home of the Brave (1949, F) Resting Place (1986, TV)
The House I Live In (1946, F) Roots: The Next Generation (1979, TV)
I’ll Fly Away (1991–93, TV) The Rosa Parks Story (2002, TV)
In the Heat of the Night (1967, F) Scottsboro: An American Tragedy (2001, D)
Intruder in the Dust (1949, F) Selma, Lord, Selma (1999, TV)
Island in the Sun (1957, F) Separate but Equal (1991, TV)
It Happened in Springfield (1946, F) Simple Justice (1993, TV)
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950, F) The Sins of the Father (2002, TV)
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys (1976, TV) A Soldier’s Story (1984, F)
King (1978, TV) The Strange Demise of Jim Crow (1997, D)
King: A Filmed Record . . . From Montgomery to A Time to Kill (1996, F)
Memphis (1968, D) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, F)
 CIVIL RIGHTS ] 343
The Tuskegee Airmen (1995, TV) vision, and Race During the Civil Rights Struggle.
Up Tight! (1968, F) Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.
The Vernon Johns Story (1994, TV) Grant, Joanne. Ella Baker: Freedom Bound. New York:
W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices Wiley, 1998.
(1996, D) Halberstam, David. The Children. New York: Ran-
dom House, 1998.
King, Richard H. Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Bibliography Kirby, Jack Temple. Media-Made Dixie: The South in
Albert, Peter J., and Ronald Hoffman, eds. We Shall the American Imagination. Baton Rouge: Louisiana
Overcome: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black State University Press, 1978.
Freedom Struggle. New York: Pantheon, 1990. Kluger, Richard. Simple Justice: The History of Brown
Bogle, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, v. Board of Education and Black America’s Struggle
and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in for Equality. New York: Knopf, 1976.
American Films. New York: Viking, 1973. Levin, G. Roy. Documentary Explorations: 15 Inter-
Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the views with Filmmakers. Garden City, NY: Double-
King Years, 1954–63. New York: Simon & Schuster, day, 1981.
1988. Lewis, John, and Michael D’Orso. Walking with the
——. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963– Wind: A Memoir of the Movement. New York:
65. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Campbell, Edward D.C., Jr. The Celluloid South: Hol- Morris, Aldon D. The Origins of the Civil Rights
lywood and the Southern Myth. Knoxville: Univer- Movement: Black Communities Organizing for
sity of Tennessee Press, 1981. Change. New York: Free Press, 1984.
Carnes, Mark C., ed. Past Imperfect: History According Morris, Willie. The Ghosts of Medgar Evers: A Tale of
to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. Race, Murder, Mississippi, and Hollywood. New
Carson, Clayborne. In Struggle: SNCC and the Black York: Random House, 1998.
Awakening of the 1960s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Olson, Lynne. Freedom’s Daughters: The Unsung Her-
University Press, 1981. oines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to
Cham, Mbye B., and Calire Andrade-Watkins, eds. 1970. New York: Scribner, 2001.
Critical Perspectives on Black Independent Cinema. Payne, Charles. I’ve Got the Light of Freedom. Berke-
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988. ley: University of California Press, 1995.
Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood Raines, Howell, ed. My Soul Is Rested: Movement
Message Movie from World War II to the Civil Days in the Deep South Remembered. New York:
Rights Era. New York: Oxford University Press, Putnam’s, 1977.
1993. Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
Dittmer, John. Local People: The Struggle for Civil can Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington:
Rights in Mississippi. Urbana: University of Illinois University of Kentucky Press, 1998.
Press, 1994. Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality,
Egerton, John. Speak Now against the Day: The Gen- 1954–1980. New York: Hill & Wang, 1981
eration before the Civil Rights Movement in the Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood: The Use
South. New York: Knopf, 1994. and Abuse of the American Past. Urbana: University
Fairclough, Adam. Race and Democracy: The Civil of Illinois Press, 1996.
Rights Struggle in Louisiana, 1915–1972. Athens: Tyson, Timothy B. Radio Free Dixie: Robert F. Wil-
University of Georgia Press, 1995. liams and the Roots of Black Power. Chapel Hill:
——. To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
Christian Leadership Conferences and Martin Luther Ward, Brian, ed. Media, Culture, and the Modern Af-
King, Jr. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1995. rican American Freedom Struggle. Gainesville: Uni-
Graham, Allison. Framing the South: Hollywood, Tele- versity Press of Florida, 2002.
[ ANTHONY CHASE ]

Congress

hat’s right, I don’t want to talk about it,” Watergate morality,” and the organized bar

“T says the Thunder Bay Inn bartender

(Murray Hamilton), drying glasses and
smoking nervously, in Otto Preminger’s Anat-
omy of a Murder (1959). The last person he
understandably worries over the contempo-
rary public image of attorneys. But law and
government, perceived as admirable public
professions, probably reached their zenith be-
wants to talk to about the night Barney Quill tween the Depression and the present during
was shot is wily defense attorney Paul Biegler the Kennedy years. There are important ele-
(James Stewart), cornering him behind the ments of continuity and change in Holly-
bar. But two years earlier Hamilton was more wood’s history of Congress, and to understand
than happy to talk to Stewart, this time playing the political landscape fully, both deserve care-
Charles Lindbergh, when the two paired off as ful attention.
ragamuffin stunt pilots in Billy Wilder’s The
Spirit of St. Louis (1957). Hamilton, as Bud Profiles in Courage and Corruption
Gurney, confides in Lindbergh that Gurney’s Another Preminger film made during this pe-
dad thinks that a gypsy pilot is basically a bum. riod, Advise and Consent (1962), is perhaps the
“My old man’s in the construction business most intelligent American film ever made
[and] wants me to come home and go to work about the inner workings of the legislative
for him. Says I come from respectable people. branch of national government. It can be use-
. . . Do you come from respectable people?” he fully compared with Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith
asks Lindy. “My father was a lawyer in Min- Goes to Washington (1939). Although sepa-
nesota,” Lindbergh replies proudly, relaxed be- rated by only two decades, the films are in
neath a tree on a lazy summer afternoon, “and some respects like night and day. Capra’s Boy
was in Congress for ten years.” “Congress?” Scouts seem more like refugees from a Little
exclaims Gurney, much impressed. “Yeah, but Rascals episode than the street urchins of Wil-
that’s not for me,” Lindy adds quickly. “You liam Wyler’s Wild Boys of the Road (1934), but
can’t do it from a plane.” his Mr. Smith is nevertheless, like Wyler’s grim
The timing here is significant. The late picture, painted against a Depression-era can-
1950s—when Wilder and Preminger made vas. The political dynamics of Advise and Con-
these two classics—and the early 1960s repre- sent, on the other hand, are played out against
sented the golden age for motion picture law- a McCarthy-era backdrop, the film represent-
yers and silver screen senators. During the De- ing a kind of blacklist period piece with issues
pression era, lawyers were almost uniformly of frame-up and political blackmail never far
portrayed as shysters, and politicians were of- from center stage.
ten seen as corrupt windbags. Both real legis- Tom Milne describes Advise and Consent as
lators and their motion picture counterparts a companion piece to Preminger’s Anatomy of
have been judged harshly in the glare of “post- a Murder, “tackling Washington politics with

344
 CONGRESS ] 345

ted suicide rather than submit to a nefarious

blackmail scheme.
The blackmailer himself, ironically por-
trayed as a McCarthy-like extreme liberal, will
do anything to get the secretary of state nom-
inee through the Congress. Realizing that his
plot has failed, he confronts the majority
leader, Senator Bob Munson (Walter Pidg-
eon). “We tolerate about anything here. . . .
That’s what the Senate’s for,” Munson in-
structs his junior. “But you’ve dishonored us.”
FIGURE 42. Advise and Consent (1962). Director Otto
Preminger’s film depicts the dynamics of power politics, The youthful true believer snaps back, “What
blackmail, scandal, and personal hatreds in the hallways I did was for the good of the country.” Mun-
and rooms of the government’s legislative branch. son evenly replies, “Fortunately, our country
Courtesy Columbia Pictures.
always manages to survive patriots like you.”
In Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy
the best-selling mixture of sophistication and Stewart’s Senator Jefferson Smith and his he-
evasion characteristic of Preminger in his roics are at the heart of the film’s ultimately
‘problem picture’ mood” (10). The “evasion” optimistic view of congressional politics: one
Milne alleges no doubt refers to Preminger’s man can make a difference. “The reactionary
failure to specify any more concretely the real- side of Capra,” biographer Joseph McBride ob-
world political analogues of Advise and Con- serves, “was overshadowed by an urgent burst
sent’s shady dealers and intimidation artists. of idealism in the late 1930s that enabled him
There are better films to watch if the main goal to bring forth, at the end of the decade, a ring-
is to learn about the McCarthy period, but ing patriotic work that celebrated the Ameri-
there are no better pictures for the purpose of can political system without flinching from a
understanding the deeply personal, as well as realistic depiction of its flaws and corruption”
political, high stakes wagered in the lawmaking (411). McBride also points out, as have others,
process at its summit, the apex of legislative the “uncomfortable irony” that the chief
power. screenwriter on Mr. Smith was, in fact, Sidney
Advise and Consent is loaded with sterling Buchman, a member of the Communist Party.
illustrations of what congressmen and con- Little credit for their patriotic film work was
gresswomen should be like—profiles in cour- later provided party members when, after
age, if you will. Mr. Smith of Oregon votes World War II had been won by the Allies, they
“yes” on confirmation of the president’s choice were hauled before the House Un-American
for secretary of state, and then the name of Mr. Activities Committee (HUAC) or placed on
Smith of Rhode Island is called out. There is a Hollywood’s blacklist. So Mr. Smith and Advise
long pause and a rapid zoom-in on the pensive and Consent are made and set in different his-
face of Peter Lawford, playing a senator loyal torical periods, with different contextual issues
to his party and president and yet, at this key driving their separate narratives. Nevertheless,
moment, silent. “Mr. Smith of Rhode Island” the films are similar in their depiction of the
is called again, and Lawford firmly says “No,” underside of legislative process as well as an
sending a ripple of surprise through the cham- exemplary tradition of political courage, two
ber. Senator Smith has apparently voted his different chapters in the story of the U.S. Con-
conscience, placing principle above party, re- gress. Historian William Appleman Williams
maining true to a colleague who has commit- suggests that “some movies of the 1930s, de-
346 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

spite the censorship of the Hays office, did

offer a deeper reality” (276). And Williams
specifically cites a Capra film by way of
illustration—but it is It Happened One Night,
for its sexual candor, and not Mr. Smith. Cer-
tainly, the New Deal was not short on idealism.
But Capra’s lone heroes, like Mr. Smith, never
had a chance.
“Whatever the rhetoric of liberalism,” ar-
gues Williams (or, we might say, whatever the
rhetoric of Hollywood populism), the sub-
stance of New Deal “political economy was a
corporate state capitalism increasingly fi- F I G U R E 4 3 . Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939).
nanced by the taxpayer and controlled by a After a senator dies, Jefferson Smith ( James Stewart),
the innocent and idealistic director of a Boy Scouts–like
bureaucratic and political elite drawn from the organization, is appointed to take his place by corrupt
upper class” (249). Frank Capra may have politicians and a controlling media magnate who wish
sought, as he put it, simply to “elevate the in- to use him for their illegal schemes. On the Senate floor,
dividual” and, without doubt, as Giuliana Smith bucks their control in a famous filibustering
session. Courtesy Columbia Pictures Corporation.
Muscio suggests in Hollywood’s New Deal, the
“ritual of the Hollywood happy ending had a
reassuring function” (73). But the 1930s did Congressional Continuity
not end with control over American govern- Beneath and beyond the subtle relationship
ment and society effectively falling into the between these two films and their subject,
hands of Senator Jefferson Smith and his anti- there remains, of course, a sustained pattern
establishment constituents. According to Wil- of cynicism and hostility toward legislators and
liams, they just paid for it. politicians expressed throughout the history of
The ending of Advise and Consent, a more American popular culture. Mark Twain’s joke
jaded and harder-edged film than Mr. Smith, that congressmen are the only inherently crim-
is ambiguous and perhaps more reflective of inal class in America is famous. Less well
the political climate and culture from which it known, but just as representative of at least
emerged. Historian Frank Freidel observes that one strain of thought, are these lines from the
President John Kennedy “conferred tactfully sermon preached in a Nantucket chapel at the
and tirelessly with key Congressmen, and beginning of Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick:
maintained skilled liaison men at the Capitol. “Delight is to him, who gives no quarter in the
He respected the pride and dignity of Con- truth, and kills, burns, and destroys all sin
gress, avoided angry words, and demonstrated though he pluck it out from under the robes
a willingness to compromise” (584). Although of Senators and Judges.”
novelist Allen Drury and director Otto Prem- In the early Will Rogers silent film Our Con-
inger breathe life into Freidel’s dry historical gressman (1924), Rogers (as Congressman Alf-
description with scenes depicting love and alfa Doolittle) is tracked down in Washington
death, sex and suicide, and personal blackmail by some of his hometown constituents. They
and political bluff, they nevertheless place in manage to catch up with him on the golf
sharp profile the logrolling and craft of accom- course. “So this is what politics has done for
modation that, in Preminger’s Washington, you?” they inquire contemptuously. “Why,”
replace the romantic gesture of Jefferson Doolittle responds defensively, “some of our
Smith’s frenzied, nonstop filibuster. greatest questions are settled on the links.”
 CONGRESS ] 347

Pointing to the congressman’s baggy plaid golf committee insider walks up to him, shakes his
slacks, one unhappy voter observes, “Laws hand, and congratulates him: “Eddie, you
framed in pants like them would be unconsti- lucked out. Her committee chairman must
tutional.” Seventy-two years later, in Tim Bur- have persuaded Comisky to vote yes.” Con-
ton’s Mars Attacks! (1996) there is a long shot gresswoman Comisky’s eyes barely meet
of the U.S. Capitol building in flames after an Sanger’s as she strides by. Eddie has a pained
unprovoked assault by aliens from space. An expression on his face—perhaps because he is
elderly woman watching on television claps not happy with what his job is turning into or
her knees and gleefully bursts out, “They blew perhaps because he is already romantically in-
up Congress!” terested in his public defender coconspirator.
Legislators themselves remain common in But despite the way it sounds, Suspect does not
American movies, right up to the present, as present this particular politician–lobbyist re-
individuals and committee members, fre- lationship as a sordid one: it’s just another day
quently popping up in films drawn from a at the office, one more angle on the business
wide range of movie genres. In Irwin Winkler’s of government.
Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Hollywood at- Similarly, in Phillip Noyce’s Clear and Pres-
tempts to come to terms with its own partic- ent Danger (1994), there is a somewhat ambig-
ular slice of political history, and a congres- uous Senate committee hearing sequence. CIA
sional committee investigating Communists in agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is scurrying
the movie industry during the early years of around his suburban living room trying on
the Cold War is portrayed as itself fundamen- different ties, hoping to find one that will make
tally at odds with American democracy. Peter him “look trustworthy.” As he walks out the
Yates’s suspense film The House on Carroll door, he shoves an extra tie into his coat
Street (1988) begins with a title reading, “U.S. pocket, just to play it safe. The next shot is of
Senate Hearing, New York, 1951,” beneath a the U.S. Capitol, with a voiceover of Senator
picture of Emily Crane (Kelly McGillis) being Mayo (Hope Lange), already beginning her
sworn to give testimony before a congressional questioning of the CIA official regarding his
committee about to grill the Life editor for her request for supplemental Congressional fund-
membership in alleged subversive organiza- ing for the U.S. war-on-drugs program in Co-
tions. lombia. What Senator Mayo wants to know is
In a crime drama directed by Yates the pre- whether “this increase in funds, this ‘escala-
vious year, Suspect (1987), Cher plays public tion’ to use your word, will not be used for any
defender Kathleen Riley, secretly working with covert military action.” Ryan acts insulted, as
a criminal trial juror to solve the mystery be- if his credibility has been questioned, and it
hind a judicial suicide. Her part-time juror ac- does seem he is being unfairly accused. As the
complice, played by Dennis Quaid, happens film unfolds, however, it becomes clear that
also to be full-time congressional lobbyist the senator’s concerns are more prophetic than
Eddie Sanger, who sleeps with Congress- paranoid.
woman Grace Comisky (E. Katherine Kerr) in Ray Wise, a veteran of Tim Robbins’s Bob
the hope that she will provide a key vote in Roberts (1992), plays Senator John Morton in
behalf of legislation for which he is a paid ad- Rising Sun (1993). Morton initially appears on
vocate. The deal remains unstated, however, a segment of CNN’s Crossfire, where, under
since both lobbyist and congresswoman are sharp questioning from real life CNN journal-
above an overt sexual bribe. Eddie is biting his ists, he vigorously opposes governmental ap-
nails as committee members empty from their proval of a contract that would purportedly
private meeting into the corridor when one give Japanese corporations some control over
348 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

U.S. military research and development. Later drugs at a Georgetown cocktail party in Traffic
in the film, however, the slick-talking senator (2000) are presented as more naive than evil.
claims to have “refined,” rather than reversed, Unlike Runyon, they seem not to know where
his earlier opposition to the sale of Microcon. the bodies are buried. In spite of their antidrug
Wearing a designer tennis outfit reminiscent rhetoric, their ignorance of the true scope of
of Will Rogers’s uncharacteristic golf attire in narcotics trafficking is portrayed as part of the
Our Congressman, Senator Morton clicks off problem, not the solution.
his TV and explains, “So far, the response has If Cold War congressional investigators (at
been ten to one in favor of the way I have . . . least nowadays, in contrast to those of the
modified my position.” Now the senator is a 1950s) and the Shelly Runyons of the (legis-
proponent of foreign trade and free markets, lative) world tend to be darkly portrayed, and
which means the sale should go through. No other representatives, such as like Suspect’s
sucker for this kind of double talk, special police Congresswoman Comisky or Clear and Present
investigator John Connor (Sean Connery) says Danger’s Senator Mayo, are colored shades of
that it sounds to him like a complete reversal gray, there are lighter versions as well. White-
of the senator’s original view: “But you were knight congressional committee investigator
against the sale because it put our advanced Dick Goodwin (Rob Morrow), in Robert Red-
weaponry entirely in the control of the Japa- ford’s Quiz Show (1994), provides a perfect ex-
nese.” It comes as no surprise by the end of the ample. From the scene where TV producers
film that the senator has been blackmailed into have initially discussed rigging quiz show
changing his vote on the Microcon deal. questions, Redford cuts to a shot of the Capitol
Congressman Sheldon Runyon (Gary Old- with a telephone voiceover saying “Richard
man), chairman of a powerful appointments Goodwin. I’m an investigator . . . with the
confirmation committee, is a lot smarter than subcommittee on legislative oversight.” The
Rising Sun’s Senator Morton, but in The Con- tenacious, idealistic, recent Harvard Law
tender (2000), he is the one doing the black- graduate is looking into missing rate-schedule
mailing. Although motivated by ideology documents for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad,
rather than greed, Runyon’s confusion of ends but soon he has bigger fish on the line: high-
and means makes him extremely dangerous stakes, big-money, network quiz shows where
and utterly deserving of the dirty trick actually the fix is in. Goodwin, who would indeed be-
played upon him—a relentless true believer come a Kennedy administration young Turk,
brought down by the very tactics he seemed to is portrayed as embodying all the hope and
have perfected. In spades, his fate proves the ambition of Camelot, of the liberal reformers
familiar saying, “What goes around, comes that JFK brought to Washington with him, es-
around.” A similar lesson awaits Senator Rob- pecially from Cambridge, Massachusetts. And
ert Kelly (Bruce Davison), one of the many bad an earlier generation of heroes, those who
guys in Bryan Singer’s X-Men (2000). Kelly stood up to McCarthyism, is perhaps symbol-
uses every means available to him, legal or not, ized by the role of Senator Ray Clark (Edmond
to conduct his McCarthy-like investigations O’Brien) in John Frankenheimer’s Seven Days
into the lives of the superhuman mutants in May (1964). Tossing his trusty bottle of
among us, with the goal of exterminating them bourbon into the wastebasket, Clark survives
in a replay of the Holocaust; high-minded but incarceration on a secret military base, remains
essentially evil, the senator meets an excep- the president’s steadfast ally when it is hard to
tionally gruesome though well-deserved end know for sure who is and is not a conspirator,
for his troubles. By contrast, the congressional and even helps thwart a right-wing military
representatives pontificating about the war on coup.
 CONGRESS ] 349

The Invisible Body not have prevented Japan from withdrawing

But this spectrum of characters features legis- from the organization to avoid international
lators as individuals or committee members legal sanction. But the perception that isola-
rather than as part of a political body, a branch tionists in Congress destroyed the League and
of government, a separated power under the thus made war more likely left its mark.
Constitution. This is the crucial change in the The erasure of the House and Senate as gov-
cinematic portrait of federal legislators during erning institutions in American film after Ad-
the decades subsequent to Mr. Smith Goes to vise and Consent simply reflects the actual,
Washington and Advise and Consent. And the long-term decline of the political role of the
distinction has a specifically visual conse- legislative branch in American public life. That
quence: audiences are no longer shown the decline begins with the myth that legislative
House or Senate in session, no longer shown incompetence crippled President Wilson and
the U.S. Congress as a governing institution. the League and thereby helped precipitate an-
It was initially thought, in the nineteenth cen- other world war. The lasting effect of the con-
tury, that photography would put realist paint- frontation between legislative and executive
ers out of business. More recently, it could be branches depicted in Wilson, according to his-
argued that C-SPAN’s “gavel to gavel” cover- torian James Oliver Robertson, “was to
age of the House of Representatives, not to strengthen the Presidency at the expense of the
mention blanket network reporting of the Congress. It created a set of mythic images—
Clinton presidential crisis, provides a televised of presidential idealism and leadership and re-
picture of the legislative process so realistic sponsibility in contrast to congressional short-
that movies have, in the face of such a chal- sightedness, irresponsibility, and venality—
lenge, understandably retreated. But there is a which still exist for Americans” (315).
more compelling historical explanation for the By the time of the Vietnam War, the Amer-
decline in motion picture attention to Con- ican executive was able to conduct a “police ac-
gress in action, one that is directly related to tion” that cost hundreds of thousands of Amer-
the declining role of the legislative branch itself ican and Vietnamese lives without consulting
within the structure of American governance. either the legislative branch of the U.S. govern-
In this regard, Henry King’s Wilson (1944), ment or the United Nations, the League’s suc-
produced by Darryl F. Zanuck, becomes a key cessor. James Oliver Robertson argues that the
film. Zanuck’s biopic, according to Terry Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which President
Christensen in Reel Politics (1987), suggests Johnson used to justify prosecuting a wider
that “the League of Nations and collective se- war, was passed because “Congress did not con-
curity might have prevented World War II.” sider itself adequately representative, efficient,
And although Wilson “deserves credit for tak- knowledgeable, expert, or capable of judging
ing politics seriously,” Christensen asserts that American national interests in a crisis—and it
“Wilson himself got the Lincoln treatment: he is believed, as do most Americans still, that a
was wise and good while the Europeans were President is” (317). Little wonder, then, that the
greedy and vindictive and the American iso- “imperial presidency” has elbowed the legisla-
lationists who opposed the League were fools” tive branch off the historical stage—and, after
(70). Many historians would question how the the humbling of Congress during the Vietnam
League of Nations, with or without U.S. mem- era, the cinematic stage as well.
bership, could have altered the course of Ger- Nor is this an exclusively American phe-
man imperialism and prevented war in Eu- nomenon. In his excellent Legislatures (1963),
rope. Even if the United States had been an British writer K. C. Wheare describes the gen-
active participant in the League, that would eral subordination of parliaments and legisla-
350 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

tures to the omnivorous growth of executive ers asked Deaver if the administration had not
power. Perhaps the best account of the declin- sought to avoid public debate about U.S. sup-
ing role played historically by the legislative port for the Nicaraguan Contras during Rea-
branch in the making of U.S. foreign policy is gan’s reelection campaign. “Never,” replied
provided by Bill Moyers’s PBS documentary Deaver. “Because if we’d have fought the cam-
The Secret Government: The Constitution in paign on Central America, we might have
Crisis (1987), which was accompanied by pub- lost.” The “governmental problems presented
lication of the film’s transcript, with an intro- by Iran/contra are not those of rogue opera-
duction by historian Henry Steele Commager. tions,” concluded independent counsel Law-
Three years later, in the PBS Frontline docu- rence E. Walsh in his final report on the Iran-
mentary High Crimes and Misdemeanors Contra investigation, “but rather those of
(1990), Moyers interviewed Michael K. Executive Branch efforts to evade congres-
Deaver, one of President Ronald Reagan’s key sional oversight” (xxi).
advisors during the Iran-Contra affair. In No- One expects, to be sure, a sober accounting
vember 1986, after the presidential election, it of national affairs from the Public Broadcast-
was revealed that the United States had been ing System, but Hollywood, too, has gotten
secretly selling arms to Iran in exchange for this particular story right, at least in outline.
the release of hostages, as well as to help fi- Somewhat ironically, we have a very good ex-
nance covert operations in Central America. ample of American movies providing a reliable
The Nicaraguan Contras were being funded by visual template for understanding a key feature
the Reagan administration in an attempt to of twentieth century political history: Holly-
overthrow the government of Nicaragua. Moy- wood’s covert realism.

References
Wild in the Streets (1968, F)
Filmography Wilson (1944, F)
Advise and Consent (1962, F) X-Men (2000, F)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959, F)
Bob Roberts (1992, F) Bibliography
Clear and Present Danger (1994, F)
Chase, Anthony. Movies on Trial: The Legal System on
Congress: We the People (1984, D)
The Contender (2000, F) the Silver Screen. New York: New Press, 2002.
Gabriel Over the White House (1933, F) Christensen, Terry. Reel Politics. New York: Basil
Guilty by Suspicion (1991, F) Blackwell, 1987.
High Crimes and Misdemeanors (1990, D) Elving, Ronald D. Conflict and Compromise: How
The House on Carroll Street (1988, F) Congress Makes the Law. New York: Simon &
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F) Schuster, 1996.
Mars Attacks! (1996, F) Freidel, Frank. America in the Twentieth Century. 2d
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) ed. New York: Knopf, 1965.
Our Congressman (1924, F) Harrington, Mona. The Dream of Deliverance in
Point of Order (1963, D) American Politics. New York: Knopf, 1986.
Quiz Show (1994, F) Harris, Fred R. Deadlock or Decision: The U.S.
Rising Sun (1993, F) Senate and the Rise of National Politics. New York:
The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis Oxford University Press, 1993.
(1987, D) Kellner, Douglas, and Michael Ryan. Camera Politica:
Seven Days in May (1964, F) The Politics and Ideology of Contemporary Holly-
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957, F) wood Film. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
Suspect (1987, F) 1988.
Traffic (2000, F) McBride, Joseph. Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of
Watergate: The Fall of a President (1994, D) Success. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Wild Boys of the Road (1934, F) Milne, Tom. “Advise and Consent.” In John Pym,
 CONGRESS ] 351
ed., Time Out Film Guide, 10. 6th ed. London: ema, Television, and the Modern Event. New York:
Penguin, 1998. Routledge, 1996.
Moyers, Bill. The Secret Government: The Constitution Walsh, Lawrence E. Final Report of the Independent
in Crisis. Washington, DC: Seven Locks Press, Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters. Washington, DC:
1989. U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Muscio, Giuliana. Hollywood’s New Deal. Philadel- Circuit, 1993.
phia: Temple University Press, 1997. Wheare, K. C. Legislatures. London: Oxford Univer-
Robertson, James Oliver. American Myth, American sity Press, 1963.
Reality. New York: Hill & Wang, 1980. Williams, William Appleman. Americans in a Chang-
Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Movies as Politics. Berkeley: ing World: A History of the United States in the
University of California Press, 1997. Twentieth Century. New York: Harper & Row,
Sobchack, Vivian, ed. The Persistence of History: Cin- 1978.
[ STEVEN MINTZ ]

The Family

any of our most vivid images of families the so-called traditional family, consisting of a

M in the past come from the movies.

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939),
which depicts the rugged life of farm families
in New York’s Mohawk Valley during the era
breadwinner father and a full-time mother, is
a relatively recent invention, dating back less
than two hundred years. In fact, it was not un-
til the 1920s that a majority of American fam-
of the American Revolution, helps us visualize ilies consisted of a breadwinner husband, a
family life on the colonial frontier. Similarly, homemaker wife, and two or more children
Little Women (1933, 1994), the story of a fam- attending school.
ily’s struggles during the Civil War, brings to A second key theme is that American family
life the trials and the emotional sensibilities of life has always been diverse and vulnerable to
the mid-nineteenth-century middle-class fam- disruption. At the beginning of the twentieth
ily. In much the same way, Life with Father century, the United States had the highest di-
(1947), which shows a benevolent despot try- vorce rate in the Western world; one child in
ing to maintain order in his 1880s New York ten lived in a single-parent home; and approx-
household, helps us imagine what family life imately 100,000 children lived in orphanages,
was like toward the end of the Victorian era. in many cases because their mothers and fa-
But if the movies can help us envision fami- thers could not support them.
lies in earlier times, they can also reinforce mis- A third major conclusion is that familial
leading stereotypes. Cinematic images of strong, change is nothing new. Over the past three
supportive, and stable families in the past have hundred years America’s families have repeat-
the effect of making contemporary family life edly experienced far-reaching shifts in their
seem uniquely disordered. In fact, the notion size and composition, roles and functions, and
that earlier families were more stable and ho- emotional and power dynamics. Each era in
mogeneous than ours is a myth, based more on American history has had its own distinctive
nostalgia than on accurate historical knowledge. family patterns. The colonial family was pri-
For example, in colonial America, it was com- marily a unit of production in which every
mon for parents to send boys and girls as young member was expected to contribute to the
as seven or eight to work as servants or appren- family’s support. A hierarchical institution, the
tices in other people’s households. A high death colonial family was presided over by the father,
rate meant that even as recently as 1900 most who had to consent to his children’s marriages
families could expect to lose at least one child and who kept children dependent for years
to premature death, while most children lost at through his control over inheritance.
least one parent before they reached their During the early nineteenth century, the ur-
twenty-first birthday. ban middle class created new patterns of fam-
Recent scholarship on the family has under- ily life, in which the father went to work some
scored three essential points. The first is that distance from home, while his wife devoted

352
 THE FAMILY ] 353

herself full time to raising her children and bled. Contributing to the emphasis on family
keeping house and his children remained togetherness were rapidly rising real incomes;
home until their late teens or even twenties. the GI Bill, which allowed many young men to
Economic conditions made it impossible for purchase single-family track homes in newly
working-class and farm families to conform to built suburbs; and the relatively modest ex-
this middle-class ideal of a sole male bread- pectations for personal fulfillment bred by the
winner, a rigid division of gender roles, and a Depression.
protected childhood. These groups stressed a For many Americans, the 1950s family has
cooperative family economy in which wives come to represent a cultural ideal. Yet it is im-
and children contributed to the family’s sup- portant to recognize that the popular image of
port. During the nineteenth century, children 1950s family life is highly unrepresentative.
under the age of fifteen provided as much as Only 60 percent of children born during that
20 percent of working-class family income. decade spent their childhood in a male-
In the 1920s marriage counselors popular- breadwinner, female-homemaker household.
ized a new ideal, known as the “companion- In fact, the 1950s family contained the seeds
ate” family, according to which husbands and of its own transformation. Youthful marriages,
wives were to be “friends and lovers” and par- especially by women who cut short their edu-
ents and children were to be “pals.” This new cation, contributed to a surge in divorces dur-
ideal stressed the couple relationship and fam- ing the 1960s. The compression of childbear-
ily togetherness as the primary sources of emo- ing into the first years of marriage meant that
tional satisfaction and personal happiness. The many wives were free of the most intense
Great Depression and World War II prevented childrearing responsibilities by their early or
most families from realizing this new ideal. mid-thirties. Combined with the rising costs
During the Depression, unemployment and of maintaining a middle-class standard of liv-
lower wages forced many Americans to share ing, this encouraged many married women to
living quarters with relatives, delay marriage, enter the workplace. As early as 1960, a third
and postpone having children. Many families of married, middle-class women were working
coped with hard times by returning to a co- part- or full-time. Meanwhile, the expansion
operative family economy. Many children took of schooling, combined with growing afflu-
part-time jobs, and many wives supplemented ence, contributed to the emergence of a youth
the family income by taking in sewing or laun- culture separate and apart from the family.
dry, setting up parlor groceries, or housing Between 1960 and 1980, the birth rate fell
lodgers. World War II also subjected families by half; the divorce rate and the proportion of
to great stresses, among them the severe short- working mothers doubled, as did the number
age of housing, schools, and childcare facilities of single-parent homes; and the number of
and prolonged separation from loved ones. couples cohabitating outside of wedlock qua-
Five million “war widows” ran their homes drupled. Over a quarter of all children now
and cared for children alone, while millions of lived with only one parent, and fewer than half
older married women went to work in war in- lived with both their biological mother and fa-
dustries. Wartime stresses contributed to an ther. This “domestic revolution” produced
upsurge in the divorce rate, juvenile delin- alarm, anxiety, and apprehension. It inspired
quency, unwed pregnancy, and truancy. family-values crusaders to condemn careerist
The postwar era witnessed a sharp reaction mothers, absent fathers, single parents, and
to Depression and wartime stress. The average unwed parents as the root cause of such social
age of marriage for women dropped to twenty, ills as persistent poverty, drug abuse, academic
divorce rates stabilized, and the birthrate dou- failure, and juvenile crime. The family became
354 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

a political and cultural battleground, and Extraterrestrial (1982) and An Officer and a
many of American society’s bitterest debates Gentleman (1982), illustrate the way that anx-
revolved around such family-related issues as ieties over the family extended outward from
the impact of daycare on children and access family melodramas into other genres. The
to same-sex marriage. backdrop of E.T. is the sense of loss and need
Rather than offering realistic portrayals of that grow out of a father’s leaving his family
family life, popular films are better understood for a secretary, and the background of An Of-
as cultural seismographs or barometers that ficer and a Gentleman is a young man’s diffi-
reflect shifts in film audiences and in public culty in developing a capacity for emotional
values, aspirations, and anxieties. Movies are commitment after having been abandoned by
also educators that have helped give us our im- his mother and left in his father’s care. From
ages of what ideal families are like. science fiction and action films to horror films,
anxiety about the family has pervaded recent
Families in Film films.
From the silent era onward, American film has With their reliance on visual shorthand and
focused its attention on family life, exploring caricature, cinematic portrayals of family life
spousal tensions, intergenerational conflict, have rarely been especially realistic or inclu-
and dysfunctional family relationships. Film- sive. Whole genres, such as the western, are
makers looked to the family not only to ex- largely devoid of fully developed families, and
amine the tangled texture of domestic life but even today most of Hollywood’s protagonists
also to dramatize larger social, political, and are portrayed as single and childless.
cultural issues, such as the impact of immigra- To be sure, contemporary films are far more
tion, war, and feminism on American lives. It likely than their predecessors to show single-
is revealing that such landmarks of American parent, divorced, or dual-earner families. But
film history as The Birth of a Nation (1915), in other respects, the images of family life that
The Jazz Singer (1927), and Gone with the appear on the screen remain noticeably inac-
Wind (1939) each translate broad cultural curate. Mothers, for example, are absent in a
themes into family issues. The Birth of a Nation disproportionate number of cinematic fami-
uses the threat of miscegenation to symbolize lies, especially those released by the Walt Dis-
threats to national unity and the marriage of a ney Company; African American, Asian Amer-
white Northerner and a white Southerner to ican, and Hispanic families are conspicuous
represent sectional reconciliation following the largely in their absence from the screen. Even
Civil War. The Jazz Singer personalizes issues as family life has grown more fluid in recent
involving ethnic identity and the impulse for years, films dealing with families tend to cling
assimilation by refracting these issues into the to certain older conventions, especially the no-
story of a jazz lover’s effort to break free from tion that female characters are largely defined
his family’s restrictive religious traditions by their place in the family—as wives or
while retaining his mother’s love. In Gone with daughters.
the Wind, the social upheavals of the Civil War For more than a century, American society
are dramatized through the lives of members has been profoundly concerned about the state
of an elite southern family. and fate of the family, especially the threats to
In recent years, as anxieties about the break- familial stability posed by shifts in women’s
down of the so-called traditional family have roles and status, the emergence of a distinctive
escalated, many films seemingly about other youth culture, an increase in the divorce rate,
topics in fact address familial issues. Two of and the disengagement of many fathers from
the most popular films of the 1980s, E.T.: The domestic responsibilities. Films have not only
 THE FAMILY ] 355

addressed those anxieties, but they have also transform archaic stage melodramas about
suggested solutions to them. abusive fathers and the seduction of virginal
heroines into timeless stories of love and re-
The Family in Early Cinema demption. They also offer haunting images of
The birth of film coincided with a nationwide child abuse, domestic cruelty, and sexual be-
cultural panic over the future of the family. trayal that remain powerful decades later.
During the last years of the nineteenth century, Griffith’s outlook was decidedly Victorian,
newly formed temperance organizations and and his plots often turn on threats to the sanc-
societies for the prevention of cruelty to chil- tity of the patriarchal family. A nefarious male
dren awoke many Americans to the prevalence villain threatens to harm a child or abuse a
of various forms of domestic violence and young woman and violate her chastity, and a
child neglect. At the same time, Americans chivalrous male hero must rescue each of these
learned that the United States had the highest victims. At a time when gender roles were par-
rate of divorce in the Western world and that ticularly unsettled and discussion of women’s
one family in ten was headed by a single par- suffrage and birth control animated public de-
ent. Child labor, juvenile delinquency, infant bate, Griffith offered unambiguous portraits of
and child mortality, and sexual immorality all woman and child victims rescued by virtuous
evoked public concern and prompted enact- protagonists.
ment of laws criminalizing abortion, restrict- By the 1920s, the intense moralism, reform-
ing the distribution of birth control informa- ism, and Victorianism of early film had begun
tion, closing down red-light districts, setting to fade, and many of the most popular films
up juvenile courts, and reducing the grounds of the 1920s helped to promote the new “com-
for divorce. panionate” conception of marriage that em-
Many early films dealt with issues raised by phasized partnership, communication, ro-
Progressive reformers. During the 1910s, many mance, and sexual fulfillment as the hallmarks
films focused on the threats to family stability of a new marital ideal. In a period of sharply
posed by alcohol, divorce, the double standard rising divorce rates, many experts on the fam-
of sexual morality, narcotics, the “black ily were convinced that the companionate
plague” of venereal disease, and the “white ideal offered the glue that could hold the fam-
slave trade.” Many of these films were crude ily together.
polemics whose moralistic themes were clearly During the 1920s, Hollywood played a sig-
revealed in their titles. Thus, a 1916 film on nificant role in shaping popular notions of ro-
divorce bore the title The Children Pay, while mance, love, intimacy, and sexual fulfillment,
the horrors of venereal disease were exposed while Hollywood stars served as models for
in The Sins of the Father (1913). new forms of behavior. “Flapper” films dealing
It was the director D. W. Griffith who dem- with the experiences of “flaming youth,” such
onstrated that motion pictures that dealt with as The Perfect Flapper (1924) and The Plastic
the family could be more than moralistic tracts Age (1925), helped disseminate new styles of
or crude attempts at titillation. In Broken Blos- dress, dancing, and dating. The plots of many
soms (1919) and Way Down East (1920) he of these films revolve around a young woman’s
showed that family melodramas could be efforts to circumvent parental controls and
works of art with complex images and com- achieve independence. But if these films show
pelling narratives. Reflecting the Victorian young women breaking free from Victorian re-
sensibility of the “genteel tradition,” with its strictions, they also tend to conclude on a tra-
stress on rigid gender roles, childhood inno- ditional note, with women finding happiness
cence, and moral propriety, these pictures in romance and marriage.
356 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

The Woman’s Film and the Family Life (1934). Difficult to categorize, the woman’s
Popular treatments of cinematic history some- pictures sent mixed messages to female mov-
times suggest that the history of film is the iegoers, offering images of women acting freely
story of simplistic iconic images being replaced outside the home, partaking in romance, lux-
by more complex and nuanced imagery. Thus, ury, and careers, even as they ultimately reaf-
it has been suggested that images of mother- firmed women’s roles as wives and mothers.
hood have evolved over time from crude, cer- The woman’s picture never disappeared,
tain caricatures to a more textured acceptance but, especially during the 1940s, it acquired
of complexity. Early cinema, which produced bleaker and more pathological overtones.
films such as The Eternal Mother (1912), was Films such as When Tomorrow Comes (1939),
filled with paragons of motherhood who pro- with its portrait of a married man violating his
vided their families with unconditional love wedding vows, and Mildred Pierce (1945),
and wise counsel. During the Depression, cin- where maternal self-sacrifice is punished,
ematic mothers, such as O-Lan in The Good called into question older notions of family
Earth (1937) and Ma Joad in The Grapes of values. In Now, Voyager, in which the mousy,
Wrath (1940), were often depicted as sources repressed, frustrated protagonist suffers under
of stability who kept the family together her mother’s domination, the family is de-
through hard times, or as paragons of selfless- picted as a source of psychological pathology.
ness, as in Stella Dallas (1937), who would sac-
rifice their happiness for their children’s sake. The Screwball Comedy
During and after World War II, mothers in Even in a single decade, such as the 1930s, it
such films as Now, Voyager (1942) and Psycho is extremely difficult to generalize about cine-
(1960) were portrayed as the sources of their matic representations of the family. Alongside
children’s psychological problems, resulting the woman’s films, there were a variety of con-
from coldness, excessive closeness, or abuse. flicting portrayals of family life, from W. C.
More multifaceted conceptions motherhood Fields’s lampooning the family in The Fatal
began to appear on the screen with Terms of Glass of Beer (1933) to John Ford’s celebrating
Endearment (1983). Obviously, a view that sees family strength in the face of the challenges of
a progression from caricature to complexity frontier life in Drums Along the Mohawk
contains a kernel of truth, but it also obscures (1939). Especially popular were screwball
the complex pattern of evolution in cinematic comedies. Taking their name from their sub-
images. ject matter—the madcap adventures of screw-
The history of the treatment of the family in ball characters—the screwball comedies of the
film is far too complicated to reduce to a mid- and late 1930s—with their emphasis on
Whiggish story of progress. In certain respects, confused relationships between men and
the most psychologically nuanced and insight- women, frustrated sexual passions, and comic
ful explorations of the tangled texture of family misunderstandings—offered a superficially
life can be found in the so-called woman’s lighthearted look at courtship, marriage, and
films of the 1930s and 1940s. Directed toward family life. Many screwball comedies, such as
a female audience, these films focus on My Man Godfrey (1936), offered a comic take
women’s emotions and on such subjects as on the foibles of wealthy but dysfunctional
maternal self-sacrifice, relationships among families. Staple characters include a “hen-
women, and the tension between motherhood pecked” father, a “harebrained” mother, and a
and a career. Maternal self-sacrifice was a cen- jealous sister, and many of these films feature
tral theme in many important woman’s films a heroine who is rebelling against her fathers
such as Blonde Venus (1932) and Imitation of or her snobbish family background (for ex-
 THE FAMILY ] 357

ample, Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, Beginning with A Family Affair (1937),
1934). MGM released sixteen films in the low-budget
Other screwball comedies, such as the Thin Andy Hardy series, which transformed Mickey
Man series, depicted marriage in a new light, Rooney into the country’s most popular star
as an adventure in which both husband and in 1939, 1940, and 1941. With its lighthearted
wife are true partners. One variation of the focus on family problems and teenage ro-
screwball comedy emphasized reuniting cou- mance, the series provided a prototype for tele-
ples after divorce or separation. With their vision family situation comedies. These films
strong, independent, sophisticated heroines, also played a critical role in shaping and re-
comedies of remarriage, such as The Awful inforcing cultural stereotypes about teenagers
Truth (1937), His Girl Friday (1940), and The and teenage culture.
Philadelphia Story (1940), portrayed the battle
of the sexes as a battle of equals and raised the Film Noir and the Family
question of whether female independence was Before World War II, families were usually
compatible with marriage. presented as symbols of normality. Images of
For Depression-era Americans, screwball family life as joyous and supportive would per-
comedies offered a number of reassuring mes- sist after the war in such films as It’s a Won-
sages: that love could triumph over class dis- derful Life (1946), Father of the Bride (1950),
tinctions, that money is not a prerequisite for and Cheaper by the Dozen (1950). But during
marital or familial happiness, and that family World War II, far more critical representations
conflicts could be resolved. Above all, many of of the family began to appear.
these films conveyed the decidedly unfeminist One of the first genres to enter into the tan-
message that strong-willed, independent, and gled recesses of family pathology was film noir.
rebellious women ultimately wanted to marry. World War II produced far-reaching changes
in American life: it accelerated the mobility of
Hollywood and the Emergence of the population, raised living standards, and
the Teenager profoundly altered race relations and the roles
Among the most popular and romanticized of women. Film noir metaphorically addressed
portrayals of family life during the late 1930s many anxieties and apprehensions generated
and early 1940s were the films in Mickey Roo- by the war, especially a sense of sexual inse-
ney’s Andy Hardy series. Yet for all their curity that was bred by sharply rising divorce
crudeness, it is important to recognize that rates and fears of sexual infidelity produced by
even these films represented an effort to come prolonged wartime separations.
to terms with a new social phenomenon: the The marriages depicted in noir films such as
emergence of the teenager. Double Indemnity (1944) or The Postman Al-
The Great Depression witnessed intensive ways Rings Twice (1946) are often character-
efforts to remove teenagers from the workforce ized by mutual hatred, alienation, or simple
in order to provide more jobs for adult bread- boredom. The films’ protagonists challenge the
winners. Instead of contributing economically sanctity of marriage, but the result is often self-
to their family’s financial well-being, adoles- destruction.
cents were increasingly expected to attend high
school. By confining adolescents in a single in- Family Melodramas of the 1950s
stitution, society provided a fertile setting for At a time when television presented light-
the development of a distinctive youth culture hearted views of working-class families, in
cutting across class and geographical bound- which Lucy and Desi or the Kramdens bicker
aries. over money and whether the wife should get a
358 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

job, and suburban middle-class families, such

as the Andersons or the Nelsons, in which
problems are resolved by a caring father and a
supportive mother, film presented a starkly
different portrait of family life. In the years
before the release of Gidget (1959), Hollywood
responded to a sharp decline in its audience
by producing a significant number of family
melodramas that offered powerful portrayals
of dysfunctional families.
Reflecting the paranoid style that marked
the early Cold War years, these films revealed
many previously unexplored problems in fam- F I G U R E 4 4 . Rebel Without a Cause (1955). Director
ily life: infidelity, unwanted pregnancy, drug Nicholas Ray explores the conflicting looks on the faces
of Jim Stark ( James Dean), his parents, and the police
addiction, emotional cruelty, intergenerational chief. The image personifies teenage alienation and the
conflict, and mental illness. Unlike the hopelessness of any future change in family relations.
woman’s films of the 1930s and 1940s, the Courtesy Warner Bros.
family melodramas of the late 1940s and 1950s
took a special interest in male psychology. cause their parents “won’t listen.” They crave
The popular family melodramas of the pe- more love and attention from their mothers
riod, such as Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and and fathers. Husbands and wives drink or take
East of Eden (1955), reveal a pattern of deeply drugs or stray sexually in such films as The
troubled family relationships. These films de- Man with the Golden Arm (1955), The Catered
pict sexual frustration, anxious parents, bitter Affair (1956), and The Dark at the Top of the
clashes between generations, alienated chil- Stairs (1960) because they cannot communi-
dren, insensitive or fretful fathers, defiant ad- cate adequately with their spouses. While the
olescents, and loveless marriages. In part, this films of the 1950s appear to offer a critical and
obsession with the theme of marriage and fam- ambivalent view of marriage, their underlying
ily life as a kind of hell reflected a popularized message was hopeful. Even the most severe
form of Freudian psychoanalysis, in which Oe- family problems could be resolved by under-
dipal tensions and sexual repressions are pre- standing, perseverance, and love.
sented as explanations for human behavior.
The family melodramas of the 1950s labori- Nostalgia for the Rural Family
ously repeated the theme that sexual frustra- The western, Hollywood’s most persistently
tion inevitably led to neurosis and that harsh, popular genre from the 1910s through the
neglectful, or uncomprehending parents pro- 1960s, is rarely identified with the family. The
duced alienated children. This was very differ- classic western hero is a loner who is typically
ent from the soothing and funny fare available represented as uneasy around women, and
on TV. many westerns are distinctive in the absence of
According to many of the family melodra- romance. During the late 1940s and 1950s, the
mas of the 1950s, the source of family woes lay heyday of the western talkie, the family often
in a lack of familial love. Love is extolled as occupied an important place in such films. But
the solution to problems ranging from juvenile the family patterns displayed differed funda-
delinquency to schizophrenia. Adolescents in mentally from those portrayed in romantic
films such as Splendor in the Grass (1961) or melodramas. Instead of focusing on spousal
Tea and Sympathy (1956) are rebellious be- relations, many expressed a deep nostalgia for
 THE FAMILY ] 359

strong rural families. In some of these films, women’s lives and encouraged women to
the family is presided over by a patriarchal fig- adopt a heightened feminist consciousness.
ure who protects and takes care of the family; By the mid-1970s, the specter of family
others contain a revered mother. breakdown haunted many Hollywood genres.
The plots of many postwar westerns revolve Highly negative images of family disintegra-
around the family. In some cases, the plot cen- tion, assertive and independent women, and
ters on relations between a father and a son teenage violence proliferated in genres that
(Red River, 1948) or among brothers (Broken previously had not been closely associated with
Lance, 1954); others feature a wife (like the family issues. Contributing to these anxieties
character played by Jean Arthur in Shane, over the family was a demographic revolution
1953) who is torn between her family obliga- without parallel in American history: in the
tions and the attraction of a charismatic stran- span of a decade, the divorce rate doubled and
ger. Metaphorically, these films reinforced the the number of single-parent homes tripled.
primacy of the family in postwar culture. Following the enormous popular success of
The Godfather (1972), many films dealing with
Family Values and Hollywood organized crime began to emphasize the
As the 1960s began, few would have guessed breakdown of family ties. Regardless of the
that this decade and the early years of the next ethnicity of the mob members, family loyalties
would witness some of Hollywood’s most occupy a central place in these films. The crime
searching explorations of family life. Among organization is typically a “family” enterprise
the most popular films at the decade’s start in which members’ allegiances are reaffirmed
were Doris Day romantic comedies like That at baptisms, weddings, and funerals. Indeed,
Touch of Mink (1962) and such sequels as in mob films and TV shows such as The So-
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961) and Gidget Goes pranos, family loyalty provides the justification
to Rome (1963). Yet even then, there were al- for crime and murder. But mob films typically
ready glimpses of a more critical perspective conclude with the destruction of the family as
on the family in such films as Splendor in the a result of jealousy, treachery, and greed. The
Grass (1961), with its critique of sexual re- implicit message in such films was that the
pressiveness, David and Lisa (1962), which ex- roots of family breakdown were planted in the
plored the roots of schizophrenia, and Lolita restless pursuit of money, material posses-
(1962), with its examination of a middle-aged sions, and power.
man’s obsession with a precocious girl. Within Horror films, often dismissed as no more
a decade, films like Who’s Afraid of Virginia than a source of cheap thrills, have often of-
Woolf ? (1966), which depicted the family as a fered thinly veiled critiques of the middle-class
sea of unspoken hatreds and resentments, and family. Even before the 1960s, a growing num-
The Graduate (1967), which laid bare middle- ber of horror films traced the roots of evil to
class hypocrisies, viewed family life in highly the family: to demonic children (The Bad Seed,
critical terms. Meanwhile, other films, includ- 1956); monstrous mothers (Psycho, 1960); or
ing Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and in the impact of repressive, patriarchal ideol-
Carnal Knowledge (1971), raised searching ogies (Cat People, 1942). I Was a Teenage
questions about the consequences of the sexual Werewolf (1957) illustrates a number of pop-
revolution. Where films such as Straw Dogs ular themes in 1950s horror films: humans’
(1971) appeared to call on men to reassert “animal-like” nature and the fear that teen-
their authority within the family, other pic- agers were closer to uncontrollable beasts than
tures such as An Unmarried Woman (1978) civilized adults. Alongside films that located
exposed the consequences of divorce for the source of evil within families were others
360 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

that focused on external threats to family har- In his 1992 best-seller Hollywood vs. America,
mony, of which one of the most notable was the film critic Michael Medved described Hol-
Cape Fear (1962). lywood as a “poison factory,” befouling Amer-
Beginning in the late 1960s with the release ica’s moral atmosphere and assaulting the
of Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Night of the Liv- country’s “most cherished values.” Today’s
ing Dead (1968), horror films reached new films, he argued, use their enormous capacity
heights of popularity. A theme that pervaded to influence opinion by maligning marriage,
many of these films was the evils that lay hid- promoting sexual promiscuity, and bombard-
den within families. Drawing on earlier ing viewers with an endless stream of profanity,
themes, these films depicted families attacked gratuitous sex, and loutish forms of behavior.
with brutal violence (The Texas Chain Saw Where once the movies offered sentiment, ele-
Massacre, 1974); raging, sexually repressed, vi- gance, and romance, now, Medved contends,
olent children (Carrie, 1976; The Exorcist, ideologically motivated producers and directors
1973; The Omen, 1976); and violent individ- promote their own divisive antifamily agenda.
uals who have deep psychological scars arising In fact, the representations of family in con-
from dysfunctional family experiences (Friday temporary film are far more diverse, and often
the 13th, 1980; Halloween, 1978; Poltergeist, more positive, than Medved’s generalizations
1982; Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984). At least would indicate, even in such silly vehicles as
part of the public fascination with recent hor- the National Lampoon’s Vacation series. This is
ror films has to do with the way that they allow particularly the case in films dealing with the
viewers to experience family pathologies in a families of African Americans and Hispanics,
safe context. such as Sounder (1972), Nightjohn (1996), La
During the 1970s and 1980s, family break- Bamba (1987), Selena (1997), and Mi Familia
down, the decline of heavy industry, and the (1995). But even in instances when more neg-
expansion of two-earner families posed a spe- ative images of the family appear, as in Amer-
cial threat to many men’s self-conception as ican Beauty (1999), the pictures are best un-
the sole family breadwinner. Hollywood re- derstood not as expressions of an antifamily
sponded to a “crisis of masculinity” through a agenda, but rather as cultural critiques which
variety of genres, ranging from lighthearted explore the latent tensions in contemporary
male fantasies of beautiful, utterly compliant American family life. But perhaps the most
women like 10 (1979); frat-house comedies striking development in recent representations
like Animal House (1978) that treated women of the family on the screen is that mischievous
as sex objects; and slasher films in which in- sons, as in Home Alone (1990), have largely
dependent and sexually active women were displaced parents as the dominant household
brutally attacked. Alongside these films were figures.
others, such as Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and During American film’s first century, the
Three Men and a Baby (1987), that suggested family repeatedly served as a screen on which
that men had the capacity to be as successful Hollywood projected larger social and cultural
as women in mothering children. The box- issues. Families illustrated in microcosm issues
office success of Fatal Attraction (1987), in ranging from acculturation (The Jazz Singer,
which a husband’s one-night stand is followed 1927) and the hardships of the Great Depres-
by harassment and threats from the woman sion (The Grapes of Wrath, 1940), to the impact
with whom he had the affair, resulted in a of war (The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946), the
number of pictures, such as The Hand That rise of a semi-autonomous youth culture (Rebel
Rocks the Cradle (1992), that portrayed unat- Without a Cause, 1955), and racism (Guess
tached women as a threat to the family. Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1967). Through a pro-
 THE FAMILY ] 361

cess of refraction, Hollywood was able to con- fashioned family melodramas, like old-
vey the human meaning of abstract social pro- fashioned westerns, have sharply diminished
cesses and dilemmas. But since the 1960s, as in number. But the concerns that defined the
anxieties over the family have deepened, genres genre—such as maternal sacrifice, sexual con-
that tended to avoid family issues, notably the fusion, and intergenerational conflict—have
gangster film, the horror film, and science frequently been displaced into new settings
fiction, increasingly incorporated fears about (Alien 3, 1992; Terminator II, 1993; Jurassic
the family as a subtext. In recent years, old- Park, 1993).

References
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, F)
Filmography Halloween (1978, F)
Alien 3 (1992, F) The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992, F)
American Beauty (1999, F) His Girl Friday (1940, F)
An American Family (1973, TV) Home Alone (1990, F)
Animal House (1978, F) Imitation of Life (1934, F)
The Awful Truth (1937, F) It (1927, F)
The Bad Seed (1956, F) It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, F)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, F) I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957, F)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) The Jazz Singer (1927, F)
Blonde Venus (1932, F) Jurassic Park (1993, F)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969, F) Kramer vs. Kramer (1979, F)
Broken Blossoms (1919, F) La Bamba (1987, F)
Broken Lance (1954, F) Life with Father (1947, F)
Cape Fear (1962, F; 1991, F) Little Women (1933, F; 1994, F)
Carnal Knowledge (1971, F) Lolita (1962, F; 1997, F)
Carrie (1976, F) The Man with the Golden Arm (1955, F)
The Catered Affair (1956, F) Mi Familia (1995, F)
Cat People (1942, F) Mildred Pierce (1945, F)
Cheaper by the Dozen (1950, F) My Man Godfrey (1936, F)
The Children Pay (1916, F) National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983, F)
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960, F) Nightjohn (1996, TV)
David and Lisa (1962, F) Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, F)
Double Indemnity (1944, F) Night of the Living Dead (1968, F; 1990, F)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939, F) Now, Voyager (1942, F)
East of Eden (1955, F) An Officer and a Gentleman (1982, F)
The Eternal Mother (1912, F) The Omen (1976, F)
E.T.: The Extraterrestrial (1982, F) The Perfect Flapper (1924, F)
The Exorcist (1973, F) The Philadelphia Story (1940, F)
A Family Affair (1937, F) The Plastic Age (1925, F)
Fatal Attraction (1987, F) Poltergeist (1982, F)
The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933, F) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, F)
Father of the Bride (1950, F) Psycho (1960, F)
Friday the 13th (1980, F) Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F)
Gidget (1959, F) Red River (1948, F)
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961, F) Rosemary’s Baby (1968, F)
Gidget Goes to Rome (1963, F) Selena (1997, F)
The Godfather (1972, F) Shane (1953, F)
Gone with the Wind (1939, F) The Sins of the Father (1913, F)
The Good Earth (1937, F) Sounder (1972, F)
The Good Mother (1988, F) The Sopranos (1999–, TV)
The Graduate (1967, F) Splendor in the Grass (1961, F)
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F) Stella (1990, F)
362 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
Stella Dallas (1937, F) Cavell, Stanley. Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood
Stepmom (1998, F) Comedy of Remarriage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Straw Dogs (1971, F) University Press, 1984.
Tea and Sympathy (1956, F) Doherty, Thomas. Teenagers and Teenpics: The Juven-
10 (1979, F) ilization of American Movies in the 1950s. Cam-
Terminator II (1993, F) bridge, MA: Unwin Hyman, 1988.
Terms of Endearment (1983, F) Gledhill, Christine, ed. Home Is Where the Heart Is:
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974, F) Studies in Melodrama and the Woman’s Film. Lon-
That Touch of Mink (1962, F) don: British Film Institute, 1987.
Three Men and a Baby (1987, F) Leibman, Nina C. Living Room Lectures: The Fifties
An Unmarried Woman (1978, F) Family in Film and Television. Austin: University of
Way Down East (1920, F) Texas Press, 1995.
When Tomorrow Comes (1939, F) Lewis, Jon. The Road to Romance and Ruin: Teen
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? (1966, F) Films and Youth Culture. New York: Routledge:
Chapman and Hall, 1992.
Bibliography Medved, Michael. Hollywood vs. America: Popular
Brandon, French. On the Verge of Revolt: Women in Culture and the War on Traditional Values. New
American Films of the Fifties. New York: Frederick York: HarperCollins, 1992.
Ungar, 1978. Mintz, Steven, and Susan Kellogg. Domestic Revolu-
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence. New tions: A Social History of American Family Life.
York: Knopf, 1990. New York: Free Press, 1988.
Byars, Jackie. All That Hollywood Allows: Re-Reading Williams, Tony. Hearths of Darkness: The Family in
Gender in 1950s Melodrama. Chapel Hill: Univer- the American Horror Film. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh
sity of North Carolina Press, 1990. Dickinson University Press, 1996.
[ DALE HERBECK ]

Football

mericans share a collective national ob- great teams. These movies gave way to a series

A session with sports. Schoolchildren are

encouraged to play sports at an early age,
millions of Americans attend sporting events
or watch them on television, and the language
of inspirational films in the 1940s and 1950s.
Although many of these dramas were also set
on college campuses, the films of this era fo-
cused less on the nature of the game and more
of sports has permeated daily discourse. Al- on the character and virtue displayed by leg-
though many different sports claim large and endary coaches and gridiron heroes. Not sur-
enthusiastic followings, Bob Oates has sug- prisingly, the football films of the 1960s and
gested that “football has evolved into Amer- 1970s decried the excesses of football and the
ica’s most widely accepted major league pas- abuses found in professional sports. In recent
time: first in the polls, first in the ratings” (11). years, however, this criticism has given way to
By deftly balancing physical competition, a more realistic set of football movies. Al-
teamwork, and sophisticated strategy, football though many of these films return to old
has become more than a sport; it has become themes—the college game, the legendary play-
an integral part of our culture. ers or coaches, and the violence inherent in the
Despite football’s obvious popularity, Deb- sport—they generally offer a more nuanced
orah Tudor has lamented the “lack of analysis portrayal of football, the famous men who
of the representation of sports in North Amer- played the game, and the place of sport in
ican film and television” (xi). Compounding American culture. By chronicling films and
the problem, when sports films are reviewed documentaries produced by the National
in the popular press, they are frequently de- Football League, it is possible to gain insight
rided as being trite or inconsequential. This into football. At the same time, it is possible
view is mistaken, however, inasmuch as a care- to understand football as a cultural text worthy
ful examination of football films reveals atti- of serious scholarly attention.
tudes toward winning and losing, offers in-
sights into the character of legends and heroes, The College Game: The 1920s and 1930s
and develops perspectives on broader social is- The early football movies focused on college
sues. In the final analysis, sports historian Ron- teams. In many respects, the titles of these
ald Bergan suggests, “sports are often only one movies tell the story: The All American (1932),
element in a movie, or as we shall see, a symbol Brown of Harvard (1926), The College Boob
for the human condition” (6). (1926), College Coach (1933), College Days
With several notable exceptions, football (1926), The College Hero (1927), College Hu-
films generally reflect broader themes. The mor (1933), College Lovers (1930), The Forward
early football films of the 1920s and 1930s, Pass (1929), Hold That Co-Ed (1938), Hold ‘Em
made during the heyday of the college football Navy (1937), Hold ‘Em Yale (1928 and 1935),
era, focused on the collegiate game and the Huddle (1932), Makers of Men (1931), Making

363
364 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

the Varsity (1928), Navy Blue and Gold (1937), and sends Speedy into the fray. After the ex-
Pigskin Parade (1936), Saturday’s Millions pected comic mayhem, Speedy ends up with
(1933), and The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931). the ball on the decisive play of the game and
Most of these films, Harvey Zucker and he makes a mad dash to the endzone and vic-
Lawrence Babich note, “were as indistinguish- tory. In the end, Speedy wins the game, be-
able as the titles” (145). Almost without ex- comes a campus hero, and wins the heart of
ception, the storyline featured a football hero, Peggy (Jobyna Ralston). Commenting on “the
a beautiful girl, and a big game against an ar- comic styles of bourgeois figures like . . .
chrival. Though there are multiple variations, Lloyd,” Robert Sklar has observed that they
the hero is invariably suspended, kidnapped, “were nurtured in a particular social setting,
or otherwise estranged from his teammates or where the loosening of the bonds of the old
his romantic interest. Absent the star player, cultural system made space for comic exagger-
or sometimes because of his temporary inep- ation and alternative modes of order” (120).
titude, the team falls behind in the big game Whereas The Freshman was about the ex-
and a bitter defeat to a hated rival appears in- ploits of a single player, Horse Feathers (1932)
evitable. At the last instant, the hero returns features the four Marx Brothers as teammates.
and miraculously leads his team to victory. Groucho, playing the part of Darwin College’s
Sometimes this requires the hero to escape newly installed president, John Quincy Wag-
from captors, other times it requires the hero staff, quickly realizes that he must choose be-
to overcome injury or hardship, and occasion- tween having a good college and having a good
ally it even requires the hero to engage in some football team. He chooses the latter, and, act-
form of trickery or deception. Whatever the ing on the advice of his son, Zeppo, Groucho
variation, however, the story always ends with hires two star athletes—Chico and Harpo—to
the hero triumphant, the team victorious, and play for Darwin in its big game against ar-
the romance restored. When depicted in this chrival Huxley College. Learning of Groucho’s
way, Bergan writes, “Football provided a plan, gamblers backing Huxley arrange to have
means of exorcising character deficiencies and Chico and Harpo detained. As might be ex-
pointing the way for young people” (45). pected, the brothers escape, steal a horse-
Although the college movies tended to glo- drawn trash cart, and ride to the game in their
rify the game, two of the most famous movies new chariot. Showing a total disrespect for the
of this era are satirical comedies that mock rules, the brothers lead Darwin back from a
both the sport and higher education. In The 12–0 deficit to win a decisive victory. President
Freshman (1925), “Speedy” Lamb (Harold Wagstaff leaves the sideline and joins his stu-
Lloyd) arrives at Tate College with the goal of dents on the field; Harpo attaches a rubber
becoming a big man on campus by emulating band to the ball, throws it toward Chico, and
the star of the later College Hero (1927). When scores when the Huxley players mistakenly fol-
these ill-conceived efforts make him into the low the ball; Harpo scores another touchdown
campus clown, “Speedy” tries to redeem him- by leaving a trail of slippery banana peels be-
self by earning a place on the football team. hind him. Horse Feathers is properly regarded
Ordered to substitute himself for a broken as a great comedy, and insightful commenta-
tackling dummy, the coach nonetheless makes tors have noted that the movie also develops a
a place for the inept “Speedy” as the team’s sophisticated critique of college football and
waterboy. From the sidelines, the helpless higher education.
Speedy watches as teammate after teammate is There are, of course, several notable movies
injured in the big game against Union State. that addressed the issues raised in a 1929 re-
Finally, the coach succumbs to the inevitable port by the Carnegie Foundation, American
 FOOTBALL ] 365

College Athletics, that contained “a blanket in- Commission. Vacationing with his family in
dictment of big-time college athletics and es- Florida, Rockne is called to California on busi-
pecially the crafty and deceitful practices of ness. Despite his wife’s fears about his safety,
college football programs” (Watterson, 165). Rockne flies west to save precious vacation
In Saturday’s Heroes (1937), for example, the days and is tragically martyred when his plane
star of Calton University’s football team, Val crashes.
Webster (Van Heflin) is caught selling com- Not only did the movie help make Rockne
plimentary tickets. Driven from the team in a legend, but it also immortalized his relation-
disgrace, Webster reappears as the assistant ship with a young player named George Gipp
coach at tiny Weston College. Appalled by the (Ronald Reagan). Although he initially appears
flagrant professionalism in the college game, indifferent to Rockne and football, Gipp
Webster persuades Weston’s president to sub- quickly becomes a triple-threat player—run-
sidize its players openly and to refuse to play ner, passer, and kicker—and one of the coach’s
schools that decline to abide by this honor personal favorites. When Gipp is stricken with
code. Webster is vindicated when Weston up- a mysterious illness (probably strep throat
sets Calton in the big game. In an ironic twist, ending in pneumonia), a distraught Rockne
however, this victory is obtained in an unscru- visits him in the hospital. In one of the most
pulous manner: an angry Weston player stalks famous scenes in any sports movie, the dying
toward the sideline, the ball is passed to him, Gipp opines, “Sometime, Rock, when the
and he races to a touchdown before Calton team’s up against it, when things are wrong
realizes what has happened. The contrived and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them
ending notwithstanding, Saturday’s Heroes re- to go in there with all they’ve got and win just
flects the growing criticism of the college game. one for the Gipper.” To consummate the
myth, Rockne later includes a reference to the
A Time of Legends: The 1940s and 1950s Gipper in a half-time speech that inspires an
The best-known movies of the 1940s and overmatched Notre Dame team to a surprise
1950s involve legendary figures such as Knute victory over favored Army in one of Rockne’s
Rockne, Jim Thorpe, and Elroy Hirsch. The worst seasons as a coach.
most famous of these films, Knute Rockne, All- Jim Thorpe, All American (1951) recounts the
American (1940), begins with the Rockne fam- life of one of America’s greatest athletes. Raised
ily’s moving from Norway to America in 1892. on an Indian reservation, Thorpe (Burt Lan-
Young Knute is drawn to football as an un- caster) starts playing football at the Carlisle In-
dersized child; as a teenager, he earns enough dian School where he is coached by the famous
money to enroll at the University of Notre Pop Warner (Charles Bickford). The movie re-
Dame; as a student, he distinguishes himself counts the famous Carlisle–Pennsylvania game,
both as a scholar and as an athlete when he Thorpe’s participation in the 1912 Olympic
leads the team to a stunning victory over Army Games, and his professional career. Thorpe’s
by catching a forward pass. After he graduates life takes a turn for the worse when his young
with honors, Rockne (Pat O’Brien) is forced son dies and he slips into alcoholism. All is not
to choose between a promising career as a re- lost, however, as Pop Warner reappears to ab-
search chemist and becoming a football coach solve Thorpe of his transgressions by telling him
at Notre Dame. Rockne opts for football; he that the state of Oklahoma will honor him for
distinguishes himself as both a successful his athletic excellence.
coach and strategist by inventing the backfield The film versions of the lives of Knute
shift; and, if this were not enough, he defends Rockne and Jim Thorpe take liberties with the
the integrity of the game before the Carnegie facts, yet they cannot be discounted as simple
366 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

self, a 1940 All-American at the University of

Michigan. All-American quarterback Frankie
Albert also played himself in Spirit of Stanford
(1942). Although he had already agreed to turn
pro before the big game, Albert returns to lead
Stanford to an important victory. Spirit of West
Point (1947) recounts the story of Felix “Doc”
Blanchard and Glenn Davis, two star players
at West Point who resisted the temptation to
turn professional. Finally, The Iron Major
(1943) is a tribute to coach Frank Cavanaugh,
F I G U R E 4 5 . Knute Rockne, All American (1940). a wounded war hero who coached at Boston
Knute Rockne (Pat O’Brien) coaches Notre Dame after a College and Fordham.
stellar football career. A creative strategist as a coach, One movie that attempts to challenge these
Rockne develops the backfield shift, changing football
tactics and adding another level of excitement to the
heroic narratives is Saturday’s Hero (1951). A
game. Courtesy First National Pictures and Warner Bros. high school star, Steve Novak ( John Derek),
hopes to escape a New Jersey mill town by ac-
cepting a scholarship from a school known for
hagiography. After identifying the many errors its high academic standards. With Novak’s
in the film’s rendition of Rockne’s life, Michael help, his college becomes a powerhouse, and
Steele suggested “the distortions are best un- coaches from opposing schools attempt to buy
derstood by keeping in mind that the film re- away the school’s best players. Learning that a
flects the culture better than it portrays player from another team was paid to hurt
Rockne” (196). Both of these films speak to the him, Novak begins to question the excesses of
character of heroes and the formative role that the college game. When injuries force him to
sport plays in the educational process. retire, Novak returns home, finishes his edu-
“Rockne and Thorpe both undergo the process cation at night, and wins the girl (Donna
of Americanization,” Douglas Noverr writes, Reed). The movie is interesting for another
“becoming better individuals through sports reason, however, as it contains a bitter indict-
and becoming national figures symbolic of the ment of college recruiting and the commer-
best coach and athlete of the early twentieth cialism of the intercollegiate game that neatly
century. Rockne and Warner represent the na- foreshadows the football films of the Vietnam
tional faith Americans had in coaches as insti- era.
tutions and in football as sport” (126).
Although the stories of Rockne and Thorpe
may be the most famous, the same conclusion Exposing the Game: The 1960s and 1970s
might be drawn from the other films of this The movies of the 1960s and 1970s were highly
area. Crazylegs (1954) tells the story of Elroy critical of football. The Paper Lion (1968) is the
“Crazylegs” Hirsch. An All-American football screen version of a book by journalist George
player, Hirsch is injured while serving in the Plimpton describing his preseason experience
Marines. Although it appears that his career is with the Detroit Lions. By playing the pre-
over, Hirsch returns to star with the Los An- season with the team, Plimpton attempted to
geles Rams. Amazingly enough, the aging get beyond the conventional media account of
Hirsch portrays himself in the film, as do sev- the game on the field. The movie is interesting
eral of his teammates on the Rams. In Harmon on several counts: Plimpton (Alan Alda) ex-
of Michigan (1941), Tom Harmon plays him- periences the game, viewers are invited into the
 FOOTBALL ] 367

locker room, and the game itself is the center I mean by power . . . and who controls it.” In
of the movie. exchange for the secret promise of parole,
Whereas The Paper Lion tries to depict the Crewe agrees to throw the game. Once the game
football experience, Number One (1969) fo- starts, the guards, led by the legendary Bogdan-
cuses on the plight of the aging athlete. Ron ski (played by Ray Nitschke of the Green Bay
Catlan (Charlton Heston) is a forty-year-old Packers), brutalize the hapless inmates. Late in
quarterback with a bad knee playing for the the game, Crewe has a sudden change of heart
New Orleans Saints. In an effort to extend his and rallies his demoralized teammates to an im-
career, Catlan dons a steel brace, wraps himself probable victory. Owing to this heroic choice,
with yards of tape, and takes serious painkill- the audience finds itself rooting for the hon-
ers. Despite his best efforts, Catlan is merci- orable criminals in a pitched battle against cor-
lessly booed by the fans. Catlan quickly wins rupt authority. “Almost everyone in the picture
over the crowd by marching the Saints down is violent and vicious,” Bergan writes, “and the
the field. Discovering that all of his receivers anti-authoritarian stance only leads to the ni-
are covered, Catlan scrambles for an improb- hilistic view that the violence of authority is in-
able touchdown. The triumph is fleeting, how- distinguishable from the violence that opposes
ever, as Catlan’s career is ended on the next it” (50).
series of plays when he is viciously tackled by North Dallas Forty (1979), film critic Leon-
three defenders. ard Maltin has written, “is one of the best grid-
Not regarded as a football film, Robert Alt- irons film ever made and one of the best on
man’s MASH (1970) is a comedy about an any sport.” The movie tells the story of Phil
Army hospital during the Korean War. The Elliott (Nick Nolte), a wide receiver for the
movie ends, however, with a football game be- North Dallas Bulls. Midway through a difficult
tween two rival units. The game itself is hope- season, Elliott arrives at a life crisis. He dis-
lessly corrupt, and this fact is sometimes read covers that he loves the thrill of competition,
as an indictment of football. As if to punctuate but he knows his body is breaking down and
this fact, the reserve players watch the game he needs painkillers to play. This reality comes
from the sideline while smoking marijuana. into sharp focus when he meets Charlotte
On closer inspection, however, Robert Sklar Caulder (Dayle Haddon), a woman who helps
has labeled MASH a “tragicomedy that sati- him to see the world beyond football. The
rized the clichés and formulas of war films” stark account offered in North Dallas Forty
(325). Although the movie is ostensibly set in stands in sharp contrast to the football movies
Korea, the look and feel suggest that the film of previous generations. Not only is the action
is really a parable about the Vietnam War. violent, but the game is also controlled by
Often dismissed as a comedy, The Longest wealthy owners primarily concerned with win-
Yard (1974) also raises difficult questions about ning championships and making money. “In
the nature of authority. The big game in this the world of North Dallas Forty,” Deborah Tu-
film takes place in the Citrus State Prison and dor writes, “there are no sympathetic manage-
features a contest between a semipro team that ment figures; the struggle between the players
has been handpicked by Warden Rudolph Ha- and management is conceptualized as a strict
zen (Eddie Albert) and a motley collection of dichotomy between those who act and those
inmates organized by Paul “Wrecking” Crewe who benefit from their labor” (71). The result
(Burt Reynolds), a former pro quarterback con- is a film that exposes the economics of football
veniently serving time for auto theft. “Before as part of a broader critique of capitalism.
this game is over,” the Warden taunts, “I want Even the lighter fare of the era, the comedies,
every prisoner in this institution to know what disparaged the game. In Semi Tough (1977),
368 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

Bill Clyde Puckett (Burt Reynolds) and Marvin promising career. The movie has a tragic end-
“Shake” Tiller (Kris Kristofferson) share an ing, however, as Sayers is unable to help Pic-
apartment and a platonic relationship with colo win his battle against cancer. Although
Barbara Jane Bookman ( Jill Clayburgh). Al- football is at the heart of Brian’s Song, the film
though Clyde leads his team, the Miami Bucks, also speaks to the nature of friendship between
to victory in the big game, the title correctly men, race relations (Piccolo and Sayers were
implies that this movie is best regarded as a the NFL’s first interracial roommates), and
parody. The film features a dim-witted owner personal courage in the face of adversity. The
named Big Ed Brookman (Robert Preston), a movie was particularly powerful because it
biting critique of a variety of consciousness aired on network television a mere eighteen
movements, and a star who would like to months after Piccolo died at age twenty-six. In
marry Barbara Jane and write a book exposing an effort to raise more money for cancer re-
the seamier side of the game. search, Brian’s Song was remade for television
Another popular comedy of this era, Heaven in 2001. Although the new version offers the
Can Wait (1978), is a remake of Here Comes same football story, the second telling focuses
Mr. Jordan, a 1941 movie about boxing. In the less on football and more on Piccolo (Sean
football version, a promising young quarter- Mahler) and his illness. Gale Sayers (Mekhi
back for the Los Angeles Rams named Joe Pen- Phifer) has a prominent role, but the second
dleton (Warren Beatty) finds himself in heaven film dramatically expands the roles of the
when he is prematurely declared dead after an player’s wives, Joy Piccolo (Paula Cale) and
unfortunate accident. Pendleton is reincar- Linda Sayers (Elise Neal).
nated as an arrogant millionaire named Leo
Farnsworth. Unwilling to live out this life The New Realism: The 1980s and 1990s
story, Farnsworth tries to reclaim Pendleton’s The football movies of the 1980s and 1990s
place with the Rams. When the team spurns revisited old themes. A number of movies of-
his request for a tryout, Farnsworth solves the fered moving accounts worthy of earlier gen-
problem by buying the team and installing erations. Two such movies, A Triumph of the
himself as quarterback. Just when it appears Heart: The Rickey Bell Story (1991) and Rise
that their fifty-year-old player-owner will lead and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story (1994), offer
the Rams, heavenly forces intervene again. Al- accounts of athletes who overcame great per-
though a comedy, the movie also offers some sonal hardship to succeed. Most of the movies
deeper insights into the ethics of business and of this era, however, offered more substantive
football. In one of the more telling scenes, critiques of athletic heroes, intercollegiate and
Farnsworth tries to convince a skeptical board professional football, and American society.
of directors that it should run the corporation Everybody’s All American (1988) tells the
like a football team. story of Gavin Grey, a legendary player at
Not all of the films of this era, however, were Louisiana State University. In the first third of
critical of the sport. Brian’s Song (1971), for the movie, Grey leads the Tigers to victory in
example, recounts the unlikely friendship of the 1957 Sugar Bowl, marries Babs Rogers ( Jes-
two players for the Chicago Bears, the reclusive sica Lange)—the virginal Magnolia Queen—
Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) and the gre- and leads a generally charmed existence. Unlike
garious Brian Piccolo ( James Caan). Although the heroic movies from an earlier era, the film
they begin their careers as rookies competing does not end with the big game, but rather
for the same position, Sayers and Piccolo be- follows the “Grey Ghost” through the next
come close friends when Piccolo helps Sayers twenty-five years of his life. Unable to replicate
recover from a knee injury that threatens his his collegiate success with either the Washing-
 FOOTBALL ] 369

ton Redskins or the Denver Broncos, Grey (Denzel Washington) is hired to replace a suc-
(Dennis Quaid) eventually becomes a sad par- cessful white coach, Bill Yoast (Will Patton),
ody of himself. Whereas he once resisted trad- who becomes his assistant. Knowing that a
ing on his personal fame, he fails at business team divided along racial lines cannot succeed,
and is reduced to playing customer golf and Coach Boone bullies and cajoles his players
selling Astroturf. As Grey tumbles from his into the realization that they can only succeed
lofty pedestal, his cheerleader wife transforms if they play as a team. In one particularly poi-
herself from a southern belle majoring in gnant scene, Boone leads his players through
“Gavin and me,” to devoted spouse and workouts at the Civil War cemetery outside
mother of four children, and finally to a suc- Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Shrouded in fog,
cessful businesswoman. While advertised as a Boone uses the setting to speak out against ra-
“great American love story,” Everybody’s All cial hatred and animosity. Although the inte-
American exposes both the fragility of our he- gration of the black and white players happens
roes and of the American dream. a little too quickly, and although the integrated
Rudy (1993) tells the story of Rudy Ruettiger team breaks out into an anachronistic hip-hop
(Sean Astin), a working-class kid from Joliet, dance during warm-ups, Remember the Titans
Illinois, who dreams of playing for the Uni- does an admirable job of chronicling the racial
versity of Notre Dame. Although he is the most issues and the Titans’ perfect seasons. He was
improbable of heroes—he suffers from dys- not commenting on this particular film, but
lexia, has poor high school grades, less than Michael Oriard could have been when he ob-
average athletic skills, and no family support— serves, “Racial narratives have moved from the
Rudy is undaunted. Unable to meet the strict periphery to the center of football’s represen-
admission standards at Notre Dame, he at- tations, as the racial integration of the game at
tends Holy Cross Junior College until he can all levels since the 1960s has made football one
gain admission to the Golden Dome. Realizing of the major American cultural texts of race
that he will never make the traveling team, and racism in the United States” (280–281).
Rudy distinguishes himself as a player on the Not all football movies of this era focus on
scout team with his positive mental attitude. the glory of the game or on heroes. All the
Just when it appears he will never achieve his Right Moves (1983) tells the story of Stef
dream, his teammates convince Coach Dan Djordjevic (Tom Cruise), a high school player
Devine to include Rudy on the roster for the who hopes an engineering scholarship will al-
last game against Georgia Tech. With the game low him to escape life in Ampipe, a dismal
safely in hand and at the enthusiastic urging Pennsylvania steel town. Just when it appears
of the crowd, Rudy is sent in for the final plays the dream is within his grasp, the team loses
of the game. Though he does not lead the the big game and Stef makes the tragic mistake
Fighting Irish to victory, Rudy does make a of criticizing Coach Nickerson (Craig T. Nel-
tackle and is carried from the field on the son) for calling the wrong play. The outraged
shoulders of his triumphant teammates. Al- coach promptly suspends Stef, and if that is
though he is not a star player in the traditional not enough, he tells recruiters that Stef is a
sense, Rudy is a hero nonetheless because of problem, thereby ruining his chances of get-
his personal character and his selfless dedica- ting a college scholarship. The movie has a
tion to the team. happy ending, however, when Stef ’s girlfriend,
Remember the Titans (2000) is based on Lisa Leitke (Lea Thompson) manages to ini-
events at a newly integrated high school in Al- tiate a reconciliation between player and
exandria, Virginia, in 1971. As part of the in- coach. With their relationship restored, Nick-
tegration, a new black coach, Herman Boone erson conveniently arranges for Stef to get a
370 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

college scholarship at a school known for the Jerry McGuire (1996) introduces a new
quality of its engineering program. Though theme, the relationship between a player
this fantasy ending trivializes the film, All the (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and his agent (Tom
Right Moves raises difficult questions about Cruise). Although the movie will be forever
high school football, football coaches and col- remembered for its signature line—“Show Me
lege recruiters, and the excesses of zealous fans. the Money!”—it raises larger issues about what
Varsity Blues (1999) uses an old story to really motivates players. Even though the title
make a new point about high school football. character ultimately proves that he cares about
When the star quarterback of the West Canaan more than money, the story suggests that the
Coyotes is hurt, his reluctant backup, Jonathan same cannot be said about many professional
“Mox” Moxon ( James Van Der Beek), is athletes. Despite public statements to the con-
forced into a starring role. While the sudden trary, Jerry Maguire implies that many profes-
success of the backup is a familiar theme, the sional athletes place their personal fortune
movie also features a loathsome coach named ahead of both the game and their teammates.
Bud Kilmer ( Jon Voight) who is completely In Any Given Sunday (1999), Oliver Stone
obsessed with winning his twenty-third district uses the Miami Sharks, a professional team in
championship. Although he is a legend within serious decline, to comment on American in-
the local community, the movie reveals that dividualism. The team owner, a young woman
the coach encourages players to use steroids, named Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), is
injects injured players with painkillers so that determined to prove that she is as ruthless as
they can return to the game, and uses psycho- any man. In an effort to revive her team and
logical intimidation to further his own win- prove her own toughness, Pagniacci installs
ning record. During halftime of the big game, Tony D’Amato (Al Pacino) as head coach.
Mox and his teammates join together to over- While D’Amato still believes in teamwork, his
throw the coach and put football back in per- star player, Willie Beaman ( Jamie Foxx), is
spective. Winning is important, but Varsity more concerned with earning individual lau-
Blues argues that it is not so important as to rels. The movie also features an injured captain
sacrifice the health or the future of high school (Dennis Quaid); a doctor ( James Woods)
athletes. more concerned with winning than the health
The Program (1993) is a bitter indictment of his players; and a cynical sports reporter
of college football that touches on winning at ( James C. McGinley). The cast also includes
all costs, alcoholism and steroid abuse, as well an impressive array of football stars, including
as the rivalry between teammates at Eastern Dick Butkus, Jim Brown, Lawrence Taylor,
State University. In one particularly graphic and Johnny Unitas. Action scenes from foot-
sequence, players engage in a different sort of ball games permeate Any Given Sunday, but
game with disastrous consequences. To dem- Stone uses the game to reach a larger set of
onstrate their fearlessness, players lie down issues. “Every human predicament is here,”
on a two-lane highway, risking certain death Philip French writes, “and every convention or
should an unsuspecting car travel down the cliché of the sports movie” (9).
road. This unfortunate scene was edited out The Replacements (2000) addresses the labor
of the movie after reports that several teen- difficulties in professional sports. When the
agers may have been killed emulating this Washington Sentinels go on strike for more
“game.” Like its predecessors, the film ends money, team owner Edward O’Neil ( Jack
with a rousing victory that seems to trivialize Warden) hires Jimmy McGinty (Gene Hack-
much of the bitter criticism leveled against man) to field a team of replacement players.
college football. The team McGinty assembles includes a quar-
 FOOTBALL ] 371

terback name Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) ball, and, most significantly, help shape the im-
who led his college team to ignoble defeat in age of the sport.
the Sugar Bowl, a disturbed member of the Los To place this decision in historical context,
Angeles Police Department, two brothers it should be remembered that NFL Films was
working as bouncers, a fleet-footed street punk born at a time when there were no football
who cannot catch the ball, and a chain- highlights on television, no instant replays, and
smoking Welsh soccer player with gambling no slow-motion effects. All of this quickly
debts. In stark contrast, the striking pros are changed as NFL Films produced professional
depicted as spoiled princes obsessed with large highlight reels, introduced three-quarter-
contracts, private castles, and exotic cars. John speed replays, and introduced viewers to the
Madden and Pat Summerall appear as them- sounds of the game. At the same time, NFL
selves, reprising a role created by Bob Uecker Films also introduced innovative camera tech-
in the baseball film Major League (1989). They niques such as ground level angles, tracking a
may lack the talent of the striking profession- spiraling pass in the air, and close-ups of sweat
als, but McGinty’s misfits have heart and that dripping from a player’s helmet. In a particu-
is enough for them to prevail in the big game. larly fortuitous move, NFL Films hired John
In the final analysis, The Replacements is not Facenda to add dramatic narrative to its doc-
really about professional football. Rather, the umentaries. Sometimes referred to as the
movie is better understood as a sad commen- “voice of God,” Facenda’s distinctive baritone
tary on the labor troubles in the United States became one of the most recognizable voices in
and a biting critique of millionaire athletes sports and many of his signature lines—“the
seeking ever more money. frozen tundra” of Lambeau Field—remained
in use long after his death. Finally, NFL Films
added stirring music to unify the different ele-
Football Documentaries: NFL Films ments and reinforce the dramatic effect of the
In addition to movies about football, it is also visual images.
important to consider football documentaries. One of NFL Films’ early efforts, They Call It
Whereas the aforementioned movies use foot- Pro Football (1965), begins with a gripping
ball as a vehicle to comment on society, doc- opening line: “It starts with a whistle and ends
umentaries produced by the National Football with a gun.” This vivid language, combined
League serve an entirely different purpose; with deftly edited footage, help transform foot-
these films are designed to mythologize the ball from a game into a mythic struggle be-
sport. “What we see is not the event,” Alan and tween good and evil. As a testament to its en-
John Clarke write, “but the event transformed during influence, They Call It Pro Football has
into something else—a media event” (70–71). been called the Citizen Kane of sports movies.
The idea for NFL Films came from the most In 1967, Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of
humble of origins. Impressed by footage col- the Green Bay Packers, agreed to wear a mi-
lected by Ed and Steve Sabol—a father and crophone on a sideline during a game. The re-
son—using an 8mm Bell & Howell camera, sult was Lombardi (1967), a prime-time special
NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle bought the that helped explain how this charismatic leader
Sabol’s small film company and renamed it was able to win five NFL championships and
NFL Films in the early 1960s. A visionary the first two Super Bowls. By melding cine-
leader with experience in public relations, Ro- matography, Facenda’s narrative, game
zelle managed to convince the twelve team sounds, and music, these early films trans-
owners that NFL Films could preserve the his- formed football games into sports spectacu-
tory of the game, promote professional foot- lars. In the process, they served as propaganda
372 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

for the NFL and functioned to popularize the director Ron Howard. “Lots of different im-
professional game. ages. Images on images. Using the slow-
The new documentaries produced by NFL motion, combined with the live action. The
Films use the latest digital technology, but the hard-hitting sound effects, juxtaposed against
formula remains largely the same. All NFL incredible music, powerful music, creating a
Films feature distinctive cinematography, really emotional experience for the viewer”
sounds from the game, symphonic music, and (Strauss, 4).
dramatic voiceovers. Recent works include
documentaries celebrating the history of the Football Movies and American Culture
professional game (75 Seasons: The Story of the Viewed as a series of related stories, football
National Football League, 1994), the beauty movies open a window into American culture.
and violence of the sport (Best Shots: A Century The early films speak to the importance of the
of Sound and Fury, 1999), and simple mistakes college game, but they also offer insight into
and tragic blunders (21st Century NFL Follies, winning and losing. Although the movies of
2000). NFL Films may be best known, how- the 1940s and 1950s glorified gridiron heroes,
ever, for its obsessive coverage of the league’s they also testify to our national character and
championship game, the Super Bowl (see, for shared values. The movies of the Vietnam era
example, Super Bowl XXXVI, 2002). These Su- decried the violence and brutality of football,
per Bowl films have become so popular that just as many Americans turned against the
the National Geographic Society actually did a televised images of the war. Finally, the foot-
documentary about the way that NFL Films ball movies of the 1980s and 1990s search for
packages the championship game, and the re- new meaning in old stories. Indeed, many of
sult was aptly titled The Idol Makers: Inside the movies of this era use football as a con-
NFL Films (1997). venient vehicle for speaking to themes that
NFL Films has contributed to the popularity transcend the game. Through it all, Michael
of football, but the significance of these doc- Oriard suggests, football remains a “cultural
umentaries extends beyond the sport. “NFL text in which we read stories about some of
highlight reels had a real impact on how mov- the most basic issues that touch our lives”
ies get made, particularly montages,” observes (282).

References
The Freshman (1925, F)
Filmography Harmon of Michigan (1941, F)
The All American (1932, F) Heaven Can Wait (1978, F)
All the Right Moves (1983, F) Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1978, F)
Any Given Sunday (1999, F) Hold ‘Em Navy (1937, F)
Best Shots: A Century of Sound and Fury (1999, D) Hold ‘Em Yale (1928, F; 1935, F)
Brian’s Song (1971, F; 2001, TV) Hold That Co-Ed (1938, F)
Brown of Harvard (1926, F) Horse Feathers (1932, F)
The College Boob (1926, F) Huddle (1932, F)
College Coach (1933, F) The Idol Makers: Inside NFL Films (1997, D)
College Days (1926, F) The Iron Major (1943, F)
The College Hero (1927, F) Jerry Maguire (1996, F)
College Humor (1933, F) Jim Thorpe, All American (1951, F)
College Lovers (1930, F) Knute Rockne, All-American (1940, F)
Crazylegs (1954, F) Lombardi (1967, D)
Everybody’s All American (1988, F) The Longest Yard (1974, F)
The Forward Pass (1929, F) Major League (1989, F)
 FOOTBALL ] 373
Makers of Men (1931, F) and Video: The North American Society for Sport
Making the Varsity (1928, F) History Guide. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1993.
MASH (1970, F) French, Philip. “Field of Conflict: All of Life is Here,
Navy Blue and Gold (1937, F) in Oliver Stone’s Take on American Football.”
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Number One (1969, F) Noverr, Douglas A. “The Coach and the Athlete in
The Paper Lion (1968, F) Football Sports Films.” In Paul Loukides and
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The Replacements (2000, F) lar Press, 1990.
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Rudy (1993, F) Coal Valley, IL: Quality Sports, 1999.
Saturday’s Hero (1951, F) Oriard, Michael. Reading Football: How the Popular
Saturday’s Heroes (1937, F) Press Created an American Spectacle. Chapel Hill:
Saturday’s Millions (1933, F) University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
Semi Tough (1977, F) Savage, Howard J. American College Athletics. New
75 Seasons: The Story of the National Football League York: Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement
(1994, D) of Teaching, 1929.
The Spirit of Notre Dame (1931, F) Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Spirit of Stanford (1942, F) tory of American Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Vin-
Spirit of West Point (1947, F) tage, 1994.
Super Bowl XXXVI (2002, D) Smith, Ronald A. Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big
They Call It Pro Football (1965, D) Time College Athletics. New York: Oxford Univer-
A Triumph of the Heart: The Rickey Bell Story sity Press, 1988.
(1991, F) Sperber, Murray. Onward to Victory: The Crises That
21st Century NFL Follies (2000, D) Shaped College Sports. New York: Holt, 1993.
Varsity Blues (1999, F) ——. Shake Down the Thunder: The Creation of Notre
Dame Football. New York: Holt, 1993.
Steele, Michael R. Knute Rockne: A Bio-Bibliography.
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Bernstein, Mark F. Football: The Ivy League Origins of form in Intercollegiate Athletics. Baltimore: Johns
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Pennsylvania Press, 2001. Tudor, Deborah V. Hollywood’s Vision of Team
Clarke, Alan, and John Clarke. “ ‘Highlights and Ac- Sports: Heroes, Race, and Gender. New York: Gar-
tion Replays’—Ideology, Sport and the Media.” In land, 1997.
Jennifer Hargreaves, ed., Sport, Culture and Ideol- Watterson, John Sayle. College Football: History, Spec-
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D’Agostino, Annette M. Harold Lloyd: A Bio- Zucker, Harvey Marc, and Lawrence J. Babich. Sports
Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1994. Films: A Complete Reference. Jefferson, NC: Mc-
Davidson, Judith A., and Daryl Adler. Sport on Film Farland, 1987.
[ ROBERT BAIRD ]

Journalism and the Media

arly in this nation’s history, print mate- xvii). Hollywood also created and marketed

E rials—broadsides, newspapers, and mag-

azines—were the major medium of com-
munication and entertainment. By the 1930s,
motion pictures had become a principal mass
films that exploited technological flourishes
the small screen could not offer: color, wide-
screen, epic spectacles. Competition and co-
existence led Hollywood to sell feature films
medium. During the 1940s radio dominated for television broadcast and to provide pro-
American media culture, providing continu- duction resources for television shows. The
ous news reports and live broadcasts from the films Hollywood makes about other media are
various war fronts. At the beginning of the the most visible, public reminders that mass
1960s, television had become the most perva- entertainment is at heart a high-stakes, com-
sive mass medium the world had ever seen. petitive, and often cooperative business.
Many believe that the Internet will one day
replace television. Although particular media Newspapers
have waxed and waned in importance in the In A History of News, Michael Stephens claims,
last century, the social and economic impor- “Two truths have governed the economics of
tance of mass communication continues to in- the newspaper business: one is that well-to-do
crease. Although farms still feed us and foun- readers are more attractive to advertisers; the
dries and railroads still run, the future pivots second is that poorer readers build higher cir-
on dizzying accelerations in the flow of infor- culations” (202). Perhaps because they catered
mation. to the same economic class, Hollywood and
Hollywood’s relation to various types of me- the popular, tabloid newspapers of America
dia follows a revealing pattern: nostalgia for have had something of a century-long love af-
old media; concern and negotiation with con- fair. In Citizen Kane (1941), the finest news-
temporary media; and denial, fear, and con- paper film ever made, the young Charles Fos-
fusion regarding new media. For instance, ter Kane (Orson Welles) is never again as
when television was a new, rapidly growing heroic as when he transforms the respectable,
medium in the early 1950s, Hollywood refused stuffy Chronicle into a muckraking, sensa-
even to acknowledge it, showing “an almost tional, working-class paper. Hollywood’s love
self-destructive indifference” (Baughman, for the bustle of the print newsroom, the te-
xvii). But as television rapidly and indisputably nacity of the beat reporter, and the stubborn
asserted itself, Hollywood and the other estab- courage of the newspaper editor are evident in
lished media adopted strategies of competition dozens of films: Will Rogers as a folksy small-
and coexistence. To compete with television, town editor fighting for the falsely accused in
older media “began cultivating the subgroup, Life Begins at Forty (1935); Barbara Stanwyck
segments of the audience denoted by such fac- as a cynical big-city reporter who eventually
tors as class, education, or age” (Baughman, finds her soul in Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe

374
 JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA ] 375

(1941). From the 1930s until today, few char- Hero (1992) is a haphazard borrowing of
acter types have been as lauded and loved by Meet John Doe, with a petty thief (Dustin Hoff-
Hollywood as the newspaper editor and the man) rescuing passengers, including a TV
investigative reporter. The highlights of this news reporter (Geena Davis), from a downed
love affair, such as His Girl Friday, Meet John airliner. When the “Angel of Flight 49” dis-
Doe, Citizen Kane, and All the President’s Men, appears, Davis’s station offers a reward for the
represent some of the finest films ever made. hero to come forward, but another man, a
His Girl Friday (1940) is perhaps the deftest drifter (Andy Garcia), claims to be the rescuer.
remake in history, updating The Front Page Like Meet John Doe, Hero is a cautionary tale,
(1931), itself based on the very successful 1928 warning how easily public gullibility and sen-
play written by Ben Hecht and Charles Mac- timentality can be manipulated by the cynical
Arthur. For his remake, director Howard mass media eager to provide larger-than-life,
Hawks had the brilliant idea of switching the feel-good stories instead of messy, mundane
gender of outstanding reporter Hildy Johnson realities or complex social challenges.
from a man to a woman and making editor By the 1970s, Hollywood was beginning to
Walter Burns (who wants to keep Hildy on neglect print journalism for the dramatic pos-
staff at all costs) Hildy’s ex-husband. The sibilities of television news just as two real-life
changes allowed Hawks to place the screwball ink-and-paper journalists at The Washington
comedy formula within the setting and con- Post, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, were
ventions of a big-city newspaper. In 1974, Billy beginning investigative work that would even-
Wilder remade the tale once again, this time tually unseat a president and capture a Pulitzer
with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. In Prize. Hip and handsome young reporters top-
1988, Switching Channels moved the story into pling an aging, right-wing political dynasty
the image-conscious world of television jour- made print journalism very “cool” for students
nalism, especially Ted Turner–style, satellite/ in the nation’s colleges and universities. Direc-
cable news. tor Alan J. Pakula wasted no time and brought
Meet John Doe (1941) shares His Girl Fri- forward a film called The Parallax View (1974),
day’s fascination with big-city, tough, cynical which starred Warren Beatty as just such an
news work. Barbara Stanwyck plays a news- investigative reporter (named Joseph Frady)
paper reporter named Ann Mitchell who in- trying to get to the bottom of a senator’s as-
vents “John Doe,” a workingman populist phi- sassination. The success of that film led to Pak-
losopher in the vein of Will Rogers who speaks ula’s adaptation of Woodward and Bernstein’s
up for the little guy against the interests of big book All the President’s Men (1976), where
money. When the fictive John Doe actually be- Pakula creatively used film techniques to dra-
comes popular, Stanwyck has to find a “real” matize the verbal, intellectual, and bookish
John Doe, which she does in Long John Wil- world of a political news reporter. In the film’s
loughby (Gary Cooper), a washed-up minor famous ending, Nixon’s resignation is pre-
league pitcher. Capra had earlier developed a sented quite effectively via a montage of ex-
wisecracking reporter in Platinum Blonde treme close ups as the story is spit out on a
(1931), but the contrast between the home- clattering teletype machine, emphasizing the
spun Willoughby (and Gary Cooper’s All- still substantial power of the written word in
American image) with Stanwyck’s hard-on- the age of video.
the-outside reporter (and the actress’s famed It is very easy to forget just how much Citi-
toughness) allowed the director to highlight zen Kane (1941) is an elaboration of the news-
and partially reconcile American cultural ten- paper genre film. Interestingly, director Orson
sions of great historical legacy and immediacy. Welles maintains Hollywood’s traditional trust
376 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

gan to take their turn at the business. Nancy

Drew—Reporter (1939) followed the arche-
typal newspaper formula by having the pop-
ular Nancy Drew (Bonita Granville) working
a school newspaper beat, trying to clear the
name of a girl falsely accused of murder.
Comic tandem Bud Abbott and Lew Costello
became newspaper photographers in Hit the
Ice (1943). In Francis Covers the Big Town
(1953), the talking mule and sidekick Donald
O’Connor found themselves on a newspaper
F I G U R E 4 6 . The Parallax View (1974). Investigative reporting a murder trial. Much later in the
reporter Joseph Frady (Warren Beatty) steps into a
dangerous and clandestine plot to assassinate a senator.
game, the glossy Teacher’s Pet (1958) com-
Director Alan Pakula’s success with The Parallax View bined the star power of Clark Gable and Doris
became the impetus to adapt and direct All the Day—he is a down-to-earth, big-city editor,
President’s Men. Courtesy Harbor Productions, she a cerebral journalism teacher, differences
Doubleday Productions, and Paramount Pictures.
that lead to comic and romantic payoffs.
Hollywood has occasionally depicted the un-
in newspaper reporters and editors even as he derground press, as it did in Between the Lines
paints a very dark portrait of newspaper pub- (1977), which dealt with the story of an under-
lishers. The tragedy of the story, in fact, hinges ground paper in Boston about to be co-opted
on Charles Foster Kane’s transition from an by a media mogul. The Jerry Bruck Jr. docu-
enthusiastic and idealistic editor and writer to mentary I. F. Stone’s Weekly (1973) covers one-
a dogmatic and vindictive media mogul. It man, left-wing newspaper publisher I. F. Stone,
should be noted that Kane’s great betrayal of who raked muck and scooped America’s main-
his one close friend, Jedediah Leland ( Joseph stream press countless times. In 1980, Where the
Cotten), occurs over a point of journalistic Buffalo Roam brought the “gonzo” journalism
ethics: Kane’s shock over Leland’s negative re- practices of Hunter S. Thompson to the big
view of Susan Kane’s terrible opera debut. screen, behind the capable talents of Bill Mur-
Citizen Kane built on a rich decade of news- ray, supplanted in 1998 by Johnny Depp, who
paper films: the 1930s, which saw top directors played Thompson in the film adaptation of
and actors in films like Five Star Final (1931), Thompson’s famous Fear and Loathing in Las
a crime drama involving a sensationalist tab- Vegas. On a side note, the “new journalism” of
loid (remade in 1936 as Two Against the World Tom Wolfe made its way to the big screen via
with radio as its setting); Blessed Event (1932), adaptations of three of his works: The Last
a Walter Winchell–style gossip columnist gets American Hero (1973), The Right Stuff (1983),
himself into a bit of comic trouble; The Murder and Bonfire of the Vanities (1990).
Man (1935), with Spencer Tracy as a tough The most common beat for the print jour-
crime reporter; Exclusive (1937), another com- nalist in Hollywood films has always been the
edy romance set amidst competing newspa- courtroom drama, where reporters typically
pers; and Libeled Lady (1936), starring William fight for justice, strive to clear the falsely ac-
Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, and Jean cused, and help convict the high and mighty.
Harlow in a comic treatment of the newsroom. Absence of Malice (1981) is interesting for its
After the late 1930s, the newspaper genre willingness to present journalists and journal-
was so familiar and comfortable that stars not ism as less than perfect. Written by Kurt
immediately associated with the newsroom be- Luedtke, a former reporter, Absence of Malice
 JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA ] 377

presents an aggressive reporter (Sally Field)

who prints a leaked story about Mafia connec-
tions that turns out to be false, damaging the
reputation of a decent businessman (Paul
Newman). Throughout the film, Field’s char-
acter exceeds the bounds of journalistic ethics
in order to make up for her initial mistake.
The May 5, 1969, issue of New York mag-
azine contains a dynamic journalistic piece
entitled “The Lifestyle of a Pimp.” The au-
thor, David Freeman, made it all up. Freeman
was not fired or forced to return prizes, as
were other highly publicized fabricators. In
fact, he wrote a screenplay building on the
incident that was eventually produced as
Street Smart (1987). Following the Meet John
Doe model, Freeman’s reporter (Christopher
Reeve) is forced to find a flesh-and-blood ver-
sion of the pimp he invented for his story and
settles on “Fast Black” (Morgan Freeman).
The film pokes fun at print and television F I G U R E 4 7 . The Paper (1994). Henry Hackett
journalism and, like Absence of Malice, high- (Michael Keaton), metro editor of the New York Sun,
and reporter Michael McDougal (Randy Quaid) try to
lights Hollywood’s more complex, post-
salvage the paper struck by another setback as they try to
Watergate stance toward contemporary jour- meet a deadline and possibly save the lives of two
nalism and media. African American boys wrongly accused of murder.
Although Hollywood has lately begun to cri- Courtesy Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures.
tique journalistic practices and transgres-
sions—especially those of television—the old relied on ticket sales. In the 1930s and 1940s,
affection for paper-and-ink journalism is still there were enough leisure hours in the course
alive, as evident in Ron Howard’s The Paper of a week for the typical person to patronize
(1994). Here, an outstanding cast—Michael both radio and film. Radio advertised and gos-
Keaton, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Randy siped about movies, incorporated the recog-
Quaid, and Jason Robards—gets lives and nizable voices of Hollywood stars, played
newspaper back together in an excellent treat- movie scores and tunes, and developed radio
ment of deadline pressure, journalistic ethics, plays from recently successful Hollywood
professional rivalries, work/family conflicts, films. For its part, Hollywood celebrated radio
and old-fashioned investigative do-gooding. and the big city radio stations in film portray-
als that underscored both media’s shared al-
Radio legiance to the same populist, mass audience.
At the end of the World War II, more Amer- By the early 1960s, radio had abandoned
ican families owned radios than either tele- dramatic programming to television, devoting
phones or indoor plumbing. Radio and film— itself almost entirely to music and local news,
even when half of radio programming con- becoming, in effect, more of an ally than a
sisted of dramatic shows—were never per- competitor with Hollywood. Today radio is
ceived as being direct and total competitors. most significant as a Hollywood advertising
Radio relied on advertising sponsors and film mechanism for promoting not only new the-
378 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

atrical and video releases but also hit sound- tian Slater as a nondescript high school student
track albums, currently one of the most suc- who, by night, hosts a pirate radio station that
cessful and profitable genres of music. offers cool music, coming-of-age advice, and
Consequently, film treatments of radio are occasional provocations for youthful rebellion.
largely loving, comical, and nostalgic, most fa- In Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train (1989), the
mously in Woody Allen’s Radio Days (1987), spirit of Elvis and the music of a local radio
which effectively evokes the radio drama’s pow- station dominate the Memphis visit of two
erful engagement of the listener’s imagination. rock ‘n’ roll–crazy Japanese tourists.
Earlier, in the 1930s and 1940s, the setting Not until the rise of talk radio in the 1980s
of the big-city radio station, with its live, studio would Hollywood begin to look less trustingly
performances, provided the perfect backdrop at radio, most dramatically in Oliver Stone and
for Hollywood films indulging the romance, Eric Bogosian’s Talk Radio (1988). Derived
the backstage musical, and the vaudeville tra- from Bogosian’s one-man stage show, Talk
dition. The most successful series of this sort Radio is inspired—loosely—by the real-life
was the Paramount Studios, George Burns–led Alan Berg, a confrontational Denver talk-radio
“Big Broadcast” films of 1932, 1936, 1937, and figure assassinated by neo-Nazis in 1984. An
1938. The last film of the series replaced Burns earlier film, somewhat ahead of its time in its
with Bob Hope, who, in his first feature, won appreciation of radio’s potential for inflam-
an Academy Award after singing what would matory rhetoric was Stuart Rosenberg’s WUSA
become his signature tune: “Thanks for the (1970), starring Paul Newman. A study of a
Memories.” The old-style radio studio has right-wing New Orleans radio station involved
been occasionally revisited, as in Radioland in clandestine activities beyond ideological
Murders (1994), with fictional 1940s Chicago broadcasting, the film was dubbed by Pauline
radio studio WBN serving as a backdrop for Kael a “garish example of liberal exhibition-
this blend of mystery, comedy, and slapstick. ism” (851). Alan Rudolph’s Choose Me (1984)
Another period piece is Tune in Tomorrow treated talk radio more comically and chari-
(1990), set in the world of 1950s radio soap tably than Talk Radio, with Rudolph orches-
operas. FM (1978), the best of a number of trating his typically wacky, Robert Altman–
comic treatments of 1970s radio, nicely cap- sized troupe of characters around the radio sex
tured the mood of the album-oriented Los An- therapist “Dr. Love” (Geneviève Bujold) and
geles rock scene and starred a funny Martin her relationship with a mysterious drifter
Mull in his first film, a likely inspiration for played by Keith Carradine. A similar, even sil-
television’s WKRP in Cincinnati. lier treatment of talk radio can be seen in The
Radio, of course, frequently plays in the Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996), where
background of film scenes, with news, music, Janeane Garofalo plays a lovelorn veterinarian
and disk jockey commentary serving for his- who dishes out pet tips on the local radio.
torical flavor and thematic enrichment. In the 1997’s Private Parts treats the rise to fame of
very successful American Graffiti (1973), direc- “shock-jock” personality Howard Stern. True
tor George Lucas explored the profound sig- to form, the older medium of radio, no matter
nificance of local radio to teen culture, mostly how outrageous the content, is no threat to
by the constancy of radio’s presence in their Hollywood, and the film is a well-made cele-
lives and on his soundtrack, but also by having bration of Stern as a regular guy.
his teens make a late-night pilgrimage to an
on-air Wolfman Jack, who, playing himself, Television
offered aid and advice. For later generations, In the early days, television looked to journal-
Pump up the Volume (1990) presented Chris- ism and Broadway for inspiration and talent.
 JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA ] 379

Dependent on bulky, studio-bound cameras, forced to wear an outrageous cowboy outfit

the typical live television drama was like “the- bedecked in electric lights. The film becomes
ater with closeups” (Toll, 63). By the late a heroes-on-the-run road picture, with obvi-
1950s, however, television had forced radio to ous potshots at the dehumanizing influence of
cater to local and regional audiences and was corporations, their publicity machines, and
challenging film’s hold on the mass audience. pack journalism.
In contrast to print and radio, films set in the Much more threatening was The China Syn-
world of television have frequently displayed a drome. In this story, Jane Fonda and Michael
mixture of fear and condescension. Paddy Douglas are the Woodward and Bernstein of a
Chayefsky’s Network (1976) accurately fore- California television news team that uncovers
shadows many of the sensationalistic and mor- some very serious problems at a nuclear power
bid developments of American television. plant. A political thriller without a happy end-
Pointedly hyperbolic, the film is a satiric mas- ing, the film pits the investigative reporter
terpiece. Its most famous scene—Peter Finch’s against not only the nuclear energy interests
“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take but also the higher echelons at her own station.
it anymore!” on-air outburst—is one of the Like Network, The China Syndrome finds no
more memorable in all of cinema, a moment comfort in those who control television.
that might help future generations realize the Treatment of women journalists continued
sense of power and community that could in Broadcast News (1987), which switched the
come when millions upon millions of viewers traditional pattern by having Holly Hunter
watched live, spontaneous television on a lim- play the intelligent, highly professional news
ited number of broadcast networks—before, producer who falls in love with a pretty boy,
that is, the influx of cable in the 1980s. Nom- on-air personality played by William Hurt. Al-
inated for ten Academy Awards and given most Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995,
four, Network made the cinematic treatment TV), offered a biopic of the real-life rise and
of television acceptable, even imitable. The Im- fall—through drugs and alcohol—of an ad-
age (1990) was in the vein of Network, with mired television news anchor. The original
Albert Finney as a news anchorman very cyn- script for Up Close and Personal (1996), written
ical about his trade. The influence spread even by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, was,
into the horror genre, where Joe Dante’s The in its earliest drafts, based on the brief, mete-
Howling (1981) smartly mixed werewolves oric rise of Savitch, who drowned in her au-
with television news. tomobile no more than twenty yards from a
The feminist gains of the 1960s and subse- restaurant where she had just eaten dinner.
quent decades helped extend the role and The final film, following the wishes of Disney
power of women journalists, even as on-air executives, dropped the Savitch biography for
women journalists continued to be rewarded a fictionalized, rags-to-riches, Pygmalion ro-
or fired based on dated notions of youth and mance, with an ambitious poor girl (Michelle
beauty. Hollywood found the female journalist Pfeiffer) working her way up the television
a dramatically compelling character. In 1979, news ladder with the help of a savvy news di-
Jane Fonda played a journalist in two separate rector (Robert Redford).
films. The Electric Horseman saw Fonda track, The concern with “pack journalism”—an
find, and befriend a retired rodeo champion ugly proliferation of “sound bite” journalists
(Robert Redford) who rides off with a million- and news sources viciously fighting over the
dollar racehorse when he finds it has been same tabloid news stories—is evident in The
drugged and misused by its owners. Redford’s Chase (1994). The falsely accused Charlie
character is a pitchman for a breakfast cereal— Sheen goes behind the wheel of a stolen BMW
380 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

containing a kidnapped heiress and leads po- press him or herself freely. The Truman Show
lice and television media on a high-speed chase and Pleasantville make it clear that TV has
through California. Sound familiar? Not a grown up in the eyes of Hollywood. Now that
great drama, the film’s treatment of pack jour- television is longer a threat but more of an en-
nalism in the age of video, satellites, cell tertainment partner with the studios, we can
phones, and helicopters is simultaneously hu- expect more artful and thoughtful treatments
morous and frightening. of the small screen on the big screen.
The six-part documentary The Dawn of the
Eye: The History of Film and TV News (1997) New Media: Computers, Internet, Virtual
offers a far-ranging survey of film and televi- Reality
sion’s not-always-respectable role in recording In Hamlet on the Holodeck, media scholar Janet
history and reporting news from 1894 to 1997. Murray helps explain Hollywood’s bifurcated
Commenting on American, British, and Ca- response toward computer-age new media:
nadian film and television journalism, Dawn “The birth of a new medium of communication
of the Eye exposes the fakery of newsreels and is both exhilarating and frightening. Any in-
the suppression of legitimate news in the first dustrial technology that dramatically extends
half of the century, notes the growing influ- our capabilities also makes us uneasy by chal-
ence and watchdog role of television news lenging our concept of humanity itself. . . . Half
from the 1950s through the 1980s, and con- the people I know seem to look upon the com-
cludes by exploring the impact of global news puter as an omnipotent, playful genie while the
events such as the Berlin Wall, Tiananmen other half see it as Frankenstein’s monster” (2).
Square, and the Gulf War. Although there are outstanding, if hysterical,
1998 saw two of Hollywood’s most brilliant films that treat computers—Colossus: The
treatments of television, both surprisingly Forbin Project (1970), 2001: A Space Odyssey
rooted in retrospective looks at 1950s-style sit- (1968), and War Games (1983) among them—
coms—perhaps impossible to conceive of be- Hollywood has yet to present a first-rate film
fore cable television’s Nickelodeon-led recy- dealing with the Internet or virtual reality, two
cling of vintage television. The Truman Show new technologies that seem to frighten and
was built on the premise of a man who had confuse Hollywood scriptwriters. In movies
spent his entire life unaware that he was living such as Hackers (1995), Virtuosity (1995) and
inside the world’s most popular television The Lawnmower Man (1992), filmmakers dis-
show, enclosed in a giant set. When Truman play computer screens as if they were laser light
begins to suspect the existence of another shows. On film, computer experts program,
world beyond his own, he sets out on a quest hack, and debug quicker than most people can
that provides viewers with an intelligent explo- type.
ration of mediated living, linking the film to Relying on Cassandra-like narratives of im-
long traditions of such thought in art, philos- pending disaster, the bulk of films treating
ophy, cosmology, and theology. new media are low-budget genre features,
Not as brilliant, but equally earnest, Pleas- some aimed at the straight-to-video market.
antville built on the premise that two contem- Triumph of the Nerds (1996), however, is a
porary teens could enter a perfect, 1950s sitcom well-done, three-part documentary on the
in the style of Leave It to Beaver. Things are too development of the personal computer,
perfect, however, and the new cast members adapted from Silicon Valley insider Robert X.
eventually transform the black and white, con- Cringely’s 1992 book Accidental Empires.
forming world of Pleasantville into a multicol- Nerds gets the technical details of computers
ored, open society where each person can ex- correct and balances its appreciation for the
 JOURNALISM AND THE MEDIA ] 381

wonder kids of personal computers like Bill The most recent medium to affect cinema
Gates and Steve Jobs with a not always rosy has already proven to be the most significant.
view of their methods. Nerds 2.0.1 (1998) re- The computer, in the guise of digital editing of
turns the whimsically critical Cringely to a his- digitized 35mm footage; high-end special ef-
tory of the Internet. Of the lot of new media fects and animation (Titanic and Toy Story II);
films, Strange Days (1995) comes closest to of- the Internet as a medium for cinema and
fering a believable, if still hysterical, explora- cinemalike marketing, distribution, and pre-
tion of virtual reality as a dramatically addic- sentation; and the “desktop studio” of PC,
tive new medium. The Matrix (1999), an low-budget editing and effects software, and
Orwellian techno-nightmare sporting black- video/digital camera (The Blair Witch Project,
leather-chic action scenes, makes good use of 1999) has already so upset the boundaries and
digital special effects work in expressing the traditions of Hollywood production that the
possibility that the world as we know it is ac- October 1999 cover of Wired magazine (bible
tually a rather large computer program, with, of the information revolution) dubbed its spe-
of course, a few bugs. A more mainstream cial edition on the future of cinema Life After
treatment of computing can be found in Hollywood. In such a context, the more con-
You’ve Got Mail (1998), which brings together siderable question might soon focus on how
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in a Hollywood the computer/Internet medium depicts old
romantic comedy of boy meets girls over the media such as cinema, television, radio, and
Internet—the oldest of Hollywood stories in print—or, more drastically, whether we should
the context of the newest mass medium. or can distinguish between media at all.

References
Hackers (1995, F)
Filmography Hero (1992, F)
His Girl Friday (1940, F)
Absence of Malice (1981, F) Hit the Ice (1943, F)
All the President’s Men (1976, F) The Howling (1981, F)
Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story (1995, TV) I. F. Stone’s Weekly (1973, D)
American Graffiti (1973, F) The Image (1990, F)
Between the Lines (1977, F) It Happens Every Thursday (1953, F)
The Big Broadcast (1932, F) The Last American Hero (1973, F)
The Big Broadcast of 1936 (1935, F) The Lawnmower Man (1992, F)
The Big Broadcast of 1937 (1936, F) Libeled Lady (1936, F)
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938, F) Life Begins at Forty (1935, F)
Blessed Event (1932, F) The Matrix (1999, F)
Bonfire of the Vanities (1990, F) Meet John Doe (1941, F)
Broadcast News (1987, F) The Murder Man (1935, F)
The Chase (1994, F) Mystery Train (1989, F)
The China Syndrome (1979, F) Nancy Drew—Reporter (1939, F)
Choose Me (1984, F) Nerds 2.0.1 (1998, D)
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Network (1976, F)
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970, F) The Paper (1994, F)
The Electric Horseman (1979, F) The Parallax View (1974, F)
Escape from Crime (1942, F) Platinum Blonde (1931, F)
Exclusive (1937, F) Pleasantville (1998, F)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, F) Pump up the Volume (1990, F)
Five Star Final (1931, F) Radio Days (1987, F)
FM (1978, F) Radioland Murders (1994, F)
Francis Covers the Big Town (1953, F) The Right Stuff (1983, F)
The Front Page (1931, F; 1974, F) Strange Days (1995, F)
382 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
Street Smart (1987, F) ica since 1941. 2d ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
Switching Channels (1988, F) University Press, 1997.
Talk Radio (1988, F) Cringely, Robert X. Accidental Empires: How the Boys
Teacher’s Pet (1958, F) of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign
The Truman Show (1998, F) Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date. New York:
The Truth About Cats and Dogs (1996, F) Addison-Wesley, 1992.
Tune in Tomorrow (1990, F) Good, Howard. Girl Reporter: Gender, Journalism, and
Two Against the World (1936, F) the Movies. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1998.
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, F) ——. Outcasts: The Image of Journalists in Contempo-
Up Close and Personal (1996, F) rary Film. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1989.
Virtuosity (1995, F) Kael, Pauline. 5001 Nights at the Movies. New York:
Wag the Dog (1997, F) Henry Holt, 1982.
War Games (1983, F) Langman, Larry. The Media in the Movies: A Catalog
The War Room (1993, D) of American Journalism Films, 1900–1996. Jefferson,
Where the Buffalo Roam (1980, F) NC: McFarland, 1997.
WUSA (1970, F) Murray, Janet H. Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future
You’ve Got Mail (1998, F) of Narrative in Cyberspace. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press, 1997.
Stephens, Mitchell. A History of News: From the Drum
to the Satellite. New York: Viking, 1988.
Bibliography Toll, Robert C. The Entertainment Machine: American
Baughman, James L. The Republic of Mass Culture: Show Business in the Twentieth Century. New York:
Journalism, Filmmaking, and Broadcasting in Amer- Oxford University Press, 1982.
[ MICHAEL SHULL AND DAVID WILT ]

The Labor Movement and

the Working Class
he history of organized labor in the United allegedly under the auspices of the Industrial

T States dates back to the 1790s, when

groups of Philadelphia carpenters—and a
few years later, shoemakers—banded together
and went on strike for better wages. The early
Workers of the World. Big business promoted
the “American plan,” nullifying the “closed
shop” union concept. Another wave of labor
strife ensued, including the violent West Vir-
nineteenth century saw a significant growth in ginia coalfield struggles later memorialized in
unions, including some organizations that cut Matewan (1987), and the 1926 Passaic (New
across craft lines and others that attempted to Jersey) Textile Strike, which lasted nearly a
bring together groups from different towns and year. The “virulent anti-union campaign . . .
cities. Business leaders and elected officials had left the labor movement reeling by the end
frowned upon the idea of organized labor, and of the twenties” (Watkins, 211).
numerous trials for conspiracy resulted, seri- The National Industrial Recovery Act
ously undermining the attempts of the unions (1933), the centerpiece of the Roosevelt ad-
to consolidate their gains. After the Civil ministration’s early efforts to battle the De-
War, labor tried again, business responded, pression, stated that employees had the “right
and an era of militant—even violent—labor- to organize and bargain collectively through
management clashes ensued. During this pe- representation of their own choosing” (Wat-
riod, strikes occurred in the railroad, mining, kins, 189). This sparked a major organizing
textile, and manufacturing industries, to name drive among unions, which not only set out to
a few. In 1886, the Haymarket Riot—which regain ground they had lost during the 1920s
broke out following the deaths of six striking but also moved into areas where they had
workers—left eleven dead, including seven po- never been successful before. Another key
licemen, in Chicago. Four union leaders were piece of legislation was the National Labor Re-
convicted of murder and hanged. Other noto- lations Act (also known as the “Wagner Act,”
rious clashes included the 1892 Homestead steel after its Senate sponsor) of 1935, which labor
strike, and the 1894 Pullman railroad strike. In historian Philip Taft considers “the greatest
many cases the unions—faced with opposition legislative victory gained by organized labor in
from both their employers and the govern- American history” (Taft, 451). This major
ment—failed to gain their objectives; yet the work of New Deal legislation guaranteed the
movement continued to grow. By 1914, total right of workers to organize or join a union
trade union membership in the United States without fear of reprisals and codified the right
stood at 2.67 million, and it had increased by of employees to negotiate with employers.
more than a million by 1920 (Bimba, 226, 308). Growth of unions in this period did not come
After World War I, business made a con- without strife: beginning in 1934, conflicts be-
certed effort to break the union movement, gan to occur frequently, reaching a peak of
alarmed by the specter of a “workers’ revolt,” 4,700 strikes in 1937 (Taft, 853).

383
384 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

World War II and the immediate postwar gaining power in any sector of the work force,
years marked a watershed for American it is vilified and attacked” (157).
unions; membership remained steady at Similarly, blue-collar work is shown to be
around fifteen million in the 1946–50 period honest but difficult. It is also not very inter-
(Taft, 631). The percentage of nonagricultural esting, which is why very few films—even
workers who belonged to unions peaked at those ostensibly about blue-collar workers—
around 39 percent of the U.S. workforce in the spend much time showing their protagonists
early 1950s. However, since that time, the at work. Most “labor” movies concentrate on
number of union members has increased only strikes and corruption or on the personal lives
slightly (to just over sixteen million), and the of the protagonists, in keeping with the ten-
percentage of American workers who belong dency of Hollywood to prefer personal stories,
to unions has decreased to 13.9 percent in melodrama, and action to the thorough ex-
1998 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The role or- amination of social problems.
ganized labor plays in American life has also
dwindled. In the past, unions and their activ- The Early Years of Labor on Film: 1910–1940
ities—organizing, negotiating, striking—were In the early years of the century, “Hollywood”
national news: “The labor movement is rec- had not yet become a monolithic industry,
ognized as a factor in national affairs when it with production, distribution, and exhibition
breaks out in disturbances or demonstrations controlled by a handful of major studios. In-
of its power; such as strikes, boycotts or riots stead, more than a hundred relatively small
which make trouble for consumers, employers, companies addressed a wide range of social is-
the government, and the humanitarians” sues—including the legitimate grievances of
(Beard, 131). Today, only rare, high-profile or- labor—often with considerable candor. More
ganized labor issues are deemed worthy of at- than a hundred pre–World War I films de-
tention outside of a limited, local sphere. The picted strikes (Shull, 145): some are shown to
image of organized labor in Hollywood movies be justifiable responses to exploitation; others
has followed the same curve. are fomented by agitators for their own ends.
The Hollywood film industry is one of the The dominant message in early capital-versus-
most heavily unionized work forces in the na- labor films is that the working class is inher-
tion: virtually everyone in the cast and crew of ently good but can be easily led astray by “out-
any major Hollywood film belongs to a union. side agitators”; it is in the best interests of the
Yet the production companies themselves were nation for labor to abstain from violence and
resolutely antiunion for many years. A fair to seek a harmonious relationship with capital.
amount of strife resulted, and this ongoing Capitalists must not mistreat faithful workers,
conflict contributed to the ambivalent image and they often share the guilt for labor con-
of labor in movies: unions are sometimes posi- flicts.
tive forces protecting workers against exploi- Some early labor films, including The Jungle
tative bosses but are more often corrupt, mis- (1914) and The Eternal Grind (1916), contain
guided, or detrimental to the economy owing extended scenes of workers performing their
to their outrageous demands. William Puette, tasks, depicted in ways that create sympathy
who has analyzed media images of organized for their skill and toil. The Eternal Grind fea-
labor, writes that “media sympathy for the tures Mary Pickford struggling behind a sew-
working class in the United States is reserved ing machine in an unsafe sweatshop. The Jun-
almost exclusively for the utterly powerless gle was based on Upton Sinclair’s novel about
and egregiously victimized. To the extent that the Chicago meatpacking industry, in which a
organized labor is successful at developing bar- ruinous strike destroys a family. Unlike most
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND THE WORKING CLASS ] 385

labor films of the era, The Jungle openly ad- terprise is never challenged, the factory owner
vocates socialism as an alternative to the ex- is sympathetically portrayed, and the good
ploitative conditions of the present. The Valley worker suffers nobly and in silence.
of the Moon (1914), taken from a Jack London There were some openly prolabor produc-
story, includes scenes of a street battle between tions such as The Contrast (1921), a feature
striking teamsters and replacements; police film financed with contributions from nearly
wagons are later shown trampling over the re- a hundred labor and radical organizations. In
bellious workers. this picture—based on an actual strike in West
This somewhat balanced—even prolabor at Virginia—the conspicuous consumption of
times—treatment dissolved after World War I, absentee mine owners is contrasted with the
the Red Scare that followed, and the consoli- harsh lives of miners who strike to protest im-
dation of the movie industry. Numerous proper safety precautions. At the end, the own-
strikes occurred after the end of the war: one ers, fearing national disaster, recognize the
of the most famous was the Seattle General union. Another union-sponsored picture was
Strike of 1919. In The World Aflame (1919), a The Passaic Textile Strike (1926), incorporating
fictionalized dramatization of the events, mil- actual footage from a real strike in New Jersey.
lionaire Carson Burr runs for mayor, upset by This film is highly sympathetic to labor, show-
the influence of radical propaganda on the ing the strikers’ struggle and their resistance to
city’s labor force. The highlight of the film oc- police harassment.
curs when Burr—aboard an American-flag- The film industry completed its transfor-
draped streetcar—confronts a mob of workers. mation into big business in the 1930s. The mo-
He breaks the strike, telling the men they have guls who ran the major companies strenuously
been “misled by alien propagandists.” resisted attempts by their workers to form new
The protagonist of Dangerous Hours (1920) unions. Not surprisingly, this anti-union bias
falls under the spell of a foreign vamp, who was reflected in some films, an attitude further
works for a fanatic Bolshevik named Boris influenced by the industry’s own Breen Office,
Blotchi. The subversives incite local lowlifes to which asked screenwriters to avoid “radical”
ransack a small town whose shipyard workers themes or attacks on big business. But, given
have joined a nationwide strike. The repentant the Depression, the New Deal, and other cir-
hero joins forces with loyal American working cumstances that severely affected working
men to combat this bloodthirsty mob. During Americans, it was impossible for Hollywood to
the denouement, the corrupt labor agitators— ignore the labor issue entirely or to portray the
who had collaborated with the Bolsheviks— entire working class as radicals. A significant
are tarred and feathered and run out of town number of 1930s films feature blue-collar pro-
on rails. tagonists—miners, steelworkers, truck drivers,
Other films also backed away from the ear- longshoremen, and the like. The trick was to
lier prolabor stance. In Triumph (1924), a make “interesting” films without resorting to
young wastrel is disinherited and winds up as the typical capital-versus-labor plot. Some-
a worker in his late father’s factory; his half- times pictures were structured around the
brother, a former agitator, is named head of dangerous nature of the work, as in Slim
the factory and overnight becomes an ex- (1937), in which Henry Fonda plays an elec-
ploiter, suggesting that soi-disant advocates of trical lineman. The workplace could serve as a
the workers are really acting out of personal catalyst for various conflicts—in Black Legion
ambition. In The Whistle (1921), a factory (1936), an automobile worker (Humphrey Bo-
worker’s son is fatally mangled in a mill’s im- gart) joins a xenophobic hate group after los-
properly protected machinery: yet private en- ing a promotion to an immigrant.
386 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

Depression-era films usually portrayed

unions as genuinely concerned with the wel-
fare of their members, although at times un-
savory or misguided elements took control.
“Agitators” generally did not come from
within the regular union rank and file, and
most workers were portrayed as willing to give
an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.
Strikes arose out of misunderstandings (or
were fomented by third parties), rather than in
response to poor pay or dangerous working
conditions.
Films actually showing labor strife were rare. F I G U R E 4 8 . Black Fury (1935). Joe Radek (Paul Muni)
and fellow miners stand silently behind steel gates,
In Black Fury (1935), Paul Muni plays a simple
blocking them from work in a strike where the company
coal miner who is duped by a dissenter in his and union refuse to negotiate. In anger, Muni finds his
union (the agitator is trying to cause trouble way into the mine and threatens its destruction if
because he secretly works for a company sup- negotiations do not proceed. Courtesy First National
Pictures and Warner Bros.
plying guards to mine owners). A strike breaks
out, a good union leader is beaten to death by
the hired goons, and Muni’s character stages a declaration of hostilities. Three Girls About
one-man occupation of the mine, threatening Town (1941) is one such example. It concerns
to blow it up unless the company and the a strike in the aircraft industry and includes a
union negotiate. The original script of this rare depiction of collective bargaining. The
film—based on an actual incident—was toned need for “national defense” is a deciding issue
down at the request of the Breen Office, which in settling the strike. Although Native Land
had been contacted by an association of mine was released in 1942, this independent pro-
owners. Breen urged Warner Bros. to down- duction (from Frontier Films) had been on the
play scenes of “serious conflict between em- drawing board for several years. Activist singer
ployer and employee” (American Film Insti- and actor Paul Robeson narrates the film,
tute 175–176). which mixes documentary footage and dra-
Together We Live (1935) was inspired by the matic re-creations of actual events, such as the
1934 San Francisco General Strike, which be- brutal repression of black and white share-
gan with a bloody confrontation between croppers who are trying to organize into a
striking longshoremen and police. In the film, union. Native Land is overtly patriotic but im-
a communist-led strike culminates with a plot plies at least a philosophical connection be-
to bomb a factory; fortunately, the patriotic tween totalitarians and “fascist-minded cor-
residents of a local veterans’ home foil the porations,” suggesting that the “enemies from
scheme. The Production Code Authority within” are as dangerous as the threat from
agreed to certify the film only if it contained abroad.
no “direct attacks on organized labor, capital- Once the United States officially joined the
ism, or constituted forces of law and order” Allies, organized labor made a so-called no-
(American Film Institute, 2,224). strike pledge. Indeed, there was a reluctance to
be perceived as either “war profiteers” (on
World War II and Beyond: 1941–1969 management’s side) or “unpatriotic” (on the
Cinematic preparations for the U.S. entry into part of labor). As the war went on, however,
World War II began even before the actual the number of work stoppages increased. Most
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND THE WORKING CLASS ] 387

labor-oriented war films were positive in their wake of this wave of conflict, Congress passed
outlook, lauding the contributions of manu- the Taft-Hartley Act: one provision allowed
facturers and workers to the Allied cause. Al- the invocation of a cooling-off period, post-
though these films paid lip service to the con- poning a strike to give labor and management
tribution of the working man (and woman) to more time to negotiate.
the war effort, the plots of some pictures ex- The anticommunist fervor of the postwar
plicitly depicted factory workers urgently try- era also had an impact on the public’s percep-
ing to leave their jobs and join the armed tion of organized labor. One provision of the
forces to “really” serve their country (Shull and Taft-Hartley Act was the requirement that
Wilt, 258–259). union officers sign a statement denying mem-
Man from Frisco (1944) fictionalizes the Lib- bership in (or sympathy with) the Communist
erty Ship program developed by Henry Kaiser, Party. In 1949 and 1950, the CIO (Congress of
but the only problems encountered are logis- Industrial Organizations) expelled eleven
tical (housing for workers) and technical (as- unions that were allegedly led or controlled by
sembling prefabricated ships in record time). leftists; nearly one million workers were “un-
The entry of women into the industrial labor ceremoniously dumped” from the CIO (Lor-
force was featured in movies such as Rosie the ence, 20). The idea that unions could be con-
Riveter (1944). While women were generally trolled by communists was featured in pictures
portrayed as effective workers, these films con- like The Woman on Pier 13 (1950), which dealt
centrated on romance and only occasionally with West Coast dock unions, and I Was A
ventured into the workplace. Communist for the FBI (1951), which depicted
Because strikes or salary disputes were rarely communist infiltration of steelworkers’ unions
touched upon, unions were practically invisi- in Pittsburgh. In the latter film, the subver-
ble in wartime films. One exception was Action sives—under the guise of helping the work-
in the North Atlantic (1943), about merchant ers—want to incite class and racial violence to
marine ships delivering supplies to Russia. The destroy America. Big Jim McLain (1952) also
survivors of a ship sunk by a Nazi submarine refers to communist infiltration of unions. All
return to the United States; some are reluctant three of these films cite the Korean War as an
to sign up for another dangerous trip, until— example of international communist aggres-
in a scene set in the union hiring hall—one of sion, point out the need for production to
their number makes a speech encouraging help the war effort, and suggest that com-
them to do their part, both as patriotic Amer- munists in unions may serve as saboteurs in
icans and as dedicated workers. During the time of war.
McCarthy period, this film was involved in a Another trend was the portrayal of unions
controversy over its alleged radical content: as pawns of organized crime: honest workers
one of the screenwriters was John Howard are manipulated and exploited by their mob-
Lawson, whose Communist affiliations made ster union officers. On the Waterfront (1954)
him one of the “Hollywood Ten.” depicts the brutal treatment of workers by
Although the labor scene had been relatively racketeers who demand salary kickbacks from
calm during the war years, the cessation of laborers in exchange for the opportunity to
hostilities was the signal for a new round of work, capped by beatings and even murder of
conflict between labor and management. The those who dissent. The capital-labor conflict is
year 1946 was perhaps the most contentious in forgotten: now workers are oppressed by the
the history of labor-management relations: very organization formed to protect them.
there were nearly five thousand work stop- This theme also appeared in films like Edge of
pages involving millions of workers. In the the City (1957) and Never Steal Anything Small
388 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

(1959). The latter picture stars James Cagney activities, but Walter Bernstein’s script—al-
as a waterfront hood who wants to win back though it is somewhat ambivalent about the
control of the stevedores’ union from the ma- morality of the Pinkerton spy—does not ques-
fia types currently in office. The picture is a tion the guilt of the “Mollies.”
mix of anti- and pro-union messages, alter- In Martin Scorsese’s Boxcar Bertha (1972),
nating references to strikes and union corrup- set in the 1930s, Bertha (Barbara Hershey) and
tion with laudatory invocations of such union “Big Bill” Shelley turn to banditry in the name
heroes as Samuel Gompers, George Meaney, of poor and oppressed railroad workers. Even-
and Walter Reuther. tually, Bill is caught and nailed to the side of
One pro-union film of the era was Salt of the a boxcar by company goons. David Carradine,
Earth (1954), financed by mineworkers and di- who played Big Bill, would also portray folk-
rected by a blacklisted Hollywood director, singer Woody Guthrie in Bound for Glory
Herbert J. Biberman. Based on a real incident (1976), which details Guthrie’s populist, pro-
and filmed on location, the picture portrays union activities of the 1930s.
the struggle of zinc miners in New Mexico who Which Way Is Up? (1977), stars Richard
want improvements in living and working Pryor as a fruit picker who falls out of a tree
conditions. They go on strike; in a gesture of onto a picket line and is photographed with
solidarity, their wives on the picket line replace Hispanic labor leader Juarez (that is, Cesar
them when the company gets a court injunc- Chavez). His alleged personal relationship
tion against the miners themselves. Ironically, with Juarez makes Pryor’s character a marked
the union in question (the International man, threatened and courted by labor and
Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Employees) management alike. This film’s comedic treat-
had been expelled from the CIO. Because of ment of farmworkers contrasts strongly with
the “tainted” nature of its production, Salt of the television documentary Harvest of Shame
the Earth received very little theatrical distri- (1960). Made by “CBS Reports,” this contro-
bution in the United States, although its rep- versial film examined the plight of migrant
utation has grown over the years and the film workers, living and working in abysmal con-
is now a classroom staple. ditions. The Fight in the Fields (1997) was a
documentary about the life and struggle of
The 1970s Cesar Chavez and his United Farmworkers
From the end of the 1950s through the early Union.
1970s, relatively few films dealt with organized Richard Pryor also appeared in Blue Collar
labor. The collapse of the studio system— (1978), in which three workers at an auto-
which gave rise to many independent produc- mobile factory become disillusioned with their
tions—ushered in an era marked by a number ineffectual union and their oppressive jobs.
of significant movies about labor. Robbing the union, they find only a small
Director Martin Ritt’s The Molly Maguires amount of cash and proof the union is engaged
(1970), set in 1876 Pennsylvania, portrays a in loan sharking. The three hatch a blackmail
band of Irish miners who sabotage coal com- plot which ends tragically: one man is mur-
pany operations when their union fails to win dered, another is named union representative
concessions from the owners. An undercover in exchange for his silence, and a third is re-
detective (Richard Harris) exposes their plot, jected by his fellow workers when he goes to
and twenty men are executed. Historians ques- the FBI.
tion whether the Molly Maguires were actually Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae (1979), based on a
guilty of a terrorist conspiracy, or if they were real-life incident, takes place in a Southern
railroaded because of their union organizing cotton-mill town dominated by the company.
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND THE WORKING CLASS ] 389

Norma Rae (Sally Field) works in the mill but Michael Moore’s futile attempt to interview
gradually becomes radicalized: her mother is Roger Smith, president of General Motors, af-
losing her hearing from excessive noise levels ter a round of plant closings. In Gung Ho
in the plant, and her father literally drops dead (1986), a union shop steward convinces a Jap-
at work, his earlier complaints ignored by the anese automaker to buy a now-shuttered fac-
foreman. With the aid of a Jewish labor orga- tory. The workers are at first overjoyed to get
nizer (Ron Liebman) from New York, Norma their jobs back, but then are shocked at the
fights for unionization despite threats and ha- loss of their union-brokered high salaries.
rassment from the company. At the film’s con- Eventually, the Japanese management concept,
clusion, the union wins the election among the combined with the promise of a lot of over-
plant workers. Norma Rae is, like Salt of the time pay, wins over the Americans. Rising Son
Earth, one of the few completely pro-union (1990) has a similar basic premise: a family-
sound features: the workers just want fair owned factory in Pennsylvania has been sold
treatment, while the company is portrayed as to a giant corporation. Among those affected
both callous and exploitative. is World War II veteran Gus (Brian Dennehy),
who worked his way up through the ranks to
The 1980s and 1990s a supervisory position but eventually loses his
Over the past two decades, only a few films have job through layoffs and downsizing. The film
significantly addressed labor issues. One theme, points out how Japanese competition and
seen in movies such as Breaking Away (1979) “Reaganomics” (the film is set in the early
and October Sky (1999), is that “manual labor” 1980s) brought about hard times for American
is the work of the previous generation, and that manufacturers and, in a domino effect, on la-
youth should aspire to something better. These bor. In one scene Gus berates his workforce
“escape” films do not criticize those who con- for losing their work ethic; in another, he visits
tinue to work in blue-collar professions, but the a semi-automated factory where the union
jobs themselves are shown to be dirty, danger- representative at his old plant now works
ous, and no longer secure or well paid. (ironically, since the robots will obviously not
The River (1984) combines the farm crisis join unions). The role of organized labor was
and labor: a midwestern farmer, victimized by further marginalized in Tommy Boy (1995),
the economy, by floods, and by a greedy busi- where the task of saving an auto-parts factory
nessman, joins a group of “scabs” in a strike- that has been targeted for takeover and closure
plagued factory in order to make ends meet. by a large corporation is spearheaded not by
The replacements work in a state of siege and, the union, but by the previously ineffectual
when the strike is settled, are cast off by the son (Chris Farley) of the late owner (also
company on a hour’s notice and are forced to played by Brian Dennehy). The factory work-
exit through a hostile gauntlet of the workers ers are reduced to cheerleaders for the earnest
whose jobs they had been filling. but buffoonish junior capitalist.
U.S. automobile workers had won major Mineworkers have been featured in numer-
concessions in a hundred-day strike against ous films since the silent era. Director Barbara
General Motors in 1945–46, but by the 1970s Kopple won an Academy Award for her doc-
the industry was reeling as a result of foreign umentary Harlan County U.S.A. (1977), about
competition (the steel industry was similarly a contemporary strike by miners in Kentucky.
threatened by overseas producers). Carmakers A decade later, director John Sayles’s Matewan
tried to fight back, but some of their methods (1987) returned to the topic. Set in West Vir-
led to new conflicts with labor. The documen- ginia in the 1920s, it portrays attempts to or-
tary Roger & Me (1989) chronicles filmmaker ganize the workers—whites, African Ameri-
390 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

cans, and immigrant Italians—and the violent strike (except when necessary, for strikes in-
reaction of a private security company hired convenience the rest of us) or use violence.
by the mine owners. Labor scholar William Puette argues that “the
Hoffa (1992), a biography of the famed portrayal of unions in the media, particularly
Teamsters leader, contains scenes of labor vi- in movies, plays a major role in shaping the
olence as hired goons and the police assault attitudes of Americans toward labor unions.
picketers; later, Hoffa is accused of links to or- With few exceptions, that portrayal has been
ganized crime and jailed. He returns to his post both unrepresentative and virulently negative”
upon his release, but mysteriously disappears (31).
in 1975. Hoffa is certainly a prolabor film, al- In recent years, however, the image of or-
though it is not a whitewash. ganized labor has not been so much negative
as absent: unions are increasingly seen as ir-
Marginalized Labor relevant. Screen images of working men and
One film historian suggests that “we have women are growing less and less frequent. As
failed to appreciate Hollywood’s part in shap- organized labor becomes increasingly margin-
ing the public’s image of organized labor” alized, its role in films is also dwindling. Films
(Walsh, 564). The vague overall message seems reflect the status of unions in contemporary
to be that companies should not abuse their America: only one in seven American workers
workers, force them to work in unsafe condi- now belongs to a union (one of ten in the pri-
tions for low pay, or hire thugs to violently vate sector) (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Con-
repress union efforts; on the other hand, sequently, instead of a policy of active hostility,
unions should not demand excessive wages Hollywood now files “organized labor” in the
and benefits, should not swindle their mem- category of “uninteresting topics” and largely
bers or blackmail employers, and should not ignores it.

References
Matewan (1987, F)
Filmography The Molly Maguires (1970, F)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943, F) Native Land (1942, F)
Big Jim McLain (1952, F) Never Steal Anything Small (1959, F)
Black Fury (1935, F) Norma Rae (1979, F)
Black Legion (1936, F) October Sky (1999, F)
Blue Collar (1978, F) On the Waterfront (1954, F)
Bound for Glory (1976, F) The Passaic Textile Strike (1926, F)
Boxcar Bertha (1972, F) Rising Son (1990, F)
Breaking Away (1979, F) The River (1984, F)
The Contrast (1921, F) Roger and Me (1989, F)
Dangerous Hours (1920, F) Rosie the Riveter (1944, F)
Edge of the City (1957, F) Salt of the Earth (1954, F)
The Eternal Grind (1916, F) Slim (1937, F)
The Fight in the Fields (1997, D) Three Girls About Town (1941, F)
Gung Ho (1986, F) Together We Live (1935, F)
Harlan County U.S.A. (1977, D) Tommy Boy (1995, F)
Harvest of Shame (1960, TV) Triumph (1924, F)
Hoffa (1992, F) The Valley of the Moon (1914, F)
I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951, F) Which Way Is Up? (1977, F)
The Jungle (1914, F) The Whistle (1921, F)
The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (1988, D) The Woman on Pier 13 (1950, F)
Man from Frisco (1944, F) The World Aflame (1919, F)
 THE LABOR MOVEMENT AND THE WORKING CLASS ] 391

Bibliography Puette, William J. Through Jaundiced Eyes: How the

Media View Organized Labor. Ithaca, NY: ILR
American Film Institute. The American Film Institute
Press, 1992.
Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United
Roffman, Peter, and Jim Purdy. The Hollywood Social
States: Feature Films, 1931–1940. Berkeley: Univer-
Problem Film: Madness, Despair, and Politics from
sity of California Press, 1993.
the Depression to the Fifties. Bloomington: Indiana
Beard, Mary Ritter. The American Labor Movement: A
University Press, 1981.
Short History. New York: Macmillan, 1931.
Ross, Steven J. Working-Class Hollywood: Silent Film
Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression
and the Shaping of Class in America. Princeton:
America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni-
Princeton University Press, 1998.
versity Press, 1971.
Shull, Michael S. Radicalism in American Silent Films,
Bimba, Anthony. The History of the American Work-
1909-1929. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2000.
ing Class. New York: International Publishers,
Shull, Michael S., and David Wilt. Hollywood War
1927.
Films, 1937–1945. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1996.
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence: Sex,
Taft, Philip. Organized Labor in American History.
Violence, Prejudice, Crime—Films of Social Con-
New York: Harper & Row, 1964.
science in the Silent Era. Berkeley: University of
Walsh, Francis R. “The Films We Never Saw: Ameri-
California Press, 1990.
can Movies View Organized Labor, 1934–1954.”
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
Labor History 27.4 (1986): 564–580.
Monthly Labor Review, 28 January 1997 and 28
Watkins, T. H. The Hungry Years: A Narrative History
January 1999.
of the Great Depression in America. New York:
Lorence, James J. The Suppression of Salt of the Earth:
Henry Holt, 1999.
How Hollywood, Big Labor, and Politicians Black-
Zaniello, Tom. Working Stiffs, Union Maids, Reds, and
listed a Movie in Cold War America. Albuquerque:
Riffraff: An Organized Guide to Films about Labor.
University of New Mexico Press, 1999.
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.
[ MICHAEL J. RILEY ]

Militias and Extremist

Political Movements
he Constitution of the United States al- groups believe theirs is a righteous cause: the

T lows for the maintenance of armed mili-

tias and—arguably—invests the citizenry
with an individual right to keep and bear arms.
Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence
last stand of traditional “American” ideals in
the face of a burgeoning monster—the federal
government. Although not all militias are rac-
ist, they do include white supremacist orga-
asserts that citizens have the right to rebel nizations such as the Aryan Nations, White
against oppressive tyranny. Indeed, the United Aryan Resistance, and The Order—groups
States has a long tradition of people banding who see their causes as justified by God’s
into armed groups to promote political and higher law and the Constitution. Indeed, the
ideological aims, beginning with the American roots of such ideas go deep. According to some
Revolution, and continuing through move- scholars, including Bernard Bailyn, the Amer-
ments as diverse as the Ku Klux Klan after the ican Revolution was also predicated on the be-
Civil War, the Black Panthers in the 1960s, and lief that a conspiracy within the colonial gov-
the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. ernment was set to undermine guaranteed
Indeed, the 1990s witnessed an outpouring of personal liberties. Richard Hofstadter has also
public attention to the rise of a neoconservative identified the “paranoid style” as a distinct
“militia movement.” For example, Morris populist tradition within American politics:
Dees’s Southern Poverty Law Center in Atlanta “The central image is that of a vast and sinister
tracked more than eight hundred self- conspiracy, a gigantic and yet subtle machinery
proclaimed “militia” or “patriot” groups oper- of influence set in motion to undermine and
ating during that decade. These groups tend to destroy a way of life” (“Paranoid Politics,”
believe that power should be dispersed in the 161). Yet today, because of fervent racial ide-
hands of the populace via a paramilitary, that ologies and advocacy of violence, the term
the profusion of records documenting the in- “militia movement” has acquired ominous
dividual threatens liberty, that communism connotations in the popular culture, carrying
continues to threaten world domination, and with it dark overtones of racism, paranoia, and
that the righteousness of the American charac- political upheaval. To their detractors, militias
ter must be protected at all costs. The extreme potentially endanger the stability of the nation
end of the militia movement steps far beyond and the safety of the people.
beliefs widespread in contemporary American The struggle pitting individual against col-
culture to embrace racial separatism, violent in- lective rights has long been an important
surrection, and belief in the rise of a conspira- theme in American politics. For example, Hof-
torial one-world government often referred to stadter has stated, “Lynching and vigilantism
as “ZOG” (Zionist Occupation Government). have so few parallels or equivalents elsewhere
Characteristically local, loosely structured, that they can be regarded as distinctly Ameri-
and heavily armed, members of the militia can institutions” (“Reflections,” 20). Hof-

392
 MILITIAS AND EXTREMIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS ] 393

stadter’s position may be somewhat over- thology as a means of overcoming unresolved

stated; certainly, recent times have seen anxieties, such as those stemming from Amer-
notable mob attacks in many nations, often ica’s loss in the Vietnam War.
along ethnic, religious, or nationalistic lines. At any rate, the cinema is fraught with im-
Nonetheless, such forms of violence have fas- ages of warring in the West, and several west-
cinated the public and been reflected in Amer- erns depict groups that might be construed as
ican film, where treatments of militias emerge militias. A particularly notable example is The
early and forcefully. One of the most notable Big Country (1958), a powerful tale of two pri-
examples is D. W. Griffith’s silent classic The vate armies involved in a range war over water.
Birth of a Nation (1915). Made only five de- The film ends when retired sea captain James
cades after the Civil War and widely heralded McKay (Gregory Peck), who steadfastly refuses
as a cinematic masterwork for its innovative to ally with either side, finally puts his life on
film language, Griffith’s epic stirred debate for the line by stepping between the factions. This
its sympathetic celebration of the Ku Klux is a film about how, in the absence of law and
Klan. Although the film opened to a strong without tolerance, justice becomes subverted
response at the box office and largely glowing by special interests. In contrast, The Alamo
reviews, John Higham points out in his semi- (1960)—an epic financed and directed by John
nal work Strangers in the Land, it became con- Wayne—celebrated the violence of history by
troversial for its portrayal of white victimiza- depicting the last stand of an armed group
tion during carpetbag regimes—a point of “selfless patriots,” heroes in the fight to divorce
view widespread within the popular con- Texas from Mexico in 1836. Yet by 1973 a far
sciousness of the day. Wyn Wade further con- less optimistic rendering of militias is found in
tends that although fiercely opposed by the Clint Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter, where a
NAACP and racial activists, only minor small town hires a mysterious stranger (played
changes were made to the film to appease criti- by Eastwood) to train the locals so they can
cism. resist outlaws who have been terrorizing the
town. Reflecting the moral ambiguity follow-
Violence in the Wild West ing the 1960s, the formation of a local militia
As America stepped up its military and civilian is portrayed as just, yet ultimately ineffectual:
expansion into the West after the Civil War, the townspeople back down, leaving the gun-
violent conflict figured recurrently. Indeed, the fighter to stand alone.
history of the region is one of warring and A modern-day militia film that continues
domination, and, throughout the twentieth the tradition of the western is Arthur Penn’s
century, Hollywood has demonstrated a par- The Chase (1966), which pits Sheriff Calder
ticular fondness for portraying the violent side (Marlon Brando) against a group of gung-ho
of westward migration. Indeed, the first tele- vigilantes determined to capture or kill es-
vision generation was steeped in images of caped convict Bubber Reeves (Robert Red-
conflict in the Wild West. In this regard, au- ford). Despite the fact that he must go it alone
thor James Gibson suggests that a Wild West with little support, the sheriff is eventually able
mindset became paradigmatic in American to bring in his prisoner. But the film ends as a
culture with the rise of mass media—particu- vigilante murders the convict in a moment eer-
larly the moving image. Furthermore, Gibson ily reminiscent of Jack Ruby’s execution of ac-
held that the contemporary militia movement cused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald
is tied to a cowboy mentality fostered by the in November 1963. Perhaps the most poignant
media, but in this case the popular mythos of line of the film is spoken as the lawman seeks
the western mixes with a shoot-’em-up my- to draw a line between justice and vigilantism:
394 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

“The State of Texas says everybody can own a stated film ends in tragedy and death wrought
gun, and most of you got two, but deputies by armed confrontation. The kindred—and
you ain’t. So you just stay drunk and forget equally violent—Red Dawn (1984), on the
about it.” Those words crystallize a sense of other hand, sings the virtues of armed resis-
divisiveness between public officials and self- tance to an imagined invasion of the western
proclaimed militia groups when authority is in United States by Soviet and Cuban paratroop-
dispute. ers, an event plausible only in the filmmaker’s
imagination.
Cold War Patriotism
Born of the collective fears surrounding the Racial Violence and Civil Rights
rise of the “military-industrial complex” dur- The threat of violence is de rigueur in films
ing the Cold War, another genre of film has treating the rise of militias and extremist po-
focused on fervent patriotic nationalism but litical movements. Indeed, the ties between po-
also poses difficult questions about authority. litical extremism and racism crop up more
A brilliantly dark picture emerges in John overtly and more frequently in films produced
Frankenheimer’s Seven Days in May (1964), after the civil rights movement. For example,
which focuses on a cabal formed within the in The Chase the vigilantes attempt to shoot a
military by General James Scott (Burt Lancas- black man they suspect of sexual involvement
ter), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to with a white woman ( Jane Fonda). The sys-
stage a coup against president Jordan Lyman temic racial vigilantism ingrained in commu-
(Fredric March) after he signs a nuclear dis- nities is the subject of Mississippi Burning
armament treaty. This film pits two opposi- (1988). A sophisticated period film set in the
tional forms of patriotism: one (govern- mid-1960s and based on fact, it pits two FBI
mental) adhering to the established law and agents (Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe)
authority, and another (military) proclaiming against the Ku Klux Klan after the disappear-
itself representative of the true intentions of ance of three youths who had been working to
the founding fathers and the security interests register black voters. However, the film was
of the nation. As such, Seven Days is excellent criticized for its willingness to rewrite histori-
for framing questions of patriotism through cal details for dramatic effect, and for its focus
disputed claims of legitimacy held by political on FBI agents rather than black activists (Top-
factions. lin, 25–44, 226). The film is brutally violent
Another film about defiance of government and ripe with a sense of the fear, vulnerability,
on moral grounds is Taps (1981), in which stu- and poverty experienced by rural blacks, who
dents at a military academy faced with closure often saw federal agents as ineffectual allies
seize the campus and engage in armed con- only a little less troublesome than the Klans-
frontation with the National Guard. In one men. While pursuing themes of domination
poignant moment, the colonel in charge of the and the collision of cultures, it builds on di-
guardsmen (Ronny Cox) tries to explain pub- visions within the FBI over the abuse of power,
lic sentiment to the cadet major (Timothy contrasting a local culture seemingly incapable
Hutton): “They don’t see you guys as rebels of change against the vague promises of out-
with a good cause; they think you’re home- siders. In the end the film raises more ques-
grown terrorists. And quite frankly, it’s got ’em tions than it answers, when a small, expensive
scared shitless. Nice American boys don’t act “victory” by government agents leaves the
like this.” With both sides unwilling to second- community swathed in destruction and tur-
guess their self-righteous “might makes right” moil. The same ambivalence characterizes Mi-
attitudes, this thought-provoking albeit over- chael Apted’s Thunderheart (1992), in which a
 MILITIAS AND EXTREMIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS ] 395

Still, it holds considerable potential to spur de-

bate about the relationship between freedom
of speech and violence.

Confrontational Politics
Justifiably or not, in some cases violence has
also been used by the government to quell per-
sonal liberties. Ambush in Waco (1995) pro-
vides a good example. A dramatization based
on an infamous 1993 federal siege of the
Branch Davidian compound outside Waco,
FIGURE 49. Taps (1981). Brian Moreland (Timothy Texas, which resulted in ninety deaths, it re-
Hutton, seated) leads a group of rebellious cadets who
refuse to accept the decision to close their military
inforces a popular perspective that the beliefs
academy for the development of condominiums on the of extremists can be explained only through
land. Courtesy Twentieth Century-Fox. madness—hence vindicating the federal at-
tack. Although it represents a position widely
part-Indian FBI agent (Val Kilmer) must de- believed by the mainstream and espoused in
cide where he stands on the matter of Ameri- the news media, the film lacks the balanced
can Indian resistance to both white encroach- treatment one might expect from a quality
ment and intratribal political corruption. documentary. On the other hand, the highly
A less successful portrayal of racial intoler- controversial Academy Award–nominated
ance is Betrayed (1988), which also focuses on documentary Waco: The Rules of Engagement
an FBI investigation. In this case a female agent (1997) presents a provocatively oppositional
(Debra Winger) infiltrates a hate group after a picture: it suggests that the assault on the com-
Jewish disk jockey is gunned down, recalling pound was in retaliation for the shooting of
the assassination of Denver radio announcer four federal agents at the beginning of the
Alan Berg by an Aryan supremacist group, The standoff and that government actions were de-
Order. The film is hampered by its failure to signed to obscure the truth.
explain a belief system that believes that its ac- One of the more successful examinations of
tions to bring down a corrupt government are confrontational politics is Skokie (1981), which
biblically commanded. Instead, it mires in a uses a Hollywood cast led by Danny Kaye to
contrived love affair between the agent and the create the feel of a documentary. Factually
militia leader (Tom Berenger). Oliver Stone’s based on events that occurred in a largely Jew-
Talk Radio (1988) is also loosely based on the ish Chicago suburb, it dramatizes the activities
murder of Berg, yet it fails to examine closely of neo-Nazis planning a march. Legal maneu-
the motivations of the killers. Both of these vers pit the city, which opposed the march,
stylized Hollywood undertakings make an in- against the ACLU, working on behalf of First
teresting contrast to the Bill Moyers documen- Amendment rights. Rather than reveling in
tary Hate on Trial: Challenging the First bloodshed, however, its violence remains psy-
Amendment (1992), which covers a 1990 civil chological—located in threats and potential
trial of Tom and John Metzger for inciting skirmishes that never materialize yet create
skinheads in Portland, Oregon, to kill an Ethi- turmoil in a community where many older cit-
opian immigrant. This film, which includes izens are Holocaust survivors. One effect is to
long sessions of testimony interspersed with raise the question of who is the “militia” when
commentary by legal and civil liberties schol- neither side represents the government and
ars, is a valuable but often plodding record. both seek to wield words and weapons against
396 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

the other? Narratives of the Holocaust are Drawing on the sentiment of white victimiza-
powerful and poignant elements of this film, tion that infused The Birth of a Nation, these
but its real strength is its exploration of phil- militial ideologies are also explored in Tony
osophical underpinnings of law, contrasted Kaye’s American History X (1998), for which
with the emotional underpinnings of hate. Af- Edward Norton, playing a repentant neo-Nazi,
ter viewing Skokie, one might hate neo-Nazism earned an Academy Award nomination for
all the more while understanding it better. best actor.
Racial extremism is allowed to run rampant
in the remarkable documentary Blood in the Radical Politics and the Zeitgeist
Face (1991), which films the militia movement Like the multiheaded hydra of Greek mythol-
at the ground level. Shot largely at local gath- ogy, the portrayal of militias within American
erings of violent, racist groups, this gripping film takes many forms. Although most cine-
and frank portrayal of hate mongering focuses matic treatments of militias have been based
on the beliefs of the Aryan Movement. Allow- in part on actual events, they tend to blur the
ing its proponents to speak for themselves, the lines separating documentary, history, and
film is assembled into a collage of bizarre rant- drama. Often seeking interpretive rather than
ing and raving—vague theories that 35,000 factual portrayals, they tend to present ideo-
Viet Cong are operating in the wilds of British logically driven histories that may be most use-
Columbia and pithy quotes like “All I’m gonna ful as a litmus test of the salient issues and
say is sieg heil, and let’s go eat!” Part of the zeitgeist of their times. Radical political move-
appeal of the militia movement is that it caters ments bring with them loaded issues as surely
to people who feel they are being victimized; as loaded guns. If nothing else, it becomes clear
who espouse a xenophobic sentiment that, de- that the film industry has difficulty penetrating
spite their racial superiority, they are victims fringe and extremist cultures to render them
of a dark conspiracy to destroy (white) Amer- in all their complexities. Given their currency
ican cultural traditions. As Christian Identity in the United States and their enduring his-
minister Alan Poe states in the film, “They tory, militia movements warrant better treat-
have so misled our people, that truth has be- ment by visual media than they have received
come a lie, and the lie is the truth.” to date.

References
Seven Days in May (1964, F)
Filmography Skokie (1981, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) Talk Radio (1988, F)
Ambush in Waco (1995, F) Taps (1981, F)
American History X (1998, F) Thunderheart (1992, F)
Betrayed (1988, F) Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997, D)
The Big Country (1958, F)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F)
Blood in the Face (1991, D) Bibliography
The Chase (1966, F) Bailyn, Bernard. The Origins of American Politics.
Hate on Trial: Challenging the First Amendment New York: Knopf, 1970.
(1992, D) Collier, John, and Malcolm Collier. Visual Anthropol-
High Plains Drifter (1973, F) ogy: Photography as a Research Method. Albuquer-
Incident at Oglala (1992, D) que: University of New Mexico Press, 1986.
Mississippi Burning (1988, F) Coppola, Vincent. Dragons of God: A Journey Through
Nightmare in Big Sky Country (1998, F) Far-Right America. Atlanta: Longstreet, 1996.
Red Dawn (1984, F) Dees, Morris, and James Corcoran. Gathering Storm:
 MILITIAS AND EXTREMIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS ] 397
America’s Militia Threat. New York: HarperCollins, ——. “Reflections on Violence in the United States.”
1996. In Richard Hofstadter and Michael Wallace, eds.,
Devereaux, Leslie, and Roger Hillman, eds. Fields of American Violence: A Documentary History, 3–43.
Vision: Essays in Film Studies, Visual Anthropology, New York: Knopf, 1970.
and Photography. Berkeley: University of California MacDougall, David. “Films of Memory.” Visual An-
Press, 1995. thropology Review 8.1 (1992): 29–37.
Gibson, James. Warrior Dreams: Paramilitary Culture Stern, Kenneth S. A Force Upon the Plain: The Ameri-
in Post-Vietnam America. New York: Hill & Wang, can Militia Movement and the Politics of Hate. New
1994. York: Simon & Schuster, 1996.
Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood: The Use
American Nativism, 1860–1925. New York: Athe- and Abuse of the American Past. Urbana: University
neum, 1955. of Illinois Press, 1996.
Hofstadter, Richard. “Paranoid Politics.” In Gilbert Wade, Wyn Craig. The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux
Abcarian, ed., American Political Radicalism, 155– Klan in America. New York: Simon & Schuster,
171. Waltham, MA: Xerox College Publishing, 1971. 1987.
[ JAMES P. HANLAN ]

The Political Machine

t least since Lincoln Steffens’s muckrak- this setting, the “political boss” has been

A ing exposé The Shame of the Cities (1904),

the urban political machine has been
viewed with suspicion and derision. Their crit-
ics labeled the men who led such machines in
viewed by these scholars as an important “bro-
ker.” In this interpretive framework, the
“boss” attempts to satisfy competing—and
usually directly conflicting—demands. From
cities across the nation “bosses.” Progressive this perspective, the urban political machine
reformers regarded these men not as sophis- functioned to hold together a pluralistic soci-
ticated leaders but as personally, politically, ety always flirting with the potential of disin-
and financially corrupt defilers of an American tegration. Stressing functionality rather than
tradition of popular government and public exposé, these historians have regarded politi-
service. Richard Hofstadter’s Pulitzer Prize– cal machines and bosses as diplomats rather
winning The Age of Reform (1955) suggested than defilers. The boss unified urban com-
that this moralistic approach stemmed in part munities, using considerable powers of per-
from the inability of many Americans to cope suasion and judgment. As a communicator,
with the teeming, impersonal, and ethnic vi- the machine’s leader used humor and an in-
brancy of urban life. In particular, Hofstadter tuitive and often experiential understanding
pointed to the anxieties of native-born Amer- of neighborhood, business, and ethnic life to
icans who felt thrust aside by new groups and bypass legalistic frameworks and accomplish
new forces. Political machines served the in- pragmatic results.
terests of these new groups while being instru- It was in this framework that Zane L.
mental in displacing from power those who Miller’s Boss Cox’s Cincinnati (1968) presents
assumed that political leadership was their due its subject. George Barnsdale Cox served as
inheritance. broker and resource allocator, allowing his city
Professional historians, following in Hof- to enter the modern world while keeping po-
stadter’s wake, have borrowed from analytical tentially divisive forces at bay. Similarly Melvin
frameworks provided by the social sciences G. Holli, in Reform in Detroit (1969), sees
such as that set forth by Robert K. Merton in Hazen S. Pingree as a “reformer” who stressed
Social Theory and Social Structure (1957); in lower utility rates for consumers and shifted
this vein, scholars have worked to revise and the tax burden to large corporations. Reform,
rehabilitate the reputation of urban political Holli points out, often served to impose the
bosses. Urban America was a fragmented so- interests of the business system of the corpo-
ciety marked by rapid industrialization, explo- ration on municipal government while elimi-
sive physical and demographic growth, the rise nating petty crime and vice. Consistent with
of a pluralistic ethnic and racial population, Hofstadter’s framework, probusiness reform-
and conflicting demands for attention from ers questioned whether popular rule was a
neighborhood, city, and business interests. In suitable instrument in a pluralistic society.

398
 THE POLITICAL MACHINE ] 399

The approach of scholars diverges sharply rector Stuart Heisler used the urban political
from that of novelists and popular filmmakers. boss and his world as a backdrop for a film
Possibly because they were written for middle- noir tale of amoral complicity. The focus,
class audiences, novels of urban political cor- though, was on the story, the adventure, and
ruption usually adhere to the muckraking tra- human corruption rather than on the func-
dition. Such novels portray the stereotypical tions and methods of the urban political ma-
“boss,” glorying in the excesses of personal, chine itself.
political, and financial corruption of both the Likewise, respected director John Ford took
boss and his coterie of cronies. The classic por- on the subject of the political boss in 1958 with
trayals of Robert Penn Warren’s All The King’s his screen adaptation of Edwin O’Connor’s
Men (1946), based on the life and career of The Last Hurrah. O’Connor’s novel portrays
Louisiana’s Huey Long, and of Edwin the last campaign of an old-time political boss,
O’Connor’s The Last Hurrah (1956), based on slightly past his prime. The stars in Ford’s cast
Boston’s James Michael Curley, fall into this (Spencer Tracy, Pat O’Brien, and Basil Rath-
category. In both instances the authors created bone) were all at or near the end of their own
literary classics, focusing on the scandals and legendary film careers; thus, the cast matched
peccadilloes of their protagonists while ne- the elegiac mood of the novel. The utter cor-
glecting substantive issues of urban politics. ruption of the machine is mitigated by the gen-
For the sake of a good story, the authors over- uine benevolence of Boss Skeffington (Spencer
look the subtle and sophisticated functions of Tracy) toward “his” people and by his sharp
the political system and the “bosses” whom perception of their plight. The ethnic and
they portray. For Hollywood, as for the nov- working-class sources of popular support for
elist, the melodramatic story of “good” versus the boss are far more clearly delineated than
“evil” proves equally attractive. are the “contributors” to Skeffington’s media-
Hollywood’s focus on the sensationalistic wise rival. As a result, the old-style boss is seen
story can be seen in Preston Sturges’s The as more human than his telegenic opponent.
Great McGinty (1940). McGinty (Brian Don- The film focused nevertheless on stereotypes
levy) was portrayed as a man, utterly corrupted of rough-and-tumble ward and city politics
by the system, who sold his vote some thirty- rather than on the role of the boss as a com-
seven times and thus managed to attract the municator and broker between various rival
attention of “the boss” (Akim Tamiroff ). It groups, each competing for a “fair” share of
was the boss’s influence that enabled McGinty governmental pork. In fact, the urban boss of
to “advance” to the collection of protection the late nineteenth and early twentieth centu-
money and graft, the position of alderman, ries had not one constituency but multiple and
and, ultimately, the job of mayor. McGinty complex constituencies. His skill was in his
was portrayed as utterly without morality— ability to satisfy each group in a complex and
either political or personal, a man whose mar- often contradictory urban environment while
riage of convenience was intended only to at- simultaneously perpetuating his own power.
tract female voters during his candidacy for Film viewers identify with Skeffington’s gen-
mayor. Interestingly, McGinty himself could uine humanity, realizing the ability of media-
nevertheless be seen as a rather likable figure, based campaigns to manufacture an artificially
corrupted by an urban political system that left genuine persona.
the individual with few good choices. As late as 1995, the urban political boss re-
In 1942, Paramount Pictures filmed Dashiell mained a theme for Hollywood filmmakers.
Hammett’s tale of political corruption, black- Harold Becker’s City Hall saw Al Pacino por-
mail, and murder, The Glass Key (1931). Di- traying a New York mayor as a humane and
400 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

competent civil servant—a far cry from the vil- A far more sophisticated approach was taken
lain of Lincoln Steffens’s “shame of the cit- by Roger Biles, whose scholarly Richard J.
ies”—operating amid a society of pervasive Daley (1995) portrays Chicago’s mayor as a
corruption. Thus the muckraker theme re- skilled communications broker who presided
mained while the flaw was seen as more soci- over the building of a city well suited for the
etal than individual. latter twentieth century—but whose efforts
The ability of Hollywood to convey a so- would ultimately founder on the rock of race.
phisticated sense of what scholars have learned The interpretive framework set forth by Biles
about urban politics is limited by its need to is reflected in the PBS documentary Daley: The
entertain and tell a story that holds and attracts Last Boss (1995), which presents the mayor as
a mass audience. Stolen votes, a threatened or the last of a dying breed, a man in close touch
“bought” electorate, and ignorant or amoral with both his immigrant neighborhood base
politicos make for engaging drama. Documen- and its middle-class aspirations. Like Biles’s
tary filmmakers, in contrast, have managed to monograph, the PBS documentary shows how
take on the topic of the urban political boss in a “local” leader could use party politics to ac-
a way that more carefully mirrors the degree quire national influence. While other cities fell
of sophistication achieved by historical schol- victim to recurrent crises, Daley’s Chicago
arship. long remained “the city that works” until it
The treatment of Chicago’s late “boss” Rich- eventually was torn asunder by racial division,
ard J. Daley by documentary filmmakers re- a matter that proved beyond Daley’s experi-
flects the best of historical scholarship while ence and understanding and that, combined
rejecting the popular, journalistic, and sensa- with antiwar tensions, exposed his city to na-
tional. Mike Royko was one of Daley’s local tional derision in 1968 during the infamous
journalistic gadflies. Boss (1971) is Royko’s Democratic national convention.
“biography” of Daley. Although the author sel- A less successful PBS effort was Scandalous
dom resists the cheap shot, it is cleverly writ- Mayor (1991), a portrait of Boston’s James Mi-
ten: in discussing Daley’s character, for ex- chael Curley. Like the Daley film, this docu-
ample, Royko notes that no matter whom mentary is an episode in the generally excellent
Daley stabbed in the back in the afternoon, he series The American Experience. Unfortunately,
always prayed in the morning. Daley is pre- it is unlike the PBS treatment of Daley because
sented as first the creature and then the master it stresses the excesses of a “scandalous
of the much-maligned Chicago machine. mayor.” Although it is a more accurate his-
Royko glosses over Daley’s own incisive de- torical portrait than The Last Hurrah, the film
fense of the primacy of party loyalty: without looks back to the moralistic approach.
the party, Daley noted, only the rich could run PBS has taken on the issue of a new genre
for office. The party’s beneficial function was of political “boss” in its treatment of Robert
to assure access of the average person to the Moses. Moses was the ultimate insider, pro-
mechanism of government. Daley’s roots were tected by civil service and bureaucracy and im-
firmly planted in his Irish neighborhood of mune from the vicissitudes of elections and
Bridgeport. This reminded the “boss” of the public opinion. As much as any elected politi-
reality the progressives would have preferred cal “boss,” Moses the bureaucrat designed and
to downplay. Daley, the intuitive politician, shaped much of New York’s metropolitan
thus echoed the concerns of scholar Richard physical space. Indeed, Moses’s bridges, play-
Hofstadter that, the failures of the old-style po- grounds, beaches, tunnels, and low-income
litical machine notwithstanding, the alterna- housing projects would be the envy of any clas-
tive could be worse. sical “boss.” Unfettered by the need to win
 THE POLITICAL MACHINE ] 401

popular approval by running for office, Moses continued into the 1990s. Washington’s infa-
and his projects used the law of eminent do- mous Mayor Marion Barry, beset by scandals,
main to devastate entire neighborhoods. was caught on videotape in 1990, in an FBI sting
Drawing heavily on Robert Caro’s Power Bro- operation, smoking crack cocaine. After release
ker (1974), the PBS documentary The World from a brief prison sentence, Barry proved his
That Moses Built (1988) raises disturbing ques- popularity by again winning elective office.
tions about the struggle between individual Barry’s civil rights activism, together with his
liberty and public order. The elitism of the tireless battling for rights for the District of Co-
older order, though without the gentility imag- lumbia, assured that his luster with poor Afri-
ined by many progressives, was reborn in a can American neighborhoods would not be
different guise under Moses. Many New York- dulled by his scandals. Maligned by the press,
ers would surely have wondered what could Barry remained beloved by his constituents. As
“shame” their city more: a benevolent turn-of- with Boston’s James Michael Curley, the boss’s
the-century boss or a relentless and unfettered popularity survived a prison sentence. The Last
twentieth-century builder. Hurrah had clearly not sounded last at midcen-
Despite official and media antagonism, the tury in Massachusetts, but was loud and strong,
popularity of “scurrilous” urban politicians albeit less widespread, at century’s end.

References
Filmography Green, Paul M., and Melvin G. Holli, eds. The May-
ors: The Chicago Political Tradition. Carbondale:
All the King’s Men (1949, F)
Southern Illinois University Press, 1987.
All the President’s Men (1976, F)
Hofstadter, Richard. The Age of Reform. New York:
The Candidate (1972, F)
Knopf, 1955.
Citizen Kane (1941, F)
Holli, Melvin G. The American Mayor: The Best and
City Hall (1995, F)
the Worst Big-City Leaders. University Park: Penn-
Daley: The Last Boss (1995, D, TV)
sylvania State University Press, 1999.
The Front Page (1931, F)
——. Reform in Detroit: Hazen S. Pingree and Urban
The Glass Key (1942, F)
Politics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.
The Great McGinty (1940, F)
The Last Hurrah (1958, F) Merton, Robert K. Social Theory and Social Structure.
Scandalous Mayor (1991, D, TV) Glencoe, IL: Free Press, 1957.
The World That Moses Built (1988, D, TV) Miller, Zane L. Boss Cox’s Cincinnati: Urban Politics
in the Progressive Era. New York: Oxford Univer-
Bibliography sity Press, 1968.
Biles, Roger. Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race and the Rosenstone, Robert J. Visions of the Past: The Chal-
Governing of Chicago. DeKalb: Northern Illinois lenge of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge,
University Press, 1995. MA: Harvard University Press, 1995.
Carnes, Mark C., ed. Past Imperfect: History according Royko, Mike. Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago. New
to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. York: Penguin, 1971.
Caro, Robert A. Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Sarris, Andrew. Politics and Cinema. New York: Co-
Fall of New York. New York: Knopf, 1974. lumbia University Press, 1978.
Christensen, Terry. Reel Politics: American Political Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural History
Movies from Birth of a Nation to Platoon. New of American Movies. New York: Random House,
York: Basil Blackwell, 1987. 1975.
[ PETER C. ROLLINS ]

The Presidency After World War II

he American presidency, like the United Schlesinger, of course, was most disturbed by

T States itself, emerged from World War II

with enormous powers accumulated
during the struggle to defeat fascism. Con-
fronted by the Iron Curtain and Cold War,
Lyndon B. Johnson’s use of the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution of 1964 to justify a military expe-
dition that cost fifty thousand lives—yet he ne-
glected to note that LBJ repeatedly invited
the chief executive office maintained its war- Congress to reconsider and to debate the res-
time activism. From 1945 until the twenty- olution.
first century, challenges abroad justified re- Between 1973 and 1974, most Americans—
tention of executive prerogatives: the collision including a young Oliver Stone—became sen-
with Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe, sitized to the misuse of executive power by the
Chinese adventurism in Korea, Vietnamese infamous Watergate scandal. President Rich-
militarism in Southeast Asia, and the war on ard Nixon’s use of federal agencies to harass
international terrorism that followed the Sep- and punish political opponents disturbed Re-
tember 11, 2001, disaster at the World Trade publicans and Democrats alike—and fostered
Center. a suspicion of power that continues into the
Arthur Schlesinger Jr., the Pulitzer Prize– twenty-first century. In sum, the international
winning historian, deplored these develop- challenges of the post–World War II era re-
ments in a book whose title became a watch- quired executive freedom of action while para-
word for political observers, The Imperial doxically posing a threat to those traditional
Presidency (1994): freedoms the powers were created to preserve
By the early 1970s the American President had and defend.
become on issues of war and peace the most
absolute monarch (with the possible exception The Presidency During the Cold War
of Mao Tse-tung of China) among the great As the commanders in chief of the armed
powers of the world. The Indo-China War forces, the presidents of the Cold War era con-
placed this problem high on the national con- tinued to be responsible for the nation’s de-
sciousness. But the end of American military
fense. Soviet acquisition of nuclear capability
involvement in Southeast Asia would not ex-
tinguish the problem. The assertions of sweep- in 1948 and Chinese demonstration of nuclear
ing and unilateral presidential authority re- power in 1964 heightened the need for quick
mained official doctrine in foreign affairs. And, retaliatory power—first through bomber fleets
if the President were conceded these life-and- and later in a “triad” of missiles, bombers, and
death decisions abroad, how could he be re- submarines. During this period, consultation
strained from gathering unto himself the less
with Congress became less frequent and input
fateful powers of the national polity? For the
claims of unilateral authority in foreign policy from the president’s cabinet was almost non-
soon began to pervade and embolden the do- existent; instead, the National Security Coun-
mestic presidency. (ix) cil, the secretary of defense, the director of the

402
 THE PRESIDENCY AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 403

CIA, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of constitutional structure, they saw this civic vir-
Staff met frequently to determine the nation’s tue as the glue that held the nation together.
defense policies (Levine, 485). The president and his wife and children are
On the domestic front, the New Deal of the “first family” in a nation that values fam-
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1932–45) and the ilies. People want to empathize with the na-
Fair Deal of Harry Truman (1945–52) brought tional leader, to sense that a competent, ex-
about unprecedented increases in executive perienced, and bold chief executive leads them.
power. During the Great Depression, the Su- If nothing else, having an individual at the top
preme Court struck down a number of Roo- of government’s chain of command lends a
sevelt’s programs, but war demands vastly ex- personal touch to what might otherwise be a
panded the scope of the government. Harry sterile and depersonalized establishment.
Truman ordered desegregation of the military Americans want to love (or decry) the man in
(a major decision) and was not reticent about office, and the singularity of the head of state
forcing big unions and big business to con- invites such responses. As President William
form to his notion of the national good. Later, Howard Taft observed in this context, “the
Ronald Reagan’s tough foreign policy toward whole government is so identified in the minds
the Soviet Union was criticized roundly because of the people with the president’s personality,
he seemed to be practicing “brinkmanship,” es- that they make him responsible for all the sins
pecially in his fielding of cruise missiles in Eu- of omission and of commission of society at
rope. When the nation’s air traffic controllers large” (Schlesinger, Cycles, 287). All presidents
union went on strike in 1981, Reagan fired have felt the gravity—and creative potential—
them all in a truly devastating application of of this symbolic role.
executive power. Still later, Bill Clinton’s com- Little wonder that motion pictures have
mitment of American troops to operations in been fascinated with the office. Any presiden-
the Balkans provoked considerable debate—but tial story will have available to it the following
only after their deployment. During the mid- dramatic tensions: domestic prosperity or de-
night hours of his presidency in 2001, Clinton’s pression; foreign war or peace; selfish politics
pardons for prominent businessmen and con- or high statesmanship; personal venality or
victed drug dealers perplexed and angered morality. Within the governmental structures,
many who sensed misuse of a presidential pre- potential for conflict abounds: there is the
rogative. Many wondered aloud if the office was presidency versus the Congress; the presidency
too powerful and if it posed its own form of versus the military; the presidency versus the
threat to true national security. courts. In the postwar era, various issues have
arisen regarding the presidency and the press.
The Presidency as a Symbolic Office Because motion pictures and television thrive
Beyond its political and economic powers and on the personifications of abstractions, the
responsibilities, the presidency has a symbolic White House film genre invites filmmakers to
role in American life—a role intensified by address almost any contemporary issue. As Air
mass communications and television. The Force One (1997) proves, even something as
president is a symbol of the nation—its tem- apparently dull as a flight on a president’s
per, its spirit, its morality. During the forma- plane can be transformed into an action ad-
tive years of the nation, the authors of the venture combining politics, terrorism, and
Constitution (such as John Adams) were firm personal heroism. In other words, the checks-
believers in the notion of civitas—that the civic and-balances system created by the Founding
character of both leaders and citizens was vital Fathers provided future dramatists with an
to the health of the republic. Along with the elaborate framework for conflict.
404 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

Nuclear Confrontation istic footage of Soviet missile sites being hur-

The United States enjoyed a monopoly in nu- riedly readied in jungle clearings, of American
clear weaponry until 1949, when the Soviet U-2s swooping over them, and of bombers,
Union exploded its first nuclear device. Since carrier aircraft, and U.S. missiles preparing for
that time, the threat of nuclear confrontation action. Viewers who know this movie is about
has been continuous. Americans who lived a real event will leave the theater shivering with
through the 1950s remember so-called duck the understanding of what the Cold War could
and cover drills in the public schools, where have brought” (8). May’s review was a strong
children were told to hide under their desks to endorsement of the docudrama. (For a docu-
avoid flying glass. National debates considered mentary treatment of the crisis, see the History
the moral questions raised by family fallout Channel’s DEFCON 2; this version includes
shelters. Many children of the era vividly re- interviews with many of the historical person-
member nightmares about nuclear annihila- alities involved in the crisis and is a good com-
tion. plement to Thirteen Days.)
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought The dangers of an accidental nuclear missile
the United States and the Soviet Union closest exchange have plagued the nation and the
to nuclear exchange. In 1997, Ernest May of presidency. In Fail-Safe (1964), the American
Harvard University edited a book of transcrip- president (Henry Fonda) learns that a flight of
tions from tapes made by the JFK White House bombers has passed its “fail safe” point and,
entitled The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White owing to a breakdown in communications,
House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. (As per- cannot be recalled. In desperation, the presi-
haps America’s senior scholar of the presi- dent gives the Soviets the destination of the
dency, May was extremely sensitive to the nu- bombers and most of them are intercepted;
ances of interpersonal dynamics within the however, some get through to their primary
Kennedy administration.) Home Box Office target, Moscow. In a tragic gesture to validate
(HBO) brought out a cinematic treatment of U.S. intentions during this crisis, the president
those frightening weeks of American history in orders a trusted pilot to release an atomic
its docudrama Thirteen Days (2000), starring weapon over New York City, a particularly
the popular actor Kevin Costner as a special chilling moment for the film because the first
assistant to President Kennedy (Bruce Green- lady is in New York for a day of shopping. By
wood). Of necessity, writer David Self and di- personalizing the decision, Fail-Safe effectively
rector Roger Donaldson invented transitions dramatizes the gravity of options confronting
and some dialogue; often, the filmmakers cut American presidents in the nuclear age. Alas,
to black and white footage to signal the use of as Robert Hunter observes of the portrayal, “If
actual, historical material. The result is a pow- this is the best America can hope for from a
erful evocation of a climactic moment for the model president, what are we likely to get with
presidency and the nation that is also an au- the real occupants of the White House?” (204).
thentic rendering of history. May reviewed the Stanley Kubrick took a satiric approach to
film and found it unfair to the military of the the accidental war story in his Dr. Strangelove,
time in making its leaders appear more devi- or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to
ous in their negotiations with JFK than they Love the Bomb (1964), a film that has improved
really were. On the other hand, he was im- with age. The plot of this film was so close to
pressed by the film’s ability to bring history that of Fail-Safe that Kubrick threatened Co-
alive: “It accurately reproduces some of the re- lumbia Pictures with a plagiarism suit. The re-
strained but anguished debate from the secret semblance between the two films stops at the
tapes, and it intersperses extraordinarily real- level of plot: Dr. Strangelove is a hilarious black
 THE PRESIDENCY AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 405

comedy in which some of the most grievous by which Stone seems to mean the encroaching
threats to civilization are handled with satiric powers of corporations on the presidency,
exaggeration. Most relevant to this discussion which keep the highest office from exercising its
is the inability of President Merkin Muffley proper leadership role. In this pessimistic con-
(Peter Sellers) to control his military establish- clusion, Dr. Strangelove, JFK, and Nixon seem
ment, to communicate effectively with his So- to be unanimous.
viet counterpart over the red telephone, or to Clear and Present Danger (1994) takes an-
have any influence on what becomes an apoc- other approach to unconventional warfare and
alyptic cataclysm. Along the way, Kubrick presidential power. Based on a Tom Clancy
stresses that the destructive impulses of man- bestseller of the same title, this exciting thriller
kind are retained even in the most “civilized” looks at how an unscrupulous West Wing
of settings. (For example, Dr. Strangelove— might misuse the smart bombs and special
also played by Sellers—is the leading nuclear forces in its quiver. While not going as far as
scientist, yet he is driven by an atavistic death Chuck Norris’s television series Presidential
wish.) The serious message of this hilarious Man (2002), in which no restraints are defined
film is that machines and large institutions are for the president’s special agent, this feature
out of control and that even the presidency is production examines the misuse of power
irrelevant in a high-tech world. along precedents set by Lieutenant Colonel Ol-
iver North in Nicaragua in the 1980s. Caught
Unconventional Warfare and the White House in the middle is the Clancy hero of many nov-
One of JFK’s campaign promises in 1961 was els, Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford), who, as a CIA
that the U.S. would back off from its previous analyst, discovers and exposes the excesses of
brinkmanship and learn to cope with uncon- his White House colleagues. Like John Dean
ventional warfare challenges around the globe. during the Watergate hearings, Ryan goes be-
To this end, Kennedy supported the creation fore Congress to restore the constitutional bal-
of the U.S. Army Special Forces, or Green Be- ance. The guerilla actions of the American sol-
rets, an elite unit of multilingual soldiers diers are accurate in the sense that they show
trained to infiltrate and to live with indigenous the skill of American fighting men when called
peoples. When the counterinsurgency gambit upon to perform in nontraditional settings; the
failed in Vietnam, escalation led to a broader unstated implication is disturbing: that our ex-
struggle—but one that still carefully avoided ecutive branch must circumvent the constitu-
the nuclear threshold. tion to defeat drug lords and terrorists.
In JFK (1991) director Oliver Stone connects Director John Frankenheimer’s made-for-
the Vietnam War to the assassination of a HBO Path to War (2002) traces Lyndon B.
much-beloved president. According to Stone, as Johnson’s struggle at first to avoid—and then
articulated by Mr. X (Donald Sutherland), Ken- to lead—the Vietnam conflict. Like Thirteen
nedy was murdered because he planned to Days, this docudrama is based on a contem-
withdraw from Vietnam. Apprehensive about poraneous book of transcripts, in this case ed-
the president’s second thoughts, a military elite ited by Michael Beschloss, a volume entitled
conspired with greedy arms merchants to kill Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson’s Secret
the president; according to Stone, this conspir- White House Tapes, 1964–1965 (2001). Bent on
acy explains the mysteries and contradictions being remembered as the “Great Society” pres-
that have continued to surround the assassi- ident, Lyndon Johnson (Michael Gambon)
nation. Clearly, in relation to the presidency, quickly learns that history has forced him to
the film joins Stone’s other presidential pro- commit American troops to a limited war in a
duction, Nixon (1995), in decrying “the beast,” distant land. By 1968, the president is nearly
406 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

destroyed by the stress of his disappointments system), and vigorous antitrust and civil service
and frustrations as a national leader; indeed, reforms. These accomplishments mount up in
rather than being remembered for his aspira- fast-cut, impact montage sequences. Woodrow
tions, LBJ leaves office as a dishonored victim. Wilson emerges as a dynamic politician whose
Like Thirteen Days, Path to War attempts to be broad view of the national good is reflected in
historically accurate; as a drama, it successfully the panoply of reforms which received his sig-
exploits the convincing portrayals of LBJ, nature in the Oval Office. Don Staples remem-
Clark Clifford (Donald Sutherland), Robert bers viewing of the film when it came to his
McNamara (Alec Baldwin), General William local theater: “It was a very patriotic film. We
Westmoreland (Tom Skerritt), and Lady Bird all stood and clapped our hands at the end
Johnson (Felicity Huffman). Path to War con- which was a very unusual reaction for my fam-
cludes that history controls the presidency ily. Kids often cheered and yelled at westerns;
rather than the reverse. Whatever the inter- however, this was a serious movie” (Rollins and
pretations (see “The Vietnam War”), America O’Connor, Hollywood’s White House, 124).
failed in its first major experiment with un- Truman (1995) is an HBO docudrama that
conventional warfare. balances its screen time between the presi-
dent’s war leadership and his domestic agenda.
The Bully Pulpit of the Presidency The two-hour study follows the career of
American presidents are constantly in the pub- Harry S. Truman and adheres closely to the
lic eye, and therefore have hourly opportuni- eponymous, Pulitzer Prize–winning biography
ties to provide leadership from the “bully pul- by David McCullough. The program reminds
pit” (a phrase coined by President Theodore those who may have forgotten that this earthy
Roosevelt) of the White House. Rose Garden man from Independence, Missouri, was a cru-
speeches announce new policies and plans; sader against waste and corruption by war
talks from shop floors dramatize trade and contractors and that he was the president who
business initiatives; impromptu comments in had the courage to order desegregation of the
hallways or on the White House lawn often military (carried out on the Korean battlefield
suggest the directions of new policies. in 1950). Gary Sinise plays a Truman who is
Daryl Zanuck’s Wilson (1944) is about a strong when he is in the right—for example,
leader who used the forum of the presidency in his opposition to Joseph McCarthy—but
effectively in a film which, itself, was produced not flawless as a human being. Like the book
to plead a special cause. At the close of World on which it is based, Truman identifies the
War II, Darryl Zanuck was passionately in fa- presidency as an appropriate office for any pa-
vor of the United Nations, the twentieth cen- triotic American who wants to lead the nation
tury’s second attempt to create a supranational and not a sinecure reserved for the wealthy sci-
peacekeeping organization. To do so, he pro- ons of the Ivy League—the Wilsons, the Roos-
duced a film about Woodrow Wilson, a evelts, the Kennedys of this world.
Princeton professor and progressive president Beginning in 1999, an NBC series entitled
known for, among other visionary plans, his The West Wing began to air and win almost
post–World War I dream of an effective every Emmy Award available. Conceived as a
League of Nations. To develop Wilson as a vi- sequel to Rob Reiner’s successful feature film
sionary fully, Zanuck felt that he had to show The American President (1995), the series, cre-
how this activist leader spoke and wrote in fa- ated and written by American President screen-
vor of other monumental reforms such as the writer Aaron Sorkin, took America by storm—
progressive income tax, the Federal Reserve unaccountably, in the view of some critics.
Act (which created the current Federal Reserve Launched during the Clinton impeachment
 THE PRESIDENCY AFTER WORLD WAR II ] 407

controversy, The West Wing provided an alter- massive tracts of land for conservation, and
native image for the White House. In the very appointment of liberal and minority judges to
place where Monica Lewinsky became famous the Supreme Court (Sorkin, 343–402). Other
for snapping her thong, female workers in Sor- episodes examine such issues as gays in the
kin’s West Wing were working long hours; military, election reform, and the economy. In
while Bill Clinton was denying that he had had all of these instances, The West Wing gives ab-
sex with a young intern, the president of The stract issues a human face. Week after week,
West Wing (Martin Sheen) was quoting the Bi- the series stresses that the reform instincts of
ble, caring for the sick, and treating enlisted the Bartlet White House go all the way down
personnel of the military with great respect— to the roots of a young Jed Bartlet’s schooling,
in other words, supplying a presidential image when he learned a code of noblesse oblige. It
on television that buoyed faith in the office goes without saying that he has communicated
during an administration that, many felt, failed this ethic to those “best and brightest” in the
to live up to John Adams’s notion of civitas. West Wing. Many critics have complained
As The West Wing coproducer John Wells has about the liberal political agenda that guides
observed, “We’d reached a point in the culture writer Aaron Sorkin’s scripts, but even those
where we assumed that people who want to who might disagree with policy messages of
choose public service have the basest of mo- the NBC series can enjoy its refreshing portrait
tives of self-aggrandizement and financial gain. of integrity and idealism.
. . . The public wants to believe in the political
process, wants to believe in politicians. Wants The Presidency and the Nation
to believe that the people who are leading us United Airlines 93 was one of the four com-
are doing so—even if there are ideological dif- mercial aircraft commandeered by Islamic ter-
ferences—to make the country better” (Leh- rorists on September 11, 2001. Because of the
mann, 354). alertness and courage of passengers aboard,
The second episode of the second season, this aircraft was prevented from destroying the
entitled “Two Cathedrals,” is indicative of the White House. The suicidal planners of the at-
domestic concerns broached by the series. tack knew the importance of the building to a
Much of the episode focuses on the agonizing democratic republic and hoped that destruc-
decision of President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) to tion of this symbol of national identity would
run for another term, despite health and tem- be a wound to morale—forgetting, of course,
porary credibility problems. As part of the the failure of a similar attack during the War
character development, the program explores of 1812, when British troops set the building
how this “boy king” has his social conscious- on fire. If the twin towers in New York City
ness raised by Mrs. Delores Landingham represented American free enterprise, and if
(Kathryn Joosten). When Bartlet ascends to the Pentagon building represented U.S. mili-
high public office, she moves with him as his tary might, this small edifice represented
private secretary and conscience. After she is America’s admiration of virtue and its contin-
killed in an automobile accident, the shock and ued hopes for the “pursuit of happiness” in a
horror force president Bartlet to plumb the free society. Clearly the presidential films pro-
depths of his commitment to the nation, draw- duced after World War II exploit a similar
ing up an explicit discussion of domestic pri- concern, with the soul of a proud nation ready
orities. Among them are a jobs program for to follow the virtuous leaders who live in “the
nearly four million poor people, acquisition of people’s house.”
408 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

References
Lehmann, Chris. “The Feel-Good Presidency: The
Filmography Pseudo Politics of The West Wing.” In Peter Rol-
Air Force One (1997, F) lins and John E. O’Connor, eds., Hollywood’s
The American President (1995, F; 2000, D) White House: The American Presidency as Film and
Clear and Present Danger (1994, F) History, 275–276. Lexington: University Press of
DEFCON 2 (2002, D) Kentucky, 2003.
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Stopped Worrying and Levine, Myron. “The Transformed Presidency: The
Learned to Love the Bomb (1964, F) Real Presidency and Hollywood’s Reel Presidency.”
Fail-Safe (1964, F; 2000, TV) In Peter Rollins and John E. O’Connor, eds., Hol-
JFK (1991, F) lywood’s White House: The American Presidency as
Nixon (1995, F) Film and History, 380–397. Lexington: University
Path to War (2002, D) Press of Kentucky, 2003.
Presidential Man (2002, TV) May, Ernest W. The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White
Thirteen Days (2000, F) House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cambridge,
Truman (1995, D) MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.
The West Wing (1999–, TV) ——. “Thirteen Days.” The American Prospect 12.1
Wilson (1944, F) ( January 2001): 5.
Morris, Dick. Behind the Oval Office. New York: Ran-
dom House, 1997.
Bibliography Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
Beschloss, Michael. Reaching for Glory: Lyndon John- can Film in a Cultural Context. 2d ed. Lexington:
son’s Secret White House Tapes, 1964–1965. New University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Rollins, Peter, and John E. O’Connor. The West
Brinkley, Alan, and Davis Dyer, eds. The Reader’s Wing: The American Presidency as Television
Companion to the American Presidency. Boston: Drama. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press,
Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 2003.
Cronin, Thomas E., and Michael A. Genovese. The ——, eds. Hollywood’s White House: The American
Paradoxes of the American Presidency. New York: Presidency as Film and History. Lexington: Univer-
Oxford University Press, 1998. sity Press of Kentucky, 2003.
Fisher, Louis. Presidential War Power. Lawrence: Uni- Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Cycles of American
versity Press of Kansas, 2000. History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1986.
Hunter, Robert E. “Who’s in Charge Here? Technol- ——. The Imperial Presidency. New York: Columbia
ogy and the Presidency in Fail-Safe (1964) and Co- University Press, 1994.
lossus (1970).” In Peter Rollins and John E. Sorkin, Aaron. The West Wing Script Book. New
O’Connor, eds., Hollywood’s White House: The York: Newmarket Press, 2002.
American Presidency as Film and History, 200–234. Tulis, Jeffrey K. The Rhetorical Presidency. Lawrence:
Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2003. University Press of Kansas, 1995.
[ RON BRILEY ]

Private Schools

rivate or independent schools have virtues of heroic individuals, both students

P played an important role in American

education from colonial times into the
twenty-first century. Promoting serious schol-
arship along with a commitment to service, in-
and teachers, who battle against the forces of
conformity and prejudice. These films are usu-
ally set in a boarding-school environment or
military school, ignoring the fact that the non-
dependent schools such as Groton and Exeter public school community in the United States
have produced leaders in business, education, is dominated by parochial and day schools.
and public service, including presidents Frank- Cinematic depiction of private education of-
lin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and George ten focuses upon the British antecedents of the
H. W. Bush. However, advocates of public American boarding school. In Goodbye, Mr.
education sometimes perceive private, or in- Chips (1939), Robert Donat, in an Academy
dependent, schools as elitist institutions, per- Award–winning performance, portrays a
petuating class divisions within an egalitarian teacher in an English boys’ school who devotes
society. A more balanced view is provided by his life to his students following the death of
Lawrence A. Cremin, who, in his multivolume his young wife. (The film was remade as a mu-
history of American education, asserts that pri- sical in 1969, with Peter O’Toole in the Donat
vate nonsectarian schools in America cater to role.) But such dedication may also lead to a
“particular kinds and classes of students with dangerous overzealousness, as exemplified by
curricula featuring one or another emphasis the provocative The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
not to be found, or at least perceived as not to (1969). In other films dealing with the British
be found, in the public schools—traditional school system, teachers such as Mr. Chips or
academic emphases, progressive emphases, or Jean Brodie do not rise up to challenge the
artistic emphases.” conventional wisdom. The rigidity, and even
Nevertheless, Cremin’s definition provides cruelty, of the system leads to revolution in
for some ambiguity regarding private schools, director Lindsay Anderson’s If . . . (1968), fea-
an attitude that is well exemplified in popular turing Malcolm McDowell as a student who
film. Hollywood increasingly turned to the takes to the gun in order to challenge his
subject of education in the post–World War II school’s and society’s class system. Another
period, reflecting the film industry’s search for Country (1984), directed by Julian Mitchell,
new markets and its recognition that the afflu- explores the 1930s school friendship between
ent society of the 1950s had produced teen- Guy Burgess and Donald McLean, who in the
agers with disposable income. Cinematic treat- 1950s spied for the Soviet Union while work-
ments of the public school, both positive and ing for the British government. The central ar-
negative, have historically dominated the na- gument of the film is that Burgess’s homosex-
tion’s theaters, while less numerous films de- uality made him just as much of an outsider
picting private education generally extol the as MacLean’s marxism.

409
410 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

Indeed, the theme that private schools, es- but many critics were less enthusiastic. Jo
pecially same-sex boarding schools, encourage Keroes argues that Dead Poets Society fails ei-
homosexuality and lesbianism is one found in ther to recognize the latent homosexuality in
several Hollywood films. In the 1936 film ad- Keating’s relationship with his boys or deal
aptation of Lillian Hellman’s These Three, di- with whether Keating is instilling independent
rector William Wyler reduced the sexually thinking or creating followers in the fashion of
provocative play, concerning student accusa- Jean Brodie. Instead of pursuing these more
tions of lesbianism leveled against the head- difficult questions, the film is satisfied with
mistresses of a girls’ school, to a drama of un- slamming the private-school environment for
requited love. However, in his 1962 remake, undermining individualism.
The Children’s Hour, Wyler was able to tackle Prejudice and the private school is also the
the sexual issues of the play more directly. Ho- subject of School Ties (1992), in which Bren-
mosexuality and the boarding school is also dan Fraser portrays a talented quarterback
addressed in Tea and Sympathy (1956), star- who receives a football scholarship to the elite
ring Deborah Kerr as a resident teacher’s wife St. Matthew School. Like Dead Poets Society,
who provides a sensitive ear for a young stu- Robert Mandel’s film attempts to depict the
dent whose lack of “manly” qualities is criti- 1950s as a conformist society. Fraser decides
cized by his father and housemaster. The film to conceal his background, but an athletic and
implies that, through sympathy and under- romantic rival reveals the quarterback’s Jewish
standing, homosexual tendencies may be re- identity. Following in the tradition of Gentle-
duced or cured. Although by today’s standards man’s Agreement (1947), School Ties deserves
the film’s sexual politics are backward, the film credit for its condemnation of anti-Semitism,
deserves credit for considering a subject that but a danger may be that with its 1950s setting,
was a virtual taboo during the 1950s. younger audiences will assume that anti-
Perhaps the most commercially successful Semitism lacks relevance for contemporary
film confronting private boarding schools, and America. Prep-school exploitation of athletes is
the parents who send their children to such also examined in the documentary Hoop
institutions, is Dead Poets Society (1989). In Dreams (1994), which investigates the treat-
Peter Weir’s film, Robin Williams portrays En- ment of black athletes Arthur Agee and William
glish teacher John Keating, who is determined Gates at St. Joseph, a predominantly white
to challenge the conformist traditions of the Catholic school.
school and its curriculum. Attempting to fos- Bias, along with violence, is also a theme in
ter intellectual curiosity among his students, Hollywood’s condemnation of private military
Keating encourages them to rip pages from schools in such films as Taps (1981), Lords of
their textbooks and “seize the day.” Tragedy Discipline (1983), and Toy Soldiers (1991). Of
arises when one of the students, inspired by these films, Taps is probably most notable for
Keating, decides to pursue his passion for act- its production values and cast, including
ing. The boy’s business-minded father con- George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn,
fronts his son, who commits suicide. Keating and Tom Cruise. In Horace Becker’s film, the
is blamed for the boy’s death and dismissed conformity of military education and disci-
from his position, but his students assert their pline leads to tragedy when a group of cadets
support and love by holding a demonstration, takes up arms upon learning that their revered
standing on their desks and calling Keating, school and traditions will be razed to make
“Captain, my Captain,” after the famous Walt way for a condominium development.
Whitman poem dedicated to Abraham Lin- A more positive portrayal of the prep-school
coln. The film was popular at the box office, environment is provided in the 1972 film ad-
 PRIVATE SCHOOLS ] 411

aptation of the classic novel A Separate Peace, son Schwartzman) rivals one of the school’s
by John Knowles, a Phillips Exeter graduate. parents and leading contributors, Herman
Set during the early years of World War II at Blume (played by comedian Bill Murray in a
the fictitious Devon School in New England, critically acclaimed performance), for the af-
A Separate Peace examines the unlikely friend- fections of teacher Miss Cross (Olivia Wil-
ship between the athletic Finny and the intro- liams). This offbeat comedy depicts the ado-
vert Gene, who must cope with his best lescent behavior of both Fisher and Blume
friend’s death in a tragic accident. The novel while presenting teachers, parents, and the pri-
uses the private school setting to explore issues vate school world as tolerant of individual dif-
of youth and war in what many critics consider ferences and quite compatible with the public
a coming-of-age masterpiece. Nevertheless, school Fisher attends after being expelled from
the glossy film production by director Larry Rushmore.
Peerce, featuring Parker Stevenson and John Yet, less than positive images of private
Heyl, fails to capture some of the novel’s in- education continue to be a Hollywood main-
trospective depth. stay. Outside Providence (1999) tells the story
Scent of a Woman (1992) also provides of Tim Dunphy (Shawn Hatosy), whose
what film critic Roger Ebert terms the classic working-class father (Alec Baldwin) sends
prep-school hero; a misfit “who learns to him to private school in the belief that his
stand up for what he believes.” Charlie (Chris drug-happy son will straighten up there, away
O’Donnell) is a scholarship student at an elite from the influence of his friends. However,
private school. His weekend job is to take care Dunphy finds little to distinguish the behav-
of cynical Colonel Slade (Al Pacino), who is ior of prep-school students from those in the
blind but hardly helpless as he guides Charlie public sector—and certainly plenty of drugs.
on a jaunt through New York City in which In Finding Forrester (2000), director Gus Van
the young man gains new insights into life. Sant has reclusive author William Forrester
Colonel Slade, who is really a romantic, then (Sean Connery) rescue his young protégé Ja-
accompanies Charlie back to school, and, by mal Wallace (Rob Brown) from the clutches
exposing the hypocrisy of the school’s admin- of a frustrated prep-school English teacher
istration, he prevents his young protégé from (F. Murray Abraham).
being expelled. The ambivalence exhibited by popular film
In 1998, Hollywood indicated that it was toward independent education has tended to
perhaps ready to move beyond the negative perpetuate negative stereotypes of private
stereotypes of private schools with the release schools. The prep-school traditions of excel-
of Rushmore. In director Wes Anderson’s film, lence and service are all too often missing from
Rushmore Academy student Max Fisher ( Ja- the cinema.

References
The Headmaster (1970–71, TV)
Filmography Hoop Dreams (1994, D)
Another Country (1984, F) If . . . (1968, F)
The Browning Version (1951, F) The Lawrenceville Stories (1987, TV)
The Children’s Hour (1962, F) Lords of Discipline (1983, F)
Class (1983) Outside Providence (1999, F)
Dead Poets Society (1989, F) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969, F)
Finding Forrester (2000, F) Rushmore (1998, F)
Flirting (1989, F) A Separate Peace (1972, F)
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939, 1969, F) Scent of a Woman (1992, F)
412 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
School Ties (1992, F) ture. Albany: State University of New York Press,
Taps (1981, F) 1994.
Tea and Sympathy (1956, F) Groome, Thomas H. Christian Religious Education:
These Three (1936, F) Sharing Our Story and Vision. San Francisco:
Toy Soldiers (1991, F) Jossey-Bass, 1980.
Kane, Pearl R. Independent Schools, Independent
Thinkers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.
Bibliography Keroes, Jo. Tales out of School: Gender, Longing, and
Considine, David M. The Cinema of Adolescence. Jef- the Teacher in Fiction and Film. Carbondale:
ferson, NC: McFarland, 1985. Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.
Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Metro- McPhee, John. The Headmaster: Frank L. Boyden of
politan Experience, 1876–1980. New York: Harper Deerfield. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
& Row, 1988. 1985.
Farber, Paul, Eugene F. Provenzo Jr., and Gunilla Palladino, Grace. Teenagers: An American History.
Holm, eds. Schooling in the Light of Popular Cul- New York: Basic Books, 1996.
[ RON BRILEY ]

Public High Schools

ince the days when Horace Mann served ing demands on the schools to serve a variety

S as Massachusetts Commissioner of Edu-

cation in the mid-nineteenth century,
Americans have celebrated public schooling as
the solution for democracy’s discontents.
of social goals, such as sex education, have
usurped functions once reserved for the fam-
ily. The result of the schools’ expanding mis-
sion has been a decline in basic skills and a
Mann insisted that public investment in edu- lack of moral education, reflected in such vi-
cation would create wealth and foster demo- olent encounters as the 1999 massacre of thir-
cratic citizenship in the young republic. These teen students and a teacher at Columbine High
principles resonated with champions of edu- School in Littleton, Colorado. What is needed,
cation throughout the nineteenth and twenti- these reformers assert, is a return to basics in
eth centuries. In his multivolume history of education, exemplified by the standards move-
American education, Lawrence A. Cremin ar- ment and the debate over vouchers.
gues that America has tried to define itself Accordingly, as the United States enters the
through the educational process. And, accord- twenty-first century there remains consider-
ing to Cremin, the central purpose assigned to able conflict over how American education
education has contributed to the political con- may claim the promise of American life. But
flict over what should be taught. Educational both liberals and conservatives agree on the
reform thus may be viewed as the battle for centrality of education to American citizenship
America’s soul. and prosperity. This consensus is well repre-
This struggle intensified after World War II. sented in Hollywood’s depiction of public edu-
According to historian Diane Ravitch, “the cation, and especially the American high
American crusade against ignorance required school, which has been a staple of the film in-
that the opportunity for education be made dustry in the post–World War II period. Just
available to all young people, without regard as the nation has sought to define itself
to race, creed, national origin, sex, or family through education, the film industry has ex-
background.” However, such high expecta- amined modern American through the lens of
tions often led to disillusionment by the cen- the public high school. Hollywood’s high
tury’s end. school includes nostalgia, sexuality, humor, es-
The crusade for equal opportunity in edu- capism, music, learning, love, growth, and vi-
cation encountered barricades in the inequi- olence in an environment where courageous
table funding for public schools, contributing teachers often battle against indifferent school
to what Jonathan Kozol called “savage inequal- administrators and students struggle to main-
ities” in American schools. More conservative tain their individuality against the conformity
critics of American education, pointing to the often demanded by educational institutions.
1983 Committee on Educational Excellence re- In the early years of Hollywood, public edu-
port entitled A Nation at Risk, assert that grow- cation and high school were rarely the focus of

413
414 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

filmmakers. School merely served as a back- integrated into society through the compassion
drop to the Our Gang comedies and Andy and toughness of his probation officer.
Hardy series, featuring Mickey Rooney. Heroic In the 1960s, Hollywood returned to the
teachers, who made a difference in the lives of theme of the courageous teacher battling
their students, were usually depicted in a Brit- against social indifference. Up the Down Stair-
ish setting, with films such as Goodbye, Mr. case (1967), based upon the novel by Bel Kauf-
Chips (1939), How Green Was My Valley man, tells the story of first-year teacher Sylvia
(1941), and The Corn Is Green (1945). Barrett (Sandy Dennis), who battles bureau-
However, all of this changed in post–World cratic and administrative barriers to reach the
War II America, where a growing affluence lower-class students of Calvin Coolidge High.
and middle class contributed to the rise of Barrett compassionately resists the sexual ad-
mass education through high school and the vances of a student, who assumes that the
development of a teen culture and population teacher could care only for his body, and, in
with disposable income. Confronted with a the film’s conclusion, she refuses to accept a
challenge from television and other forms of transfer to a more affluent school.
leisure, Hollywood responded by exploiting With To Sir with Love (1967), Sidney Poitier,
the teen audience with topics and images the youthful foil of Rick Dadier in Blackboard
which would appeal to youth, while simulta- Jungle, portrays teacher Mark Thackery. Ac-
neously encoding more conservative messages cepting a teaching position in London’s East
for older viewers. End, Thackery gets the attention of his unruly
Perhaps the prototype high school film is di- students by demanding respect and instituting
rector Richard Brooks’s The Blackboard Jungle a practical curriculum to meet their needs.
(1955). The film begins with the rock and roll Along the way, he must gently thwart the ad-
anthem “Rock around the Clock,” which, ac- vances of a white female student, although the
cording to Grace Palladino in Teenagers, social and racial implications of the relation-
“marked the official inception of teenage rebel ship are only considered in an oblique fashion.
culture.” The 1950s concern with juvenile de- But the image of the black teacher is a rare one
linquency is examined as teacher Rick Dadier for Hollywood. More typical is the white in-
(Glenn Ford) must deal with the ignorance of structor confronting an African American stu-
school bureaucracy, cynicism of fellow teach- dent body. In Conrack (1974), based upon the
ers, and hostility of angry students such as memoir The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy, Jon
Miller (Sidney Poitier). With a sense of au- Voight plays a white teacher who wants to raise
thority and compassion—what some psychol- the intellectual and social horizons of his black
ogists might call tough love—Dadier is able to pupils, living in isolation on a South Carolina
overcome physical threats and internal doubts, island. While appreciated by his students,
winning the respect of both students and col- Conrack is loathed by his administrators and
leagues. Emphasizing individual responsibility, fired for taking his charges across the river to
Blackboard Jungle fails to examine the reason for trick or treat in a white neighborhood. Films
teen dissatisfaction; however, one police detec- focusing upon school from an African Amer-
tive blames World War II and mothers working ican student perspective are rare, but director
outside the home. Similar themes of a rebellious Michael A Schultz’s Cooley High (1975) is a
image, coupled with a conservative message, are welcome exception. All too often, Hollywood
explored in Rebel Without a Cause (1955). has African Americans in the streets rather
James Stark ( James Dean) is a disaffected youth than in the schools.
seeking acceptance. Finding little solace in In most 1970s films dealing with high school,
school or his dysfunctional family, Stark is re- blacks are absent, as is any type of caring adult
 PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS ] 415

tration by blowing up the high school. Some

might deplore the film’s violent conclusion,
but it is a stretch to equate this film’s adoles-
cent tongue-in-cheek humor with the school
violence of the 1990s. A much more pessimis-
tic and sadistic film is Class of 1984 (1982), in
which a teacher seeks revenge against a psy-
chopathic group of students who raped his
wife in the halls of the high school.
Alongside these cruel images, Hollywood
continued to offer the image of the heroic
FIGURE 50. Blackboard Jungle (1955). After cynical teacher battling against the apathy of students,
teachers and incompetent public school administrators bureaucrats, and society. In Teachers (1984),
turn away from the juvenile-delinquency problem in Nick Nolte portrays Alex Jarrell, whose ideal-
urban public schools, Richard Dadier (Glenn Ford)
ism is rekindled when the school system is
refuses to be intimidated when student Artie West
(Vic Morrow) brandishes a knife in his class. Courtesy sued for awarding a diploma to an illiterate
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. student. However, teachers were superfluous
to most teen and high school films of the
presence. George Lucas’s American Graffiti 1980s, where a traditional academic education
(1973) provides an adolescent world in which was simply an obstacle placed in the path of
the protagonist Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) must adolescents seeking a good time or an under-
establish his individuality by leaving the con- standing of the “real” world.
formist atmosphere of high school. While Graf- One of the best films of this genre is Amy
fiti champions escaping the adolescent concerns Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High
of automobiles and the elusive girl in the Thun- (1982), chronicling the exploits of Southern
derbird, the film version of the Broadway hit California teens reveling in sex, drugs, and
Grease (1978) places a nostalgic spin upon the rock’ n’ roll. In one memorable scene from the
juvenile delinquency and high school days of film, Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) dismays his his-
the 1950s, a nostalgia updated with the popular tory teacher, Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), by hav-
television series Welcome Back, Kotter (1975– ing a pizza delivered during class; in another,
79). The series featured a multiethnic cast, as he gives a stoner reading of the founding of
did its near-contemporary The White Shadow the American republic.
(1978–81), suggesting that television was more But the king of 1980s adolescent cinema has
open than film to the presence of minorities to be director John Hughes, whose films en-
and caring teachers alike. joyed considerable commercial success during
Less nostalgic and perhaps more reflective of the decade. In The Breakfast Club (1985), teens
the harassment and cruelty that often accom- serving a Saturday school detention learn that
pany the insecurities of adolescence is the film they have common aspirations and problems,
adaptation of Stephen King’s Carrie (1976). In which their identities as rebel, nerd, brain, so-
the title role, Sissy Spacek unleashes telekinetic cial queen, and jock tend to obscure. In Ferris
powers against those peers who made her a Bueller’s Day Off (1986), Matthew Broderick
subject of ridicule. But the ultimate adolescent stars in the story of a popular teen who outwits
fantasy may be the cult classic Rock ‘n’ Roll school administrators, avoiding a meaningless
High School (1979). With the punk music of history test on European socialism by skipping
The Ramones blasting in the background, stu- school for the day. Along the way, he helps his
dents respond to the insipid school adminis- friend Cameron confront his materialistic par-
416 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS

ents. In the world of John Hughes, teenagers Me (1989), Morgan Freeman stars as contro-
are spontaneous and fun loving, while the versial New Jersey teacher turned principal Jo-
adult community of school is boring, irrele- seph Clark, who turned around one of the
vant, and sometimes downright cruel. In the state’s toughest schools with a regime of high
self-absorbed adolescents of Hughes, perhaps standards and strict discipline, including pa-
nowhere more insufferable than in his Pretty trolling the halls with baseball bat in hand.
in Pink (1986), one may perceive parallels with Whereas Lean on Me offers an African Amer-
Ronald Reagan’s America of the 1980s and ican hero, Stand and Deliver (1988), originally
what liberal critics labeled as an era of greed produced for public television before its the-
and selfishness. The same critique of high atrical release, engages the Latino community,
schoolers as incipient Republicans plays often neglected by Hollywood. Stand and De-
through the frames of period movies such as liver tells the story of Jamie Escalante (Edward
Three O’Clock High (1987), Hiding Out (1987), James Olmos) inspiring his students of an East
and Plain Clothes (1988). Los Angeles barrio to take and pass the ad-
While the adolescents of Hughes’s films seek vanced placement test in calculus; indeed, the
to cope with high school through teenage angst students retake the exam when the Educational
or pranks, the high school students of the cult Testing Bureau expresses reservations regard-
favorite Heathers (1988) adopt a more cynical ing the validity of test scores. While extolling
approach to dealing with peer pressures. Tak- the individual achievement of Escalante and
ing revenge upon a clique of girls named his students, the film offers little in the way of
Heather who dominate campus social life, systematic changes for the inequities in Amer-
Winona Ryder and Christian Slater portray ican education.
disillusioned students who embark upon a se- With Dangerous Minds (1995), Hollywood
ries of revenge murders, which they try to dis- returned to the more typical story of a white
guise as suicides. The black humor of Heathers teacher rescuing and providing guidance for
shows the dark side of school life, demonstrat- minority students. But the twist in Dangerous
ing how harassment and ridicule may lead to Minds, based on the memoir My Posse Don’t
violent retaliation. It is the Hollywood film Do Homework by Louanne Johnson, is that the
that may have the most light to shed on the motivational white teacher is female, albeit a
real-life murders at Columbine. former marine and portrayed by Michelle
Nevertheless, the heroic celluloid image of Pfeiffer. While the film was commercially suc-
the teacher was able to withstand Heathers cessful, a spin-off television series for ABC was
and John Hughes. In Hoosiers (1986), Gene short-lived.
Hackman portrays washed-up basketball While Pfeiffer’s portrayal of Louanne John-
coach Norman Dale, who finds redemption son continues the heroic tradition established
taking the small town of Hickory to the state by Rick Dadier in Blackboard Jungle, many
championship in basketball-crazed Indiana. teachers may better identify with Gene Hol-
The film suggests that high school athletics land (Richard Dreyfuss) in Mr. Holland’s Opus
may forge a sense of community, but the ex- (1996). Foregoing his ambitions as a com-
ploitative nature of prep sports is noted in poser, Holland takes what he assumes will be
such films as the documentary Hoop Dreams a temporary teaching position in a middle-
(1994), All the Right Moves (1983), and Var- class suburban school. After three decades, his
sity Blues (1998). compositions are not well known, but he has
Two other high school films of the late 1980s inspired a generation of students. The subplot
offer positive portrayals of school life based of dealing with his deaf son may strike a note
upon real life figures and stories. In Lean on of familiarity with many teachers struggling to
 PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS ] 417

maintain a balance between family life and an ground to plow. In films such as The Faculty
all-consuming profession. (1998), teachers (who turn out to be extrater-
But anyone wishing to romanticize high restrials) find violence as the only way to deal
school might do well to consult director Rich- with their unruly charges. High school nostal-
ard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993), gia remains rampant with the popular Never
which focuses upon the last day of high school Been Kissed (1999), featuring Drew Barrymore
for a group of students in Austin, Texas, in as an undercover reporter who returns to high
1976. Scenes of sex, drinking, drugs, and cru- school, finding fun and love. While teachers
elty abound as the teens appear to undertake are maligned in Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999),
a meaningless passage into the adult world, the the heroic nature of educators is celebrated in
emotional territory of Terry Zwigoff ’s fine film such films as Music of the Heart (1999), fea-
Ghost World (2001). Disaffected or marginal- turing Meryl Streep, and the Fox Television
ized teens may also find reason to identify with series Boston Public (2000–2002). The more
the protagonists of Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin sophisticated possibilities of the high school
Suicides (1999) and the television series Freaks film genre are evident in Alexander Payne’s
and Geeks (1999–2000), which ran for little Election (1999), depicting Matthew Broder-
more than a season but found an instant cult ick—who had portrayed Ferris Bueller thir-
following. However, affluent, suburban stu- teen years earlier—as a teacher attempting to
dents may better identify with the character of sabotage the student-body presidential elec-
Cher (Alicia Silverstone) in Amy Heckerling’s tion of overachiever Tracy Flick (Reese With-
brilliant satire Clueless (1995), loosely based on erspoon).
Jane Austen’s classic novel Emma. Although With the common experience of high school
Cher and her wealthy friends are indeed clue- shared by its potential audience, Hollywood
less, they are not mean-spirited, and there is a will continue to tap this rich vein. In its treat-
desire to make a better world. Furthermore, all ment of the public school, the film industry
adults are not villains intent upon foiling the perpetuates stereotypes of rebellious minority
pleasures of young people. The film has con- students and inspiring white teachers, nostal-
siderably more “heart” than the Fox Television gic longing, insipid administrators and adults,
series Beverly Hills 90210, with which it is often and the all-knowing adolescent, while occa-
compared. Another literary take on high sionally telling a true and moving story. In this
school comes with 10 Things I Hate About You wide-ranging tapestry, Hollywood does touch
(1999), a witty adaptation of William Shake- upon the diversity of the American experiment
speare’s Taming of the Shrew. in public education championed in the edu-
As we enter the twenty-first century, Hol- cational reforms of Horace Mann and the
lywood continues to find high school a fertile promise of American life.

References
Conrack (1974, F)
Filmography Cooley High (1975, F)
All the Right Moves (1983, F) Dangerous Minds (1995, F)
American Graffiti (1973, F) Dazed and Confused (1993, F)
The Blackboard Jungle (1955, F) Election (1999, F)
Boston Public (2000–2002, TV) The Faculty (1998, F)
The Breakfast Club (1985, F) Fame (1980, F)
Carrie (1976, F) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982, F)
Class of 1984 (1982, F) Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986, F)
Clueless (1995, F) Freaks and Geeks (1999–2000, TV)
418 [ INSTITUTIONS AND MOVEMENTS
Ghost World (2001, F) Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Colo-
Grease (1978, F) nial Experience, 1607–1783. New York: Harper &
Head of the Class (1986–91, TV) Row, 1970.
Heathers (1988, F) ——. American Education: The Metropolitan Experi-
Hiding Out (1987, F) ence, 1876–1980. New York: Harper & Row, 1988.
Hoop Dreams (1994, F) ——. American Education: The National Experience,
Hoosiers (1986, F) 1783–1876. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
Lean on Me (1989, F) ——. Public Education. New York: Basic Books, 1976.
Mr. Holland’s Opus (1996, F) Doherty, Thomas Patrick. Teenagers and Teenpics:
Music of the Heart (1999, F) The Juvenilization of American Movies in the 1950s.
My Bodyguard (1980, F) Boston: Unwin Hyman, 1988.
Never Been Kissed (1999, F) Farber, Paul, Eugene F. Provenzo Jr., and Gunilla
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986, F) Holm, eds. Schooling in the Light of Popular Cul-
Plain Clothes (1988, F) ture. Albany: State University of New York Press,
Pretty in Pink (1986, F) 1994.
Pump up the Volume (1990, F) Goldstein, Ruth M. The Screen Image of Youth. Me-
Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F) tuchen, NJ: Scarecrow,1986.
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979, F) Joseph, Pamela Bolotin, and Gail Burnaford, eds. Im-
Room 222 (1969–74, TV) ages of Schoolteachers in Twentieth-Century Amer-
Stand and Deliver (1988, F) ica. New York: St. Martin’s, 1994.
Teachers (1984, F) Keroes, Jo. Tales Out of School: Gender. Longing, and
Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999, F) the Teacher in Fiction and Film. Carbondale:
10 Things I Hate About You (1999, F) Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.
Three O’Clock High (1987, F) Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in
To Sir with Love (1967, F) American Schools. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
Up the Down Staircase (1967, F) National Commission of Excellence in Education. A
Varsity Blues (1998, F) Nation at Risk. Washington, DC: U.S. Government
The Virgin Suicides (1999, F) Printing Office, 1983.
Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–79, TV) Palladino, Grace. Teenagers: An American History.
White Shadow (1978–81, TV) New York: Basic Books, 1996.
Zebrahead (1992, F) Pettigrew, Terrence. Raising Hell: The Rebel in the
Movies. New York: St. Martin’s, 1986.
Ravitch, Diane. The Troubled Crusade: American Edu-
cation, 1945–1980. New York: Basic Books, 1983.
Bibliography Sizer, Theodore. Horace’s Compromise: The Dilemma
Considine, David M. The Cinema of Adolescence. Jef- of the American High School. Boston: Houghton
ferson, NC: McFarland, 1985. Mifflin, 1984.
VI.
Places

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ JOHN C. TIBBETTS ]

The Midwest

On the night of December 5, 1854, ten ideal- land could reward their hard work, but the
istic young men camped out in a crude log harsh environment and isolation threatened to
cabin in central territorial Kansas. After noting destroy their will and determination. As the
“the beautiful conformation of the land,” they country expanded westward over two centu-
drew up the Articles of Association for the ries, geographical referents such as “Middle”
town of Topeka. A few hours later, lightning and “West” changed many times. Today’s per-
struck the cabin and burned it to the ground. ception, as James R. Shortridge notes in his
Like a slap on the backside of a newborn baby, exhaustive study of the subject, is that the Mid-
lightning thus christened the birth of Kansas dle West includes twelve states—North Da-
and the genesis of what came to be called the kota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin,
“Middle West.” It is perhaps no less a quirk of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Nebraska,
circumstances that three decades later it was Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri. The inclusion of
from this very same Topeka that real estate de- a thirteenth state, Oklahoma, is problematic.
veloper Harvey Henderson Wilcox journeyed “Because of its location and early heritage,”
to Southern California and bought up 120 Shortridge writes, “Oklahoma has historically
acres of flatland that he christened “Holly- been called Southern or Southwestern, but
wood.” Thus, an unlikely but enduring alliance Middle West affiliation exists in its wheat-
was established between the Middle West and growing north and west” (25, 118).
Hollywood that has persisted to this day.
The midwestern character and the films that The Myth of the Garden
depict it have been midwifed by diverse cir- In the many films about nineteenth-century
cumstances of politics, geography, and immigrants and homesteaders—a story genre
weather. As Henry Nash Smith has pointed that historian Wayne Franklin has dubbed the
out, the Middle West lies between the dynamic “settlement narrative”—filmmakers have tried
regions of remote western frontier settlement to evoke the drama of transforming a wilder-
and the eastern regions of cities and social ness into a garden, what Scott MacDonald de-
stratification (143). Thus, it embodies the pas- scribes as “the original settlers’ wonder at
toral ideal, that middle region that lies sus- where we are, something of the original ex-
pended between untainted wilderness and plorers’ excitement in transforming the pos-
urban-industrial evils. The immigrants and sible into the actual, and something of the
settlers—many of them extremists from con- original settlers’ understanding of the practical
servative proslavery and liberal free-state fac- failures of their surroundings” (115–116).
tions—came from Yankee, Middle Atlantic, Pride of place among these pictures belongs to
and Old South cultural traditions, as well as a duet of films by Swedish director Jan Troell,
from regions as diverse as Germany, Scandi- The Emigrants (1970) and The New Land
navia, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. The fertile (1971). They depict the travails of Swedish

421
422 [ PLACES
farmers Karl and Kristine Oscar during their one more time in 1962, with Pat Boone and
hazardous sea voyage to America, trip inland Alice Faye.)
by steamboat, and trek across the northern
plains to the Minnesota Territory. The climac- The Serpent in the Garden
tic image in the first film haunts the memory: If Disney and Zanuck left the realities of rural,
after striding the raw grasslands searching for agrarian life far behind, other movies reflected
the best place to stake out his farm, Karl Oscar a disenchantment with the agrarian ideal, re-
sinks a stick deep into the soft loam. Satisfied flecting the darker truths etched in Kansan
at last, he leans back against a tree, a slow smile E. W. Howe’s novel The Story of a Country
spreading across his face. Paradoxically, im- Town (1883)—a book that marked, in John
plicit in this love of the earth is what the William Ward’s words, “The moment when
Kansas-born psychiatrist Karl Menninger the myth of the garden in America gave way
claims is a deep-seated ambivalence: “What is to the wasteland of broken dreams” (Howe,
really the nature of the soil? Is it the dirt? Is 304). D. W. Griffith’s A Corner in Wheat
civilization largely built on overcoming it, or (1909) put his newly developed crosscutting
built up on the taboo of dirt, overcoming a editing strategies into the service of contrasting
natural affection for it?” (Hall, 37). There is no the squalid life of poor farmers with the opu-
doubt of the convictions of at least one promi- lent surroundings of the capitalists who were
nent midwesterner. Walt Disney, according to exploiting their labors.
Richard Schickel, spent his career banishing One of the screen’s most trenchant indict-
the dirt and disorder that marked the hard ments of the failure of the land and the con-
days of his boyhood on a farm in Marceline, sequent defeat of those who try to homestead
Missouri: he was “conditioned by the hatred it appeared in Robert Benton’s classic Bad
of dirt and of the land that needs cleansing and Company (1972). A group of young men treks
taming and ordering and even paving over be- westward from Ohio in order to evade Civil
fore it can be said to be in genuinely useful War conscription. But instead of finding the
working order” (53). There never would be a anticipated freedom and opportunity of the
speck of grime on Mickey Mouse’s gloves, in West, they encounter only corruption and
Snow White’s cottage, or in the theme parks. thievery. While riding through the Flint Hills
Disney’s chief rival in tidying up an unpleas- of southeastern Kansas, they receive a warning
ant midwestern boyhood was Darryl F. Zan- from a passing farmer: “We tried farming the
uck, who spent most of his years at Twentieth first year; the twisters wiped us out. Next year,
Century–Fox forging a cinematic antidote to it was the cattlemen. Then, just pure rotten
the miserable childhood he had endured in his soil. Ain’t nobody got no money, ’ceptin’ a
native Wahoo, Nebraska. Typical is State Fair few; and even if you do have, ain’t a damn
(1945), adapted from a novel by Phil Stong, thing worth havin’. Rains so damned much it’ll
about the adventures of a rural Iowa family at give you the chilblains. Dry spell come along
the annual fair. The famed Broadway team of and you near choke with the dust. That is, if a
Rodgers and Hammerstein contributed six bushwhacker don’t come along and take your
songs, including an opening number that is a last dollar. I mean it, boys—turn around and
virtual catalogue of midwestern farm stereo- go on back.” But, of course, the boys don’t
types—each verse of the song, “Our State Fair,” turn back. As they cross Kansas, they fall in
is passed from one member of the Frake family with a gang of thieves—“rough types,” as ide-
to another, including the family’s prize pig Blue alistic Drew Dixon (Barry Brown), notes wryly
Boy. (State Fair had been filmed previously, in his journal. With a life of crime as the only
with Will Rogers in 1933, and would be remade available option for survival, Drew’s “high ex-
 THE MIDWEST ] 423

pectations” are blasted: “I have tried to look

on the bright side of all this,” he says with a
perfect deadpan, “but I can’t think what it
would be.”
Pare Lorentz’s The Plow That Broke the
Plains (1936) and The River (1937) investi-
gated the uncoordinated industrial exploita-
tion of the land that, with the Great Drought
of the 1930s, had disrupted the Mississippi
Valley’s ecological system. Images of the worn
faces of farm wives, blighted land, and blis-
tered farmhouses, counterpointed by Missouri FIGURE 51. Bad Company (1972). Drew Dixon
composer Virgil Thomson’s folkish rendering (Barry Brown, left) and one of his gang ( John Savage,
of cowboy songs, church hymns, and pop right) resort to robbing children to survive in Kansas.
Going west to reap its supposed benefits and freedom,
tunes, created a sense of the Midwest that was a disillusioned group of young men turns to crime.
general rather than specific. “Our heroine is Courtesy Paramount Pictures and Jaffilms.
the grass, the villain the sun and the wind, our
players the actual farmers living in the Plains Grampa) encounters in California the same
country,” said Lorentz. “It is a melodrama of opposing forces of banks and corporate land-
nature—the tragedy of turning grass into dust” holders they had presumed to leave behind
(MacCann, 66). This was rather a departure (“Them sons-a-bitches at their desks,” says
from the Dust Bowl photographs of Walker one character, “they jus’ chopped folks in two
Evans and Dorothea Lange, which tended to for their margin o’ profit”). Nunnally John-
display a sharper focus and more dispassion- son’s script tempers Steinbeck’s revolutionary
ate, apolitical objectivity. A clear political socialism, omitting references to the takeover
agenda lay behind it all. “Only by quality of California agriculture by large-scale indus-
dramatization of the goals of the New Deal,” try and the revolutionary solidarity among the
said Lorentz, “could government films win the dispossessed roadside camp population.
minds (and the votes) of the American people” Rather, its primary foci are the tragedy of de-
(Rollins, 39). As historian Peter C. Rollins has spoiled land, the family as the basic unit of
noted, “We are assured that we can surrender community, and the durability of human dig-
our responsibility to government planners nity. Steinbeck’s miserable ending, the shriv-
who will solve our economic and ecological eled remnants of a family struggling to escape
problems for us” (47). a flood, is changed to an upbeat speech by Ma
John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Joad (adapted by producer Darryl F. Zanuck
adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel, likewise from a speech two-thirds of the way through
smacks more of Roosevelt’s New Deal liberal- the book): “We’ll go on forever, Pa; we’re the
ism than Steinbeck’s Jeffersonian agrarianism. people.” The last scene of the film depicts the
Representative of the “Okies,” Dust Bowl mi- Joads’ leaving a government camp and de-
grants who left their dispossessed, blighted parting into the broad sunlight in search of
farms to seek their fortunes in California— work.
modern archetypes, according to historian More recently, Richard Pearce’s Country
Russell Campbell, of the homeless and perse- (1984) and Jocelyn Moorhouse’s A Thousand
cuted Israelites fleeing Egypt to Canaan Acres (1997), adapted from Jane Smiley’s novel
(108)—the Joad family (Henry Fonda as Tom, of the same name, reveal how public foreclo-
Jane Darwell as Ma, and Charley Grapewin as sure and private greed threaten the midwest-
424 [ PLACES
plete with barbershop quartets and marching
bands. “This vanished, almost mythical past is
a fantasy burgeoning from the seeds of re-
membrance and counterpointing present re-
ality,” notes Joseph Andrew Casper (43).
In striking contrast is Orson Welles’s The
Magnificent Ambersons (1942), based on the
Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Hoosier
writer Booth Tarkington. Industrialization
overtakes the midwestern city of Midland—an
encroachment embodied by the character of
Eugene Morgan ( Joseph Cotten), the progres-
F I G U R E 5 2 . The Grapes of Wrath (1940). The Joad
family packs its belongings to flee the Dust Bowl of their
sive, maverick manager of an automobile fac-
native Oklahoma for the presumed riches of California. tory. The arrogant, aristocratic George Am-
Courtesy Twentieth Century-Fox. berson (Tim Holt), scion of a family of
aristocrats, suffers his “comeuppance” and is
ern farm idyll. In the latter film, not only does reduced to the status of a common laborer.
the acreage of the Cook family—which has The opening scenes of the Amberson mansion
been in the family for three generations—be- ablaze with Christmas lights are replaced in the
come the focal point of a contested legal battle, conclusion with tracking shots through a dark-
but poisonous water has seeped into the well ened house now ruined and empty. “The po-
and is killing the family. Finally, after squab- tential for a great civilization existed in the fer-
bles have split the family apart, the land stands tile land, and a vision of this greatness had
unoccupied and uncultivated. Images of glow- been glimpsed by the first generation of set-
ing vistas of fertile fields and open skies are tlers,” notes James R. Shortridge, but “the sec-
reduced to a tiny view visible through the win- ond generation had lost sight of the dream.
dow of the now-deserted farmhouse. The Corrupted by an obsession with the material
promise of three generations and a thousand side of success, they broke the pastoral tie”
acres have diminished to a single point of light. (45).
City life in the Midwest has likewise been All four of William Inge’s major plays, Come
portrayed with ambivalence. Hoosier writer Back, Little Sheba (1950), Picnic (1953), Bus
Booth Tarkington’s idyllically picaresque Stop (1955), and Dark at the Top of the Stairs
“Penrod” stories, originally written for Cos- (1957)—reflections of the playwright’s own
mopolitan in 1914, were brought to the screen experiences growing up in the southeast Kan-
in the silent era by Marshall Neilan (Penrod, sas town of Independence—came to the screen
1922) and William Beaudine (Penrod and Sam, in the 1950s and early 1960s in versions by
1923) and to the talkies in two Doris Day mu- Daniel Mann, Josh Logan, and Delbert Mann.
sicals, Roy del Ruth’s On Moonlight Bay (1951) In addition, Elia Kazan directed Inge’s Acad-
and David Butler’s By the Light of the Silvery emy Award–winning screenplay of Splendor in
Moon (1953). This sort of musical Americana the Grass in 1961. Beneath their deceptively
reached its peak in 1962 when Warner Bros. monotonous, commonplace surfaces lay
brought Meredith Willson’s The Music Man to themes of loneliness, frustration, sexual inhi-
the screen. The schemes of con man Harold bition, loss, despair, and, perhaps above all, the
Hill (Robert Preston) in River City, Iowa, were human need for love (Voss, 183). Their screen
accompanied by turn-of-the-century music incarnations, like their theatrical originals,
from the Sousa and George M. Cohan era, re- present graphic protraits of repressed charac-
 THE MIDWEST ] 425

ters living out isolated lives of moral confusion Warren’s Seven Angry Men (1955). Although
and tarnished ideals amidst the middlewestern the former was intended to be a vehicle for
spaces from which the young playwright had Errol Flynn as the swashbuckling Jeb Stuart, it
fled as a youth. was the saturnine Massey who stole the show
Most recently, Clint Eastwood’s The Bridges (“I am a David armed with the power and the
of Madison County (1992) revisits these glory!”). However, Robert Buckner’s script
themes. Indeed, it may be regarded as a latter- tap-danced around the slavery issue so care-
day Picnic: The arrival in Iowa farm country fully that it almost managed to avoid it alto-
of dashing Robert Kincaid (Clint Eastwood), gether. This sample of the dialogue is typical:
an itinerant photographer on assignment, un-
leashes the passions of Francesca (Meryl George Armstrong Custer [Ronald Reagan]:
“There’s a purpose behind [Brown’s] mad-
Streep), a lonely farm wife. While their brief
ness.”
but intense affair—played out against the iso- Jeb Stuart [Errol Flynn]: “It’s not our job to
lation of rural farm country—illuminates their say who’s right or wrong.”
desperate inner needs, it also throws into stark
relief the emotional and physical obstacles On the other hand, the enigmatic Quantrill, on
blocking their chance for a more prolonged, screen as in life, proved to be a more elusive
fulfilling relationship. The enormous appeal of character to pin down. In Raoul Walsh’s Dark
both the film and the book (which to date has Command (1940), Quantrill is a schoolteacher
sold more copies than the King James version named “Cantrell” (Walter Pidgeon) who is
of the Bible) attests to the enduring popularity wholly apolitical—“You’re not fighting for the
of this sort of bittersweet rural idyll, to which North,” he tells his guerilla band, “and you’re
Omaha-born director Alexander Payne added not fighting for the South; you’re fighting for
an ironic twist with his films Citizen Ruth what’s coming for you!”—and whose attack on
(1996), Election (1999), and About Schmidt Lawrence, Kansas, is motivated primarily by
(2002). the loss of his girlfriend to rival John Wayne.
In Ray Enright’s Kansas Raiders (1950), Quan-
Fanatics, Frauds, and Outlaws trill (Brian Donlevy) is a proslavery martinet
Crisscrossing the midwestern landscape, who dreams of bolstering Robert E. Lee’s sag-
sometimes under cover of darkness, some- ging fortunes by taking the Civil War into the
times amidst a hail of gunfire, and sometimes regions west of Missouri. And in Edward
under the star-spangled glare of the revival tent Berndt’s Quantrill’s Raiders (1958), he is a vi-
marches a succession of opportunists, drifters, cious, womanizing thug (Leo Gordon) who is
and self-righteous zealots. John Brown and so inept as a soldier that he is unable to con-
William Clarke Quantrill sit astride the years summate the Lawrence raid. There are frag-
of the Kansas-Missouri Border Wars (1856– ments of truth in all of these Hollywood re-
1865), their faces lit from below as if by the constructions, but the politics behind the
flames of their conflicting free-state and pro- struggle over “Bleeding Kansas” have been
slavery ideologies. “The early settlers of Kansas largely ignored, with the notable exception of
were the extremists of the nation,” writes Da- Taiwanese director Ang Lee’s Ride with the
vid Hinshaw, “men from the North and East Devil (1999).
who flocked there to incorporate their convic- A different breed of zealot swarmed across
tion into law.” (12) Raymond Massey brought the Middle West after the turn of the century.
a stern authority to his two screen portrayals Hard on the heels of a different kind of civil
of the fanatical Brown in Michael Curtiz’s war, the conflict between evolutionary theo-
Santa Fe Trail (1941) and Charles Marquis rists and religious fundamentalists, tent-show
426 [ PLACES
preachers and revival shouters delivered a pen- Robert Benton’s screenplay for Bonnie and
tecostal message of deliverance to lower and Clyde (1967) dramatized the eponymous char-
middle-class citizens starved for practical an- acters’ two-year binge of robbery and murder
swers to hard times. Religious fervor is part of on the back roads of Texas, Missouri, and Kan-
the Plains States character, wrote William Inge, sas. Its blend of reality and legend was served
a consequence of the realization that in the up with a soupçon of French New Wave sen-
face of earth and sky man is not all-powerful: sibility. Director Arthur Penn saw affinities be-
“That may explain why people in the Plains tween the early 1930s and his own time, and
States are (I believe) more solemnly religious he wanted to make “a modern film whose ac-
than those in other parts of the nation” (Av- tion takes place in the past” (Murray, 241).
erill, ed., 157). Among the Bible-thumping Moreover, Clyde’s sexual ambiguity and the
brethren, however, were con artists all too will- film’s veering from seriocomic slapstick to
ing to exploit their flocks for easy money. graphically staged violence appealed to a di-
Frank Capra’s The Miracle Woman (1931) vided American scene of urban riots, racial un-
stars Barbara Stanwyck as a disillusioned rest, anti-Vietnam protests, and a dropout
preacher’s daughter who used sex and faked drug culture.
miracles to con the suckers. In Sinclair Lewis’s Among modern takes on real-life midwest-
Elmer Gantry (1927), adapted to the screen by ern bandits and killers, Richard Brooks’s In
Richard Brooks in 1960, the eponymous Elmer Cold Blood (1967) stands out. It is based on
is a charismatic, fast-talking, thoroughly un- Truman Capote’s book, a classic in what came
scrupulous evangelist from Terwillinger College to be called “the new journalism,” blending
in Kansas. Although censorial pressures forced factual reportage with novelistic techniques
Brooks to temper the novel’s anticlericalism (Karl, 561–562). Capote’s recounting of two
and place the unordained Gantry outside the ex-convicts’ grisly shotgun murders in 1959 of
mainstream of pentecostal religion, the film a farming family in Holcomb, Kansas—a re-
cannily exploits Burt Lancaster’s exuberant ath- gion of prairie lands and wheat fields seventy
leticism as Gantry in a way that recalls the antics miles east of the Colorado border (“a lone-
of that real-life “calliope of Zion,” ex-baseball some area that other Kansans call ‘out there,’ ”
player and native of Ames, Iowa, Billy Sunday. writes Capote)—was an eerie evocation of a
More recently, films such as The Rainmaker place and a cast of characters that defied easy
(1956), based on a play N. Richard Nash (and analysis. Both book and film employed that
also starring Burt Lancaster), and The Apostle quintessential feature of the midwestern land-
(1997), written and directed by Robert Duvall, scape, the vanishing point—the convergence
have explored the uneasy relationships between of those archetypal elements of the prairie, the
miracle and illusion, faith and fraud. highway and the farmhouse—as a metaphor
Meanwhile, in the 1920s and 1930s, back- for the fatal intersection of the nomadic killers
country bandits such as Bonnie and Clyde and the peacefully domestic Clutter family.
were glorified and vilified, by turns, for largely The crosscutting between highway and farm-
the same reasons that Quantrill and the James house during the first third of the story pre-
Boys had been exploited as dime-novel pro- destines their ultimate collision. The subse-
tagonists, engaging in what Richard Slotkin quent violence, when it comes, is as sudden
describes as “an extreme but morally justifiable and inscrutable as a prairie lightning strike.
form of resistance to the invasion of their re-
gion first by Yankees and then by banks and Miracles in the Wheat
railroads chartered by the Republican govern- Paradoxically, the flattest and most prosaic of
ment of the state” (133). David Newman and midwestern landscapes may conceal unimag-
 THE MIDWEST ] 427

inable terrors and wonders. Swirling around western location, a secure, protected area
the stoic, impassive form of that quintessential bounded and measured. Each is safe. Each is
Kansan, Buster Keaton, were all manner of home.
floods, cyclones and other disasters. “I used to Disruption and separation have ended in
daydream an awful lot in pictures,” he said discovery and reconciliation. This is the mes-
with typical understatement. “I could get car- sage embodied in that greatest of midwestern
ried away and visualize all the fairylands in the classics, The Wizard of Oz (1939), based on
world.” L. Frank Baum’s novel. Readers of Baum’s
Thus, as in Stephen King’s Children of the original story, published in 1900, will recall
Corn (1984), rows of tall corn conceal a mys- Dorothy’s spirited defense of her home at the
terious, elemental “Corn God.” In Strategic Air expense of the more glamorous Oz: “No mat-
Command (1955), Dr. Strangelove (1964), and ter how dreary and gray our homes are, we
Fail-Safe (1964), fields of Nebraska wheat people of flesh and blood would rather live
cover up underground silos filled with nuclear there than in any other country, be it ever so
missiles—assuring that, in the event of nuclear beautiful. There is no place like home” (Av-
confrontation, the Midwest would be a pri- erill, ed., 2). And Disney’s Return to Oz
mary strike target, as dramatized in Nicholas (1985)—not so much a remake of the MGM
Meyer’s The Day After (1985). And in Field of classic as an adaptation of Baum’s later books,
Dreams (1989), an Iowa meadow spawns the The Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz—prompted
ghosts of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson and the rest Billina, the talking chicken, to remark: “If this
of the Chicago “Black Sox” baseball team. is Oz, I’ll take my chances in Kansas!” But
It is weirdly appropriate that Field of Dreams maybe it’s not simply that Kansas is a place to
closely resembles Steven Spielberg’s Close En- escape from or to return to; rather, it’s a place
counters of the Third Kind (1977). In both, two that one never leaves at all. Thus, the 1939
spiritually damaged fathers (“Ray” and “Roy,” MGM film blurs the distinctions between Kan-
respectively) leave their families in the Mid- sas and Oz by casting Ray Bolger, Jack Haley,
west (Ray Neary in Muncie, Indiana, and Roy Bert Lahr, and Margaret Hamilton in dual
Kinsella in Dyersville, Iowa) to follow pre- roles as the inhabitants of both regions, con-
monitions of a weird visitation (Neary’s vision firming a similarity that borders on identity.
of a high tower; Kinsella’s hearing of a mys- Small wonder that popular myth has begun to
terious voice intoning, “If you build it, he will confuse the two and regard them both as in-
come”). Each man finds his grail in the end terchangeable regions. At this writing, entre-
(Ray follows an alien into a waiting spaceship; preneurs are planning to locate a “Wizard of
Roy plays a game of catch with the ghost of his Oz” theme park in Johnson County, Kansas.
father). The topography of both films are re- The dream of the Midwest is best expressed
verse images of each other: the landing site in in the metaphor of the solitary soul standing
Close Encounters resembles a ball diamond midway between the broad sky and level earth,
where the two “teams” of earthly scientists and seeking that magical vanishing point where the
extraterrestrial visitors engage in a kind of cos- individual and the community, the common-
mic ball game; and the playing field in Field of place and the miraculous, freedom and re-
Dreams functions as a “launching pad” for sponsibility, dream and reality, and yes—Hol-
Roy’s imagination. Each is a typically mid- lywood and Kansas—meet—and merge.
428 [ PLACES
References
Filmography Sarah Plain and Tall (1997, F)
Seven Angry Men (1955, F)
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938, F)
Splendor in the Grass (1961, F)
About Schmidt (2002, F)
State Fair (1933, F; 1945, F; 1962, F)
The Apostle (1997, F)
Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928, F)
Babbitt (1934, F)
Strategic Air Command (1955, F)
Bad Company (1972, F)
They Live by Night (1947, F)
Badlands (1973, F)
A Thousand Acres (1997, F)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F)
True-Heart Susie (1919, F)
The Bridges of Madison County (1992, F)
The Wizard of Oz (1939, F)
Bus Stop (1955, F)
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F)
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953, F)
You Only Live Once (1937, F)
Children of the Corn (1984, F)
Citizen Ruth (1996, F)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, F)
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A Corner in Wheat (1909, F) sas History 12.1 (1989): 2–12.
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[ JAMES HANLAN ]

The “New” West and the New Western

rederick Jackson Turner’s 1893 essay “The popular, Theodore Roosevelt, in The Winning

F Frontier in American History” shaped the

view of generations of academicians, who
expanded on and revised Turner’s ideas about
the nature of American exceptionalism.
of the West (1907), reflected this perspective;
his opinions influenced both government pol-
icy and popular culture. (Roosevelt advocated
the view that “peace by the sword” in a war
Turner saw many of the nation’s best charac- against “savages” was the most righteous ex-
teristics—such as democracy, individualism, pression of true manhood.)
and opportunity—as arising out of America’s The western film long stood as a unique
longstanding encounter with the frontier. In genre for the American film industry. West-
1950 Henry Nash Smith’s Virgin Land mag- erns were typically set on the American fron-
nificently summarized and critiqued the im- tier during the late nineteenth or early twen-
pact of the West on the American imagination. tieth century (1865–1915) and followed
In Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great formula themes: the conflict of good versus
West (1991), William Cronon further revised evil, villain versus hero, lawman versus out-
historical views by demonstrating the inextri- law, settlers versus Indians. The background
cable ecological and economic links between was glorious and sweeping, nothing less than
urban and frontier communities. Western his- the panorama of the entire American West,
torical literature is vast and rich; it includes where a well-endowed and generous nature
Robert Dykstra’s work on cattle towns, Rich- awaited subordination and romance waited to
ard McGrath on frontier violence, and Robert bloom. The western hero was typically a law-
Utley on Indians, among other contributions man, a man of principle and integrity with a
to a large body of scholarship. Michael clear moral compass, a sense of rugged indi-
Malone’s Historians and the American West vidualism, and a (reluctant) willingness to use
(1983) explores some of that vast literature. violence to the extent needed to assure the
Likewise, Jane Tompkins’s West of Everything: triumph of good. The formula became well
The Inner Life of Westerns (1992) treats the established and predictable in the hundreds
relationship between film and western life in of low-budget westerns made from the 1920s
a thematic fashion, analyzing the ways in through the 1940s. The formula western re-
which westerns have portrayed death, women, inforced established social values and mores
the use of landscape, and animals, and set- and assured audiences that the forces of good
ting these themes amid complex historical and evil were easily distinguishable; most im-
factors. portant, they promised that good would tri-
In contrast to recent scholarly work, the umph despite the trials of adversity. Cowboy
Turnerian image of the West has had an en- star Tom Mix appeared in more than three
during popularity and has influenced Holly- hundred films of this kind, while his contem-
wood’s representations. Never far ahead of the porary William S. Hart made more than sixty-

430
 THE ‘‘NEW’’ WEST AND THE NEW WESTERN ] 431

five films, ending in the late 1920s. For gen- though there was an endless supply of white
erations facing first the economic turmoil of men, there was but “a limited supply of human
the Great Depression and then the terrors of beings.” Penn’s film presented white settlers as
World War II, this formula offered solace. the real savages, randomly slaughtering Indian
During the 1950s, western films began to ex- women and children. In addition, their leader,
pand the themes with which they dealt in both George Armstrong Custer, was portrayed as an
variety and sensitivity. As early as 1943, Wil- impetuous madman in “a world without hu-
liam Wellman’s The Ox-Bow Incident, based man beings [which] has no center to it.” This
on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, countercultural critique of American society
called moral certainty into doubt. The stereo- was reflected in the film’s prediction that “hu-
typical portrayal of the good lawman and the man beings will soon walk a road that leads
bad outlaw began to fade as the main charac- nowhere.” Little Big Man’s portrait of Custer
ters in western films came to be seen as com- can usefully be contrasted with that presented
plex and fallible human beings whose moral in the PBS documentary Last Stand at Little Big
and ethical ambiguities were worthy of explo- Horn (1992), narrated by Pulitzer Prize–win-
ration. The transformation and redefinition of ning Native American writer N. Scott Moma-
the western film into a sophisticated and ma- day. Using journals, oral accounts, and ledger
ture genre by revisionist filmmakers would en- drawings as well as archival and feature film
able it to counteract a decline in popularity in footage, the documentary contrasts white and
the late 1960s. In an era of space exploration, Indian perspectives on “Manifest Destiny.”
a different kind of frontier captured the imag- The New Western, like earlier versions of the
ination of a new generation of moviegoers, of- genre, reflected the social concerns of the era
ten using themes similar to those of the classic in which the films were produced. By the
western but in a different setting, perhaps best 1970s, Americans had come to question the
exemplified by George Lucas’s Star Wars se- wisdom of their own government and, follow-
ries. The “New Western” genre that emerged ing on the civil rights movement, were willing
in the 1970s continued the earlier revisionist to reconsider the role accorded to minorities.
trend and revived the popularity of the western Like John Ford’s Cheyenne Autumn (1964),
as a vehicle for the exploration of contempo- Penn’s film exhibited sensitivity toward and
rary social concerns. In the process, it called admiration of the Native American.
into question almost all of the formulas of the Kevin Costner’s Dances with Wolves (1990)
older western film. further extended Hollywood’s reinterpretation
of the American Indian. Many Native Ameri-
The Evolving Portrayal of Native Americans cans praised Costner’s film for its portrayal of
By the 1960s, American Indians, like other mi- their peoples’ everyday lives. Graham Greene,
nority groups, had begun to reassert their who portrayed Kicking Bird, was honored in
rights and identity with vigor. Vine Deloria’s 1997 with the National Aboriginal Achieve-
Custer Died for Your Sins (1969) affirmed the ment Award for his body of work. In its cita-
strength and validity of Indian culture and tion of Greene, the award praised his role as
called for an end to cultural oppression. In Lit- Kicking Bird for portraying all that was good
tle Big Man (1970), based on Thomas Berger’s in aboriginal life and experience; the citation
novel, director Arthur Penn presented an al- also referred to the Costner film as one of the
ternative form of captivity narrative. Taken most important pieces of film in American In-
captive and raised by Indians, Dustin Hoff- dian history. PBS contributed to the reinter-
man’s character, Jack Crabb, referred to Indi- pretation of Native American culture with Ge-
ans as “human beings” and reflected that al- ronimo and the Apache Resistance (1988) and
432 [ PLACES
documented complex land swindles in Indians, “outlaws” obsolete. The Mexican rebel forces
Outlaws and Angie Debo (1988). Likewise, were viewed sympathetically as peasants striv-
PBS’s In the White Man’s Image (1991) por- ing for independence, while their government
trays as cultural genocide the efforts of the and the American army alike were simply on
Carlisle School for Indians, where Indian chil- the wrong side of the moral equation. In the
dren were housed for “white immersion” ex- spirit of the 1960s, Peckinpah focused exten-
periences to integrate them into the main- sively, almost lovingly, on the violence of the
stream in the 1870s. The New Western thus confrontation. Forces that would have un-
both reflected an awareness of the worthiness questionably represented good in the earlier
of cultures once dismissed as primitive and the western genre now were seen as conniving and
sensibilities of an America inured to excessive evil. The “lawmen” were more than willing to
violence. As Peter C. Rollins and John E. shoot down innocent men, women, and chil-
O’Connor observe in Hollywood’s Indian dren in order to kill the outlaws: any means to
(1998), film long played a crucial part in shap- an end. The parallels with Lieutenant William
ing the popular image of the American Indian. Calley’s “wasting” of a hamlet in Vietnam in
Revisionist film continued the manipulation, 1968 and Peter Arnett’s famous report of a
but toward new ends. military assertion that a hamlet sometimes had
to be destroyed in order to be saved would be
Reflections of the 1960s strong and inescapable. (While the film was
The films of Sam Peckinpah reflect a darker playing in theaters, contemporary newspaper
view of human nature adopted by a society headlines revealed the horrors of the My Lai
exposed to televised reports from the Vietnam massacre.) In Peckinpah’s world, the forces
battlefields. Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch breaking the law used minimal violence,
(1969) opened with a scene of children glee- whereas the forces that represent the law used
fully observing fire ants slaughtering a scor- massive destructive force in defense of a du-
pion. This scene was followed by, and inter- bious establishment selfishness. Symbols of a
spersed with, the confrontation of vigilantes new technology of death emerged in the film
with a gang of outlaws. In a typical Peckinpah with the use of the machine gun and a refer-
reversal, familiar categories of good and evil ence to flying machines used to kill. The clos-
were exchanged: it was the outlaws with whom ing scene of The Wild Bunch was marked by
the audience came to sympathize and the law- devastation and buzzards; a peasant society
men—depicted as agents of an exploitative had been torn apart by war and violence. Fur-
railroad—who were of questionable moral au- thermore, any remaining individualists or reb-
thority. Peckinpah’s outlaws were men seeking els had been “wasted.”
independence, identity, and reassurance of When The Wild Bunch was released in 1969,
their manhood in a rapidly changing world critics hailed it as a milestone, some claiming
where big business and big government threat- it to be the most important American film
ened personal autonomy. The film was set on since Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane (1941). The
the Mexican border in 1913, shortly before balletic shootouts were both denounced and
“Black Jack” Pershing engaged in futile pursuit admired, with director Peckinpah being la-
of the famous Mexican bandit Pancho Villa— beled the “Picasso of Violence.” The scholarly
a theme developed in greater depth by PBS’s analysis of violence on the frontier presented
The Hunt for Pancho Villa (1993). Peckinpah by Roger D. McGrath in Gunfighters, High-
saw General Pershing’s payrolls as a suitable waymen, and Vigilantes (1984) certainly re-
target for the outlaws—perhaps the last target veals a less sensationalistic history of the use
they would have before modernity rendered of force. Clearly, Peckinpah was addressing his
 THE ‘‘NEW’’ WEST AND THE NEW WESTERN ] 433

own time: from the Watts riot of 1965 (which powerful establishment had to suppress the ir-
caused the deaths of thirty-four people) repressible individualists.
through the summer of 1968, American cities
erupted in violence. For many Americans, the The 1970s and Beyond
nonviolent approach of Martin Luther King Jr. Robert Altman’s McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)
seemed to have died with him in 1968, leaving picked up the theme of the individual victim-
Peckinpah’s western film as a reflection of the ized by business interests and turned most of
times. the stereotypes of the western film upside
In sharp contrast with Peckinpah’s obses- down. Rather than being met with the wide
sion with bloodletting, George Roy Hill’s vistas of the American West, a landscape full
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) re- of beauty, Turnerian potential, and gifted by
veals that one of the main characters, Cassidy, nature, the film opens at a dismal, isolated
never shot a man until a confrontation made mining town with the ironic name of Presby-
violence mandatory. Paul Newman (as Butch) terian Church. More than the landscape is
and Robert Redford (as Sundance), both Hol- drab; the characters themselves are presented
lywood legends, present rustlers, bandits, and in anything but an heroic mode. McCabe
robbers in a thoroughly likeable—almost in- (Warren Beatty), an inept and bungling
nocent—way. Director Hill assures his audi- would-be entrepreneur, is saved from the folly
ence that “most of what follows is true” at the of his own incompetence by Mrs. Miller ( Julie
outset of the film, indicating that the film Christie), a shrewd madame with few illusions
would play against existing western myths; in- about life or romance. The usual romantic
deed, the portrayal of Butch and Sundance is gender roles are reversed here: the man is love-
colored by the legend that emerged and grew struck, the woman cold and calculating. Al-
in the almost seven decades following Butch though Constance Miller is capable and tough,
and Sundance’s adventures. Despite the direc- neither the film nor the new western genre ad-
torial statement, the function of Hill’s movie equately readdresses the role of women in the
is to entertain in a tale of two likeable rogues West. The women in the film are prostitutes,
characterized by charm, loyalty, and 1960s- their lives governed by commerce. Commerce
style nonconformism as redeeming qualities. eventually proves the undoing of McCabe
They represent the closing of the American when he foolishly refuses to sell out his “busi-
West, and their flight to South America sug- ness interests” in the bordello. He naively relies
gested that American modernity was driving on the promises of lawyer Samuels (modeled
out our last individualists. It is in only this in- after Mark Twain) that the trusts will be
terpretive framework that the film is “accu- brought under control and “won’t be able to
rate,” rather than in the sense of presenting lift one little finger against you.” Mrs. Miller
any historical objectivity. The disillusionment recognizes the folly of this advice and urges
with authority figures and distrust of big busi- McCabe to get out of town. When he refuses,
ness setting in by the late 1960s may have been Constance Miller wastes no time mourning
the most “accurately” presented interpretation her lost love and turns instead to her true love,
conveyed by this film. The two engaging out- an opium pipe. In the end Altman presents his
laws are incredulous when told that Mr. E. H. audience with a nihilistic vision of society: men
Harriman, legendary leader of the Union Pa- and women mistrust one another, nature has
cific Railroad and father of diplomat W. Averill turned hostile to human values, a philistine
Harriman, a name recognizable by informed world of business and commerce has tri-
filmgoers, has tired of their picking on him and umphed, and drugs have created an escapist
has determined to have them eliminated. A stupor for their victims. In the closing scenes
434 [ PLACES
of the film, McCabe is hunted down by gun-
slingers in a blizzard, while Mrs. Miller be-
comes lost in an opium cloud. Not even youth
held redeeming potential; the one naive and
likable character in the film, a young cowboy,
is gunned down by a remorseless, would-be
gunslinger who is with the bounty hunters
pursuing McCabe for the mining company.
Altman’s allegorical account of life in a min-
ing town contrasts with a documentary view,
Out of the Depths—The Miner’s Story (1988),
produced for PBS as part of Bill Moyers’s A
F I G U R E 5 3 . McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971). John
Walk Through the Twentieth Century series. McCabe (Warren Beatty, right) ponders an offer by Sears
Moyers worked with scholars at the University (Michael Murphy, left), the owner of a mining company,
of Colorado to produce an oral history ac- to purchase his land and profitable bordello. Egotistical
and ignorant of the economic changes and powerful
count of the life of mineworkers at the begin-
entrepreneurs moving into the West, McCabe refuses to
ning of the twentieth century that includes ac- sell, leading to his death. Courtesy Warner Bros.
counts of the Ludlow massacre (1914) as well
as personal reminiscences of everyday life. The
PBS version more closely reflects the work of lishment with disestablishment by stressing
scholars such as Rodman W. Paul, whose con- both the number of African Americans who
siderably older Mining Frontiers of the Far participated in western settlement and por-
West, 1848–1880 (1963) presents a detailed, traying black disenfranchisement and the ter-
factual analysis of mining communities. ror of the Ku Klux Klan—all matters touched
In McCabe & Mrs. Miller, the only black on as well in Mel Brooks’s broad farce Blazing
characters are a wagon driver and his wife. In Saddles (1974), one of the few mainstream
most earlier western genre films blacks are al- films of the time with an African American
most invisible. John Ford’s Sergeant Rutledge lead actor.
(1960), made toward the end of the fabled di-
rector’s career, focuses on an African Ameri- The Influence of Television
can trooper in the Ninth Cavalry wrongfully Although the attractiveness of the classic west-
accused of rape and murder. Contemporary ern theme declined for producers of feature
reviewers praised Woody Strode, who played films, television continued to grind out west-
Rutledge, but greeted Ford’s film with mixed ern stories. Unlike the genre of commercial
reactions. Black journalists sensed that the film television, though, the works of filmmaker Ken
was historically important both for the indus- Burns and his associates for public television
try and for audiences, while white journalists were carefully researched and presented the
were less enthusiastic, with one calling it an commentary of prominent scholars on the
embarrassingly bad film. Years later the film complex issues of western settlement, com-
was recognized as an important cinematic con- munity life, environment and geography, ra-
tribution to the understanding of race in the cial and ethnic conflict, and economic devel-
turbulent 1960s. In his revisionist film Posse opment. In his two-hour series entitled Lewis
(1993), African American director and star & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
Mario Van Peebles continued in Ford’s foot- (1997), Burns presented a thoughtful interpre-
steps by putting his race at the very center of tation of an epic expedition in which a broad
the American West. The film contrasts estab- spectrum of scholarly views were aired—es-
 THE ‘‘NEW’’ WEST AND THE NEW WESTERN ] 435

pecially those of Stephen Ambrose and John West than do Hollywood films, ironically, in a
Allen. Burns’s severest critics have pointed out 1996 interview about the series, Burns ac-
that the flaws of his approach are the inherent knowledged that the single most influential
failings of a melodramatic medium, while filmmaker in shaping his own views was John
Robert B. Toplin has urged filmmakers to Ford, whom Burns credited with both pro-
make the public aware that historical interpre- moting the western myth and simultaneously
tation involves debate and the making of judg- going beyond it.
ments about conflicting interpretations of the
past. Leon Litwak and Daniel Walkowitz have
suggested that Burns tends to take a vintage An Enduring Genre
nineteenth-century approach, stressing visual Although the popularity of the western film
beauty and military details while avoiding dif- has declined as the genre has grown more so-
ficult and vexing political questions. In partic- phisticated, the western remains nonetheless
ular, Walkowitz sees a substantial divergence an enduring theme in both American film and
between the values of historians and under- American literature. The resurgent appeal of
writers such as the National Endowment for the western genre on television has been dem-
the Humanities and General Motors. As of onstrated in the success of Lonesome Dove
1996, the auto giant had provided ten years of (1989), a miniseries based on Larry Mc-
support for Burns’s work and agreed to pro- Murtry’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. The
vide corporate underwriting for all of Burns’s miniseries gave rise to sequels that proved
films through the year 2000. Perhaps in re- popular for their rejuvenation of traditional
sponse to this mainstream corporate support, western themes, perhaps reflecting a return to
Burns pointed to the limitations of scholars a Turnerian view in the age of Ronald Reagan,
who speak to an increasingly smaller audience whose visage has been advocated as a suitable
of academic specialists; in contrast, Burns addition to the Mount Rushmore pantheon.
stressed that his films are intended to engage While Reagan’s popularity as president has
and excite a large popular audience. outlived his reputation both as host of the tele-
Burns acted as producer for a nine-part se- vision series Death Valley Days and as an actor
ries, The West (1996), directed by Stephen Ives, in western films, the genre itself has proven
an associate in Burns’s New Hampshire center. remarkably adept in its ability to represent
Burns and Ives consciously downplay the cul- changing contemporary interpretations of our
ture of violence romanticized by gunslinger national life. Cast in celluloid and videotape
stories and films, stressing instead the process rather than stone, the ever-evolving images of
of settlement of a vast territory by a hetero- the western film continually present them-
geneous people. Although this approach much selves anew to the consciousness of new gen-
more closely parallels scholarly work on the erations of filmgoers.

References
Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo (1988, D)
Filmography In the White Man’s Image (1991, D)
Blazing Saddles (1974, F) Last Stand at Little Big Horn (1992, D)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, F) Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery
Cheyenne Autumn (1964, F) (1997, D)
Dances with Wolves (1990, F) Little Big Man (1970, F)
Geronimo and the Apache Resistance (1988, D) Lonesome Dove (1989, TV)
The Hunt for Pancho Villa (1993, D) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962, F)
436 [ PLACES
McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971, F) 1976) into Film (1909–1986). Jefferson, NC: Mc-
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, F) Farland, 1990.
Out of the Depths—The Miners’ Story (1988, D) Malone, Michael, ed. Historians and the American
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943, F) West. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1983.
Posse (1993, F) Manchel, Frank. “Losing and Finding John Ford’s
The Searchers (1956, F) Sergeant Rutledge (1960).” Historical Journal of
Sergeant Rutledge (1960, F) Film, Radio, and Television 17.2 (1997): 245–259.
Stagecoach (1939, F) Mitchell, Lee Clark. Westerns: Making the Man in Fic-
Tombstone (1993, F) tion and Film. Chicago: University of Chicago
Unforgiven (1992, F) Press, 1996.
The West (1996, D) Paul, Rodman W. Mining Frontiers of the Far West,
The Wild Bunch (1969, F) 1848–1880. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Win-
ston, 1963.
Rollins, Peter C., and John E. O’Connor, eds. Holly-
wood’s Indian: The Portrayal of the Native Ameri-
Bibliography can in Film. Lexington: University Press of Ken-
Allen, John L. Passage Through the Garden: Lewis and tucky, 1998.
Clark and the Images of the American Northwest. Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975. Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Atheneum, 1992.
Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West
American West. New York: Simon & Schuster, as Symbol and Myth. New York: Knopf, 1950.
1996. Tompkins, Jane P. West of Everything: The Inner Life
Calder, Jenni. There Must Be a Lone Ranger: The of Westerns. New York: Oxford University Press,
American West in Film and in Reality. New York: 1992.
McGraw-Hill, 1977. Tuska, Jon. The American West in Film: Critical Ap-
Cronon, William. Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and proaches to the Western. Westport, CT: Greenwood,
the Great West. New York: Norton, 1991. 1985.
Dykstra, Robert. The Cattle Towns. New York: Knopf, Utley, Robert, and Wilcomb Washburn, eds. Ameri-
1968. can Heritage History of the Indian Wars. New York:
Hitt, Jim. The American West from Fiction (1823– Bonanza Books, 1977.
[ JOSEPH DORINSON AND GEORGE LANKEVICH ]

New York City

ew York is America’s metropolis, a quin- unique, and the endless source of fascination

N tessential urban drama where the

dreams, disappointments, and dangers
of life are naked and intense. Its enduring
power has made the city a favorite subject for
for historians who research its past and artists
who seek its hidden dramas.
The diversity of New York demands histori-
cal analysis. More than 1,100 volumes have at-
both historians and filmmakers, and images tempted to illuminate facets of local history.
from Gotham’s history fill the minds of Amer- Arguably, the most impressive of these studies
icans. One of the oldest cities on the continent, arrived in 1995, when the Encyclopedia of New
Manhattan offers a panorama of themes rang- York City brought together 680 authors to
ing from wilderness post to revolutionary write 4,300 articles about the national metrop-
sparkplug, from vibrant seaport to immigrant olis. If a single theme emerged from their ef-
ghetto, from capital of the United States to forts, it was that the infinitely complex “Big
core of capitalist enterprise. As we enter the Apple” eluded comprehensive description,
new millennium, New York’s position as “cap- even in a tome of 1,320 pages. Edwin G. Bur-
ital of the world” is unquestioned, and the city rows and Mike Wallace won a Pulitzer Prize
revels in its fabled diversity. It is equally home in 1999 for Gotham, a text of 1,236 pages that
to international bankers and street peddlers, relates New York’s story only up to 1898. The
diplomats and drug dealers, fashion models authors conclude that their subject is best de-
and displaced persons, the frightened new- fined commercially: “Sharp practice and
comer and the establishment WASP. money making and real estate lie somewhere
Change is built into the very fabric of New near the core of New York’s genetic material”
York, a continuing process of “creative de- (xv). Despite vast erudition and enormous
struction.” Manhattan is physically a contin- length, neither of these justly acclaimed vol-
uous work-in-progress, a site for architectural umes exhausted its subject. The collision of
innovation that contains more skyscrapers dreams and reality, shifting yet constant, will
than any other world metropolis. Incessant no doubt provide the substance of many more
change makes New York difficult to love, be- studies each year.
cause it is constantly obliterating its own heri- History’s inability to capture the essence of
tage. Beyond such construction is the constant New York has long furnished an opportunity
flow of immigration that has characterized the for filmmakers, who probe the “naked city”
city for over two centuries and made it a melt- through the individual stories of its people.
ing pot of peoples: Germans, Irish, Jews, Ital- Film, more than words, has the ability to con-
ians, and Slavs in the nineteenth century; vey the dynamic of a “city that never sleeps.”
Puerto Ricans, Vietnamese, Dominicans, Chi- It is fitting that the great metropolis has been
nese, and Russians in contemporary times. A a favorite setting for moviemakers, for the
composite of so many forces, New York is American film industry was born in New York.

437
438 [ PLACES
On May 9, 1893, two years before the Lumière cally charged documentary films flourished,
brothers thrilled Paris, Thomas Edison dem- and classics such as New York Hooverville
onstrated his Kinetoscope process to a packed (1932), The City (1939) and Native Land
audience at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and (1941) were all produced in the city.
Sciences. The first film showed men hammer- “The influence of New York on the cinema
ing an anvil and then having a beer. Within a constitutes a unique cultural relationship,” the
year, Charles Chinnock filmed a boxing match writers of the WPA’s New York Panorama
from a Brooklyn rooftop, and, as early as May (1938) correctly remark (284). In a real sense
1895, eidoloscope shorts were being shown in Americans have two hometowns, their own
Manhattan. Edison developed a portable cam- and New York City. Every citizen knows the
era so that crews could film everyday city won- harshness of immigrant life, the elitism of Park
ders, from a bucolic Central Park to elevated Avenue, the crassness of Madison Avenue, the
trains to the joys of Coney Island; hundreds of rowdiness of the Bowery, and the glitter of
popular nickelodeons were in business by Broadway, even if these New York locations
1910. For over a century, from flickering ki- were never experienced personally. The earliest
netoscopes such as Around New York in 15 American films had a New York edge, dealing
Minutes (1905) to modern documentaries openly with urban problems, assimilation, and
such as The New Metropolis: A Century of social conflict. D. W. Griffith’s The Musketeers
Greater New York (1998) and Ric Burns’s mag- of Pig Alley (1912) and Intolerance (1916) and
nificent twelve-hour paean New York (1999), offshoots of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1926) cer-
the city has been a star of American movies. tainly offered different views of the city, but all
Until 1920 New York was also the center of recognized its inherent dramatic possibilities.
movie production. The first version of Ben Hur From glorious penthouse to squalid slum, New
(1907) was shot in Brooklyn, and film’s first York provides directors with extremes of suc-
Romeo and Juliet (1909) was filmed at Bethesda cess and failure, altruism and social pathology,
Fountain in Central Park. Companies such as danger and romance. The city had everything
Biograph, Vitagraph, Kalem, and Pathé were for filmmakers, but it could also repel ordinary
among the thirty in New York attempting to Americans. Movies warned them that New
monopolize movie production in the early York was best experienced at a distance; it was
1900s. The creation of Hollywood after 1910 Sodom on the Hudson, a city of ambition,
ended that dream. Nevertheless, corporations vice, and cruelty, where virtue counted for lit-
such as Universal (1912) and Fox (1914) and tle. Yet it was endlessly fascinating. It is not
moguls such as Samuel Goldfish (Goldwyn) surprising that the American Film Institute’s
began in New York before going west. Others list of the one hundred best films includes
remained, with William Randolph Hearst’s twenty-three set in the city, from Citizen Kane
Cosmopolitan Studio, Fox, and the Astoria (#1) to Yankee Doodle Dandy (#100).
Studio being the largest; Astoria alone made New York taught America that “going to the
110 silent films before 1927. It was in Man- movies” could be a special occasion. By the
hattan that the Fox Corporation tested audio time of World War I, when personages such
techniques and where Movietone News pre- as Gloria Swanson, Marion Davies, Norma
miered in 1927. In the same year, The Jazz Talmadge, and Pearl White lived in Manhat-
Singer (the first “talkie”) traced the rise of a tan, it was essential that studios have theaters
nice Jewish boy from the Lower East Side to as spectacular as their stars. The first movie
stardom. Yet the move to California was in- “palace” probably was Samuel “Roxy” Ro-
exorable, and by 1937 not a single feature film thafel’s 1,800-seat Regent Theater (1913) in
was made entirely in New York. Still, politi- Harlem; by 1927 he would open a “cathedral”
 NEW YORK CITY ] 439

to motion pictures on Broadway where six ered that grinding poverty and a hostile en-
thousand patrons watched shows in refriger- vironment could often lead to crime. Life in
ated comfort. Every studio created its own ver- New York could alienate anyone: Babyface
sion of filmgoer’s heaven, and so the Strand Martin (Humphrey Bogart) in Dead End
(1914), the Rivoli (1917), the Capital (1919), (1937), Vito Corleone in The Godfather
and the Paramount (1926) were born. After (1972), and Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver
1920 the Loews Corporation built dozens of (1976). Hollywood did try to teach the kids
lavish theaters in every city borough to present that crime does not pay. In Angels with Dirty
the films of MGM. The culmination of all this Faces (1938), two boys from the slums take
effort came on December 27, 1932, when Ra- different paths: Pat O’Brien becomes a priest
dio City Music Hall opened, offering film and and James Cagney a criminal. Because soci-
stage shows (Rockettes) that thrilled audiences ologists in the 1930s stressed the environment
for fifty years. Unlike most of the palaces, Ra- (nurture) over heredity (nature), Father Jerry
dio City survives today, with its restored in- Connelly converts the Dead End Kids through
terior designated a New York landmark. basketball but needs help from Cagney to die
As Americans made moviegoing their great- doing a “good deed.” Abandoning his usual
est source of entertainment, what did they strut and swagger, Cagney complies. Feigning
learn about New York? “All the nations under panic and fear, he goes to the electric chair as
heaven,” Frederick Binder and David M. Rei- an object lesson.
mers observe, gravitate to New York City, The films of the 1930s began the long rela-
drawn to Gotham in search of success, love, tionship of New York with the crime story, for
adventure, escape, or privacy. In the 1930s, as in the metropolis, according to Daniel Bell,
the Depression engulfed the nation, no other crime functions as “a queer ladder of success.”
city offered the immigrants, the poor, the am- Its pervasive presence reflects a distortion of
bitious, and the already rich a greater sense of American values (128). Robert Warshow de-
opportunity. It was the one place offering ev- scribes the urban gangster as the contemporary
eryone a new deal. King Kong (1933) estab- “tragic hero” (86–88). The modern New York
lished a checkered pattern in black and white criminal comes in many versions: John Gar-
of innocence in conflict with corruption. field preys on local fishermen in Out of the Fog
Wrenched from his natural habitat, Kong re- (1941), Humphrey Bogart plays a psycho-
taliates against a cruel city but is brought down pathic killer in The Enforcer (1951), Lee J.
by technology and by unrequited love for Cobb portrays a vicious labor racketeer in On
beauty, as represented by Fay Wray. In the cli- the Waterfront (1954), Peter Falk embodies
mactic scenes, the Empire State Building— crazed killer Abe Reles, who jumps or is
completed only in 1931 and already symbolic pushed to his death in Murder Inc. (1960). All,
of New York—is equally the star, and it easily however, show the baleful effects of having to
survives Kong’s assault. Busby Berkeley succeed by any means. More bureaucratized
charted happier endings in his musicals, es- crime was presented by Marlon Brando, Al Pa-
pecially 42nd Street (1933), where chorus girls cino, and Robert De Niro, who put their stamp
start as understudies and come out as stars. on Mafioso portraiture in The Godfather
The Empire City represents survival of the fit- (1972) and The Godfather, Part II (1974). Har-
test, but the hard city would always reward tal- vey Keitel hooked up with De Niro as a petty
ent. All around glittering Broadway were dark, crook to walk the Mean Streets (1973) of
horrific slums such as Hester Street (1975). Greenwich Village, while Joe Pesci and Ray
Whether immigrant or native-born, troubled Liotta joined De Niro’s criminal fraternity in
teenagers such as the Dead End Kids discov- GoodFellas (1990). In pursuit of international
440 [ PLACES
drug traffickers, Gene Hackman starred in the Faye in Girl from Brooklyn (1938), Betty Grable
greatest car chase ever filmed in The French in Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943), and Rita Hay-
Connection (1971) under the McDonald Ave- worth in Cover Girl (1944) showed how in-
nue El in Brooklyn. But Hackman’s Popeye dependent women could master both men and
Doyle was a flawed cop, for the city seems to the metropolis. Joan Blondell in A Tree Grows
corrupt even its sworn defenders, as shown in in Brooklyn (1945) sensitized Americans to the
Detective Story (1951), Serpico (1973), Fort triumphs and tribulations of ordinary women,
Apache, the Bronx (1981), A Bronx Tale (1993), while Rosalind Russell successfully addressed
and Cop Land (1997), among many other every problem of urban existence in My Sister
films. Eileen (1942), Auntie Mame (1958), and A Ma-
If life in Manhattan burned with intensity, jority of One (1962). The tradition of the smart,
the movies discovered that ordinary life could talented and complex New York woman is con-
be found in the outer boroughs. Brooklyn be- tinued by Faye Dunaway in Network (1976),
came the perfect example of a city, nestled in Jill Clayburgh in An Unmarried Woman
New York, where release, recreation, and hap- (1978), Tracy Camilla Johns in She’s Gotta
piness beckoned. Betty Grable starred in Coney Have It (1986), Cher in Moonstruck (1987),
Island (1943), a film that captures the glory of Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988),
America’s first amusement area. Subsequently, Renée Zellweger in A Price above Rubies
Coney Island is featured such movies as The (1998), Jennifer Lopez in Maid in Manhattan
Little Fugitive (1953), about a Bensonhurst boy (2002)—and, of course, Dustin Hoffman in
who runs away from home and school. Ten Tootsie (1982).
years later, Shirley Clarke’s Cool World (1963) It is appropriate that the Statue of Liberty,
traces the odyssey of a black youngster who symbolic of New York City, is a woman. This
descends into a now seedy Coney Island in beacon of freedom, coupled with that magnifi-
search of adventure. In the classic buddy cent skyline, makes you want to sing in har-
movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid mony with a soundtrack emitting the unfor-
(1969), the protagonists party in Coney Island gettable melodies of Irving Berlin, Cole Porter,
before departing for their crime spree in South George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, and Richard
America. From the streets of Brooklyn, rec- Rodgers. In the 1930s, Americans longed for
ognizable film types emerged. Cops, cab driv- fascinating rhythm and yearned for happy
ers, sports fanatics, hustlers, and fools are per- days. It was Swing Time (1936) that propelled
sonified by Jimmy Durante, Jack Carson, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers into super-
Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye, Sam Levine, Wil- stardom. The New York musical embraced
liam Bendix, Richard Conte, Woody Allen, many of the clichés issuing from the “Ameri-
Phil Silvers, Mae West, Martha Raye, and Lana can Dream”—including the challenges and the
Turner. No World War II film was complete dangers of success. Witness Tin Pan Alley
unless its “universal platoon” featured a resi- (1940), Ziegfield Girl (1941), Babes on Broad-
dent of “the borough of churches.” William way (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942),
Bendix became the quintessential Brooklyn Cover Girl (1944), On the Town (1949), The
soldier in Wake Island (1943) and Guadalcanal Band Wagon, Kiss Me Kate (both 1953), Guys
Diary (1943) (see “World War II: Feature and Dolls (1955), The Joker Is Wild (1957),
Films”). His fatal trip in Lifeboat (1944) Bells Are Ringing (1960), West Side Story
showed how a gritty Brooklynite stoically faces (1961), Funny Girl (1968), Sweet Charity
death. (1969), and New York New York (1977). These
New York films have always honored strong films trumpeted the inspiring American suc-
women. Alice White in Show Girl (1928), Alice cess story, which Frank Sinatra captured in the
 NEW YORK CITY ] 441

memorable lyric: “If you can make it here, you high-society detectives who glide through so-
can make it anywhere.” ciety exuding charm and wit while consuming
In addition to its unique people, Brooklyn copious amounts of alcohol. Vicariously, view-
has a bridge that illuminates many films. Com- ers enjoyed the end of spoiled rich girl Clau-
pleted in 1883, the great bridge is both a con- dette Colbert’s journey into the muscular,
duit and metaphor, as American-studies schol- bare-chested embrace of Clark Gable in It
ars David McCulloch and Alan Trachtenberg Happened One Night (1934). Viewers also
have demonstrated. The Brooklyn Bridge laughed at the role reversals in My Man God-
made the consolidation of greater New York frey (1936) which featured William Powell as
inevitable. “The City,” however, is located on a rich man pretending to be poor—a rich man
one end of its imposing span. Manhattan is the who devotes himself to helping his new friends
destination for New Yorkers on the make. from the “Hooverville” along the East River.
Thus, John Travolta has to cross over the Obviously, New York, the microcosm of
bridge after Saturday Night Fever (1977) pos- America, believes that rich is better. Morris
sesses him. Johnny Weismuller, the “Ape Townsend (Montgomery Clift) makes money
Man,” jumps from the bridge in Tarzan’s New his goal in the futile pursuit of plain but
York Adventure (1942). Frank Sinatra is in- wealthy Catherine Sloper (Olivia de Havilland)
spired to croon a love song in It Happened in in The Heiress (1949); years later, the haunting
Brooklyn (1947). Gene Kelly dances across it in Henry James saga reappeared with the more
On the Town (1949), doomed Meryl Streep apt original title, Washington Square (1997).
drinks champagne on it in Sophie’s Choice Truman Capote’s Holly (Audrey Hepburn)
(1982), Kurt Russell performs various death- does “it” lightly for money in Breakfast at Tif-
defying acrobatics on it in Escape from New fany’s (1961). For the love of money, Max Bi-
York (1981), and the working-class Long Is- alystock (Zero Mostel) sleeps with old ladies
landers of The Brothers McMullen (1995) re- and cons them out of their savings in The Pro-
gard it with awe. Other means of transport are ducers (1968). Gordon Gekko (Michael Doug-
available to ambitious New Yorkers. Melanie las) almost convinces the audience and nearly
Griffith takes the Staten Island Ferry to Wall seduces the idealistic Buddy Fox (Charlie
Street for fame, fortune, and Mr. Right in Sheen) to believe that “greed is good” in Wall
Working Girl. She has a Ford (Harrison) in her Street (1987). Money is power, and power in
future. And the lonely, homely Bronx butcher New York is always intimidating. Citizen Kane
of Marty (1955) takes the subway to find love (1941), Meet John Doe (1941), The Great
in a Manhattan ballroom, while Paul Mazur- Gatsby (1949, 1974), Executive Suite (1954),
sky rides it to sever umbilical ties to a preda- The Sweet Smell of Success (1957), and Network
tory mother in Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) all preach the gospel of success, and
(1976). rarely does the “little man” strike back unless
Directors love New York because its well- he is a prince among paupers like Howard
known locations immediately establish a sense (Woody Allen) in The Front (1976) or an ir-
of place, class, status, and ambience. It is a city redeemable rebel like Murray Burns ( Jason
of the “haves,” “have-nots,” and “wannabes.” Robards Jr.) in A Thousand Clowns (1965).
Their respective lifestyles elicit the style and Whether engaged in pride, prejudice, or pa-
substance of most film scripts. The intersec- triotism, New York has always fought for the
tion of high, low, and middle has always gen- American way of life. Spying and subversion
erated enormous profit for Hollywood. Start- became a concern in the fight against fascism.
ing in 1934, a series of six Thin Man films Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), All Through
coupled William Powell and Myrna Loy as the Night (1942), Saboteur (1942), and The
442 [ PLACES
House on 92nd Street (1945)—the last a bril- Show, Spin City, Veronica’s Closet, and Friends.
liant example of quasi-documentary filmmak- Perhaps the need for escape into fancy
ing—established the genre. The films crafted matched the concern for profit.
during the Cold War, however, seemed devoid It was after World War II that America ex-
of such creative fire: sparked more by the perienced social engineering with Hollywood
“great fear” of communist infiltration than a in tow: charting the route out of the asphalt
love for artistic presentation. This foible also and into the trees. New York’s planning czar,
pertains to the allegedly subversive A King in Robert Moses, paved the way with new roads.
New York (1957) by an aging Charlie Chaplin Thousands of urban residents followed the ex-
and Daniel (1983) based on a novelized ac- odus into suburbia. There one found splendor
count of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Beyond in the crabgrass frontier where Mr. Blandings
a stirring On the Waterfront (1954)—Elia Ka- Builds His Dream House (1948). The Man in
zan’s cinematic rationale (or rationalization) the Grey Flannel Suit (1954), however, soon
for informing—the rest of the anticommunist discovered that he could not escape from trou-
films, such as I Was a Communist for the FBI ble. Goodbye Columbus (1965) meant farewell
(1951), can be cast into a trash heap in New to New York City and hello to Westchester and
Jersey. the pools haunted by The Swimmer (1968).
During these turbulent years, New Yorkers Though Philip Roth’s novel originally pitted
continued to cope with “lives of quiet desper- Newark against Short Hills, New Jersey, Hol-
ation” as in The Lost Weekend (1945), Marty lywood shifted locales because of New York’s
(1955), 12 Angry Men (1957), A View from the universality. White flight, urban blight, and
Bridge (1962), The Pawnbroker (1965), Dog territorial fights ensued. The tax base eroded.
Day Afternoon (1975), and Taxi Driver and The city pitched toward bankruptcy in the
Network (both 1976) that sometimes erupt in early 1970s. No film has fully chronicled that
rage (“I am mad as hell and won’t take it any- story although the machinations of Al Pacino’s
more!”) and violence. We learn from Last Exit City Hall (1996) seem to demonstrate that this,
to Brooklyn (1990) that for many, like Jean- too, will come.
Paul Sartre, there is no exit from hell. A crea- What saved the city? The clue to survival,
tive and desperate soul could change genders, embedded in history, can be found in the films
like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie. A destructive that chronicle city life across the decades. More
and desperate soul man could start a riot on a than any other city, New York has the power
steamy summer’s day with Spike Lee in Do the to laugh at itself. Staccato bursts of laughter
Right Thing (1989)—or hide from the streets, issued primarily from the Marx Brothers in A
as do the New Yorkers of Lee’s Summer of Sam Night at the Opera (1935). Fortified with S. J.
(1999). Perelman scripts, Groucho—the “shnorrer” as
Hollywood shunned the New York proletar- explorer—and his brothers plunged into glee-
iat. For a glimpse into how the other half lived, ful nihilism. “When I came to this country, I
viewers had to tune in to television. The Gold- didn’t have a nickel in my pocket. Now, I have
bergs, led by matriarch Molly; The Honey- a nickel in my pocket.” To that pillar of piety
mooners’ Ralph and Alice; and All in the Fam- and symbol of WASP stolidity, Margaret Du-
ily’s Archie and Edith provided the only mont, in A Day at the Races (1935), he pro-
mass-mediated slice of working-class life in poses: “Marry me, and I’ll never look at an-
New York. Later police dramas like NYPD Blue other horse.” In response to one of her inane
sustained this tradition. Most viewers, how- comments, Groucho quips: “That remark cov-
ever, were exposed to middle-class singles or ers a lot of territory. As a matter of fact, you
upper-class professionals like CPW, The Cosby cover a lot of territory. Is there any truth to
 NEW YORK CITY ] 443

the fact that they’re going to tear you down John Lindsay’s successful bid for reelection.
and put up an office building?” No one—per- Later, Ken Burns crafted a compelling docu-
son or profession—remained safe from Marx’s mentary on baseball with New York City as a
demolition derby. major focal point. The best of this genre, Mar-
The tradition of Jewish humor animates Neil tin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) provided a
Simon in The Odd Couple (1968), Plaza Suite gritty look at the boxing game through the
(1971), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1974), troubled life of Jake LaMotta.
and The Sunshine Boys (1975), and Woody Al- Even today, New York remains the city of
len in films such as Manhattan (1979), Stardust immigrants and their children. From early set-
Memories (1980), Broadway Danny Rose tlers seeking their fortune to the more recent
(1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Han- Yuppies, Gotham continues to lure the “hud-
nah and Her Sisters (1986), and Radio Days dled masses” and the upwardly mobile classes.
(1987). Arguably the best film of this bril- This trend is effectively, indeed comically, re-
liant—if neurotic—New Yorker is Annie Hall lated in a film tradition that began with The
(1977), which paints a vivid contrast between Immigrant (1917). Modern variations on this
Anglo-Saxon and New York urban-ethnic cul- theme resonate in America, America (1963),
ture. Alvie Singer (Woody himself ) refuses to Moscow on the Hudson (1984), Coming to
move (unlike the Dodgers and the movies) to America (1988), Green Card (1990), A Pyro-
Los Angeles, where “the only cultural advan- maniac’s Love Story (1995), and the low-
tage is that you can make a right turn on a red budget “sleeper” The Brothers McMullen, while
light.” He knows that the air is clear there only Hester Street (1975) and Little Odessa (1994)
because “they take their garbage and make it transmit discordant notes in the movement to-
into television shows.” ward Americanization.
Sports provide both social identity and per- Beyond money and power, New York also
sonal escape. In the arenas, people of all fulfills the romantic needs of “strangers in the
classes, ethnicities and cultures gather. They night.” Whether in the clutches of The Seven
speak a common language and build com- Year Itch (1955) or ensnared by The Goodbye
munity. In addition, sports heroes serve as role Girl (1977); unable to blot out An Affair to
models for youngsters. Gary Cooper gave a Remember (1957) or erase Stardust Memories,
fine interpretation of Lou Gehrig in The Pride Eros thrives in Gotham. If love seems better
of the Yankees (1942), while Babe Ruth still the second time around, casual sex can be pro-
waits for an actor equal to his gargantuan stat- hibitively expensive in All About Eve (1950),
ure in baseball (see “Babe Ruth and Lou Geh- The Apartment (1960), Midnight Cowboy
rig”), for both William Bendix in The Babe (1969), and Fatal Attraction (1987). America’s
Ruth Story (1948) and John Goodman in The love/hate affair with city continues in cine-
Babe (1992) proved unequal to the task. Trail- matic makeovers. The Out-of-Towners (1970)
blazer Jackie Robinson played himself opposite projected a dangerous city tempered some-
Ruby Dee as his beloved wife, Rachel, in The what by Neil Simon’s humor. A remake in
Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Paul Newman 1999 starring Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn
put on a new face to play boxing champion was less funny to be sure; but the new version
Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes etched a less acid, more positive portrait with
Me (1956). When three major New York a happy ending. Despite the obligatory mug-
sports teams crested in 1969–70—the Mets in ging, Martin gets the job and Hawn the luxury
baseball, the Jets in football, and the Knicks in apartment. In short, they take Manhattan.
basketball—they brought city residents to- Love, tolerance, and tourism convey an upbeat
gether and no doubt contributed to Mayor message. New York can arouse the Sleepless in
444 [ PLACES
Seattle (1993), can overcome fake orgasms in opened in 1975 and has produced such films
When Harry Met Sally (1989) and provide true as Thieves (1975), Ransom (1996), and First
orgasmic feasts in the world’s best restaurants. Wives Club (1996), as well as an abundance of
Here in the global city, one finds an open-door TV shows. During the long tenure of Mayor
policy toward single mothers, ailing children, Ed Koch (1978–90), the city joyfully welcomed
gay men and women, creative eccentrics, and film companies, and in the 1980s no less than
the process of metamorphosis through love ex- sixty films were shot annually. Labor costs and
perienced by Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt recalcitrance caused a downturn early in the
in As Good as It Gets (1997), a James Brooks 1990s, but, as the century ended, New York
film that projects the miracle of resurrection. was the locale for 213 features in 1997 and 221
Like the proverbial phoenix emergent from the in 1998. In the process, filmmaking enriched
ashes, New York is back because of its gritty, the city by $3 billion a year. By 2000 Queens
resilient, immigrant “never-say-die” populace. alone had four studios. Chelsea Pier attracted
The Turning Point (1977) serves as metaphor filmmakers and a major sound stage develop-
for that pivotal decade, the 1970s. New York ment was planned for the government-
became the dominant subject for filmmakers. divested Brooklyn Navy Yard. Fittingly, the
The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Museum of the Moving Image (1988) chose to
Sciences awarded Oscars to Midnight Cowboy locate itself in New York, a city that has more
(1969), The French Connection (1971), The film students than the rest of America. Like
Godfather (1972), The Godfather, Part II auteurs such as Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese,
(1974), Annie Hall (1977), and Kramer vs. Kra- Sidney Lumet, and Spike Lee, these students
mer (1979). In addition to inspiring the best will never have to leave New York to examine
American movies in the last decades of the the great spectrum of human possibility. The
twentieth century, Gotham recaptured its lost city will remain vital to the history of film in
status as a producer of films as well as Holly- America—and the essence of American iden-
wood’s prime location. Astoria Studios re- tity.

References
City Hall (1996, F)
Filmography Coney Island (1943, F)
An Affair to Remember (1957, F) Cool World (1963, F)
All About Eve (1950, F) Cop Land (1997, F)
All Through the Night (1942, F) Cover Girl (1944, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F) Crossing Delancey (1986, F)
Annie Hall (1977, F) Dead End (1937, F)
The Apartment (1960, F) Detective Story (1951, F)
Around New York in 15 Minutes (1905, D) Dog Day Afternoon (1975, F)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944, F) Do the Right Thing (1989, F)
As Good as It Gets (1997, F) Don Juan Quilligan (1945, F)
Auntie Mame (1958, F) The Enforcer (1951, F)
Babes on Broadway (1941, F) Escape from New York (1981, F)
The Blackboard Jungle (1955, F) Executive Suite (1954, F)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, F) Fatal Attraction (1987, F)
A Bronx Tale (1993, F) Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981, F)
The Brothers McMullen (1995, F) 42nd Street (1933, F)
Bye, Bye Braverman (1968, F) The French Connection (1971, F)
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Girl from Brooklyn (1938, F)
The City (1939, F) The Godfather (1972, F)
City Across the River (1949, F) The Godfather, Part II (1974, F)
 NEW YORK CITY ] 445
The Goodbye Girl (1977, F) A Pyromaniac’s Love Story (1995, F)
GoodFellas (1990, F) Queens Logic (1991, F)
Great Expectations (1998, F) Raging Bull (1980, F)
The Great Gatsby (1949, 1974, F) Saturday Night Fever (1977, F)
Green Card (1990, F) Scent of a Woman (1992, F)
Guys and Dolls (1955, F) Serpico (1973, F)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986, F) The Seven Year Itch (1955, F)
The Heiress (1949, F) She’s Gotta Have It (1986, F)
Hester Street (1975, F) Show Girl (1928, F)
The House on 92d Street (1945, F) Silent Movie (1976, F)
Intolerance (1916, F) Sleepless in Seattle (1993, F)
It Happened in Brooklyn (1947, F) Stardust Memories (1980, F)
It Happened One Night (1934, F) Summer of Sam (1999, F)
The Jazz Singer (1927, F) Sweet Rosie O’Grady (1943, F)
The Joker Is Wild (1957, F) The Sweet Smell of Success (1957, F)
A King in New York (1957, F) Swing Time (1936, F)
King Kong (1933, F) The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974, F)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990, F) Tales of Manhattan (1942, F)
The Little Fugitive (1953, F) Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942, F)
Little Odessa (1994, F) Taxi Driver (1976, F)
Lost in Yonkers (1993, F) A Thousand Clowns (1965, F)
The Lost Weekend (1945, F) Tin Pan Alley (1940, F)
Love on the Run (1936, F) Tootsie (1982, F)
Maid in Manhattan (2002, F) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945, F)
A Majority of One (1962, F) An Unmarried Woman (1978, F)
Manhattan (1979, F) A View from the Bridge (1962, F)
Marty (1955, F) Wall Street (1987, F)
Mean Streets (1973, F) Washington Square (1997, F)
Meet John Doe (1941, F) Weekend at the Waldorf (1945, F)
Midnight Cowboy (1969, F) When Harry Met Sally (1989, F)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947, F) Wonder Man (1945, F)
Moonstruck (1987, F) Working Girl (1988, F)
Moscow on the Hudson (1984, F) Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942, F)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1946, F) Ziegfield Girl (1941, F)
Murder Inc. (1960, F)
The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912, F)
My Man Godfrey (1936, F)
My Sister Eileen (1955, F) Bibliography
Native Land (1941, D) Basinger, Jeanine. The World War II Combat Film:
Network (1976, F) Anatomy of a Genre. New York: Columbia Univer-
The New Metropolis: A Century of Greater New York sity Press, 1986.
(1998, D) Bell, Daniel. The End of Ideology. New York: Free
New York (1999, D) Press, 1964.
New York Hooverville (1932, D) Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture.
New York New York (1977, F) New York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
New York Stories (1989, F) Bennett, Michael, et al. Rediscovering New York. Or-
New York Town (1941, F) lando, FL: Harcourt Brace, 1995.
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976, F) Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression
The Odd Couple (1968, F) America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni-
On the Town (1949, F) versity Press, 1971.
On the Waterfront (1954, F) Berrol, Selma C. The Empire City: New York and Its
Out of the Fog (1941, F) People. New York: Praeger, 1995.
The Out-of-Towners (1970, F; 1999, F) Binder, Frederick M., and David M. Reimers. All the
The Pawnbroker (1965, F) Nations Under Heaven: An Ethnic and Racial His-
Plaza Suite (1971, F) tory of New York City. New York: Columbia Uni-
The Pride of the Yankees (1942, F) versity Press, 1995.
The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1974, F) Burns, Ric, and James Sanders. New York: An Illus-
Prizzi’s Honor (1985, F) trated History. New York: Knopf, 1999.
The Producers (1968, F) Burrows, Edwin G., and Mike Wallace. Gotham: A
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History of New York City. New York: Oxford Uni- Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: The Subur-
versity Press, 1999. banization of the United States. New York: Oxford
Cowden, Gary, ed. A Political Companion to American University Press, 1985.
Film. Chicago: Lakeview Press, 1994. ——, ed. The Encyclopedia of New York City. New
Desser, David, and Lester D. Friedman. American- Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.
Jewish Filmmakers: Traditions and Trends. Urbana: Lankevich, George J. American Metropolis: A History.
University of Illinois Press, 1993. New York: New York University Press, 1998.
Dorinson, Joseph. “Brooklyn: The Elusive Image.” Manbeck, John, and Mike Olshan. “Brooklyn in the
Journal of Long Island History 1.2 (1989): 128–135. Movies.” New Brooklyn 5.3 (1983): 58–62.
Durgnat, Raymond. The Crazy Mirror: Hollywood Mast, Gerald, and Bruce F. Kawin. A Short History of
Comedy and the American Image. London: Faber & the Movies. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1996.
Faber, 1969. Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian: Ameri-
Fraser, George MacDonald. The Hollywood History of can Film in a Cultural Context. Lexington: Univer-
the World. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1988. sity of Kentucky Press, 1998.
Freeman, Joshua B. Working Class New York: Life and Stern, Lee Edward. The Movie Musical. New York:
Labor Since World War II. New York: New Press, Pyramid, 1974.
2000. Warshow, Robert. The Immediate Experience. New
Fyne, Robert. The Hollywood Propaganda of World York: Doubleday, 1962.
War II. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1994. White, David Manning, and Richard Avedon. The
Gelmis, Joseph. “Brooklyn in the Movies.” Brooklyn Celluloid Weapon: Social Comment in the American
Bridge 4.8 (1999): 58–63. Film. Boston: Beacon Press, 1972.
[ MARY MALLOY ]

The Sea

erhaps uniquely among the historical to document the business of seafaring and its

P subjects that appear in film, the inter-

pretation of the maritime experience is
often more influenced by a centuries-old lit-
erary tradition than it is by actual events that
important role in American history, but it si-
multaneously allows for the exploration of
broad cross-disciplinary themes.

occurred at sea. Seafaring themes—such as the Maritime History as American History

test against nature, the isolation of a commu- American history can be defined in maritime
nity and the consequential requirement that terms before 1850, when America turned its
members confront each other, the mysteries of back on the sea and began to face “the West.”
the unexplored, and the encounter with the Most Americans have ancestors who came
exotic—make for compelling drama. Into such here as shipboard immigrants and, with few
a framework Homer laid the Odyssey, the exceptions, major U.S. cities are or were sea-
Arabs set Sinbad, and Shakespeare put The ports. Until the transcontinental railroad was
Tempest. Each story had at its heart real navi- completed in 1869, it was still easier to travel
gational enterprises, but fact and legend be- from the East to the West Coast by sea, and
came so intertwined in the telling as to become the transportation of information, goods, and
almost inseparable. Such a strong and persis- people was and is dependent on shipping to a
tent literary tradition has been extremely in- far greater extent than is generally acknowl-
fluential. Many writers have felt that relation- edged.
ships between human beings, and between The romantic sailors regularly depicted in
human beings and the natural world, can be literature and on film bear little resemblance
examined more intensively on the deck of a to their working counterparts of the age of sail.
ship than on land, and filmmakers have fol- The working sailors of the nineteenth century,
lowed them out to sea. for instance, were mostly poor. About 20 per-
The sea can be thought of as both a romantic cent of the shipboard company was made up
canvas and a real place to work: while the for- of African Americans, but an equal or greater
mer is everywhere in film, the latter is practi- percentage were immigrants who spoke lan-
cally invisible. Extraordinary maritime adven- guages other than English, and, when the ship
tures are more easily accessible in American docked, members of the crew went ashore to
movies than ordinary day-to-day commerce, find themselves at the bottom of the societal
with the result being that the carrying of hierarchy. The crew was also made up entirely
cargo—the backbone of the American mari- of men, and the inability of the community, in
time experience—is almost never illustrated, its working environment, to generate a con-
while sea-monster attacks and pirate escapades ventional love story for dramatic purposes has
are commonplace. This creates something of a made it less than interesting for filmmakers
dilemma for the teacher who wants to use films and their audiences. Some writers, including

447
448 [ PLACES
Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad, set The rapid growth of the New England col-
works shipboard specifically because they onies was built on a base of maritime com-
wanted to deal with human issues other than merce. Seasonal cycles of fishing, farming, and
romantic love. With the exception of movies foresting, culminated in shipments of salt cod,
about war on the sea, however, filmmakers agricultural products, and timber from the At-
have not generally followed their example, and lantic seaboard to the West Indies and Europe.
even Moby-Dick was first filmed (in 1925 and A complex commercial network was devel-
again in 1930) with a love triangle at the center oped that also included slaves from Africa,
of the storyline. sugar products from the Caribbean, and man-
What films can do that printed sources for ufactured goods from England. British regu-
maritime history cannot, however, is place us lations and parliamentary support for the trade
on the deck of a ship. Some films, such as Vic- monopolies of the East India and South Seas
tor Fleming’s Captains Courageous (1937), Companies kept ships from the American col-
were made at a time when actual working ves- onies confined to the Atlantic ocean; a capable
sels could be filmed in their ocean environ- shipbuilding industry grew steadily through-
ment, and the black-and-white images of those out the colonial period, however, along with
schooners on the Grand Banks of Newfound- navigational knowledge and experience. When
land add powerfully to our understanding of the independent United States emerged at the
the lives of fishermen. end of the Revolutionary War, American mer-
chants were ready to launch into world trade.
Voyages around the Cape of Good Hope to the
From the Mayflower to the War of 1812 Indian Ocean and Canton were followed
The voyage of the Mayflower, carrying the cit- quickly by the first ventures beyond Cape
izens who would found the first successful Horn to the Pacific. Unfortunately, none of the
British colony in America, is a logical place to maritime commerce of the colonial period, or
begin an examination of the role of seafaring that of the Federalist traders who emerged af-
in American history. Two films have been ter the Revolution, has yet been dramatized on
made of the enterprise. Spencer Tracy plays the film.
captain of the Mayflower in Plymouth Adven- With the rise of independent trade came the
ture (1952). A credible replica of the ship was need for a navy to protect it. Unlike their Brit-
made for this film by the Australian ship his- ish counterparts, American moviemakers
torian Alan Villiers. More than half of the never found the development or history of the
movie takes place on shipboard, and a storm sailing navy a very compelling subject. Old
scene is quite convincing. But, as with many Ironsides, a 1926 silent film about the USS Con-
attempts to film events of maritime history, stitution, and the 1959 movie John Paul Jones
Hollywood could not resist a romantic sub- are the only offerings, and neither has very
plot, and Spencer Tracy’s failed attempt to se- good depictions of shipboard scenes.
duce Gene Tierney (as the wife of Governor
William Bradford) and her subsequent death The Age of Expansion
by accident or suicide draw us away from the The rise of the United States merchant marine
historical material. Romantic entanglements and the expansion of Americans into the Pa-
on shipboard also play a role in the 1979 movie cific were documented by Richard Henry Dana
Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure, where An- in Two Years Before the Mast, an autobiograph-
thony Hopkins takes the helm as captain of the ical account of a voyage around Cape Horn
ship and Jenny Agutter provides a romantic from Boston to California, published in 1840.
foil. Dana, a Harvard student who worked his pas-
 THE SEA ] 449

sage as a common seaman, introduced Amer- also goes awry with an unnecessary subplot
icans to the culture of seafaring, the plight of about stolen pearls, the whaling scenes in All
sailors, and to the coast of California with its the Brothers Were Valiant are solid in their
transient population of Americans, Hawaiians, technical details. Two earlier versions of the
Spaniards, Russians, and Native Americans. Ben Ames Williams novel were filmed in 1922
An extremely influential work, which inspired and 1928.
James Fenimore Cooper and Herman Melville The movie that most effectively explores the
to introduce a more realistic quality into their complex relationship of transient shipboard
own descriptions of the shipboard world, outsiders to native Pacific Islanders is Hawaii
Dana’s book was also the principle account of (1966), based on James Michener’s novel of
California used by the thousands of men who the same name. The voyage of missionaries Ju-
traveled there in the Gold Rush. lie Andrews and Max von Sydow to Polynesia
A movie of Two Years Before the Mast was from Boston was filmed aboard the brigantine
made in 1944 and released in 1946, but, except Romance, a North Sea trader refit for the movie
for the title, it bears little resemblance to by Alan Villiers. The interaction of the New
Dana’s book. As portrayed by Brian Donlevy, Englander missionaries with both Hawaiians
Dana is a middle-aged man on a mission to and American sailors, who visited the islands
reveal the truth about the violent treatment of by the thousands in the first half of the nine-
sailors; Alan Ladd is a spoiled young rich man teenth century, is shown in lavish detail, with
who, despite the fact that his father owns the attention paid to the ethnographic treatment
brig Pilgrim, is nonetheless shanghaied aboard of Hawaiian traditional life.
and then abused by the captain. Filmed en- The greatest number of American sailors
tirely on a Hollywood soundstage, the film came to Hawaii and other South Sea Islands
captures none of the book’s important sense aboard whaling ships, which identified almost
of the community on shipboard or the coast every point of land within the vast reaches of
of California. the Pacific in their constant search for whales,
Relationships between American sailors and wood, water, fresh provisions, and sexual part-
the native people they encountered on a voy- ners. Herman Melville challenged his readers
age were seldom realized with any full human- to name another industry that had worked
ity in the films produced in the first decades such dramatic changes upon “the whole broad
of American movies. Three film versions of the world . . . as the high and mighty business of
story of the 1789 mutiny led by Fletcher Chris- whaling,” by which he meant the rush to the
tian against Captain William Bligh of the Pacific of American whalemen in the first half
Bounty (in 1935, 1962, and 1984) show the de- of the nineteenth century, the consequent
velopment of relationships between British charting of that ocean, and the interaction of
sailors and Tahitian women, and the evolution as many as twenty thousand men a year with
of the depiction over the five decades is inter- Pacific Islanders on the decks of American
esting. In All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), ships.
Betta St. John plays the Gilbert Island wife of The earliest films of whaling were made
one of a pair of whaling brothers from New when the industry was still operational, though
Bedford, Massachusetts, as an exotic, though much in decline, off the coast of New England.
expendable character. She dies conveniently at The silent film Down to the Sea in Ships (1923),
the hands of robbers in order to enable her was able to bring cameras out onto actual
husband (Stewart Granger) to vie with his whaling vessels during the course of filming
brother (Robert Taylor) for the real love of his and consequently is a valuable document of
life, played by Ann Blyth. Though the movie the industry. There is a silly subplot as Clara
450 [ PLACES
Bow, making her film debut, disguises herself the subsequent version.) Though the opening
as a boy and signs on board the voyage. This line of Moby-Dick is arguably the most famous
dramatic device of the “woman in disguise” in all of American literature, there was no op-
was popular in the plays of Shakespeare and portunity to use it in either film inasmuch as
continues to fascinate audiences of seafaring the character of Ishmael was cut as an unnec-
drama to this day, though attempts by histo- essary diversion from the basic love triangle.
rians to identify more than a handful of When director John Huston took up Moby-
women who participated as crew aboard sail- Dick as a cinematic project in 1955, he was
ing vessels before the middle of the twentieth determined to capture the spirit of Melville’s
century have been unsuccessful. novel as well as the plot. Ray Bradbury wrote
Another film using the title Down to the Sea the screenplay, and the result is a brooding,
in Ships, but bearing no resemblance to the philosophical Ahab, wonderfully played by
silent version, was made in 1949 and stars Lio- Gregory Peck. The larger issues—those that
nel Barrymore as the crusty Captain Joy, who cannot be easily captured in soliloquies—are,
brings his grandson (Dean Stockwell) with of necessity, abandoned in the movie. In a tele-
him on his final voyage before retiring. A joy- vision version of Moby-Dick made for the USA
less Richard Widmark plays the first mate as a cable network in 1997, Patrick Stewart, best
stoic New Englander. Twentieth Century–Fox known as the admirable captain of the starship
built the Pride of Bedford, a full-sized replica Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation,
of a whaling ship, in its studio, and had whale turns in a disappointing performance as Ahab;
blubber shipped down from a whaling station his terrible wig commands as much attention
on Vancouver Island to provide a realistic look as Ahab’s monomaniacal ranting. The film-
to the scenes of processing the whale on deck; makers were not so careful with the whaling
the early industrial technology demonstrated technology as in earlier versions, and the cliffs
in the film is impressively accurate. of southern Australia are a bothersome stand-
Herman Melville’s great whaling novel in for the sandy beaches of Nantucket. ( John
Moby-Dick has been filmed four times. The in- Huston used an Irish coastal village to play the
tricate subtleties of the book, filled with para- role of New Bedford with equally question-
bles and metaphorical allusions to race rela- able—though more interesting—results.)
tions, the exploitation of nature and native The story of three shipwrecked whalemen
peoples, and the expansionist tendencies then ashore in the Arctic, their dependence on the
in the forefront of American politics, are, for native residents for survival, and the resulting
the most part, lost in the movie versions. cultural confusion that unfolds tragically, is
Screenwriters reduced the novel down to the beautifully told in Philip Kaufman’s The White
bare bones of the plot and, in the earliest ver- Dawn (1974), based on the novel by James
sions, did not even leave much of that. Houston. Starring Timothy Bottoms, Warren
John Barrymore played Ahab in two differ- Oates, and Lou Gossett Jr., the film was made
ent filmed versions of Moby-Dick, a silent ver- largely on location on Baffin Island with peo-
sion entitled The Sea Beast, in 1925, and again ple from the local Inuit community of Iqaluit.
as a talkie in 1930. In both movies, Barry- The Sea Wolf, Jack London’s drama of the
more’s Ahab has a love interest, and in each sealing trade is the most often filmed sea novel.
the plot revolves around the contest between Nine versions have been made, three of them
Ahab and his brother Derek for the love of the in the silent era. The best known is the Michael
girl. (Dolores Costello played Esther in The Sea Curtiz version of 1941, wherein the screen-
Beast and married Barrymore soon after the writer, Robert Rossen, made an extraordinary
film was made; Joan Bennett played Faith in decision in changing the character of the righ-
 THE SEA ] 451

teous and pious Maude Brewster into an ex-

con (Ida Lupino) on the lam. The story was
filmed again in 1994 for cable television by the
Turner Network, and the character of poor
Maude was modeled on Ida Lupino’s film
character rather than the character described
by London. Though sealing is nominally the
reason for the voyage, it served London pri-
marily as a backdrop for exploring the philo-
sophical questions about natural/scientific
man vs. civilized/religious man. Simplified
into a struggle between good and evil, the F I G U R E 5 4 . Moby Dick (1956). Captain Ahab
filmed versions do not attempt to dramatize (Gregory Peck) commands his ship in search of the
the seal hunt, but they do give viewers a good great white whale. John Huston’s 1955 film attempted
to capture both the environment of the novel and
sense of the confinement that a ship represents philosophical brooding of Ahab. Courtesy Moulin
when hostile forces share the limited space Productions.
with little hope for escape.
The seal hunt was again, nominally, the sub- dependable lad is more believable in the screen
ject of The World in His Arms (1952). Gregory version, where a younger Harvey bonds with
Peck plays “The Boston Man,” who commands the fatherly Spencer Tracy as the Portuguese
a sealing schooner making regular runs be- fisherman Manuel.
tween San Francisco and the coast of Alaska. The slave trade, which was one corner of the
Ann Blyth has a ridiculous role as a Russian “triangle trade” that also included New En-
countess, and Anthony Quinn is almost as ri- gland fish and West Indian sugar products,
diculous as a Portuguese rival to Peck. The continued well into the nineteenth century.
movie highlights San Francisco as the undis- Though dominated by British merchants, es-
puted capitol of American maritime com- pecially from the port of Liverpool, Americans
merce on the West Coast, and it includes ter- participated in the slave trade from colonial
rific footage of two schooners in a race for times to the eve of the Civil War. Most Amer-
port. ican vessels involved in the slave trade were
Even as American interests expanded into owned in states where the practice of slavery
the Pacific, the working trades that had fueled was abolished earliest. Ships from Rhode Is-
the Atlantic economy from the first ventures land dominated the trade in the colonial pe-
of Europeans into the waters of the New World riod, but were surpassed by Massachusetts ves-
continued in an unbroken tradition along the sels after the Revolution. Many of the slaves
Atlantic seaboard and south to the Caribbean. carried as hostage cargo on these ships never
Fishing is the oldest and most common ocean came to the United States but were transported
occupation, but it has limited dramatic poten- instead to the Caribbean or Brazil.
tial. The best fishing movie is Captains Cou- Until the middle of the nineteenth century,
rageous (1937), which uses extensive footage three times as many people had crossed the
shot aboard actual fishing schooners. The story Atlantic Ocean as slaves from Africa as had
is based on the Rudyard Kipling novel, and in crossed it as immigrants from Europe. More
alterations made by screenwriters Marc Con- than 24,000 voyages were made in the slave
nelly and Dale Van Every the central dramatic trade, transporting more than ten million peo-
flaw of the book is resolved. The transforma- ple in bondage to the Americas, some 600,000
tion of Harvey Cheyne from irritating brat to of them into the plantations of the American
452 [ PLACES
Adams, who argued the case before the United
States Supreme Court.
Historians, beginning with Simon Schama
in a January 1998 article in the New Yorker,
described key aspects of the movie as “feel-
good fantasy” and “fabulously fictitious.” In a
response to Schama in the National Review
published the following month, Stanley Kauff-
mann said that the movie “may not be his-
torically exact, but it is dramatically and the-
matically apt.” That same month Gary Rosen
went even further than Schama in an article in
FIGURE 55. Captains Courageous (1937). Director
Victor Fleming capitalized on the opportunity to film
Commentary called “Amistad and the Abuse of
fishermen and their schooners around the Grand Banks History.” According to Rosen, “The facts at is-
of Newfoundland. These images provide a strong sue in Spielberg’s Amistad are not picayune de-
realistic element that blends into the staged scenes. tails, quibbles over the compressing or simpli-
Courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
fying of what is a very complex tale. Such
things are to be expected in a dramatization.
South. This difficult subject has been mostly What Spielberg has done in relating this
avoided by Hollywood. In 1937 two films ap- ‘shared piece of American history’ is more fun-
peared that had scenes aboard slave-trading damental. He has misrepresented, in a way that
vessels, but the scenes below decks were sec- can only be intentional, the racial relations that
ondary to the romantic drama of the white form the very heart of the events he depicts”
protagonists in both The Slave Ship and Souls (48). A firestorm of letters appeared in re-
at Sea. sponse, one written by two noted historians,
It was the 1977 television miniseries Roots Lesley Herrman and Steven Mintz, who sup-
that first brought the horrifying conditions of ported the motives of the filmmaker and said
the slave ship to the screen. It took another that “despite some important distortions and
twenty years before the subject was seriously omissions, Amistad does what films can do and
tackled again, this time in Steven Spielberg’s history texts cannot: it brings the past to life.”
film Amistad, the historical details of which Rosen responded that “in this mendacious re-
have been the subject of an interesting series telling, the Amistad affair becomes a tale of
of commentaries. Amistad tells the story of a multicultural collaboration, and thus a pre-
slave revolt in 1839 aboard a Spanish-owned dictable reflection of the present rather than a
vessel on the coast of Cuba. Sailing east by day meaningful window on the past.”
under the watchful eye of Cinqué, the leader A key issue for discussion is whether a film
of the revolt, and north by night when navi- that purports to tell a true story reflects more
gated by the captured Spanish crew, the Amis- the time in which the story took place, or the
tad ended up near Long Island, where it was time in which the story, through the film, is
seized by the U.S. Navy. The rebel slaves were told. History serves a purpose in allowing us
imprisoned in Connecticut for eighteen to deal with sensitive and controversial issues,
months while a series of trials decided their like race relations, from a temporal distance.
fate. Spielberg’s movie makes a powerful state- If the objective of the filmmaker is to introduce
ment about the empowerment of the Africans such difficult topics for debate, then the way
in the judicial process and about the inspira- in which known events of the past are manip-
tional influence of Cinqué on John Quincy ulated for that purpose must be made clear.
 THE SEA ] 453

Cecil B. De Mille’s Reap the Wild Wind Navy sailors began to be of dramatic interest
(1942) explores the world of marine salvage on to the American public in the years following
the Carolina and Florida coasts with the com- World War I, however, and a number of light-
ing of steamships after the middle of the nine- hearted Navy movies appeared between the
teenth century. John Wayne stars as Captain wars and into the early years of World War II.
Jack Stuart, a man who makes his living pick- A number of these films were musicals, in-
ing up the pieces after a shipwreck but longs cluding Here Comes the Navy (1934), with
to command the new steamer Southern Cross. Jimmy Cagney, and Follow the Fleet (1936),
Raymond Massey as his competition is not just with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Others
a salvager but also a wrecker, who purposefully in the genre were Hit the Deck (1930, 1955),
causes the destruction of ships by using false In the Navy (1941), and Navy Blues (1941). As
signal lights on shore. Paulette Goddard plays light romance, a navy story requires a good
the love interest, a spunky young woman who amount of time spent on shore, and all these
actually ventures to sea in a hurricane to rescue movies bowed to that necessity. The ships in
the survivors a shipwreck. The exaggerated these films were generally populated by amus-
plot is replete with multiple shipwrecks, stow- ing swabbies who were actually just average
aways, women in disguise, gunfights, and even American Joes doing their part in a crazy,
an attack by a giant squid. While it is not a mixed-up world. (The stereotypical mix in-
great source of historical detail, De Mille paints cluded a scared young Iowa farm boy, a smart-
an interesting picture of the society on shore alecky Brooklyn native of Italian or Jewish ex-
that supported maritime endeavors, including traction, the Boston-born son of an immigrant
a turn by Ray Milland as a lawyer representing Irish mother, and the wealthy scion of a May-
the commercial interests of the ship owner. flower family; African Americans were occa-
Reap the Wild Wind is also interesting for the sionally included in minor roles.)
underwater scenes filmed on a shipwreck set During and after World War II, more seri-
De Mille had built in the main tank of the ous films about naval activities began to ap-
Pacific Marine Museum in Santa Monica, pear, focusing more on shipboard action.
some of the first extensive underwater footage Three excellent documentaries, The Battle of
to appear in a movie. Midway (1942), Torpedo Squadron (1943), and
We Sail at Midnight (1943) were made by di-
War on the Sea rector John Ford, who served as a lieutenant
Few films depict American naval action before commander in the U.S. Navy during the war
World War I. The Civil War is dramatized in and was promoted later to the position of two-
only one maritime film, Ironclads: The Monitor star admiral in the naval reserves. Ford also
and the Merrimac (1988), though both the made a dramatic film about PT boat crews,
Union and Confederate navies made extensive They Were Expendable (1945), which starred
use of ships for blockading ports and raiding another U.S. Navy veteran, Robert Montgom-
the opposition’s seagoing commerce. Ironclads ery. The best dramatic movies of this period
is most notable for its attention to the rapidly were made in England (where the national
advancing technology of some of the first identity continued to be more closely tied to
steamships employed in sea battles. The the maritime world), and include In Which We
Spanish-American War was set in motion by Serve (1942).
the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana Merchant mariners, whose crucial role in
harbor in February 1898, but that incident has wartime is often overlooked by historians, are
never made it into a movie except as a passing well represented in Action in the North Atlantic
reference. (1943), which stars Humphrey Bogart as the
454 [ PLACES
captain of a freighter. Other noncombatants Kelly), his captain (Frederic March), and the
unexpectedly caught up in the war are the oc- pilot of a rescue helicopter (Mickey Rooney)
cupants of Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944), who is asked to risk his life to save Brubaker’s.
the surviving passengers and crew from a liner There is also a nod to the complexity of cross-
hit by a torpedo fired by a German U-boat. cultural relationships, as Mickey Rooney’s
Tallulah Bankhead stars as the haughty rich character finds that his Japanese fiancée has
woman, while Walter Slezak plays the captain abandoned him for another American sailor
of the German submarine, which was also while he was at sea.
sunk in the encounter. Made entirely on a sin- The dramatic potential of a ship, with its
gle wet set, Lifeboat explores the psychology of confined space, placement within an unsurviv-
the occupants who have survived disaster only able element, dependence on technology, and
to find themselves still caught in a desperate captive characters, is heightened when the ves-
and potentially hopeless situation. sel becomes a submarine, as the large number
It took a decade after the war was over for of submarine titles attest. Films exploring these
filmmakers to be able to approach it with a themes include: The Seas Beneath (1931), Hell
more historical eye, and again the British Below (1933), Submarine Patrol (1938), Crash
achieved excellence with The Cruel Sea (1952). Dive (1943), Destination Tokyo (1944), Sub-
When John Ford began the project of making marine Command (1951), The Enemy Below
Mr. Roberts, which appeared in 1955, he had (1957), Torpedo Run (1958), Up Periscope
the Navy’s full cooperation, and scenes were (1959), and Grey Lady Down (1978). Among
shot in the Pacific on board the USS Hewell. the best of the submarine films is Run Silent
Set in the late years of the war on a naval cargo Run Deep (1958), which was followed only a
vessel, Mr. Roberts stars Henry Fonda (who, year later by the silly Operation Petticoat
like Ford, had served in the Navy, spending (1959), in which the inability of the submarine
some two years in the South Pacific and rising crew to deal with female nurses in their iso-
to the rank of lieutenant). The film captures lated world provides the comic structure.
the routine and repetitive tasks that make up Nuclear issues are powerfully dealt with in
the sailor’s day. Made around the same time, the submarine films On the Beach (1959), Ice
an excellent series of twenty-six half-hour tele- Station Zebra (1968), and Crimson Tide
vision documentaries, Victory at Sea, is now (1995). The latter also wonderfully outlines the
available through PBS video outlets. Two hierarchy of command and the pressures of
American presidents can be found in films de- decision making in the nuclear age. In The
picting World War II naval activities: Ronald Hunt for Red October (1990), the captain of a
Reagan stars in Hellcats of the Navy (1956), Russian submarine (Sean Connery) defects
while John F. Kennedy is depicted (by Cliff with the most advanced nuclear submarine in
Robertson) in PT 109 (1963). the Soviet arsenal. The threat of nuclear power
Korean War action is very well represented and Cold War politics is also the subject of The
by The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955), based on a Bedford Incident (1965), directed by and star-
novel by James Michener and starring William ing Richard Widmark. The film explores what
Holden as Harry Brubaker, a flier and World happens when a nuclear weapon is accidentally
War II veteran who is angry to have been called discharged, with the response being decided
back up from the reserves for service on an largely at the level of individual command
aircraft carrier off the coast of Asia. The ship- rather than national policy. Herman Wouk’s
board scenes are convincing, and the subplots novel, The Caine Mutiny, which explores a fic-
serve to enhance our understanding of Bru- tional mutiny in the U.S. Navy during World
baker’s relationships with his wife (Grace War II, but from a Cold War perspective, was
 THE SEA ] 455

made into an effective movie in 1954, starring material. The well-known first-class passen-
Humphrey Bogart as the paranoid Captain gers, including Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor,
Queeg. William Guggenheim, Mr. and Mrs. Isadore
Strauss, and the ever-present Molly Brown,
Technology on the High Seas circulate in the background. Except for Molly,
Except for naval movies, steamships are gen- who rose up from the lower classes by mar-
erally represented in film only if they sink. rying a tycoon, the social and financial elite are
Little Old New York (1940) purports to be an depicted here mostly as imbeciles.
account of Robert Fulton’s development of the
steamship, but liberal dramatic license makes The Sea in the New Millennium
it less than useful for historical purposes. Eu- The role that the sea once played so strongly
gene O’Neill’s four plays about men working in the imagination of writers and filmmakers
on steam freighters were combined by screen- has been, in the late twentieth century, largely
writer Dudley Nicols into The Long Voyage replaced by outer space. The notion of a di-
Home (1940), directed by John Ford. John verse crew confined in a capsule, placed in a
Wayne is improbable as the Scandinavian dangerous environment, dependent on tech-
sailor, Ole Olson, but the dim and grimy world nology and each other, and then subjected to
of the tramp steamer is well represented. The natural hardships and encounters with alien
best-known steamship, Titanic, wrecked in cultures is still compelling and popular, but
1912, has inspired five major movies, the most the venue has changed. The sea is now de-
recent of which (1997) became a media phe- picted not so much as vast, dangerous, and
nomenon. Appearing the same year as Amis- mysterious, but as a fragile environment that
tad, James Cameron’s film inspired a very dif- needs to be protected. Human beings are now
ferent sort of debate among historians and seen as a danger to the sea rather than the
movie critics. Florence King, writing in the other way around.
National Review in January 1998, remarks that For a time, in the 1970s, however, the sea
the release of Titanic ended the important, fought back, as a series of monsters from the
though often painful, discussion of Amistad: marine environment took revenge against ar-
“America changed boats. Amistad was sunk, as rogant or thoughtless humanity. Jaws (1975),
it were, by Titanic, the whitest event in his- the movie that propelled director Steven Spiel-
tory.” berg to fame, was based on a novel by Peter
Cameron’s Titanic is breathtaking in its spe- Benchley and showed the horrific conse-
cial effects. The ship is exactingly recreated, quences of disregarding nature. The sequels
from the opulence of its first-class accommo- were less effective as the shark’s motives be-
dations and public rooms right down to the came anthropomorphized and a less believa-
boilers. The viewer gets a sense of being on the ble, and consequently less scary, enemy on a
ship; the tremendous size of the Titanic and of rampage replaced the soulless killing machine.
the crowd on board is beautifully conveyed. Orca (1977) and other less than effective ef-
The finding of the wreck and subsequent in- forts followed in the wake of Jaws.
terest in salvaging material from it is also in- The first nautical movie of the new millen-
troduced, and the computer-generated model nium, The Perfect Storm (2000), based on the
of how the ship wrecked and sank works very best-selling book by Sebastian Junger, synthe-
well in guiding the audience through subse- sizes many of the stalwart salty themes with a
quent events in the film. good dose of environmental consciousness
The weakness of Titanic is in the characters and a respect for nature. Overfishing and pol-
and plotline that are laid over the historical lution have pushed the swordfish stocks—and
456 [ PLACES
their pursuers—further out to sea, where the The relentless surge of the sea is the contin-
environment is still beyond the control of hu- uous feature in all these films. Human activity
mans, despite high-technology equipment, changes, technology advances, social condi-
satellite forecasting, and years of experience. tions evolve, public policy is directed or mis-
Men, and now women as well, face down the directed, power changes hands, the environ-
environment to the best of their ability but ment is degraded, but the relationship between
find themselves humbled by the power of na- the sea and the people who travel on it or into
ture. it remains fundamentally unchanged.

References
The Perfect Storm (2000, F)
Filmography Plymouth Adventure (1952, F)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943, F) PT 109 (1963, F)
All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953, F) Reap the Wild Wind (1942, F)
Amistad (1997, F) Run Silent Run Deep (1958, F)
The Battle of Midway (1942, D) The Sea Beast (1925, F)
The Bedford Incident (1965, F) The Seas Beneath (1931, F)
The Bounty (1984, F) The Sea Wolf (1941, F; 1994, TV)
The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955, F) The Slave Ship (1937, F)
The Caine Mutiny (1954, F) Souls at Sea (1937, F)
Captains Courageous (1937, F) Submarine Command (1951, F)
Crash Dive (1943, F) Submarine Patrol (1938, F)
Crimson Tide (1995, F) They Were Expendable (1945, F)
The Cruel Sea (1952, F) Titanic (1997, F)
Destination Tokyo (1944, F) Torpedo Run (1958, F)
Down to the Sea in Ships (1923, F; 1949, F) Torpedo Squadron (1943, D)
The Enemy Below (1957, F) Two Years Before the Mast (1946, F)
Follow the Fleet (1936, F) Up Periscope (1959, F)
Grey Lady Down (1978, F) Victory at Sea (1955, TV)
Hawaii (1966, F) We Sail at Midnight (1943, D)
Hell Below (1933, F) The White Dawn (1974, F)
Hellcats of the Navy (1956, F) The World in His Arms (1952, F)
Here Comes the Navy (1934, F)
Hit the Deck (1930, F; 1955, F)
The Hunt for Red October (1990, F) Bibliography
Ice Station Zebra (1968, F) Kauffmann, Stanley. “Response to ‘Clio at the Multi-
In the Navy (1941, F) plex.’ ” National Review, 16 February 1998.
In Which We Serve (1942, F) King, Florence. “Misanthrope’s Corner.” National Re-
Ironclads: The Monitor and the Merrimac (1997, D) view, 26 January 1998.
Jaws (1975, F) Labaree, Benjamin W., et al., eds. America and the
John Paul Jones (1959, F) Sea: A Maritime History. Mystic, CT: Mystic Sea-
Lifeboat (1944, F) port Museum, 1998.
Little Old New York (1940, F) Mahan, Alfred T. The Influence of Sea Power Upon
The Long Voyage Home (1940, F) History. New York: Dover, 1987.
Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure (1979, F) Rosen, Gary. “Amistad and the Abuse of History.”
Moby-Dick (1925, F; 1930, F; 1956, F; 1997, TV) Commentary, February 1998. (See also letters to
Mr. Roberts (1955, F) the editor and Rosen’s reply, June 1998.)
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935, F; 1962, F) Schama, Simon. “Clio at the Multiplex: What Holly-
Navy Blues (1941, F) wood and Herodotus Have in Common.” New
Old Ironsides (1926, F) Yorker, 19 January 1998.
On the Beach (1959, F) Thomas, Tony. The Cinema of the Sea: A Critical Sur-
Operation Petticoat (1959, F) vey and Filmography, 1925–1986. Jefferson, NC:
Orca (1977, F) McFarland, 1988.
[ JOHN C. TIBBETTS ]

The Small Town

n William Wellman’s Magic Town (1947),

I pollster Lawrence Smith ( James Stewart)

claims that a small town named Grandview
embodies the statistical average of the nation.
“Just like the country,” he exclaims, “the same
percentage of males, females, farmers, labor,
Democrats, Republicans, everything!” But
when the good citizens of this “America in a
capsule” learn they have attracted nationwide
attention, they begin to behave like caricatures
in their own drama. “Okay, now,” one citizen
admonishes another, “you’re the typical Amer-
F I G U R E 5 6 . Magic Town (1947). Pollster Lawrence
ican. Act like it!” The town collapses under the
Smith (James Stewart) plays basketball with the ado-
burden of its self-consciousness. lescents of “Grandview.” Smith claims that the town
During the years spanning the Hollywood demographically and ideologically is representative of the
studio film (roughly the 1920s to the mid- United States. This creates much publicity at the expense
of “Grandview’s” close-knit community. Courtesy RKO
1960s) and the postmodern era, filmmakers Radio Pictures and Robert Riskin Productions.
doggedly pursued the dream of a “magic
town” that would embody the essence of the
American experience. However, the resulting was driven by the personal artistic agendas of
films have been more autobiographical and a handful of influential filmmakers and tar-
self-referential in nature than indicative of any geted to an audience composed primarily of
reality studied by sociologists and historians— middle-class whites, especially “average citi-
like, for example, the classic series of studies zen’s wives,” between the ages of fourteen and
generated by Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd’s forty-five. These compounds of personal and
Middletown researches, begun in 1929, which corporate myths were tagged, labeled, and ex-
conducted a sociological study of Muncie, In- hibited to a receptive public, even if their self-
diana, a town “as representative as possible of conscious artifice separated them from any re-
contemporary American life” (7). In other ality outside the movie theaters.
words, Hollywood films about small towns From 1910 until 1940, filmmakers Walt Dis-
have not typified America as much as they ney, Frank Capra, Darryl F. Zanuck, and Louis
have mirrored that quintessential “magic B. Mayer, as well as actors such as Mary Pick-
town,” Hollywood itself. ford and Will Rogers, envisioned cinematic
Throughout the studio era, Hollywood’s small towns as simulacra of “home,” of lost
pursuit of the small-town paradigm, a “rep- childhood experiences reconfigured into ide-
resentative anecdote” of the nation at large, alized locales. In her notable series of films for

457
458 [ PLACES
Artcraft in 1917–18, particularly Rebecca of ralistic democracy has long been debated (see,
Sunnybrook Farm (1917), Pickford, who had e.g., Phelps; Richards); however, what is evi-
been working since age five and had never dent is that at the very least the films confirm
known a “normal” childhood of her own, in- the ideal of the “town meeting”: Capra “seems
vested fictional sleepy towns like Riverboro, to be saying that society and the individuals
Maine, with the kind of sentiment and pica- within it will be qualitatively better,” writes
resque humor she drew from the popular ad- Glenn Alan Phelps, “only when each individ-
olescent fiction of contemporary writers like ual is given a large degree of responsibility for
Kate Douglas Wiggin and Eleanor H. Porter. his own actions and for the actions of his com-
Walt Disney transformed and idealized a munity” (390).
miserable, abused childhood on a farm near Likewise, another immigrant, MGM studio
Marceline, Missouri, into the scrubbed, buffed chief Louis B. Mayer, regained his lost child-
and polished experience of his theme parks. hood in the mythical setting of Carvel, Idaho,
Significantly, Marceline’s reconstituted “Main the location during the mid-1930s and early
Street” is the only area in the parks through 1940s of the enormously popular “Andy
which every visitor must pass. Moreover, it Hardy” series starring Mickey Rooney and
reappears constantly in Disney’s films, its Lewis Stone. Here, Mayer could “set aside the
barnyards serving as the backdrops for the an- difficulties of his youth,” wrote critic Bosley
tics of Mickey Mouse, its quaint front porches Crowther, and extol his “elaborate affection for
and gabled roofs as settings for Hayley Mills’s the family and . . . American home life” (237).
Pollyanna (1960) and Summer Magic (1963). Similarly, the “Homeville” comedies of Will
“All the harshness, inconsistencies, and filth of Rogers—Dr. Bull (1932), Judge Priest (1933),
the original [Marceline] have been removed,” David Harum (1934), and Steamboat ‘Round
notes commentator Scott MacDonald. “The the Bend (1935)—may be regarded as idyllic
recreated Main Street apparently represents transformations of the otherwise troubled
the past that America wants to believe existed” scenes of Rogers’s boyhood in Oolagah, Okla-
(140–141). homa Territory. As Peter C. Rollins notes, in
Frank Capra celebrated in his movies the these films “Uncle Will” could preside over
small-town life he had never known as an Ital- preindustrial southern towns “purposefully in-
ian immigrant come to America at age five. sulated from contemporary strains and pres-
After years of hardships and rootless wander- sures” and from “the world of ethical confu-
ings, he found a “home” at Columbia Pictures sion, depression, and impending war” (59). It
(a “small town,” aptly enough, compared to is not coincidental, by the way, that some of
the larger “communities” of major studios like these pictures were released by producer Dar-
MGM and Paramount). He gained enough ar- ryl F. Zanuck of the newly formed Twentieth
tistic independence to remake his life into a Century–Fox studio. Zanuck was busily mak-
series of Horatio Alger–like fables where small- ing a career out of reconfiguring the miseries
town idealists like Longfellow Deeds (Gary of his boyhood in Wahoo, Nebraska, into the
Cooper) of Mandrake Falls, Jefferson Smith idealized confections of small-town American
( James Stewart) of Willet Creek, and George life. He would perform the same function in
Bailey (Stewart) of Bedford Falls overcome crafting the background settings and cultural
corrupt, big city corporate lawyers (Mr. Deeds milieu for his other great star of the 1930s,
Goes to Town, 1936); crooked politicians (Mr. Shirley Temple (Captain January, 1936; Re-
Smith Goes to Washington, 1939); and greedy becca of Sunnybrook Farm, 1937).
bankers (It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946). Whether But, as Ima Honaker Herron has demon-
these pictures are true populist fables of plu- strated in her enormously informative study
 THE SMALL TOWN ] 459

The Small Town in American Drama, this violence (Cecil B. De Mille’s This Day and Age,
popular image of the American village as a 1933; Fritz Lang’s Fury, 1935; Clarence
“resort of peace” and “haven of democracy” Brown’s Intruder in the Dust, 1949); racist big-
had been under review—in drama and liter- otry (Archie Mayo’s Black Legion, 1937; Gor-
ature, at least—ever since E. W. Howe’s novel don Parks’s The Learning Tree, 1969); jingo-
The Story of a Country Town (1883) exposed istic patriotism (Preston Sturges’s Hail the
the tiny fictional Kansas villages of Fairview Conquering Hero, 1944); and social and politi-
and Twin Mounds as victims of their own cal corruption (Robert Rossen’s All the King’s
isolation, blighted by intellectual stagnation Men, 1949). The narrow confines of these
and provincialism. Howe’s novel, writes John communities—cultural, social, and racial—
William Ward, “is the earliest expression in acted like pressure cookers that brought these
our fiction of disenchantment with . . . the problems to a boil.
simplicities and virtues of rural life” (302). Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt
Additionally, as that citizen of the quintessen- (1943) brought to wartime American audi-
tial American small town, Emporia, Kansas, ences the disturbing news that there was a
newspaper editor William Allen White skeleton in the closet of small-town hearth and
pointed out in his Autobiography that the new home. “Uncle Charlie” ( Joseph Cotten), un-
century’s increasingly urbanized collectivistic beknownst to his relatives, is a serial killer on
way of life was threatening the ideal of village the lam. Like a modern-day serpent in the gar-
democracy (626). den of small town America, he informs his in-
The small town that was Hollywood in those nocent niece, also named Charlie (Theresa
days—and it has been argued that studio-era Wright), that her “ordinary little town” of
Hollywood was indeed an insular, self- Santa Rosa, California, does not at all resemble
contained “community” composed of a “ma- her “peaceful, stupid dreams”: “How do you
ture oligopoly” of vertically integrated studios know what the world is like? Do you know the
(Schatz, 9–11)—was also reeling from internal world is a foul sty? Do you know if you ripped
and external shocks. Beginning in the 1920s, the fronts off houses you’d find swine? The
union organizers, government antitrust inves- world’s a hell! What does it matter what hap-
tigators, and state and industry censors were pens in it?” Even though Uncle Charlie ulti-
threatening to disrupt its balance of power. mately perishes under the wheels of a train, the
Moreover, the economic problems stemming ominous shadow of his presence seems to lin-
from the Depression were plunging most of ger. The sun will never again shine quite so
the major studios into bankruptcy and receiv- brightly on this community.
ership, necessitating a takeover by New York Many Cold War movies confirmed para-
banking interests. Small wonder that an em- noid fears that communist insurgency would
battled Hollywood could identify with the cri- not only find its easiest target in the compla-
ses contemporaneously afflicting small-town cency of American small towns but was al-
life, subsequently locating many of its so-called ready suspected of operating unchecked in
problem films in villages and small commu- Hollywood itself. This warning appeared ei-
nities. Thus, Sinclair Lewis’s novel, Main ther in the guise of science fiction—as in In-
Street, a sensational attack on the smug ma- vasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Don Sie-
terialism of the American town (the fictional gel’s adaptation of Jack Finney’s classic novel
Gopher Prairie, Minnesota), attracted film- about a race of soulless, extraterrestrial “pod
makers as early as 1922 (it was remade in 1936 people” who attempt to take over Santa Mira,
under another title, I Married a Doctor). Else- California—or outright political propaganda,
where on screen, small towns erupted in mob as in Red Nightmare (1962), an overwrought
460 [ PLACES
John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) and the
unidentified town of Wes Craven’s Nightmare
on Elm Street series; that unemployed butchers
in a tiny Texas town resorted to cannibalism
in Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(1974); that vampires infested Stephen King’s
Salem’s Lot (1979) and the small desert towns
of Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark (1987); and
that the minions of Satan himself blew into
Green Town, Illinois, in Ray Bradbury’s Some-
thing Wicked This Way Comes (1983).
Today, as Hollywood increasingly grinds out
F I G U R E 5 7 . Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Alfred
product targeted directly to cable networks
Hitchcock uses a serial killer, “Uncle Charlie” ( Joseph
Cotten), to unsettle forever the peace and tranquility and commercial television, its image of a
that is the privilege of small town America. Courtesy “magic town,” appropriately enough, looks
Skirball Productions and Universal Pictures. more and more like a television sitcom. The
immaculately groomed, picture-perfect vil-
lages of Seahaven, in Peter Weir’s The Truman
parable of how vulnerable a quiet country vil- Show (1998), and the black-and-white Pleas-
lage can be to imminent Communist take- antville in Gary Ross’s 1998 film of the same
over, a scenario revisited in John Milius’s name, are imitations of the 1950s television
similarly overwrought Red Dawn (1984), set communities of Leave It to Beaver and The Ad-
in small-town Colorado. ventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Once Truman
By the time postmodern horror film cycles Burbank ( Jim Carrey) and George Parker
appeared in the 1970s and 1980s, American (William H. Macy) realize they have been un-
urbanization had left many small towns mere witting participants in media-reconstructed,
backwater anomalies, useless, vestigial remind- prefabricated realities, the conformist walls
ers of a nation haunted by its loss of individual come tumbling down and chaos reigns. Only
opportunity and community identity. Simi- then, it is implied, can their lives really begin.
larly, Hollywood’s studio system was itself in Magic Town is only a myth on the way toward
shambles, torn apart by, among other things, a larger reality. The mailing address that play-
the government’s antitrust actions that forced wright Thornton Wilder provides for Grovers
the studios to sell off their theater chains and Corners, New Hampshire, in Our Town ap-
by the competitive inroads of commercial tele- plies to Seahaven and Pleasantville: they are
vision. Small wonder that serial killers now only dots lost in the vast inscrutability of a
stalked the streets of Haddonfield, Illinois, in larger mystery.

References
Filmography Ethan Frome (1994, F)
A Family Affair (1937, F)
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66, TV) Fury (1935, F)
All the King’s Men (1949, F) Hail the Conquering Hero (1944, F)
The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68, TV) Halloween (1978, F)
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958, F) High Noon (1951, F)
Black Legion (1937, F) I Married a Doctor (1936, F)
David Harum (1934, F) Intruder in the Dust (1949, F)
Dr. Bull (1932, F) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, F; 1978, F)
 THE SMALL TOWN ] 461
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, F) Herron, Ima Honaker. The Small Town in American
Judge Priest (1933, F) Drama. Dallas: Southern Methodist University
The Learning Tree (1969, F) Press, 1969.
Leave It to Beaver (1957–63, TV) Howe, E. W. The Story of a Country Town. 1883. New
Magic Town (1947, F) York: Twayne, 1962.
Main Street (1922, F) Lewis, R. W. B. The American Adam: Innocence, Trag-
Meet John Doe (1940, F) edy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Chi-
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936, F) cago: University of Chicago Press, 1955.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) Lynd, Robert S., and Helen M. Lynd. Middletown: A
Near Dark (1987, F) Study in Modern American Culture. New York:
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, F) Harcourt, Brace & World, 1929.
Our Town (1940, F) MacDonald, Scott. “Reenvisioning the American
Pleasantville (1998, F) West.” American Studies 39.1 (1998): 115–146.
Pollyanna (1960, F) Phelps, Glenn Alan. “The ‘Populist’ Films of Frank
The Rainmaker (1956, F) Capra.” The Journal of American Studies 13.3
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917, F; 1937, F)
(1979): 377–392.
Red Dawn (1984, F)
Richards, Jeffrey. “Frank Capra and the Cinema of
Salem’s Lot (1979, F)
Populism.” Film Society Review 7 (1972): 38–46,
Shadow of a Doubt (1943, F)
61–72.
Smalltown, U.S.A.: A Farewell Portrait (1964, D)
So Dear to My Heart (1945, F) Rollins, Peter C. Will Rogers: A Bio-Bibliography.
Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983, F) Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1984.
Steamboat ’Round the Bend (1935, F) Schatz, Thomas. The Genius of the System: Hollywood
Steamboat Willie (1928, F) Filmmaking in the Studio Era. New York: Pan-
Summer Magic (1963, F) theon, 1988.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, F) Shortridge, James R. The Middle West: Its Meaning in
This Day and Age (1933, F) American Culture. Lawrence: University Press of
The Truman Show (1998, F) Kansas, 1989.
Wheeler, Thomas C., Ed. A Vanishing America: The
Bibliography Life and Times of the Small Town. New York: Holt,
Crowther, Bosley. Hollywood Rajah: The Life and Rinehart & Winston, 1964.
Times of Louis B. Mayer. New York: Holt, Rinehart White, William Allen. The Autobiography of William
& Winston, 1960. Allen White. New York: Macmillan, 1946.
[ OWEN W. GILMAN JR. ]

The South

rom the early years of the American film Woodward’s death in the final month of the

F industry to the present, the South has been

an enduring subject of interest to both
filmmakers and moviegoers. Practically every-
one knows some segments of its story. The
century, his revisionist work had been con-
firmed and extended by a host of junior col-
leagues such as Drew Gilpin Faust and Eugene
Genovese. Furthermore, the substance of those
premiere of Gone with the Wind in 1939 was a revisions had also been reflected in films from
carefully crafted extravaganza designed to the last half of the twentieth century.
catch the full attention of the nation. Subse- In “The Historical Dimension” section of
quently, Gone with the Wind was reissued at The Burden of Southern History, Woodward ac-
intervals in a pattern set to ensure that the ro- knowledges the key role of southern writers
mance of Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler— from the 1920s onward as they looked deep
coupled to the mystique of Tara and Twelve into the past to discern truths of the present,
Oaks—would be the most watched and most noting that “they have not set up as defenders
widely known Hollywood story for a half cen- of a cause, either one lost or still sought” (38).
tury. Well before the national hoopla sur- Although the first film in this study of the
rounding Gone with the Wind, however, the South and history, The Birth of a Nation, pro-
South had been vigorously established as a ceeded from a novelist’s vision that was darkly
powerful presence on the silver screen. From enraptured with a lost cause, quite a number
the beginnings of film, even as the actual re- of subsequent film treatments of the South fit
gion underwent significant cultural change, rather more closely within Woodward’s argu-
movies set in the South attracted audiences, ment. Any approach to history and the South
and those audiences “learned” a lot of south- in film must attend to writers from the South
ern history in the process. and the literary works that attempt to distill
Southerners are people of memory and tra- the good from the bad, the real from the ideal,
dition, with the past always shadowing the the permanent from the impermanent in their
present. Historians confronted this pattern native region. Quite a few pieces of this rich
formally in the years after World War II, and and strong writing have proven to be readily
it is particularly well represented in C. Vann adaptable to film presentation.
Woodward’s famous 1960 essay collection The Writers know particulars, and the South’s
Burden of Southern History. The scholarly rigor history has strong distinguishing features. Al-
of Woodward’s work challenged many cher- though the South actually subdivides into nu-
ished nostrums of southern culture and social merous smaller sections defined by particular
practice that had been a staple of films about features of natural environment, habit, cus-
the South throughout the first half of the twen- tom, and even dialect—Savannah, the setting
tieth century. Those films had constructed a of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
popular view of the South’s history, but by (1998), would never be confused with the area

462
 THE SOUTH ] 463

around Grandfather Mountain in western into AOL Time Warner) and his huge collec-
North Carolina, the setting of Songcatcher tion of American movie classics—a long and
(2001), or with east Texas, the setting of Terms storied past still shadows the threshold of a
of Endearment (1983)—the whole region nev- new millennium. At last, the South has
ertheless has a distinct quality of “place” about achieved rich diversity, and yet, the South
it. A sense of enduring history is more palpable keeps the permanence of memory safe from
here than elsewhere in America, as is the close- deletion or erasure.
ness of relationship between people and par- In light of this interest, however, southern
ticular, distinct spots of land. history has been exceedingly malleable, a mat-
Americans are enthralled with newness and ter of steadily evolving perspective. At almost
change. At an accelerating rate, the years of the any time, from D. W. Griffith’s legendary ef-
twentieth century have introduced new no- fort to make the South distinguished and jus-
tions that have displaced the old in America. tified in its racism and prejudice in The Birth
Of all the geographical areas of the United of a Nation (1915) through to Clint Eastwood’s
States, the South best represents a pattern of film adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of
resistance to change, an adherence to old cus- Good and Evil, viewers of any film with a
toms and values (see Eugene Genovese’s The southern location should understand that the
Southern Tradition). The South’s conservatism director’s perspective and the cinematogra-
has been well documented in a wide range of pher’s lens are of as much historical interest as
political, social, and economic conditions, any point of cultural past framed in the nar-
some deeply lamentable and some potentially rative. This cautionary point is explored in fine
salutary. As Americans struggled to process all detail by Jack Temple Kirby’s Media-Made
the consequences of development, they simul- Dixie (1977), which demonstrates convinc-
taneously sought a means to review and recall ingly how much the South is a construct of
matters lost in the passing of cultural time. popular culture, with film laying its founda-
Films about the South frequently address this tion.
issue and fill a lingering national need to pay
homage to old ways of life. Films Make History
America is a land of hard conflicts. The Any examination of the intersection of the
“more perfect union” goal of the preamble to South, film, and history must begin with The
the Constitution has presented tough chal- Birth of a Nation, for, as D. W. Griffith solidly
lenges over time. The most obstinate challenge established numerous key narrative film tech-
of all involves race relations. Even though all niques—a matter of achievement warranting
parts of the country have struggled to achieve forty-fourth place on the 1998 American Film
racial harmony (on this point, John Egerton Institute (AFI) list of the top one hundred
recalls in Shades of Gray, Malcolm X once ob- American movies—he simultaneously intro-
served that the South “is anywhere south of duced a long-lasting impression of the South
the Canadian border), the South’s particularly as it might be placed in history. Griffith’s effort
infamous experience with race has made it a clearly bears the stamp of his time and per-
logical and enduring location for film consid- sonal background. As a consequence, The Birth
eration of this key national dilemma. of a Nation reveals the temper of the nation in
Even as portions of the real, modern South 1915. Following the Civil War and a subse-
have become beacons for a future rich in the quent interlude of federally managed “Recon-
wonder of global communications—most struction,” the white community reclaimed
prominently represented in Ted Turner’s cable key forms of power late in the nineteenth cen-
television news empire (ultimately blended tury. C. Vann Woodward’s Strange Career of
464 [ PLACES
Jim Crow (1955) skillfully delineates the key 1905. Dixon’s racism is virulent and unabated.
steps in this pattern of cultural regression at Griffith’s film adaptation tempered the racism
the turn of the last century; more recently, Eric just enough to appeal to a much broader au-
Foner notes in The Story of American Freedom dience, but the bias against persons of color is
(1998) that “boundaries of exclusion had long devastating nevertheless, perhaps most pro-
been intrinsic to the meaning of American vocatively in the famous suicidal leap from a
freedom” (107). Looking backward from the cliff that Flora Cameron (Mae Marsh) takes to
vantage point of the early twentieth century, avoid the pursuit of a drunken, sex-crazed Af-
southern writers idealized the Old South, pro- rican American named Gus (Walter Long).
viding a nostalgic and mythic veneer to plan- This scene and others equally inflammatory
tation life, a disposition which would survive were used to justify the creation of the Ku Klux
for several generations in Hollywood following Klan as a force to assert white dominance. Ev-
Griffith’s vigorous and influential lead. erett Carter treats the lamentable impact of
As the practice of segregation gained mo- Griffith’s film with fine discernment, noting
mentum in the early years of the twentieth creation of the “Plantation Illusion”: “a de-
century, most explicitly in the South but tacitly basement of epic powers in which those pow-
in the rest of the nation, the idea of white su- ers pander to popular taste instead of attempt-
periority once again was widespread, a view- ing to reach a whole vision, sinewed with
point with long-lasting consequence. Griffith’s moral responsibility” (19).
film and its representation of the past materi- An effective counterpoint to the mythos of
ally contributed to the breadth and depth of white supremacy was a long time coming in
this egregious social condition. The reach of films set in the South. Two books by Thomas
the film was extraordinary, except for some Cripps, Slow Fade to Black and Making Movies
areas where the recently created NAACP Black, account in painstaking detail for the
mounted protests and some few locales (Kan- slowness of change in representing African
sas, Chicago, Newark, Atlantic City, St. Louis) Americans. Two movies from the 1970s, both
where the movie was banned for a time. The developed for television broadcast, finally
film was screened for President Woodrow Wil- completed the shift.
son in the White House, with Wilson reporting First came The Autobiography of Miss Jane
satisfaction. In the main, Americans felt com- Pittman (1974), adapted by Tracy Keenan
fortable with the Cameron family of the South from a novel by Ernest Gaines, with Cicely Ty-
as the Camerons tried to recover control over son in the lead role. This made-for-television
their region’s destiny. production stands more than half a century on
To see The Birth of a Nation is to fathom the end, for finally the camera lens looks at Amer-
deep gulf between white and black in Ameri- ica from the perspective of an African Ameri-
can culture in the twentieth century—all fore- can. Jane Pittman’s long life reaches from the
grounded in the South and from a white point plantation days before the Civil War all the
of view. Griffith was a Kentuckian. His father way to the civil rights agitation of the late
had been a colonel in the Confederate Army, 1950s and early 1960s. Her history parallels the
and he enthralled his son with yarns of his history of her region—mainly southern Loui-
past, which included slaveholding. Thus, when siana. Viewers of this production see the im-
Griffith began making his most influential pact of a century upon the central subject of
film, it was natural for him to draw upon the the film, a black woman. As the movie follows
fiction of a North Carolinian, Thomas Dixon, Miss Jane to the end of her life, the legacy of
most especially Dixon’s novel (and subsequent D. W. Griffith in film treatment of the African
stage drama) The Clansman, a bestseller in American is at last displaced.
 THE SOUTH ] 465

Just three years later, Alex Haley’s family saga ingredients in the movie industry’s calculus, to
Roots was adapted for broadcast over several drive history into distortion. Robert Brent To-
nights in January 1977. This production plin acknowledges the problem in shifting nar-
reached a huge audience, claiming about 85 rative focus to the FBI figures, but observes
percent of possible viewers, more people than that the film nevertheless represents the “ug-
had enjoyed Gone with the Wind in their living liness and viciousness of racial prejudice in the
rooms when it finally reached television on two South about as well as any Hollywood film of
nights in early November 1976. Although his- the post–World War II period” (26).
torians have questioned the accuracy of some
details in Roots, the narrative nevertheless does The Old Plantation Place:
yeoman work as a powerful counterweight to A Long-Lasting Myth
the long-lasting white frame of reference in rep- Between The Birth of a Nation and The Auto-
resenting the South, and it set the stage for sub- biography of Miss Jane Pittman are a host of
sequent reinterpretations of southern history finely made films that reflect the intrigue that
from an African American perspective. Hollywood producers and directors, in concert
Following The Autobiography of Miss Jane with film viewers nationwide, all found in the
Pittman and Roots, it became possible for films South as the twentieth century developed. On
to move with increasingly precise historical fo- the surface of life in the South, where most of
cus into smaller-scale examinations of race re- these films concentrate their efforts at verisi-
lations in the South. The treatments range from militude in rendering the historical past, much
the recent consideration of segregation’s darkest is available to delight the eye. Quite a number
last days in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), through of these films use the plantation myth as a key
scrutiny of the hierarchy of color in Mississippi point of departure. Again and again, the struc-
Masala (1992), to meditations on friendship tured social order and decorum of a departed
across racial lines in Driving Miss Daisy (win- world are evoked in scenes of plantation life,
ner of the Academy Award for best picture in whether at “Portobello” in King Vidor’s So Red
1989), Forrest Gump (best picture of 1994 and the Rose (1935, based on Stark Young’s 1934
seventy-first on the AFI list), and Cookie’s For- successful novel) or out at “Halcyon” in Wil-
tune (1999)—these last films both being antic- liam Wyler’s Jezebel (1938), a countryside lo-
ipated in part by the determined buddy bond- cation presumed safe from the population
ing between the characters played by Sidney density and human waste pollution that was
Poitier and Tony Curtis in The Defiant Ones thought to contribute to suffering in the city
(1958). of New Orleans during an 1850s outbreak of
Sometimes, however, recent film treatment yellow fever (familiarly known in the film as
of the South’s battle with racism still sets his- “Yellow Jack”). The plantation myth movies,
tory askew, as happened in Mississippi Burning of which Gone with the Wind (1939, fourth on
(1988). In Mark Carnes’s useful and provoc- the 1998 AFI list) is king and the recent The
ative Past Imperfect (1995), William H. Chafe’s Patriot (2000) a strange reflex, present strong
commentary on Mississippi Burning clearly and appealing images of an agrarian world
shows how the film neglects the important where landowners are mainly chivalrous and
contributions of many black activists in pro- workers (slaves) mostly hibernate in a cocoon
pelling change in Mississippi and spotlights in- of cotton. Exceptions to this pattern are some-
stead the work of two white FBI men, played times represented—as clear exceptions.
by Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. This Hollywood in the 1930s had a boom period
production shows that it remains entirely pos- for projecting a positive, uplifting vision of
sible for casting decisions and star appeal, key antebellum plantation life. Mythic visions
466 [ PLACES
reigned. Closely detailed, thoroughly objective claimed Texas for his personal background;
scholarship about the actual conditions of the both Randolph Scott, in a lead male role, and
slavery period in the South—and also about Margaret Sullavan, as Valette, were from fami-
the South throughout the years following the lies linked to Virginia. Anything that could con-
Civil War—was still some decades in the fu- tribute to the aura of southern gentility was es-
ture (including such works as Drew Gilpin pecially valued. The mint julep was a frequent
Faust’s James Henry Hammond and the Old key prop, typically concocted by the main house
South, C. Vann Woodward’s The Strange Ca- servant and prized by all true southerners.
reer of Jim Crow, Eugene D. Genovese’s Roll, Much ado is made of Cato’s mastery of the mint
Jordan, Roll, and Eric Foner’s Reconstruction). julep formula in Jezebel. One of these fancy li-
The kind of painstaking examination of the bations is generously—and surprisingly—
master/slave relationship that distinguishes handed back to Cato himself by Preston Dillard
Faust’s study of J. H. Hammond’s South Caro- (a New Orleans banker played stiffly by Henry
lina plantation, Silver Bluff (on the Savannah Fonda) when he arrives at Halcyon.
River about 175 miles northwest of Savannah), The fullest flowering of the South on film,
is way beyond the sweeping broad strokes with magnolias frequently in bloom, took
found in movie portraits of the southern plan- place between 1929 and 1941, a time marking
tation during the decade before World War II. the appearance of roughly one quarter of all
Hammond fathered children by his female the films listed for serious consideration in Ed-
slaves, actions which, by Faust’s account, in- ward Campbell’s The Celluloid South (1981).
volved more than “casual sex,” extending to The reason for this profusion of movies with
“strong, troubling, conflicting emotions about southern settings is fairly simple. As the na-
these women and their offspring” (87). Wil- tional economy went far “south” following the
liam Faulkner struck close to the heart of this stock market crash of 1929, the American
highly vexed matter with his most ambitious movie audience was more than prepared to
novel, Absalom, Absalom! (1936), but Faulk- hanker after nostalgia about the Old South.
ner, who had put in time as a Hollywood (William E. Leuchtenburg provides excellent
scriptwriter, knew Thomas Sutpen’s story was background for this situation in The Perils of
not at all right for the movie business of his Prosperity, 1914–1932.)
time, and not just because of restrictions What reality had stolen from American life,
against miscegenation in the Motion Picture films restored. Real farmers went through ter-
Production Code. (See Robert Sklar’s Movie- rifying times. The whole nation lurched fur-
Made America for a useful commentary on this ther and further away from a rural, agricultural
particular taboo.) During this period, when in- center, part of a demographic shift ongoing
vestments were made for historical accuracy, throughout the twentieth century but impelled
mostly the money went into columned fa- harshly by the hardships of farm life during
cades, elaborate gowns, and sweeping circular the Great Depression. This moment generated
staircases. grave anxiety regarding the consequences of
Occasionally, as in the case of So Red the this change. Thus, film viewers relished the re-
Rose, where an elaborate, specially constructed lief of watching an ordered social and eco-
mansion was carefully fitted out with period nomic system totally rooted in the land and
furniture, it was also possible to link the back- (apparently) self-sufficient. In Jezebel, Miss Ju-
grounds of key production people with the lie (a scheming Jezebel in biblical terms, played
South. King Vidor, the director, was from by Bette Davis) tells Preston Dillard (Henry
Texas; Robert Cummings, who played a Texan Fonda) that he could not be content in the
visiting “Portobello” in Mississippi in the film, North, that he is really part of the “country,”
 THE SOUTH ] 467

the South—however quick and dangerous it eration—over the course of the American ex-
might be. The whole mix is mighty romantic. perience. One of the earliest foundations for the
This condition stands behind the widespread freedom concept in America was land owner-
appeal of several Will Rogers films from the ship. This notion—the option for free people
mid-1930s: In Old Kentucky (1935), Judge to own their own land—was broadly assumed
Priest (1934), and Steamboat ’Round the Bend in the various agitations leading up to the revolt
(1935), all John Ford–directed films that trans- of the English colonies late in the eighteenth
ported viewers back to a harmonious past— century. An image of the yeoman farmer was
but a past that never existed. When song and central to Jeffersonian democracy, and it proved
dance were added to this concoction, as in the to have extraordinary staying power.
Shirley Temple–Bill “Bojangles” Robinson Possession of land is a key issue in Margaret
numbers in The Littlest Rebel (1935) or in Bing Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize–winning and best-
Crosby’s songs from Mississippi (1935), audi- selling novel of 1936. The O’Hara family came
ences were afforded a resonant antidote to the to America from Ireland because Gerald
dissonant, strident realities of the 1930s. O’Hara had killed a rent agent for an English
In I’ll Take My Stand (1930), frequently la- landowner. In the old world of Europe, ordi-
beled “an agrarian manifesto,” twelve southern nary people could not own land. In contrast,
writers, among them John Crowe Ransom and in the new world, Gerald was able to become
Allen Tate, constructed a vigorous case for an important landowner. He also became a
privileging the farm over the factory, for trying slaveholder, for the freedom to own property
to keep the South’s economy and culture based extended to chattel, a point of obvious tension
both on values linked to agriculture and on the and conflict as northern abolitionists scruti-
intimacy with nature. Despite the vehemence nized the conditions of slavery. In Eric Foner’s
of this colorful collection of essays by diverse view, the right of one person to claim to dom-
southern talents, there was no staying the pro- inance over another has roots in the rise of
gress of industrialization or even preventing freedom as a function of property possession.
growth of urbanization and suburbanization Although the Civil War ended chattel slavery,
in the South. The fact that industrialization the centrality of property ownership stayed
eventually swept through the South, along strong in the southern philosophy. The tur-
with exploitative labor practices, is demon- bulence of the Great Depression threatened
strated powerfully in Martin Ritt’s Norma Rae many people and their assumptions about
(1979), for which Sally Field garnered an freedom in owning land, however. On this is-
Academy Award for her portrayal of a woman sue of ownership, Margaret Mitchell’s story,
trying to unionize workers and that, Robert written over a ten-year period from 1926 to
Brent Toplin writes, drew useful attention to 1936, is completely a text of its time, and so is
the union’s dispute with the J. P. Stevens com- the movie that came of it.
pany. However, through the 1930s the whole Land ownership is made an explicit central
nation indulged a fantasy of being close to the concern in the film. Standing in the fields of
land through the plantation myth films. Tara, early in the movie, Gerald O’Hara
(Thomas Mitchell) lectures his daughter Scar-
Tara Forever: Land and Its Ownership lett (Vivien Leigh) on the value of land for the
A land fixation is most dramatically repre- culture he cherishes: “Why, land is the only
sented in Scarlett O’Hara’s love for Tara. As thing in the world worth working for, worth
Eric Foner has shown in The Story of American fighting for, worth dying for because it’s the
Freedom (1998), the idea of freedom has only thing that lasts.” Such a declaration re-
changed substantially—from generation to gen- sounds with consequence for southerners of
468 [ PLACES
many generations. Against the backdrop of na- grounds the life of the poor, not the landed
tional economic stress in the 1930s, these words gentry. Although James Agee found that Ren-
of a plantation owner would reach many sym- oir’s film romanticized poverty in a way that
pathetic and understanding ears, as would re- ran counter to his own and Walker Evans’s
markably similar words from Muley Graves in efforts to understand the South in Let Us Now
John Ford’s 1940 film adaptation of John Stein- Praise Famous Men (1941), The Southerner
beck’s Grapes of Wrath. The feisty Scarlett learns nevertheless pointed the way to the future.
her lesson well and becomes determined, albeit There would still be a small place for a kind of
with a habit of procrastination, to sustain her sweetness and light in representation of the
life through her link to the land. Old South, most pointedly sustained in Walt
The Civil War eventually comes to Tara, Disney’s Song of the South (1946), based
which is ransacked by northern troops during loosely on Joel Chandler Harris’s Uncle Remus
Sherman’s march to the sea—on which, see folk tales. However, the central vision of the
Ross McElwee’s delightful quasi-documentary South from the early 1940s onward would mir-
Sherman’s March (1986), itself a fine explora- ror national cultural trends toward a focus on
tion of southernness. The first part of Gone with systematic alienation and displacement. In-
the Wind then closes with an extremely pow- creasingly in films about the South, the dark
erful scene in which Scarlett, facing the devas- side of human affairs would predominate. In
tation of Tara, falls to her knees. The inability film, “noir” became normative. Whether pro-
of a radish pulled from the earth to appease her ceeding from original film scripts or coming
hunger sets up one of the most impassioned from film adaptations of published fiction,
and memorable oaths in American film history: films centered on the South for the past fifty
“As God is my witness, they’re not going to lick years have steadily pushed forward in three
me. . . . I’m going to live through this and when ways: considering how far and how hard peo-
it’s over I’m never going to be hungry again. ple fall from grace, showing how violent will
No, not any of my folks! If I have to lie, steal, be the means to the fall, and discovering how
cheat or kill, as God is my witness I’ll never be close to showing explicit sex the film can go in
hungry again.” Tara—the land—is the place of the process. In the last half-century, as Holly-
sustenance, the place where the future will be wood went, so went films about the South, al-
made right. For that reason, at the end of the beit with southern versions often carrying the
film, as Rhett departs, Scarlett has a steadfast “gothic” label.
response: “Tara . . . Home. I’ll go home, and The rough and tawdry underside of human
I’ll think of some way to get him back. After all, life appeared with considerable force in John
tomorrow is another day.” This land-rooted- Ford’s 1941 film adaptation of Erskine Cald-
ness is distinctively southern, but, at the close well’s Tobacco Road (1932), which, along with
of one of America’s most difficult decades and God’s Little Acre (1933, film 1958), became best-
following a pattern wherein many Americans selling narratives of the southern white lower
gave up their links to the land, Scarlett’s need class—although still above the condition of the
to return to Tara resonated with a mass audi- African American. Caldwell was a native Geor-
ence. gian, and the South he projected in his works—
and that made it into film versions—was one
Toward a Modern, Tawdry, Complex South defined by poverty, tenantry, hard times, and,
With the 1940s and World War II, films about increasingly, depravity.
the South underwent powerful change. Jean The depravity theme worked its way into a
Renoir’s superb effort in The Southerner host of films about the South. The film adap-
(1945) signals part of the shift, for it fore- tation of Lillian Hellman’s play The Little Foxes
 THE SOUTH ] 469

(1941), centered on the aims and means of av- Arthur Penn’s The Chase (1966), based on a
aricious cruelty, led the way in deromanticiz- Horton Foote novel with a screenplay by Lil-
ing southern life in the modern era. The 1949 lian Hellman, extends the South’s sexual mo-
film version of Robert Penn Warren’s All the rass from the city to a Texas small town and
King’s Men caught the irony of having even a rural setting. Marlon Brando plays a decent
leader elected to serve the people’s interests be- but troubled local sheriff who tries to contain
come ensnared by dark impulses, most notably a crowd impelled by raging hormones and in-
sexual ones. Willie Stark (played by Broderick cessant adulterous impulses. White folks are
Crawford in an Academy Award–winning per- the main culprits in the ensuing mayhem, but
formance), the quintessential populist, strays their moral deficiencies also put blacks at risk.
outside marriage for sex, as does Louisiana A remark made by a black mother to her son
governor Earl Long (played by Paul Newman) at the beginning of the story as they observe
in the 1989 film Blaze. For decades, in reel life an escaped white prison convict on the road,
as well in real life, the South would have a van- “Let white men take care of white men’s prob-
guard place in the story of men overwhelmed lems,” seems prudent—but also problematic,
by prurient emotions. Television news shows given the pervasive interconnection of races in
from January 1998 to January 1999 in America the South. Penn’s next film, Bonnie and Clyde
were filled with lurid details of just such a (1967), covered some of the same geographic
story, trashing the man from Hope, Arkansas. region but simplified matters by concentrating
on white people’s violence against other white
Sex and Violence, Southern Style people, with it all driven somehow by re-
The cinematic lurch into sex as a feature of pressed sexual torment.
southern life was the product, in large part, of The brutal South is vividly represented in
a singular playwright. Tennessee Williams was three works from the late 1960s and early 1970s:
responsible for the material used in seven films Cool Hand Luke (1967), Easy Rider (1969), and
from 1951 to 1962, almost always in the same Deliverance (1972). The first blends more or
pattern. This theme was explosively intro- less standard prison fare with 1960s anti-
duced in the first work, A Streetcar Named De- establishment sentiment and plenty of sexual
sire (1951), with Vivien Leigh as the plum- longing, all tropes echoed in Joel and Ethan
meting, sexually needy Blanche DuBois and Coen’s rollicking O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Marlon Brando as the sexually supercharged, (2000). Easy Rider features an explosive
brutish Stanley Kowalski. The scene is New confrontation between the South’s conserva-
Orleans. New Orleans has all the charm of a tism and the rebellions of youth during the
cramped, congested, contagious city. It’s the 1960s. When long hair, drugs, and anti-
New Orleans of Jezebel, without the remedy of authoritarianism took to the road on motor-
an escape to a plantation. Blanche has only a cycles in the Deep South, resolution was found
fading recollection of “Belle Reve,” an illusion in the blast of a shotgun at close range. As the
of gentility, the beautiful dream of a lost past characters played by Peter Fonda and Dennis
where moonlight was kind to ladies and gen- Hopper discover, the country South stood
tlemen alike. Although the film was subjected fast—with guns at the ready—against the new-
to last-minute Legion of Decency censorship, fangled challenges of the counterculture.
what survived the cut made the main point Another kind of violent encounter appears
clear. In the city, Blanche is no match for Stan- in Deliverance, based on James Dickey’s novel
ley. Brutal sexuality triumphs over beauty. As of the same name, when four suburbanites
a result, the modern, industrialized South from Atlanta decide to have a whitewater ca-
proves to be a hard and ugly place. noeing experience before “progress” dams a
470 [ PLACES
river. Dickey’s lifelong enthusiasm for things
primal becomes more evident the deeper his
protagonists venture into the wilderness. Hu-
man beasts inhabit those backwoods, and sev-
eral kinds of violence, including sexual, be-
come manifest before the story ends back in
the protected suburbs of Atlanta.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Amid the clichéd films of the South from the
1950s to the 1990s, an occasional gem stands
apart. Such is the case with a movie from the
F I G U R E 5 8 . To Kill a Mockingbird (1963). The
early 1960s, another successful adaptation of a
confrontation between the lawyer Atticus Finch (Gregory
southerner’s novel. Besides The Birth of a Na- Peck) and a racist white, Bob Ewell ( James Anderson),
tion and Gone with the Wind, people mostly in front of an African American defendant’s (Brock
know the South in film from To Kill a Mock- Peters) home, illuminates the differences between how
whites and blacks lived in the South in the 1930s.
ingbird (1963, thirty-fourth on the AFI list). Courtesy Universal International Pictures and Pakula-
Horton Foote developed a superb screenplay Mulligan Brentwood Productions.
from Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize–winning
novel. Gregory Peck justly received an Acad- tion from a grown-up Scout, the film takes a
emy Award for best actor for his masterful long, deliberate look at a place in the past, the
portrait of Atticus Finch, a lawyer with a sense economically depressed world of the 1930s in
of human duty that transcends the color line. Macon, Georgia. Not surprisingly, this look
For much of what Harper Lee did in her novel, backward takes the form of a fond reminis-
William Faulkner’s Intruder in the Dust (1948, cence, for such a viewpoint reflects a long-
film 1949) provided a model of sorts. In each standing southern disposition to engage the
case, a black man is falsely accused of a crime. past with empathy. The sense of place in To
In each case, young white children have a role Kill a Mockingbird is palpable, tellingly realized
in propelling justice. But there are strong in small details of food, family, community,
changes, too. Faulkner’s young Charles Malli- and custom—all sensibly evocative of the
son is split into the two Finch children, with South. The key conflict of the film centers on
Scout, the spunky girl, being a guaranteed au- racial justice. While Atticus Finch does not
dience pleaser whether in print or on screen in succeed in saving his African American client
the person of Mary Badham; moreover, Faulk- from wrongful conviction or from death, the
ner’s renaissance lawyer Gavin Stevens evolves film nevertheless gave dignified voice and sig-
into Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, a nificant substance to the South’s slow emer-
loving and wise father, a courageous face-the- gence from the grasp of bigotry and race con-
lynch-mob individualist, and a compassionate flict, which is the longest and deepest story to
human being capable of rising above social be told in the history of the South.
prejudice when justice calls.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous The Diverse South
“I Have a Dream” speech on the National Mall As the twentieth century closed, the South was
in Washington in 1963. As America inched many things. There was not only Robert Alt-
slowly toward King’s dream, To Kill a Mock- man’s postmodern Nashville (1975), a Moral
ingbird dovetailed with the mood of the na- Majority South run amok, but also the hard-
tion. After Kim Stanley’s voiceover introduc- scrabble Appalachian South of Coal Miner’s
 THE SOUTH ] 471

Daughter (1980), The River (1984), and Winter of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a famous Confed-
People (1989); the Deep South of Steel Mag- erate cavalry commander in the Civil War and
nolias (1989), The Big Easy ( 1987), and Grande founder of the Ku Klux Klan, but they never-
Isle (1992), Kelly McGillis’s adaptation of Kate theless have consequence. In Gump’s case, his-
Chopin’s The Awakening; the endlessly corrupt tory haunts a person everywhere because it
South of John Grisham’s books-to-films canon must be lived down. Forrest’s eventual friend-
and John Sayles’s Matewan (1987) and Sun- ship with Bubba Blue, a black man from his
shine State (2002); the violent, racially charged Vietnam combat unit, thus corrects the errors
South of Billy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade of a past symbolized in his name. The Gump
(1996), Carl Franklin’s One False Move (1992), “Life is like a box of chocolates” phenomenon
and Marc Forster’s Monster’s Ball (2001); and, proved to be so strong and so appealing that it
finally, with echoes of all that has gone before spawned a restaurant franchise based on the
but without a hint of nostalgia, the Jonathan West Coast, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Demme–Oprah Winfrey adaptation of Toni More importantly, Forrest Gump (based on
Morrison’s Beloved (1998), which is the South Winston Groom’s 1986 novel) illustrates how
deep in time. Beloved came to the screen completely the South and southern culture
through the commitment of one of America’s would stake out ownership of American his-
most extraordinary media megastars, one fit to tory. Forrest Gump, a loveable innocent with a
match up well with the likes of Ted Turner and heart of gold, wanders in fine picaresque fash-
his Atlanta-based empire, which was, until the ion through all the major historical moments
moment it was sold to Time Warner, always of his generation: he is with Kennedy; he is with
looking forward, expanding into a larger and Johnson; he is with Nixon; he is with the peace
brighter future. Set off against that important protesters at the Washington Monument; he is
powerful contemporary southern impulse, one with the Chinese as the Cold War ends. Forrest
determined to make the years to come better Gump, archetypal southerner, is ubiquitous in
and bolder, the story of Beloved carries the modern history. The South may have lost the
heavy burden of history, constraints and all, Civil War, but as the twenty-first century opens,
which the South represents consistently and Americans who employ cinematic paradigms of
steadfastly to the American film industry. the past to define their own identities must in-
corporate southern history in the process. As
The South’s Claim on History Forrest Gump goes, so goes the nation.
Given its unique investment in maintaining an This pattern, with writers in the lead, pur-
enduring sense of history, the South will remain suing history as if by deeply rooted instinct, is
a place especially inviting to filmmakers who noted by Dewey Grantham in the conclusion
wish to explore the American historical record of The South in Modern America as he ap-
on a large screen. The linkage of place to history praises the future for the long-enduring and
is so profound that it is difficult to render a film continuing pattern of distinctiveness in south-
story in the South without invoking its past. ern culture. The differences Grantham spot-
Such historical references may be relatively sub- lights are attractive for film treatment, thus as-
tle, as in the naming of Forrest Gump (played suring that films will always be part of the
by Tom Hanks), which honors the memory South’s history.

References
Filmography The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman
All the King’s Men (1949, F) (1974, TV)
472 [ PLACES
Beloved (1998, F) Carnes, Mark C., ed. Past Imperfect: History According
Blaze (1989, F) to the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995.
The Big Easy (1987, F) Carter, Everett. “Cultural History Written with Light-
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) ning: The Significance of The Birth of a Nation.” In
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F) Peter C. Rollins, ed., Hollywood as Historian:
The Chase (1966, F) American Film in a Cultural Context, 9–19. 2d ed.
Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980, F) Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
Cookie’s Fortune (1999, F) Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood
Cool Hand Luke (1967, F) Message Movie from World War II to the Civil
The Defiant Ones (1958, F) Rights Era. New York: Oxford University Press,
Deliverance (1972, F) 1993.
Driving Miss Daisy (1989, F) ——. Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American
Easy Rider (1969, F) Film, 1900–1942. New York: Oxford University
Forrest Gump (1994, F) Press, 1977.
Ghosts of Mississippi (1996, F) Egerton, John. Shades of Gray: Dispatches from the
God’s Little Acre (1958, F) Modern South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Uni-
Gone with the Wind (1939, F) versity Press, 1991.
Grand Isle (1992, F) Faust, Drew Gilpin. James Henry Hammond and the
In Old Kentucky (1935, F) Old South: A Design for Mastery. Baton Rouge:
Intruder in the Dust (1949, F) Louisiana State University Press, 1982.
Jezebel (1938, F) Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Rev-
Judge Priest (1934, F) olution, 1863–1877. New York: Harper & Row,
The Little Foxes (1941, F) 1988.
The Littlest Rebel (1935, F) ——. The Story of American Freedom. New York:
Matewan (1987, F) Norton, 1998.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1998, F) French, Warren, ed. The South and Film. Jackson:
Mississippi (1935, F) University Press of Mississippi, 1981.
Mississippi Burning (1988, F) Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the
Mississippi Masala (1992, F) Slaves Made. New York: Vintage, 1976.
Monster’s Ball (2001, F) ——. The Southern Tradition: The Achievement and
Nashville (1975, F) Limitations of an American Conservatism. Cam-
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, F) bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.
One False Move (1992, F) Grantham, Dewey W. The South in Modern America:
The Patriot (2000, F) A Region at Odds. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
Roots (1977, TV) Heider, Karl G., ed. Images of the South: Constructing
Sherman’s March (1986, D) a Regional Culture on Film and Video. Athens: Uni-
Sling Blade (1996, F) versity of Georgia Press, 1993.
Songcatcher (2001, F) Kirby, Jack Temple. Media-Made Dixie: The South in
Song of the South (1946, F) the American Imagination. Baton Rouge: Louisiana
So Red the Rose (1935, F) State University Press, 1978.
The Southerner (1945, F) Leuchtenburg, William E. The Perils of Prosperity,
Steamboat ’Round the Bend (1935, F) 1914–1932. Rev. ed. Chicago: University of Chi-
Steel Magnolias (1989, F) cago Press, 1993.
Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, F)
tory of American Movies. Rev. ed. New York: Vin-
Sunshine State (2002, F)
tage, 1994.
Terms of Endearment (1983, F)
Smith, Stephen A. Myth, Media, and the Southern
Tobacco Road (1941, F)
Mind. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press,
To Kill a Mockingbird (1963, F)
1985.
Winter People (1989, F)
Tindall, George. The Emergence of the New South,
1913–1945. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State Univer-
sity Press, 1967.
Bibliography Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood. Urbana:
Boles, John H. The South Through Time: A History of University of Illinois Press, 1966.
an American Region. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Woodward, C. Vann. The Burden of Southern History.
Prentice-Hall, 1995. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press,
Campbell, Edward D. C., Jr. The Celluloid South: Hol- 1960.
lywood and the Southern Myth. Knoxville: Univer- ——. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. 3d ed. New
sity of Tennessee Press, 1981. York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
[ SUSAN OPT AND MICHAEL DENISON ]

Space

he dream of space flight has been around have changed. Historians typically describe the

T as long as humankind has been telling sto-

ries. With the advent of film, the stories
of exploring that frontier moved from printed
page to the theater screen. Early cinematic au-
U.S. space program as evolving in three
stages—pre-Sputnik, post-Sputnik, and post-
Apollo.
The early, pre-Sputnik days of space flight
diences were delighted by Georges Méliès’s development were characterized by loners,
1902 film version of Jules Verne’s A Trip to the amateurs, and rocket-society members who
Moon, clips of which would later be shown as received little outside funding for their work
human beings actually touched down on the yet designed and tested much of the technol-
moon in 1969. But the reality of space explo- ogy that would be essential in upcoming de-
ration, as manifest in the U.S. space program, cades. During World War II, the U.S. govern-
has often varied from the dreams of the writers ment became interested in military rocket
and filmmakers. Historian H. J. P. Arnold ex- applications, and in the 1950s it worked on
plains, “The latter, quite rightly, concentrate developing reconnaissance satellites. As to the
upon engineering, technological and scientific reason for space flight, historian Roger Laun-
matters and ignore the vagaries of political ius notes, “Before the Sputnik crisis, space en-
considerations” (235). Cinematic portrayals of thusiasts were motivated by an expansive view
the U.S. space program—from the early days of human voyages of discovery, exploration
of rocket-shaped vehicles exploring outer and settlement of the moon and other planets
space to the latter-day shuttle astronauts who of the solar system and eventual interstellar
save Earth from impending doom—have, to travel” (6). However, he adds that these objec-
some extent, reflected the issues and emphases tives rarely motivated political leaders to invest
of the space program. Yet, although documen- heavily in space ventures.
taries have kept audiences informed of the Manned flight was envisioned as a possibility
space program’s technological progress, fea- for space travel, but unmanned flight was an
ture films have only rarely focused on the easier probability. These early decades of space
space program itself. flight attempts were riddled with failures—
rockets often exploded on launch pads or
NASA: The History veered off course. But, during this pre-Sputnik
Historians note that many factors, such as era, Americans became aware that reaching
technology, society, and politics, have influ- space was a possibility, and the agenda for the
enced the development of the U.S. space pro- future U.S. space agency—the National Aero-
gram. Two main questions have always dom- nautics and Space Administration (NASA)—
inated decisions about conquering the space began to take shape. In 1951, rocket scientist
frontier: Why do it? What is the best way to Wernher von Braun outlined a space program
do it? As the program moved forward, answers beginning with cargo rockets and space shuttles,

473
474 [ PLACES
then moving to large space stations, and finally But as soon as it began, so did it seem to
advancing to manned moon and Mars landings end. Historians view NASA as reaching its
(Heppenheimer, 89–90). golden years during the 1960s. After the moon
The scenario von Braun proposed for a ra- landing in July 1969, public attention to—and
tional, long-term development of a space pro- government funding for—further moon land-
gram was shattered on October 4, 1957, when ings and space exploration began to wane. His-
Americans learned of the Soviet satellite Sput- torians attribute this decline in interest to a
nik circling overhead. Almost overnight, U.S. combination of the high costs of the Vietnam
attitudes toward space flight shifted to concern War, soaring budget deficits, and wrenching
that the Cold War enemy would come to dom- domestic strife. Although the harrowing flight
inate the heavens. Space flight capability sym- of Apollo 13 in April 1970 captured world in-
bolized technological progress and advance- terest briefly, after Apollo 17 the remaining
ment. Furthermore, it was widely assumed that four moon missions were scrubbed.
Third World nations would ally themselves In looking back, historians characterize the
with the more technologically advanced nation Apollo Project as an anomaly in the space pro-
(Launius, 155). The Soviet Union would also gram’s development because it arose out of po-
launch the first spacecraft to fly by the moon, litical pressures rather than from a carefully
Luna I, in 1959, and put the first man in space chartered technological path. Early expectations
in 1961—once again challenging American were that NASA would return to the original
claims about the superiority of a free society. proposed course of developing a space station
In response to the perceived Soviet threat, and eventually head out to Mars. But, again,
NASA was created in 1958 to organize and because of political and social concerns, this re-
oversee the U.S. space program, and President turn, too, was not to be. Three decades after
Kennedy, in 1961, set the goal of landing a humans beings walked on the moon, only parts
man on the moon before the end of the de- for a space station were beginning to be ferried
cade. This mission stimulated what many de- into orbit and travel to Mars was still limited to
scribe as the most rapid advance in technology survey probes such as Viking and Pathfinder.
ever experienced in human history, culminat- In 1972 NASA began work on a space shut-
ing in the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. tle, launched in 1981, that was designed as a
In the post-Sputnik days, the question of cheap alternative to a space station. Unlike the
why do it was suddenly clear—national secu- earlier space missions, the shuttle has been
rity and world leadership depended on it. viewed more as a workhorse than as a vehicle
Thus, NASA emerged out of America’s need to explore the new frontier, so it has never
to demonstrate the viability of its culture and achieved mythological status. Instead, the pro-
way of life as opposed to that of the Soviets. gram has been plagued by cost overruns, un-
As to how to do it, manned flight seemed the met expectations, and tragedies such as the
only option. Americans in space would serve Challenger explosion in January 1986. NASA
to signal the superiority of democracy over itself has undergone much criticism in recent
communism. Visionaries at the time predicted years for its bureaucracy and turf struggles.
space stations, moon bases, and trips to The shuttle program received a brief moment
Mars—space exploration was just beginning, of attention in 1998, when John Glenn, Amer-
and its possibilities were limitless. NASA “be- ica’s first man to orbit the earth in 1962 and
came the symbol for American technical, sci- now its oldest astronaut, rode aboard the shut-
entific, and operational superiority,” write tle Discovery.
Wendy Alter and James Logan, two former With the race to the moon won and the Cold
NASA employees. War largely a thing of the past, the answer to
 SPACE ] 475

the question of “why do it” has become less don (1936) and television’s Captain Video
clear in the post-Apollo days. Although pro- (1949) and Buck Rogers (1950) are examples
ponents of the space program have pointed from this era. Space flight was not portrayed
out the many benefits of space travel (such as as an organized government effort, but rather
the enhancement of communications, navi- as an undertaking of military, commercial, or
gation, and weather-watch systems, among private groups. These films were referred to as
others), program costs dominated the talk of “space operas,” just as westerns were referred
the 1990s. Although the ideal of exploring a to as “horse operas.” One exception was Des-
new frontier still prompts discussion of space tination Moon (1950), director George Pal’s
travel, it competes with demands that the first genre film, about a trip to the moon. Be-
United States rejuvenate its cities and farms. sides being the first motion picture to use star
And, once again, the question of manned ver- technology and effects, it also quite accurately
sus unmanned space flight is part of the public predicted the technological space race between
debate. In the twenty-first century, to travel the United States and the Soviet Union. Al-
beyond Earth’s orbit, space enthusiasts must though, in general, the films before 1957 are
turn to the movies. scientifically laughable, they have a certain
charm and emotional attraction. Americans
NASA: The Films look on space movies much as they look on
Where space and America converge in film, westerns, as important and beloved parts of
whether in futuristic dramas such as Star Trek: their cultural heritage. The advent of NASA,
The Motion Picture (1979) or Solaris (1972, however, would transform the attitude toward
2002), space-horror films such as Event Hori- space.
zon (1997) or Alien (1979), or even airy com- The post-Sputnik days were replete with
edies such as Space Truckers (1997) or Airplane documentaries educating the American public
II (1982), NASA or some thinly disguised ver- and promoting the U.S. space program. A
sion of it is almost certain to be involved some- steady stream flowed directly out of NASA—
how. No viewer today could avoid comparing which had, after all, original footage. These
and contrasting any space film with past, ex- ranged from dry explanations of scientific ex-
isting, or planned NASA program counter- periments and the latest equipment to films
parts. Media coverage and NASA documen- peddling jingoistic propaganda about the won-
taries have trained the public to recognize the ders of America’s space program. Following
“right” way that spacesuits, shuttlecraft, lunar World War II precedent, Walt Disney joined
excursion modules, and zero-gravity move- in supporting the government’s efforts with
ment should look. And filmmakers have had the film Man in Space in 1959.
to respond in kind, creating more technically In the feature film arena, the comedy The
sophisticated movies to meet those demanding Reluctant Astronaut (1967) parodied the U.S-
audience expectations. Soviet space race. It was released just as the
This was not the case, however, in the pre- Gemini program was ending and Apollo be-
Sputnik years. Films before 1957 were not un- ginning. The film featured scenes at the Hous-
der such restrictions concerning verisimili- ton Space Center, Mission Control, and Cape
tude. They featured storylines ranging from Kennedy. Up until this time in real life,
exploration to fighting off alien forces, low- NASA’s only first was a fourteen-day space en-
budget special effects with impractical space- durance record, set in 1965. But in the world
craft, spacesuits that looked like trapeze cos- of movies, the United States beat the Soviets
tumes, and huge computers with hundreds of at putting a bumbling janitor (Don Knotts)
gaily flashing lights. The film serial Flash Gor- into space. Despite the comedic angle, the
476 [ PLACES
movie promoted the real-life NASA image of audiences of the riskiness of the venture. The
an astronaut as being a courageous hero—an film’s focus on technical glitches and the un-
image that supported the mythology develop- certainty of the long-term effects of space flight
ing about the space program and would be re- on human beings highlights the dark potenti-
peated in almost all NASA-related films to ality of space travel, rarely mentioned in the
come. glory days of NASA. The film, released right
A year later, just after the United States ac- after the Apollo 12 launch, almost foreshadows
complished another first—orbiting men the real life crisis NASA would face with Apollo
around the moon in Apollo 8—Stanley Ku- 13 and the possibility of cooperation between
brick’s classic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) de- the two space-race giants (a Soviet cosmonaut
buted. Even now, more than three decades af- saves, at the last minute, an American astro-
ter its initial release, audiences are still awed naut). In fact, the 1994 documentary Moonshot
by its challenging themes, scientific accuracy, suggests that Marooned helped set the stage for
and stunning cinematography. In 1998, the the eventual 1975 joint U.S.-Soviet Apollo-
American Film Institute listed it as one of the Soyuz flight. Despite the loss of one astronaut
one hundred best American films. While not in Marooned, NASA is still portrayed as a he-
about NASA directly, the movie reflects roic institution, ready to overcome any obsta-
Wernher von Braun’s vision for the U.S. space cle. In fact, NASA provided technical advisers
program set in 1951—traveling by shuttlecraft during filming, and the movie won an Acad-
to space stations, from space stations to moon emy Award for special effects. However, it was
bases, and from moon bases to the outer fron- not a box-office hit, which cinema critic John
tiers of space. Among the scientific matters the Brosnan blames on the real moon landing that
film deals with accurately are artificially in- took place the year of the film’s release, “an
duced gravity, eating and voiding in the ab- event that tended to make the cinema’s space
sence of gravity, hibernation, time delays in age activity look rather out of date” (184).
communication with Earth, explosive decom- It was almost a decade after the Apollo 11
pression, artificial-intelligence computers run landing before NASA appeared on the feature
amok, and the likelihood that our eventual en- screen again, this time as a villain in Peter
counter with an intelligence much greater than Hyams’s Capricorn One (1978). As NASA is
our own may be far beyond our immediate preparing for the first manned Mars mission,
understanding. (The last point is echoed par- it discovers a major technical flaw in the space-
ticularly well in 1997’s Contact, starring Jodie craft that will result in disaster. Rather than
Foster.) However, the “why” of space flight scrub the flight and lose program funding,
differs from the reality of the post-Sputnik era. Dr. James Kelloway (Hal Holbrook) of NASA
In 2001, the motivation was scientific explo- decides to fake the mission on a soundstage
ration, not international competition. In 1968 and then murder the astronauts. This film is
as well, Robert Altman’s Countdown was re- one of the few that truly reflects the issues be-
leased. This underseen gem shows the lives of ing raised in post-Apollo years about the
astronauts in much the same way that The “how” and “why” of space flight.
Right Stuff would in later years, again reinforc- In 1983, the first feature film to recount ac-
ing the cultural mythology developing around tual NASA history was released—Philip Kauf-
the U.S. space program. man’s The Right Stuff, based on Tom Wolfe’s
One year after 2001 portrayed space flight as historical novel about the Mercury space pro-
a routine operation of the future and man gram. The film deals not only with the history
walked on the moon, the movie Marooned of the program but also with the politics of the
(1969), directed by John Sturges, reminded space race, the personal lives of the astronauts
 SPACE ] 477

Apollo 13 flight, in which a scheduled moon-

landing mission had to be aborted after an
oxygen tank on the craft exploded. The film,
released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
flight, takes a NASA failure—a story NASA
had avoided telling since 1970—and trans-
forms it into a success of heroic proportions.
NASA is portrayed in a man-against-failed-
technology struggle, but with the involved hu-
man elements also carefully drawn and pow-
erfully acted by Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin
Bacon, and Gary Sinise. Although the audience
knows that all ended well, viewer interest and
FIGURE 59. Marooned (1969). A mishap prevents the
return of three astronauts to earth, raising questions suspense are sustained by intercutting from
about the reliability of technology and the logic behind technological challenges aloft to family anxie-
and safety of manned space travel. The film’s realism ties on the ground. Apollo 13 serves as a re-
sent a disconcerting message to the nation upon its
release after Apollo 12 and before the crisis of Apollo 13.
minder of the golden years of NASA, when
Courtesy Columbia Pictures. Yankee ingenuity ruled and Americans could
overcome any challenge.
and their families, and the mythic ethos sur- Two years later, The Right Stuff and Apollo
rounding some very brave test pilots. The film 13 would be parodied in Disney’s The Rocket-
delineates how the real-life NASA created and man (1997) in which a nerdy computer genius
exploited the heroic mythology of the astro- serves as a last-minute replacement on the first
nauts. Ironically, at the same time, Kaufman manned mission to Mars. This comic story is
reinforces the heroic myth. The film, which probably less a comment on NASA than on
stars Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, the rising social importance in America of the
Dennis Quaid, and Fred Ward, was a roaring so-called nerds. With no national crisis moti-
success, and newspaper reviews of the time vating the space program, Disney could play
suggest that the film’s release, just as John with the topic. However, the film does reflect
Glenn was running for U.S. Senate, may have the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of the
contributed to his successful bid for office. The real-life NASA, with women and minorities
image from the film of the astronauts in their featured as astronauts.
spacesuits walking abreast straight toward the In the post-Apollo days, without a Soviet an-
camera has become a potent and widely imi- tagonist to prompt the U.S. space program,
tated symbol of the space age. Later this scene filmmakers have had to turn to outer world
would be reenacted as a cinematic allusion in threats to find gripping conflict. In two block-
Armageddon (1998), as the astronauts leave buster films of 1998, Armageddon, directed by
Earth to save humanity from certain destruc- Michael Bay, and Deep Impact, directed by
tion, and in Space Cowboys (2000), as the el- Mimi Leder, amateurs and astronauts do more
derly test pilots set out to save humanity from than save the free world as in the days of
a rogue satellite weapon. Apollo—they save the globe itself. In both pro-
The only other major feature film to deal ductions, the heroes travel via NASA shuttles
specifically with NASA history appeared in to incoming asteroids that threaten to destroy
1995—director Ron Howard’s Apollo 13. the earth. In Armageddon, however, NASA is
Based on astronaut Jim Lovell’s book Lost portrayed as an inept bureaucracy that has to
Moon, the movie recounts the story of the 1970 call for the assistance of a ragtag group of ci-
478 [ PLACES
vilian deep-sea oil drillers to help save human- and Deke Slayton’s memories of the space
kind, rough-hewn men of Earth, not unlike the program. “Keeping the dream alive” is a di-
test pilots who were called in to help during rect quotation from Deke Slayton, and by in-
the Mercury program. In Deep Impact, NASA tercutting between the glorious past and the
astronauts make the ultimate sacrifice to save seemingly pedestrian present, the film implies
the world—their lives. Both movies point to a that the dream will die if the United States
possible reason for the real-life NASA to con- does not have the imagination and resources
tinue space exploration—one day the fate of to rekindle the flame.
the world may depend on space technology. In April 1998, HBO premiered the twelve-
In recent years, NASA has also been featured hour docudrama From the Earth to the Moon,
in a few more films, such as Brian De Palma’s executive producer and host Tom Hanks’s
Mission to Mars, Anthony Hoffman’s Red dream project—telling the stories of all twelve
Planet, and Clint Eastwood’s Space Cowboys manned Apollo missions. The series—which
(all 2000). The first two films use NASA as recreated virtually every shot from the begin-
little more than a nameplate on their respec- nings of the race to the moon in 1961 to the
tive space vehicles, although Eastwood’s film last Apollo landing in 1972 and, at $68 million,
does depict behind-the-scenes political ma- was the most expensive single original TV pro-
neuvering and offer musings on obsolescence. ject in history—received seventeen Emmy
It also alludes to NASA’s glory years and sug- nominations. President Bill Clinton, after pre-
gests, much like Armageddon, that today’s viewing the miniseries, remarked that the
NASA suffers from ineptitude. growth of the space program reflected the
Film and television documentaries in the growth of the United States since the 1960s.
post-Apollo years have ranged from contin- He added, “President Kennedy wanted us to
uing public education about current space become the world’s leading space-faring na-
technology to remembrances of the space tion, and we have. I want us to continue that
program’s golden era. Often these documen- distinction well into the twenty-first century.
taries have been released to coincide with a It is profoundly important to us” (383).
twenty-fifth, thirtieth, or fortieth anniversary
of a space-related achievement. For example, NASA’s Right Stuff
in 2002, Fox News Network aired To the In its history, NASA has fared well in motion
Moon and Beyond: Celebrating Apollo 17 to pictures. Aside from Capricorn One, the mov-
commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the ies and documentaries generally portray the
last moon mission. Among the best of these space agency as one that can meet any chal-
documentaries are The Dream Is Alive (1985), lenge and continually create new American he-
an IMAX film shot by the astronauts them- roes. Even in Capricorn One, the villain is not
selves aboard the space shuttles, which fea- really the space agency itself but a few mis-
tures glorious shots of the earth from space; guided zealots willing to do anything to save
For All Mankind (1989), a National Geo- the program—including deceiving the public.
graphic film nominated for the Academy Although in the real world NASA has suffered
Award for best documentary; Racing for the budget cuts, technological disappointments,
Moon (1989), an ABC retrospective on the and social criticism, in the world of film the
space race and the glory days; Space Station glory days continue, and the strong emotional
(2002), an IMAX film shot aboard the Inter- resonance that has been built up between
national Space Station; and Moonshot (1994), NASA and the entire genre of space movies
released on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the continues. In an age of bureaucracy and cor-
moon landing, which recounts Alan Shepard porate mergers, the frontier myth of Ameri-
 SPACE ] 479

cans as practical, adaptable individualists and down in film history as having had “the right
explorers retains its power. And NASA will go stuff.”

References
Filmography Bibliography
Airplane II (1982, F) Alter, Wendy, and James S. Logan. “NASA Goes to
Alien (1979, F) Ground.” Whole Earth Review, May 1992.
Apollo 13 (1995, F) Arnold, H. J. P., ed. Man in Space: An Illustrated
Armageddon (1998, F) History of Spaceflight. New York: Smithmark,
Capricorn One (1978, F) 1993.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, F) Bizony, Piers. “Politics of Apollo.” Omni, July 1994.
Contact (1997, F) Brosnan, John. Future Tense: The Cinema of Science
Countdown (1968, F) Fiction. New York: St. Martin’s, 1978.
Dark Star (1974, F) Clinton, William J. “Remarks at the Screening of
Deep Impact (1998, F) Earth to the Moon.” Weekly Compilations of Presi-
Destination Moon (1950, F) dential Documents 383.2 (9 March 1998).
Destination Space (2000, D) Dewaard, E. John, and Nancy Dewaard. History of
Diamonds Are Forever (1971, F) NASA: America’s Voyage to the Stars. New York:
The Dream Is Alive (1985, D) Exeter, 1984.
Event Horizon (1997, F) Heppenheimer, T. A. Countdown: A History of Space
For All Mankind (1989, D) Flight. New York: Wiley, 1997.
From the Earth to the Moon (1998, D) Heppenheimer, T. A., and Frederic Smoler. “Lost in
Man in Space (1959, F) Space: What Went Wrong with NASA?” American
Marooned (1969, F) Heritage, November 1992.
Mission to Mars (2000, F) Launius, Roger D. Frontiers of Space Exploration.
Moonraker (1979, F) Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.
Moonshot (1994, D) Menville, Douglas, and R. Reginald. Things to Come:
Planet of the Apes (1968, F; 2001, F) An Illustrated History of the Science Fiction Film.
Project X (1987, F) New York: Times Books, 1977.
Racing for the Moon (1989, D) National Aeronautics and Space Administration. His-
Red Planet (2000, F) tory of Space Exploration. Available online at:
The Reluctant Astronaut (1967, F) www.ksc.nasa.gov./history.
The Right Stuff (1983, F) Opt, Susan K. “American Frontier Myth and the
Rocketman (1997, F) Flight of Apollo 13: From News Event to Feature
Solaris (1972, F; 2002, F) Film.” Film & History 26.1–4 (1996): 40–51.
Space Cowboys (2000, F) Taylor, L. B. For All Mankind: America’s Space Pro-
Space Station (2002, D) gram of the 1970s and Beyond. New York: Dutton,
Space Truckers (1997, F) 1974.
Stargate (1994, F) Warren, Bill. Keep Watching the Skies! American Sci-
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, F) ence Fiction Movies of the Fifties. 2 vols. Jefferson,
To the Moon (1999, D) NC: McFarland, 1982–86.
To the Moon and Beyond: Celebrating Apollo 17 Wright, Gene. Science Fiction Image: The Illustrated
(2002, D) Encyclopedia of Science Fiction in Film, Television,
A Trip to the Moon (1902, F) Radio and the Theater. New York: Facts on File,
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, F) 1983.
[ DAVID E. WILT ]

Suburbia

uburbia is as much a state of mind as it as a breeding ground for malaise and discon-

S is a particular geographic location. Pop-

ular culture—especially movies and tele-
vision but also books, novels and stories, even
advertising—has cemented the image of a sub-
tent—have characterized the debate over sub-
urbia in America since the early twentieth cen-
tury.
For many, the word “suburbs” evokes the
urban lifestyle in the public consciousness as post–World War II American phenomenon
the embodiment of the American dream. But that started with tract housing developments
is this dream actually a nightmare? Since the such as Levittown. But although suburbs have
1950s, films have frequently depicted suburbs actually existed for centuries, it was not until
as outwardly pleasant places to live but regi- the advent of public transportation systems in
mented and stultifying yet spiced with unsa- the nineteenth century that it was convenient
vory outbreaks of promiscuity, vice, and vio- for people to live a significant distance from
lence. the city center—where business, industry, and
Historians and social scientists have long de- cultural activities were located—and yet travel
bated the significance of the American suburb. there on a regular, daily basis. Railroads were
Kenneth T. Jackson writes that “suburbia sym- followed by the horse-drawn streetcar, the ca-
bolizes the fullest, most unadulterated embod- ble car, and the electric streetcar or “trolley”
iment of contemporary culture; it is a mani- as means of opening up the land surrounding
festation of such fundamental characteristics cities for settlement by those who would travel
of American society as conspicuous consump- to work in the city, “commuters.” The private
tion, a reliance upon the private automobile, automobile, which became affordable with the
upward mobility, the separation of the family introduction of the Ford Model T in 1908,
into nuclear units, the widening division be- contributed to the spread of suburban com-
tween work and leisure, and a tendency toward munities (and eventually, the decline of public
racial and economic exclusiveness” (4). But transportation), although it would be several
psychiatrist Bernard Gordon, in his study of decades before the nation’s road system caught
Bergen County, New Jersey, sees another side up to the huge increase in car ownership.
of suburban living: “Why do we needle the The growth of American suburbs was not
typical American about his shiny mass- driven solely by advances in transportation.
produced house and car, his manners and Just because people could live outside the city
more? Possibly because he represents the great did not mean they would want to live there.
sad joke of our time. Having amassed a wealth The suburban experience in the United States
that used to be the subject of fairy tales, he was also a function of factors such as the abun-
often finds that he isn’t happy at all” (28). dance of relatively cheap land, high wages, ad-
These two viewpoints—suburbia as the em- vances in home building design (which re-
bodiment of American culture and suburbia duced the cost of construction), and the desire

480
 SUBURBIA ] 481

to own a private, family home, which meant a the city and have a wild “boys’ night out.” Sim-
detached house on a plot of land. Suburbs ilarly, the depiction of “suburban sin”—so
were perceived as clean, healthy, safe, and pri- popular in novels and films of the 1950s and
vate, the opposite of overcrowded ghettos in 1960s—may be found as early as Let’s Be Fash-
the city. ionable (1920), which takes place in “the sub-
The Depression and World War II tempo- urban community of Elmhurst, where it is
rarily slowed the construction of new homes considered fashionable for married couples to
and the production of private automobiles, but engage in harmless affairs” (American Film In-
as soon as the war ended, the process of sub- stitute, F1, 511).
urbanization resumed at an even greater rate. The occasional use of suburbia as a setting
It was during this period that criticism of the or a plot device persisted into the 1930s, al-
suburbs began to be heard. Funds for public though few films seriously addressed the topic
transportation were diverted to highways; the of suburbia and its impact on society. The plot
decline of America’s city centers increased. of The Night of June 13 (1932) involves a man
Critics suggested that suburban living weak- whose wife committed suicide because she was
ened the extended family by leaving house- jealous that he was riding to the commuter rail
wives and children isolated during the day. station with an attractive neighbor! In Mama
Furthermore, the suburban lifestyle, though Runs Wild (1938), a married couple moves to
available to many more Americans than be- the “Paradise Park” development. The house-
fore, was still largely restricted to certain wives try to shut down the local tavern, the
socioeconomic and racial segments of society. men rebel, and eventually there is a Lysistrata-
Although suburbia is still the “quintessential style war between the sexes. Although the pro-
physical achievement of the United States” tagonist of Three Men on a Horse (1936) lives
( Jackson, 4), over the past several decades in a “cookie-cutter sub-development” (Amer-
steps have been taken in an attempt to mitigate ican Film Institute, F3, 2199), his commute by
some of its problems. Intensive efforts have bus does have one positive benefit: only on this
been made to revitalize some cities, and public daily trip to work can he unfailingly pick the
transportation has regained some support for winners of horse races.
ecological and economic reasons. As the sup- Suburban life—despite its foibles—was by
ply of cheap and available suburban land be- no means considered undesirable. Home own-
comes exhausted, some predict a gradual re- ership was still part of the American dream,
turn to city living for the middle class, as has although the Depression made buying a home
occurred in Chicago, for example. However, of one’s own more difficult to achieve. In 1939,
although suburbs may change, they are un- the American Institute of Planners sponsored
likely to disappear. the production of a documentary film for the
upcoming New York World’s Fair. Documen-
Early Film Images of Suburbia tary filmmaker Pare Lorentz wrote the script,
Films with recognizably “suburban” themes based the ideas of urban planner and historian
and settings date back to the first decade of the Lewis Mumford. The result was The City
century, in comedy shorts such as The Subur- (1939), directed by Ralph Steiner and Willard
banite (1904) and The Suburbanite’s Ingenious Van Dyke. This film begins by lauding New
Alarm (1908). The mechanics of suburban liv- England small towns: the sense of community,
ing—and its companion, the commute to the convenience, the pleasant and healthy life-
work—figure in the plot of The Commuters style. The City then illustrates the pitfalls of life
(1915), which concerns businessmen who use in modern, overcrowded, dirty, and hectic in-
the excuse that they are working late to stay in dustrialized cities. Acknowledging America’s
482 [ PLACES
inability to return to the bucolic pleasures of tagonists—usually for comic effect—trying to
small-town life, the final section of the picture rehabilitate decrepit older homes. These
suggests the development of “green commu- films, even those set beyond the suburbs in
nities,” where the advantages of small towns truly rural areas, carry a double message.
could be combined with the new industrial They reiterate the American desire for a pri-
economy. The film calls for the construction vate home outside the city; they also exagger-
of planned communities, utilizing modern ate some of the more mundane aspects of
technology and mass transit, as an alternative home ownership, such as repair and mainte-
to decaying cities. In 1964, Lewis Mumford su- nance. As opposed to apartment dwellers
pervised the production of six new short whose maintenance needs are handled by
films—made under the auspices of the Cana- various and sundry employees of the build-
dian Film Board—further examining the re- ing’s owner, suburban homeowners must em-
lationships between the city and society. ulate their pioneer ancestors and become
members of the “do it yourself ” fraternity, or
Suburbs in 1940s Hollywood rely on eccentric and unreliable outside con-
Although, as Robert Fishman notes “the two tractors. An early example of this type of film
great symbols of postwar Los Angeles—the is George Washington Slept Here (1942), in
tract of endlessly repeated suburban houses which Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan move
and the freeway—were developed in the from a New York City high-rise apartment to
1930s” (172), suburbia as a nationwide phe- a rundown Pennsylvania farmhouse. Mr.
nomenon, with its own media identity, is Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) has
rooted in the years after World War II. “The a similar premise, this time with Cary Grant
boys came marching home in 1945 and 1946, and Myrna Loy as the urban refugees who
produced babies, and looked for homes to move to the clean air of the suburbs, only to
house their families. Instant suburbs, thrown discover that their dream house is a wreck. As
up by developers, without professional plan- the influx of “home improvement” programs
ning or architectural assistance, supplied the on television attest, the theme continues to be
homes and the GIs moved in” (Donaldson, a topical one, and has served as the basis for
39). Levittown, a name synonymous with tract such films as The Money Pit (1986) and Life
housing developments, consisted of seventeen as a House (2001).
thousand homes on Long Island. At first, films
and other forms of popular culture portrayed The 1950s and 1960s: Suburbia for All
suburbanization as a positive move toward ful- The names of housing developments, real and
fillment of the American dream—to own a filmic, hint at the appeal of suburban living:
“piece of land.” It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) Bailey Park, Paradise Park, Sunrise Hills, Elm-
illustrates this point: George Bailey’s ( James hurst, Cuesta Verde. “The suburbanite tries to
Stewart) goal as manager of a building and escape from the noisy dirty city to the lap of
loan society is to help his fellow citizens buy nature” (Donaldson, 55), or at least to some
homes in the “Bailey Park” subdivision. The approximation of nature. The American belief
happy homeowners can raise their children in in the nobility of the farmer had to be tem-
clean, healthful surroundings, instead of rent- pered with the realistic needs of everyday life,
ing sordid tenements from the sinister Mr. and, for most, the suburbs were a satisfactory
Potter (Lionel Barrymore). compromise. Films critical of suburbia point
Some films dealing with flight from the city out exactly how much “nature” most subur-
to the suburbs eschew the stereotyped image banites encountered: in Poltergeist (1981), for
of tract housing, choosing to depict their pro- example, the only tree visible in the entire de-
 SUBURBIA ] 483

velopment is a huge, gnarled, dead specimen

(which eventually comes to life and tries to
swallow the family’s son). Both Poltergeist and
the much earlier No Down Payment (1957)
show that the “piece of land” homeowners
purchased was often so narrow that the next
house was literally an arm’s length away.
And yet, by the 1950s, suburban living had
become a middle-class ideal: between 1934
and 1954, the population of the suburbs grew
by 75 percent, while the total population of
the United States increased by just 25 percent.
F I G U R E 6 0 . No Down Payment (1957). Glowing in the
It should be noted that both in real life and charms of suburban life in a new housing development
in popular culture, “suburbia” had a dichot- in California, Jerry Flagg (Tony Randall, right) enjoys
omous meaning. There were upper-middle- a drink with a neighbor as his wife (Sheree North) and
the children play Monopoly. When the Flaggs face a
class suburbs (Connecticut was the arche- monetary crisis that threatens their home, tragedy ripples
type), where well-paid executives and other throughout the community, taking the form of
white-collar workers lived, commuting each alcoholism, murder, and divorce. Courtesy Twentieth
day to the metropolis by train. On the other Century-Fox.

hand were the massive Levittown-like subdi-

visions, populated by young families of more output absolutely excluded suburbia because
modest means, whose breadwinner often most of the movies were period films (includ-
commuted by car to his job. Befitting their ing westerns), took place in foreign locales, or
economic and social differences, the lives and were clearly restricted to specific urban or truly
problems of the residents of these two types rural settings.
of suburbs were depicted as quite dissimilar. Television, on the other hand—and particu-
The protagonist (Gregory Peck) of The Man larly the situation comedy—has long been a
in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956), for example, fertile source for images of suburbia. But it was
is a war veteran living in a mortgaged home not always so. The Kramdens and the Nortons
in Connecticut; however, his home and in The Honeymooners lived in New York City
white-collar city job are distinctly superior to apartments, as befitting the economic status of
those of the veteran (Cameron Mitchell) liv- Ralph and Ed (bus driver and sewer worker,
ing in tract housing in No Down Payment respectively). In I Love Lucy, Lucy and Ricky
who manages a gas station and whose neigh- Ricardo also lived in a New York apartment,
bors are salesmen, small businessmen, and albeit a nicer one than the Kramdens’. How-
the like. ever, in the last season of the series the Ricar-
Nonetheless, both types of suburbia were dos moved to the suburbs—not a Levittown
tarred with the same brush in popular culture, tract house, of course, but an upscale Con-
when the phenomenon was considered as the necticut town. This new location provided new
central theme of a novel or film. More often material for jokes, including gags about two
than not, suburban life was either ignored or quintessential suburban pastimes, lawn mow-
used—generally without comment—as just ing and backyard barbecues.
one more setting in a film. Hollywood, par- The Dick Van Dyke Show featured an arche-
ticularly, found more excitement in exotic and typal suburban situation: Rob Petrie lives in a
urban locales than in the suburbs. In 1955, for detached house in New Rochelle, and com-
example, at least 60 percent of Hollywood’s mutes every day to his office in New York City.
484 [ PLACES
Laura Petrie is a housewife and mother. Ironi- to suggest that, in order to make an interesting
cally, perhaps as part of an antisuburban back- film, Hollywood would naturally choose to
lash in popular culture, That Girl’s protagonist “accentuate the negative,” but the negative im-
moves from New Rochelle to New York City age of suburbia was not just a creation of pop-
as the series opens (in 1966). Although situa- ular culture: The Split-Level Trap, a 1960 so-
tion comedy will never desert the suburbs en- ciological study, begins almost like a Stephen
tirely (TV’s The Simpsons is proof of this), King novel: “What has been happening to
many popular shows of the past several de- these people? What is so terribly wrong, in this
cades—particularly those that do not center on pretty green community?” (Gordon, 19).
a nuclear family in its home—have returned In 1960s and 1970s cinema, suburbia
to city locations, including such productions seemed a little less like hell, but there were still
as Seinfeld, Friends, and Frasier. many critical and satirical images in films such
Films, TV shows, and books of the late 1950s as Bachelor in Paradise (1961), in which travel
dealing with the suburban phenomenon were writer Bob Hope is assigned to live in and
almost universally critical of the “multitude of study a suburb, another “exotic” location. As
uniform, unidentifiable houses, lined up in- the only bachelor in the development of Par-
flexibly at uniform distances . . . inhabited by adise Valley, Hope’s character is home all day
people of the same class, the same income, the and surrounded by curious housewives, lead-
same age group, witnessing the same television ing to the expected comic romantic entangle-
performances . . . conforming in every out- ments. Suburbia as a setting for illicit sex, a
ward and inward respect to a common mold” subtext of Frank Perry’s excellent film The
(Mumford, 486). No Down Payment focuses Swimmer (1968), gave rise to exploitation films
on four couples in the Sunrise Hills housing such as Sin in the Suburbs (1962), Suburban
development. During the course of the film, Roulette (1968), and Suburban Girls Club
rape, murder, alcoholism, racism, and divorce (1968). All three of these films feature orga-
are all highlighted. Rebel Without a Cause nized “sex clubs” that attempt to spice up the
(1955) shows that young couples are not the lives of bored suburbanites, especially house-
only ones suffering from suburban angst: teen- wives—a phenomenon of the 1960s and 1970s
age children of the middle class, despite the subtly critiqued, with fine use of period detail,
nice homes they live in and the material goods in Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm (1997).
bestowed upon them by their parents, are still However, the suburban state of mind was by
rootless and prone to random acts of senseless now so ingrained that many films were set in
violence and vandalism. Their parents discover suburbia without comment. As with television,
that living in a detached house in a “nice the norm was now a detached house in sub-
neighborhood” is no substitute for the per- urbia, often larger and somewhat more luxu-
sonal attention they are now too busy to give rious than those in which the audience lived,
their children. James Dean became a symbol but certainly, as Leslie Felperin writes, “in-
for a generation of Americans stifled by the stantly recognisable, with well-manicured
materialism of this world. lawns stretching a few tens of feet in front of
The melodramatic, even lurid, topics of pic- tract houses, white convenience stores and lu-
tures like No Down Payment and Rebel Without rid malls . . . anonymous locations with little
a Cause are not that different from those por- presence in the films themselves. . . . Suburbia,
trayed in Hollywood’s small towns (for ex- constantly on our screens, is seldom allowed
ample, Peyton Place, 1957). The setting makes to convey the character, specificity and local
the difference: implicit is the criticism that the identity that cinema allows cities and country-
suburban dream has a sinister lining. It is easy side alike” (15).
 SUBURBIA ] 485

The 1980s and 1990s: Suburban Hell idents, which basically means not revealing his
Criticism of the conformity of suburbia in the cannibalistic tendencies! The ’Burbs (1989)
1950s and 1960s did not come primarily from commences with an extended zoom-in on the
the counterculture of the day but rather from Universal Studios globe corporate logo, down
the intelligentsia. Starting in the late 1960s, the to mid-America, then down to an aerial shot
middle-class connotation of suburban living of a specific area, winding closer and closer
did draw the fire of rebellious youth, who (in until it singles out Mayfield Place, a suburban
theory, if not reality) rejected suburbia to live neighborhood (albeit not tract housing: these
in rural communes and urban neighborhoods are rather large Victorians) which is replete
such as San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury and with eccentric neighbors surrounding the
New York’s Greenwich Village. As time went home of Ray Peterson (Tom Hanks). Meet the
by, the pendulum swung back once more, and Applegates (1990) relates the adventures of a
in the past several decades the liberal estab- group of giant, intelligent insects who assume
lishment—represented by Hollywood—has human form and try to “fit in” as a typical,
once again chosen suburbia as a target. middle-class suburban family. In the TV spin-
Poltergeist is one of the more barbed attacks, off The Coneheads (1993), the pinheaded alien
lightly camouflaged as a horror film. The Cali- visitors do not even try to camouflage them-
fornia housing development of Cuesta Verde selves as they go through the stereotypical ac-
is depicted as a place where families can raise tions of suburbanites. These films mock the
their children in nice homes (even though one conventional image of suburbia, showing that
prospective buyer complains “I can’t tell one even aliens, cannibals, and giant insects can be
house from another”), but it is also sun-baked assimilated into a Father Knows Best–style so-
and mosquito-infested, and the homes are so ciety. Next Friday (2000) contains an interest-
close to one another that one man’s TV remote ing variation on the Hollywood image of sub-
control wreaks havoc on his neighbor’s set. urbia: Watts resident Craig (Ice Cube) is sent
The real horror underlying Cuesta Verde is not to live in Rancho Cucamonga with his uncle
revealed until the conclusion: the development and cousin in order to avoid a vengeance-
was built over a cemetery, and the undead seeking gangster. The lily-white suburbs have
“residents” resent their new, living neighbors. become integrated, as the residents include
Clearly, the film strives for a metaphor about whites, African Americans, and Hispanics, a
the spiritual corruption underlying suburbia. phenomenon the comedy Blast from the Past
Neighbors (1981), based on a Thomas Berger (1999) has fun with as well.
novel, relates how the arrival of two uncon- Pleasantville (1998) goes a step further: al-
ventional neighbors disrupts the boring sub- though the television-show “universe” to
urban life of Earl Keese ( John Belushi). At which the film’s two protagonists are trans-
film’s end, Earl abandons his home and fam- ported is “perfect,” its drab sterility enforces
ily—even setting his home on fire—and drives conformity and represses emotion among its
off to an undetermined destination with the inhabitants. As the two interlopers begin to af-
bizarre Vic and Ramona (Dan Aykroyd and fect the stultified world, the film changes from
Cathy Moriarty), freed from the shackles of black and white to color. In American Beauty
bourgeois conventionality. (1999), the ideal suburban lifestyle is revealed
Other idiosyncratic assaults on the suburban to be an empty shell. Although the film dwells
mythos include Parents (1989), which is set in on the sexual aspects rather excessively (infi-
the 1950s and opens with aerial shots of a delity, voyeurism, exhibitionism, repressed
housing development. The father in this film and open homosexuality, and the sexual at-
insists “We have to fit in” with the other res- traction between a middle-aged man—played
486 [ PLACES
by Kevin Spacey—and his teenage daughter’s for work every morning and do yard work and
friend are just some of the plot devices), Amer- have cookouts on the weekend. For the most
ican Beauty is not merely an updated version part, this is the good life to which ordinary
of Suburban Roulette, but rather an examina- Americans aspire.
tion of the empty lives led by some who out- But Hollywood periodically chooses to hold
wardly seem to have obtained their piece of the up a magnifying glass to suburban life: neigh-
“American dream.” bors are at best wacky and eccentric, and at
worst psychotic, violent, and vengeful; home
Suburbia in the Magnifying Glass ownership condemns one to lifelong indebt-
In the words of Kenneth T. Jackson, “for those edness and is fraught with the need for con-
on the right, [suburbia] affirms that there is an stant, back-breaking maintenance and expen-
‘American way of life’ to which all citizens can sive repairs; bored suburban housewives turn
aspire. To the left, the myth of suburbia has to extramarital affairs, alcohol, drugs, and even
been a convenient way of attacking a wide va- devil worship to shatter the monotony of their
riety of national problems, from excessive con- days. Children run wild, “hang out,” drink al-
formity to ecological destruction” (4). The im- cohol and take drugs, participate in mindless
age of suburbia in post–World War II popular sex and violence. Or, at the opposite end of the
films and television is just as contradictory. For spectrum, residents of suburbia are stereo-
five decades, Hollywood has been almost sub- typed, identical plastic robots, creatures of a
liminally presenting the suburban lifestyle as consumer-oriented middle-class society, inca-
the norm for middle-class America: the city is pable of independent thought or creativity.
the domain of the rich, the poor, and young None of these images is, of course, com-
single professionals. Families live in detached pletely accurate. However, such a widely di-
houses in housing developments: children ride vergent group of images suggests that the con-
their bikes or skateboards, neighbors drop cept of suburbia is still capable of provoking
over for coffee and conversation, fathers leave controversy even after so many years.

References
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948, F)
Filmography Neighbors (1981, F)
American Beauty (1999, F) Next Friday (2000, F)
Bachelor in Paradise (1961, F) The Night of June 13 (1932, F)
Blast from the Past (1999, F) No Down Payment (1957, F)
Boys’ Night Out (1962, F) Parents (1989, F)
The ’Burbs (1989, F) Peyton Place (1957, F)
The City (1939, D) Pleasantville (1998, F)
The Commuters (1915, F) Poltergeist (1981, F)
The Coneheads (1993, TV) Rebel Without a Cause (1955, F)
Edward Scissorhands (1990, F) Sin in the Suburbs (1962, F)
George Washington Slept Here (1942, F) Suburban Girls Club (1968, F)
Good Neighbor Sam (1964, F) The Suburbanite (1904, F)
The Ice Storm (1997, F) The Suburbanite’s Ingenious Alarm (1908, F)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, F) Suburban Pagans (1968, F)
Let’s Be Fashionable (1920, F) Suburban Roulette (1968, F)
Life as a House (2001, F) SubUrbia (1997, F)
Mama Runs Wild (1938, F) Suburbia Confidential (1966, F)
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956, F) The Swimmer (1968, F)
Meet the Applegates (1990, F) Three Men on a Horse (1936)
The Money Pit (1986, F) Welcome to the Dollhouse (1998, F)
 SUBURBIA ] 487

Bibliography Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff

Speck. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the
American Film Institute. The American Film Institute
Decline of the American Dream. New York: Farrar,
Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United
Straus & Giroux, 2000.
States: Film Beginnings, 1893–1910. Lanham, MD:
Scarecrow, 1998. Felperin, Leslie. “Close to the Edge.” Sight & Sound
——. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion 7.10 (October 1997): 15–18.
Pictures Produced in the United States: F1, Feature Fishman, Robert. Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall
Films 1911–1920. Berkeley: University of California of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books, 1987.
Press, 1988. Gordon, Richard E., Katherine K. Gordon, and Max
——. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Gunther. The Split-Level Trap. New York: Bernard
Pictures Produced in the United States: F2, Feature Geis Associates, 1961.
Films 1921–1930. Berkeley: University of California Jackson, Kenneth T. Crabgrass Frontier: the Suburban-
Press, 1997. ization of the United States. New York: Oxford
——. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion University Press, 1985.
Pictures Produced in the United States: F3, Feature Kay, Jane Holtz. Asphalt Nation. New York: Crown,
Films 1931–1940. Berkeley: University of California 1997.
Press, 1993. Mumford, Lewis. The City in History. New York:
——. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Harcourt, Brace & World, 1961.
Pictures Produced in the United States: F6, Feature Rothman, William. “Hollywood and the Rise of the
Films 1961–1970. Berkeley: University of California Suburbs.” East-West Film Journal 3.2 (1989): 96–
Press, 1997. 105.
Donaldson, Scott. The Suburban Myth. New York: Silverstone, Roger, ed. Visions of Suburbia. London:
Columbia University Press, 1969. Routledge, 1997.
[ MARK BUSBY ]

Texas and the Southwest

lone rider appears silhouetted against the dwellings at Mesa Verde at the four corners of

A sky. A brilliant sun shines mercilessly on

the solitary horseman riding across the
screen amid a rocky, dusty landscape of buttes
and mesas and the massive arms of the dis-
Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah
and at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, have
been evaluated effectively in The Anasazi
(1985) and The Anasazi and Chaco Canyon
tinctive cactus of western film as it looms al- (1994).
most humanlike in the background. Yet this Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca was the first
icon of the “western,” the saguaro, is decidedly European to contact the many native peoples
southwestern, growing only in the Sonoran and to travel the Southwest after he ship-
Desert of southern Arizona and northern Mex- wrecked and washed up near present-day Gal-
ico. veston, Texas, in 1528, wandering through
Although the Library of Congress includes Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico before re-
hundreds of books on “western” film, almost turning to Spain in 1536. His stories of golden
nothing turns up on a genre called “south- cities to the west led Coronado to search for
western.” However, because older definitions the seven cities of gold in 1540. The explorer’s
of the “Greater Southwest” include Texas, New story was dramatized in a feature film, Cabeza
Mexico, and Arizona, plus parts of Oklahoma, de Vaca (1991) by Spanish filmmaker Nicolás
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and southern Cali- Echevarrı́a. The film is unsatisfying, partly be-
fornia, as well as northern Mexico, and almost cause the lush river scenes make Texas look
every recognizable western trait is more truly like the Amazon valley and because the film
southwestern, the label “southwestern” is a transforms Cabeza de Vaca’s mala cosa, an evil
more accurately descriptive. Still, defining the spirit, into a malicious dwarf.
Southwest is not a simple task. As the noted When Juan Oñate settled New Mexico in
folklorist J. Frank Dobie concludes (partly out 1598, he brought cattle and horses, animals
of exasperation) in Guide to Life and Literature that would eventually transform the natural
of the Southwest: “The principal areas of the environment through overgrazing and alter
Southwest are . . . Arizona, New Mexico, most the human landscape when the Plains
of Texas, some of Oklahoma, and anything else Indians—particularly the Comanches and
north, south, east, or west that anybody wants Apaches—became lords of the plains on
to bring in” (iv). horseback. Filmmakers have found little in this
As well as covering a rather broad area, the period of interest, except for the often-told
region’s prehistory and history reflect the lives story of Zorro in colonial California, most re-
and interaction of diverse peoples. Its com- cently in Martin Campbell’s The Mask of Zorro
pelling prehistory has often been subject of (1998).
documentaries about native bands that popu- After Mexico won its independence from
lated the region. The Anasazi, builders of cave Spain in 1821, the Mexican government of-

488
 TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST ] 489

fered land grants in Texas to Anglo settlers Bill’s Wild West Show, through dime and half-
such as Moses Austin and his son Stephen; the dime novels, and through the first western
Anglo migration into the Southwest began and film, Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Rob-
pointed to the major events to shape the region bery in 1903, a year after the first serious west-
in the nineteenth century—Texas indepen- ern novel, Owen Wister’s The Virginian. In
dence, the U.S. war with Mexico, the discovery that year the first major trail-drive novel, Andy
of gold in California, the Civil War, Indian Adams’s The Log of a Cowboy, was released.
wars, and the growth of the cattle industry. Turner defined the frontier as the “meeting
One of the signal events, of course, was the point between savagery and civilization.” As
massacre at the Alamo, dramatized notably in commentators such as Will Wright have noted,
an early film, Martyrs of the Alamo (1915), di- the classic western and southwestern film fo-
rected by Christy Cabanne and featuring cuses on oppositions about characters who are
Douglas Fairbanks; and, most famously, in The either inside or outside of society, good or bad,
Alamo (1960) directed by and starring John strong or weak, and, most importantly, enact
Wayne, in a long, talky epic. a struggle between wilderness and civilization.
The major American film genre, of course, The classic plot, as identified by Wright, in-
is the western, recognized by being set in the volves actions in which the hero enters a social
nineteenth century, with cattle, cowboys, group to which he is unknown and reveals spe-
horses, Indians, and outlaws. And the cowboy cial abilities that place him in a distinct status.
is primarily a Texan and southwestern figure. After villains threaten the society, the hero
After the Civil War, when Texas veterans dis- fights and defeats them, making the society
covered their homes and livelihood in disarray, safe so that it accepts the hero and gives him
with herds of wild cattle roaming the land, a unique status. Often, because he has been
some enterprising veterans began to round up violent, he must leave the social group after
the cattle, which began the trail drives that are defeating the villains. A variation on the clas-
the heart of cowboy legend. That life lasted sical plot involves the hero’s relentless need for
about twenty-five years, from 1870 to 1895, revenge for some past wrong.
when barbed wire, the opening of train service, The preeminent southwestern film classic is
and economic downturns ended the golden John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) in which Ford
days of trail driving. Still, the cowboy is inter- lifted John Wayne from B-western obscurity
nationally recognizable as an American icon— and set him on the path as America’s favorite
a symbol of frontier freedom and indepen- movie star. Wayne’s initial appearance in the
dence. film takes place along the trail after the stage-
In the twentieth century, southwestern his- coach leaves Tonto, Arizona, for Lordsburg,
tory reveals a schism between urban and rural New Mexico. It suggests his mythic stature, as
life, particularly the transitions from ranch to his image fills the screen when the camera
farm to oil to computers to tourism, all within tracks up to him standing with his rifle and
the context of the clash and cooperation of the saddle. Against the spectacular backdrop of
region’s diverse cultures: Indian, Spanish, An- Monument Valley, with a post–Civil War,
glo, and African American. nineteenth-century setting, Ford has the coach
and its passengers journey into the wilderness
The Classic Southwestern where the confrontation with the forces of na-
Just as famed historian Frederick Jackson ture and savagery will bring out the best qual-
Turner proclaimed the closing of the western ities in the microcosm of American society.
frontier in 1893, frontier life burst upon Amer- Stagecoach clearly turns on the civilization/sav-
ican popular culture. It came through Buffalo agery dichotomy as the agents of savagery,
490 [ PLACES
both Geronimo (and his Apaches) and the have praised it for its overall faithfulness to
murderous white men, the Plummers, are historical fact.
counterpointed by representatives of civiliza-
tion. Between them as a mediating figure is the Transitional Films
Ringo Kid (Wayne), who sits symbolically on In the 1950s the classic southwestern moved
the floor of the stagecoach and talks of borders. beyond traditional plots and characters toward
Ringo’s outlaw status and name suggest the allegorical statements about contemporary
most durable southwestern figure, Billy the concerns. A major transitional film is Fred
Kid, who has been the subject of numerous Zinnemann’s High Noon (1952), which has
films over the years, including Kurt Neu- many of the traditional plot elements but re-
mann’s The Kid from Texas (1950) with Audie verses Wright’s classic pattern: the hero begins
Murphy, Arthur Penn’s The Left Handed Gun inside society and ends outside of it. For a tra-
(1958) with Paul Newman, Sam Peckinpah’s ditionalist like John Wayne, the changes were
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) with Kris unacceptable. In a 1971 interview, Wayne de-
Kristofferson, Christopher Cain’s Young Guns scribed High Noon as “the most un-American
(1988) and Geoff Murphy’s Young Guns II thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life. The last
(1990), both with Emilio Estevez, and many thing in the picture is ole Coop putting the
others. United States marshal’s badge under his foot
Another recognizable southwestern sub- and stepping on it.” Wayne recalled the final
genre, one that draws from the history of the scene incorrectly, for Will Kane only drops his
cowboy, is the trail-drive film, with several ver- badge. Still, Gary Cooper’s Kane displays tra-
sions of Emerson Hough’s novel, North of 36, ditional and nontraditional elements of the
adapted for the silver screen, including an western hero in this transitional film. Like
eponymous version released in 1924, a year af- other heroes, he is resolute and determined,
ter the novel was published. It was remade in strong-willed and capable. He is a “man,” in
1931 as The Conquering Horde and again in contrast to his youthful deputy, Harvey (Lloyd
1938 as The Texans with Randolph Scott and Bridges).
Walter Brennan. The actual trail drive lends Screenwriter Carl Foreman, blacklisted as a
itself to narrative, inasmuch as it includes a result of the House Committee on Un-
journey with a clear beginning, middle, and American Activities (HUAC), later explained
end, punctuated by obstacles such as river that he had adapted the town of Hadleyville
crossings, thunderstorms, sandstorms, hail- from Mark Twain’s Hadleyburg to attack the
storms, wind, lightning, stampedes, Indians, cowardice of Hollywood. He also said that he
quicksand, drought, rustlers, and snakes. The had written the film as an explicit attack on the
ultimate trail-drive film, critic Don Graham country’s fear of Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s an-
argues, is Howard Hawks’s Red River (1948), ticommunist bullying. High Noon takes place
with its ambiguous melding of history, legend, in a southwestern landscape where “good” vi-
and region. The title evokes the Biblical over- olence must confront “evil” violence to over-
tones of the Red (Sea) River, with an echo of come chaos. As an anti-McCarthy allegory, the
epic activity and empire building, and recalls film condemns the complacency of the town
the drive’s slogan, “Beef for hungry people.” with its sham democracy and craven booster-
The made-for-television film Lonesome Dove ism, stated most fatuously by Thomas Mitchell
(1989), starring Robert Duvall and Tommie as the mayor.
Lee Jones and based on Larry McMurtry’s High Noon signaled that the southwestern
1984 novel of the same name, revisits Red River film was changing, and other Texas and south-
and the trail-drive period, and many historians western films of the 1950s pursued new direc-
 TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST ] 491

tions. Delmer Davies’s Broken Arrow (1950) zer Prize–winning novel Hold Autumn in Your
featured Indians in a new and sympathetic Hand, about a year in the life of a central Texas
light; it stressed that Native Americans had sharecropper, as The Southerner in 1940, ex-
their own form of governance and were not ploring the demise of small family farms in the
simply representatives of savagery. John Ford’s Southwest and documenting an era in Amer-
The Searchers (1956) presented a new variation ican history when many people led rural lives
on the vengeance hero, with John Wayne on a in constant contact with—and at the mercy
monomaniacal quest to find a niece captured of—changing climates. A year later John Ford
by Comanches. His racism is so vicious that it filmed The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s
saps his humanity and renders him as barbaric famous novel about uprooted Okies forced off
as the “savages” he set out to find. Ford uses a their farms traveling Highway 66 west. Terr-
number of plot and visual devices to indicate ence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1978) studies
how Wayne’s Ethan Edwards mirrors the “sav- new immigrants and the American dream in
age” Comanche Chief Scar (Henry Brandon): the Texas panhandle in 1916, where the pos-
Ethan shows his cruelty when he reproduces sibility of realizing the dream is palpable until
Comanche ceremonies by shooting the eyes the reality of violence and a plague of grass-
out of an Indian corpse (so its spirit will wan- hoppers intrude. This film dramatizes a pow-
der); later, in the most brutal onscreen vio- erful sense of ambivalence toward the natural:
lence of the film, Ethan scalps Scar. As the both good and bad fortune are linked essen-
Texan searchers ride across Monument Valley tially with natural conditions and natural
in the foreground with the Comanches riding events, and the characters’ fates are deter-
parallel in the background, Ford establishes a mined by the whims of nature rather than hu-
visual image of the identification between sav- man action. Similarly, Robert Benton’s Places
agery and civilization. in the Heart (1984) explores the vicissitudes of
Another important film of the 1950s that cotton farming in the 1930s near Waxahachie
concerns the sweep of Texas history is George in north central Texas.
Stevens’s Giant (1956), an epic tale of the shift
from a cattle to an oil economy. Bick Benedict The 1960s
(Rock Hudson) owns the sprawling Texas The 1960s ushered in a decade of “new west-
ranch, Riata (based on the King Ranch), and, erns,” with John Huston’s The Misfits in 1961
after marrying a wealthy easterner (Elizabeth and then three releases in 1962: David Miller’s
Taylor), he begins to establish a dynasty. Oil Lonely Are the Brave, John Ford’s The Man
changes their lives, especially the life of Jett Who Shot Liberty Valence, and Sam Peckin-
Rink (played by James Dean in his last movie pah’s Ride the High Country. These end-of-the-
and based on Texas wildcatter Glenn McCar- frontier narratives signaled a movement from
thy). Dean’s JR becomes fabulously wealthy the classic western’s glorification of the hero
when he hits oil on the small bit of Riata left to an interest in antiheroes and outsiders. For
to him when Bick’s sister dies. The film ex- example, Hud (1963), based on Larry Mc-
amines attitudes toward gender and race from Murtry’s first novel, Horseman, Pass By, shifts
the 1920s to the 1950s, issues that would be- from the book’s focus on the initiation of its
come even more prominent in the next de- narrator Lonnie (Brandon DeWilde) to the
cade. amorality of Hud (Paul Newman) and exam-
Where Giant is the ultimate ranch film, ines how the frontier world represented by
other southwestern films examined farming in Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglass) is being
the Southwest. Famed French filmmaker Jean replaced in 1950s Texas. The Misfits, Lonely Are
Renoir adapted George Sessions Perry’s Pulit- the Brave, and Hud point to a continuing trend
492 [ PLACES
in southwestern film, the anachronistic south- Bravo (1959) and Richard Brooks’s The Pro-
western, where films with post-1940s settings fessionals (1966). In this formula variant, the
look back to a frontier past. More recent films heroes are hired to protect a society incapable
like Stephen Frears’s The Hi-Lo Country of defending itself. The heroes band together
(1999) and especially Billy Bob Thornton’s All into a group with special abilities, affection,
the Pretty Horses (2000) follow this trend. and loyalty. Ultimately they fight the villains
Thornton’s film, based on Cormac McCarthy’s and either settle down or die together.
highly celebrated novel, was long anticipated The most significant southwestern film at
but disappointed many reviewers. Thornton’s the end of the 1960s was Sam Peckinpah’s The
original four-hour film was cut by almost two Wild Bunch, which draws carefully from a spe-
hours and left out the depth of McCarthy’s cific historical era. Peckinpah worked with the
ambivalent look at the changing Southwest. western genre throughout his tempestuous ca-
The 1960s saw other new types of south- reer. The Wild Bunch foreshadows the novels
western films. Italian director Sergio Leone’s of Cormac McCarthy by focusing on a specific
“spaghetti” westerns with Clint Eastwood in historical moment along the border between
For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Texas and Mexico. Set in 1913, the film sug-
Bad, and the Ugly (1966), and A Fistful of Dol- gests how the older world is about to be irrev-
lars (1967) are set in some vague but iconic ocably changed against the backdrop of the
Southwest—usually hot, dry, and peopled with Mexican Revolution, the legislated morality of
brown-skinned characters, with Eastwood Prohibition, the looming World War I con-
wearing his trademark serape. The spaghetti flict, the disappearance of the older world of
westerns, inexpensive productions filmed in horses and outlaws and concomitant immi-
arid southern Spain, helped rejuvenate the nent industrial transformation of the South-
southwestern genre in the 1960s; their empha- west.
sis on violence clearly reflects a major issue of The Wild Bunch acknowledges that the basic
the Vietnam era. appeal of the western has been its emphasis on
Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) violence and dramatizes explicitly, in repeated
transformed the outlaw tale into the ultimate slow-motion scenes of gunfire and blood, the
film for the 1960s counterculture, using his- reality of that assumption. The plot is con-
torical Texas bank robbers Clyde Barrow structed so that the aging leader of the bunch,
(Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye William Holden, plagued by the knowledge of
Dunaway) as its antiheroes. The young out- his past mistakes and aware of the changing
laws are opposed by a stiff, moralistic older world in which he lives (“We’ve got to start
generation. Penn, drawing from the French thinkin’ beyond our guns. Those days are clo-
New Wave films, notably Jean-Luc Godard’s sin’ fast”), realizes that the only redemptive
Breathless, includes psychosexual themes, possibility in a world of violence is by the ex-
mixes the comic and tragic, and brings film istential act of a dramatic exit in a final, flam-
violence to a different level, especially in the ing, brutal act based on the only principle that
concluding, graphic, slow-motion scene in they have learned to live by—the band must
which Texas Rangers riddle Bonnie and Clyde act together. This furious scene, when the band
with hundreds of bullets. fatalistically attacks General Mapache’s troops,
Another change in the traditional western is in counterpoint to the film’s famous open-
pattern that began to become popular at the ing sequence where the bunch rides into an
end of the 1950s and continued into the 1960s ambush in San Rafael, Texas, but escapes as
was what Wright calls the “professional plot,” delighted children burn a mound of ants at-
seen in such films as Howard Hawks’s Rio tacking a scorpion. (Much of Peckinpah’s so-
 TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST ] 493

cial vision in this landmark film is explored in

Paul Seydor’s 1996 documentary The Making
of “The Wild Bunch,” with Ed Harris reading
Peckinpah’s comments about the film. Seydor
interviews other principals, such as Edmond
O’Brien and Peckinpah’s daughter.)
The Wild Bunch emphasizes how the south-
western is a border film, a strong subgenre re-
flected in a number of other productions
about the region: Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil
(1958); Jack Nicholson’s Goin’ South (1978);
Australian director Fred Schepisi’s Barbarosa F I G U R E 6 1 . The Wild Bunch (1969). A gang of
outlaws—Pike Bishop (William Holden), Dutch Engstrom
(1982), from a script by the Texas-born Wil- (Ernst Borgnine), Lyle Gorch (Warren Oates), Tector
liam D. Wittliff; and John Sayles’s Lone Star Gorch (Ben Johnson), and Angel (Jaime Sanchez)—
(1996). transports guns and munitions to a Mexican revolution-
ary, oblivious to the impact of their actions to the politics
and landscape of the Southwest. Courtesy Warner
The 1970s to the 1990s Brothers/Seven Arts.
In the 1970s and 1980s southwestern films set
in the traditional nineteenth-century South-
west were in decline, partially because of the Picture Show. Allison Anders’s Gas, Food,
colossal failure of Michael Cimino’s Heaven’s Lodging (1992) concerns a truck-stop waitress
Gate (1980), which investors, shying away and her two daughters, who live in a Laramie,
from the genre, cited as a clear example of Hol- New Mexico, trailer park, all echoing elements
lywood excess. Earlier, Mel Brooks’s Blazing of Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here
Saddles (1974) sent up the traditional genre, Anymore (1974), filmed in Tucson but set in
but several southwestern films set in the twen- Phoenix, Arizona. Clint Eastwood’s A Perfect
tieth century examined small-town southwest- World (1993) starred Eastwood and Kevin
ern life. Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Costner and uses murder, Texas Rangers, and
Show (1971) softened the harsh satire of Larry car chases to explore the familiar issue of vi-
McMurtry’s novel but still treated small-town olence. Lesser-known independent films set in
life critically. Other small southwestern films small towns were also produced in the 1990s,
of the period include Jack Hicks’s Raggedy including Tim McCanlies’s Dancer, Texas Pop.
Man (1981); Robert Benton’s Tender Mercies 81 (1998) and Mark Illsley’s Happy, Texas
(1983), Places in the Heart (1984), and Nadine (1999). A locally popular documentary with a
(1987), set in Austin in 1954, when it was a similar focus on the small town is Hands on a
small town; and Kevin Reynolds’s Fandango Hard Body (1998), which sympathetically cap-
(1985), with a young Kevin Costner visiting tures the spirit of a contest in Longview, Texas,
Marfa, Texas, where Giant was filmed. An where the last person standing with his or her
ironic film with a small-town Texas title is hand on a pickup truck wins the truck.
Wim Wenders’s Paris, Texas (1984), with a
screenplay by dramatist Sam Shepard. This Southwestern City Films
film uses the arid, southwestern desert land- Although small southwestern towns have got-
scape around Terlingua as an ironic mirror of ten the most film treatment, some of the major
the bleak, urban sprawl of Houston. cities have been important settings. James
In 1990 Peter Bogdanovich directed Texas- Brooks’s Terms of Endearment (1983), based
ville, the sequel to his earlier triumph, The Last on another McMurtry novel, focuses on Hous-
494 [ PLACES
ton and won five Academy Awards. A sequel, Gulf Coast. Jonathan Wacks’s Powwow High-
The Evening Star (1996), directed by Robert way (1989) follows two contemporary Chey-
Harling, is also set in Houston and features the enne men from Montana to New Mexico,
last performance by Ben Johnson. James merging the traditional road movie with a poi-
Bridges’s Urban Cowboy (1980) takes vestiges gnant quest for racial heritage. Similarly, Chris
of the old world inside Houston honkytonks; Eyre’s Smoke Signals (1998) follows two Coeur
John Travolta’s performance created a neo- d’Alene Indians as they travel from Idaho to
cowboy clothing craze and made riding me- Arizona to retrieve the remains of the father of
chanical bulls popular. No film has influenced one of them. Walter Hill’s Geronimo (1993)
the popular image of Dallas as much as the takes a new look at the title figure. Ridley
television series about oilman J. R. Ewing, but Scott’s Thelma and Louise (1991) begins in Ar-
its setting for a number of films is important. kansas and then becomes a feminist, south-
The Dallas Cowboys’ football team yielded Ted western, buddy road film as Susan Sarandon
Kotcheff ’s North Dallas Forty (1979), an ex- and Geena Davis travel through Oklahoma,
amination of the macho world of Texas foot- heading for Mexico. Maggie Greenwald’s The
ball. Errol Morris’s acclaimed documentary Ballad of Little Jo (1993), Sam Raimi’s The
The Thin Blue Line (1988), examines the kill- Quick and the Dead (1994), and Jonathan Kap-
ing of a Dallas policeman in 1976. Likewise, lan’s Bad Girls (1994) revise the western from
the city of John Kennedy’s assassination is im- a feminist perspective.
portant to Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991) and Jon- Mario Van Peebles’s Posse (1993) adapts the
athan Kaplan’s Love Field (1992). Austin’s western for African Americans. Earlier south-
post-1960s dropout culture permeates Richard western films that are concerned with African
Linklater’s Slacker (1991) and Waking Life American characters and themes include John
(2001), while the multiculturalism of San An- Ford’s Sergeant Rutledge (1960) about a black
tonio is featured in Gregory Nava’s Selena soldier in the Southwest, and Black Like Me
(1997). Another important southwestern city’s (1964), based on Texas writer John Howard
history is explored in Barry Levinson’s Bugsy Griffin’s book about darkening his skin chem-
(1991), with Warren Beatty dramatizing ically and then traveling through the South and
“Bugsy” Siegel’s role in building Las Vegas. back to Texas. Other films trace the lives of im-
North Dallas Forty points to another sub- portant African American southwesterners:
genre of Texas films, the football film, which Gordon Parks’s Leadbelly (1974) traces the life
includes Stan Dragoti’s Necessary Roughness of the famous bluesman Huddie Ledbetter, who
(1991), a humorous look at college football, spent years in Texas and Louisiana prisons until
and Brian Robbins’s Varsity Blues (1999), an he was discovered by Texas folklorist John Lo-
examination of the “win at any cost” mentality max. Similarly, Jeremy Kagan’s Scott Joplin
in a small Texas high school. (1977) follows the life of ragtime’s most famous
practitioner, who was born in Texarkana.
Diverse Southwesterns Films that focus on Mexican American life
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the western and include Robert Young’s The Ballad of Gregorio
southwestern film genre was adapted for Na- Cortez (1982), based on a groundbreaking
tive American, feminist, African American, book by Chicano scholar Américo Paredes;
and Mexican American issues. One film, Louis Robert Redford’s The Milagro Beanfield War
Malle’s Alamo Bay (1985), extends the con- (1989), which dramatizes the politics of water
cerns to the conflicts over shrimp harvests that rights and the tensions between Anglo new-
occasionally led to violence between Texan comers and Hispanic residents specifically in
and Vietnamese American fishermen along the late-twentieth-century northern New Mexico,
 TEXAS AND THE SOUTHWEST ] 495

but—by implication—throughout the South- motives, hopes, and desires. The film crosses
west; Severo Perez’s And the Earth Did Not De- borders between Texas and Mexico, parent
vour Him (1994), based upon Tomás Rivera’s and child, past and present, African American
story of a young south Texas migrant worker and Indian, even sexual relations between
and his family in the 1950s; and Gregory brother and sister. True to its revisionist na-
Nava’s Selena (1997), based on the life and ture, the film ends not by remembering the
death of the enormously popular Tejana Alamo, but with language that banishes the
singer. Richard Rodriguez’s $7,000 student single symbol of cultural confrontation from
project El Mariachi (1991) was remade with a collective memory.
large budget as Desperado (1995). Both border It seems clear that the western film is often
films focus on Hispanics, but they are violent southwestern, harkening back to the cultural
action films rather than examinations of cul- experiences of the region—Indian, Mexican,
ture, their violence accelerated in Rodriguez’s African American, and Anglo, particularly the
From Dusk Until Dawn (1996). cowboy tradition—adapting the recognizable
Probably the most significant southwestern elements for contemporary circumstances or
film of the 1990s is John Sayles’s Lone Star examining a world where the older values have
(1996). Like novelist Cormac McCarthy, Sayles been altered or forgotten. Even if the actual
uses the border between Texas and Mexico region seems endangered by parking lots and
both as a physical setting and as a metaphor megamalls, the Southwest of buttes, mesas,
for the mestizo world that characterizes the and saguaro cactus will live forever in the
Southwest, a mixture of cultures, histories, imagination.

References
For a Few Dollars More (1965, F)
Filmography From Dusk Until Dawn (1996, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) Gas, Food, Lodging (1992, F)
Alamo Bay (1985, F) Geronimo (1993, F)
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974, F) Giant (1956, F)
All the Pretty Horses (2000) Goin’ South (1978, F)
The Anasazi (1985, D) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966, F)
The Anasazi and Chaco Canyon (1994, D) The Grapes of Wrath (1941, F)
And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1994, F) The Great Train Robbery (1903, F)
Bad Girls (1994, F) Hands on a Hard Body (1998, D)
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez (1982, F)
Happy, Texas (1999, F)
The Ballad of Little Jo (1993, F)
Heaven’s Gate (1980, F)
Barbarosa (1982, F)
High Noon (1952, F)
Black Like Me (1964, F)
The Hi-Lo Country (1998, F)
Blazing Saddles (1974, F)
Hud (1963, F)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F)
The Border (1982, F) JFK (1991, F)
Broken Arrow (1950, F) The Kid from Texas (1950, F)
Bugsy (1991, F) The Last Picture Show (1971, F)
Cabeza de Vaca (1991, F) Leadbelly (1974, F)
The Conquering Horde (1931, F) The Left Handed Gun (1958, F)
Dancer, Texas Pop. 81 (1998, F) Lonely Are the Brave (1962, F)
Days of Heaven (1978, F) Lonesome Dove (1989, TV)
Desperado (1995, F) Lone Star (1996, F)
El Mariachi (1991, F) Love Field (1992, F)
The Evening Star (1996, F) The Making of “The Wild Bunch” (1996, D)
Fandango (1985, F) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962, F)
A Fistful of Dollars (1967, F) Martyrs of the Alamo (1915, F)
496 [ PLACES
The Mask of Zorro (1998, F) Urban Cowboy (1980, F)
The Milagro Beanfield War (1989, F) Varsity Blues (1999, F)
Nadine (1987, F) Waking Life (2001, F)
Necessary Roughness (1991, F) The Wild Bunch (1969, F)
North Dallas Forty (1979, F) Young Guns (1988, F)
North of 36 (1924, F) Young Guns II (1990, F)
Paris, Texas (1984, F)
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973, F)
Places in the Heart (1984, F) Bibliography
Posse (1993, F) Dobie, J. Frank. Guide to Life and Literature of the
Powwow Highway (1989, F) Southwest. Dallas: Southern Methodist University
The Quick and the Dead (1994, F) Press, 1952.
Red River (1948, F) Graham, Don. Cowboys and Cadillacs: How Holly-
Ride the High Country (1962, F) wood Looks at Texas. Austin: Texas Monthly Press,
Scott Joplin (1977, F) 1983.
The Searchers (1956, F) John, Elizabeth A. H. Storms Brewed in Other Men’s
Selena (1997, F) Worlds: The Confrontation of Indians, Spanish, and
Sergeant Rutledge (1960, F) French in the Southwest, 1540–1795. Norman: Uni-
Slacker (1991, F) versity of Oklahoma Press, 1996.
Smoke Signals (1998, F) Lavender, David. The Southwest. Albuquerque: Uni-
The Southerner (1940, F) versity of New Mexico Press, 1984.
Stagecoach (1939, F) Mitchell, Lee Clark. Westerns: Making the Man in Fic-
Tender Mercies (1983, F) tion and Film. Chicago: University of Chicago
Terms of Endearment (1983, F) Press, 1996.
The Texans (1938, F) Wright, Will. Sixguns & Society: A Structural Study of
The Thin Blue Line (1988, D) the Western. Berkeley: University of California
Touch of Evil (1958, F) Press, 1975.
[ MICHAEL BIRDWELL ]

The Trans-Appalachian West

fter the French and Indian War, En- myth in his classic work, Virgin Land (1950).

A gland’s King George III issued a procla-

mation in 1763 forbidding settlement
west of the Appalachian Mountains. Defying
paper barriers, however, intrepid pioneers and
Smith argued that myth proved more potent
than historical reality, inspiring Manifest Des-
tiny and helping define America’s self-image.
Abundant free land fueled notions of democ-
land speculators pushed into the forbidden ter- racy while buttressing a belief that Americans
ritory. The establishment of Watauga (in what were a chosen people ready to inherit a new
is now eastern Tennessee) and Richard Hen- Promised Land. The new Canaan, however, al-
derson’s Transylvania Company’s illicit land lowed competing desires to grow up side by
trade increased tensions between colonists and side: the desire to conquer and tame nature
the crown. After the American Revolution, the vied with the desire to return to nature, cre-
Continental Congress passed three land ordi- ating tension between agriculture and industry
nances designating new territory for settlement as true heirs to the frontier. “The frontier of
across the Appalachians. The lands included the agricultural settlement was universally recog-
Southwest Territory, which comprised the pres- nized as the line separating civilization from
ent states of Kentucky and Tennessee, and the savagery,” and the frontiersmen represented
Northwest Territory, which encompassed the the first cultural shock troops into the wilder-
entire Ohio Valley (and future states of Ohio, ness (215). Part of the frontier’s allure was its
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin). As very wildness. Pioneers believed that the land
Americans migrated west into the Ohio Valley, needed to be tamed; however, by doing so,
the trans-Appalachian frontier eventually in- they often destroyed what had attracted them
cluded all territory between the Appalachian in the first place—open spaces, bountiful land,
Mountains and the Mississippi River. social equality, and the lack of oppressive in-
Frederick Jackson Turner articulated the stitutions. Nostalgia for land lost to industrial
frontier’s importance to American history in progress and the celebration of frontier heroes
his famous “frontier thesis” (1893). America’s from Daniel Boone to Buffalo Bill kept the
frontier experience, Turner argued, repre- frontier myth alive.
sented a unique event in world history, pro- Martin Ridge and Ray Allen Billington used
viding a crucible that forged a distinctive Turner’s thesis as the basis for their survey text
American character, while representing limit- Westward Expansion: A History of the American
less possibility and optimism. Turner’s thesis Frontier (1984), stressing the frontier experi-
inspired a flurry of historical writing about ence as the central theme of U.S. history. The
frontier life and values that has continued into myth of the New World garden and Americans
our own time. as the chosen people explained westward ex-
Among Turner’s disciples, Henry Nash pansion and our national identity. John Win-
Smith examined the impact of the frontier throp claimed that his Puritans came to the

497
498 [ PLACES
New World to “create a New Zion” and were the frontiers to follow, providing a pattern for
responding to the command of God. Such pro- westward settlement and its attendant prob-
nouncements shaped a mindset inherent in lems, including race relations, slavery, indus-
American notions of the frontier and progress. trialization, and the formation of various so-
Some historians, such as Walter Prescott ciopolitical institutions.
Webb, writing in the 1930s, argued that The trans-Appalachian hero of print and
Turner’s work was based on the “frontier” he screen owes his origin to the literary work of
found in his native Wisconsin and that James Fenimore Cooper. Inspired by frontier
Turner’s ideas were parochial at best. By the legends of Daniel Boone made popular by John
Vietnam era many historians found Turner’s Filson’s 1784 biography of the Kentucky patri-
thesis inadequate, overlooking the importance arch, Cooper created a solitary, taciturn hero
of minorities, non-Anglo Europeans, women, known by various names—Natty Bumppo,
and the West’s varied geography and topogra- Deerslayer, Leatherstocking, and Hawkeye.
phy. No one monolithic West existed in Amer- Though Cooper wrote a number of novels
ican history, they argue; rather, there were about the frontiersman who knew the secret
many Wests. Just as Native American tribes dif- ways of Native Americans and could be a mem-
fer in myriad ways, so too did pioneers who ber of both white society and the expansive wil-
flocked to the frontier. Many post-Vietnam derness, The Last of the Mohicans (1826) proved
scholars view the Turner thesis as facile, sim- to be the one most often filmed. Hawkeye rep-
plistic, and overly idealistic. Anti-Turnerians resented the nexus between civilization and sav-
begged for a “new” western history, which agery, a man who fits comfortably in neither
struggled to find its footing at first but contin- world. As such, the literary hero located himself
ues in the work of Donald Worster, Richard on the frontier where the two value systems col-
White, and Patricia Nelson Limerick, among lided: Hawkeye emerged repeatedly onscreen,
other scholars. (For an examination of how the acting as a mirror to the times.
debate Turner sparked continues to blaze, see
Gerald Nash’s Creating the West and John Mack The Early Film Frontier
Faragher’s afterword to Rereading Frederick In its various incarnations The Last of the Mo-
Jackson Turner.) hicans often raised questions about the proper
As Malcolm Rohrbough notes, “Generally relationship between pioneers and Native
speaking, the frontier of the trans-Appalachian Americans. D. W. Griffith told Hawkeye’s
West from 1775 to 1850 was an experience of story in Leatherstocking (1903), a film that de-
high expectations” for land ownership and the monized both Indians and the British in the
promise of a new beginning. Pioneers’ high wake of America’s recent recognition as a
hopes “carried them through the hard struggle world power. The “closing” of the frontier in
of the first few years, when the forest wilder- 1889 was no distant memory for many film-
ness, the canebrakes, or the prairie land had to goers. The Spanish-American War (1898) and
be subdued yard by yard.” With them they car- America’s role in quelling the Boxer Rebellion
ried the trappings of Western civilization, har- in China (1900) rekindled American pride and
boring a “sense that the structure of the New desire for expansion beyond the continental
World was not in its final form and that some- United States. Griffith hailed from postbellum
thing important might come out of it for them. Kentucky, raised on stories of Daniel Boone
As a more permanent world of institutions and the Civil War. His version of The Last of
took shape around them, they came to realize the Mohicans reflected his romantic attitudes
that the New World was no longer new” (397). about American expansion and celebrated
The trans-Appalachian West set the stage for America’s foray into empire.
 THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN WEST ] 499

Many silent films from 1903 to 1928 exam- of the trans-Appalachian West. Western hero
ined the trans-Appalachian West. Silent-era Randolph Scott played Hawkeye in the 1936
treatments of the transmontane West tended film, which presented the British in a favorable
to demonize Native Americans and valorize light, unlike the serial, which employed En-
expansion as a God-given birthright for Euro- glish characters for contempt or comic relief.
Americans. Evocative of a confident young In both, Native Americans were treated in
country embarking on world empire, silent keeping with the traditional cowboy film, rep-
films reflected America’s new role as a world resenting a violent threat to frontier families.
power. Both the serial and the feature film offered ad-
During the 1930s, movie audiences looked venture and escapist fare while engendering a
to Hollywood for escape and potential solu- sense of pride in American expansion. Em-
tions to economic and spiritual depressions bodying the best characteristics of Ameri-
plaguing the country. Many films reflected cans—individualism, integrity, honesty, patri-
their anxiety as Americans looked for the pos- otism, democratic virtues, love of liberty, and
sibility of a better life. The rediscovery of fron- generosity—they indicated that American his-
tier heroes Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett tory is a story of triumph over adversity. Just
(as well as Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lin- as the heroes of the trans-Appalachian frontier
coln) by academics and filmmakers during the overcame tremendous obstacles to make the
Depression and World War II mirrored events land their own and secure their destiny, 1930s-
and attitudes in American society (O’Connor, era Americans would weather the Depression
99–100). The Depression caused national soul- and be stronger for it.
searching as many people felt worthless, could In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Harry
find little satisfying work, and felt betrayed by Warner instituted a series of patriotic short
the American Dream. subjects, the Old Glory series, to instruct and
The administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt entertain American audiences about U.S. his-
played an active role in restoring public faith tory. All received A-film budgets, and most
in the country and federal government. The were filmed in Technicolor. Of the fourteen
Works Progress Administration (WPA) em- installments released before December 1941,
ployed hundreds of writers, artists, composers, four related to the trans-Appalachian frontier:
and filmmakers to resuscitate faith in the The Man Without a Country (1937), The Ro-
dream. Many looked to the frontier for inspi- mance of Louisiana (1938), The Monroe Doc-
ration, and during the war years, its heroes— trine (1939), and Old Hickory (1939). Drawing
who often used violence to insure their fu- on images of the frontier and its heroes, the
tures—acted as fitting symbols for a country films were thinly veiled calls to action. The Man
at war. Boone, Crockett, and Lincoln repre- Without a Country dramatized Edward Everett
sented canny, self-reliant men who could rise Hale’s story about a fictional American impli-
to any occasion and defeat any enemy. cated in the Burr Conspiracy (1806). After his
In 1932 and 1936 Last of the Mohicans arrest, Lieutenant Philip Nolan denounces the
emerged again, first as a serial and later as a United States and is forever banished, forcing
feature film. The serials, a staple of the De- him to a lonely, guilt-ridden life with no place
pression era, made Hawkeye (Harry Carey Sr.) to call home. The American Legion praised the
a favorite among young viewers, but it strayed film for its frank discussion of the importance
significantly from Cooper’s novel. Hawkeye of patriotism in troubled times. Likewise, the
acted more like a cowboy dressed in buckskin Monroe Doctrine presented a clear message to
than a pioneer. The series, though entertain- the world to leave the United States and its
ing, gave audiences little sense of the realities sphere of influence alone—or else! Though the
500 [ PLACES
Old Glory series lost money, Warner allowed carve out an existence in the wilderness on the
schools, churches, and civic groups to screen eve of the American Revolution, a period dur-
episodes free of charge. The series earned Harry ing which some five thousand Mohawk Indi-
Warner and his studio a special Academy ans under war chief Joseph Brant allied with
Award for public service, and the fourteen films the British against Americans on the frontier.
are worthy of further attention by scholars. Paying careful attention to historic details, the
Although Warner Bros. called for prepared- filmmakers created an entire frontier com-
ness, most studios favored isolationism. Some munity—not merely a lone hero. Colbert’s
used frontier films to make their point. Alle- character, a genteel upper-class woman, pro-
gheny Uprising (1939), produced by RKO, de- vides a dramatic contrast between gentrified
picts an Anglo-Indian alliance as the major im- life in the city and rigors of the frontier. Zan-
pediment to westward expansion. Venal uck insisted that the pace of the film be slow
settlers engage in illegal commerce with Indi- to accentuate the privations pioneers endured.
ans with the tacit approval of the British au- By contrast, quicker-paced battle scenes in-
thorities. Their avarice threatens the lives of volve men and women fighting together to
peaceful settlers on the frontier. Based on ac- save their homes. Zanuck wanted the audience
tual events that took place in western Penn- to identify with characters on a human level
sylvania in 1760, the film dramatizes a frontier and drew conscious parallels to the suffering
revolt against British authority. The movie endured by Americans during the Great De-
simplifies the conflict, acting primarily as a pression. The film depicts the Battle of Oris-
backdrop for a love story between Jim Smith kany (which occurred near present-day Utica
( John Wayne) and Janie McDougall (Claire in August 1777), conflating that battle with
Trevor). Smith defies British authorities per- other frontier skirmishes of the Revolution in
sonified by the foppish Captain Swanson one of the film’s most powerful sequences.
(George Sanders), who displays all “the intel- Set at a later time on the trans-Appalachian
ligence of a badly inbred poodle” (Roberts and frontier, Stand Up and Fight (1939) examines
Olson, 173). Angered by British duplicity, the impact of a transportation revolution upon
Smith cobbles together a ragtag band of fron- the region. An atypical trans-Appalachian west-
tiersmen called the “Black Boys” (who often ern film, it placed emphasis upon the second
disguise themselves as Indians) against the cor- generation of pioneers. Beginning at the Cum-
rupt and effete redcoats. At film’s end, Smith berland Gap in 1844, Robert Taylor played a
vows to assert his personal independence and Maryland entrepreneur and aristocrat deter-
lead like-minded individuals farther west into mined to extend the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
the wilderness to escape English tyranny. The across the mountains. Many frontier folk
film has less to do with tribulations on the proved hostile to the iron horse, chief among
frontier than with world events in 1939. Stri- them the head of a competing stagecoach line
dently anti-British, Allegheny Uprising is a plea (Wallace Beery). The film pitted the two men
for American isolation. in a struggle of technological progress versus the
Drums Along the Mohawk, produced by Dar- status quo while flirting with problems caused
ryl Zanuck at Twentieth Century-Fox, directed by slavery. (Beery’s character, who stood in the
by John Ford, and starring Henry Fonda and way of progress, was engaged in illicit slave trad-
Claudette Colbert, opened one week after Al- ing.) Though fiction, the movie pointed to real
legheny Uprising (November 10, 1939). It pres- conflicts created by social class, industrializa-
ents a more earnest depiction of life on the tion, resistance to change, and slavery.
frontier. Set in New York’s Mohawk Valley, it Northwest Passage (1940), set in 1759 during
examines the lives of brave pioneers trying to the French and Indian War, recounted the
 THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN WEST ] 501

FIGURE 62. Allegheny Uprising (1939). Jim Smith ( John Wayne) lies wounded after a successful revolt against the
British for selling guns to the Indians, jeopardizing the settlement of the Trans-Appalachian frontier. Courtesy RKO
Radio Pictures.

story of ranger Major Robert Rogers (Spencer The Postwar Frontier and Cold War Themes
Tracy). Based on Kenneth Roberts’s popular Surprisingly, no major studio produced films
novel and directed by King Vidor, it is filled about the trans-Appalachian frontier once the
with inaccuracies but is also splendid viewing. United States declared war on December 8,
Originally intended to be the first installment 1941. War films tended to be about World
in a two-part epic, the second half was never War II, while views of the frontier were dom-
filmed, nor was the promised passage ever inated by trans-Mississippi westerns. Once the
seen. Rogers’s Rangers set out to destroy the war ended, however, filmmakers returned to
Abenaki Indians’ stronghold at St. Francis, the trans-Appalachian West.
near the Canadian border, in hopes of ending Cecil B. De Mille’s Unconquered (1947),
the war. The action film makes excellent use starring Gary Cooper, marked a return to the
of Technicolor and is buoyed along by Herbert prerevolutionary West. Much of the film cen-
Stothart’s rousing score. In spite of the film’s ters on the buying and selling of an indentured
distorted historic details, it captures the spirit servant (Paulette Goddard) and an opportun-
of frontier life and indirectly changed Ameri- ist (Howard Da Silva) who traffics willfully
can attitudes toward intervention in the Eu- with the enemy. Though the film attempts to
ropean struggle. present the politics of the era, it degenerates
502 [ PLACES
into an unsatisfactory love story. Unconquered
was filmed during a difficult time in Holly-
wood. The United States had emerged trium-
phant from World War II only to face a Cold
War that was heating up on the home front.
In 1947 the House Committee on Un-
American Activities (HUAC) began holding
hearings in Hollywood. During the 1930s,
when capitalism seemed doomed, many
people in Hollywood—including most of
those called before HUAC—had toyed with
communism. Their flirtation with this political FIGURE 63. Unconquered (1947). A Virginia militia
ideology returned to haunt them during the captain (Gary Cooper, right) becomes embroiled in the
Cold War. Moguls closed ranks, cooperating “buying and selling of an indentured servant” as he
struggles to prevent Seneca Indians from acquiring guns
with the investigation. Director Cecil B. De
and threatening Fort Pitt. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
Mille presented information to HUAC and
California’s own Communist Party watchdog,
the Tenney Committee. Friendly witness Rob- without Stan Laurel. Though formulaic, the
ert Taylor singled out Howard Da Silva, the film presented Breen as a man struggling to
opportunist who collaborated with the British decide where his allegiance lay, while depicting
in The Unconquered. Gary Cooper joined the the tenuous nature of frontier life and the
conservative Motion Picture Alliance, de- struggle to create a community in a hostile
nouncing Hollywood’s fellow travelers before environment—very much a metaphor for the
the committee. Thus, though The Unconquered times.
did poorly at the box office, the film’s story Burt Lancaster produced, directed, and
about enemies in one’s midst reflected what starred in The Kentuckian (1955), a story about
was occurring in the movie colony. a frontiersman and his son migrating to Texas
John Wayne (who also produced the film) in the 1830s. Filmed on location near Owens-
portrayed a coonskin-capped volunteer re- boro, Kentucky, it accurately depicts the land
turning from the Battle of New Orleans ( Jan- between the Appalachian Mountains and the
uary 8, 1814) in The Fighting Kentuckian Mississippi River. Based on Felix Holt’s novel
(1949). Stopping in Alabama on his way home, The Gabriel Horn, it was adapted by the nov-
John Breen (Wayne) falls in love with a French elist A. B. Guthrie Jr. The painter Thomas Hart
general’s daughter (Vera Ralston). Meanwhile, Benton designed the film’s poster, which de-
the community of Alabama pioneers falls prey picts Lancaster as a pioneer—a larger-than-life
to villainous land grabbers; in response, pio- figure in buckskin literally towering over the
neers turn to the experienced fighter and war landscape with his son and dog by his side, a
hero to save them. Though a standard action true mythic hero.
feature with a convoluted plot, The Fighting The film portrayed difficulties of traveling
Kentuckian offered Wayne an opportunity to west in an era without adequate roads and
enhance his onscreen persona. Republic, a bridges and where dangers were real. Lancas-
poverty-row studio with a reputation for ter’s Big Eli Wakefield lives by his wits on his
cheapness and formula, fashioned a film with journey west. Indians provide no threat in this
some inspired casting and credible actors. movie; instead, other Euro-Americans do. This
Among them is Oliver Hardy playing pioneer trans-Appalachian frontier, populated with
Willie Paine in a seriocomic performance tough, unscrupulous men, challenges Big Eli’s
 THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN WEST ] 503

assumptions about himself and fellow man. As augural address of 1961, President Kennedy
he and Little Eli travel, the son grows more had promised a new frontier, and here was a
knowledgeable and adaptable to the changing movie reminding audiences how invigorating
milieu. Walter Matthau, in his screen debut, and expansive the original frontier had been.
depicted a sadistic saloonkeeper who publicly Unlike later, Vietnam-era productions, this
humiliates Big Eli, horsewhipping him in the film is a celebration of America as a sprawling,
street. (As long as Big Eli remained in the wil- dangerous land filled with promise, where or-
derness he knew what to do, but in towns he dinary people can brush elbows with heroes
faltered.) By the film’s end Little Eli becomes and where the only limitations are the ones
the savior of his father and heir to the dream Americans make for themselves.
of Texas and freedom. J. W. Williamson ob- Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman starred in
serves that The Kentuckian “is a pretty straight- an earnest depiction of the lives of Swedish
forward story about the loss of American vi- immigrants to Minnesota in the 1850s in Jan
rility due to an obsession with business and Troell’s gritty film The Emigrants (1972). Told
money and the spreading cancer of cities” (90). from the immigrants’ point of view, it exposes
not only the physical hardships of eking out a
From Camelot to Clinton life on the frontier but also the cultural chau-
John Ford, George Marshall, and Henry Hath- vinism encountered by non-English speakers.
away codirected a sprawling Cinerama epic of The film follows the arduous journey over sea
both the trans-Appalachian and trans- and land from Sweden to the American inte-
Mississippi West with the episodic film How rior. Excellent in its depictions of characters
the West Was Won (1963). Ostensibly a story and period details, The Emigrants provides a
of one family’s journey across the American believable glimpse of frontier life for average
continent, the film presented a survey of fron- pioneers. A worthy sequel, The New Land, fol-
tier history from 1803 to 1890. Told in five lowed in 1973.
segments, the narrative follows the fictional Charlton Heston and Brian Keith teamed
Prescott family through historic settings, be- up to tame the frontier in the buddy picture
ginning with the Erie Canal. Painted with a The Mountain Men (1980). The film stretches
broad brush, the epic includes a series of his- the boundaries of the trans-Appalachian West
toric figures and events. The Prescott family from the Ohio Valley to the Rockies. A story
encounters river pirates, hazardous rapids, of two aging trappers in the last days of the
buffalo stampedes, Indian attacks, and other fur trade, the film accurately depicts the an-
challenges. Though filled with an impressive nual rendezvous associated with the heyday
cast (including James Stewart, Walter Bren- of the trapping. Authentic costumes, inspired
nan, Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, John Wayne, by Frederic Remington’s nineteenth-century
and Gregory Peck) the film lacks a cohesive illustrations, enhance the film’s visuals. Nos-
storyline and often bends history to fit its ep- talgia for a simpler time, when people could
isodic structure. Some segments provide dra- rely on themselves rather than outside agen-
matic insight about the difficulty of life on the cies, pervades the film. In an era of runaway
frontier, and the film vividly portrays those inflation, gas lines, and residual effects of
hardships. Unlike the Prescotts’ breakneck ad- Vietnam and Watergate, The Mountain Men
ventures, life, for most pioneers, was typified presented a bygone virile America. It mir-
by brief moments of intense action followed rored the campaign rhetoric of Ronald Rea-
by mind-numbing boredom. The film cap- gan in 1980, who tapped the mythology of the
tures the hope inherent in the frontier spirit frontier, and renewed faith in the American
that John F. Kennedy had rekindled. In his in- Dream.
504 [ PLACES
Hawkeye and Chingachgook fought the (Madeline Stowe) and the action sequences,
French and Indian war on television in 1985 often filmed in slow motion.
in a serialized version of James Fenimore Coo-
per’s The Last of the Mohicans. More faithful Into the Twenty-First Century
to the source material than previous versions, Though the trans-Appalachian West of feature
the TV show made good use of locations and films often had more in common with the
credible costuming. Steve Forrest portrayed cowboy film genre, it has proved an important
Hawkeye as an older, more introspective hero, subject for filmmakers. The West east of the
a war-weary pioneer seeking peace and stabil- Mississippi created some of the early republic’s
ity on a contested frontier. He acts as mediator most familiar heroes, from Daniel Boone to
between greedy settlers and Indians intent on Abraham Lincoln, both of whom embody
retaining their homelands. The miniseries re- American notions of optimism, self-reliance,
flected the mood of a country in the pall of a and democratic spirit. The most enduring fig-
“Vietnam syndrome” ten years after the fall of ure to incorporate different generations’ atti-
Saigon: the world was no longer black and tudes continues to be James Fenimore Coo-
white between heroic pioneers and their op- per’s Hawkeye. As Frederick Jackson Turner
ponents; rather, it was complicated by com- pointed out, all attempts at writing history re-
peting goals, conflicting values, and racial mis- flect problems of the present, and presentism
understanding. has long been a part of American film. The
In 1992 Michael Mann directed Last of the earliest depictions of the trans-Appalachian re-
Mohicans, using Native Americans in roles for- gion reflected ideals of Americans on the verge
merly held by Caucasians. Casting Native of the so-called American Century, demoniz-
American activist Russell Means as Hawkeye’s ing Native Americans, non-Anglo Europeans,
mentor Chingachgook added gravity and im- and women. Other films reflected American
portance to this beautifully photographed film. questions about World War II, the Cold War,
Wes Studi (Magua) delivered a powerful per- Vietnam, and our changing role as a super-
formance, and his vengeful actions propelled power. Later depictions, by contrast, examined
the story. Mann’s version, however, leaves un- ecological issues; they presented a more mul-
informed viewers with the impression that the ticultural region, problems systemic in com-
1757 massacre at Fort William Henry was the peting cultures vying for the same space, and
primary cause of the American Revolution. the role of women as a “civilizing force.” The
But, more graphically violent than preceding trans-Appalachian West continues to be fertile
versions, Mann’s battle scenes, often filmed in ground for filmic investigations, including
slow motion with a quasi-rock score, achieve films such as Hoosiers or Major League (1989).
a near balletic quality. Filmed in the Smoky In Hoosiers, Dennis Hopper portrays a for-
Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, the mer high school basketball hero named
landscape is as much a character as the hu- “Shooter” who has lost his way in the post–
mans—as it was in Cooper’s novels. Mann de- World War II Midwest. He looks backward to
viates from the novel, producing a visually the trans-Appalachian frontier for guidance,
stunning film with a high degree of historical dressing in a blanket coat and worn-out top
detail—but not necessarily accuracy. His styl- hat, and his diction reflects the speech of the
ized shots, framing, and rapid cross-cutting, early nineteenth century. He lives a quasi-
associated with his television series Miami frontier existence in a crude, decaying struc-
Vice, creep into the film. This is especially evi- ture without electricity, warmed by a fire and
dent in the painterly romantic sequences be- lit with lanterns. Shooter, an anachronism in
tween Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alice dress, speech, and behavior, rises to the occa-
 THE TRANS-APPALACHIAN WEST ] 505

sion to help lead his son’s basketball team to trans-Appalachian frontier. A loner who bris-
victory in the state championships. tles against authority, Wild Thing brings a gritty
Likewise, in Major League, a baseball par- excitement to the staid game of baseball, espe-
ody centering on the Cleveland Indians, a cially when the team begins a winning streak,
band of athletic misfits put together by the insuring that the team will stay in Cleveland.
team’s unscrupulous owner, who hopes for a The trans-Appalachian frontier, with its em-
losing season so she can move the team. Char- phasis on individual ability, a sense of adven-
lie Sheen plays the out-of-control pitcher ture, and Manifest Destiny, continues to infuse
“Wild Thing,” who embodies the ethos of the the plots and characters of modern movies.

References
the American West, 1800 to the Present. New York:
Filmography Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Allegheny Uprising (1939, F) Nash, Gerald. Creating the West: Historical Interpreta-
The Daniel Boone Show (1964–70, TV) tions, 1890–1990. Albuquerque: University of New
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1954–55, Mexico Press, 1991.
TV; 1955, F) Navasky, Victor. Naming Names. New York: Viking,
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939, F) 1980.
The Emigrants (1972, F) O’Connor, John E. “Drums Along the Mohawk.” In
The Fighting Kentuckian (1949, F) John E. O’Connor and Martin A. Jackson, eds.,
How the West Was Won (1963, F) American History/American Film: Interpreting the
The Kentuckian (1955, F) Hollywood Image, 99–102. New York: Frederick
Leatherstocking (1903, F) Ungar, 1979.
The Last of the Mohicans (1932, F; 1936, F; 1992, F) Pitts, Michael R., ed. Hollywood and American His-
The Man Without a Country (1937, F; 1973, TV) tory: A Filmography of Over 250 Motion Pictures
The Monroe Doctrine (1939, F) Depicting U.S. History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland,
Northwest Passage (1940, F) 1984.
Old Hickory (1939, F) Roberts, Randy, and James Olson. John Wayne:
The Romance of Louisiana (1938, F) American. New York: Free Press, 1995.
Unconquered (1947, F) Rohrbough, Malcolm. The Trans-Appalachian Fron-
tier: People, Societies, and Institutions, 1775–1850.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Bibliography Slotkin, Richard. Fatal Environment: The Myth of the
Brownlow, Kevin. The War, the West and the Wilder- Frontier in the Age of Industrialization, 1800–1890.
ness. New York: Knopf, 1984. New York: Harper & Row, 1985.
Cameron, Kenneth M. America on Film: Hollywood ——. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in
and American History. New York: Continuum, Twentieth Century America. New York: Atheneum,
1997. 1992.
Cronon, William, George Miles, and Jay Gitlin. Un- ——. Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology
der an Open Sky: Rethinking America’s Western of the American Frontier, 1600–1860. New York:
Past. New York: Norton, 1992. Harper & Row, 1973.
Faragher, John Mack, ed. Rereading Frederick Jackson Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West
Turner: “The Significance of the Frontier” and as Symbol and Myth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
Other Essays. New Haven: Yale University Press, University Press, 1950.
1994. Williamson, J. W. Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did
Meyers, Jeffrey. Gary Cooper: American Hero. New to the Mountains and the Mountains Did to the
York: Morrow, 1998. Movies. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina
Morgan, Ted. A Shovel Full of Stars: The Making of Press, 1995.
VII.
Themes and Topics

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ RONALD W. WILSON ]

Crime and the Mafia

n a classic article written in 1953, “Crime sale, distribution, and transportation of alco-

I as an American Way of Life,” sociologist

Daniel Bell described crime as an alternative
ladder of success. With other avenues of op-
portunity closed off by discrimination and a
holic beverages. This attempt to legislate mo-
rality provided a profitable opportunity for the
many factions of immigrant gangsters to or-
ganize for illegal activities; once Prohibition
lack of education, organized crime provided a was repealed in 1933, they turned to other op-
way to fulfill aspirations of entrepreneurship tions. The early 1940s “Murder, Inc.” trials re-
and social mobility. According to Bell, “Crime, vealed a subsidiary arm of organized crime
in many ways, is a Coney Island mirror, cari- that was used primarily as an execution squad.
caturing the morals and manners of society. In 1946 the Hobbs Act was passed, the first
The jungle quality of the American business piece of legislation designed specifically to
community, particularly at the turn of the cen- combat organized crime. Individual crime
tury, was reflected in the mode of ‘business’ leaders such as Al Capone and Charles “Lucky”
practiced by the coarse gangster elements, Luciano were removed from power by law en-
most of them from new immigrant families, forcement rather than criminal means. In the
who were ‘getting ahead,’ just as Horatio Alger 1950s and 1960s both the Kefauver Committee
had urged” (128). As both society and business and the McClellan Committee investigated the
changed, Bell continued, so did the types and extent of organized crime. The terms “Mafia”
organization of crime; significantly, crime and “Cosa Nostra” were frequently used to de-
films reflect these same changes. scribe an underworld network of organized
In the 1850s, ethnic gangs dominated the criminal activity. In 1970, noting the growing
crime scene in large metropolitan areas; for ex- influence of organized crime, President Nixon
ample, in New York City, the Five Pointers, signed into law the Organized Crime Control
the Cherry Hill Gang, the Dead Rabbits, and Act. Title IX was the Racketeer Influence and
the Hudson Dusters were but a few of the im- Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), which
migrant gangs that formed for mutual protec- would become the most potent legislative
tion and profit. In 1891 New Orleans chief of weapon against organized crime. It listed
police William Hennessey was assassinated by twenty-four activities (such as bribery, extor-
members of a secret society of Italian immi- tion, and murder) associated with organized
grants that was referred to as “the Mafia.” In criminal activity, expanded the definition of
the early part of the twentieth century an ex- conspiracy, and gave law enforcement the tool
tortion racket operated in New York; it was of “asset forfeiture”—the seizure of assets,
known by members of the Italian community proceeds, and instrumentalities of crime. The
as la Mano Nera, the Black Hand. In 1919 the Witness Security and Protection Program was
Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution also a part of this legislation, as were fewer
went into effect, outlawing the manufacture, restrictions on the use of electronic surveil-

509
510 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

lance (wiretapping and electronic bugs) by law specially constructed moral universe where the
enforcement personnel. RICO allowed a more only value was getting ahead. Solomon and
effective attack on organized gambling, pros- Kaminsky also have speculated on the attrac-
titution, narcotics trafficking, and loan- tion of the crime film, asserting that it provides
sharking because it criminalized the acquisi- a “vicarious experience of continual action, vi-
tion, maintenance, or control of a business olence, social deviation, corruption, and a de-
funded through illegal activities. termined drive for power” (Solomon, 158).
Crime and violence became an important Solomon also claimed that the crime genre al-
part of the American cultural mythos. Cultural lowed prurient glimpses into otherwise
icons such as Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and avoided subcultures.
the Dalton Gang were representative of the
outlawry that was a part of the literature and The Silent Era: From Gangs to Gangsters
myths about the settling of the American West The preoccupation of early crime films with
in the nineteenth century. With the coming of urban crime parallels the social reform con-
industrialization and urbanization in the cerns of the Progressive era (1879–1920). Pro-
twentieth century, a different cultural image gressive reformers exposed the conditions of
was required. David E. Ruth has argued that tenement districts of metropolitan areas,
the media gangster was a central cultural figure which they saw as breeding crime as a result
who helped Americans negotiate a bumpy of a corrupt social environment. Jacob Riis’s
transition into the changing social world of the famous book How the Other Half Lives (1890)
twentieth century: “The gangster represented recorded those egregious conditions with a still
a reformulation of longstanding concerns for camera. That the center of the early film in-
a new cultural context. As staged in the un- dustry was the metropolitan New York area
derworld, the city was a disorderly place of influenced the atmospherics of many early
dangerous strangers, of rapacious capitalists, crime films. D. W. Griffith’s Musketeers of Pig
of unmanly men and unwomanly women, of Alley (1912) is generally considered to be the
seekers of pleasure and shirkers of responsi- first “gangster” film. In 1915 two feature films
bility” (8). Similarly, cultural historian Richard were released that further added to the grow-
Slotkin views the gangster as an extension of ing genre, Raoul Walsh’s The Regeneration and
the frontier myth, suggesting that just as vio- Maurice Tourneur’s Alias Jimmy Valentine.
lence was inexorably linked with the nation’s The Regeneration is considered the oldest sur-
expansion in the nineteenth century, so, too, viving feature-length gangster film. The sub-
was it a part of the urban “frontier” of the ject of “white slavery,” widely reported in the
twentieth (260–265). press, as well as the focus of a Rockefeller
Even before the advent of motion pictures, White Slavery Report (1912), provided fodder
crime was a regular feature of newspapers, for two “exploitation” films: Traffic in Souls
dime novels, plays, novels, and songs. Many (1913), directed by George Loane Tucker, and
film and social historians have attempted to Inside the White Slave Traffic (1913), directed
explain America’s fascination of the genre. by Frank Beal. Both films relied heavily on
One of the earliest and most influential was by real-life incidents, as well as documentary
Robert Warshow, who asserted cryptically that footage, for an air of authenticity. The advent
the gangster represented the “no” to the great of Prohibition gave rise to the increase in both
American “yes.” (Warshow links the gangster’s underworld activity and films about crime.
popularity to the American dream of success.) The crime film was seriously affected by two
Genre critics Stanley J. Solomon and Stuart quite different events in the late 1920s: the
Kaminsky have emphasized the crime films coming of sound in 1927 and the St. Valen-
 CRIME AND THE MAFIA ] 511

tine’s Day Massacre in 1929: sound was to add Machine Gun Kelly became household names,
considerably to the action-oriented material of and newspapers across the nation closely fol-
the crime genre, while the St. Valentine’s Day lowed their activities.
Massacre in Chicago catapulted Al Capone and Mervyn LeRoy’s Little Caesar (1930), based
others into the headlines. According to Jona- on a novel of the same name by W. R. Burnett
than Munby, “Although a criminal and an eth- and starring Edward G. Robinson, ushered in
nic to boot, Al Capone gained credibility as a a cycle of brutal gangster antiheroes. William
new national hero in the context of Prohibi- Wellman’s The Public Enemy (1931) and How-
tion, a piece of legislation universally despised ard Hawks’s Scarface (1932) embellished the
across class and ethnic lines. Capone bucked film industry’s depiction of crime. These films
not only the entire system of nativist middle- chronicled the rise and fall of their protago-
class idealism rooted in commitment to the nists in a way that mirrored the American suc-
work ethic and the deferment of gratification. cess story; indeed, many scholars have viewed
The gangster’s popularity reached new heights this initial crime-film cycle as a parodic reflec-
in the aftermath of the Wall Street crash, an tion of the American success myth. The drive
event that removed the economic platform on to be a success in business is a basic theme
which Prohibition’s credibility was rested” running through American literature, espe-
(37). Although it was a late silent film, Joseph cially at the turn of the century. Film historians
von Sternberg’s Underworld (1927), written by have noted a parallel in the early 1930s gang-
Chicago newspaperman-turned-playwright ster films. Andrew Bergman, for instance,
Ben Hecht, set the standard for the 1930s compares the gangster film to both the Horatio
gangster genre. In 1929 the ambush of seven Alger mythos of success (“from rags to riches”)
members of “Bugs” Moran’s gang in Chicago and Andrew Carnegie’s success formula found
provided an additional incentive for filmmak- in a famous speech entitled “The Road to Busi-
ers to satisfy public curiosity. The addition of ness Success.” Carnegie’s vision emphasized
sound to the moving image allowed audiences the individual accomplishment of success from
to hear not only the famous gunplay, but also at the bottom by being exceptional, breaking
the colorful argot of America’s urban under- orders, and inventing new ones. Couched
world. within a context of social Darwinism, this im-
age was particularly applicable to the early
The Great Depression and gangster film, where the basic formula fol-
the Production Code lowed a rise-and-fall pattern of success and
The early 1930s witnessed a flourish of crimi- failure within a context demanding survival of
nal activity from the establishment of orga- the fittest.
nized crime to the exploits of numerous rural Several factors led to the demise of the clas-
bandits throughout the Midwest. The gang- sic gangster cycle of the early 1930s: the im-
land murders of Salvatore Maranzano and plementation of the 1927 Production Code by
Giuseppe “Joe the Boss” Masseria in 1931 led the Hays Office, the repeal of the Eighteenth
to the formation of the “Commission,” a board Amendment, and President Franklin D. Roo-
of directors that would oversee the Mafia. The sevelt’s “war on crime.” The repeal of prohi-
old-style Italian Mafia was out, and the “syn- bition in 1933 removed any need for rumrun-
dicate” was in. In addition, during the early ners and racketeers, and the press turned to
1930s numerous hoodlums with colorful celebrating the exploits of rural and “folk”
names were making headlines throughout the bandits such as Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie and
Midwest. Pretty Boy Floyd, Ma Barker, Bonnie Clyde, and John Dillinger. President Roose-
Parker and Clyde Barrow, John Dillinger, and velt’s subsequent “war on crime” and the glo-
512 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

America, ironically with the very actors who

had enjoyed such success as gangsters.

The 1940s and Postwar Developments

The gangster figure virtually disappeared from
domestic films from 1941 to 1945; it was easy
enough to simply replace gangsters with Nazi
villains in such films as All Through the Night
(1942) and Casablanca (1942). During the
mid-1940s, films based on the hard-boiled fic-
tion of Dashiell Hammett and James M. Cain
saw a marked increase in production, particu-
F I G U R E 6 4 . Scarface (1932). Tony Camonte (Paul larly from Paramount Studios, whose releases
Muni, center), once an unmannered hood, with his boss
included This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass
John Lovo (Osgood Perkins) and Lovo’s girlfriend Poppy
(Karen Morley), basking in the opulence provided by the Key (1944), and Double Indemnity (1944).
fruits of the crime industry. Tony, also called Scarface, Film historian Carlos Clarens suggests that the
vies for the attention of Poppy and eventually her film noir developed, at least partially, as a re-
companionship as he plans to push out Lovo. A
revisionist gangster film, Scarface is an early depiction of
sponse to Joseph Breen’s refusal to allow the
criminals who believe they have access to the myth of production of gangster pictures during the war
American success. Courtesy Caddo and United Artists. years. With the one exception of Max Nos-
seck’s Dillinger (1945), no real-life criminals
rification of J. Edgar Hoover’s “G-men” were portrayed on screen until Don Siegel’s
shifted the public fascination from lawbreakers Baby Face Nelson (1957). The Breen Office
to law enforcers. Also factoring into this cul- supplemented a thirteenth section to the
tural shift was the implementation of the Pro- MPAA code while the Hollywood Ten were
duction Code in 1934. Threats of theater boy- refusing to testify before the House Committee
cotts by such pressure groups as the Catholic on Un-American Activities. The section read:
Legion of Decency caused Hollywood to en- “No picture shall be approved dealing with the
force its Production Code. One of the central life of a notorious criminal of current or recent
concerns of Hollywood’s critics was its glori- times which uses the name, nickname or alias
fication of criminal activity. The now-famous of such notorious criminal in the film, nor
Payne Studies of 1933 had “proven” that shall a picture be approved if based on the life
America’s youth was harmfully influenced by of such notorious criminal unless the character
the content of gangster films. The Payne Stud- shown in the film be punished for crimes
ies, which were condensed into the popular shown in the film committed by him” (quoted
volume Our Movie Made Children (1933), pro- in Clarens, 192). The fear that the exploits of
vided many examples of youth who robbed real criminals, when portrayed on the screen,
banks and stores claiming to have been in- would influence audiences was a prominent
spired by what they had seen on screen. Movie concern of the public and the Hays Office. The
content, as a result, became a popular topic for dormancy of the gangster film allowed for
editorials and homilies. As a consequence of other crime genres to develop: particularly, the
this backlash, the gangster hero was sup- police procedural, the caper film, and the syn-
planted by federal agents. Warner Bros.’ “G” dicate film.
Man (1935), starring James Cagney, and Bul- In January 1950 the Senate Special Com-
lets or Ballots (1936), with Edward G. Robin- mittee to Investigate Crime in Interstate Com-
son, canonized a new law-and-order image for merce was formed. Headed by Senator Estes
 CRIME AND THE MAFIA ] 513

Kefauver of Tennessee, the committee, due gangsterism extended to television during this
primarily to the broadcast of its hearings on period: the Quinn-Martin series The Untouch-
television, became not only the most important ables, starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness, pre-
probe of organized crime in America, but riv- miered on ABC in 1959 and ran successfully
eting TV drama as well. Rather than hold Senate for the next four years.
hearings strictly in Washington, Kefauver opted One legacy of the crime films of the 1950s
to travel to key cities (fourteen in all) to show was that the word “Mafia” became synony-
the ubiquity of organized criminal activity. mous, in the public sphere, with any type of
Films following in the wake of the Kefauver “organized” criminal activity. The 1960s pro-
hearings include 711 Ocean Drive (1950) The vided an additional boost to filmic interest in
Enforcer (1951), The Racket (1951), Hoodlum the Mafia, with the testimony of Joseph Vala-
Empire (1952), Captive City (1952), The Big chi before the McClellan Committee in 1963,
Heat (1953), The Big Combo (1955), and New as well as U.S. Attorney General Robert Ken-
York Confidential (1955). Jonathan Munby has nedy’s “war on crime.” With the end of the
suggested, “While some of these [films] use the Production Code and the establishment of a
syndicate milieu as an opportunity to valorize new film ratings system in 1968, the crime
institutions such as the FBI and to demonize film—like all other film genres—entered a
unions, most of them take as their central dra- more graphic era, a liberation that paralleled
matic interest not so much the fight between the violent events and cultural upheavals of the
‘good’ and ‘bad’ institutions, but the fact that 1960s.
nothing (including the judicial system, politics,
real estate, the union, and trade) is immune to Rural Gangsterism and Rogue Cops:
graft and mob control” (133). The 1960s
Another event, the so-called Apalachin Con- The cataclysmic countercultural movement of
ference, contributed to yet another cycle of the 1960s fueled a growing distrust of the es-
crime films. The New York State Police raided tablishment. The assassinations of President
a meeting of mobsters in Apalachin, New John F. Kennedy in 1963 and of Dr. Martin
York, on November 14, 1957. Before this in- Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968,
cident, the FBI had always refused to admit the along with the violence engendered by the stu-
existence of a so-called Mafia, emphasizing dent protest movement, were also emblematic
that most organized crime was on the local, of the social upheaval and unrest of the time.
rather than national, level. The raid, along with This increasing violence was reflected in the
the gangland murder of Albert Anastasia in films of the period, particularly of the last part
1957, spurred a “retro-gangster” cycle of films of the decade.
that scoured the underworld for pseudohistor- The year 1967 was a watershed for the crime-
ical film biographies (with the relaxation of the film genre. Two films were significant because
censorship code, biographies were all right as of recent sociocultural developments of the
long as the gangsters were dead). This cycle 1960s. Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde and
included Machine Gun Kelly (1958), The Bon- John Boorman’s Point Blank represent, as John
nie Parker Story (1958), Al Capone (1959), Cawelti observes, “a new set of generic con-
Pretty Boy Floyd (1960), and The Rise and Fall structs more directly related to the imaginative
of Legs Diamond (1960). The cycle ended in landscape of the second half of the twentieth
1967 with Roger Corman’s celluloid reenact- century” (200). Bonnie and Clyde, based loosely
ment of The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, on the story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie
with Jason Robards Jr. as Al Capone. It should Parker, venerated two youthful rural bandits as
also be noted that the interest in retro- cult heroes. The advertising slogan for the film
514 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

read, “They were young, they were in love, they Mario Puzo’s best-selling book, The Godfather
killed people.” This advertisement and the film is an epic gangster saga that traces the history
itself targeted a youthful, rebellious audience of the Corleone family. Don Corleone (Marlon
whose angst and anger at the establishment Brando) is the aging head of the family, and
were reflected in the exploits of the criminal his son Michael (Al Pacino) inherits his man-
couple. Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin as an tle. As Carlos Clarens observes, “The Godfather
individualistic antihero named simply Walker, is also about the transition from the archaic,
not only initiated a rogue male series of films relatively honor-bound order of Don Corleone
(particularly rogue cops in films such as Mad- to the more pragmatic and less scrupulous re-
igan, Bullitt, and Coogan’s Bluff ), but it also ar- gime of his younger son, who would develop
guably began the neo-noir cycle that flourished the family business into an impersonal cor-
in the 1970s with such films as Chinatown, The poration” (278). The film relates the story of
Long Goodbye, and The Big Sleep. the Corleone family and its struggles to stay
intact as a criminal organization. Both The
The Godfather and Family Godfather and its sequel/prequel, The Godfa-
Many of the crime films of the 1970s reflect a ther II are constructed with an epic sweep that
growing concern over the disintegration of chronicles the violent history of a powerful and
both the family and society. The Watergate influential criminal family within a social his-
scandal and the Vietnam conflict contributed tory of immigration and social aspiration.
to this sense of despair. Concern over the rise Both films illustrate the transition from “tra-
in urban crime and the ineffectiveness of the ditional” culture and values to American cul-
police unleashed a number of vigilante films ture.
such as Dirty Harry (1971), Walking Tall Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, and many of
(1973), and Death Wish (1974). “Neo-noir” his subsequent crime films, detail the everyday
became a critical term for a number of films life of the lower echelons of the criminal world.
that were a “contemporary rendering of the More gritty than Coppola’s grandiosely ro-
noir sensibility” (Erikson, 321). This “noir sen- mantic Godfather saga, Scorsese’s film evokes
sibility” and the accompanying paranoia and the life and times of the petty street hoods in
pessimistic view of a corrupt society fit in well New York’s Little Italy. In this world, as in the
with the tenor of the times. Notable among real world, violence erupts suddenly. Crimi-
“neo-noirs” were Roman Polanski’s China- nality in Scorsese’s films is a result of the en-
town (1974), Arthur Penn’s Night Moves vironment, the neighborhood. In Mean Streets,
(1975), and Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver Charlie (Harvey Keitel) and his friends often
(1976). The legacy of Watergate can also be go to see movies at the neighborhood theater,
seen in a number of conspiracy films released where Scorsese indulges in some reflexivity
during the 1970s, most notably Executive Ac- (and perhaps social commentary) by showing
tion (1973), The Conversation (1974), The Par- the audience brief clips from violent genres (a
allax View (1974), Three Days of the Condor western, a horror film, and a gangster film). In
(1975), The Domino Principle (1976), and All many ways Scorsese demystifies the gangster
the President’s Men (1976). film in such a way that it is a precursor to the
Two of the most significant crime films of contemporary crime film’s genre bending and
this decade reintroduced the gangster into revisionism.
American film. Francis Ford Coppola’s The
Godfather (1972) and Martin Scorsese’s Mean The Modern Crime Film
Streets (1973) reflect the disintegration of tra- A major FBI crackdown on organized crime
ditional values in a changing society. Based on throughout the 1980s resulted in the impris-
 CRIME AND THE MAFIA ] 515

revitalized the gangster genre within a different

sociocultural context: New Jack City (1991) di-
rected by Mario Van Peebles; Menace II Society
(1993), directed by Allen and Albert Hughes;
and Boyz N the Hood (1991), directed by John
Singleton. The streets of America’s inner cities
were the primary locales for these crime films
and their many successors, such as Spike Lee’s
critically acclaimed Clockers (1995), whose
roots lay in contemporary life and culture.
The multiculturalism of the crime film can
also be seen in several other features during
FIGURE 65. Mean Streets (1973). Charlie Cappa this period: Latino gangsters in American Me
(Harvey Keitel), angered at Johnny Boy Civello’s (Robert (1992), directed by Edward James Olmos, and
De Niro) attitude and inability to take an unpaid loan Mi Vida Loca (My crazy life) (1994), directed
seriously, spontaneously breaks out into another fight in
the hallway of a tenement building, with Cappa’s by Allison Anders; the Asian American gang-
girlfriend Teresa Ronchelli (Amy Robinson) caught in ster in Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon
the middle. Martin Scorsese brought a raw and explosive (1988); and the Russian Mafia in Romeo Is
cinematic style to gangsters and Italian family life before
Bleeding (1993), directed by Peter Medak, and
the genre took a different stylistic direction. Courtesy
Taplin-Perry-Scorsese Productions. Little Odessa (1994), directed by James Grey.
The crime genre was also represented on the
small screen in American homes during the
onment of John Gotti on June 23, 1992. Gotti 1980s and 1990s. Two nonfiction series de-
had inherited the mantle of leader of the Gam- buted in 1988: America’s Most Wanted (Fox)
bino mob following Carlo Gambino’s death and Unsolved Mysteries (NBC). Both series
(from natural causes) in 1976. With Gotti and dealt with real-life crimes and criminals and
other major Mafia figures gone, a multiethnic sought the support and advice of a captivated
succession of organized crime began to assert public in apprehending criminals and solving
itself. Many ethnic groups began to forge a crimes. Likewise, a video-verité program enti-
loose confederation of organized crime. These tled Cops (Fox), which debuted in 1989, fol-
include the Dixie Mafia in the South, Latin lowed police officers and detectives at work.
American gangs in the Southwest, white ethnic The success of this low-budget series led to
groups across the nation, Asian groups in New popular spin-offs along the same lines, among
York and San Francisco, and Italian and Cu- them FBI: The Untold Stories (ABC) and True
ban groups. New to this melting pot of orga- Detectives (CBS). Another interesting and con-
nized criminal activity was the Russian Mafia, troversial series, which debuted on HBO in
which was ousted from its native country after January 1999, was The Sopranos, a hybrid soap
the fall of the Soviet Union. Black gangs be- opera and crime drama that centered on a New
came more prominent in the 1980s. This Jersey Mafia family. The series literally put the
multiethnic grouping of organized crime be- mobster “on the couch,” seeking psychother-
gan to surface in motion pictures during the apy for panic attacks, revealing traumatic
late 1980s and 1990s. memories of a father’s violent death and family
The era saw the debut of several black film- pressures brought on by a domineering
makers in the crime film genre. Influenced by mother and challenging adolescent children.
current events, as well as the increasing pop- The language used in the series mirrored the
ularity of “gangsta rap” music, three key films billingsgate of the early gangster films of the
516 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

1930s, providing the audience with a rich lexi- that subject viewers to harsh realities and re-
con of mobster jargon. Not surprisingly, the se- fuse to flatter either their characters or their
ries was not without its detractors; several Ital- audiences” (11). This group of filmmakers and
ian American groups protested (and filed films include Joel and Ethan Coen’s Miller’s
lawsuits) over the ethnic stereotypes depicted in Crossing (1990) and Fargo (1996); David
the series. It should be noted that this was also Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) and Lost Highway
a criticism of the popular 1960s crime series The (1997); Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas (1990)
Untouchables—yet audiences were fascinated by and Casino (1995); Quentin Tarantino’s Res-
the forbidden pleasures of both programs. ervoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994); and
During the 1990s a further transformation Bryan Singer’s The Usual Suspects (1995).
in the contemporary crime film has made of it More recently, Steven Soderberg’s The Limey
an alternative, ideological commentary on the (2000), Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2001),
times. Nicole Rafter has labeled this subgenre and Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002) ex-
the “critical crime film,” pointing to the ab- plored further permutations along these same
sence of a traditional, admirable hero and its lines. The crime film continues to express the
pervasive sense of hopelessness. Rafter notes, dark side of the American dream, challenging
“Recently, a few innovative filmmakers have filmmakers and audiences alike with stylistic
rebelled against crime films’ tradition of safe innovations and hyperbolic narrative tech-
critique and sanitized rebellion, developing a niques in its combination of entertainment
critical alternative of alienated, angry movies and sociocultural critique.

References
Inside the White Slave Traffic (1913, F)
Filmography Little Caesar (1930, F)
Alias Jimmy Valentine (1915, F) Little Odessa (1994, F)
All Through the Night (1942, F) Mean Streets (1973, F)
American Me (1992, F) Menace II Society (1993, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F) Mi Vida Loca (1994, F)
Armored Car Robbery (1950, F) The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912, F)
Asphalt Jungle (1950, F) New Jack City (1991, F)
Baby Face Nelson (1957, F) Point Blank (1967, F)
The Big Combo (1955, F) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, F)
The Big Heat (1953, F) Public Enemy (1931, F)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967, F) Pulp Fiction (1994, F)
Boyz N the Hood (1991, F) The Racket (1951, F)
Bullets or Ballots (1936, F) The Regeneration (1915, F)
Captive City (1952, F) Reservoir Dogs (1992, F)
Casablanca (1942, F) Romeo Is Bleeding (1993, F)
Clockers (1995, F) Scarface (1932, F; 1983, F)
The Conversation (1974, F) 711 Ocean Drive (1950)
Dillinger (1945, F) The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967, F)
Donnie Brasco (1997, F) This Gun for Hire (1942, F)
Double Indemnity (1944, F) Underworld (1927, F)
The Enforcer (1951, F) Year of the Dragon (1988, F)
Gangs of New York (2002, F)
The Glass Key (1944, F)
“G” Man (1935, F) Bibliography
The Godfather (1972, F) Altman, Rick. Film/Genre. London: British Film Insti-
The Godfather II (1974, F) tute, 1999.
GoodFellas (1990, F) Asbury, Herbert. The Gangs of New York. New York:
Hoodlum Empire (1952, F) Knopf, 1928.
 CRIME AND THE MAFIA ] 517
Bell, Daniel. The End of Ideology. Cambridge, MA: Crime in New York. Ottawa, IL: Green Hill,
Harvard University Press, 1988. 1983.
Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression Pitkin, Thomas Monroe, and Francesco Cordasco.
America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni- The Black Hand: A Chapter in Ethnic Crime. New
versity Press, 1971. York: Littlefield, Adams, 1977.
Brownlow, Kevin. Behind the Mask of Innocence: Sex, Potter, Claire Bond. War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men,
Violence, Prejudice, Crime Filmsof Social Conscience. and the Politics of Mass Culture. New Brunswick,
New York: Knopf, 1990. NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1998.
Cawelti, John G. “Chinatown and Generic Transfor- Powers, Richard Gid. G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in Ameri-
mation in Recent American Films.” In Barry Keith can Popular Culture. Carbondale: Southern Illinois
Grant, ed., Film Genre Reader, 183–201. Austin: University Press, 1983.
University of Texas Press, 1986. Rafter, Nicole Hahn. Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films
Clarens, Carlos. Crime Movies: An Illustrated History and Society. New York: Oxford University Press,
of the Gangster Genre from D. W. Griffith to Pulp 2000.
Fiction. New York: Da Capo, 1997. Ruth, David L. Inventing the Public Enemy: The Gang-
Erikson, Tod. “Kill Me Again: Movement Becomes ster in American Culture, 1918–1934. Chicago: Uni-
Genre.” In Alain Silver and James Ursini, eds., versity of Chicago Press, 1996.
Film Noir Reader, 319–323. New York: Limelight Ryan, Patrick J. Organized Crime: A Reference Hand-
Editions, 1996. book. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1995.
Hardy, Phil, ed. The Overlook Film Encyclopedia: The Shadoian, Jack. Dreams and Deadends: The American
Gangster Film. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, Gangster/Crime Film. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,
1998. 1977.
Martin, Richard. Mean Streets and Raging Bulls: The Sifakis, Carl. The Encyclopedia of American Crime.
Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American New York: Facts on File, 1982.
Cinema. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 1997. Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
McArthur, Colin. Underworld USA. London: Secker Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
& Warburg, 1972. Atheneum, 1992.
Moore, William Howard. The Kefauver Committee Smith, Dwight C. The Mafia Mystique. New York: Ba-
and the Politics of Crime, 1950–1952. Columbia: sic Books, 1975.
University of Missouri Press, 1974. Solomon, Stanley J. Beyond Formula: American Film
Munby, Jonathan. Public Enemies, Public Heroes: Genres. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich,
Screening the Gangster from Little Caesar to Touch 1976.
of Evil. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Warshow, Robert. The Immediate Experience. Garden
Neale, Steve. Genre and Hollywood. New York: Rout- City, NY: Doubleday, 1974.
ledge, 2000. Yaquinto, Marilyn. Pump ‘Em Full of Lead: A Look at
Peterson, Virgil W. The Mob: 200 Years of Organized Gangsters on Film. New York: Twayne, 1998.
[ JENNIFER TEBBE-GROSSMAN ]

Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol

rugs, tobacco, and alcohol are contro- paying and relieving states of medical costs for

D versial subjects in American culture, and

our records of their use are full of con-
tradictions. Consumers of these products
praise their therapeutic effectiveness or their
smoking-related illnesses, restraining advertis-
ing and marketing campaigns to prevent tar-
geting of children and teens, and funding re-
search programs and public-health-education
indulgent, naughty, and exuberant qualities; antismoking campaigns. The settlement en-
however, the government has exercised in- dorsed future legislative reforms in developing
creasingly stringent controls. As David Cour- national standards on smoking in public
twright illustrates in his discerning study Dark places, substantial new FDA regulation, and
Paradise, this process began through taxation comprehensive civil and criminal enforcement
in the mid-nineteenth century, and with the procedures.
increased awareness of addiction by the health Although science and medical research led
professions, it moved to regulation on the mu- the efforts to fight substance abuse in the late
nicipal and state level. In the twentieth cen- twentieth century, crusades articulating moral
tury, the criminalization of drug taking devel- and religious values about health and fitness
oped, owing largely to how American society and such disease-related behaviors as drug use,
perceived changes in the populations that in- drinking, and smoking are as alive and well at
dulged in drugs and alcohol—from the re- the beginning of the twenty-first century as
spectable upper middle classes in the later they were in the temperance eras. In discussing
nineteenth century to racial and immigrant alcohol, the medical sociologist Joseph Gus-
groups and working-class urban white males field forcefully argues that since the 1980s,
who were blamed for addicting the emerging “public health attempted to bring alcohol use
new middle classes engaged in professional ca- more fully into the medical frame. These ef-
reers. The era of narcotics control began with forts to ‘sanitize,’ secularize, and objectify the
the movement toward such policies as the drinking event have had little impact. If the
Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914 and Prohibi- evangelical churches no longer own the public
tion—passed in 1920 and then repealed under problem of drinking in the United States, the
the Roosevelt administration in 1933. Since the ghost of that ownership still retains its hold in
1960s, public health education, the rise of new the assumption that the moral life is also the
therapies and treatment facilities, drug traf- healthy life; that sobriety is virtue and drinking
ficking control, and severe criminal-justice is villainous; that illness is a sign of sin and
sanctions have prevailed. The control of indi- health the reward of virtue” (223–224).
vidual “bad habits” also extended to tobacco Historians of American film argue that mo-
consumption. In 1998, a team of state attor- tion pictures instruct as well as entertain. Film
neys general negotiated a settlement with the narratives and visual images influence Ameri-
tobacco industry containing agreements on re- cans in their views about when consumption

518
 DRUGS, TOBACCO, AND ALCOHOL ] 519

is socially acceptable and when it is addiction. the problems of alcoholism. Hollywood con-
Not surprisingly, Hollywood films portray our tinued to present conflicting images of drink
national ambivalence by providing audiences throughout the era of the Great Depression.
with conflicting messages about appropriate There were popular wealthy sophisticates, per-
responses to the consumption of drugs, alco- sonified by Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin
hol, and tobacco. These range from the night- Man (1934), who seemed to quaff champagne
marish depiction of alcoholism with James and cocktails morning to night, or the weak-
Cagney in Come Fill the Cup (1951) and Susan ling alcoholic as seen in A Star Is Born (1937),
Hayward in I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955) to the which tells the story of a woman who struggles
tacit approval of drug-taking behavior with her way to the top of Hollywood stardom only
emerging young stars of the 1980s in Fast to lose her former leading man to drink. A Star
Times at Ridgemont High (1982) and The Is Born reflected growing concerns about the
Breakfast Club (1985). offscreen behavior of Hollywood denizens.
Two years later, John Ford’s western Stage-
Alcohol coach (1939) portrayed what was to become a
In Hollywood’s nickelodeon and silent films, stereotypical figure often played for “comic re-
filmmakers entertained with melodramatic lief ”—an alcoholic doctor who only sobers up
stories often taken from sensationalist news- to perform a lifesaving operation. The Phila-
paper headlines, introducing subjects of med- delphia Story (1940) portrays wealthy socialites
icine and public health to large popular audi- Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) and C. K.
ences. Alcoholism, the saloon, and the dangers Dexter Haven (Cary Grant) who break up be-
they presented to the American family were cause of Dexter’s alcoholism and ironically
frequent subjects, allowing filmmakers to ex- reconcile when he forsakes alcohol just as the
plore seamier human needs and desires, arouse haughty Tracy discovers champagne’s sparkle.
audience emotions and yet still please temper- The Arts & Entertainment Network documen-
ance crusaders (and potential censors). tary Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed Amer-
Whether in such films as The Drunkard’s Fate ica (1997) examines how Americans developed
(1909), promoted by Selig Films as a temper- this love-hate relationship with alcohol, attrib-
ance lesson, or The Weaker Mind (1913), uting the problem to religion, family values,
which introduced hereditary factors in an era corruption, racial prejudice and immigrant in-
rife with racial theories, alcoholism was a pop- tolerance, and social and political reform ef-
ular subject for melodrama. forts.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, despite the The classic “social problem” film The Lost
Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Weekend (1945), directed by Billy Wilder, ex-
Association’s (MPPDA) edicts on depicting hibits the distinction between using and abus-
drinking on the screen, many films portrayed ing alcohol that developed in American society
alcohol consumption not as a questionable after the repeal of Prohibition. Ray Milland
pastime, but as an intimate everyday activity plays Don Birnam, a writer who succumbs to
for sophisticated Americans. Still, that liquor his self-destructive love of liquor as he pursues
was harmful to family values was made clear his lonesome quest for drink from one bleak
in classic films such as Charlie Chaplin’s City bar and liquor store to the next. Milland’s
Lights (1931) and D. W. Griffith’s The Struggle character Birnam is representative of a wave of
(1931). post–World War II Hollywood films that fo-
In the 1930s, as Prohibition was repealed, cused on a middle-class character’s struggle
Alcoholics Anonymous was formed, and many with drink. The film’s denouement has Birnam
government councils were established to study grinding out a cigarette in his whiskey glass,
520 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

symbolizing that he will recover by writing an

autobiography of his addiction and reform.
The Lost Weekend was the first of a series of
films about alcoholics that earned Academy
Awards for their male stars.
Films about alcohol in the second half of the
twentieth century continued to give audiences
the socially acceptable drunk who makes them
laugh. Well received by critics, the wealthy
misfit characters played by Jimmy Stewart in
Harvey (1950) and Dudley Moore in Arthur
(1981) connect their drinking to personal lib-
eration and lovability, and they come to happy FIGURE 66. The Lost Weekend (1945). Don Birman
endings—which do not include such real-life (Ray Milland) defined for decades the image of the
isolated, lonely alcoholic falling tragically from the
consequences as liver failure, stroke, or fatal
middle class. Courtesy Paramount Pictures.
car accidents, nor do they require that Elwood
P. Dowd or Arthur give up their bubbly.
The commercially and critically successful Sledge (Robert Duvall) appears to recover his
Days of Wine and Roses (1962) considered the talent, reject his past with an alcoholic country
impact of alcoholism on a middle-class family: singer ex-wife, and find sobriety, redemption,
a husband ( Jack Lemmon) and wife (Lee Re- and family values in the home of a Christian
mick) who fall victim to “social drinking.” woman (Tess Harper). Both Newman and Du-
Lemmon is saved when he joins Alcoholics vall received Academy Award nominations for
Anonymous, while Remick, less lucky, finds their performances. Few women were given al-
refuge in a squalid hotel room on skid row. coholic roles in this period, although Jane
The film depicts a growing public awareness Fonda received critical acclaim in the thriller
of successful recovery from alcohol addiction The Morning After (1987), in which she plays
outside of the “self-control” paradigm in its a failed alcoholic actress who lays claim to a
focus on the AA program. Both Lemmon and better life free of alcohol with the help of a
Remick received Academy Award nomina- former cop ( Jeff Bridges) who has also re-
tions, and Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer nounced his drinking past.
won an Academy Award for best song with In the decade of the 1990s, with the increas-
their haunting theme “Days of Wine and ing prominence of the health and fitness
Roses.” movement and the formation of such advo-
Despite health policy shifts in the immediate cacy groups as Mothers Against Drunk Driving
post–World War II years, which identified al- (MADD), alcohol regulation took on even
coholism as a “medical condition” (and greater moral resonance. The most critically
funded research and treatment programs), acclaimed “alcoholic” film of this decade is
films about alcoholism in the 1970s and 1980s Leaving Las Vegas (1995), based on John
returned to a focus that emphasizes a moral- O’Brien’s novel of the same name. The film
ism of self-control. In The Verdict (1982) follows Ben (Nicholas Cage), a screenwriter
Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) may be a drunk who loses his family and job in Los Angeles
who has destroyed his family and career, but and departs for the palaces of consumption
he regains much of his dignity by being a good culture in Las Vegas, planning to drink and
lawyer for a working-class family. In Tender die. There are no upright loved ones who try
Mercies (1983), alcoholic songwriter Mac to save him from his demons, only a prostitute,
 DRUGS, TOBACCO, AND ALCOHOL ] 521

Sera (Elizabeth Shue), who grants uncondi- In Modern Times (1936), one of the few
tional love and acquiesces in his request that films with a major filmmaker and star to sat-
“you can never, never ask me to stop drink- irize drugs, Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp
ing.” Unlike earlier treatments, Leaving Las Ve- mistakes cocaine for sugar and loads it onto
gas keeps the harsh realities of alcoholism in his bowl of cereal. The scene is played for
focus: the vomiting, seizures, rages, public laughs: Charlie’s humble character becomes a
scenes, and steady deterioration. The film lion of courage and, under the influence of the
identifies Ben and Sera as the ultimate social “sweetener,” saves prison officials from being
deviants—there are no appeals for self-control taken hostage during an escape attempt. None-
or medical treatment solutions. There is no theless, as American films became more pop-
Lost Weekend–style happy ending. Elizabeth ular with middle-class audiences, major stu-
Shue received a nomination and Nicholas dios increasingly avoided drug themes—
Cage won an Academy Award for their per- especially after drug-abuse scandals involving
formances. The popular actress Sandra Bullock Hollywood stars in the 1920s.
received no such accolades for her work in the “Exploitation” drug films on the other hand,
recovery tale 28 Days (2000), which pictures played from the 1930s through the early 1950s,
alcoholism as an alternately madcap and de- often as midnight features. Reefer Madness
pressive experience, and which audiences did (1936, also known under the titles Tell Your
not rush to see. Children, The Burning Question, Doped Youth,
and Love Madness) promoted the moral dan-
gers of marijuana to America’s youth. Al-
Drugs though it did not receive Motion Picture Code
Drug laws such as the Harrison Narcotics Act approval, like other exploitation films, it re-
of 1914 were a social expression of not only flected the values of federal narcotics officials.
the need for stronger government regulation It depicted ordinary high school students who,
of opiates, cocaine, and heroin, but also in- enticed to smoke marijuana, are forced down
creased concern about “criminal” segments in a path of prostitution, attempted rape, mur-
our society. Americans blamed “foreigners”— der, incarceration, and suicide. Rediscovered
the Chinese for opium, the Mexicans for mar- in the early 1970s, it attained status as a drug
ijuana, and American blacks for cocaine— film cult classic when it was redistributed as
when they began to criminalize drugs. They part of a fund raising effort for (the pro-
also constructed a new class of drug user, the marijuana) National Organization for the Re-
“social deviant,” a young, lower-class, urban form of Marijuana Law (NORML). Reefer
male who mostly obtained the drugs from new Madness played widely on college campuses
immigrants or black Americans and used and in commercial movie theaters—to the
drugs “for kicks.” This new group’s drug use raucous laughter of college students who re-
led to criminal activity. Eric Schaefer argues jected its sermonic messages.
that “drug films” did not portray the plight of The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), a
this underclass drug user. Rather, in such films commercial success directed by Otto Premin-
as The Drug Traffic (1923) and Human Wreck- ger and featuring Frank Sinatra and Kim No-
age (1923) they consistently focused on the vak, was released without a Production Code
tragedies of younger middle-class Americans, seal of approval. Adapted from Nelson Al-
particularly the new young overworked pro- gren’s novel, the film dealt openly with the
fessionals—especially physicians or lawyers— “social problem” of heroin addiction. Franky
who become addicted to and then socially Machine (Sinatra) is released from prison and
marginalized in the world of “drug-pushers.” a drug rehabilitation program. He returns to
522 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

his old world of nightclubs and gambling and

is portrayed sympathetically as a victim of en-
vironmental circumstances, a deranged wife,
and dishonest friends. The supportive night-
club hostess Molly (Novak) stands by Franky
during dramatic bouts of withdrawal, and in
the end, Franky and Molly walk away together.
The film affirms the new faith in professional
rehabilitation, lifestyle change, and honest
love. By the end of the 1950s, the Production
Code allowed a broader treatment of drug be-
haviors and more major motion picture studio
drug films followed.
In the 1960s, there was a significant increase
in the use of marijuana, LSD, and heroin by
inner-city minorities, returning Vietnam vet-
erans, and—in large numbers—the white
middle-class baby boomers in rebellion. A
number of Hollywood low-budget films about
drugs were produced by the middle of the de- F I G U R E 6 7 . The Man with the Golden Arm (1955).
cade, such as The Trip (1967) directed by Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) gave the heroin addict
Roger Corman, scripted by Jack Nicholson, a starry eye and haunting look, winning him an
and starring Peter Fonda as Paul, a TV- Academy Award for best actor. Otto Preminger’s film
was released without scrutiny by the Hays Office and the
commercial producer undertaking a personal Production Code approval seal. But by affirming the
journey with the drug LSD. Seth Cagin and benefits of drug rehabilitation and showing faith in the
Philip Dray note the exploitative “cheesiness perseverance of the human spirit, the film helped loosen
of the production,” but also point out an im- Production Code restrictions. Courtesy Carlyle
Productions.
portant element related to a number of films
of the time: The Trip “documents LSD as an
agent of social change. Within the film, on an and the heroes’ quest as a political statement
individual level, Paul undergoes a catharsis about freedom. Other critics have said that the
and learns how to love. Allegorically and so- film sent an ambivalent message, especially cit-
cially, this matches the impact of acid on the ing the soundtrack, which included rock and
generation of alienated rebels it transformed roll lyrics condemning “the pusher,” and many
into hippies” (60–61). sequences that questioned the entire “drug
Easy Rider (1969), made for just over scene” and pointed to its casualties. Near the
$500,000, was written, acted, produced, and end of the film, Captain America (Fonda) con-
directed by Fonda and Dennis Hopper, who cedes that “we blew it”—a statement some
made back their production costs in the first critics interpreted as a condemnation of the
few days of distribution. The film has since drug culture lifestyle, though others thought it
grossed over $60 million worldwide and, as Pe- referred to the main characters’ attempts to
ter Biskind notes, is the first major motion pic- make a profit from drugs rather than share
ture of the 1960s that “defined a sensibility, them freely.
opened Hollywood to the counterculture” The 1970s and early 1980s maintained con-
(75). Drug use is central to the film, and some flicting representations of drug use in films.
critics argue that audiences interpreted this use The French Connection (1971), loosely adapted
 DRUGS, TOBACCO, AND ALCOHOL ] 523

from a book by Robin Moore, was set in New ceptance of drugs, especially among younger
York City and won several Academy Awards Americans. Government policy seems unclear:
for depicting the largest police seizure of pure judges provide harsh sentences for possession
heroin from drug smugglers at the time. Gene of small amounts of marijuana; public-health
Hackman’s portrayal of a tough, brutal nar- funding is freely spent on television commer-
cotics cop, “Popeye” Doyle, was a box-office cials and school programs aimed at preventing
success. The French Connection established a drug abuse and sending messages of health fit-
genre of films that attempted to dramatize the ness; and yet, voters in some states approve
workings and effects of the drug trade, from marijuana use for what is labeled “medicinal
stories about Columbia drug cartels to smaller purposes.”
examinations of the lives of drug dealers and Hollywood has reflected these tensions in
drug takers in urban and suburban commu- American society with a resurgence of films,
nities. including seemingly nostalgic homages to the
Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, a box- 1970s or early 1980s: Fear and Loathing in Las
office windfall in 1978, was representative of Vegas (1998), The Last Days of Disco (1998),
films playing drug use and users for big laughs, Studio 54 (1998), and Blow (2001). Other
as was that year’s Animal House, which put in films, such as Prozac Nation (2003), based on
a good word for alcohol and tobacco as well. Elizabeth Wurzel’s best-selling 1997 memoir,
Other early 1980s films such as The Big Chill and Catherine Hardwicke’s Thirteen (2003),
(1983) and The Breakfast Club (1985) led au- immersed audiences in the darker world of
diences to believe that smoking a little mari- drug addiction by showing the destructive ef-
juana allowed middle-class Americans to open fects of prescription- and illicit-drug use
up their personal feelings to one another— among adolescents and young adults. Some
without leading to addiction or more intense films revisited the theme of the talented artist
drug use. However, later films of the 1980s on drugs: the writer in Permanent Midnight
such as Clean and Sober (1988) and Drugstore (1998), the photographer in High Art (1998),
Cowboy (1989) were produced during the era and the singer in Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
of the “Just Say No” and “War on Drugs” cam- (1998). Some, including Illtown (1997), An-
paigns, and they returned to the themes of other Day in Paradise (1999), and Narc (2002),
drug use as a threat to middle-class vitality and explore the violent nightmare of drug dealing.
morality. The lead characters in these two films And some, such as PCU (1994) and Half Baked
(Michael Keaton and Matt Dillon, respec- (1998), return to the Cheech and Chong sen-
tively) successfully fight their addictions; their sibility, portraying drugs as good clean fun.
loved ones or accomplices in drug-taking be- In the 1990s, significant documentary films
haviors do not. Rehabilitation programs and addressed drugs in a historical context, includ-
treatment facilities play an important role in ing Berkeley in the Sixties (1990) and Breaking
recovery, presenting realistic images of the dif- Boundaries, Testing Limits (1991). They fo-
ficulties encountered on a long road to life cused on the decade of the 1960s, stressing that
without addiction. advocates of a “drug culture” should be seen
In the 1990s, statistics from the Substance in a separate context from political reform ef-
Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis- forts whether from the right or left. Other doc-
tration showed that drug use was still a part of umentaries, particularly The Hemp Revolution
American culture. Marijuana use, while rising, (1995), blamed Hollywood for demonizing
was half of what it was in 1979. Cocaine use marijuana—arguing that marijuana should be
had leveled, but heroin use was on the rise with seen in the context of the role hemp has played
first-time users. Health scholars note more ac- in American history and environmental and
524 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

health reform—George Washington and oth- archetypal heroic male lead: “The Humphrey
ers grew it, for instance, as a product for me- Bogart cigarette, held between thumb and in-
dicinal use and a source of fuel, oil, food, and dex, allows the tough guy to smoke and to
fiber. The broadest historical overview of ille- show his knuckles.” In nearly every World War
gal drugs, attempting a span from ancient II film, the cigarette is “the soldier’s friend”
times to the present, can be found in a four- (175–176), and women enjoy them too. In the
part series produced by the History Channel, Bette Davis “tear-jerker,” Now, Voyager, for in-
Hooked: The History of Illegal Drugs (2000). stance, a dowdy daughter rejects her strict up-
The series examines opiates, cocaine, am- bringing and a mentally unstable diagnosis.
phetamines and barbiturates, marijuana, Together with a new fashionable attire and
LSD, ecstasy, and so-called smart drugs. drinking habit, smoking symbolizes the trans-
Bruce Sinofsky’s documentary Hollywood formation Davis’s character undergoes in re-
High (2002), made for the American Movie belling against a domineering mother. In the
Classics cable network, is particularly acute in closing scene, Davis and her newfound be-
its analysis of Hollywood “drug movies” from loved seal their declaration of undying (and
Reefer Madness (1936) to Requiem for a unrequited) love by sharing a cigarette.
Dream (2000). It offers thoughtful commen- By the 1970s, with the release of the Surgeon
tary on themes from drug movies by many of General’s Report on the health risks of ciga-
those associated with their production—di- rette smoking in 1964 and the successes of the
rectors, actors, and screenwriters. antismoking advocacy organizations in stig-
matizing the cigarette smoker, smoking by lead
Tobacco characters in American films had significantly
The 1998 tobacco settlement illustrated that decreased. With Norman Lear directing, Dick
the state has a responsibility for addressing the Van Dyke and Bob Newhart were featured in
problems of tobacco addiction. At the same the comedy Cold Turkey (1971), about an
time, Allan Brandt, a medical historian, suc- entire town trying to quit smoking as part of
cessfully argues that “the emphasis on personal a contest with public-health-education mes-
responsibility for risk taking and disease has sages. In the 1990s, despite publicly funded an-
come at the very moment when cigarette tismoking advertising campaigns primarily di-
smoking is increasingly stratified by education, rected at teenagers, the cigarette as an icon
social class, and race” (503). Both of these per- returned, with a major character seen smoking
spectives can be seen in recent motion pic- in more that half of the movies released be-
tures, and the debate can also be reflected in tween 1990 and 1995. The updated, romantic,
earlier twentieth-century films. Perhaps no noirish murder mysteries Dead Again (1991)
other commodity has caused such an outcry as and Basic Instinct (1992) deliberately link cig-
the prevalence of cigarettes and cigars in major arette smoking—especially efforts to quit by
motion pictures. Mass-market tobacco adver- the major male protagonist—to plot themes
tising in the early twentieth century featured connecting power and intimacy. Although few
celebrities promoting smoking as a demo- motion pictures of the 1990s have featured
cratic, indulgent, and pleasurable behavior smoking as the subject of the film, Smoke
that was easily accessible to all. (1995) and its sequel Blue in the Face (1995)
Innumerable films of the 1940s, but espe- made men with their tobacco, including the
cially Casablanca (1942) and Now, Voyager cigar, the center of attraction: Harvey Keitel
(1942), provided indelible images of smoking. and the male patrons of his smoke shop brood
As Richard Klein emphasizes in Cigarettes Are about the connection between smoking and
Sublime, Rick, in Casablanca, establishes the the soul. The young, “hip” characters of 200
 DRUGS, TOBACCO, AND ALCOHOL ] 525

Cigarettes (1999), including Ben Affleck and Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and
Christina Ricci, wander around the East Vil- Drugging in the 20th Century: In Pursuit of
lage in New York City on New Year’s Eve, Happiness (1999) is part of a series featuring
looking for love and sex, with cigarettes fea- documentary film in which celebrated Holly-
tured prominently as a connective plot device. wood directors were commissioned to look at
And when someone like Julia Roberts (as a be- issues around the millennium. Zemeckis’s
guiling food critic in My Best Friend’s Wedding documentary uses rapid juxtaposition of com-
[1997]), Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum (heroes mentary from experts (with specific contri-
who save earth from aliens in Independence butions from historians) and clips from
Day [1996]), or Gene Hackman (the woebe- films—from the silent era to the present—as
gone patriarch of The Royal Tenenbaums well as other mass-media documents. Ze-
[2001]) lights up, advocacy groups and former meckis relies heavily on his own film to illus-
first lady Hilary Clinton have been quick to trate arguments about the addictive impulse,
protest the increasing “glamorization” of including Romancing the Stone (1984) and
smoking in films and television. While stop- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). The film is
ping short of supporting censorship, they have especially good in portraying contrasting im-
urged legislators to caution filmmakers about ages of the glamorization of cigarettes and al-
“placing” tobacco products. Two contempo- cohol with images of the stigmatization and
rary documentaries address the issues of Hol- criminalization associated with cocaine, mar-
lywood celebrities and smoking: Dying for a ijuana, and opiates. Zemeckis makes it clear
Smoke (1994) features film stars as advocates that an awareness of social class, race, and eth-
who favor or oppose tobacco interests, while nicity as complex factors must be addressed in
Smoke That Cigarette (1995) decries glamor- any viewing of how Hollywood portrays ad-
izing smoking in movies and television. dictive substances.

References
Days of Wine and Roses (1962, F)
Filmography Dead Again (1991, F)
Animal House (1978, F) Drugstore Cowboy (1989, F)
Another Day in Paradise (1999, F) The Drug Traffic (1923, F)
Armistead Maupin’s “More Tales” (1998, TV) The Drunkard’s Fate (1909, F)
Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City” (1994, TV) Dying for a Smoke (1994, D)
Arthur (1981, F) Easy Money (1983, F)
Barbarians at the Gate (1993, TV) Easy Rider (1969, F)
Basic Instinct (1992, F) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982, F)
Berkeley in the Sixties (1990, D) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998, F)
The Big Chill (1983, F) The French Connection (1971, F)
Blow (2001, F) Half Baked (1998, F)
Blue in the Face (1995, F) Harvey (1950, F)
The Breakfast Club (1985, F) A Hatful of Rain (1957, F)
Breaking Boundaries, Testing Limits (1991, D) The Hemp Revolution (1995, D)
Bright Leaf (1950, F) High Art (1998, F)
Bright Lights, Big City (1988, F) Hollywood High (2002, TV)
Casablanca (1942, F) Human Wreckage (1923, F)
City Lights (1931, F) I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955, F)
Clean and Sober (1988, F) Illtown (1997, F)
Cold Turkey (1971, F) I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982, F)
Come Fill the Cup (1951, F) The Insider (1999, F)
The Country Girl (1954, F) The Last Days of Disco (1998, F)
526 [ THEMES AND TOPICS
Leaving Las Vegas (1995, F) Bibliography
Less Than Zero (1987, F)
Biskind, Peter. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-
The Lost Weekend (1945, F)
Drugs-and-Rock ‘n’ Roll Generation Saved Holly-
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955, F)
wood. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Midnight Express (1978, F)
Brandt, Allan M. “The Cigarette, Risk, and American
Modern Times (1936, F) Culture.” In Judith Leavitt and Ronald Numbers,
The Morning After (1987, F) eds., Sickness and Health in America: Readings in
My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997, F) the History of Medicine and Public Health, 494–505.
My Name Is William W. (1989, TV) Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997.
Narc (2002, F) Cagin, Seth, and Philip Dray. Hollywood Films of the
Now, Voyager (1942, F) Seventies: Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Politics.
Parrish (1961, F) New York: Harper & Row, 1984.
PCU (1994, F) Courtwright, David T. Dark Paradise: Opiate Addic-
Permanent Midnight (1998, F) tion in America Before 1940. Cambridge, MA: Har-
The Philadelphia Story (1940, F) vard University Press, 1982.
Postcards from the Edge (1990, F) Denzin, Norman K. Hollywood Shot by Shot: Alcohol-
Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed America ism in American Cinema. New York: Aldine de
(1997, D) Gruyter, 1991.
Prozac Nation (2003, F) Gusfield, Joseph R. “Alcohol in America: The Entan-
Reefer Madness (1936, F) gled Frames of Health and Morality.” In Allan M.
Requiem for a Dream (2000, F) Brandt and Paul Rozin, eds., Morality and Health,
Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and Drugging 220–229. New York: Routledge, 1997.
in the 20th Century: In Pursuit of Happiness Klein, Richard. Cigarettes Are Sublime. Durham, NC:
(1999, D) Duke University Press, 1993.
Romancing the Stone (1984, F) Kluger, Richard. Ashes to Ashes: America’s Hundred-
The Rose (1979, F) Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Una-
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, F) bashed Triumph of Philip Morris. New York:
Rush (1991, F) Knopf, 1997.
Sid and Nancy (1986, F) Musto, David F., ed. Drugs in America: A Documen-
Smoke (1995, F) tary History. New York: New York University
Smoke That Cigarette (1995, D) Press, 2002.
Stagecoach (1939, F) Peiss, Kathy. Cheap Amusements: Working Women
A Star Is Born (1937, F) and Leisure in Turn-of-the Century New York.
The Struggle (1931, F) Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1986.
Studio 54 (1998, F) Schaefer, Eric. Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History
Tender Mercies (1983, F) of Exploitation Films, 1919–1959. Durham, NC:
The Thin Man (1934, F) Duke University Press, 1999.
Thirteen (2003, F) Sloan, Kay. The Loud Silents: Origins of the Social
The Trip (1967, F) Problem Film. Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
28 Days (2000, F) 1988.
200 Cigarettes (1999,F) Starks, Michael. Cocaine Fiends and Reefer Madness:
Up in Smoke (1978, F) An Illustrated History of Drugs in the Movies. New
The Verdict (1982, F) York: Cornwall, 1982.
The Weaker Mind (1913, F) Stevens, Jay. Storming Heaven: LSD and the American
Where the Buffalo Roam (1980, F) Dream. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988, F) Sullum, Jacob. For Your Own Good: The Anti-
Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (1998, F) Smoking Crusade and the Tyranny of Public Health.
A Woman Under the Influence (1974, F) New York: Free Press, 1998.
[ ANTHONY CHASE ]

Elections and Party Politics

n one of the earliest motion pictures dealing States. Themes as old as those explored by the

I with elections and the American political

process, the silent film Going to Congress
(1924), Will Rogers plays a naive backcountry
politician who is given sound advice by a local
master of Renaissance political philosophy,
Niccolo Machiavelli—such as the relation be-
tween ends and means, virtue and power—
have often helped shape a dramatic tension at
cobbler: “If you see a man coming with a black the heart of films capable of both riveting con-
bag, either shoot him or resign before he can temporary audiences, as well as, in retrospect,
get to you.” Because the film was made just telling us something important about the na-
after the Teapot Dome scandal of 1923, news- tional experience. Lord Acton said it: power
paper reports of which made famous reference tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts
to “a little black bag,” film audiences no doubt absolutely. But just how much in the real
recognized the same reference from Going to world can actually be accomplished by those
Congress. “What is a government trust between who are outside the circle of power—or who
friends,” asked Will Rogers, according to bi- simply stand aside?
ographer Donald Day, “especially if there is a
little black bag with enough money in it?” Sympathy for the Devil
(140). The Reader’s Companion to American History
From Harding and Teapot Dome to Nixon (1991) logically surveys the development of
election-campaign scandals, during which self- American party politics chronologically, be-
designated “bag man” Anthony Ulasewicz tes- ginning with 1789, and provides a capsule
tified to capers that Watergate historian Stan- summary of every presidential election since
ley Kutler suggests might have been scripted the Federalists and Republicans first squared
by Damon Runyon, corruption and chicanery off. Similarly, the opening credit sequence for
have run like a red thread through both Amer- Franklin Schaffner’s film of Gore Vidal’s The
ican political history and its reflection on the Best Man (1964) includes portraits or photo-
silver screen. In Tim Robbins’s black comedy graphs, in proper historical sequence, of every
Bob Roberts (1992), an underground newspa- American president from George Washington
per reporter, referring to Frank Capra’s best- to Lyndon Johnson. That represents a tough
known political film, claims that “there are no way to survey movies about U.S. elections,
Mr. Smiths in Washington. Mr. Smith has however; motion-picture political history gen-
been bought. Just a bunch of deal makers.” erally begins around the Civil War and takes
But that is not all there is to either the his- place mostly after World War I.
tory or the films. On the contrary, motion pic- Two books quite useful for thinking through
tures have often provided a rather subtle and political films, Hollywood as Historian (1998)
sophisticated reflection upon the contradic- and Reel Politics (1987), are organized around
tions of political aspiration in the United when the films chronicled were themselves

527
528 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

made and how they reflect on their own time. promise of power—and pays a heavy price in
But films specifically dealing with elections and the loss of his family’s love and trust.
party politics seem to reveal a consistent set of
themes that cut across boundaries of time and Art of the Possible?
place, current policy controversy or particular It is not the case, however, that resisting the
debating points. We may not remember much temptation to wheel and deal represents a
today about the crisis over Quemoy and standard cinematic prescription for good (or
Matsu, but film of the famous Nixon-Kennedy effective) government. Early on, in the Darryl
TV debates will be shown again every election F. Zanuck–produced biopic Wilson (1944),
season as long as television has a political im- Princeton University’s president enters politics
pact. So the films reviewed here are categorized on a high note, refusing to bargain with an
generically as classical Hollywood dramas, new entrenched “New Jersey boss system.” But
realist cinema, and objective documentaries, high-minded principles are not enough, by
with thematic structure given pride of place. themselves, to get the job done. By the end of
Another, perhaps more comfortable, name the film, Wilson is forced to leave office with-
for “deal making” is “compromise.” In an im- out achieving his main reform, the League of
perfect world, the party politician is confronted Nations, owing to stiff opposition from a pha-
with the necessity of compromise, giving some- lanx of jacks-in-office with more clout than all
thing up to get something in return. The dif- the New Jersey kingpins combined: the U.S.
ference between an astute political bargain and Congress.
an illegal bribe can make all the difference in In Frank Capra’s State of the Union (1948),
the world. How the deal is characterized and Grant Matthews (Spencer Tracy) is a success-
what it makes of those it touches is often the ful American entrepreneur who has a brief
central issue in the classical Hollywood drama fling with politics, mainly just to “show ‘em
of party campaigns and popular elections. how it’s done.” Like Warren Beatty in Bul-
There are those who play the game and those worth (1998)—or Ross Perot in his quixotic
who refuse, those who are willing to risk com- third-party machinations—he shoots from the
promise and those who are not. Broderick hip and tells it like it is, whether the voters like
Crawford won an Academy Award for his per- it or not. But Matthews’s simple message starts
formance as Willie Stark in Robert Rossen’s All to catch on, and he thus (inevitably) falls into
the King’s Men (1949), based on the Robert the hands of spin doctors who start making
Penn Warren novel about the thinly disguised him into a serious, and increasingly conven-
Louisiana governor, Huey Long. Crawford’s tional, presidential candidate. In the nick of
Stark is the premier example in film of a pol- time, and with moral prodding from his ide-
itician who makes a pact with the devil and, alistic wife, played by Katharine Hepburn,
while rising to high office, eventually is de- Matthews denounces politics as corrupt and
stroyed. Having begun as a man of the people, corrupting and throws in the towel. Mat-
power eventually becomes for Stark an end in thews’s self-respect remains intact, but what
itself, and his assassination seems fated. So about the country? With what sort of choice
does Richard Nixon’s fall in a host of films, do the voters end up?
including All the President’s Men (1976), Secret William Russell (Henry Fonda), in The Best
Honor (1984), and Nixon (1995). Different Man, declines to use bogus evidence of ho-
from both the populist Stark and the paranoid mosexual conduct against a political opponent
Nixon, progressive if “blandly selfish” young and thus preserves his personal integrity but,
politico Joe Tynan (Alan Alda), in The Seduc- at the same time, ends his political career.
tion of Joe Tynan (1979), is also taken in by the Fonda is perfectly cast as the dryly circumspect
 ELECTIONS AND PARTY POLITICS ] 529

private life’s being exposed to public view.

“Caught in love nest” with a “singer,” the Wil-
liam Randolph Hearst–based character (played
by Welles himself ) is, overnight, like Tracy’s
Irish bellwether, out of politics. Even Kane’s fate
is not as grim as that of Gary Cooper’s Long
John Willoughby in Frank Capra’s Meet John
Doe (1941). Willoughby/John Doe is a well-
intentioned hobo who gets sucked into a com-
plex political conspiracy engineered by D. B.
Norton, a protofascist businessman who uses
Willoughby to front a deceptively attractive
FIGURE 68. State of the Union (1948). Millionaire
republican presidential candidate Grant Matthews
people’s party then dispenses with the chump
(Spencer Tracy), separated from Mary Matthews, his once Willoughby starts to figure things out. Ex-
wife (Katharine Hepburn) requests she return to his side cept for the fact that “you just can’t kill Gary
to help his campaign image. She does and recognizes the Cooper,” the movie’s forlorn hero, rejected and
abandonment of the values he stood for at the start of
the campaign, convincing him to announce on a radio
himself disillusioned, probably would have
broadcast his withdrawal from the election. Courtesy committed suicide on Christmas Day by jump-
Liberty Films. ing off city hall. In end the, Capra opted for a
more ambiguous finale to the picture.
intellectual who, in the end, does not have the Film critic Andrew Sarris, Capra biographer
stomach for old-fashioned political infighting. Joseph McBride, and political analyst Brian
Like Grant Matthews in State of the Union, he, Neve all point to a similarity between some of
too, opts for a decent private life and walks the political values propagated by Capra’s pop-
away from politics. Another Tracy character, ulist films and the very ideologies he seeks to
based upon Boston’s infamous Mayor Curley target. “There seems to be no role,” argues
in John Ford’s The Last Hurrah (1958), has Neve, “for an authentic politics in [Meet John
plenty of stomach for machine politics and Doe], apart from the moralistic ‘John Doe’
ward heeling, but he is unwilling to compro- clubs, which seem so dependent on their
mise with either the Yankee aristocrats and leader that they are hardly distinguishable
bankers who really run the city or the slick from the threatening totalitarianism of the
Madison Avenue campaign style their candi- Norton junta” (50–51). Part of Neve’s obser-
date employs. Instead of throwing in the towel, vation can be applied to nearly all of the films
this time Tracy, his honor the mayor, is discussed here. Within the classical Hollywood
thrown out of office. drama of elections and parties, across the de-
The Last Hurrah’s scenes of despondent cades, whether protagonists are destroyed by
campaign workers, cronies, and ward bosses deal making (or their inability to control its
staring defeat in the face are reminiscent of the consequences) or are conversely rendered su-
newsroom calamity confronted by Charley perfluous by a refusal to even be tainted by
Kane’s outfit as the votes tally up in Orson compromise, an authentic politics appears
Welles’s legendary Citizen Kane (1941). The genuinely impossible, nothing more than
headline “Kane Elected” is replaced by one that pipedream. It is hard to avoid the conclusion
reads “Fraud at Polls!” across page one of that a deep suspicion of politics and politicians
Kane-owned papers. Refusing to deal with remains a profound sentiment reflected in
Boss Jim Geddes, and ignoring pleas from his American film and, perhaps inescapably,
own wife, Kane must soon deal with his own American political history as well.
530 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

Railsplitter Statesman politician, often hemmed in by events, but

Now, there are exceptions—films which look usually able to manipulate them to his advan-
at politics differently and thus structure their tage.
dilemmas at an angle to the dominant form. Although circumstances portrayed in the
Gore Vidal wrote the screenplay for The Best film involving Lincoln’s handling of his wife’s
Man, is cast as a liberal senator in Bob Roberts, financial misconduct—and her alleged selling
and wrote an important novel about Abraham of an advance copy of one of his speeches to a
Lincoln, which provides the basis for Lamont big city newspaper—are at odds with those re-
Johnson’s film Lincoln (1993). John Travolta’s counted in David H. Donald’s masterful bi-
Governor Stanton, in Mike Nichols’s Primary ography, the tone and flavor of Lincoln’s han-
Colors (1998), cynically asks his aide, Henry, dling of the office seem about right. Appalled
“Don’t you think Abe Lincoln was a whore be- by the mounting casualties the war entails on
fore he became President?” What is remark- both sides, Lincoln still does not lose faith in
able about Lincoln is that it neither portrays his own ability to calibrate the relation be-
the railsplitter as a saint (see John Ford’s won- tween ends and means. It is just this capacity
derful Young Mr. Lincoln) nor debunks the for political authenticity that is so rare in
Lincoln myth, but rather does what so few American film history. Unlike so many other
classical Hollywood dramas even seem able to silver-screen politicians, rather than remaining
imagine: It shows a real-world politician with aloof, on the one hand, or selling out, on the
a confident grasp of the relation between ends other, Lincoln rises to the occasion.
and means. Rejecting advice to “let the errant
sisters go,” Lincoln argues that a house divided Cinema/Truth
against itself cannot stand and solemnly Beyond the classical Hollywood drama, the
pledges to keep the Southern states in the second main category of motion pictures in
Union. His refusal to compromise leads him this field is that of new realist cinema. The
not out of politics but into war, that is, politics genre may not be all that new—it really begins
by other means, in von Clausewitz’s famous with The Candidate (1972)—and “realism” is
formulation. Resolving fierce conflicts between not used here to signify a heightened degree of
North and South, Republicans and Democrats, historical or political accuracy. The essence of
abolitionists and their opponents within his this group of films is that they look real; they
own party, indeed within his cabinet, instead have a surface or stylistic verisimilitude that
of tearing Lincoln apart makes him a better, not only is foreign to classical Hollywood nar-
stronger leader. rative cinema but that also tends to become
“Gentlemen,” says President Lincoln, ad- the central focus of the films themselves: the
dressing a group of party and congressional medium is the message. What is their angle on
leaders early in the war on the subject of cam- history? According to this group of movies, the
paign promises, “you and I are politicians. We selling of the president—the utilization of so-
know that our principles are, on occasion, phisticated human and technological resources
slightly modified, sometimes greatly modified, to win at all costs—has gradually displaced the
by what is practical and possible.” Lincoln is original point of holding public office.
explaining his personal commitment to abol- Whether such a perspective represents cyni-
ishing slavery in the South when he feels the cism, realism, or candor is perhaps a crucial
time is right and he has the legal authority to question of contemporary American public
do so. Whether on abolition, the selection of life.
generals to lead the northern army, or his own Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate is a transi-
reelection, Lincoln is shown to be a shrewd tional film. Robert Redford’s character, Bill
 ELECTIONS AND PARTY POLITICS ] 531

McKay, is glib but not jaded, skeptical but still

willing to give the system a chance to work.
The film glances back over its shoulder at the
classical dramatic tradition in quite self-
conscious ways: McKay’s conservative political
opponent stands before huge portrait posters
a lot like those unfurled earlier by Charles Fos-
ter Kane; a voice blaring over the sound system
at a political rally is none other than that of
Broderick Crawford, who brought Willie Stark
to life. But the handheld camera point of view,
F I G U R E 6 9 . The Candidate (1972). Bill McKay
the “live at five” pacing of the film, and the (Robert Redford), a presidential candidate, campaigns
feeling of really being inside a political cam- close to the people. Using a narrative perspective from
paign, warts and all, make The Candidate a inside campaign headquarters and such cinematic
techniques as handheld, point-of-view shots, The
model for subsequent developments within
Candidate contributed to the narrative and stylistic
the genre. Amazingly, the conservative/liberal approach of future campaign films. Courtesy Redford-
byplay between Redford and his opponent Ritchie Productions and Warner Bros.
tracks almost word for word campaign debates
between George Bush and Bill Clinton, in spite
of the fact that The Candidate’s screenplay was ing village in Albania, for example, turns out
written by Jeremy Larner, a Eugene McCarthy to have been manufactured in a California
speechwriter, twenty years before the Bush- movie studio. Whatever one thinks of its po-
Clinton presidential campaign of 1992. litical cynicism, this scene is fascinating at the
This cinema verité approach to the historical level of pure visual artifice: a bag of Tostitos is
reconstruction of elections and party politics placed in the desperate girl’s arms for the time
has been pursued in both nonfiction films— being, a frightened cat will be digitally substi-
for example, The War Room (1993), dealing tuted for the taco chips in postproduction.
with Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, To be sure, there are plenty of politicians on
and A Perfect Candidate (1996), following Ol- the take, as well as brutally amoral campaign
iver North’s first senatorial campaign—and strategists, in The American President (1995),
fiction films such as Bob Roberts and Primary The Big Brass Ring (1999), and The Contender
Colors. Wag the Dog (1998) quickly achieved (2000). But what is surprising is that at the
notoriety when President Clinton ordered an- center of all three films are political leaders
titerrorist bombing raids in the wake of with real courage and an abiding commitment
mounting impeachment pressures. It suggests to real values. Lobbyist Sydney Wade (Annette
the ultimate lengths to which spin doctors and Bening) and President Andrew Shepherd (Mi-
media consultants might go to “change the chael Douglas) in The American President,
lead” on the evening news. While Wag the Dog Governor William Blake Pellarin (William
explores, at one level, how con jobs actually Hurt) in The Big Brass Ring, and both Senator
work and, at a presumably more elevated level, Laine Hanson ( Joan Allen) and President Jack
the “relation between illusion and reality” Evans ( Jeff Bridges) in The Contender have
(themes common to films scripted or directed been around the block and know perfectly well
by Wag the Dog’s screenwriter, David Mamet), that politics can be a dirty game. But when the
the movie also provides a critique of how mod- chips are down, they seem to discover new re-
ern political campaigns are conducted. The sources within themselves and take the high
harrowing escape of a refugee girl from a burn- road, however much it represents a real
532 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

stretch. These films reflect tawdry current ander Scourby, does a first-rate job of intro-
events (sex scandals, impeachment, ineptly ducing viewers to an often neglected subject:
conducted elections) much less than they seem the impact of third-party candidates in U.S.
to anticipate the kind of national spirit that political history. Watching and listening to the
came to the fore in the United States after the real Huey Pearce Long speak from the stump
terrorist attacks of September 2001 on the makes clear, in a way that All the King’s Men
World Trade Center and Pentagon. It was not does not, exactly why Long had such a devoted
just Honest Abe who could rise to the occasion following.
in a time of crisis or national peril. The PBS American Experience documenta-
ries provide state of the art coverage for pres-
Just the Facts idents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. LBJ
The final approach to making films of political (1991), narrated by David McCullough, in-
history is objective documentary. The War cludes an interview with presidential advisor
Room is in fact a documentary but belongs pri- Clark Clifford, who describes Johnson as “a
marily in the category of new realist cinema. great, hurtling locomotive running down the
Carefully tracking the day-to-day experiences track,” while the film cuts to an image of John-
and perspectives of Clinton campaign man- son, Stetson on his head, arm stretched out,
agers, James Carville and George Stephano- apparently directing the nation. Only those fa-
poulos, this film (by the noted documentarians miliar with Richard Pipes’s remarkable pho-
D. A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus) cap- tograph “Campaign 1960,” shown by the Mu-
tures perfectly the personalities of two contem- seum of Modern Art as part of its “American
porary spin doctors. But describing the tradi- Politicians” exhibition in 1994, will realize
tional documentary film as “objective” does that, inexplicably, the makers of LBJ have cho-
not mean that it is politically neutral; rather, sen to simply crop a concerned and restraining
what is most striking about this sort of film- John Fitzgerald Kennedy out of this picture. It
making is that (unlike The War Room, a “hot” is precisely the tension between Kennedy and
new realist film essay) documentary appears to Johnson in the photo that makes it one of the
stand back and view its subject matter at arm’s most startling and memorable pictures in the
length, with a cold eye, without “tilt”—merely history of American photography. Kennedy
documenting a political campaign or life, for ended up on LBJ’s cutting room floor, a vivid
the record. reminder that just as elections involve choices
A staple of school and public libraries, Just among candidates, filmmaking necessarily re-
Around the Corner (1986), narrated by Alex- quires choices among images.

References
Going to Congress (1924, F)
Filmography High Crimes and Misdemeanors (1990, D)
All the King’s Men (1949, F) Just Around the Corner (1986, D)
All the President’s Men (1976, F) The Last Hurrah (1958, F)
The American President (1995, F) LBJ (1991, D)
The Best Man (1964, F) Lincoln (1993, TV)
The Big Brass Ring (1999, F) The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F)
Bob Roberts (1992, F) Meet John Doe (1941, F)
Bulworth (1998, F) Nixon (1995, F)
The Candidate (1972, F) A Perfect Candidate (1996, D)
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Primary Colors (1998, F)
The Contender (2000, F) Secret Honor (1984, F)
 ELECTIONS AND PARTY POLITICS ] 533
The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979, F) Donald, David H. Lincoln. New York: Simon &
Seven Days in May (1964, F) Schuster, 1995.
State of the Union (1948, F) Kutler, Stanley I. The Wars of Watergate. New York:
Wag the Dog (1998, F) Knopf, 1990.
The War Room (1993, D) McBride, Joseph. Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of
What Happened to Bill Clinton? (1995, D) Success. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992.
Wilson (1944, F) Museum of Modern Art. American Politicians: Photo-
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F) graphs from 1843 to 1995. New York: Abrams,
1994.
Bibliography Neve, Brian. Film and Politics in America. London:
Burgoyne, Robert. Film Nation: Hollywood Looks at Routledge, 1992.
U.S. History. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Quart, Leonard, and Albert Auster. American Film
Press, 1997. and Society since 1945. 2d ed. Westport, CT: Prae-
Chase, Anthony. Movies on Trial: The Legal System on ger, 1991.
the Silver Screen. New York: New Press, 2002. Rollins, Peter C., ed. Hollywood as Historian.
Christensen, Terry. Reel Politics. New York: Basil 2d ed. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky,
Blackwell, 1987. 1998.
Day, Donald. Will Rogers: A Biography. New York: Rosenstone, Robert. Visions of the Past: The Challenge
David McKay, 1962. of Film to Our Idea of History. Cambridge, MA:
Ferro, Marc. Cinema and History. Detroit: Wayne Harvard University Press, 1995.
State University Press, 1988. Toplin, Robert Brent. History by Hollywood. Urbana:
Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. The Reader’s University of Illinois Press, 1996.
Companion to American History. Boston: Hough- Vidal, Gore. The American Presidency. Monroe, ME:
ton Mifflin, 1991. Common Courage Press, 1998.
[ JUNE SOCHEN ]

Feminism and Feminist Films

eminism is a twentieth-century ideology. 1960s and provided feminism with a new gen-

F The previous century had a woman’s-

rights movement in the United States that
concentrated on gaining women the right to
vote, to attend college, and to own property.
eration of leaders and followers. The rhetoric
became bolder and the subject matter more
controversial, with television coverage, a large
cohort of sympathetic listeners, and a more re-
The feminist movement, born in the 1910s, de- ceptive government in place.
clared women to be equal with men in every The Equal Rights Amendment passed Con-
significant way. Although feminists witnessed gress in 1972 (though it never was ratified by
the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in a sufficient number of states); the Supreme
1920, giving women the right to vote, they Court ruled in Roe v. Wade in 1973 that
quickly concluded that suffrage alone would women had a legal right to abortion under cer-
not guarantee women’s equality. In 1923, they tain conditions; and affirmative action pro-
proposed an Equal Rights Amendment to grams gave women job opportunities they had
eliminate all forms of discrimination. The bill never had before. Though the feminist revo-
languished in Congress for many years. Many lution is by no means complete, young women
women reformers, who did not define them- coming of age today play basketball, attend
selves as feminists, did not support the ERA college, marry, have a few children, and try to
and concentrated on helping working-class balance family and career.
women improve their situation. Hollywood studios have dealt with feminism
Women’s lives changed dramatically after in fits and starts. Never comfortable with as-
1920 thanks to both material circumstances sertive women or movies that preach, film-
and the efforts of feminists and women re- makers often approached the subject of the
formers. The growth of the middle class, with “new woman,” as many feminists were called
more education and healthcare available for in the 1910s, with caution, if not censure.
more women, enabled more American women When they portrayed a woman as independent
than ever before to live longer, to have smaller and competent, they were sure to emphasize
families, and to be homemakers, volunteer her physical beauty more than her mental
community activists, and workers outside of qualities. Ever mindful of the culture’s deep-
the home. But these improvements were seri- seated commitment to women as the second
ously interrupted by the Great Depression and sex, screenwriters, directors, and producers
World War II. camouflaged their feminists in traditional her-
A second wave of feminism emerged in the oine garb. Occasionally, when the writer was a
late 1960s in an atmosphere of liberation to woman (such as Ruth Gordon), or the male
seek women’s equality in all areas of life. The director was especially sympathetic to strong
baby-boom generation, born during the opti- women (George Cukor), a feminist portrayal
mistic post-1945 period, came of age in the late was created. Screen writer Kate Corbally wrote

534
 FEMINISM AND FEMINIST FILMS ] 535

the 1913 What 80 Million Women Want, a fa- pagne glass and declares: “To Myself. I have to
vorable portrait of women’s suffrage. The year live with myself until I die, so I hope I like
before, however, in the silent film The Suffra- myself!”
gette (1912), women reformers seeking the Many screenwriters during the silent period
vote were portrayed as overbearing and tough; were women; Frances Marion, Anita Loos,
as wives, they henpecked their husbands. Salka Viertel, and Jeanie Macpherson were
Filmmakers Lois Weber and Dorothy Arz- among the most prominent. Loos wrote many
ner were among the small group of women screen treatments as well as the screenplay for
working in Hollywood during the silent era. the very popular The Women (1939); Viertel
Weber directed, wrote, and produced more wrote many Garbo movies; and Macpherson
than four hundred features, primarily in the wrote the majority of director Cecil B. De
1910s. In a few of them, she treated explosive Mille’s scripts. Though all women screenwrit-
social issues such as birth control, a favorite ers did not write feminist stories, when they
topic of the most advanced feminists. In Where had the opportunity to write a feature that
Are My Children? (1916), Weber drew a so- starred a strong woman, they did so.
phisticated portrait of the subject; she con- Salka Viertel’s script for Garbo in Queen
trasted the behavior of an idealistic doctor who Christina (1933) is a good example. In it,
dispensed birth control information to poor Garbo portrayed the historical Queen of Swe-
women (an illegal action that resulted in a jail den as an independent thinker and an antiwar
term for him) to that of a rich doctor who monarch. Christina, according to Viertel via
performed abortions on rich women unwilling Garbo, read Molière and wished to pursue her
to spoil their figures during pregnancy. Cen- own life while ruling the kingdom. Not only is
sorship boards in various cities protested the a woman treated respectfully in this movie, but
showing of the movie. she is also a leader with her own ideas for her
In a 1927 interview, Weber said that “the kingdom. But because this movie is a romance
schoolroom blackboard will one day be sup- as well as a historical drama, love brings Chris-
planted by the motion picture screen.” tina down and forces her to abdicate her king-
However, her frustration with her critics’ un- dom for the man she loves (a foreigner). Cul-
willingness to grant her artistic freedom, tural values are thus upheld, though most of
combined with studio reluctance to deal with the movie treats audiences to a portrait of
controversial subjects, led to a decline in her woman as both thinker and activist.
moviemaking in the 1920s. Women directors
remained a distinct minority as most studios The Golden Years, 1933–1955
hesitated to allow women to control a major The feminist crusade for the Equal Rights
film budget, to produce a movie on their own, movement continued during the Depression
or to direct features. (The situation obtains years but had no success. New Deal legislation,
today.) however, improved working conditions for
Dorothy Arzner stands out as another ex- women and men, thereby fulfilling some of the
ceptional example of a working woman direc- reformers’ goals. But because the Depression
tor in late silent and early sound movies. Al- and war years required strength from every-
though she made fewer movies than Weber, one, Hollywood made innumerable movies
her film heroines were always spirited and out- featuring strong women. Katharine Hepburn
spoken. In Our Dancing Daughters (1928), played the quintessential feminist in A Bill of
Joan Crawford stars as a young flapper inter- Divorcement (1932), Sylvia Scarlett (1935),
ested in good times. In one scene, she jumps and The Philadelphia Story (1940). She was a
onto a table during a party, raises her cham- career woman in Christopher Strong (1932), A
536 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

Woman Rebels (1936), and Woman of the Year a writer. How the two demanding careers can
(1942), an aristocrat in Holiday (1938), The be reconciled is not explained.
Philadelphia Story (1940), and most of her Bette Davis played a reporter in Front Page
other films. As an aristocrat, she had indepen- Woman (1935) as well as a “working girl” in
dent wealth and could pursue whatever wacky Marked Woman (1937). Journalism was clearly
or sane plan she had (Bringing Up Baby, 1939). one of the newest, most visible, and exciting
Take-charge mothers such as Greer Garson professions for women, and Hollywood re-
in Mrs. Miniver (1942) shared with other sponded accordingly. But in all of the cine-
strong women the feminist label. Though matic treatments of independent women, ro-
feminist film critic Molly Haskell finds short- mance always trumps career, and the domestic
comings in many 1930s films, she agrees that scene is woman’s ultimate venue. The unspo-
they featured a variety of women coping with ken assumption—that marriage takes prece-
life’s challenges, unlike more recent films dence over a woman’s profession—prevailed
where there have been fewer portrayals of in “feminist” films, just as it did in all other
women’s lives. Movies during the golden era films as well as in society. One of the most
featured women as pilots, journalists, doctors, predictable and popular storylines was that of
lawyers, and athletes. Besides Hepburn, Ros- the too serious and too masculine professional
alind Russell often played the lead. In His Girl woman who needed the love of a good man to
Friday (1940), she was a successful investiga- humanize—or rather womanize—her.
tive reporter. Though romance remained a vi- Davis, one of the greatest actresses of the
tal component in all of these independent- 1930s generation, could also play an aristocrat
woman films, the star clearly had a distinct (Jezebel, 1938) or a career woman. Given her
identity and mind of her own. strong personality, she was usually a woman
In Woman of the Year (1942), the first time in charge. In All About Eve (1950), directed by
Hepburn played opposite Spencer Tracy (in a Joseph L. Mankiewicz, she plays a mature the-
screenplay written by Ruth Gordon and her atrical actress with fewer and fewer roles avail-
husband Garson Kanin), Hepburn plays an in- able to her. Davis, who was in her forties at
ternationally famous journalist (modeled after that point, demonstrated that older women
Dorothy Thompson and New York Times could be sexy and glamorous. Anne Baxter
writer Anne O’Hare McCormick), while Tracy plays the ingénue who tries to sabotage and
is the sportswriter on the same newspaper. The replace her. Ultimately, Eve Harrington (Da-
George Stevens film has both comic and mel- vis) comes to terms with her aging and wins
odramatic elements; in sharp contrast to most the man she loves. (Davis won the Academy
romances, the couple marries early in the Award for her performance; the production
movie, with career conflicts (mainly her very received the award as best picture of 1950.)
busy schedule) and the adoption of a child
(which Hepburn does for public relations rea- Feminist Marriages
sons) creating strife. One of the most famous Arguably the best and most unusual example
scenes occurs after they separate and Hepburn of a feminist marriage in 1930s movies was The
tries to win him back by cooking breakfast. Thin Man series. Beginning in 1934, Myrna
The scene is done silently and with comic ef- Loy and William Powell starred as Nora and
fect, for the career woman does not know a Nick Charles, an upper-class couple who find
waffle iron from a coffeepot. Consequently, themselves solving mysteries in spite of their
she messes up everything she touches. The best intentions to avoid all trouble. In all six
scene ends when her commotion wakes Tracy movies, which ranged from 1934 to 1947, they
and he tells her that she can be both a wife and drink martinis, speak witty lines, and share
 FEMINISM AND FEMINIST FILMS ] 537

FIGURE 70. Woman of the Year (1942). Tess Harding (Katharine Hepburn, standing at center rear), an internationally
recognized reporter dedicated only to the New York Daily, marries the paper’s sportswriter, Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy).
Harding, an outspoken feminist, also frequently speaks at affairs, giving her little time for marriage. Still, Harding tries to
prove that she can be a helpmeet and journalist at the same time. Courtesy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

each adventure as equals. The novelty of the In Pat and Mike (1952), also directed by Cu-
characterization and plot engaged audiences, kor, she is a professional athlete, and he is her
with the five sequels providing testimony to coach.
their enduring popularity.
Another “couple” who made many movies A New Era
together, though not based on the same char- Although the first generation of sound ac-
acters, were Katharine Hepburn and Spencer tresses easily played feminist types, Hollywood
Tracy; beginning with Woman of the Year selected a very different second generation af-
(1942) and continuing sporadically over the ter 1945. Young actresses who could have
years until Stanley Kramer’s Guess Who’s Com- picked up the mantle from the Hepburns and
ing to Dinner (1967), they displayed the Davises were ignored in favor of the single-
strengths and problems facing a strong-willed image glamour girl. Ava Gardner, Rita Hay-
couple. In Adam’s Rib (1949), directed by worth, and Lana Turner enjoyed prominence,
George Cukor, for example, both are lawyers as did the two superstars of the 1950s, Eliza-
who oppose each other in the courtroom in a beth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. None of
case that deals with women’s rights. It threat- these actresses portrayed career women or in-
ens to end their marriage, but love wins out. dependent aristocratic types with clearly de-
538 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

fined identities. Rather, they were usually had been ballerinas, but MacLaine’s character
shaped and determined by their great beauty. married and had a family, while Bancroft went
Romance was the genre in which they excelled, on to become a world-famous ballerina and
not independent-woman films, and the great was now nearing the end of her career. Who
beauty of Taylor and sensuality of Monroe de- had made the better choice? Had both? Nei-
cided their screen image. ther? The movie offers no easy answers, but it
In fact, Hollywood films since the 1940s explores the subject in a fresh way, something
have rarely focused upon feminist women, not often seen in a Hollywood movie. In the
even within a comic or romantic plot line. The sense that the questions raised are feminist, the
major exception to this trend was when film qualifies as a thoughtful exploration of an
women’s liberation became a subject of public important subject.
discussion in the 1970s. Movies such as Net- In the 1980s, Meryl Streep emerged as the
work (1976), The Turning Point (1977), An most interesting actress capable of playing a
Unmarried Woman (1978), The China Syn- wide variety of screen roles. She has been aptly
drome (1979), and Norma Rae (1979) had ca- dubbed a worthy successor to Hepburn and
reer women, divorced women, working Davis. Her portrayal in Sophie’s Choice (1982)
women, and frustrated wives as the central of a Polish woman survivor of World War II
characters. But these movies remained excep- was a sterling performance. Streep has not al-
tions rather than pioneers in a new genre with ways or only played feminist roles, but her
many followers. women are always strong and unusual. In Silk-
Between 1970 and 1990, only four out of the wood (1983), she plays an unwitting reformer,
twenty-one Academy Award–winning movies a working woman who discovers dangerous
featured women. More often, Mafia bosses conditions for workers exposed to radiation.
(the Godfather movies), soldiers (Patton, The In possibly her greatest part, as writer Isak Di-
Deer Hunter, and Platoon), and other assorted nesen in Out of Africa (1985), she runs a plan-
heroes such as Gandhi and Rocky dominated tation in East Africa, starts writing, and has a
the movie screen. Not only were feminist ro- love affair. This movie, presented in grand epic
mances absent from the screen, but roles for style, combined the best of the romantic genre
women in any genre became rarer and rarer. with the independent-woman film.
Hollywood relied on the tried-and-true for- While Streep was nominated eight times for
mulas of thrillers and adventures, with women the Academy Award from 1981 to 1995, she
being incidental to the story. Television be- was joined by other strong actresses such as
came the home for discussion of independent Jodie Foster, Susan Sarandon, Sally Field, and
women in the 1970s, with Mary Tyler Moore, Jessica Lange. These women dominated the
Carole Burnett, Valerie Harper, Bonnie Frank- few juicy roles available for actresses during
lin, and other actresses dominating primetime. this period, though not all were necessarily
The Turning Point (1977), directed by Her- feminist roles. Foster played a working-class
bert Ross, starred two mature actresses, Anne woman raped in The Accused (1988) and a
Bancroft, best known for her role as the se- tough federal officer in the scary Silence of the
ductress of young college graduate Benjamin Lambs (1991). Sarandon has been nominated
Braddock in The Graduate (1967), and Shirley five times for the Academy Award since 1981,
MacLaine, a film veteran. It offered a rare look with her most popular role being in Thelma
at women who had made their choices and and Louise (1991).
now, in middle age, had to evaluate the mean- Feminist film critics have divided on
ing and value of their decisions. Both women whether this film, directed by Ridley Scott, was
 FEMINISM AND FEMINIST FILMS ] 539

a positive statement for feminist ideas or not. course, behaves like a competitive, dog-eat-dog
In it, two working-class women leave their man and steals an idea of Griffith’s in order to
homes and their men for what is originally advance her own career. Harrison Ford acts as
thought to be a brief vacation. It turns out to the colleague and romantic interest. Directed by
be their final journey, but, in the course of the Mike Nichols, the movie offers a social satire of
adventure, they both learn a lot about them- the career woman as man in disguise versus the
selves. Sarandon’s performance in Bull Dur- sexy career-woman-wannabe who also wants
ham (1988) may offer a more interesting look romance. Griffith says, in her first meeting with
at a sexually liberated woman who is crazy Ford, that she has “a head for business and a
about baseball and chooses a new lover every bod for sex. Is that wrong?” Indeed, this movie
season from the hometown semipro team. Her might more accurately be labeled a postfeminist
frequent commentaries on life, love, and free- film in that it seeks to combine the traditional
dom present viewers with a rare look at an roles for women with the new ones. The chal-
audaciously independent woman. lenge in film, and in life, is to find the proper
With fewer movies starring women, let alone combinations.
independent women, those that treat women Two recent documentaries offer opposite
respectfully and look at their dilemmas receive views of feminism: Gloria Steinem (1994) is an
a lot of attention from feminist critics lament- interview with the founder of Ms. magazine
ing the long drought in women’s films. Working and explores the origins of her feminist think-
Girl (1988) was an interesting example of a ing. Has Feminism Gone Too Far? (1996) asks
movie that touches many themes concerning feminist writers Camille Paglia and Christina
women. It depicts a working-class woman (Me- Sommers why they have developed doubts
lanie Griffith) who wants to be a player in the about the direction of contemporary femi-
heady world of mergers and acquisitions while nism. Viewed together, they offer the audience
she works as secretary to a career-driven MBA lively and contrasting opinions on the state of
type (Sigourney Weaver). The woman boss, of feminism in the 1990s.

References
Silence of the Lambs (1991, F)
Filmography Silkwood (1983, F)
The Accused (1988, F) Sophie’s Choice (1982, F)
Adam’s Rib (1949, F) The Suffragette (1912, F)
All About Eve (1950, F) Thelma and Louise (1991, F)
Bull Durham (1988, F) The Thin Man (1934, F)
A Century of Women (1994, D) The Thrill of It All (1963, F)
The China Syndrome (1979, F) The Turning Point (1977, F)
Gloria Steinem (1994, D) An Unmarried Woman (1978, F)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, F) Where Are My Children? (1916, F)
Has Feminism Gone Too Far? (1996, D) Woman of the Year (1942, F)
His Girl Friday (1940, F) Women Get the Vote (1962, D)
Jezebel (1938, F) Working Girl (1988, F)
Marked Woman (1937, F)
Network (1976, F)
Norma Rae (1979, F) Bibliography
Out of Africa (1985, F) Cott, Nancy F. The Grounding of American Feminism.
Pat and Mike (1952, F) New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989.
The Philadelphia Story (1940, F) Erens, Patricia, ed. Issues in Feminist Film Criticism.
Queen Christina (1933, F) Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
540 [ THEMES AND TOPICS
Evans, Sara. Born for Liberty: A History of Women in Sochen, June. From Mae to Madonna: Women Enter-
America. New York: Free Press, 1989. tainers in Twentieth-Century America. Lexington:
Riley, Glenda. Inventing the American Woman: An In- University Press of Kentucky, 1999.
clusive History. Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Da- Welsch, Janice R. Film Archetypes: Sisters, Mistresses,
vidson, 1995. Mothers and Daughters. New York: Arno, 1978.
[ JOSEPH MILLICHAP ]

Railroads

ust as railroads permeate American geog- perience of the late twentieth century by shap-

J raphy and pervade American history, trains

likewise prove ubiquitous in American film.
Our movies thus complement the complicated,
often ambiguous relations among nature, cul-
ing American geography into a spatial network
of cities and towns located in zones of stan-
dardized time. Metal rails and steam engines
seemed almost a natural pairing, one that al-
ture, and technology represented by the Amer- lowed our young nation to expand where it
ican railroad. Images of the train in American would, not just along its natural or man-made
film rarely achieve artistic ambivalence, how- waterways. “Railroad iron is the magician’s
ever. Unlike our literature or our graphic arts, rod,” Emerson remarked in his essay “The
American movies only occasionally freight their Young American” (1844), “in its power to in-
railroads with complex cultural messages or im- voke the sleeping power of land and water.”
portant symbolic meanings. Trains in American At the other end of the lines of track laid from
films function more often as devices to impart the established coastal cities, new settlements
motion to their pictures or to move along their in the Midwest burgeoned as thriving urban
characters, plots, settings, and symbols. There- centers; Chicago was soon the fastest-growing
fore, an approach to screen railroads by way of city in the world after the railroads arrived not
film genre, rather than by historic era, better long before the Civil War.
reveals the importance of trains as generic A railroad map of the United States in 1861
American cultural symbols. illustrates why the South lost the Civil War:
In its most general definition, the railroad— whereas the Northern states were stitched
the system of metal tracks over which loco- tightly together in a thick web of iron rails, the
motive engines draw trains of various vehicles Southern states were rather loosely knitted. The
on flanged wheels to transport people and South’s indifference to technology not only
cargo between terminals—is a technology for contributed to its losing the Civil War, but it
converting natural energy into cultural power. also cost it those transport, communication,
In other words, the technology of the railroad and manufacturing capabilities that it had de-
mediates between nature and culture. Tech- veloped. Within a generation after the war,
nology is never neutral, though, for it con- however, railroads not only reconstructed the
fronts us with ambiguous messages. We rejoice South but also transformed the West from an
in its energy and its ability to overcome the open frontier to a prosperous and sophisticated
inertia of the material world, but we resist its American region, another piece in the puzzle of
power, its momentum to alter our relation to our national identity. Even as the western fron-
nature through the evolution of our culture. tier closed along with the nineteenth century,
Railroads transported American history the golden age of American trains ensued in the
from the agricultural innocence of the early opening decades of the twentieth century. After
nineteenth century to the postindustrial ex- World War II, our century saw a long decline

541
542 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

of American railroading under the pressures of graphic qualities—in particular, their para-
restrictive regulation and increased competi- doxical movement and confinement. The
tion, though this declension was reversed in re- western, the mystery/adventure, and the com-
cent decades following government deregula- edy/musical could make the most of these con-
tion and rapid consolidation. trasts, as the screen presence of trains con-
Among the technologies transforming Amer- firms. Yet these generic uses also reconstruct
ica at the turn of the twentieth century were the the history of American railroads from a pio-
pioneering efforts of Thomas A. Edison and neering period in the nineteenth century, to
others on the new frontier of film. For subject the new triumphs during and after the Civil
matter, Edison and his imitators turned their War, to the golden age of named expresses and
cameras on the everyday America that sur- fast freights in the twentieth century, to the era
rounded them, in particular anything in mo- of decline and regeneration in the second half
tion. Trains, moving at mile-a-minute speeds of our century. Although the early develop-
by then, became an important subject for the ment of railroads in the East and Midwest was
new medium. Early film titles include the Em- mentioned incidentally in historical dramas
pire State Express (1896), a “kinematograph” of and biographies, the movie images of the pi-
the era’s fastest “flyer.” Often, unsuspecting oneering period derive from the construction
nickelodeon audiences panicked at the sight of of the great western rail lines.
a speeding express charging at them by way of The first transcontinental railroad became
the camera’s magic. Appropriately enough, our the stuff of epic westerns from John Ford’s si-
first narrative feature film is generally consid- lent classic The Iron Horse (1924) to Cecil B.
ered Edison’s The Great Train Robbery (1903). De Mille’s studio sound saga Union Pacific
Unfortunately, these early instances of rail- (1939). These narratives focused on fictive
road images became the patterns for American conflicts rather than on historical facts; in the
film. On the one hand, the movies were com- former, hero George O’Brien avenges his fa-
pelled to record the physical reality of Ameri- ther’s death even as he spans the Continental
can railroads, except for the occasional use of Divide with iron rails; in the latter, Joel
models in low-budget train wrecks, and even McCrea survives a dramatic if unhistorical
the documentation of railroads was soon sur- train wreck. Other examples from the golden
passed by the even more exciting technologies age of westerns featured other construction
of automobiles, airplanes, and spacecraft. On projects: the historical Royal Gorge War in
the other hand, trains were essentially an over- Denver and Rio Grande (1951), the best-known
sized prop in most narrative films. For exam- western line in Santa Fe (1951), and the Civil
ple, The Great Train Robbery uses its turn-of- War era in Kansas Pacific (1953). Character-
the-century locomotive and cars as devices of ization becomes murkier in these post–World
action and setting, though novels of the same War II efforts, and the heroism of the entire
era—such as Frank Norris’s The Octopus enterprise is deconstructed in more recent and
(1899) and Theodore Dreiser’s Sister Carrie revisionist westerns. The classic of this later
(1900)—employ railroads as multifaceted cul- mode remains Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a
tural markers. Even the film adaptations of lit- Time in the West (1969), which recycles not
erary classics excised their railroad images, just plot and setting but even characterization
perhaps as much in terms of production cost when western icon Henry Fonda portrays the
as for any other reason. hired killer Frank, the agent of the venal rail-
Railroads in movies tend to be discovered in road barons.
those film genres that could derive the greatest Westerns were concerned with more than
advantage from their inherent narrative and railroad construction; destruction proved al-
 RAILROADS ] 543

most as important in exciting scenes of train Train (1985), starring Jon Voight and Eric
wrecks and robberies. The “rails across the Roberts.
plains” epics mentioned earlier often pre- Trains have always provided effective set-
sented spectacular derailments or wild Indian tings for mysteries because of their confined
raids as temporary setbacks to be overcome spaces and inexorable movement toward their
before the completion of “the iron road.” destinations. Many of the classic examples are
Again, The Great Train Robbery set a pattern set abroad even if made in the United States.
that would extend throughout the century. Interesting American settings are found in two
Variations are found in both the silent and of Alfred Hitchcock’s classics, Strangers on a
early sound eras, though not as many as might Train (1951) and North by Northwest (1959).
be anticipated—probably because of the low In both films, the train journeys seem to sym-
budgets assigned to matinee westerns. Features bolize the inexorable fates of the doomed char-
such as The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926), acters, while other forms of transport and
with Tom Mix and an uncredited John movement are contrasted in symbolic terms—
Wayne, or Jesse James (1939), with Tyrone the destructive merry-go-round in the former
Power and Henry Fonda as the train-robbing and the threatening biplane in the latter.
James brothers, were recast in postwar classics Musicals and comedies have also made good
such as Carson City (1951), starring Randolph use of the tight constrictions and rapid move-
Scott and Raymond Massey, and reprised in ments provided by trains. American railroads
revisionist fare like Butch Cassidy and the quickly became one of the major props of si-
Sundance Kid (1969), with Paul Newman and lent slapstick comedy, most notably in the
Robert Redford. Interesting variations with works of Buster Keaton, that master of film
outlaws trying to escape from aboard speed- and other technologies, but also in the shorts
ing trains include John Wayne’s The Train and features of Mack Sennett, Charlie Chaplin,
Robbers (1973) and Charles Bronson’s Break- and Harold Lloyd. The transfer of the stage
heart Pass (1976). Again, the ultimate revi- musical and the sophisticated comedy to the
sionism is found in the so-called spaghetti silver screen in the early sound era coincided
westerns, the domain of Sergio Leone and a with the golden age of American rail travel on
few other directors, mostly Spanish and Ital- romantically named Pullman Limiteds. Soon
ian. enough, these famous names became the titles
Racing trains provided great action props in of 1930s features such as Twentieth Century
nonwestern settings as well. For example, the (1934), an early effort of Howard Hawks fea-
historical Andrews Raid during the Civil War turing John Barrymore and Carole Lombard
was twice recaptured: first in Buster Keaton’s as a disaffected Broadway couple wooing once
silent classic The General (1927) and later in more on the New York Central flagship ex-
Disney’s The Great Locomotive Chase (1956). press to Chicago that provides the title.
The hobo’s life while riding the rails supplied Streamline Express (1935), Florida Special
other adventure, especially during the 1930s, (1936), and Broadway Limited (1941) soon fol-
in movies as different as Emperor of the North lowed, albeit with less famous passengers on
(1973), directed by Robert Aldrich; Bound for board. More historic use of railroad settings
Glory (1976), the story of Woody Guthrie; and included The Harvey Girls (1946), a musical
Boxcar Bertha (1972), Martin Scorsese’s first extravaganza with Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse,
studio film as director. Modern outlaws also and Angela Lansbury as three ingénues going
used trains for scams or escapes, as in the co- west as singing waitresses in the Harvey House
medic Silver Streak (1976), with Gene Wilder restaurants along the Santa Fe railway. Other
and Richard Pryor, or the violent Runaway aspects of show business involving railroads
544 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

appeared in Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984), homage to the dying short-haul railroad in the
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), and Some age of Reaganomics while offering scenes wor-
Like It Hot (1959). thy of Frank Capra.
Recent filmic treatments of railroads dem- Even more than Hollywood’s employment
onstrate a postmodern blurring of traditional of trains within the traditional genres, these
genres, one that complements the ambiguous more recent efforts demonstrate that movie
recent history of both industries. Examples in- railroads are for the most part props intended
clude the science-fiction comedy Back to the to support entertainment values. Although
Future III (1990), which employs a nineteenth- the historical reality and artistic symbolism of
century steam locomotive as a time-travel de- American railroads are more often discovered
vice. The black comedies Planes, Trains, and in our literature or our graphic arts than in
Automobiles and Throw Momma from the our movies, the sheer persistence of the train
Train (both 1987) featured trains; Steve Mar- in American film complements its place as a
tin and John Candy became strange bedfellows significant artistic marker within our culture.
in the former, while Danny DeVito and Billy In turn, all these re-created images of trains
Crystal spoofed Hitchcock’s train movies in project the historical importance of railroads
the latter. Even seriocomic features such as in America during an era when they are some-
Stand by Me (1986) or Fried Green Tomatoes what neglected, as well as their centrality to
(1991) used fine ensemble casts to develop the American creative imagination still strug-
contradictory images of railroads, as did the gling to understand the development of our
superb End of the Line (1988), which pays culture.

References
Runaway Train (1985, F)
Filmography Santa Fe (1951, F)
Back to the Future III (1990, F) Silver Streak (1976, F)
Bound for Glory (1976, F) Some Like It Hot (1959, F)
Boxcar Bertha (1972, F) Stand by Me (1986, F)
Breakheart Pass (1976, F) Strangers on a Train (1951, F)
Broadway Limited, (1941, F) Streamline Express (1935, F)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969, F) Throw Momma from the Train (1987, F)
Carson City (1951, F) The Train Robbers (1973, F)
Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984, F) Twentieth Century (1934, F)
Denver and Rio Grande (1951, F) Union Pacific (1939, F)
Emperor of the North (1973, F)
End of the Line (1988, F)
Florida Special (1936, F) Bibliography
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991, F) Douglass, George H. All Aboard: The Railroad in
The General (1927, F) American Life. New York: Marlowe, 1992.
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952, F) Gordon, Sarah H. Passage to Union: How the Rail-
The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926, F) roads Transformed American Life, 1829–1929. Chi-
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956, F) cago: Ivan Dee, 1996.
The Great Train Robbery (1903, F) Jensen, Oliver. The American Heritage History of Rail-
The Harvey Girls (1946, F) roads in America. New York: American Heritage,
The Iron Horse (1924, F) 1975.
Jesse James (1939, F) Marx, Leo. The Machine In the Garden: Technology
Kansas Pacific (1953, F) and the Pastoral Ideal in America. New York: Ox-
Keystone Cops (1985, D) ford University Press, 1964.
North by Northwest (1959, F) Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. The Railway Journey: The In-
Once Upon a Time in the West (1969, F) dustrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Cen-
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987, F) tury. New York: Urizen, 1979.
[ WILLIAM E. BRIGMAN ]

Sexuality

ovies emerged as a part of popular cul- in parked cars, and justified their rebellion

M ture during the first of two major sexual

revolutions of the twentieth century. By
the turn of the century, industrialization and
urbanization had already changed the sexual
against the Puritan tradition with allusions to
Sigmund Freud and Havelock Ellis. Sexuality
appeared to dominate all of American culture
in the late 1920s.
mores of the working class, and the mores of The Great Depression produced a noticea-
the middle class were on the edge of a trans- ble shift in the sexual climate. There was a
formation. The city moved courtship off the change of emphasis: the revolution was being
porch and into nightclubs, darkened movie consolidated rather than advanced. The pros-
theaters, and private spaces; in addition, the perity of the 1920s encouraged experimenta-
automobile provided both escape from paren- tion; the scarcity of the Depression reinforced
tal oversight and semiseclusion. “By World traditional values. At the same time, it made
War I,” Sharon Ullman points out, “the Vic- their implementation very problematic. Re-
torian assumptions about sexuality which stricting sexuality to marriage was difficult,
dominated Progressive rhetoric were in tatters. inasmuch as the marriage rate dropped by
Public imagery of women no longer conveyed more than 20 percent. On the other hand,
purity and chastity” (42). sexual activity did not halt: the sale of con-
World War I accelerated the change in sex- traceptives skyrocketed, and a survey found
ual attitudes. The soldiers who went abroad that over 70 percent of males and females en-
were exposed to European sexual attitudes and gaged in premarital sex.
practices; concurrently, standards were modi- World War II accelerated the move from
fied at home. Sexual roles changed as women traditional sexual mores: courtship, chastity,
became more active outside the home. With and marital fidelity were early casualties of the
fathers abroad and mothers at work, unchap- war. Courtships and marriages were acceler-
eroned middle-class adolescents created a new ated to accommodate forty-eight-hour leaves
sexual ethic. Subsequent studies by Alfred Kin- or to create the illusion of stability for soldiers
sey found that around 1915 a major shift oc- about to go abroad. And, once abroad, soldiers
curred in the erotic experiences of American were sexually active. An Army survey in 1945
women. Although traditional moralists tried to found that more than 80 percent of soldiers
limit the effects of the changed social and sex- who had been away from home more than two
ual attitudes resulting from the war, they were years had regular sexual relations with the
only partially successful in combating what women where they were stationed; indeed, half
amounted to a revolution in morals. The of the married soldiers had extramarital rela-
youths of the 1920s embraced the Jazz Age: sex tions. Many sweethearts and spouses back
was the cornerstone of the new lifestyle. They home also had active sex lives: 650,000 chil-
carried hip flasks, drank in speakeasies, petted dren were born out of wedlock during the war.

545
546 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

Moreover, the large-scale entry of women into Clinton White House featured an HIV liaison
the workplace changed perceptions of sexual officer.
roles. Although the blight of AIDS, which was
After the war, there was a major attempt at widely publicized by the death of Rock Hud-
retrenchment. During the 1950s, sexual-purity son in October 1985, cast a pall over the sexual
campaigns merged with Cold War fears: po- revolution, it did not reverse it. Sex and sexual
litical nonconformists were denounced; ho- portrayal in the media—both straight and
mosexuals, who had expanded their subculture gay—are staples of American life.
during World War II, were pushed back into
the closet; comic books were investigated for Sex in the Movies
their sexual and subversive content; and mar- Moralists quickly perceived movies as a threat
ried couples in movies slept in separate beds. to traditional sexual mores and began an
However, the strenuous campaign to reestab- unending struggle to mold film content to fit
lish traditional sexual values was undermined their values. Although censorship was stron-
by both science and commercialism. Alfred gest from 1934 to 1968, movies have seldom
Kinsey’s two books on sexuality, published in been without some level of distortion caused
1948 and 1953, stimulated an examination of by sexual censorship. As a result, movies are
sexual habits and values. In December 1953, not as reliable a reflection of the sexual world
Hugh Hefner’s Playboy began publishing as they may be of other areas.
glossy nude pictorials and celebrating a hedon- Some of the early films reflected the dra-
istic sexual philosophy. By the end of the de- matic changes in sexual attitudes caused by in-
cade, it had more than a million readers, only dustrialization and urbanization. These early
about half of whom were single men. explorations offered “no single moral vision”
By the 1960s, Americans lived in a society but indicated that “sexuality remained an un-
where sexual activity was accepted as an im- charted area open to exploration” (Ullman, 1).
portant source of personal happiness for both When sexuality came to mainstream film in
sexes. A major factor was the introduction of Traffic in Souls (1913), it was supposedly based
the birth control pill, which almost eliminated on New York vice investigations. The movie
fear of pregnancy. However, the wars over sex- set the pattern for films that used social abuses,
uality had not ended. Although there was a abortion, and women’s rights as a pretext to
large, vocal counterculture practicing and ad- introduce sexual themes. However, it was not
vocating a liberated sexuality, there was no na- until the first sex-film star, Theda Bara, ap-
tional consensus on this volatile subject. peared in Cleopatra (1917)—with her breasts
Rather, the increase in sexuality, including cradled by two gold snakes—that sexuality was
premarital intercourse, was merely an accel- projected in such a way as to influence social
eration of a trend that had been growing since fashions. That same year, another sex symbol,
the beginning of the century. Clara Bow, dubbed the “It” girl, appeared
Homosexuality, which had been forced un- nude in Hula (1917).
derground in the 1950s, spawned a nationwide Films also reflected the changing attitudes
gay rights movement after the Stonewall riot toward sex, marriage, and divorce in the “flap-
( June 1969) in New York City, which resulted per” and speakeasy era after World War I. Fe-
from a police raid on a gay bar. Homosexuality male stars such as Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow,
also emerged from the movie closet with The Louise Brooks, and Greta Garbo conveyed an
Boys in the Band (1969) and The Killing of Sis- open, frank attitude toward sexuality that
ter George (1968). Today, more than half of the would have been unacceptable to the Victori-
states have repealed antisodomy laws, and the ans of the prewar era. Likewise, the new male
 SEXUALITY ] 547

sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino, generated fe- Catholics constituted one-third of the poten-
male responses that destroyed the Victorian tial domestic audience, a negative evaluation
belief that women were uninterested in sex. by the legion could kill a movie. Not only was
Director Cecil B. De Mille, who had high- Mae West’s career sharply curtailed, but for
lighted bath scenes, bare breasts, and orgies in the next thirty years every element of film pro-
his early biblical epics, modified his approach duction was also closely scrutinized by the in-
to produce movies challenging the prevailing dustry’s own censor, the Hays Office, and the
view of marriage as a nonsexual relationship. legion to protect traditional values (Leff and
For example, in Why Change Your Wife? Simmons, 19–32).
(1920), a nagging Gloria Swanson reclaims her While the censors were trying to clean up
husband from another woman by dressing sex- the movies, other media offered more sexual
ily, a theme to reemerge three-quarters of a titillation. Esquire began publishing in late
century later with Jamie Lee Curtis in True Lies 1933. Other magazines featured provocative
(1994). pictorials. Many mainstream comics featured
Ignoring the evidence, critics blamed the de- buxom women, and a new form of eight-page
cline in theater attendance at the beginning of hardcore comics was created. Meanwhile, trav-
the Depression on “too much sex” in the mov- eling stag film exhibitions attracted many oth-
ies. But Hollywood, on the brink of bank- erwise respectable males.
ruptcy, saw things differently and turned to With a few notable exceptions, such as The
gold diggers, screwball comedies, and gangster Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944), wartime
films. Paralleling the difficulties of the eco- movies did not reflect the new reality. In war-
nomic world, sex in the movies lost its roman- time films, women were loyal to their men in
tic quality and became a commodity. Marlene service; adultery was harshly punished; and
Dietrich, Joan Crawford, Jean Harlow, and soldiers did not curse. Casablanca (1942) of-
Barbara Stanwyck portrayed gun molls, mis- fered romantic obsession, male camaraderie,
tresses, B-girls, and two-timing prostitutes and a patriotic ending. After all, as Rick Blaine
who used sex as a key to their hard-won suc- (Humphrey Bogart) says, “the problems of
cess. The male star also changed: the Latin lov- three little people don’t amount to a hill of
ers and all-American boys of the 1920s were beans.”
deemed inadequate. The new stars—Clark Ga- However, at the end of the war, the disillu-
ble, James Cagney, Gary Cooper, and Cary sionment generated by the Depression, the
Grant—were both more rugged and more so- stresses of war, and the fears and disappoint-
phisticated. ment of difficult adjustments to peacetime re-
Into this milieu sauntered Mae West, a sulted in what amounted to a backlash. A new
forty-year-old veteran of vaudeville and genre, film noir, which first appeared in 1941
Broadway—and more. Her caricature of with John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon, came
amoral sexuality in I’m No Angel (1933) and of age in 1946–47. From the viewpoint of gen-
She Done Him Wrong (1933) was a huge suc- der relations, film noir was grounded in the
cess and almost single-handedly saved the Par- glorification of the pinup during the war, the
amount studio from bankruptcy, returning ten changed expectations of both sexes, and the
times the investment. However, her libidinous suspicions and paranoia of the war increased
repartee made her a ripe target for censors. In by “Dear John” letters. The Blue Dahlia (1946)
1934, the Catholic Church, highly offended by encapsulated the immediate postwar experi-
De Mille’s Sign of the Cross, created the Legion ence: a soldier returns from the war to discover
of Decency to enforce a previously ineffectual his world destroyed; his wife is unfaithful or
Production Code (Walsh, 66–143). Because dead; his business partner has cheated him; his
548 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

The first major skirmishes in the war

against the Production Code occurred after
Otto Preminger released The Moon Is Blue
(1953) and From Here to Eternity (1953) with-
out Code approval. The box-office success of
the films foretold the Production Code’s
death. Equally important, the Supreme Court
ruled in Jacobellis v. Ohio that The Lovers
(1958), a softcore tale of a repressed wife
seeking fulfillment through adultery, was not
obscene. In a concurring opinion, Justice Pot-
ter Stewart made the oft-quoted remark that,
F I G U R E 7 1 . The Sign of the Cross (1932). Cecil B. De
although he could not define obscenity, “I
Mille’s epic of debauchery and decadence in Rome
included scenes of sex and sadism. The film’s release know it when I see it.”
resulted in the Catholic Church’s establishing the Legion Meanwhile, the development of the “nudie-
of Decency. Courtesy Paramount Pictures. cutie” in the exploitation genre paved the way
for the return of nudity to mainstream films.
job is gone. In a more general sense, Holly- The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959) blurred the
wood used the works of Dashiell Hammett, boundary of acceptability by playing in thea-
James Cain, and Raymond Chandler, mystery ters that had never screened erotic films. Fac-
writers whose femmes fatales used sex as a tool ing the threat of nudie-cuties and—more im-
and took betrayal below what it had been in portant, of foreign art films—Warner Bros.
the gangster films of the 1920s. In film noirs included nude scenes in Splendor in the Grass
such as Gilda (1946), The Big Sleep (1946), and (1961)—only to cut them before release.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), wives Sex themes, however, were flourishing.
were uncontrollable; husbands were cuckolds Anatomy of a Murder (1959) dealt with rape
or worse. In short, the women of film noir and homicide and featured strong language. In
were very attractive, very sexy, very aggressive, A Summer Place (1959), Sandra Dee is required
and very untrustworthy. The Production Code to have her virginity affirmed by a doctor after
could outlaw bawdiness, but it could not out- she spends a shipwrecked, unchaperoned eve-
law the radiant sexuality of a Lauren Bacall or ning with Troy Donahue. Films about love and
a Barbara Stanwyck. prostitution, but without nudity, such as But-
Conformity seemed to prevail in both the terfield 8 (1960), The World of Suzie Wong
society and the movies of the early 1950s, but (1960), Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Never on
the seeds of change were being sown as movie Sunday (1960), and Irma la Douce (1963), were
directors competed with television by includ- artistic and commercial successes.
ing sexual tidbits in old film formulas and Another sign of the coming liberation of the
adapting novels and plays that dealt with adul- movies was George Cukor’s The Chapman Re-
tery, sexual activity, fornication, or homosex- port (1962), a takeoff, nine years after its pub-
uality. Tennessee Williams was a favorite lication, of the first Kinsey studies on sexual
source. His Streetcar Named Desire (1947, play; behavior of women. Despite its perverse fixa-
1951, film) was one of Hollywood’s first ex- tion on sexually frustrated and nymphomani-
cursions into truly adult filmmaking. It starred acal housewives, the film contained no nudity,
a brutal and aggressive Marlon Brando, who but a decade later it was one of the early “dar-
was the prototypical male of the 1950s, and ing” offerings by the new cable TV network,
grossed over $4 million. Home Box Office (HBO).
 SEXUALITY ] 549

Whatever the explanation, the film industry Overwhelmed by the sexual revolution and
was increasingly out of touch with changing the threat of more explicit foreign films, the
sexual mores, and change was inevitable. The Production Code was replaced in 1968 by a
ban on nudity was broken with director Sidney new rating system. By 1970, it was almost im-
Lumet’s The Pawnbroker (1965), in which a possible to find a non-Disney film without at
nude scene, shot from the rear, was deemed least partial nudity, and many went further.
essential to the plot and received Code ap- Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) featured
proval. ( John Ford’s In Harm’s Way, released a lesbian, a male prostitute, a female transves-
the same year, featured a similar scene.) One tite, and an eighteen-year-old virgin in the
year later, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup same bed; mainstream films such as Paul Ma-
(1966), released without Code approval, was zursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and
the first mainstream film to offer a glimpse of Mike Nichols’s Carnal Knowledge (1971) were
female genitalia. similarly daring. The capstone was Last Tango
Cold War fears combined with sex to pro- in Paris (1973), starring Marlon Brando and
duce the James Bond spy-film franchise of the Maria Schneider. Although there are only
1960s and beyond. Featuring beautiful about ten minutes of sexual activity—in which
women, lots of sexual innuendo, and a lack of Brando keeps his pants on—the buttery image
realism, the spy genre’s audience appeal insu- of anal intercourse was the talk of many sub-
lated it from the censors and provided release urban parties of the sort so brilliantly por-
from the real fears of nuclear war. In contrast trayed in Ang Lee’s film The Ice Storm (1997).
to the vicarious sex and violence of the spy Clearly, at this point, the sexual barrier in
genre, the late 1960s also saw the development mainstream cinema had fallen.
of a new kind of hero who reflected changing By the mid-1970s, sex had become an inte-
gender views: the sensitive, insecure male gral part of American cinema and, to a signifi-
struggling with his sexuality and relationships. cant extent, reflected sexual concerns in the
The classic example was Dustin Hoffman in society, albeit through the lens of the box of-
The Graduate (1967), who set the stage for fu- fice. Homosexuality came out of the movie
ture portrayals of males with humor, sensitiv- closet with The Boys in the Band (1969). Les-
ity, and character as an alternative to the hand- bianism became an acceptable screen topic af-
some, roguish, and apparently emotionless ter The Killing of Sister George (1968). La Cage
male of the past. aux Folles (1978)—as a show and as a film—
In the short run, however, “adult” movies, was a major hit with both gay and straight au-
which had been a separate industry since 1915, diences. Transvestites and transsexuals were
moved center stage when a softcore Swedish central characters in The Rocky Horror Picture
film, I Am Curious (Yellow) (1968) became Show (1975) and Victor/Victoria (1982). Even
popular. Subsequent “documentaries” about incest received sensitive treatment in Louis
the end of film censorship in Denmark set the Malle’s Murmur of the Heart (1971) and played
stage for (Behind) The Green Door (1972), one a pivotal role in Chinatown (1974), in which
of the breakthrough American-made hardcore the femme fatale, Evelyn Cross Mulwray (Faye
movies. The next year Deep Throat (1973) and Dunaway) admits that she had borne a child
The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) were among the by her father, Noah Cross ( John Huston).
top ten films in gross revenues. Surveying these Greater openness led to more diversity and
novel developments, The New York Times explicitness in film, but old themes still flour-
coined the phrase “porno chic,” wondering if ished. The prostitute who fascinated the
a new genre was being created to address a 1960s became a more complex character
changing lifestyle. thanks to Jane Fonda in Klute (1971); Jodie
550 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

Foster in Taxi Driver (1976); Brooke Shields Three recent movies illustrate the freedom
in Pretty Baby (1978); Richard Gere in Amer- and constraints of contemporary filmmakers
ican Gigolo (1981); Rebecca De Mornay in in dealing with sexual issues. Primary Colors
Risky Business (1983); Jamie Lee Curtis in Trad- (1998) was very loosely based on allegations of
ing Places (1983); and Julia Roberts in Pretty sexual misconduct by a president still in office.
Woman (1990). Glenn Close updated Theda And, ironically, 1997 saw the reemergence of
Bara’s vamp in Fatal Attraction (1987), and censorship with the remake of Vladimir Na-
Kathleen Turner reprised a 1940s theme in bokov’s Lolita. The previous version was di-
Body Heat (1981). These movies were precur- rected by Stanley Kubrick in 1962; this time,
sors of a new genre—sexual thrillers—made Adrian Lyne’s version was produced under the
possible by relaxed sexual standards that en- close supervision of an attorney to protect the
couraged explicit portrayals of sexual activity. producers from child pornography charges,
The classic is Basic Instinct (1992), which criticism that also attended the 1999 release of
opens with a torrid intercourse scene with a Sam Mendes’s American Beauty. Thus, as mov-
murderous climax. Many feminists saw the ies gain more freedom to deal with more
whole genre as an attack on the women’s graphic sexual material—and must do so if
movement. Whether the charge is valid or not, they are to compete with television fare such
the motif of woman as evil and dangerous re- as Sex in the City—the struggle over film con-
turned to the movies of the 1990s. tent continues.

References
Irma la Douce (1963, F)
Filmography The Killing of Sister George (1968, F)
American Beauty (1999, F) Klute (1971, F)
American Gigolo (1981, F) La Cage aux Folles (1978, F)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959, F) Last Tango in Paris (1972, F)
Basic Instinct (1992, F) Lolita (1962, F; 1997, F)
(Behind) The Green Door (1972, F) The Maltese Falcon (1941, F)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970, F) The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944, F)
The Big Sleep (1946, F) The Moon Is Blue (1953, F)
Blowup (1966, F) Murmur of the Heart (1971, F)
The Blue Dahlia (1946, F) Never on Sunday (1960, F)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969, F) The Pawnbroker (1965, F)
Body Heat (1981, F) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946, F; 1981, F)
The Boys in the Band (1969, F) Pretty Baby (1978, F)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, F) Pretty Woman (1990, F)
Butterfield 8 (1960, F) Primary Colors (1998, F)
Carnal Knowledge (1971, F) Risky Business (1983, F)
Casablanca (1942, F) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975, F)
The Chapman Report (1962, F) The Sheik (1921, F)
Chinatown (1974, F) The Sign of the Cross (1934, F)
Cleopatra (1917, F) Splendor in the Grass (1961, F)
Deep Throat (1973, F) A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, F)
The Devil in Miss Jones (1973, F) A Summer Place (1959, F)
Fatal Attraction (1987, F) Taxi Driver (1976, F)
From Here to Eternity (1953, F) Trading Places (1983, F)
Gilda (1946, F) Traffic in Souls (1913, F)
The Graduate (1967, F) True Lies (1994, F)
I Am Curious (Yellow) (1968, F) Victor/Victoria (1982, F)
The Ice Storm (1997, F) Why Change Your Wife? (1920, F)
The Immoral Mr. Teas (1959, F) The World of Suzie Wong (1960, F)
 SEXUALITY ] 551

Bibliography ——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 10: The

Forties.” Playboy, September 1966.
Black, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored: Morality
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 11: Sex
Codes, Catholics, and the Movies. New York: Cam-
Stars of the Forties.” Playboy, October 1966.
bridge University Press, 1994.
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 12: The
D’Emilio, John, and Estelle B. Freedman. Intimate
Fifties.” Playboy, November 1966.
Matters: A History of Sexuality in America. New
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 14: Sex
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Stars of the Fifties.” Playboy, January 1967.
Jacobs, Lea. The Wages of Sin: Censorship and the
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 15: Exper-
Fallen Woman Film, 1928–1942. Berkeley: Univer-
imental Films.” Playboy, April 1967.
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——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 16: The
Kinsey, Alfred C., Wardell Pomeroy, and Clyde E.
Nudies.” Playboy, June 1967.
Martin. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Phila-
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 17: The
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Stag Film.” Playboy, November 1967.
Kinsey, Alfred C., Wardell Pomeroy, Clyde E.
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 18: The
Martin, and Paul H. Gebhard. Sexual Behavior in Sixties.” Playboy, April 1968.
the Human Female. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, ——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 19: The
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Knight, Arthur, and Hollis Alpert. “The History of ——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 20: Sex
Sex in Cinema.” Playboy, November 1969. Stars of the Sixties.” Playboy, January 1969.
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 1: The Leff, Leonard J., and Jerold L. Simmons. The Dame in
Original Sin.” Playboy, April 1965. the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and the Pro-
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 2: Com- duction Code from the 1920s to the 1960s. New
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——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 3: Holly- Pascall, Jeremy, and Clyde Jeavers. A Pictorial History
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——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 4: The Petersen, James R. The Century of Sex: Playboy’s His-
Twenties.” Playboy, August 1965. tory of the Sexual Revolution. New York: Grove
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 5: Sex Press, 1999.
Stars of the Twenties.” Playboy, September 1965. Quarles, Mike. Down and Dirty: Hollywood’s Exploita-
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 6: The tion Filmmakers and Their Movies. Jefferson, NC:
Thirties.” Playboy, November 1965. McFarland, 1993.
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 7: The Ullman, Sharon R. Sex Seen: The Emergence of Mod-
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——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 8: Sex California Press, 1997.
Stars of the Thirties.” Playboy, April 1966. Walsh, Frank. Sin and Censorship: The Catholic
——. “The History of Sex in Cinema, Part 9: The Church and the Motion Picture Industry. New Ha-
Forties.” Playboy, August 1966. ven: Yale University Press, 1996.
[ ROBERT B. TOPLIN ]

Slavery

any scholars speak of American “excep- The Historical Debate

M tionalism,” noting that the people of the

United States enjoyed greater freedom,
opportunity, and democracy over their his-
tory than other peoples of the world, includ-
Before the 1940s, many writers treated slavery
in the United States as a rather benign insti-
tution. They drew attention to the paternalistic
attitudes of masters, observing that whites of-
ing Europeans. The U.S. experience with slav- ten treated their black servants and agricultural
ery, however, contrasts sharply with this workers like members of an extended family.
positive and optimistic interpretation. Amer- Some of these writers also viewed slavery as a
icans were unable to find peaceful political “school of civilization,” arguing that the insti-
solutions to the crisis of slavery. Nearly four tution trained Africans for participation in
million African Americans lived in bondage American culture. One of the most influential
by the 1850s, and the struggle to win their of these historians was Ulrich Bonnell Phillips,
freedom contributed significantly to the di- whose books American Negro Slavery (1918)
visions that drew the country into four years and Life and Labor in the Old South (1929)
of bloody civil war. In the nineteenth century, challenged the nineteenth-century abolition-
Americans disagreed vigorously as they inter- ists’ claim that slavery was unusually harsh.
preted the lessons of their country’s painful Interpretations of the African American ex-
experience with slavery, and they continued perience in the antebellum South changed
these debates into the twentieth century not rather dramatically after World War II. Re-
only in writing but also, eventually, through vulsion against Hitler’s racism and the exter-
their portrayals in motion pictures and tele- mination of six million Jews in the Holocaust
vision programs. contributed to growing concern about the
Interpretations of the past often reflect per- rights of minorities. In the postwar years,
spectives of the present. As new views about America’s historical record of prejudice and
politics, society, and the law come into vogue, oppression came under greater scrutiny and
these considerations make an impact on views criticism. Kenneth M. Stampp’s The Peculiar
of the past. Changes in popular attitudes Institution (1956) attacked many of the con-
about slavery are especially noticeable around clusions found in Phillips’s work. Stampp
the time of World War II. Before the war, showed that African Americans suffered tre-
books and especially movies tended to tell the mendously under slavery. He observed that
history of slavery from the perspective of slaves reacted in a variety of ways to their op-
southern whites. After the war, books, motion pression. Some ran away, and a few rebelled.
pictures, and television programs gave greater Most recognized that outright resistance was
attention to the African American perspec- impossible because it could excite violent re-
tive. actions from the whites. Stampp’s broad mes-

552
 SLAVERY ] 553

sage was clear: slaves were generally unhappy about emancipation, equality, and the rights of
with their condition and eager for freedom. all men, notes Fredrickson in The Black Image
A number of studies soon followed that in the White Mind (1971). Then, as the south-
demonstrated ways in which blacks coped with ern whites’ dependence on cotton profits grew
their difficult condition in slavery. In Roll, Jor- and they came under challenge from antislav-
dan, Roll (1974), Eugene D. Genovese showed ery leaders, racial views hardened. White
that slaves found a sense of personal dignity southerners increasingly treated their “peculiar
and salvation through religious practices, and institution” in an uncompromising way, and
John Blassingame revealed in The Slave Com- they argued that their supposedly “inferior”
munity (1972) that blacks often protected slaves were incapable of handling freedom.
themselves on farms and plantations through The treatment of slavery in popular enter-
a complex network of personal and familial re- tainment roughly paralleled these trends. Be-
lationships with their fellow slaves. Both of fore World War II, interpretations in motion
these studies argue that the enslaved were not pictures often reflected elements of Phillips’s
simply victims of an oppressive system. Afri- views on slavery. After the war, movies (as well
can Americans devised effective ways to limit as films on television) often reflected the per-
the master’s power over their lives and to resist spectives advanced by scholars such as
the pressures of an exploitative work regime. Stampp, Genovese, and Fredrickson. The Hol-
American society’s growing resistance to ra- lywood and TV versions of history exaggerated
cism and broadening commitment to civil these interpretations. They accentuated the
rights in the decades after World War II also messages with emotion-laden pictures and
brought heightened attention to the history of portrayals that hammered viewers with strong
racial prejudice in the United States. Not sur- criticisms of slavery’s role in antebellum
prisingly, historians reported that important southern life.
sources of racial bigotry could be found in the
country’s experience with slavery. In White Filmic Views of Slavery before World War II
Over Black (1968), Winthrop Jordan reported The Birth of a Nation presented the most in-
that Englishmen exhibited racial fears even be- fluential early perspective on slavery from the
fore they had become broadly involved with motion picture business. Based on a book, The
slavery in North America. The growth of slav- Clansman, by North Carolina writer Thomas
ery in British colonies of the Western Hemi- Dixon, the 1915 movie gave audiences a highly
sphere tended to intensify these prejudiced at- biased view of slavery, the Civil War, and Re-
titudes. Carl N. Degler argues that the construction. Its brief segments dealing with
treatment of blacks in the American South was slavery portrayed blacks as generally happy
not worse than the treatment they received in with their condition. Plantations appeared
Brazil (the second largest slave society in the idyllic, and the movie suggested that whites
Americas), but racial prejudice in the antebel- demonstrated a paternalistic concern for their
lum United States became much more severe slaves’ well-being. A caption in the film
than in Brazil’s slave society because Ameri- blamed slavery for the Civil War, saying, “The
cans usually viewed all people with some Af- bringing of the African to America planted the
rican ancestry as black. George M. Fredrickson first seeds of disunion.”
contributed to the scholarship on prejudice by Black leaders publicly criticized the racist
showing that the racism of many white south- nature of D. W. Griffith’s influential movie.
erners evolved. During the revolutionary pe- They particularly objected to the film’s nega-
riod, a number of white southerners talked tive images of the blacks during Reconstruc-
554 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

tion. An editorial in the African American of Angels (1957), in which Sidney Poitier plays
publication The Crisis called the movie “a sor- a talented but unhappy slave under the control
did and lurid melodrama” that characterized of his master, Hamish Bond (Clark Gable), a
the black man “either as an ignorant fool, a rakish former slave trader who feels remorse
vicious rapist, a venal and unscrupulous poli- about his dishonorable profession. Band of An-
tician, or a faithful but doddering idiot.” The gels also cast Yvonne DeCarlo in the role of
New York Globe suggested that the movie fo- Amantha Starr, a tragic mulatto. DeCarlo plays
mented “race antipathy that is the most sinis- a beautiful debutante from Kentucky who was
ter and dangerous feature of American life.” sold to the slave markets of New Orleans with
Birth of a Nation nevertheless became an ex- her father’s estate. In dealing with these ugly
traordinary box-office success. Within a year elements of slavery, Band of Angels presented
of its opening, an estimated three million a picture of antebellum times that contrasted
viewers had seen the movie. Its popularity con- starkly with the “moonlight and magnolias”
tributed to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in view evident in many of Hollywood’s earlier
the 1915–25 period. productions.
Gone with the Wind (1939), another popular Television also began to contribute to the
historical epic about the Civil War, also deliv- revision of popular views on slavery. The most
ered memorable depictions of slavery in the notable impact came from Roots, an im-
antebellum South. Like Griffith’s classic, Gone mensely successful dramatic series that ap-
with the Wind displayed a paternalistic attitude peared on ABC in 1977. In a multiepisode for-
on the part of the masters and painted an idyl- mat that looked like a prime-time soap opera,
lic picture of life on the plantations. One of the Roots stressed the horror of the black experi-
movie’s most negative characterizations of a ence in slavery. It began with stories about the
black figure showed actress Butterfly McQueen travails of a young African male who had been
disintegrating into a state of panic when she captured by white slave traders and forced to
needed to assist in delivering a baby. Never- labor in Virginia. The drama then followed the
theless, the movie’s depictions were an im- lives of his descendants as they experienced
provement over the simplistic and critical por- whippings, sexual harassment, separation
trayals of blacks in The Birth of a Nation. from their families, and other abuses. Based on
African Americans in Gone with the Wind were a popular book by author Alex Haley, Roots
friendly individuals, not the dangerous aggres- pulled at the heartstrings of Americans of
sors seen in Birth of a Nation. Gone with the whatever ethnicity. It broke all audience re-
Wind also featured a strong black character: cords for a new television drama, and in the
Hattie McDaniel, in a role that won her an aftermath of its broadcast many schools and
Academy Award, played a loyal but tough ser- colleges scheduled classroom discussions
vant who is not afraid to berate Scarlett about its treatment of history.
O’Hara when her behavior threatens to de- Some observers raised questions about
mean the family’s reputation. Roots’ presentation of history. Historian James
Brewer Stewart complained that the drama did
Post–World War II Views of Slavery not show ambiguities and complexities in the
Just as books about slavery published after master-slave relationship, and Time’s reviewer,
World War II began to reflect a more critical Richard Schickel, claimed that the miniseries
approach to slavery, Hollywood, too, began to offered “almost no new insights, factual or
treat the institution more negatively in movies emotional” about slavery. Schickel considered
dealing with southern themes. One of the sig- the TV movie “a handy compendium of stale
nificant early signs of change appeared in Band melodramatic conventions.” The chorus of
 SLAVERY ] 555

positive responses, especially from ordinary portrayed white masters and mistresses as
viewers, drowned out these negative reactions. hungry for sexual escapades with the African
Other made-for-television dramas at- Americans on their plantations. These R- and
tempted to cash in on the popularity of Roots, X-rated films, such as Slaves (1969), The Quad-
such as Freedom Road (1979) and Beulah Land roon (1971), Mandingo (1975), Drum (1976),
(1980), but they presented whites and blacks and Passion Plantation (1978) contained lots
in such one-dimensional, stereotypical char- of lust and violence. Characterizations were of-
acterizations that they tended to bore audi- ten stereotypical, featuring male slaves as Nat
ences. A more sophisticated treatment soon Turners and their white owners as deeply
appeared in a PBS series called A House Di- flawed individuals. Interestingly, no major
vided (now marketed in video stores under the motion picture of the period dramatized the
title Half Slave/Half Free). The programs of A story of Nat Turner, although some Holly-
House Divided, developed by historian Robert wood producers talked about bringing Wil-
Brent Toplin, dramatized the lives of three liam Styron’s controversial novel The Confes-
real-life figures from the years of slavery and sions of Nat Turner (1967) to the screen.
the Civil War: Denmark Vesey, Solomon Nor- Caleb Deschanel’s 1988 film Crusoe, starring
thup, and Charlotte Forten. These dramas Aidan Quinn and Ade Sapara, brought a nu-
conveyed the negative assessment of slavery anced view of the slavery issue to its retelling
evident in Kenneth M. Stampp’s book, but of Daniel Defoe’s famed novel, portraying the
they also communicated ideas from the newer Robinson Crusoe character as a Virginia slave
research about the slaves’ coping efforts seen trader whose eyes are slowly opened to the
in books by Eugene D. Genovese and John evils of his work. A sophisticated treatment of
Blassingame, who showed that slaves found slavery appeared on television in 1990 in the
spiritual and communal strength in their prac- form of a documentary series. In The Civil
tice of religion and in their ties to an extended War, filmmaker Ken Burns identified slavery
family. The dramas corrected the tendency in as the principal cause of the great conflict.
Roots and its imitators to portray almost all Burns’s film showed a famous photograph of
slaveholders as insensitive exploiters. For ex- an African American with scars on his back
ample, one of the films, entitled Solomon Nor- from whippings and presented other disturbing
thup’s Odyssey, showed an African American pictures of life in bondage. Burns also provided
working under three different masters. One a sympathetic treatment of the abolitionists
was a kindly individual whose good intentions who attacked slavery. The Civil War effectively
were undermined by the slave system. A sec- communicated criticisms of slavery previously
ond master was a vicious, poorly educated in- explored by historians such as Stampp, Gen-
dividual who was jealous of Northup’s intel- ovese, and Blassingame. Some white southern-
ligence and skills. The third respected Northup ers objected to the series, arguing that it pre-
but drove him hard nevertheless in order to sented a biased interpretation of sensitive issues
maximize profits on his plantation. (they claimed that Burns exhibited a pro-
In the late 1960s and early 1970s Hollywood Yankee, pro-abolitionist perspective), but most
movies tended to go to extremes in countering journalists and historians gave the film high
the old images of slavery seen in movies such marks for its treatment of history.
as Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind. In 1997 Steven Spielberg entered the cine-
A new genre appeared called “blaxploitation matic debates about slavery with his big-screen
films” that stressed the brutal aspects of slav- production of Amistad. Based on a real his-
ery, revealed the horrors associated with slave torical event, Amistad portrays the mutiny of
breeding, viewed slaves as seething rebels, and Africans on a Spanish slave ship. It follows the
556 [ THEMES AND TOPICS

Africans’ experiences after Americans inter- ommended discussions about the movie char-
cepted the ship off the coast of New England. acter Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman), a
The movie shows that the authorities placed black abolitionist. Joadson was not a real figure
the captives behind bars while abolitionists from history, noted the critics; he was an in-
and slave interests fought over their fate. At vention of the filmmakers.
the end of the film, the elderly ex-president of Sensitive treatment of the African American
the United States, John Quincy Adams (An- experience in bondage continued in 1998 with
thony Hopkins), successfully defends their the appearance of a four-part PBS documen-
freedom before the U.S. Supreme Court. tary series, Africans in America. The film series
Spielberg received much praise for his pow- traced the history of African Americans from
erful emotional statement about the horrors of the early colonial period through the Civil
the African slave trade. The opening scenes in War. It gave most of its attention to the strug-
the movie, depicting vicious treatment of gle of enslaved blacks to cope with and over-
blacks, including wholesale murder, presented come slavery. The documentary described the
especially frightening images. Some historians horrors of life in bondage, giving attention to
objected to the artistic liberties taken by the the slave trade, the breakup of families, and
filmmaker, however. They noted, for example, the influence of racism on both North and
that the dedicated abolitionist Lewis Tappan South. The film maintained that blacks were
(who made tremendous personal commit- not passive victims of oppression. It focused
ments to free the blacks in the Amistad case) on the work of black abolitionists as well as the
appeared in the movie as an opportunist who efforts of blacks in slavery that attempted to
was willing to sacrifice the slaves’ interests to escape or rebel against their condition. Despite
serve his own purposes. Critics also pointed to these achievements, Africans in America pres-
a booklet Spielberg’s movie company distrib- ents little of the complex new understanding
uted to the nation’s schools that encouraged of history that scholars have been providing in
classroom discussions about characters and in- recent decades, and it gives almost no hint that
cidents in the movie. Scholars observed, for historians have disagreed considerably in in-
instance, that the instructional materials rec- terpreting the story of slavery in America.

References
Blassingame, John. The Slave Community: Plantation
Filmography Life in the Antebellum South. New York: Oxford
Africans in America (1998, D) University Press, 1972.
Amistad (1997, F) Campbell, Edward D. C., Jr. The Celluloid South: Hol-
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) lywood and the Southern Myth. Knoxville: Univer-
The Civil War (1990, D) sity of Tennessee Press, 1981.
Crusoe (1988, F) Cripps, Thomas. Making Movies Black: The Hollywood
Drum (1976, F) Message Movie from World War II to the Civil
Glory (1989, F) Rights Era. New York: Oxford University Press,
Gone with the Wind (1939, F) 1993.
Half Slave/Half Free (1984, D) ——. Slow Fade to Black: The Negro in American
Mandingo (1975, F) Film, 1900–1942. New York: Oxford University
Roots (1977, TV) Press, 1977.
Degler, Carl N. Neither White nor Black: Slavery and
Race Relations in Brazil and the United States. New
Bibliography York: Macmillan, 1971.
Berlin, Ira. Many Thousand Gone. Cambridge, MA: Frederickson, George M. The Black Image in the
Belknap Press, 1998. White Mind. New York: Harper & Row, 1971.
 SLAVERY ] 557
Genovese, Eugene D. Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Leab, Daniel J. From Sambo to Superspade: The Black
Slaves Made. New York: Pantheon, 1974. Experience in Motion Pictures. Boston: Houghton
Kirby, Jack Temple. Media-Made Dixie: The South in Mifflin, 1975.
the American Imagination. Baton Rouge: Louisiana Stampp, Kenneth M. The Peculiar Institution. New
State University Press, 1978. York: Knopf, 1956.
VIII.
Myths and Heroes

夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝 夝
[ CHARLES J. MALAND ]

The American Adam

he American Adam has been an animat- den; and Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.”

T ing myth in American literature and cul-

ture since the early nineteenth century.
Along with such myths as the success myth,
the myth of virgin land, and the manifest des-
Combined with the perceived triumph of the
common man in Andrew Jackson’s election to
the presidency in 1828, this optimistic vision
spurred the dream that the United States had
tiny of Americans to populate and develop the shed the burdens of the past and was creating
continent, it has helped define key ingredients a new, more perfect human society.
in the national self-image. Related in interest- From these hopes about the rich possibilities
ing ways to a number of these other cultural of American life emerged the character of the
myths, the myth of the American Adam has American Adam. He was, in Whitman’s words,
also been evident in American films. “a single, separate self,” often orphaned, es-
As related by such cultural historians as tranged from parents, or with an uncertain,
R. W. B. Lewis, David W. Noble, and Giles unknown past. Like the original Adam before
Gunn, the myth of the American Adam is the fall, he was an innocent—optimistic about
rooted in the first half of the nineteenth cen- the possibilities of man’s place in nature, un-
tury. Even before that time, many colonists be- tested by experience, and often either unaware
lieved that the settlers in the New World would of or skeptical about the shaping and limiting
construct a new harmonious society—a City on constraints of human community. As defined
a Hill—exempt from the institutional limita- in the literary and historical analyses of Lewis
tions and corruptions of the Old World. During and Noble, the drama of this cultural myth
the early nineteenth century, the notion of emerged from the conflict between the Amer-
American exceptionalism became even more ican Adam and the social or natural forces that
widespread. Its advocates held that the United tested his optimism and innocence. Writers
States, because of its democratic political insti- with a hopeful view of human nature created
tutions, its emergent individualism, and its vast works that celebrated the ability of the self to
western frontier, constituted a unique social transcend social limitations, evident, for ex-
and political experiment on the world stage. ample, in Thoreau’s Walden and Whitman’s
Emerging in this New World Garden would be Leaves of Grass. Others, such as Nathaniel
a model democratic society, celebrating the Hawthorne in “My Kinsman, Major Moli-
common man and extending individual free- neaux” or Herman Melville in “Benito Cer-
dom far beyond anything imagined in Europe. eno” and Billy Budd, cast a more complex and
Affected by this vision, the New England tran- critical eye on the place of innocence in a fallen
scendentalists and their followers celebrated the world. The core of the Adamic cultural myth
self-reliant individualist in such works as Ralph emerged in the dialectic between these opti-
Waldo Emerson’s Nature and “The Divinity mistic and pessimistic visions of human ex-
School Address”; Henry David Thoreau’s Wal- perience.

561
562 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

The myth of the American Adam is also course, Charlie Chaplin’s tramp. Chaplin so-
related in important ways to the myth of the lidified the tramp’s persona at Essanay and
American frontier and the American success Mutual between 1915 and 1917. In many of
myth. James Fenimore Cooper’s Natty Bumppo, those films, and in most of the other comedies
for example, knows the frontier world and is through Modern Times (1936), the tramp
most comfortable there, but at times he also yearns for love and basic human needs like
acts to bring about the best forces of civiliza- food and shelter, facing a world of antagonists
tion, even if it may destroy his world. When physically stronger or financially more pow-
Frederick Jackson Turner and later historians erful than he is. Although his past is unknown,
emphasized the centrality of the frontier in he faces the threats against him with physical
shaping the American character from the agility, good humor, and resilience. Whether
1890s on, one version of the American Adam he ends the film with the girl (The Gold Rush,
was transmuted into the solitary and often ro- 1925), without her (The Circus, 1928), or in
mantic cowboy hero. Similarly, as the United abeyance (City Lights, 1931), he manages to
States became more urban and industrial in avoid being broken by the forces against him.
the later nineteenth century, the American King Vidor’s The Crowd (1928) offers a
Adam often transformed into a country or silent-era study of difficulties confronting the
small-town innocent who went to the city and innocent hero in the city. Its hero, Johnny
had his innocence tested there, thus linking the Sims ( James Murray), is a key cinematic
Adams to the American success myth, perhaps American Adam, born on July 4, 1900, in a
most memorably in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The paradigmatic small town. Johnny’s father
Great Gatsby. dreams he will become president, but he dies
when Johnny is only twelve. Nevertheless,
The American Adam in Film Johnny still dreams of succeeding when he
As Robert Ray has convincingly argued, Amer- goes to New York in the 1920s. Exhibiting
ican film narratives since the establishment of some of the alienation of the 1920s Lost Gen-
the studio era have drawn on nineteenth- eration, the film shows how Johnny struggles
century American cultural myths and narrative anonymously in the urban mass society. Un-
conventions. This tendency has clearly been able to earn promotion above his tedious desk
true of the myth of the American Adam, but job at an insurance company, he also struggles
with some changes from the mid-nineteenth- in his marriage after his daughter is run over
century literary tradition. Although the dream by a truck and killed. Instead of achieving a
of the American Adam first established itself life of freedom, fulfillment, and acclaim,
when the United States was primarily an agrar- Johnny ends up just another struggling mem-
ian society, American movies are a product of ber of the crowd.
an urban industrial and postindustrial civili- One of the most memorable American Ad-
zation that has played an increasingly large role ams created during the cultural nationalism of
on the world stage, and the forces confronting the late 1930s, Jefferson Smith ( James Stewart)
cinematic American Adams have evolved, par- in Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
ticularly when the films have contemporary (1939) resembles Johnny Sims in that he has
settings. no father and leaves small-town life for the big
One early manifestation of the American city. Named a U.S. senator to fill out the term
Adam emerged in silent film comedy. Al- of one who dies in office, Smith, like some of
though one could discuss Harry Langdon’s his more optimistic nineteenth-century pro-
persona in such films as The Strong Man genitors, is also closely associated with nature
(1926), the dominant comic Adam was, of (he is the leader of a Boy Scouts–like group
 THE AMERICAN ADAM ] 563

and sponsors a bill to establish a National Jack Crabb in Little Big Man, could play an
Boy’s Camp) and is connected to the political American Adam who stands the social vision
traditions of American liberty and individu- of the traditional Western on its head. Or-
alism. Although his political idealism is tested phaned by a Pawnee raid as a child, Crabb is
and almost crushed by the power of Jim Taylor raised by the Cheyenne and observes both
(Edward Arnold), a corrupt machine politi- white and Native American cultures close
cian, Smith sticks to his principles and, against range, concluding, in contrast to the conven-
all odds, exposes the political machine while tional western, that white society is corrupt
retaining his Adamic vision. Very much in the and that only among the Cheyenne, led by Old
tradition of Emerson and Thoreau, Capra Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), can he find
urges one to retain idealistic political princi- a genuinely harmonious and humane society.
ples when political compromise, represented Other heroes in important American films
in the film by Senator Paine (Claude Rains), of the 1940s and 1950s might be explored
seems both more tempting and lucrative. In within the lens of the Adamic myth, including
doing so, Capra makes Jefferson Smith one of the title character of Orson Welles’s Citizen
the most compellingly romantic American Ad- Kane (1941). Although he has memories of a
ams of twentieth-century American film. happy childhood and shows idealism and vi-
From early on in film history, the Western tality in his young adulthood, Charles Foster
became a dominant film genre, and the cow- Kane (Welles) ends up with a life of domina-
boy hero has often functioned as a kind of tion, acquisition, and loneliness, convinced he
American Adam. One, the Ringo Kid ( John would have become a “really great man” ex-
Wayne), in John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939), ap- cept for the childhood trauma of parental sep-
peared the same year as Jefferson Smith. Or- aration and the burden of great wealth. Casa-
phaned when the Plummer brothers kill his blanca’s (1942) individualist hero with a
parents, Ringo has been imprisoned unjustly mysterious past, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bo-
and has broken out of prison to avenge the gart), is also an American Adam. In this case,
murders. Depicted as an innocent and however, the ethos of World War II requires
wronged common man, he is kind to the mar- that the isolated and isolationist Adam recog-
ginal members of the group traveling in a nize the evil Nazi threat to the American gar-
stagecoach across Indian country—especially den and commit himself to fighting for the an-
the drunken Doc Boone (Thomas Mitchell) tifascist cause. More generally, the private
and the prostitute Dallas (Claire Trevor). As detective movie heroes spawned by novelists
with many cowboy Adams, Ringo uses re- like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Ham-
demptive violence at the film’s conclusion, mett, although grizzled and cynically aware of
killing all three of the Plummers, thus ridding urban corruption, are often related to the
society of evil and helping establish greater so- American Adam by the romantic individual-
cial harmony and stability. (The title character ism at the core of their character.
of Shane [1953], played by Alan Ladd, is a close A memorable American Adam from the
Adamic relative of Ringo’s.) Although Ringo 1950s is Terry Malloy (Marlon Brando) in On
is bathed in the optimistic glow of Popular the Waterfront (1954). Orphaned and raised by
Front politics, director Ford would later take his brother Charley (Rod Steiger) and an evil
a memorable and darker look at the individ- surrogate father, Johnny Friendly (Lee J.
ualist (yet less innocent) cowboy hero via Cobb), Terry yearns to shed the feeling that he
Ethan Edwards ( John Wayne) in The Searchers is nothing but a bum, just as he dreams of
(1956). By 1970, following the turmoil of the finding love and integrity in a life that seems
1960s, Dustin Hoffman, as the Indian scout to be passing him by. Designed in part as a
564 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

veiled, ambivalent defense of Kazan’s own tes-

timony before the House Committee on Un-
American Activities in the McCarthy era, On the
Waterfront depicts Terry, prodded by Edie (Eva
Marie Saint), Father Barry (Karl Malden), and
his own brother’s death, achieving the integrity
he yearns for by informing about Friendly’s
union corruption, fighting him, and destroying
his power. Terry’s character finds a descendant
in the hero of the eponymous Rocky (1976),
which features another parentless, failing, and
innocent Adam, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stal-
lone), who yearns for something better. F I G U R E 7 2 . On the Waterfront (1954). Terry Malone
It is probably true that in nineteenth- (Marlon Brando) stands alone against the control of
union corruption as his colleagues look on. Brando
century literature the American Adam ap-
brought out the complex characteristics of the
peared most often in what Nina Baym has “American Adam.” Courtesy Columbia Pictures and
aptly termed “melodramas of beset manhood.” Horizon Pictures.
In a similar vein, American films since the
early 1970s have presented him most memo- Strikes Back, 1980; Return of the Jedi, 1983),
rably in such male action genres as gangster where the youthful Luke Skywalker (Mark
films, science fiction films, and war films. Hamill), parentless and raised by relatives, pas-
Although The Godfather (1972) and The sionately yearns to grow up by fighting against
Godfather II (1974) are fundamentally a family the powerful forces of the Empire. Drawing on
gangster tragedy—an American House of archetypal narrative patterns after discussions
Atreus—they are linked to the Adamic myth with Joseph Campbell, screenwriter/director
by Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). Although he George Lucas allows Luke to fight valiantly and
has parents, the college graduate and war hero successfully in the first film. By the third, how-
Michael is certainly played as an innocent early ever, his American Adam learns that the evil
in the first film, insisting to his girlfriend Kay Darth Vader is his real father, and he is forced
(Diane Keaton) that he is not a part of the to confront the disturbing possibility—usually
family’s violence and corruption. Separate neglected in action films—that good and evil
from them and different, he shares his father may be less a question of us versus them than
Vito’s (Marlon Brando) dream that he become of contending forces within oneself.
a legitimate and respected member of the Oliver Stone’s two Vietnam films both fea-
American society, a senator or a judge. But de- ture Adamic protagonists: Chris Taylor (Charlie
spite Vito’s kind manners and celebration of Sheen) in Platoon (1986) and Ron Kovic (Tom
Old World family loyalty, his power is based Cruise) in Born on the Fourth of July (1989).
on violence, and Michael’s murders of two ri- Unlike the American Adam during World War
vals draw him into the maelstrom of the family II—who learns, like Rick Blaine, that the cause
business. His innocence corrupted, Michael is worth fighting for—Stone’s heroes come to
becomes the new Godfather, overseeing the see war and the American involvement much
destruction of the family, becoming as isolated differently. (Given that the movies are a popular
by the end of the second film as Charles Foster medium and that public support for World
Kane was in his old age. War II was much more pronounced than sup-
The Adamic myth is also central in Star port for Vietnam, this should not be surpris-
Wars trilogy (Star Wars, 1977; The Empire ing.) Platoon opens when Chris, a “cherry” es-
 THE AMERICAN ADAM ] 565

tranged from his parents (though not from his

grandmother), arrives in Vietnam with other
replacements, and it traces his growing experi-
ence and horror at the war, caught between the
good Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) and the evil
Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger), a brutal
man who permits the massacre of Vietnamese
civilians. A dark picture of American involve-
ment in Vietnam emerges when Barnes, afraid
of evidence Elias has against him, leaves him,
F I G U R E 7 3 . Born on the Fourth of July (1989). The
wounded, to die in the midst of an attack, and
Vietnam War film resurrected and revised the “American
later when Chris kills the wounded Barnes in Adam” in Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise). Kovic returns home a
retaliation. The film ends with Chris looking paraplegic and shuns the social system and the patriotism
back after the war, observing that in retrospect he once embraced. Here, in his wheelchair, he is caught
in the mayhem of an antiwar rally. Courtesy Ixtlan
the war seems actually to be within him and Corporation.
that memories of Elias and Barnes were still
fighting for his soul.
Ron Kovic (Tom Cruise) in Born on the finally committing himself to opposing the war
Fourth of July is an Adamic product of the pa- that cost both his health and the lives of many
triotic American 1950s and 1960s. Growing up of his buddies.
in a small community on Long Island, he at- In both literature and film, the myth of the
tends annual Independence Day parades and American Adam has focused primarily on
plays war with his playmates, his imagination male protagonists, although women, like
fueled by John Wayne war films played on tele- Henry James’s innocent Daisy Miller, do exist.
vision. Although he does not start out estranged Rooted in the belief of American exceptional-
from his parents, he is portrayed as an innocent, ism, the hope that the United States can avoid
mouthing platitudes he has heard from his the corruptions of the Old World and create a
mother or from politicians on TV, and is sur- model society, the American Adam, innocent
prised when his father (Raymond J. Barry), a and often orphaned, serves as a metaphor for
World War II veteran, worries just before his a national self-image of a model democratic
induction about the wisdom of fighting a war society, freed from the burdens of the past to
thirteen thousand miles from home. The war face the future with enthusiasm. Although
turns out nearly to destroy him: his unit care- some American Adams, like Jefferson Smith
lessly kills women and children, he kills a buddy and the Ringo Kid, retain their idealistic vision
whom he mistakes for an attacking enemy sol- and succeed, it may be more common, par-
dier, his superior officers cover up both inci- ticularly for films with contemporary settings
dents, and finally he is shot in a battle and par- made during times of social critique or reform,
alyzed permanently from the waist down. He for the Adamic hero to be disillusioned or even
returns home, and the rest of the film traces his destroyed by his confrontation with the harsh
movement from patriotic supporter of the war, realities of contemporary society. The title
to anguished doubter about the wisdom of his characters of Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks, 1994)
sacrifice, and finally to active spokesman for the and The Truman Show ( Jim Carrey, 1998)
Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Here the show that cinematic American Adams still fas-
American Adam loses his innocence, blames his cinated viewers in the media-dominated, post-
milieu for instilling thoughtless patriotism industrial 1990s and beyond, although, as
within him, and rejects all he had believed in, Daniel Bell has argued, the belief in American
566 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

exceptionalism may be declining as our world will tell whether and how the myth will persist
shrinks and global markets expand. Only time in the new century.

References
Bibliography
Filmography
Baym, Nina. “Melodramas of Beset Manhood.”
Born on the Fourth of July (1989, F)
American Quarterly 33.2 (1981): 123–139.
Casablanca (1942, F) Bell, Daniel. “The End of American Exceptionalism.”
The Circus (1928, F) Public Interest 41 (1975): 193–229.
Citizen Kane (1941, F) Gunn, Giles. “The Myth of the American Adam.” In
City Lights (1931, F) Richard Dorson, ed., Handbook of American Folk-
The Crowd (1928, F) lore, 79–85. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
The Empire Strikes Back (1980, F) 1983.
Forrest Gump (1994, F) Hartz, Louis. The Liberal Tradition in America. New
The Godfather (1972, F) York: Harcourt, 1955.
The Godfather II (1974, F) Lewis, R. W. B. The American Adam: Innocence, Trag-
The Gold Rush (1925, F) edy, and Tradition in the Nineteenth Century. Chi-
Little Big Man (1970, F) cago: University of Chicago Press, 1955.
Modern Times (1936, F) Lipset, Seymour. American Exceptionalism: A Double-
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) Edged Sword. New York: Norton, 1996.
On the Waterfront (1954, F) Noble, David. The Eternal Adam and the New World
Platoon (1986, F) Garden: The Central Myth in the American Novel
Return of the Jedi (1983, F) Since 1830. New York: George Braziller, 1968.
The Searchers (1956, F) Ray, Robert. A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood
Shane (1953, F) Cinema, 1930–1980. Princeton: Princeton Univer-
Stagecoach (1939, F) sity Press, 1985.
Star Wars (1977, F) Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
The Strong Man (1926, F) Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
The Truman Show (1998, F) Atheneum, 1992.
[ ROBERT C. DOYLE ]

The American Fighting Man

merica has witnessed a long series of wars and moral crusaders for liberal democratic tra-

A on the silver screen. Unlike most written

histories of human conflict, often imper-
sonalized by statistics and arrows on maps,
feature films thrive on the personal dimension
ditions that included the rule of law, progress,
freedom, and individual rights. In the early
1940s American soldiers fought World War II
for both moral virtue and national defense,
of war. Especially for young male viewers, the and from 1945 to 1991 they became reluctant
combat film has enjoyed a special attraction: but committed warriors in the various hot
whether in times of struggle or after major flashes of the Cold War.
conflicts, American war films have held up role In terms of combat and its aftermath, Hol-
models of bravery in the name of democratic lywood films have succeeded in painting pic-
principles. Furthermore, Hollywood has taken tures of the American Fighting Man as a
a leading role in propagandizing for our coun- multidimensional cultural figure. Although
try during its struggles—at least until the Viet- they marked their subjects idiosyncratically,
nam War, when Hollywood productions often directors such as D. W. Griffith early in the
took a decidedly antiwar stance. century, John Ford, John Huston, William
Antecedents include memoirs and diaries, Wyler, and Frank Capra in midcentury, and
personal narratives, autobiographies, and fic- Oliver Stone, John Frankenheimer, Edward
tional accounts of battles, many of which de- Zwick, and Steven Spielberg at the end of the
scribed the taming of the American wilderness. century continued to focus on the traditional
Soldiers such as Ethan Allen (The Narrative of themes within the context of the classical code.
Colonel Ethan Allen, 1807) and Joseph Plumb As directors, they brought audiences to the
Martin (A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, battlefield and showed the technical details of
1830) pictured themselves as human monu- war to those unfamiliar with the front lines;
ments. With a clear mission, they followed a reminded veterans of their reliance on the
classical Roman code that emphasized martial code’s idealism and that their sacrifices were
virtue, serious regard for discipline and au- not made in vain; and showed that Americans
thority, personal integrity, guided ambition, were citizen soldiers rather than militarists,
and duty (Cunliffe, 154–155). Not until the shaped by the culture’s particular interpreta-
end of the Civil War in 1865 did the symbolic tion of a specific conflict at a given time.
opposition of civilization and savagery sub-
side. By the end of the nineteenth century, The Civil War
Americans began to worry more about popu- One of the directors who first painted the
list threats to their democratic institutions and American soldier using the classical code was
economic opportunities and less about the D. W. Griffith in The Birth of a Nation (1915).
frontier (Höbling, 297–298). By the twentieth Although he favored the postwar antirecon-
century, Americans saw themselves as noble structionist and racist views of the Ku Klux

567
568 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

Klan, Griffith created lucid battle scenes show-

ing Civil War combat in terms of bravery, sac-
rifice, discipline, authority, personal integrity,
and duty under fire in an epic style that later
films emulated. For example, Matthew Brod-
erick’s portrayal of Colonel Robert Gould
Shaw in Edward Zwick’s Glory (1989), the
story of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer In-
fantry, brought to life the actions, motivations,
and conflicts of one of the most aggressive
fighting units in the Union Army. Zwick
showed the racial divide in nineteenth-century F I G U R E 7 4 . The Red Badge of Courage (1951).
Director John Huston traces Henry Fleming’s (Audie
America and rightly credited the 175,000 Af- Murphy) fear of war, panic at the front lines, and flight
rican Americans who went into harm’s way be- from battle. Later Fleming comes to his senses and
tween 1862 and 1865 as United States Colored courageously returns to his company. Courtesy Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer.
Troops (USCT). Zwick noted only briefly in
an epilogue that the 54th was not completely
destroyed in South Carolina; after the fight at combat veteran of World War II, called the
Fort Wagner near Charleston on July 18, 1863, phenomenon of Homo furens, the “furious
the regiment went on to fight more battles and man,” the warrior. Gray concludes that com-
finished the Civil War with a distinguished bat is fully capable of generating a transfor-
combat record (Cornish, 153–156). mation of the whole person when war re-
Audie Murphy’s convincing portrayal of presses civilian habits of the mind in order to
Private Henry Fleming in John Huston’s clas- focus on the situation at hand. This transfor-
sic film version of Stephen Crane’s novel Red mation makes soldiers, especially citizen sol-
Badge of Courage (1951), perhaps, surpasses all diers, different kinds of creatures for life (27–
the other attempts before and after to show the 28). Historian John Keegan also notes that
inner struggles of the American Fighting Man. soldiers are not like other men; the experience
As a volunteer Union infantryman, Fleming of war throws them into what Keegan calls “the
(Audie Murphy) is so desperate about being spell of an entirely different world” (xvi). Such
caught between cowardice (crushed by the is the phenomenon, but it seldom happens in
horrors of war) and bravery (performance in isolation; instead it takes place as a process in
the face of fear and mortal danger) that he in- the company of others.
flicts a minor wound on himself to mark his
initiation to soldiering. After moving to the The Primary Unit in Battle
rear and temporary safety, he watches the stoic John Huston recreates in The Red Badge of
but tragic death of the Tall Soldier, which mo- Courage what sociologists call the primary
tivates his return to his unit and his determi- unit, a universal social group that shares sev-
nation to fight until the war is won. eral distinct qualities such as size, cohesion,
That this Civil War film was made and re- homogeneity, mission, and pride. Character-
leased during the Korean War (1950–53) and istically, military primary units are small and
that its star won the Medal of Honor during distinct. They often carry numerical designa-
World War II made this visualization of the tions, but they also are identified by patches,
American Fighting Man especially significant. songs, mascots, and nicknames that create
The Red Badge of Courage (1951), like many group consciousness; hierarchies are apparent
other war films, identifies what J. Glen Gray, a by rank and deference. Films such as Edward
 THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MAN ] 569

Ludwig’s The Fighting Seabees (1944), William the enemy when necessary. Thus, the Ameri-
Keighley’s The Fighting 69th (1940), and Sam- can soldier in film emerges as a complex of
uel Fuller’s The Big Red One (1980) serve as frontier myths and images formulated in part
eponymous examples. These groups achieve from an anticourtier Puritan tradition that
tight coherence despite vast differences in thrives on severe tensions and human conflicts
backgrounds and experiences. Likewise, a deep between self-sacrifice, righteous striving, and
ethical consistency takes hold in whatever mis- self-indulgence. Such was the case with Marine
sion is assigned, and soldiers take a pride in a Sergeant Stryker ( John Wayne) in Allan
nearly total self-sufficiency. Dwan’s Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), one of the
These small ad hoc social units, called fire most copied figures in film. John Wayne’s two
teams, platoons, companies, battalions, regi- highly polemical films The Alamo (1960) and
ments, squadrons, or ships’ crews, consist of The Green Berets (1968) highlight the complex
geographically varied groups held together not central characters similarly in this respect, as
only by rank structure but also by interdepen- plain men justly brought to war by totalitarian
dence. Such was the case in Tay Garnett’s Ba- adversaries.
taan (1943), which shows the primary unit in Some plain-man characters were officers;
an idealized 1940s melting pot of European others were sergeants, corporals, or privates.
immigrants and African Americans, much as Some were good; others were evil. As Stone
the television series Combat! would do in the shows in Platoon, soldiers knew who these
1960s. In Platoon (1986), Oliver Stone’s fire people were in their units; in reality, every unit
teams consisted not so much of immigrants has them. Stone’s tough plain-man character
but black and white Americans from cities like Staff Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) calls his
Brooklyn and Memphis and country boys rival, Sergeant Elias (Willem Dafoe) a “water-
from the farms of Iowa, Georgia, Tennessee, walker,” which means that Elias was not a
or Kansas. Stone’s narrator, an introspective, plain man like him but a Christlike innocent
middle-class young man named Chris Taylor who must be sacrificed for the survival of the
(Charlie Sheen), has gone to Vietnam will- platoon. In the end, Sergeant Barnes cannot
ingly—“I volunteered. Can you believe survive the combat environment either, and
that?”—and noted the crosscultural and some- Stone’s use of the fratricide theme is dialecti-
times bitterly divided social composition of his cally very powerful: two heroes die to give
primary unit. It was clear in Platoon that Stone birth to a third, a composite figure who can
wanted to show these divisions, but like Steven live in peace.
Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998), the
film also shows an essential basic economy: Propaganda
everybody counts in battle. Individual mem- Propaganda in wartime is both necessary and
bers may function as a community divided desirable. Sam Adams is remembered neither
against itself behind the lines, but they united as a soldier nor as a Boston brewer, but as the
during the adversity of battle. master propagandist of the American Revolu-
Whether in terms of individuals or in pri- tion. Tom Paine was no less a personality in
mary units, films have also shown what Rupert this respect. During the Civil War, newspaper
Wilkinson called the plain-man hero: skilled editorialists fought their war in printed words;
soldiers take care of themselves and others in in modern times, it was Frank Capra. By the
the primary unit. They are dynamic people early 1940s, motion pictures had become a vi-
who celebrate action, speed, and efficiency tally important aspect of American culture,
(Wilkinson, 5–7, 9); they are soldiers who can and Frank Capra was one of Hollywood’s top
face adversity bravely and resolve to close with directors (Masalowski, 68).
570 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

During World War II, more than ten million mightily to the war effort from 1941 to 1945
Americans were inducted into the armed ser- and beyond by convincing audiences that
vices, and 2,670,000 actually trained for com- America’s soldiers personified democracy,
bat. At the request of General George C. Mar- freedom, and idealism.
shall and the Office of War Information Some ex-soldiers, such as Michael Lee Lan-
(OWI), Frank Capra produced the Why We ning in Vietnam at the Movies (1994), criticize
Fight series of propaganda films to orient and Hollywood films for being unrealistic depic-
motivate soldiers for the shooting war. Com- tions of the fighting man’s experiences (24).
bat is anything but glamorous, and Capra and Others, such as the French novelist Pierre
his fellow artists offered an anxious America Boulle, argue that individual experiences can
compelling reasons for their sacrifice. As mas- scarcely be set down as a continuous narrative
ter mythmakers before the war, they knew well that corresponds to the procession of each
that concepts concerning political, social, and hour, because it would bore an audience as
economic freedom were powerful and seduc- much as it did most soldiers (170). Mark
tive tools, especially to explain to their audi- Carnes writes in Past Imperfect (1995) that Hol-
ences what legalists call jus ad bellum, the rea- lywood history fills irritating gaps in the his-
sons for going to war, in terms of justice, torical record and polishes dulling ambiguities
legality, and morality. Modern critics have of- and complexities. “The final product,” wrote
ten condemned these propaganda efforts as Carnes, “gleams, and it sears the imagination”
manipulative, but they worked despite the crit- (9). One can only conclude that the experience
ics, because some wars have to be fought. Al- of war on film has charged the human imagi-
though Capra’s films were popular with civil- nation with a paradox: on one hand, films rec-
ian audiences, John Ford’s Battle of Midway reate the act of war with ever-increasing real-
(1942), William Wyler’s Memphis Belle (1944), ism; one the other, they rely heavily on fictional
and John Huston’s short documentary Battle substitutes for reality—created, retained, and
of San Pietro (1944) really brought the war refined through the prism of human memory,
home to American civilians. In these examples which often survive longer in the public mind
and many more, Hollywood contributed than unfiltered, naked historical facts.

References
The Great Escape (1963, F)
Filmography The Green Berets (1968, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) Hamburger Hill (1987, F)
Apocalypse Now (1979, F) Hanoi Hilton (1987, F)
Back to Bataan (1945, F) Hearts and Minds (1974, D)
Bataan (1943, F) Heroes (1977, F)
Battle of Midway (1942, D) Hogan’s Heroes (1965–71, TV)
Battle of San Pietro (1944, D) The Iron Triangle (1989, F)
The Big Red One (1980, F) King Rat (1965, F)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F)
The Boys in Company C (1978, F) Memphis Belle (1944, D)
The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, F) Platoon (1986, F)
Combat! (1962–67, TV) The Purple Heart (1944, F)
The Deer Hunter (1978, F) The Rack (1956, F)
The Fighting Seabees (1944, F) The Red Badge of Courage (1951, F; 1974, TV)
The Fighting 69th (1940, F) Sands of Iwo Jima (1949, F)
Full Metal Jacket (1987, F) Saving Private Ryan (1998, F)
Glory (1989, F) Slaughterhouse-Five (1972, F)
Go Tell the Spartans (1978, F) Son of the Morning Star (1991, TV)
 THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MAN ] 571
Stalag 17 (1953, F) anglophone, 294–302. Le Mans: Université du
Three Came Home (1950, F) Maine, 1988.
Uncommon Valor (1983, F) Karsten, Peter. The Military in America: From the Co-
Victory at Sea (1952–53, TV) lonial Era to the Present. New York: Free Press,
Von Ryan’s Express (1965, F) 1980.
The War at Home (1978, D) Keegan, John. A History of Warfare. New York: Ran-
When Hell Was in Session (1976, TV) dom House, 1993.
Why We Fight (1943–45, D) Lanning, Michael Lee. Vietnam at the Movies. New
York: Fawcett, 1994.
MacDonald, J. Fred. Television and the Red Menace:
The Video Road to Vietnam. New York: Praeger,
Bibliography 1985.
Auster, Albert, and Leonard Quart. How the War Was Masalowski, Peter. “Reel War vs. Real War.” MHQ:
Remembered: Hollywood and Vietnam. New York: The Quarterly Journal of Military History 10.4
Praeger, 1988. (1998): 68–75.
Boulle, Pierre. My Own River Kwai. Trans. Xan Field- Medved, Michael. Hollywood vs. America. New York:
ing. New York: Vanguard, 1966. HarperCollins, 1992.
Carnes, Mark, ed. Past Imperfect: History According to Rollins, Peter, and John E. O’Connor, eds. Holly-
the Movies. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. wood’s World War I Motion Picture Images. Bowl-
Cornish, Dudley Taylor. The Sable Arm: Black Troops ing Green, OH: Bowling Green State University
in the Union Army, 1861–1865. Lawrence: Univer- Popular Press, 1997.
sity Press of Kansas, 1987. Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
Cunliffe, Marcus. George Washington: Man and tory of American Movies. New York: Random
Monument. New York: New American Library, House, 1975.
1982. Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
Garland, Brock. War Movies. New York: Facts on Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
File, 1987. Atheneum, 1992.
Gray, J. Glen. The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Wilkinson, Rupert. American Tough: The Tough-Guy
Battle. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1959. Tradition and American Character. New York:
Höbling, Walter. “Discourse of War in U.S. Novels.” Harper & Row, 1986.
In Groupe de Recherches en Etudes Anglophones Wills, Garry. John Wayne’s America: The Politics of
de Mains, ed., Guerre et littérature dans le monde Celebrity. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
[ THOMAS DOHERTY ]

Democracy and Equality

hat then is the American, this new ate hallucination ranks as but the most no-

“W man?” asks Hector St. John de Crèv-

ecouer in a primal passage from Let-
ters from an American Farmer (1782), answer-
ing his own question with a melting-pot vision
torious rendering of a conventional attitude
toward American race relations. In film, as in
American life, African Americans were the
conspicuous exception to the national ethos
of democracy and equality. “He is an Ameri- of fair dealing and open admission: de-
can, who, leaving behind him all his ancient meaned, demonized, and erased from the
prejudices and manners, receives new ones American pageant. Just as Jim Crow segre-
from the new mode of life he has embraced, gated African Americans in the nation’s the-
the new government he obeys, and the new aters, Hollywood restricted 10 percent of the
rank he holds. . . . Here individuals of all na- population into segregated screen space. Al-
tions are melted into a new race of men, whose ways, however, the main rule was not so
labors and posterity will one day cause great much offensive stereotypes as pervasive invis-
changes in the world.” Like all vital traditions, ibility. Whole genres and film cycles in the
America’s myth of democracy and equality en- classical Hollywood canon may unspool with-
dures first because it has cultural resonance for out so much as a glimpse of a black face. An-
a nation that has largely met Crèvecouer’s ex- other touchstone depiction of the Civil War,
pectations and second because it is carefully Gone with the Wind (1939) is of a kind in its
preserved and ritually performed. In the age of matter-of-fact subjugation of the servant
the moving image, the generous embrace of class: neutered men and bovine woman,
Hollywood cinema has expressed the best faithful retainers and squealing incompetents.
hopes of the American experiment in self- Other shades of Americans found the screen
government and the dream—often deferred, a more tolerant and open-minded medium.
never surrendered—of equality. The Jazz Singer (1927), the epochal first sound
It is a matter of no little irony, not to say film, was as much an assimilationist as a tech-
embarrassment, that the first great feature nological landmark. In America, a Jewish kid
film in the American motion picture tradition from the Lower East Side could transform
was D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation himself from a schlemiel named Jacob Rabi-
(1915), a fierce celebration of inequality. En- nowitz into a Broadway superstar named Jack
thusiastically blurbed by no less a film critic Robin. Bantering with Yiddish vernacular in
than President Woodrow Wilson, the “history the intertitles, The Jazz Singer taught that eth-
written in lightning” told a sinister, revision- nic immigrants could have it both ways—liv-
ist version of the Civil War and Reconstruc- ing the American dream while still getting to
tion, wherein a heroic Ku Klux Klan rode to sing the Kol Nidre in synagogue. Toss off “the
the rescue of southern democracy and vir- feudal and the old” and embrace the “demo-
ginal womanhood alike. Griffith’s Confeder- cratic and modern,” the poet Walt Whitman

572
 DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY ] 573

had demanded of his fellow artists a generation Hollywood delivered its lessons in American
earlier in Democratic Vistas (1871). civics most sternly in the “great man” biopics
The theatrical space of the motion picture of the 1930s and 1940s, a genre of high seri-
venue itself, from peep show to nickelodeon to ousness and big budgets featuring an Olym-
an evening’s entertainment in an ornate mo- pian pantheon of Founding Fathers, military
tion picture palace, traces the upward mobility leaders, and great scientists. So glorious was
of the movies as an art form: from an urban, the stature of certain Americans that their ex-
working-class vice indulged in by immigrants emplary lives were uncontainable in a single
to a respectable, middle-class diversion. Spread- feature film: Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) and Abe
ing wide its social glue, Hollywood configured Lincoln in Illinois (1940), Young Tom Edison
its ideal audience as a broad, undifferentiated (1940) and Edison the Man (1940). Moreover,
Public, a family of man comprising all ages, the biopic genre was supple enough to turn
classes, and ethnicities. At the same time, how- likely foreigners of sufficient independence of
ever, the star system held rigidly to an antidem- mind into honorary American character types
ocratic caste prejudice, a hierarchy of royalty in in The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936), The Life
which some screen faces were to the medium of Emile Zola (1937), and Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic
born. The shimmering close-up is the best way Bullet (1940). Though constrained by both po-
to tell who is validated, and before the camera litical expediency and the Production Code, a
lens, all men, and especially women, are not few didactic and ideologically charged films
created equal. managed to admit that, the New Deal not-
Mainly, though, both in front of and behind withstanding, discontent and injustice existed
the screen, the Hollywood melting pot stirred in Great Depression America. The compro-
up a creative mix of exotic ingredients: Ger- mised genre of Hollywood “social conscious-
man directors, Swedish screen goddesses, Ital- ness” in the 1930s included preachments
ian gangsters, brawling Irishmen, Jewish wise- against unfair labor conditions (Black Fury,
crackers, Latin lovers, and sidekicks of Asian, 1935), lynching (Fury, 1936), and ethnic
African, and Native American lineage. After (though not racial) intolerance (Black Legion,
1934, the rigorous enforcement of the Produc- 1936).
tion Code leavened out the promiscuous in- World War II changed everything. The egal-
terbreeding that invigorated the silent and itarian ethos and unifying requirements of
early sound era: the Production Code’s in- wartime mobilization meant a marshalling of
junction for “respectful treatment” of “na- all Americans under the banner of “Americans
tional feelings” often meant to ignore the swar- All.” The Warner Bros. platoon offers perhaps
thiest of hyphenated Americans. Still, if the most enduring tableaux of the American
Anglo-American surnames and chiseled North melting pot, a multicultural unit of average
European features got the best lines and most guys, from different regions, with different
flattering close-ups, Hollywood made room skills, working and fighting shoulder to shoul-
for its own not so huddled masses: accented der against a pureblooded race of Aryans and
bit players, character actors, and against-the- Sons of Heaven. In Bataan (1943), Air Force
grain stars, usually at Warner Bros., the gritty (1943), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), and The
“working class studio” built on the backs of Purple Heart (1944), the War Department
Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Paul seemed to issue American ethnicities with
Muni, and Bette Davis in films such as Little demographic precision, one type per platoon:
Caesar (1930), The Public Enemy (1931), I Am Brooklyn Jews, Italian American Romeos,
a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), and Dan- Iowa farm boys, Boston Irishmen, crusty old-
gerous (1935), respectively. timers nicknamed “Pops,” and the lone wolf
574 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

recalcitrant who by the end reel dies for his independent and hence independent-minded
buddies and the Allied cause. Office of War productions. Prodded by competition from
Information and official military propaganda television, challenged by Italian neorealism
told the same story, most notably in Frank and the French New Wave, and abetted by the
Capra’s Why We Fight series (1942–45), a slackening of Production Code censorship,
seven-part guidebook in American democracy American cinema turned away from the myth
and equality that opens and closes with the of mere entertainment to engage subject mat-
pealing of the Liberty Bell. Perhaps the biggest ter that the first generation of studio moguls
break with the black-and-white past on film had studiously avoided: downbeat melodrama,
was the Capra unit’s The Negro Soldier (1944), political controversy, and noirish fatalism.
a forthright avowal of racial equality given the During the Cold War, American culture
stamp of government approval. tended to define itself by its antagonist: to con-
The promulgation of American values dur- jure the Soviet menace was to affirm its op-
ing wartime had a not totally unintended con- posite. The terror of the antidemocratic alter-
sequence. Lofty rhetoric beamed at the self- native surfaced with hysterical force in the
styled master races of Nazi Germany and anticommunist cycle bracketed by The Red
imperial Japan boomeranged back to native Menace (1949) and Big Jim McLain (1952),
shores, forcing a confrontation with the re- melodramas of subversion whose contempt for
gional contradictions to an egalitarian ethos due process and constitutional niceties oozed
that looked so good on screen. First in the war- from every frame. In the science fiction film,
time film, where divisive antagonism was of the same forebodings arose in a series of more
necessity put on hold for the duration, and compelling and longer-lived allegories of ex-
then in the postwar social problem film, where traterrestrial invasion and attack. Acting out
for the first time the exceptions to equality fantasies of national insecurity whose real
were addressed bluntly, if often tendentiously, meaning was transparent even at the time,
on the American screen, Hollywood began alien death rays obliterated Washington, D.C.,
practicing what it preached. In affirming a in Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), and fly-
myth that was still not a reality, the postwar ing insects battled the U.S. Air Force in The
social problem film showcased the domestic Deadly Mantis (1957). Closer to home, the
aberrations and submitted the obvious solu- subversive suspicion that equality was con-
tion. Of course, by the time Hollywood artic- formity, freedom a chimera in a consumer so-
ulated the answer to the social problem, most ciety, was captured in the title of the most
Americans were primed to listen to the lessons evocative political allegory of the Cold War,
in tolerance for the disabled (The Best Years of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), where
Our Lives, 1946; The Men, 1950), Jews (Cross- vegetable “pod people” take over the souls of
fire, 1947; Gentleman’s Agreement, 1947), and the citizens of a small American community,
African Americans (Pinky, 1949; Home of the although to all outward appearances the town
Brave, 1949; No Way Out, 1950). Bright Victory remains the same. Yet some of the best evi-
(1951) exemplifies several of the core elements dence of a sustaining faith in America as the
and best impulses: a white southerner and a last, best hope of mankind came in the films
black southerner, each blinded in combat, be- that claimed to fear for its survival. A Face in
come fast friends during convalescence, the the Crowd (1957), The Manchurian Candidate
blinded white man ultimately opening his eyes (1962), and Seven Days in May (1964) con-
to the equality of the black man. demned homegrown demagogues and internal
With the breakup of the Hollywood studio threats that, like Senator Joseph McCarthy
system in the 1950s, new space opened up for himself, were exposed by television and de-
 DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY ] 575

feated by good men doing the right thing. such as The Parallax View (1974) and Three
With suggestive timing, the connection was Days of the Condor (1975) came to see Amer-
underscored in Emile de Antonio’s landmark ican democracy as an underhanded conspir-
documentary Point of Order! (1963), a deft acy, a system run not by the sovereign will of
compilation of kinescope clips from the Army- the American people but by a secret cabal of
McCarthy hearings of 1954. sinister bureaucrats and uniformed martinets.
The civil rights movement that galvanized Explicitly, Hollywood continues to be more
America from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s likely to deny the promise of American life
arrived in Hollywood most notably in the than to affirm it. The paranoid style of film-
gradual admission of African Americans into making is epitomized by Oliver Stone’s JFK
less separate and more equal screen space. The (1991) and Nixon (1995), where the names of
power to engender identification, to make one presidents announce not great-man biopics
person the same size as another, and to frame but deranged psychodramas.
the world from the perspective of an outcast Against the dark vision of contemporary
character makes film an apt medium for color- America as a betrayer of its own principles, the
coded lessons in equality. The Defiant Ones best proof of the endurance of the democratic,
(1958) featured an exemplary cinematic egalitarian ethos in motion picture art remains
epiphany: a girl being rescued by Sidney Poi- the character of the man (it almost always is a
tier sees the black man looming over her, and man) at the center of the typical Hollywood
the spectator adopts her racist vision, though narrative. Whether superspy or private detec-
his white partner and not he is the true threat. tive, agent of the state or his own agenda, he
In fact, race was but one of many prejudices is a rugged individual who exudes a native dis-
being cast off onscreen. The Graduate (1967) dain for authority and a ready kinship with the
and Funny Girl (1968) showcased faces that in common folk. In the high testosterone action-
an earlier decade would have been relegated to adventure blockbusters issued in roman nu-
sidekick status and rhinoplasty. merals—the Rocky, Rambo, and Lethal Weapon
Ironically, as the Hollywood screen was be- cycles—he also acts out an interracial bond of
coming more tolerant, television was usurping American brotherhood. Whatever his race and
its cultural centrality. One result was the frag- occupation, the virile adventurer who takes no
mentation of the mass audience for motion guff from the rich and powerful remains the
pictures into segmented and specialized favorite hero that “the American, this new
tastes—art house cinema, teenpics, blaxploi- man” looks up to on screen: Clint Eastwood
tation, chick flicks, and so on. The noisiest and in the Dirty Harry series, Bruce Willis in the
most numerous slice of the new motion pic- Die Hard series, Eddie Murphy in the Beverly
ture demographic was the baby-boomer-bred Hills Cop series, and so on, ad infinitum.
counterculture of the 1960s, whose obvious At the approach of the new millennium, as
landmark was Easy Rider (1969), a western on if looking back over the first full century of the
motorcycles that, for all its alleged radicalism, moving image to relive its most dramatic tour
held firmly to the traditional verities: getting of duty, Hollywood returned to the event that,
back to the land, lighting out for the territory, in retrospect, served as its single most vital
and pursuing happiness. “This used to be a fount of democratic myth-making. Beginning
helluva country,” laments a patriotic dropout with Steven Spielberg’s brilliant, moving Sav-
(played by Jack Nicholson) during a moment ing Private Ryan (1998) and cresting with Mi-
of clarity in the marijuana haze. chael Bay’s boneheaded, tedious Pearl Harbor
By the mid-1970s, in the wake of Vietnam (2001), an extraordinary explosion of World
and Watergate, overtly political filmmaking War II–minded narratives cut across the pre-
576 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

cincts of American popular culture. From the them. “We’re going to what home was always
programming of the History Channel to the supposed to be.” In the aftermath of Septem-
top slots on the best-seller lists, reverent pae- ber 11, 2001, another date that will live in in-
ans to what television anchorman and World famy, the wartime background assumed added
War II chronicler Tom Brokaw dubbed “the resonance and immediate relevance: the shock
greatest generation” proliferated, not least in of awakening to a fiery conflagration, the cele-
the revival of the combat film genre. On a cul- bration of the heroism of men in uniform, and
tural level, the retrospective glance backward the reaffirmation of the common values held
expressed the filial impulse of baby boomer by all Americans.
sons to give one final salute to their World War Among a cascade of images and narratives
II fathers fading away. On a technical level, the that express the American myth of democracy
fin de siècle cycle of combat films was a tribute and equality, one scene can serve as an arche-
to the power of Computer Graphics Imaging typal representation: the breathless montage in
to render the spectacle and carnage of the bat- Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
tlefield persuasively and cost effectively on the (1939). Mouth agape and teary-eyed, the
big screen. Yet whether set amid the beaches young and idealistic Sen. Jefferson Smith
of Normandy (Saving Private Ryan), the jun- ( Jimmy Stewart) takes a tour of the Capitol.
gles of a Pacific atoll (The Thin Red Line, 1998; The secular shrines swirl around him, patriotic
Windtalkers, 2002), or for that matter the ur- music trumpets on the soundtrack, and
ban jungles of Somalia (Black Hawk Down, phrases on parchment flash across the screen
2001) or the Central Highlands of Vietnam as if written by the hand of God. Before the
(We Were Soldiers, 2002), the new wave of altar of democracy at the Lincoln Memorial,
combat films held true to the generic baseline Smith shares a reverent moment with some
of a multicultural brotherhood forged by con- fellow American acolytes: an dignified old
duct and courage, not color or class. In We black man come to pay homage to the Great
Were Soldiers, the gruff but caring Colonel Emancipator, and a Jewish refugee, smiling as
Harold Moore (Mel Gibson) affirms the dem- his grandson reads the words emblazoned on
ocratic ethos to his assembled troops before the wall, dedicated—like so much of Holly-
mustering out for the crucible of combat in wood cinema—to the proposition that all men
Vietnam. “We’re not leaving home,” he tells are created equal.

References
Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet (1940, F)
Filmography Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956, F)
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940, F) Easy Rider (1969, F)
Air Force (1943, F) Edison the Man (1940, F)
Bataan (1943, F) A Face in the Crowd (1957, F)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, F) Funny Girl (1968, F)
Big Jim McLain (1952, F) Fury (1936, F)
The Birth of a Nation (1915, F) Gentleman’s Agreement (1947, F)
Black Fury (1935, F) Gone with the Wind (1939, F)
Black Hawk Down (2001, F) The Graduate (1967, F)
Black Legion (1936, F) Guadalcanal Diary (1943, F)
Bright Victory (1951, F) Home of the Brave (1949, F)
Crossfire (1947, F) I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932, F)
Dangerous (1935, F) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956, F)
The Deadly Mantis (1957, F) The Jazz Singer (1927, F)
The Defiant Ones (1958, F) JFK (1991, F)
 DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY ] 577
The Life of Emile Zola (1937, F) Three Days of the Condor (1975, F)
Little Caesar (1930, F) We Were Soldiers (2002, F)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, F) Why We Fight (1942–45, D)
The Men (1950, F)) Windtalkers (2002, F)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F)
The Negro Soldier (1944, D) Young Tom Edison (1940, F)
Nixon (1995, F)
No Way Out (1950, F)
The Parallax View (1974, F) Bibliography
Pearl Harbor (2001, F) Belton, John. America Cinema/American Culture. New
Pinky (1949, F) York: McGraw-Hill, 1994.
Point of Order! (1963, D) Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The Democratic
The Public Enemy (1931, F) Experience. New York: Random House, 1973.
The Purple Heart (1944, F) Fuchs, Lawrence. The American Kaleidoscope: Race,
The Red Menace (1949, F) Ethnicity, and the Civic Culture. Middletown, CT:
Saving Private Ryan (1998, F) Wesleyan University Press, 1990.
Seven Days in May (1964, F) Sklar, Robert. Movie-Made America: A Cultural His-
The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936, F) tory of American Movies. New York: Random
The Thin Red Line (1998, F) House, 1975.
[ R. PHILIP LOY ]

The Frontier and the West

he migration west from the Atlantic lonely, determined cowboy pushing great

T Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and the ever-

moving frontier it created have enthralled
the American imagination and served as a
source for distinctive American myths and leg-
herds of Texas Longhorns to Kansas railheads;
or the solitary peace officer doing battle with
lawless elements. Events such as the Battle of
the Little Bighorn, the gunfight at the O.K.
ends. James Fenimore Cooper’s Leather- Corral, and the James gang’s raid on the bank
Stocking Tales featured Natty Bumppo, Amer- in Northfield, Minnesota, and individuals such
ica’s first fictional westerner. The “West” in as Jesse James, Wyatt Earp, William Hickok,
four of Cooper’s tales was western New York, Cochise, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Calamity
yet the heroic, self-reliant qualities Cooper as- Jane, and Annie Oakley became the material
signed to Natty Bumppo forever shaped the of America’s legends.
popular image of the westerner. The real and Historians played an important role in the
fictional exploits of Daniel Boone and Davy development of these legends as they articu-
Crockett captivated American imagination as lated the centrality of the frontier in American
settlers crossed the eastern mountain ranges history. In 1893 Frederick Jackson Turner read
into the old Northwest Territory, the present a paper, “The Significance of the Frontier in
states of Kentucky and Tennessee, and on to American History,” at a meeting of the Amer-
the Mississippi River and the Great Plains. ican Historical Association. Turner developed
Nineteenth-century novels, dime novels, the- a “frontier hypothesis” in which he argued that
ater, and Wild West shows cultivated wide- the dominant element molding American
spread fascination with the North American character was the contraction of free land as
frontier, but filmed entertainment quickly be- the nation spread westward. Half a century
came the primary genre through which west- later, Henry Nash Smith published Virgin
ern myths and legends were communicated. Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth.
Three frontier images dominated western In that monument of American-studies schol-
films for the first sixty years of the century: the arship, Smith developed the binary concepts of
West as a place of individual redemption and savagery/civilization and garden/desert, which
regeneration as individuals undertook self- have shaped all subsequent writings on the
discovery and self-assertion; the West as empty West as myth.
space, a vast desert to be transformed by cou- However, from the silent screen to the early
rageous persons into a productive garden; and 1960s, Hollywood productions shaped popular
the West as a place where savagery and law- perceptions of the American West far more
lessness confronted civilization. Projected onto than did historians. Richard Maltby concurs:
motion-picture screens, those images inter- “The formulation of the myth of the frontier
acted with myths such as the hardy pioneer preceded the events that would provide its
braving untold dangers to settle the West; the content, and the ideological framework pro-

578
 THE FRONTIER AND THE WEST ] 579

vided by the myth governed the choice of ma- the prospective settlers not to be discouraged
terial for Western history. . . . The history ex- by either man-made or natural impediments
ists because the legend exists” (39). And during their migration to Washington Terri-
silent-era cinephile Kevin Brownlow observes, tory. Cimarron (1931), which won an Acad-
“So affectionate have we grown toward the emy Award for best picture, celebrates the
Western that to suggest it reflects more wishful opening of the Cherokee Strip and Okla-
thinking than history seems blasphemous” homa’s push for statehood (1889–1907). The
(224). Virginian (1929), with Gary Cooper in a role
with which he would be identified for the rest
The Silent Era of his life, stresses the heroic individual who
George M. Anderson’s screen character, places justice above friendship and hence
Bronco Billy, pioneered the film myth of the brings order to a lawless frontier. The first two
West as a place of personal redemption; how- films in John Ford’s 1940s cavalry trilogy, Fort
ever, it was William S. Hart’s films, such as Apache (1948) and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
Hell’s Hinges (1916), The Return of Draw Egan (1949), celebrate the expansion of the white
(1916), and The Narrow Trail (1917), that West at the expense of Native Americans who
made the conversion of the bad man a central were forced onto reservations and the role the
motif of western feature-length films, and Hart U.S. Army played in the “taming” of the West.
was also among the first to bring the Hickok Western films of the era also featured
legend to the screen when he starred in Wild prominent historical personalities. Santa Fe
Bill Hickok (1923). The Virginian (1914), with Trail (1940) is an interesting western in which
Dustin Farnum in the title role, was the first the historical figures of Jeb Stuart (Errol
screen adaptation of Owen Wister’s famous Flynn) and George Custer (Ronald Reagan)
novel and highlighted the struggle to bring civ- are paired to frustrate John Brown’s (Ray-
ilization to the lawless Wyoming frontier. Both mond Massey) attempts to manipulate unsus-
The Covered Wagon (1923) and The Iron Horse pecting runaway slaves for his own political
(1924) portray the twin themes of overcoming purposes in pre–Civil War Kansas. In 1941,
the savagery and lawlessness of the frontier Errol Flynn assumed Reagan’s role and por-
West so that it could become a civilized garden trayed George Custer in the well-received They
where farms and towns thrived. Overall, west- Died with Their Boots On (1941). The Plains-
erns of the silent era were positive expressions man (1937) brings Wild Bill Hickok (Gary
of nationalistic sentiments, celebrating the Cooper), Buffalo Bill ( James Ellison), and Ca-
West as a place of personal regeneration, egal- lamity Jane ( Jean Arthur) together in a his-
itarian democracy, and the superiority of torically unrealistic but very entertaining film.
Anglo-Saxon culture. Barbara Stanwyck starred in an equally fanciful
portrayal of the famed sharpshooter in Annie
Westerns from 1930 to 1960 Oakley (1935). My Darling Clementine (1946),
For the most part, western films continued to John Ford’s widely acclaimed tale, tells how
accept uncritically the images of the West cul- Wyatt Earp and his brothers cleaned up
tivated during the silent era and to perpetuate Tombstone, Arizona. The historicity of each
the notion that western films were historically figure was shaped to fit popular perceptions,
accurate. The Big Trail (1930), John Wayne’s just as motion-picture portrayals of those in-
first starring role, and Union Pacific (1939) dividuals dominated public understanding.
mirror the themes found in The Covered In the 1930s and 1940s, badmen were glam-
Wagon and The Iron Horse. Wayne portrays a orized in numerous westerns, including Billy
wagon-train scout who constantly admonishes the Kid (1930), Jesse James (1939), The Return
580 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

of Frank James (1940), When the Daltons Rode itarian rural past rather than in the realities
(1940), Belle Starr (1941), Bad Men of Missouri and complexities of an urban industrial pres-
(1941), and The Outlaw (1943). The famed ent.
Hispanic outlaw Joaquin Murrieta was recast In the twenty years following the end of
in both The Avenger (1931) and Robin Hood of World War II, westerns continued, for the
El Dorado (1936). In nearly every instance, the most part, to portray positively the images,
outlaw is depicted as someone who resists the myths, and legends that had dominated the
evil influences of greedy industrialists or bank- genre; however, increasingly it challenged
ers and then seeks personal vindication for a them as well. Broken Arrow (1950) and Hondo
life outside the law. (1953) portray Indians—Apaches in this in-
Nearly all of the westerns produced between stance—as family-oriented people open to rea-
1930 and 1960 are set in the trans-Mississippi soned argument and friendship with whites.
West; however, a few feature eastern locations. The Gunfighter (1950) and Shane (1953) em-
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939) stars Henry phasize the lonely, alienated life of a gun-
Fonda in a Revolutionary War drama set in fighter—not the heroic image that had char-
the Mohawk Valley of New York. George acterized the genre in the previous decades.
Montgomery appeared in three 1950s Even John Wayne, the quintessential exponent
colonial-type westerns. Two of them, The Ir- of traditional western myths and legends,
oquois Trail (1950) and The Pathfinder (1953), changed characters. The Searchers (1956) de-
are based loosely on James Fenimore Cooper picts Wayne as an Indian-hating psychopath
novels, and Fort Ti (1953) is set in the Revo- searching for a niece kidnapped by marauding
lutionary War. Seminole (1953) is the saga of Comanches; he intends to kill her because after
U.S. Army efforts to subdue the Seminole In- living as an Indian she will longer be fit to
dians in Florida. Davy Crockett, King of the rejoin white society. James Stewart in films
Wild Frontier (1955) was among the most pop- such as The Naked Spur (1953), Randolph
ular films of the decade. This Disney produc- Scott in efforts such as Ride Lonesome (1959),
tion created a national craze, and for a while and Joan Crawford in Johnny Guitar (1954)
it seemed as if every child in America owned reshaped the hero and heroine into a lonely,
a coonskin cap. revenge-obsessed individual, not the self-
Hollywood westerns of the 1930s and 1940s denying hero of traditional myths and legends.
were positive expressions of the myths and leg- In Lonely Are the Brave (1962), clearly a revi-
ends derived from the frontier experience, and sionist western, Kirk Douglas portrays a cow-
they were useful as the nation came to grips boy who affirms the traditional images of the
with the national challenges of the two de- West; unfortunately, Douglas and his horse are
cades. More than a few people were convinced killed by a truck on a modern highway while
that the Depression was the result of malfea- fleeing from a sheriff ’s posse—an ignominious
sance by wealthy bankers and industrialists demise for the hero.
concerned only about profits, so it is not sur-
prising that western outlaws were recast as vic- Westerns Since 1960
tims of those same forces. To a country search- Reflecting the renaissance of national pride
ing for vindication and meaning in the carnage during the Kennedy era, early-1960s westerns
of World War II, westerns reminded Ameri- returned to the images, myths, and legends
cans that they were heirs to hardy pioneers and that had shaped the genre of an earlier era. The
resolute frontier sheriffs. The answer to con- Alamo (1960), a massive undertaking by John
temporary national problems of the 1930s and Wayne, captures all of the legendary elements
1940s seemed to lie back in an imagined egal- of that tragic event. How the West Was Won
 THE FRONTIER AND THE WEST ] 581

(1962) is an epic expression of the trek west. their wanton search for gold. Dances with
Ride the High Country (1962) counterpoises Wolves (1990) portrays white people as insen-
new and old images of westerns, but in the end sitive destructors of both Native American cul-
the old images triumph. To a nation buffeted ture and the natural environment. Native
by a rapidly changing social order and war in Americans, according to this Kevin Costner
Vietnam, the values implicit in the images, film, lived in harmony with each other and their
myths, and legends of westerns seemed hope- environment. Tombstone (1993) and Wyatt
lessly dated by the middle of the decade. West- Earp (1994) provide more historically accurate
erns responded either by parodying the genre, accounts of both Wyatt Earp’s life and the
as in Cat Ballou (1965) or Little Big Man events surrounding the gunfight at the O.K.
(1970), or by associating the West with the ex- Corral. In Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992),
cessive and often vivid violence of The Wild violence appears as a pointless waste of human
Bunch (1969). life practiced by either cowards or men who
As “New West” writers began to challenge could kill only when drunk.
traditional interpretations of American history By the end of the twentieth century, the im-
and as the country reacted to numerous public ages closely associated with westerns and the
scandals, westerns films nearly disappeared. myths and legends derived from those images
However, the last fifteen years of the twentieth had been largely discarded by post–World War
century saw a mild resurgence of the genre. Not II generations. Younger generations, slightly
surprisingly, the films reflected the changed re- amused by the genre, did not accept the images
alities and sensitivities of the country as well as of the United States closely associated with
the ideology of “New West” historians such as westerns. New urban-based images, myths,
Gene M. Gressley, Patricia Nelson Limerick, and legends were being fashioned, ones not
and Gerald D. Nash as well as American-studies easily adapted to westerns; hence, the genre is
scholars such as Richard Slotkin and Jane having minimal impact on America’s under-
Tompkins. In Pale Rider (1985), villains use hy- standing of itself in the first years of the new
draulic mining and ravage the landscape in millennium.

References
Hondo (1953, F)
Filmography How the West Was Won (1962, F)
The Alamo (1960, F) The Iron Horse (1924, F)
Annie Oakley (1935, F) The Iroquois Trail (1950, F)
The Avenger (1931, F) Jesse James (1936, F)
Bad Men of Missouri (1941, F) Johnny Guitar (1954, F)
Belle Starr (1941, F) Little Big Man (1970, F)
The Big Trail (1930, F) Lonely Are the Brave (1962, F)
Billy The Kid (1930, F) My Darling Clementine (1946, F)
Broken Arrow (1950, F) The Naked Spur (1953, F)
Cat Ballou (1965, F) The Narrow Trail (1917, F)
Cimarron (1931, F) The Outlaw (1943, F)
The Covered Wagon (1923, F) Pale Rider (1985, F)
Dances with Wolves (1990, F) The Pathfinder (1953, F)
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955, F) The Plainsman (1937, F)
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939, F) The Return of Draw Egan (1916, F)
Fort Apache (1948, F) The Return of Frank James (1940, F)
Fort Ti (1953, F) Ride Lonesome (1959, F)
The Gunfighter (1950, F) Ride the High Country (1962, F)
Hell’s Hinges (1916, F) Robin Hood of El Dorado (1936, F)
582 [ MYTHS AND HEROES
Santa Fe Trail (1940, F) Cawelti, John G. The Six-Gun Mystique. 2d ed. Bowl-
The Searchers (1956, F) ing Green, OH: Bowling Green State University
Seminole (1953, F) Popular Press, 1984.
Shane (1953, F) Gressley, Gene M., ed. Old West/New West. Norman:
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949, F) University of Oklahoma Press, 1994.
They Died with Their Boots On (1941, F) Lenihan, John H. Showdown: Confronting Modern
Tombstone (1993, F) America in Western Film. Urbana: University of Il-
Unforgiven (1992, F) linois Press, 1985.
Union Pacific (1939, F) Maltby, Richard. “A Better Sense of History: John
The Virginian (1914, F; 1929, F) Ford and the Indians.” In Ian Cameron and Doug-
When the Daltons Rode (1940, F) las Pye, eds., The Book of Westerns, 34–49. New
Wild Bill Hickok (1923, F) York: Continuum, 1996.
The Wild Bunch (1969, F) Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
Wyatt Earp (1994, F) Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
Atheneum, 1992.
Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West
Bibliography as Symbol and Myth. New York: Random House,
Brownlow, Kevin. The War, the West, and the Wilder- 1950.
ness. New York: Knopf, 1979. Tompkins, Jane. West of Everything: The Inner Life of
Buscombe, Edward, ed. The BFI Companion to the Westerns. New York: Oxford University Press,
Western. New York: Da Capo, 1988. 1992.
[ DAVID E. WILT ]

Hollywood’s Detective

ne of the most enduring characters in The strength of the detective film resides in

O American popular culture is the private

detective. The concept of the private in-
vestigator dates back to the nineteenth cen-
tury: Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin and Ar-
the universality of its theme. The detective hero
is involved in a quest for truth and justice, al-
though the definition of these two concepts may
vary from year to year and film to film. This
thur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes were quest may take place in a variety of time pe-
fictional counterparts to the real-life Allan Pin- riods—past, present, and even future—and
kerton and Monsieur Lecoq. They were joined various geographical locations. A large part of
in the twentieth century by Philo Vance, Sam the quest involves interviews—ranging from
Spade, Philip Marlowe, Mike Hammer, Travis those with completely cooperative subjects to
McGee, Fletch, and hundreds (perhaps thou- violent confrontations—as opposed to investi-
sands) of others in virtually every manifesta- gation of physical evidence. Thus, the detective-
tion of popular culture, and the genre shows film plot is character-based and allows for the
no signs of disappearing. presentation of a wide spectrum of personali-
The private detective who appears in nov- ties, social classes, sexes, races, and religions—
els, television shows, and films bears little re- indeed, a panorama of American society.
semblance to his real-life model. The very However, the popularity of the detective
idea of a private detective implies that justice hero may be rooted in something even more
(however it may be defined) can only be ob- fundamental: the protagonist’s role as audi-
tained by paying for it, while those without ence surrogate. At best, the detective is a pow-
money are forced to rely upon an overbur- erful, competent figure who is unswerving in
dened, tax-supported police and court sys- his (or her) pursuit of the truth, and who
tem. In the late nineteenth and early twenti- makes sure justice is served; even at his worst,
eth centuries, private detective agencies such the detective is at least someone who makes
as the Pinkertons were notorious for their in- the effort, who has defined values and a per-
volvement in union-busting activities on the sonal code of honor that places him at the ser-
behalf of large corporations. In fiction, of vice of the oppressed, even if a just outcome
course, the private detective—and others who may be in conflict with his personal interest.
assume this mantle, including “renegade” po-
lice detectives such as Dirty Harry Callahan, The Rise of the Private Eye: 1920–1941
crusading reporters, Perry Mason–like law- The detective in fiction and film has taken
yers, and so on—generally takes the side of many forms. One of these appears in what au-
the underdog against the more powerful, a thor Raymond Chandler called “the traditional
reversal of the situation of the real-life private or classic” detective story, epitomized by Sher-
eye whose rates largely limit his clientele to lock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Philo Vance,
the wealthy. which poses “problems in logic and deduc-

583
584 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

tion” (5–6). This type of detective has contin- even the first adaptation of the book: Ham-
ued to thrive, as evidenced by the popularity of mett’s novel had been filmed twice before, in
Ellery Queen, Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, 1931 and 1936), John Huston’s version of The
and even television’s Jessica Fletcher (Murder, Maltese Falcon (1941) remains for many the
She Wrote). However, the detective-hero who quintessential example of the genre, just as the
has achieved the most enduring success is the world-weary, middle-aged Sam Spade (Hum-
contemporary, urban private eye, whose roots phrey Bogart) in his dark suit and fedora has
stretch back to the early years of the century, become a cultural icon as the detective. The
but who really took form in the 1920s in a mag- milieu is proto–film noir, a menacing urban
azine entitled Black Mask. landscape populated with sinister villains and
In the words of John G. Cawelti, “the hard- their henchmen, femmes fatales, hostile and
boiled detective is a traditional man of virtue sometimes dumb cops, the slumming rich,
in an amoral and corrupt world” (152). The and the working poor. The Maltese Falcon does
“hard-boiled” school of fiction emerged in the not so much invent the conventions of the pri-
1920s after the savagery of World War I had vate eye genre as it assembles them into a co-
concluded. The decade was marked by lawless hesive form. The concept of the city as the cen-
excess, the result of the great, failed experiment ter of sin and violence and the class and society
of Prohibition, an effort to legislate morality aspects of the characters were clearly not origi-
that backfired in spectacular fashion. Rather nal to The Maltese Falcon, and may be found
than a cool, intellectual detective solving the in many other films, novels, and stories. And
mystery of the murdered nobleman in his without being overtly political, the film still
locked library, audiences were ready for a dif- manages to reflect American feelings about the
ferent kind of hero who would respond ap- international situation: Spade, minding his
propriately to gangsters, kidnapers, murderous own business, is reluctantly dragged into a dis-
anarchists, and other—real and imagined— pute which does not really concern him. His
modern menaces: “The hard-boiled detective loyalty (to his dead partner) and gallant nature
metes out the just punishment that the law is (as a gentleman, he cannot refuse Brigid
too mechanical, unwieldy, or corrupt to O’Shaughnessy’s plea for help) force him to
achieve” (Cawelti, 143). confront a gang of foreign enemies. Although
Two of the first proponents of hard-boiled Hammett’s novel was written long before the
fiction were Carroll John Daly and Dashiell outbreak of World War II, 1941 audiences
Hammett. Daly never managed to break free could easily project their own attitudes onto
of the lower levels of the popular fiction uni- the film version.
verse, but Hammett succeeded in reaching the The Thin Man films, on the other hand, are
best-seller stratum. Two of Hammett’s char- glossy Hollywood representations of high so-
acters achieved immortality via Hollywood: ciety. These prewar film adaptations of Ham-
Sam Spade, hero of The Maltese Falcon, and mett’s work (The Thin Man series consisted of
Nick Charles, protagonist (with his wife Nora) six pictures, four of which were released before
of The Thin Man and its sequels. These char- World War II) not only serve as good examples
acters represent the opposite ends of the de- of the styles of their respective studios (Warner
tective spectrum: Spade is a professional pri- Bros. and MGM) but also represent the op-
vate investigator who detects for a living, while posite poles of prewar film: hard-boiled real-
the affluent Nick and Nora Charles solve ism on the one hand (although The Maltese
crimes as a whimsical hobby. Falcon is certainly not as “proletarian” as other
Although it was not the first private eye film Warner Bros. productions of the 1930s and
by any stretch of the imagination (it was not early 1940s) and frothy escapism on the other
 HOLLYWOOD’S DETECTIVE ] 585

FIGURE 75. The Maltese Falcon (1941). Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart, left) attentively absorbs the conversation of
Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre, standing at center), Kasper Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet, seated), and Iva Archer (Gladys
George). Spade maintains composure and a hard edge while unraveling the deceptions and confusion of international
espionage. Courtesy First National Pictures and Warner Bros.

(The Thin Man films are as much screwball ever, although Marlowe appeared in four films
comedies as they are detective stories). There in the 1940s, one in the 1960s, and three more
were numerous other films of the 1930s fea- versions in the 1970s, Humphrey Bogart’s Sam
turing detective heroes, but characters such as Spade remains a more recognizable screen im-
Charlie Chan, Bulldog Drummond, Mr. Moto, age than any of the seven movie Marlowes
Mr. Wong, and Sherlock Holmes were—as ex- (Dick Powell, Bogart, George Montgomery,
otic “foreigners”—closer to the traditional de- Robert Montgomery, James Garner, Elliott
tective than the hard-boiled version. Gould, and—in two films—Robert Mitchum).
Marlowe is the archetypical private detective
Detectives During World War II as knight errant, hard-boiled and violent when
By the time World War II arrived, Dashiell necessary, but sensitive, well-read, and com-
Hammett’s writing career had long since passionate at times. Sam Spade tracks down
faded. Another Black Mask magazine alumnus, the killer of his partner almost begrudgingly,
Raymond Chandler, was making his mark. prodded by a sense of duty; Marlowe, although
Chandler’s Philip Marlowe is one of the most he is also a detective for hire, acts out of a sense
famous detective characters in literature; how- of what he believes is morally correct.
586 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

The private detective film flourished in the had become a part of American popular cul-
1940s. In addition to the earliest Chandler ad- ture, but also the way it melded with film noir
aptations—The Falcon Takes Over and Time to is the parody My Favorite Brunette (1947),
Kill (both 1942), in which “Philip Marlowe” which begins with its detective-protagonist
was replaced by existing characters The Falcon (Bob Hope) relating his story in flashback
(George Sanders) and Mike Shayne (Lloyd from his cell on death row.
Nolan), and the first true Marlowe film, Mur- Another postwar detective phenomenon was
der, My Sweet (1944)—there were numerous diametrically opposed to the noir detective as
B-movie series featuring Boston Blackie, the fall guy: Mickey Spillane’s ultraviolent Mike
Lone Wolf, and Ellery Queen, as well as one- Hammer, the central character in a string of
shot films with detective protagonists. The best-selling novels beginning with 1947’s I, the
lawlessness and desperation of the Prohibition Jury. Historian Henry Bamford Parkes sug-
and Depression years were supplanted by the gests that “the ne plus ultra (or so one hopes)
war: even in films not directly dealing with of the American frontier myth of an isolated
wartime issues, film historian Martin Rubin natural virtue at war with the corruption of
suggests that “the detective film can be seen as society was reached . . . in the novels of Mickey
a response to the regimentation and deindi- Spillane. The Spillane hero . . . has an innate
vidualized conflict of the war. . . . The detective sense of justice which is not supported by the
is often a neutral who becomes personally official representatives of law and order. . . .
committed in the course of the action, working The popularity of Spillane’s novels, like that of
out a private accommodation between self- its political analogue, McCarthyism, is a most
reliance and social responsibility” (88). The disturbing phenomenon” (293). The misogy-
ranks of the enemies of society were rife with nistic, brutal, and anticommunist adventures
war profiteers, traitors, and spies, in addition of Hammer were brought to the screen in
to more mundane criminals. bowdlerized form several times during the
1950s and early 1960s; Robert Aldrich’s Kiss
Postwar Detectives and Film Noir: 1946–1959 Me Deadly (1955) was the best of the lot, al-
Chandler’s quintessential private eye contin- though depicting Mike Hammer (Ralph
ued his noble quest in the postwar era in The Meeker) as a sleazy and unpleasant sort, far
Big Sleep (1946), The Brasher Doubloon (1947), removed from the sardonic but trustworthy
and Lady in the Lake (1947). However, with Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. Screen ver-
the end of the great crusade against fascism sions of Spillane’s detective in the 1980s and
came the turmoil of a confused peace. Major 1990s (including numerous TV movies) were
changes in society were both exciting and more conventional genre efforts, although so-
frightening. In this era, some movie detectives ciety had finally caught up with Spillane, and
were being portrayed in a rather morally am- Hammer’s propensity for shocking violence
biguous light. The postwar film noir Out of the was now practically commonplace.
Past (1947) stars Robert Mitchum as a private Through the 1960s, detective films generally
eye who betrays his client’s trust for the love eschewed overt political commentary, the oc-
of a woman (ultimately revealed to be duplic- casional picture like Big Jim McLain (1952) to
itous and unworthy of him) and in the end the contrary. This film stars John Wayne as a
pays with his life. Noir protagonists were House Committee on Un-American Activities
prone to such victimization, and the image of (HUAC) investigator tracking down commu-
the detective as moral arbiter suffered as a re- nist spies in Hawaii. Instead, social and politi-
sult. One film that demonstrates not only how cal changes were alluded to in more subtle
clearly the image of the hard-boiled detective ways, whether in film noir’s air of postwar
 HOLLYWOOD’S DETECTIVE ] 587

malaise or the McCarthy-like paranoia of Mike Chinatown (and its 1990 sequel The Two Jakes)
Hammer. Organized crime, once seen as a bit is just one example of a genre film that reflects
quaint, was elevated to the status of a vast con- a cynical attitude about traditional beliefs and
spiracy by the Kefauver hearings and the stern values (numerous 1970s westerns also dem-
public warnings of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Plots onstrate this revisionist trend). A new wave of
that once centered on murders, blackmail, and anti-establishment filmmakers such as Polan-
unsavory family secrets now dealt with cor- ski and Robert Altman took advantage of the
ruption on the municipal, state, and even na- post-Vietnam disillusionment of some in the
tional and international level. Detectives were American film audience to challenge the fun-
not necessarily portrayed more realistically, damental underpinnings of societal beliefs.
but increasingly they were shown to be human, These films reflected just one trend in soci-
even flawed, rather than noble, and their vic- ety—not the only one—but they are notable
tories were often Pyrrhic. because they so clearly clash with familiar
genre conventions.
Private Eyes in the Vietnam Era and Beyond A more assertive private eye appeared in
The 1960s were not an especially good decade Shaft! (1971) and its sequels, demonstrating
for film detectives—although the genre never that the genre could still be played straight and
completely disappeared and fictional investi- that audiences would still respond to a tradi-
gators Lew Archer (renamed Harper for the tional detective film (albeit one with a contem-
1966 film of that title, played by Paul New- porary level of sex and violence) in which the
man), Tony Rome (Frank Sinatra in Tony hero punishes the guilty and manages to walk
Rome [1967] and Lady in Cement [1968]), and away victorious. John Shaft (Richard Round-
Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier in 1967’s In the tree) is also just one of many private eyes of
Heat of the Night) made the transition to the the late 1960s and 1970s who broke the white,
screen—but as the decade came to a close, and middle-aged male stereotype: the theater and
then in the post-Vietnam and post-Watergate TV screens of the era were crowded with black
1970s, the genre underwent a significant re- detectives, female detectives, elderly detectives,
surgence with such countercultural films as disabled detectives, fat detectives, rich detec-
Klute (1971) and The Big Fix (1978). Chan- tives, teenaged detectives, married detectives,
dler’s Philip Marlowe showed up in four fea- and so on, ad infinitum. Shaft! is also illustra-
tures released between 1969 and 1978, three tive of the “blaxploitation” films of the period:
with contemporary settings that attempted to the civil rights movement not only affected so-
show how the hard-boiled detective would ciety as a whole, but it also engendered an
function in modern America. awareness of black pride and spawned numer-
Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974), is a ous films that tried to cash in on this trend.
period film that presents a revisionist look at While many blaxploitation films are familiar
the “classic” private eye of the 1930s and genre productions, a number include some
1940s. The genre’s archetypal elements are political commentary in an attempt to be more
present, but the tribulations of detective Jake relevant to their target audience.
Gittes ( Jack Nicholson) are more closely Films, TV shows, and novels that center on
linked to those of a film noir fall guy than to the efforts of the police to solve crimes are
hard-boiled Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe: known as “police procedurals;” the protago-
Gittes is tricked by a client, has his nostril slit nists of these works—think Sgt. Joe Friday of
for being “too nosy,” and even though he Dragnet—are only peripherally related to de-
“solves the case,” the villains are not brought tective heroes like Sam Spade. In the police
to justice or even foiled in their nefarious plan. procedural, teamwork is paramount; the de-
588 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

ing him to censure and the loss of his liveli-

hood) and the freedom to act as he sees fit.
Films such as the Dirty Harry and Death Wish
series (the second starring Charles Bronson as
a vigilante whose enemies are police officials
as much as criminals) illustrate the distrust of
the “establishment” that appears in many mo-
tion pictures of the 1970s and beyond.
The detective hero seems to be infinitely
adaptable and resilient, and so the character
continues to appear in films and TV shows
with surprising frequency. Parodies such as the
popular Ace Ventura, Pet Detective (1994) and
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) vie with
more “serious” efforts such as Kill Me Again
(1989), Dead Again (1991), and Kiss the Girls
(1997). Detectives come in all sizes, sexes, and
F I G U R E 7 6 . Chinatown (1974). Jake Gittes (Jack colors, and are situated in past (Devil in a Blue
Nicholson) is beaten by thugs while investigating a case
that constantly eludes him. In the revisionist Chinatown
Dress, 1995), present (V. I. Warshawski, 1991),
(1974), Gittes lacks style and control, unable to recognize and future (Blade Runner, 1982) settings.
he is being deceived and incapable of achieving any form
of justice. Courtesy Paramount Pictures. Civilization vs. Anarchy
It has been said that “the private eye novel was
tective hero may have some help from friends a Western that took place somewhere else”
and acquaintances, but he is essentially a loner, (Ruehlmann, 5). To a certain extent, this com-
one man (or, more rarely, a woman) standing parison also applies to films, although the sim-
against the forces of evil. The series of films ilarity may chiefly be found in both genres’ use
that began with Dirty Harry (1971) feature a of an independent, even isolated protagonist
police detective as their protagonist, but Harry who fights on the side of civilization against
Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is definitely not a the forces of anarchy. However, the theme and
team player; the second film in the series, Mag- structure—and, of course, setting—of a west-
num Force (1973), makes this even clearer, for ern is fundamentally different than that of a
Callahan is pitted against a “death squad” of detective film, where urban issues and chal-
uniformed motorcycle cops instead of more lenges are paramount. Perhaps more signifi-
traditional threats such as killers, bank rob- cantly, detective films still flourish, whereas
bers, and terrorists. At odds with his own su- westerns are a virtually extinct form. Why is
periors and the liberal (and therefore ineffec- this so?
tual) justice system, Callahan works alone and The hard-boiled detective emerged in the af-
cuts through red tape with bullets from his termath of World War I and was formed by
.357 magnum. He is “the emblem of public the sensibilities of Prohibition-era America. In
rage directed against problems without solu- succeeding decades, the detective hero adapted
tions” (Ruehlmann, 12) and is not bound by to the society he encountered: the Depression,
the artificial rules of behavior that restrain World War II, the McCarthy era, Vietnam, and
other policemen. In essence, he has the best beyond. Regardless of the specificities of his
(and worst) of both worlds: an official impri- situation, the detective hero is a champion of
matur (although it can be withdrawn, subject- morality confronted by immoral forces. As
 HOLLYWOOD’S DETECTIVE ] 589

John G. Cawelti writes, “Whether his vision of rupt, violent, and hostile” (150). The western
evil is political or metaphysical, the hard- hero vanished when the concept of the Amer-
boiled detective has rejected the ordinary so- ican frontier disappeared; but only in a perfect
cial and ethical pieties and faces a world he has world, free of crime and corruption, would the
learned to understand as fundamentally cor- detective hero become extinct.

References
American Detective Fiction, 1922–1984. Bowling
Filmography Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popu-
The Big Fix (1978, F) lar Press, 1985.
Big Jim McLain (1952, F) Cawelti, John G. Adventure, Mystery, and Romance.
The Big Sleep (1946, F) Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.
Blade Runner (1982, F) Chandler, Raymond. The Simple Art of Murder. New
The Brasher Doubloon (1947, F) York: Houghton Mifflin, 1950.
Chinatown (1974, F) Cocchiarelli, Joseph J. Screen Sleuths: A Filmography.
Death Wish (1974, F) New York: Garland, 1992.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995, F) Collins, Max Alan, and James L. Traylor. One Lonely
Dirty Harry (1971, F) Knight: Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer. Bowling
The Drowning Pool (1975, F) Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popu-
The Falcon Takes Over (1942, F) lar Press, 1984.
Farewell, My Lovely (1975, F) Geherin, David. The American Private Eye: The
The Girl Hunters (1962, F) Image in Fiction. New York: Frederick Ungar,
Harper (1966, F) 1985.
In the Heat of the Night (1967, F) Hunt, William R. Front-Page Detective: William J.
I, the Jury (1953, F; 1982, F) Burns and the Detective Profession, 1880–1930.
Kill Me Again (1989, F) Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State Univer-
Kiss Me Deadly (1955, F) sity Popular Press, 1980.
Klute (1971, F) Parkes, Henry Bamford. The American Experience:
Lady in Cement (1968, F) An Interpretation of the History and Civilization of
Lady in the Lake (1947, F) the American People. New York: Random House,
The Long Goodbye (1973, F) 1947.
Magnum Force (1973, F) Pitts, Michael R. Famous Movie Detectives. Metuchen,
The Maltese Falcon (1941, F) NJ: Scarecrow, 1979.
Marlowe (1969, F) Rubin, Martin. Thrillers. New York: Cambridge Uni-
Murder, My Sweet (1944, F) versity Press, 1999.
My Favorite Brunette (1947, F) Ruehlmann, William. Saint with a Gun: The Unlawful
My Gun Is Quick (1957, F) American Private Eye. New York: New York Uni-
Out of the Past (1947, F) versity Press, 1974.
Shaft! (1971, F) Slotkin, Richard. Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the
Shaft in Africa (1973, F) Frontier in Twentieth-Century America. New York:
Shaft’s Big Score (1972, F) Atheneum, 1992.
Time to Kill (1942, F) Tuska, Jon. The Detective in Hollywood. Garden City,
Tony Rome (1967, F) NY: Doubleday, 1978.
The Two Jakes (1990, F) ——. In Manors and Alleys: A Casebook on the
V. I. Warshawski (1991, F) American Detective Film. New York: Greenwood,
1988.
Bibliography Wilt, David. Hard Boiled in Hollywood. Bowling
Baker, Robert A., and Michael T. Nietzel. Private Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popu-
Eyes: One Hundred and One Knights—A Survey of lar Press, 1991.
[ JOHN C. TIBBETTS ]

The Machine in the Garden

any nineteenth-century American ob- the contradictory conditions of pastoral prom-

M servers greeted what Ralph Waldo Em-

erson called “the whistle of the loco-
motive in the woods” with a mixture of awe
and anxiety. When Nathaniel Hawthorne
ise and material experience. The myth has be-
come a pervasive theme in American film;
moreover, the apparatus and effects of the film
medium—in a larger sense, media technology
heard a train’s “startling shriek” shatter the in general—constitute a new Machine in the
stillness of Concord Woods on the morning of Garden of American art, society, and sensibil-
July 27, 1844, he worried it would usher “the ity whose effects are still being gauged.
noisy world into the midst of our slumbrous
peace.” Painter George Catlin feared it would The Machine in the Garden in American
destroy “the grace and beauty of Nature”; and Society and Literature
Thoreau regarded it as “a fate” that “never The locomotive that invaded Hawthorne’s gar-
turns aside” (Nash, 13, 100). den is a convenient index of the new “forces,”
Theirs was both a lament and a prophecy. as Henry Adams catalogued them from the
The locomotive was just one of the new forces vantage point of the early twentieth century in
invading and despoiling the American Garden. his The Education of Henry Adams (privately
For transplanted Europeans and hardy settlers, published in 1907)—forces that (in his view at
the New World had held out the hope of a New least) threatened to dehumanize the New
Eden, of fresh beginnings, of the promise of the American. Within his lifetime, Adams saw an
regenerative power of bountiful, natural terrain. agricultural America become a predominantly
Here especially, between the raw wilderness of urban industrial society. Steam power, electrical
the remote western frontier and the industri- energy, radium, and photographic technologies
alized cities of the eastern seaboard, was a “gar- were only a few technological spin-offs of sci-
den,” a “great interior valley,” as cultural his- entific discovery. The rise of monopolies, mass
torian Henry Nash Smith described it in his communications, mechanical reproduction of
classic Virgin Land (123). Smith and other cul- art forms, as well as the proliferation of evolu-
tural commentators, including Roderick Nash, tionary theory, phenomenology, naturalism,
Leo Marx, and Charles L. Sanford, regard this and feminism were among their inevitable con-
middle region as “one of the dominant symbols sequences. Man had “maundered among the
of nineteenth century American Life,” a signifi- magnets,” wrote Adams wittily, and “had trans-
cant metaphor of American cultural mythol- lated himself into a new universe which had no
ogy—a delicately poised equilibrium between common scale of measurement with the old”
innocence and experience, chaos and order, (381).
hope and disillusionment (Smith, 123). Novelists in the late nineteenth century
The “Machine in the Garden” myth defines seized on the “Machine in the Garden” myth
an essentially American ambivalence toward as a useful paradigm to understand contem-

590
 THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN ] 591

porary anxieties and uncertainties. For exam- succession of new shocks and effects—“attrac-
ple, Frank Norris’s The Octopus (1899), prob- tions,” as historian Tom Gunning describes
ably influenced by the railroad-related imagery them. In the late 1920s, sudden, unnerving
and themes of Zola’s La Bête Humaine, writ- bleats and blaats of sound from the early talk-
ten a decade earlier, portrayed the Pacific and ies assailed the ears; in the early 1930s, Tech-
Southwestern railway as a monopoly, an “oc- nicolor hues bloomed like hothouse flowers;
topus” that was dispossessing farmers of their in the early 1950s, 3-D and widescreen pro-
lands in the San Joaquin Valley. Early in the cesses shattered the proscenium; and today’s
story, the character of Presley, a poet, watches “virtual reality” and holographic projections
in horror as a locomotive—“filling the air surround and engulf the senses in a totality of
with the reek of hot oil, vomiting smoke and synesthetic experience.
sparks”—smashes through a herd of sheep Each successive technological innovation
grazing on the tracks: “It was a slaughter, a has stripped away a protective veil of illusion.
massacre of innocents. The iron monster had As long as a picture image’s illusion was “par-
charged full into the midst, merciless, inexo- tial,” as Rudolph Arnheim has argued—that is,
rable.” Not only were bleeding, mutilated delimited by fixed boundaries and deprived of
bodies left in its wake, but a sense of irrecov- color, sound, and dimension—the viewer
erable loss: “The sweetness was gone from the could exist in a happy state of complicity with
evening, the sense of peace, of security, and the screen, suspended between belief and
placid contentment was stricken from the doubt, his imagination commingling with the
landscape” (50). illusion. He was, in effect, the shepherd happy
in his Arcadia. But when filmmakers kept up-
The Motion Picture: A New Machine in ping the ante with increasingly realistic effects,
the Garden? they upset that harmonious equipoise, sub-
In the mid-1890s, just as historian Frederick jecting the viewer to the insistent, multisensory
Jackson Turner was proclaiming the end of the proddings of those new mechanical gods of the
frontier, another technology was disrupting screen, Showscan and IMAX. In sum, asserts
the peace and harmony of the American Gar- Gunning, the film medium’s unprecedented
den. Like the locomotive, it moved on gears potential for realism has always been its pri-
and wheels and penetrated the darkness with mary power—“its ability to convince specta-
its cyclopean eye. Audiences who had gathered tors that the moving image was, in fact, pal-
in theaters in New York City and Boston in pable and dangerous . . . swallowing, in its
late December 1896 and early 1897 to witness relentless force, any consideration of represen-
Thomas Edison’s “Vitascope” motion-picture tation—the imaginary perceived as real” (819).
projection device scattered in panic at the sight Meanwhile, as early as 1906, borne on the
on the screen of a locomotive steaming down rails of the Southern Pacific Railroad, film-
the track straight toward them. “It seemed as makers were invading the Garden of the San
if the train were dashing down upon the au- Fernando Valley and the northwest sector of
dience,” one observer reported, “the rushing the city of Los Angeles. The sounds of their
of steam, the ringing of bells and the roar of bulldozers, hammers, and clattering cameras
the wheels making the scene a startlingly re- shattered the bucolic stillness of the fig or-
alistic one” (Musser, 178). chards and orange groves. They re-created the
No sooner did viewers adjust to these crude area in their own image. They invaded Holly-
black-and-white illusions flickering on the big wood Boulevard and brought in New York–
screen, than their perceptual—read “pas- style shops and delicatessens. They appropri-
toral”—complacency was disturbed again by a ated the once-quiet streets for staged car chases
592 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

and train wrecks. They established their own Altman picture—the helicopters’ spread of
cities (like Carl Laemmle’s Universal City) and Malathion insecticide over Los Angeles creates
built their own railroad lines. And in the heart a fogbank that poisons and corrupts every-
of Hollywood, on Wilton Place, they erected thing and everybody in the multitiered story.
the area’s first synagogue. The solid, conser- Many westerns, such as David Miller’s
vative denizens of Los Angeles recoiled in Lonely Are the Brave (1962), Ford’s Cheyenne
shock. Their placid existence would never be Autumn (1964), and Kevin Costner’s Dances
the same again. with Wolves (1990), deal with the demise of
those archetypal figures of western myth, the
The Machine in the Garden in Hollywood Films cowboy and the Indian (both shepherds of
Hollywood films have represented the “Gar- their own Arcadia, if you will). In the first, a
den” in many ways, as a rural farm, a small ruggedly individualist cowboy (Kirk Douglas)
town, an innocent childhood, a baseball game, flees on horseback from pursuing helicopters,
the hopeful vision of a newly arrived immi- jeeps, and diesel trucks. Crushed under the
grant—that is, any state of order and harmony wheels of the truck, he lies dying while a mov-
that is disrupted or threatened in some way by ing epitaph—an elegy to the departed romance
the “Machine,” which may be, by turns, a pol- of the West—is spoken over his body. The lat-
luting factory, a “forbidden” science, warfare, ter two films indict the greed and corruption
an extraterrestrial space ship, or an atomic of “Manifest Destiny” that has appropriated
bomb. and despoiled the Garden of the Native Amer-
To recount even a fair sampling of these ti- ican, expelling its peoples from their lands.
tles from all the popular genres is quite beyond On a lighter note, many musicals thrive on
the scope of this essay. A few will have to suf- the spectacle of con men, rock stars, and devils
fice. Issues of ecology and land reclamation invading the Gardens of old-fashioned Amer-
surface in John Ford’s epic of the dust bowl icana—Mr. Applegate (Ray Walston) wields
migrations, The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and his infernal powers to corrupt the institution
the cautionary tales of John Boorman’s The of baseball in Damn Yankees (1958); rock ‘n’
Emerald Forest (1985), John McTiernan’s Med- roll idol Conrad Birdie ( Jesse Pearson) intro-
icine Man (1992), and Robert Altman’s Short duces the teenagers of the sleepy town of Sweet
Cuts (1993). In the Ford film, Caterpillar trac- Apple to sexually suggestive music in Bye, Bye
tors come hard on the heels of dust storms and Birdie (1963); Harold Hill (Robert Preston)
drought to uproot the “Okies” from their hatches a plot to swindle the gullible yokels of
farms. “They come, they come and pushed me River City, Iowa, in The Music Man.
off,” wails Muley ( John Qualen) to his neigh- In a spate of science fiction, fantasy, and
bor, Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), his voice coun- horror films beginning in the Cold War era,
terpointing images of formations of tractors, many Machines of both earthly and extrater-
their mechanical throats chuckling while their restrial origin have invaded America’s Garden
iron paws stamp and flatten his farm house; of complacency and conformity. The atomic
“they come with the ’cats, the caterpillar bomb is either an impending threat to plane-
tractors. . . . And for every one of them there tary survival (Sidney Lumet’s Fail-Safe, 1964)
was ten-to-fifteen families throwed right of or a global destroyer (Stanley Kubrick’s Dr.
their homes . . . throwed right out into the Strangelove, 1964). Weird extraterrestrials,
road.” In the Boorman and McTiernan films, armed with deadly weapons, threaten the
bulldozers present a threat to the ecological planet in popular classics such as Robert
balance of the Brazilian rainforests. Environ- Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and
mental pollution is the overriding theme of the George Pal’s The War of the Worlds (1953).
 THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN ] 593

Literal replays of the Machine in the Garden (based on Levinson’s mother’s family) begins
metaphor include Jack Clayton’s Something with the arrival of Sam Krichinsky (Armin
Wicked This Way Comes (1983), wherein an Mueller-Stahl) in Baltimore in 1914 as he
infernal locomotive brings death and damna- looks ahead to a new start in this Paradise he
tion into the idyllic hamlet of Green Town, calls, appropriately, Avalon (“It was the most
Illinois; and Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Run- beautiful place you’ve ever seen in your life!”).
ning (1972), which chronicles the threats to By the story’s end, however, America’s urban
earth’s last remaining garden, a dome floating push has despoiled the Krichinsky garden, and
in deep space and superintended by a latter- the family members have fled to the suburbs.
day version of Virgil’s pastoral shepherd, Free- “I keep getting farther and farther away from
man Lowell (Bruce Dern). But perhaps no sci- Avalon,” Sam laments. The film concludes
ence fiction film better exemplifies the with a reprise of Sam’s initial vision of Avalon,
Machine in the Garden myth than Kubrick’s but now we know it to be no longer a shining
2001: A Space Odyssey (1969). The black mon- hope but a failed dream.
olith that periodically appears and astonishes More to the point of this discussion, Avalon
protohominid and astronaut alike is nothing is a critique of the invasion of the American
less than a cosmic intruder into the Garden of Garden by that one-eyed monster—television.
Man, whose every appearance precipitates yet From the very moment a television set invades
another stage in human evolution. the Krichinsky home in the early 1950s, family
Last, among the many pertinent comedies is relationships begin to deteriorate. It is amus-
that nifty little cartoon by Chuck Jones called ing, at first, to see everybody grouped before
“Duck Amuck.” For most of its length, Daffy the set, attracted to the sheer novelty of the
Duck—a maniacal Virgilian shepherd if there test patterns. Later, however, they become so
ever were one—is persecuted by an unknown preoccupied with sitcoms, quiz shows, and
outside force that invades his space with a gi- movies that they spend more and more time
ant pencil and almost erases him out of exis- watching, and they gradually cease talking to
tence. In this case, it turns out that the sadistic each other. Family gatherings begin to resem-
agency of his confusion is none other than that ble wakes, whose participants sit, stunned, be-
embodiment of the urban slickster and con fore the flickering set. The Thanksgiving din-
man, Bugs Bunny! “Ain’t I a stinker?” smiles ner tradition, where hitherto people talked and
the Wabbit. laughed together around the big table, is re-
placed by a silent cluster of TV trays around
Television and Video in the Garden the tube. Finally, old Sam Krichinsky sits alone
Many motion pictures have depicted prolifer- in his room in the nursing home, the television
ating media and communications technologies set his only companion.
as latter-day Machines in the American Gar- Reel Life is a satiric take on the 1972 PBS
den. This reflects, in the words of Jonathan documentary series An American Family. The
Romney, “the mindset of a society still begin- twelve-hour series documented a seven-
ning to come to terms with the implications of month period in the life of the William C.
media and political manipulation” (39). Loud family of Santa Barbara, California.
The mere presence of a television set is During that time, the family, generally re-
enough to disrupt the family idyll in Barry Lev- garded as a “candy box” ideal of the American
inson’s Avalon (1990) and Albert Brooks’s Reel home, underwent severe disruptions, result-
Life (1973). Avalon is an affecting elegy to the ing in revelations of, among other things, on-
blasted hopes of an immigrant family come to going marital infidelity (the parents ulti-
America. The saga of the Krichinsky family mately divorced) and the homosexuality of
594 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

one of the family members. Brooks’s Reel Life technological perfection and urban anonymity.
mercilessly indicts the cinema-verité film- The peaceful tranquility of Hawthorne’s Con-
making practices of An American Family as a cord Woods has been replicated by the artifi-
calculating, meddlesome, and disruptive in- cially controlled and/or computer-generated
trusion of privacy. Brooks portrays himself as wraparound environments of television studios,
the opportunistic director who not only has malls, theme parks, and bubble-dome cities.
no compunction about invading the homes In these films the disruptive force that now
of his subjects, but who does not scruple to invades the Garden and shatters its illusions is
engage in a disastrous affair with one of the not the intrusive Machine, but, ironically, the
family members. hand of man. The protagonists of Dark City and
The Truman Show, John Murdoch (Rufus Sew-
The New Technological Garden ell) and Truman Burbank ( Jim Carrey), re-
Recent motion pictures reverse the Machine in spectively, beat their fists against the machine-
the Garden paradigm. In Alex Proyas’s Dark tooled facades of their bubble cities and dream
City (1998) and Peter Weir’s The Truman of a counter Arcadia, a tropical paradise—for
Show (1998), the Machine now is the Garden, Murdoch it is a place called “Shell Beach,” and
a new kind of media-driven pastoral space of for Truman it is the Fiji Islands.

References
1984 (1955, F; 1984, F)
Filmography
Paths of Glory (1957, F)
An American Family (1972, D) The Red Badge of Courage (1951, F)
Angels with Dirty Faces (1938, F) Reel Life (1973, F)
Avalon (1990, F) Robocop (1987, F)
Bad Company (1971, F) Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989, F)
Black Diamond Express (1896, SF) Short Cuts (1993, F)
Bye, Bye Birdie (1963, F) Silent Running (1972, F)
Cheyenne Autumn (1964) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983, F)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, F) Star Trek: First Contact (1996, F)
The Conversation (1974, F) Terminator 2 (1991, F)
Crash (1997, F) THX 1138 (1970, F)
Damn Yankees (1958, F) To Kill a Mockingbird (1962, F)
Dances with Wolves (1990, F) The Truman Show (1998, F)
Dark City (1998, F) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969, F)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, F) Videodrome (1982, F)
Dead End (1936, F) War of the Worlds (1953, F)
Demon Seed (1977, F)
Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Stopped Worrying and
Learned to Love the Bomb (1964, F)
EdTV (1999, F) Bibliography
The Emerald Forest (1985, F) Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. 1907.
Enemy of the State (1998, F) Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974.
Fail-Safe (1964, F) Arnheim, Rudolph. “The Two Authenticities of the
Full Metal Jacket (1987, F) Photographic Media.” Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Gattaca (1997, F) Criticism 51.4 (1993): 537–540.
The General (1926, F) Brosnan, John. Future Tense: The Cinema of Science
The Grapes of Wrath (1940, F) Fiction. New York: St. Martin’s, 1978.
Lonely Are the Brave (1962, F) Davis, Keith F. An American Century of Photography:
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, F) From Dry-Plate to Digital. New York: Abrams, 1990.
Medicine Man (1992, F) Fielding, Raymond. A Technological History of Motion
Millennium Man (1999, F) Pictures and Television. Berkeley: University of
The Music Man (1962, F) California Press, 1983.
 THE MACHINE IN THE GARDEN ] 595
Gunning, Tom. “An Aesthetic of Astonishment: Early Nash, Roderick. Wilderness and the American Mind.
Film and the (In)credulous Spectator.” In Leo New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982.
Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds., Film Theory and Romney, Jonathan. “The New Paranoia: Games Pixels
Criticism, 818–832. New York: Oxford University Play.” Film Comment 34.6 (1998): 39–43.
Press, 1999. Sanford, Charles I. The Quest for Paradise: Europe
Marx, Leo. The Machine in the Garden: Technology and the American Moral Imagination. Urbana: Uni-
and the Pastoral Ideal. New York: Oxford Univer- versity of Illinois Press, 1961.
sity Press, 1964. Schivelbusch, Wolfgang. The Railway Journey: The In-
Minnis, Stuart. “Digitalization and the Instrumental- dustrialization of Time and Space in the 19th Cen-
ist Approach to the Photographic Image.” Iris 25 tury. New York: Urizen, 1979.
(1998): 1–11. Smith, Henry Nash. Virgin Land: The American West
Mitchell, William. The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth as Symbol and Myth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
in the Post-Photographic Era. Cambridge, MA: MIT University Press, 1950.
Press, 1992. Susman, Warren I. Culture as History: The Transfor-
Musser, Charles. The Emergence of Cinema. New mation of American Society in the Twentieth Cen-
York: Scribner’s, 1993. tury. New York: Pantheon, 1984.
[ HANNU SALMI ]

Success and the Self-Made Man

he myth of personal success has been member of a successful mercantile establish-

T characteristic of American culture and so-

ciety at least since the mid-nineteenth
century. Its roots date back to the eighteenth-
century individualism embedded in the cul-
ment,” (109) but none of them achieves im-
mediate economic or political prominence.
Still, by the end of the nineteenth century,
the expression “Horatio Alger story” was used
ture of enlightenment and best exemplified by to refer to a very successful career and even
Benjamin Franklin’s famous Autobiography. carried materialistic connotations. “Fame” and
The underlying idea that a citizen himself can “fortune” became more important in the pop-
determine his own future and change his life ular imagination than “modesty,” “respect,”
for the better lies at the core of modern cul- and “hard work.” The most idolized self-made
ture. In the eighteenth century, the ideal citi- men in American culture were either success-
zen was represented as a male figure, and the ful manufacturers or technological innovators,
myth of success applied to males only. such as Andrew Carnegie and Thomas A. Ed-
The son of a Unitarian minister, Horatio Al- ison. Carnegie, a success philosopher himself,
ger Jr. (1832–1899) has been identified as the argued, however, that success always requires
quintessential spokesman for this myth. Al- character and, to acquire money, one must un-
though it cannot be said that he invented the dergo a process of education and self-denial.
idea, he certainly is the most famous mediator If one loses modesty, wealth will soon vanish.
and interpreter of the Self-Made Man. Alger Self-making as a contradictory process, in-
was initially a pastor, but after his first assign- cluding both self-denial and money making,
ment he moved to New York City and started modesty and richness, has been a fruitful start-
a career as a freelance writer. In most of his ing point for the film medium. Indeed, success
135 books, Alger addressed a young male au- has been one of the central themes in cinema
dience and described how a ragged street boy right from the start. Despite the crucial role of
could attain a respected place in the commu- “success,” there still is no comprehensive study
nity—that virtue and success were not incom- of its mythic treatment in cinema. One could,
patible. however, mention Bernard B. Scott’s book
Despite such alluring titles as Fame and For- Hollywood Dreams and Biblical Stories (1994),
tune and Striving for Fortune, Alger did not, as which includes a chapter on Horatio Alger’s
often has been stated, depict boys who alone legacy in Hollywood cinema. Furthermore,
and unaided rise to the top. Neither did he there are excellent studies of the Self-Made
speak in an unqualified way for individualistic Man in American culture as a whole. In ad-
free enterprise. As John G. Cawelti has shown, dition to John G. Cawelti’s Apostles of the Self-
a typical Alger hero “is established in a secure Made Man (1965), Irvin Wyllie’s The Self-
white-collar position, either as a clerk with the Made Man in America (1954), Richard Weiss’s
promise of a junior partnership or as a junior The American Myth of Success from Horatio Al-

596
 SUCCESS AND THE SELF-MADE MAN ] 597

ger to Norman Vincent Peale (1969), David chael Cimino portrayed the difficulties of the
Madden’s American Dreams, American Night- settlers in the Wyoming of the 1890s. The im-
mares (1970), and Richard Huber’s The Amer- migrant settlers had to fight for their rights
ican Idea of Success (1971) are all noteworthy. against cattle barons whose thirst for power
Those who are interested in Horatio Alger’s and property not only made the fulfillment of
legacy might find Carol Nackenoff ’s The Fic- the American Dream impossible but severely
tional Republic: Horatio Alger and American endangered the very lives of the lower classes.
Political Discourse (1994) worth consulting. A In the process of nation building, the role of
fascinating reexamination of the myth is Jef- great men has also been stressed in the cinema.
frey Louis Decker’s Made in America: Self- Innovators like Thomas A. Edison and Alex-
Styled Success from Horatio Alger to Oprah ander Graham Bell have been presented in an
Winfrey (1997), analyzing the changing rheto- adoring manner: they have been glorified both
ric of personal success. In the late twentieth as successful self-made men and as crucial
century, the emphasis of this rhetoric has American characters whose contribution has
moved from religious “character” to psycho- had nationwide or even global influence. These
logical “personality” and celebrity “image.” kinds of filiopietistic biographies were espe-
cially popular from 1930 to 1960. In addition
Self-Making and Nation Building to such films as The Story of Alexander Graham
During the nineteenth century, the image of Bell (1939), Young Tom Edison (1940), and Ed-
the Self-Made Man was often connected to the ison the Man (1940), great men of politics were
genesis of the American nation. In the Old also turned into role models. John Ford’s clas-
World, traditional society limited the possibil- sic Young Mr. Lincoln (1939) described the
ities of breaking the boundaries of social self-making of a future president and also em-
classes, but in the United States, the promise phasized the importance of “modesty,” “re-
of upward mobility seemed to open infinite spect,” and “hard work”—in the sense of Hor-
personal frontiers. atio Alger.
The myth of personal success was actually a All biographies of the classical Hollywood
much-needed instrument in a country that era tend to promote the idea of a self-made
had to reassure newcomers about the possi- man. In a way, the basic notion that success is
bilities of their future. It claimed that those something inherent, something that does not
who worked hard and were honest and punc- come “from outside” but that is in a great man
tual would inevitably find their place on the by birth, seems to be in contradiction with the
social ladder. The myth resonated with a democratic ideal that, in America, everybody
quasi-religious message: for millions of Euro- makes his own future. However, often these
pean immigrants, America was a “promised films have elements of Horatio Alger’s notion
land” with endless opportunities. At the turn of self-education: to be a genius, natural talent
of the century, from the 1870s to the 1920s, is not enough. One has to cultivate one’s own
this myth had a crucial role in the process of character, to be humble and hard-working.
assimilation of dozens of ethnic groups. This idea becomes visible, for example, in
But the reality did not always meet these Glenn Miller’s struggle to find his personal
promises. Charles Chaplin’s The Immigrant style, his own sound, in Anthony Mann’s The
(1917) showed future-oriented newcomers Glenn Miller Story (1954).
whose optimism was hindered by the fact that If there were a filmmaker inspired by Hor-
the “promised land” did not actually welcome atio Alger in Hollywood, the one who most
outsiders. In his spectacular vision of “the obviously comes to mind is the Sicilian im-
birth of a nation,” Heaven’s Gate (1980), Mi- migrant Frank Capra, the director of numer-
598 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

ous populist comedies. He did not really tell spiritual loss and emptiness” (vi–vii). At the
stories about people who advance from rags to end of the novel, Levinsky has everything—
riches. Instead, he argues that the American thousands of things that had been a forbidden
Dream has been misunderstood and that the fruit to him are at his command—but, still,
adoration of success had led to false passion “money is no measure of value.” His past and
for making money, to a domination of greed his present “do not comfort well”; he never can
over more humane sentiments. In Meet John get what he lost through his economic rise
Doe (1941), a hobo (Gary Cooper) is made a (524–525).
celebrity by a newspaper reporter (Barbara During the 1920s, the myth of the white,
Stanwyck) working in cooperation with Anglo-Saxon, self-made man started to de-
scheming politicians. This success, created and cline. As Jeffrey Louis Decker has pointed out,
exploited by media, is inauthentic itself, but, Scott F. Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby
in Capra’s vision, this exception does not mean (1925) is a critique of uplift stories. Gatsby has
that the myth of success is an illusion; it has illicit business associations with immigrant
only been used for selfish purposes by politi- gangsters—successful bootleggers—which are
cians who have forgotten their duties and by a presented as necessary for advancement in the
media that has forgotten the responsibilities post–World War I era. On the other hand,
that go along with the freedom of speech. there had been growing suspicion of immi-
Many Capra films, like Mr. Deeds Goes to Town grants during and after the war: in the late
(1936) and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1920s, xenophobic, anti-immigrant sentiments
(1939), clearly would like to reelevate and were fueled by premonitions of economic de-
reappraise the role of a self-made man: the cline.
myth is revived by going back to its rural and This atmosphere became visible on the
sincere origins in America’s small towns. screen in the early 1930s, when gangster mov-
ies gained popularity. The American melting
Ambiguity of Success pot was failing to assimilate immigrants, and
In literature and popular culture, the myth of the struggle for success found violent, illegal
success often is Janus-faced. It is eclipsed by a forms. Such films as Little Caesar (1930) and
certain ambiguity because external signs and The Public Enemy (1931) explored inverted
internal essence, richness and character always and distorted images of the American Dream,
intertwine, and the American Dream is in dan- turned into a nightmare. “Despite all the gun-
ger of turning into a nightmare, becoming ei- play, mayhem, and omnipresence of death, the
ther an individual or a social horror. Despite gangster film of the early thirties served pri-
the fundamental belief that all citizens are marily as a success story,” writes Andrew Berg-
equal, implanted in a traditional Alger story, man, adding, “That Americans were attracted
already during the 1910s, the descriptions of to outlaws during the Depression’s most
immigrant self-made men in literature and wrenching years is an undeniable and useful
cinema tended to become critical. fact, but the manner in which the outlaws op-
In his novel The Rise of David Levinsky erated only reinforced some of the country’s
(1917), Abraham Cahan portrayed how an im- most cherished myths about individual suc-
migrant of Russian Jewish origin gained ma- cess” (6–7). Yet here is an interesting paradox:
terial success in his new home country but lost gangsterism and entrepreneurial corruption
his cultural heritage. As John Higham notes in worked strongly against the traditional myth
his introduction to Cahan’s novel, “since he of personal success because they limited the
could not forget what he had betrayed, the possibilities of a citizen, but gangster movies
path of commercial achievement ended in focused on the individuals, not on organized
 SUCCESS AND THE SELF-MADE MAN ] 599

crime as a social institution that was jeopard- Success in the Media World
izing American individualism. Thus, the films Citizen Kane described the world of media that
became advocates of the success myth, irre- was to become the most common background
spective of their violent and antisocial subject for success stories in the 1950s. Sweet Smell of
matter. Success (1957), written by Clifford Odets to-
When the struggle for success replaces other gether with Ernest Lehman and directed by Al-
values, illegal methods seem to be unavoidable. exander Mackendrick, offered a sour study of
Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather saga (in three journalism, set in New York City. In the year
parts, made in 1972, 1974, and 1990) is an il- of its release, it was widely regarded as an at-
luminating example, although one should keep tack on gossip columnist Walter Winchell. His
in mind that, in later gangster movies, it is not cinematic sharp-edged alter ego, J. J. Hun-
only the matter of individual prosperity but the secker (Burt Lancaster), was a powerful, mer-
collective success of “the family” as well. ciless journalist whose stories could either
Yet the ambiguity of success had been ex- make or break a career. His right-hand man is
plored by filmmakers before the peak of cin- a press agent, Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis), who
ematic gangsterism. Erich von Stroheim’s supports himself hunting down items for
Greed (1925) traces an obsession for money Hunsecker’s writings. Sweet Smell of Success
and the destructive power of money lust. King was strongly influenced by its left-wing script-
Vidor’s The Crowd (1928), on the other hand, writer, Clifford Odets, whose sharp and
shows a man who does not even have the op- scorching lines unmask the cynicism of the
portunity to achieve success. The big city, ac- media world.
cording to Vidor, does not offer prospects for Many other films of the 1950s discuss the
upward mobility; indeed, retrogression often role of media in the formation of success: here
seems more likely. When the daughter of the fame and fortune can be acquired not only by
central character is suddenly killed, everything hard and humble work, as Alger suggested, but
starts to move downwards: he loses his job and through publicity—by becoming a popular
is about to commit suicide. At the last mo- singer or an actor. Hollywood itself had be-
ment, he decides to start again, right from the come a symbol of fame already during the
bottom, and takes a job as a sandwich-board 1920s and 1930s. William A. Wellman’s A Star
carrier. Is Born (1937) had captured well the hustle of
Perhaps the most well-known of the success the dream factory. This story of stardom was
stories of Hollywood is Citizen Kane, directed to inspire later filmmakers: it was remade in
by Orson Welles in 1941. Like Abraham Ca- 1954 by George Cukor and in 1976 by Frank
han’s novel over two decades earlier, it suc- Pierson. During the 1950s, such films as Sunset
ceeds in revealing the loneliness of success, Boulevard (1950) and The Big Knife (1955)
how selfishness and greed, in the end, separate continued to emphasize Hollywood mythol-
individuals from the community. Charles Fos- ogy. Paradoxically, at the same time, film pro-
ter Kane falls morally along his way to the top, duction was in crisis and a new medium, tele-
just like the protagonist of All the King’s Men vision, was transforming viewing habits and
(1949) and many other movies in the anti- patronage.
success genre. In the end, he lives alone in his Modern success can be born without any en-
castle, Xanadu. His last word heard during the trepreneurial activity, through the means of
claustral preface of the film, does not refer to publicity, especially advertising. George Cu-
luxury but to something very personal, some- kor’s It Should Happen to You (1953) tells a
thing he lost as a child and could never replace story of Gladys Glover ( Judy Holliday) who is
with material things. haunted by her own ordinariness. She rents a
600 [ MYTHS AND HEROES

his own key to the executive washroom. Al-

though there is a certain critical point in this
satire, there seems to be a traditional under-
tone within. Just as Gladys Glover finally per-
ceives the senselessness of empty success and
returns to ordinary life, Rock Hunter learns
that the girl next door can offer much more
genuine happiness than his career at the
agency.

The Return of the Self-Made Man

(and Woman)
FIGURE 77. Sweet Smell of Success (1957). Sidney
Falco (Tony Curtis), a publicity agent and toady of
Success defined as economic well-being can be
hateful newspaper columnist J. J. Hunsecker (Burt found in a high percentage of American films;
Lancaster), strides confidently down a New York street. fantasies of money have long been an essential
Courtesy Hill-Hecht-Lancaster Productions. part of entertainment and still are. During the
depression era, such daydreams were especially
huge billboard on Columbus Circle in New popular. In Gold Diggers of 1933, Ginger Rog-
York City with her last savings. She even suc- ers, supported by chorus girls holding giant
ceeds in getting six other billboards and, soon, coins, sang an ode for earthly well-being:
her name is known everywhere in New York. “We’re in the money. We’ve got a lot of what
She becomes a pure product of publicity. Fi- it takes to get along. We never see a headline
nally, she realizes the absurd state of things and about a breadline today.” To see backstage
returns, happily, to anonymity. In this film, musicals of the early 1930s only as escapist fan-
Cukor was making a comment on the huge tasies or as counterimages of the depression
changes in the media environment after World era is not enough; they served to revitalize the
War II. Surely, the film industry was not non- myth of success.
partisan in this cultural conflict: the spokes- In Hollywood cinema, making money has
men of the old media openly criticized new been mainly a male privilege. There are, how-
technologies such as television and, simulta- ever, examples of self-made women, but they
neously, the modern lifestyle it extolled—a seem to be rare, at least as protagonists of the
lifestyle supposedly filled with meretricious stories. Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce (1945)
and conspicuous consumption. shows an ambitious mother ( Joan Crawford)
Frank Tashlin directed a number of satires who works hard in order to give her daughter
about television and advertising. Will Success (Ann Blyth) a good education. Mildred
Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) tells a story of an achieves an enormous success and is ready to
advertising-jingle writer, Rock Hunter (Tony sacrifice everything for her daughter. Finally,
Randall), who is striving to advance his posi- money proves to be meaningless—and Mil-
tion at a company, although the president dred cannot buy a better life for herself or her
openly despises him. Hunter convinces a spoiled offspring.
movie sex symbol ( Jayne Mansfield) to en- During recent decades, female protagonists
dorse his ad campaign, and his career starts to have become much more common as success-
skyrocket. The film laughs at the persistent ful characters. In Garry Marshall’s Pretty
ambition to advance up the corporate ladder Woman (1990), a ruthless businessman, Ed-
by any means possible. Heaven’s door itself ward Lewis (Richard Gere), needs an escort
seems to open for Rock Hunter when he gets and hires prostitute Vivian Ward ( Julia Rob-
 SUCCESS AND THE SELF-MADE MAN ] 601

erts) to be his companion at some social George Barr McCutcheon’s novel (1902), had
events. As Bernard B. Scott notices, Vivian is been filmed four times before. The leading role
depicted as an Alger hero who, finally through was performed by white actors Edward Abeles
marriage, rises from rags to riches. In the end, (1914), Fatty Arbuckle (1921), Jack Buchanan
she “is not a fallen woman but a working (1935), and Dennis O’Keefe (1945), but in the
woman” (134). The film does not actually 1985 adaptation, Richard Pryor was given the
stress the instrumentality of sex as a means to opportunity to explore an African American
success, but, in many other Hollywood stories, version of success.
sex and success seem to intertwine. In Barry During the 1980s and 1990s, there was also
Levinson’s Disclosure (1994), this coupling is a revival of the white Self-Made Man in Hol-
obvious. Tom Sanders (Michael Douglas) lywood. Instead of emphasizing the qualities
works in a computer company in Seattle. On of Horatio Alger, many recent films, especially
her first day at DigiCom, Meredith Johnson from the late 1970s onward, stressed the im-
(Demi Moore) tries to use her sexual appeal in portance of physical strength through condi-
order to influence Tom. Irritated by his re- tioning as a basis for personal success. Think
fusal, Meredith tells their boss (Donald Suth- of the lead characters of Rocky (1976), Pump-
erland) that Tom has sexually harassed her. ing Iron (1977), and First Blood (1982): here
Disclosure has a clearly male perspective when self-education has taken the form of body-
describing an unprincipled female trying to building, and the role of a self-made man has
make a success in business world through been presented as crucial in defending Amer-
every possible means. ican values. So often in the Sylvester Stallone
In classical Hollywood cinema, African films, personal success has again been identi-
Americans and other ethnic minorities were fied with a renewal of a proud national iden-
on the margins: the Self-Made Man was pre- tity.
dominantly a myth for white Anglo-Saxons. There seems, however, to be a touch of Hor-
During the last decades, there have been, how- atio Alger’s spirit left in the American main-
ever, many success films with black protago- stream cinema, especially in its attempts to re-
nists. In his comedy Coming to America (1988), turn to the age of innocence. Forrest Gump
John Landis tells a story about a wealthy Af- (1994), directed by Richard Zemeckis, follows
rican prince (Eddie Murphy) who emigrates to the life of a humble person who, irrespective
the United States in search of love. A perhaps of his casual appearances in media, makes his
more interesting case is Walter Hill’s Brewster’s own way—and succeeds. The film is certainly
Millions (1985), in which a minor-league base- an ironical comment on recent American his-
ball player, Montgomery Brewster, has to tory, but it also suggests that there always is a
spend $30 million in thirty days in order to place in American hearts for modest, hard-
inherit $300 million. This story, based on working, decent citizens.

References
The Crowd (1928, F)
Filmography Disclosure (1994, F)
All the King’s Men (1949, F) Edison the Man (1940, F)
The Big Knife (1955, F) First Blood (1982, F)
Brewster’s Millions (1914, F; 1921, F; 1935, F; 1945, F; Forrest Gump (1994, F)
1985, F) The Glenn Miller Story (1954, F)
Citizen Kane (1941, F) The Godfather (1972, F)
Coming to America (1988, F) The Godfather, Part II (1974, F)
602 [ MYTHS AND HEROES
Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933, F) Cawelti, John G. Apostles of the Self-Made Man. Chi-
Greed (1925, F) cago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
Heaven’s Gate (1980, F) Decker, Jeffrey Louis. Made in America: Self-Styled
The Immigrant (1917, F) Success from Horatio Alger to Oprah Winfrey. Min-
It Should Happen to You (1953, F) neapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1997.
Little Caesar (1930, F) Durgnat, Raymond, and Scott Simmon. King Vidor,
Meet John Doe (1941, F) American. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of
Mildred Pierce (1945, F) California Press, 1988.
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936, F) Huber, Richard. The American Idea of Success. New
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939, F) York: McGraw-Hill, 1971.
Pretty Woman (1990, F) Madden, David, ed. American Dreams, American
The Public Enemy (1931, F) Nightmares. Carbondale: Southern Illinois Univer-
Rocky (1976, F) sity Press, 1970.
A Star Is Born (1937, F; 1954, F; 1976, F) Nackenoff, Carol. The Fictional Republic: Horatio Al-
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939, F) ger and American Political Discourse. New York:
Sunset Boulevard (1950, F) Oxford University Press, 1994.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957, F) Naremore, James. The Magic World of Orson Welles.
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957, F) New York: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Young Mr. Lincoln (1939, F) Scott, Bernard B. Hollywood Dreams and Biblical Sto-
Young Tom Edison (1940, F) ries. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.
Susman, Warren I. Culture as History: The Transfor-
Bibliography mation of American Society in the Twentieth Cen-
Adams, James Truslow. The Epic of America. Boston: tury. New York: Pantheon, 1984.
Little, Brown, 1931. Weiss, Richard. The American Myth of Success from
Bergman, Andrew. We’re in the Money: Depression Horatio Alger to Norman Vincent Peale. New York:
America and Its Films. New York: New York Uni- Basic Books, 1969.
versity Press, 1971. Wyllie, Irvin. The Self-Made Man in America: the
Cahan, Abraham. The Rise of David Levinsky. 1917. Myth of Rags to Riches. New Brunswick, NJ: Rut-
New York: Harper & Row, 1960. gers University Press, 1954.
夝 CONTRIBUTORS Peter C. Rollins
General Editor
Film and History
www.filmandhistory.org

Ray Arsenault
Civil Rights
Department of History
University of South Florida

Robert Baird
Indian Leaders; Journalism and the Media
Department of English
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Scott Baugh
Mexican Americans
Department of English
Texas Tech University

Mike Birdwell
Antebellum Frontier Heroes; The Trans-Appalachian
West to 1861
Department of History
Tennessee Tech University

Bill Brigman
Sexuality
Department of Social Sciences
University of Houston–Downtown

Ron Briley
Private Schools; Public High Schools
Sandia Preparatory School
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Alicia Browne
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Independent scholar
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Mark Busby
Texas and the Southwest
Center for the Study of the Southwest
Southwest Texas State University

Anthony Chase
Christopher Columbus; Congress and the Senate;
Elections and Party Politics
Shepard Broad Law Center
Nova Southeastern University

603
604 [ CONTRIBUTORS
Solomon Davidoff Dale Herbeck
Jewish Americans Football
New England Institute of Art and Communications Department of Communications
Boston College
Michael Denison
Space Peter Holloran
Cottey College Catholic Americans; Irish Americans
Department of History
Thomas Doherty Worcester State College
Democracy and Equality
American Studies and Film Studies Terry Hong
Brandeis University Asian Americans
Asian Pacific American Program
Stacey Donahue Smithsonian Institution
Italian Americans
Department of English Edward Ingebretsen
Central Oregon Community College The Puritan Era and the Puritan Mind
Department of English
Joe Dorinson Georgetown University
New York City
Department of History Carlton Jackson
Long Island University–Brooklyn Campus The 1930s
Department of History
Robert Doyle Western Kentucky University
The American Fighting Man
Martin A. Jackson
Department of History
Abraham Lincoln; Harry Truman
Franciscan University
Independent scholar
New York City
Robert Fyne
World War II: Feature Films
Jacqueline Kilpatrick
Department of English
Native Americans
Kean University
Department of Humanities
California State University–Channel Islands
Owen Gilman
The South Lawence Kreiser
Department of English The Civil War and Reconstruction
St. Joseph’s Jesuit University–Philadelphia Department of History
University of Alabama
Ron Green
Children and Teenagers in the Twentieth Century Phil Landon
Casady School The Cold War; The Korean War
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Department of English
University of Maryland–Baltimore County
Thomas Halper
City and State Government George Lankevich
Department of Political Science New York City
Baruch College, City University of New York Professor Emeritus, Department of History
City University of New York
James Hanlan
The “New” West and the New Western; The Political Chris Lovett
Machine The 1960s
Humanities Department Department of History
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Emporia State University

Zia Hasan R. Philip Loy

The 1970s The Frontier and the West
Vice President’s Office Department of Political Science
Claflin University Taylor University
 CONTRIBUTORS ] 605
Charles Maland Michael J. Riley
The American Adam Militias and Extremist Political Movements
Department of English Roswell Museum
University of Tennessee Roswell, New Mexico

Mary Malloy
Hannu Salmi
The Sea
Success and the Self-Made Man
Sea Education Association
Department of History
Woods Hole, Massachusetts
University of Turku, Finland
Gregory McNamee
Baseball James Sandos
Independent scholar Westward Expansion and the Indian Wars
Tucson, Arizona Department of History
University of Redlands
Joseph Millichap
The 1890s; Railroads
Cotten Seiler
Department of English
The American Revolution; The Founding Fathers
Western Kentucky University
American Studies Department
Steven Mintz Dickinson College
The Family
Department of History Jack G. Shaheen
University of Houston Arab Americans
Independent scholar
Douglas Muzzio Hilton Head, South Carolina
City and State Government
School of Public Affairs
Baruch College, City University of New York Michael Shull
African-Americans After World War II; Franklin and
Jessica Muzzio Eleanor Roosevelt; The Labor Movement and the
City and State Government Working Class; Radicals and Radicalism; Robber
School of Law Barons, Media Moguls, and Wall Street Power Elites
Rutgers University Rhetoric and Communications Department
Mount St. Mary’s College
Douglas Noverr
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig June Sochen
Department of American Thought and Language Women in the Twentieth Century; Feminism and
Michigan State University Feminist Films
Department of History
William J. Palmer Northeastern Illinois University
The 1980s
Department of English
Purdue University Jennifer Tebbe-Grossman
Drugs, Tobacco, and Alcohol
Sarah Pearsall Department of American Studies and
Women from the Colonial Era to 1900 Political Science
Department of Modern History Massachusetts College of Pharmacy
University of St. Andrews, Scotland
John D. Thomas
Susan Opt
George Washington
Space
Independent scholar
Communications Department
Chicago, Illinois
University of Houston–Victoria

Peter C. Rollins John Tibbetts

The Presidency After World War II; The Vietnam War; The Machine in the Garden; The Midwest; The 1920s;
World War I; World War II: Documentaries The Small Town
Department of English Department of Radio, TV, and Film
Oklahoma State University University of Kansas
606 [ CONTRIBUTORS
Robert B. Toplin Davd Wilt
Slavery Hollywood’s Detective; The Labor Movement and the
Department of History Working Class; Radicals and Radicalism; Robber
University of North Carolina–Wilmington Barons, Media Moguls, and Wall Street Power Elites;
Suburbia
Don Whaley University Library
Richard Nixon University of Maryland at College Park
Department of Political Science
Salisbury University
James Yates
Ron Wilson The Mexican-American War and the Spanish-
Crime and the Mafia American War
Department of Radio, TV, and Film Department of English
University of Kansas Northwestern Oklahoma State University
夝 Index This index contains entries for historical eras, events,
people, institutions and movements; cultural themes;
film titles, actors, directors, and producers; book au-
thors and titles; and film art techniques. The principal
article focusing on each topic is identified with bold-
faced locators: 326–329.

Aaron Loves Angela, 212, 215

Abbott, Bud, 11, 376
Abboud, Joseph, 219
Abeles, Edward, 601
Abe Lincoln in Illinois: and Civil War, 65, 67;
democracy/equality in, 573, 576; and Lincoln, 177,
178, 179; Midwest in, 428
Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Sherwood), 177, 178
Abernathy, Ralph, 336
Abie’s Irish Rose, 264, 267
Abolitionism, 63, 556. See also Civil War; Slavery
About Schmidt, 425, 428
Above and Beyond, 129, 134
Abraham, F. Murray, 411
Abraham Lincoln (1924), 64, 67, 176, 179
Abraham Lincoln (1930), 65, 67, 177, 179
Abraham Lincoln (1988), 179
Abraham Lincoln: Against the Odds, 178
Absalom, Absalom! (Faulkner), 466
Absence of Malice, 376–377, 381
The Abuse of Power (Kutler), 181
Accidental Empires (Cringely), 380
Acculturation/assimilation: and family, 354; Italian
Americans, 258, 259; Jewish Americans, 264, 265,
266, 572; Mexican Americans, 274
The Accused, 538, 539
Aces: The Story of the First Air War, 114
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, 588
Acosta, Ann, 194
Acosta, Bob, 194
Across 110th Street, 261
Across the Pacific, 133, 134
Acting style, 142
Action in the North Atlantic: FDR in, 188, 189; labor
issues in, 387, 390; seafaring experience in, 453–454,
456
Acton, Lord, 527
Acuña, Rudolfo, 273
Adamic cultural myth. See American Adam
Adams, Abigail, 154, 156, 304
Adams, Andy, 489
Adams, Henry, 590
Adams, John: and anti-Catholicism, 234; as Founding
Father, 154, 155, 156; and presidency, 403; and
women, 304

607
608 [ Index
Adams, John Quincy, 452, 555 The Age of Reform, 398 Ali, 214, 215
Adams, Michael C. C., 125 Agnes of God, 238, 239 Alias Jimmy Valentine, 510, 516
Adams, Samuel, 154, 569 Agriculture. See Rural life Ali Baba Goes to Town, 186–187,
Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 142 Agutter, Jenny, 448 189
The Adams Chronicles: American Ahn, Philip, 226–227 Alice Adams, 312, 315
Revolution in, 51, 56; Founding AIDS, 546 Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,
Fathers in, 154, 155–156, 158, 159; Aiello, Danny, 329 493, 495
women in, 304, 308 Ain’t Scared of Your Jails, 341 Alien 3, 361
Adam’s Rib, 537, 539 Air Force, 71, 573, 576 Alienation, 30, 32, 417, 468
Addy, Wesley, 74 Air Force: African Americans in, Aliwalas, Francisco, 232
Adolescence (Hall), 241, 243 132, 187, 333; and Cold War, 76; All About Eve: New York City in,
Adolescents. See Teenagers and World War I, 110–111; and 443, 444; women’s roles in, 313,
Adult movies, 549 World War II, 119–120, 132. See 536, 539
The Adventures of Dolly, 242, 247 also Soldiers; specific wars The All American, 363, 372
The Adventures of Ozzie and Air Force One, 403, 408 All-American Girls Professional
Harriet, 460 Airplane II, 475, 479 Ball League, 321
Advise and Consent: government/ Air Power, 117 Allegheny Uprising: land ownership
politics in, 344–345, 346, 349, 350; Alambrista!, 273 in, 282, 286; Trans-Appalachian
right-wing extremism in, 293, The Alamo (1960): antebellum West in, 500, 501, 505; women’s
295 frontier hero in, 144, 146; roles in, 304, 308
An Affair to Remember, 443, 444 frontier in, 580, 581; Mexican Allen, Dede, xvi
Affirmative action, 213, 534 Americans in, 271, 275; Mexican- Allen, Ethan, 567
Affleck, Ben, 525 American War in, 87, 91; and Allen, Joan, 531
African Americans, 207–217; and right-wing extremism, 393, 396; Allen, John, 435
abolitionism, 556; and baseball, soldiers in, 569, 570; Southwest Allen, Woody: and Jewish humor,
210, 320–321; and crime genre, in, 489 266; and New York City, 440,
515; crossover stars, 213–214; and Alamo, Battle of the, 87; and 441, 443; and radio, 378; and
detective films, 587; and family, antebellum frontier hero, 143, women’s roles, 38
261; film invisibility of, 354, 414– 144, 145; documentaries, 88; and All in the Family, 442
415, 434, 572, 601; filmmakers, 19; Mexican Americans, 271, 272; All My Sons, 133, 134
filmography, 215–216; Great and Southwest, 489, 495 All Quiet on the Western Front
Migration, 116, 125, 341; and Alamo Bay, 44, 45, 494, 495 (1930), 18, 20, 112, 114
Indian wars, 105, 108; and leftist Alamo: The Price of Freedom All Quiet on the Western Front
radicalism, 294; 1920s culture, 15; (IMAX), 87 (1979), 114
1970s perspectives, 212–213; post– The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory, All Quiet on the Western Front
World War II era perspectives, 87, 91 (Remarque), 111
208–211, 334–335; and public high Alas, Babylon, 31 All the Brothers Were Valiant, 449,
schools, 414, 416; and seafaring Alaska Gold Rush, 12–13 456
experience, 447, 453; social Albert, Eddie, 367 All the King’s Men: government/
problem films, 207, 208–211, 334– Albert, Frankie, 366 politics in, 329, 330, 399, 401, 528,
335; and South, 464–465; Al Capone, 513 532; right-wing extremism in,
stereotypes, 61, 207, 212, 214, 215, Alcohol, 519–521; filmography, 525– 292, 293, 295; small towns in,
306; and success myth, 601; 526. See also Prohibition 459, 460; South in, 469, 471;
teenagers, 246; and westerns, Alcoholics Anonymous, 519, 520 success myth in, 599, 601
434, 494; and women’s roles, Alcott, Louisa May, 306 All the King’s Men (Warren), 292,
305–306, 311, 314. See also Civil Alda, Alan, 366, 528 329, 528
rights movement; Race relations; Alderson, Erville, 52 All the President’s Men: and crime,
Racism; Slavery Aldiss, Robert, 40 514; government/politics in, 401,
African American soldiers: Civil Aldrich, Robert, 74, 75, 543, 586 532; media in, 38, 40, 375, 376,
War, 65, 568; Vietnam War, 39, Aleiss, Angela, 281 381; Nixon in, 181, 182, 183
114, 341; World War II, 118–119, Alexander, Grover Cleveland, 322 All the President’s Men (Woodward
132, 187, 208–209, 321, 333 Alexander Hamilton, 159, 202 & Bernstein), 181
Africans in America, 67, 556 Alexie, Sherman, 286 All the Pretty Horses, 492, 495
Against the Odds: Samuel Adams, Alger, Horatio, Jr., 596, 597, 599, All the Pretty Horses (McCarthy),
American Revolutionary, 159 601; and capitalist tycoons, 297; 492
Agee, Arthur, 410 and crime, 509, 511 All the Right Moves, 369–370, 372,
Agee, James, 178, 468 Algonquin people, 166 416, 417
Agena, Keiko, 232 Algren, Nelson, 521 All the Young Men, 85
 Index ] 609
All Through the Night, 441–442, and presidency, 403; and American Negro Slavery (Phillips),
444, 512, 516 Puritanism, 3, 5; and small 552
Allyson, June, 76 towns, 457; and soldiers, 569; The American Pageant (Bailey,
Almonds and Raisins: A History of and South, 465–466; and space Kennedy, & Cohen), 148
the Yiddish Cinema, 267 program, 476, 477; and suburbia, The American Political Tradition
Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch 482; and Trans-Appalachian (Hofstadter), 175
Story, 379, 381 West, 499, 502, 503, 504; and The American President, xix, 406,
Alter, Wendy, 474 Vietnam War, 94–95; and 408, 531–532
Altman, Robert: and Catholicism, George Washington, 198, 200, American Presidents: George
237–238; and detective films, 587; 201–202. See also American Washington, 202
directing style, 40; and football, Adam; Frontier; Manifest American Protective League (APL),
367; and Korean War, 83, 84; Destiny; Success myth 289
and machine in the garden, 592; American Dream. See Success American Renaissance, 3
and Native Americans, 107, 164; myth American Revolution, 49–57; and
and Nixon, 182; and revisionist American Dreams, American anti-Catholicism, 234; and
westerns, 13, 433; and South, 470; Nightmares (Madden), 597 Columbus, 149; and family, 352;
and space program, 476 The American Experience, 182–183, filmography, 56; historiography,
Alvarado, Trini, 193 532 49, 50, 52, 53, 55; and land
The Ambitious Generation The American Experience: The ownership, 467; 1980s
(Schneider & Stevenson), 246 Kennedys, 171, 173 perspectives, 51, 54–56; post–
Ambrose, Stephen: on Native The American Experience: The World War II era perspectives,
Americans, 166; on Nixon, 181; Presidents—FDR, 187, 189 53–54; and Puritanism, 3, 5; and
on Spanish-American War, 90; An American Family, 361, 593, 594 right-wing extremism, 392; and
on West, 435; on World War II, American Fighting Man. See Trans-Appalachian West, 500,
116, 122, 123 Soldiers 504; and George Washington,
Ambush in Waco, 395, 396 American Film Institute: on The 198–199; and women, 304–305;
Ameche, Don, 12, 301 Birth of a Nation, 60, 463; on and World War I, xiii, 53. See
America: American Revolution in, Gone with the Wind, 61; and also Founding Fathers
50–51, 52–53, 56; Founding New York City, 438; on 2001: A An American Romance, 299
Fathers in, 159; and 1920s, 17, 20; Space Odyssey, 476 The American Siberian
George Washington in, 199, 200, The American Friend, 146 Expeditionary Force, 114
202; women in, 308 American Gigolo, 550 American Studies movement, 4
America, America, 443 American Graffiti: media in, 378, An American Tragedy (Dreiser), 15–
America in Vietnam (Lewy), 95 381; 1960s in, 32; public high 16
American Adam, 561–566; and schools in, 415, 417; teenagers in, America Remembers, 173
antebellum frontier hero, 139; 245, 247 America’s Most Wanted, 515
and The Grapes of Wrath, xvi; An American Guerrilla in the America’s National Game
and success myth, xx, 562; and Philippines, 129, 134 (Spalding), 319
Vietnam War, 101, 564–565. See American Historical Association Amerikaner Shadchen (American
also Machine in the garden (AHA), xii, xiii Matchmaker), 264, 265, 267
American Beauty, 360, 361, 485–486, American History X, 294, 295, 396 Ames, Ed, 141
550 American Humor (Roarke), 139 Amis, Suzy, 308
American Cinematographer, 17 The American Idea of Success Amistad: race in, 214, 215; seafaring
American College Athletics (Huber), 597 experience in, 452, 455, 456;
(Carnegie Foundation), 364–365 American Indians. See Native slavery in, 555–556
American cultural mythology: and Americans Anarchy USA, 72, 79
American Revolution, 49–50, 51, The Americanization of Emily, 134 The Anasazi, 488, 495
52–53, 56; and baseball, 193, 319, American Legion, 289 The Anasazi and Chaco Canyon,
319–321, 324; and Columbus, American Madness, 22, 28 488, 495
148–149, 150; and crime, 510; and American Matchmaker (Amerikaner Anasazi people, 488
Enlightenment, 153–154; and Shadchen), 264, 265, 267 Anastasia, Albert, 513
FDR, 185, 188; and Founding American Me, 273, 275, 515, 516 Anatomy of a Murder (1959), 344–
Fathers, 154, 155, 157; and The American Myth of Success from 345, 350, 548, 550
Kennedys, 170; and Lincoln, 175, Horatio Alger to Norman Vincent Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the
176, 177, 178–179; machine in the Peale (Weiss), 596–597 United States, and the Modern
garden, xvi, 10, 590–595; and American myths. See American Historical Experience (Kolko), 95
Mexican-American War, 86; and cultural mythology Ancestors in the Americas, 233
Native Americans, 277, 278–279; American Nazi Party, 292–293 Anders, Allison, 493, 515
610 [ Index
Anderson, Bob, 470 131. See also Leftist radicalism; Arnoldt, Robert, 101
Anderson, Ernest, 208 1960s Around New York in 15 Minutes,
Anderson, George M., 579 Antonioni, Michelangelo, 549 438, 444
Anderson, Lindsay, 409 Any Given Sunday, 370, 372 Arsenault, Raymond, 331–343
Anderson, Richard, 112 Anything Goes, 227 Arsenic and Old Lace, 444
Anderson, Wes, 411 Apache people, 103, 105–106, 108, Arthur, 520, 525
The Anderson Platoon, 91, 101 580; leaders, 161, 162–163, 164–165 Arthur, Jean, 307, 359, 579
Andersonville, 65, 67 Apalachin Conference (1957), 513 Arthur Miller and the Crucible, 8
Andrew, Christopher, 30 The Apartment, 443, 444 Aryan Movement, 396
Andrew, John, 65 Apocalypse Now: and antebellum Arzner, Dorothy, 18, 535
Andrews, Dana, 73, 129 frontier hero, 146; and 1970s, 39, As Good as It Gets, 444
Andrews, James, 60 40; soldiers in, 570; Vietnam Ashby, Hal, 39, 100–101
Andrews Raid, 543 War in, 100, 101 Asian Americans, 225–233; and
And the Earth Did Not Devour Apollo 11 (spacecraft), 474, 476 crime genre, 515; film invisibility
Him, 495 Apollo 13, 477, 479 of, 354; filmmaking by, 229–233;
The Andy Griffith Show, 460 Apollo 13 (spacecraft), 474, 476, 477 filmography, 233; historical
Andy Hardy Comes Home, 460 The Apostle, 426, 428 experience, 225–226; 1980s
Andy Hardy series: family in, 357; Apostles of the Self-Made Man racism against, 42, 44; and non-
public high schools in, 414; small (Cawelti), 596 Asian actors, 227–228, 229, 230;
towns in, 458, 460; teenagers in, Applause, 20 and westerns, 306
243, 244–245, 246, 247 Apted, Michael, 79, 223, 394–395 Asian CineVue (ACV), 230
The Angel of Broadway, 19, 20 Arab Americans, 218–224; Asian Porn Pride, 232, 233
Angels in the Outfield, 322, 325 filmography, 224; historical Asphalt Jungle, 516
Angels with Dirty Faces: crime in, experience, 218–219; stereotypes, Assad, Richard, 222
516; government/politics in, 326, 219–223 Assante, Armand, 151
330; Irish Americans in, 237, 239, Arapaho people, 103 Assimilation. See Acculturation/
250, 254; and machine in the Arau, Alfonso, 274 assimilation
garden, 594; New York City in, Arbuckle, Fatty, 601 Astaire, Fred, 12, 76, 440, 453
439, 444 Are We Civilized?, 202 Astin, Sean, 369
Angie, 261 Are You Listening: Indochina Astor, John Jacob, 455
Anima, 274 Refugees, 39, 40 Atlantic City, 44, 45
Animal House, 360, 361, 523, 525 Argentina, 44 The Atomic Café, 31, 35, 72, 79
Anna Ascends, 219, 224 Ariès, Philippe, 241 Attack, 134
Anna Ascends (Ford), 219 Arirang: The Korean American Attack on Fort Boonesborough, 146
Anna Karenina, 312 Century, 233 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. The
Annie Get Your Gun, 167 The Arizona Kid, 270 Ku Klux Klan, 338, 342
Annie Hall: and Jewish Americans, Arkin, Alan, 32 At the Altar, 257, 261
266, 267; masculinity in, 38–39, Arlington Road, 294–295, 295 Attie, Jeanie, 306
40; New York City in, 443, 444 Armageddon, 477–478, 479 Auntie Mame, 440, 444
Annie Oakley, 308, 579, 581 Armed forces: desegregation, 403, Austen, Jane, 246, 417
Another Country, 409, 411 406; and media, 94; training, 97– Autobiography (Franklin), 596
Another Day in Paradise, 523, 525 98; women in, 37. See also The Autobiography of Miss Jane
Anson, Cap, 320 African American soldiers; Pittman: and civil rights, 337–
Antebellum frontier hero, 139–147; Soldiers; Veterans; specific wars 338, 342; South in, 464, 465, 471
Boone, 139–141, 498, 499, 504, Armistead Maupin’s “More Tales”, The Autobiography of Miss Jane
578; Crockett, 139, 142–144, 145, 525 Pittman (Gaines), 337, 464
499, 578; filmography, 146–147; Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the Autobiography (White), 459
Houston, 87, 144–146; Jackson, City”, 525 Autry, Gene, 128
141–142, 143–144, 145, 499, 561 Armored Car Robbery, 516 Autumn in New York, 232
Antheil, George, 16 Armstrong, Gillian, 306 Autumn Leaves, 311
Anti-Catholic prejudice, 88, 234, Armstrong, Louis, 15 Avalon: Jewish Americans in, 261,
252, 257 The Army and Vietnam 264, 267; and machine in the
Anti-Semitism, 188, 266, 410 (Krepinevich), 95 garden, 593, 594
Antiwar perspectives: and Arness, James, 73 The Avenger, 580, 581
American Adam, 101, 565; and Arnett, Peter, 432 The Avenging Conscience, 257, 261
Lincoln, 179; and veterans, 38, Arnheim, Rudolph, 591 Averill, Thomas Fox, 426, 427
101, 565; and World War I, 110, Arnold, Edward, 12, 291, 299, 563 Aviation, 19, 111. See also Air Force
112–113; and World War II, 130– Arnold, H. J. P., 473 Avildsen, John, 39
 Index ] 611
The Awakening, 471 Bandolero!, 270, 275 Battleground, 129, 134
The Awakening (Chopin), 471 The Band Wagon, 440 Battle Hymn of the Republic (1911),
The Awful Truth, 357, 361 Bang the Drum Slowly, 322, 325 176, 179
Aykroyd, Dan, 213, 301, 485 Bankhead, Tallulah, 320, 454 The Battle of Britain, 118
Banks, 22, 27 The Battle of China, 118
Babbitt, 428 Bara, Theda, 310, 546, 550 The Battle of Midway: seafaring
Babbitt (Lewis), 15 Barbara Frietchie, 58, 67 experience in, 453, 456; soldiers
The Babe, 193–194, 322, 325, 443 “Barbara Frietchie” (Whittier), 58 in, 570; World War II in, 119, 123
Babenco, Hector, 27 Barbarella, 314, 315 The Battle of New Britain, 120, 123
Babe Ruth, 194 Barbarians at the Gate, 525 The Battle of Russia, 118
The Babe Ruth Story, 192–193, 194, Barbarosa, 493, 495 The Battle of San Pietro, 119, 123,
322, 325, 443 Barber, James David, 181 570
Babes in Arms, 187, 189 Barber, Samuel, xvi The Battle of the Somme, 111, 114
Babes on Broadway, 440, 444 Barbershop, 215 Battlestar: Galactica, 40
Babich, Lawrence, 364 Barbier, George, 299 Baugh, Scott L., 269–276
Baby Boom: Arab Americans in, Barefoot in the Park, 314, 315 Baughman, James L., 374
220, 222, 224; and 1980s, 43, 45 Barker, Ma, 511 Baum, L. Frank, 427
Baby Face Nelson, 512, 516 Barrat, Robert, 23 Baxter, Anne, 536
Baby It’s You, 261 Barrow, Clyde, 511. See also Bonnie Baxter, Warner, 270
Bacall, Lauren, 265, 548 and Clyde Bay, Michael, 477, 575
Bachelor in Paradise, 484, 486 Barry, Marion, 401 Baym, Nina, 564
Back to Bataan, 126, 134, 228, 570 Barry, Raymond J., 565 Beach Red, 130, 134
Back to the Future III, 544 Barrymore, Drew, 243, 417 Beach Red (Bowman), 130
Bacon, Kevin, 477 Barrymore, John, 450, 543 Beal, Frank, 510
Bacon, Lloyd, 323 Barrymore, Lionel: and American Beard, Charles, 52, 53, 60, 175
Bad Bascomb, 286 Revolution, 53; and antebellum Beard, Mary, 60
Bad Company, 422–423, 428, 594 frontier hero, 142; and capitalist Beard, Mary Ritter, 384
Bad Day at Black Rock: and 1950s, tycoons, 300; and seafaring The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, 75
30, 35; World War II in, 132, 134, experience, 450; and suburbia, The Beatles, 32
228 482 Beatty, Warren: and 1890s, 13; and
Bad Girls, 308, 494, 495 Barsam, R. M., 117, 119 football, 368; and government/
Badham, John, 321 Barstow, Scott, 87 politics, 528; and Great
Badham, Mary, 470 Baseball, 191–195, 319–325; and Depression, 27; and leftist
Badlands, 428 African Americans, 210, 320–321; radicalism, xvi, 294; and media,
Badmen. See Crime; Gangster filmographies, 194, 325; and 375, 376; and 1960s, 32; and
films; Outlaws Midwest, 427; and Trans- revisionist westerns, 433, 434;
Bad Men of Missouri, 580, 581 Appalachian West, 504; and and Southwest, 492, 494
The Bad Seed, 243, 247, 359, 361 women, 321, 324, 539 Beaudine, William, 424
Bailey, Thomas, 148 Baseball, 325 Beau James, 327, 330
Bailyn, Bernard, 49, 51, 155, 392 Basehart, Richard, 82, 83 The Beautiful City, 261
Baird, Robert, 161–168, 374–382 Basic Instinct, 524, 525, 550 The Beautiful Rebel (Janice
Baker, Carroll, 229 Basinger, Jeanine, 133 Meredith), 50, 51, 56, 159
Baker, Ella, 331, 332, 341 Basketball, 210, 324, 416 Beauty. See Physical appearance
Balaban, Burt, 265 Bat*21, 101 Becker, Carl, 52
Balcon, Michael, 149 Bataan: African Americans in, 208, Becker, Harold, 399
Baldwin, Alec, 406, 411 215; democracy/equality in, 573, Becker, Horace, 410
Ball, Lucille, 186, 311 576; soldiers in, 569, 570 Becoming American, 39, 40
Ballad of an Unsung Hero, 272 Bates, Alan, 38 The Bedford Incident, 31, 35, 76, 456
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez: Batman, 327, 330 Beery, Wallace, 500
Mexican Americans in, 272, 274, The Battle, 58, 67 The Beginning of the End (1957), 75
275; Southwest in, 494, 495 The Battle at Apache Pass, 167 The Beginning or the End (1947),
The Ballad of Little Jo, 308, 494, 495 The Battle at Elderbush Gulch, 104, 132, 134
Ballard, Carroll, 243 108, 286 Begley, Ed, 211
La Bamba, 273, 275, 360, 361 Battle Circus, 84 (Behind) the Green Door, 549, 550
Bamboo Prison, 83, 85 Battle Cry, 130, 134 Behind the Iron Curtain (Iron
Bamboozled, 215 The Battle Cry of Peace, 202 Curtain), 73, 79
Bancroft, Anne, 33, 538 Battlefield: Vietnam, 97, 101 Behind the Mask of Innocence
Band of Angels, 554 The Battle for the Marianas, 120, 123 (Brownlow), 18
612 [ Index
Beidler, Philip D., 125 Berkeley, Busby, 439 Bigelow, Kathryn, 460
Being with Kennedy, 173 Berkeley in the Sixties, 523, 525 The Big Fix, 273, 587, 589
Belafonte, Harry: and race, 210, 211, Berkin, Carol, 303 The Big Heat, 513, 516
213, 335; and women’s roles, 311 Berlin, Ira, 55 Big Jim McLain: Cold War in, 73,
Bell, Alexander Graham, 12, 597 Berlin, Irving, 440 79; and democracy/equality, 574,
Bell, Daniel, 439, 509, 565–566 Berlin Airlift, 73 576; detectives in, 586, 589; labor
Bell, James “Cool Papa,” 321 Berlin Wall, 76 issues in, 387, 390
Bellah, James Warner, 104 Berndt, Edward, 425 The Big Knife, 599, 601
Bellamy, Ralph, 301 Bernstein, Carl, 181, 182, 375 The Big Lebowski, 301, 302
Belle of New York, 12, 13 Bernstein, Jonathan, 246 The Big Lift, 73, 79
Belle of the Nineties, 12, 13 Bernstein, Michael A., 22 Big Night, 261
Belle of the Yukon, 13 Bernstein, Walter, 388 The Big Parade: and 1920s, 18, 20;
Belle Starr, 308, 580, 581 Berry, Chuck, 53 and World War I, 110, 111, 114
A Bell for Adano, 134 Berry, Halle, 214 The Big Red One, 131, 134, 569, 570
Bells Are Ringing, 440 Berry, Joseph P., Jr., 171 The Big Sleep: crime in, 514;
Bells of Capistrano, 128, 134 Beschloss, Michael, 405 detectives in, 586, 589; sexuality
The Bells of St. Mary’s: Catholicism Best Evidence, 172, 173 in, 548, 550
in, 237, 239; Irish Americans in, The Best Man: government/politics Big Story, 97
251–252, 253, 254 in, 527, 528–529, 530, 532; Nixon The Big Trail, 579, 581
Beloved: African Americans in, 214, in, 181, 183 Big Tree, John, 162
215; slavery in, 65–66, 67; South The Best of Enemies, 134 Biles, Roger, 400
in, 471, 472; women in, 305–306, The Best of “Person to Person”, 173 Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,
308 Best Shots: A Century of Sound and 178–179, 245, 247
Belushi, John, 485 Fury, 372 Billington, Ray Allen, 277, 497
Benchley, Peter, 455 The Best War Ever (Adams), 125 Billion Dollar Brain, 293, 295, 300,
Bendix, William, 193, 322, 440, 443 The Best Years of Our Lives: and 302
Benét, Stephen Vincent, 177 democracy/equality, 574, 576; Bill Joins the WWWs, 289, 295
Ben Hur, 436 family in, 360, 361; and World A Bill of Divorcement, 535
Bening, Annette, 531 War II, 121, 124, 129, 134 Billy Budd (Melville), 561
“Benito Cereno” (Melville), 561 La Bête Humaine (Zola), 591 Billy the Kid, 490, 510, 579
Benjamin, Richard, 78 Bethune, Mary McLeod, 331 Billy the Kid, 579, 581
Benjamin Franklin: Citizen of the Betrayed: and 1980s, 44, 45; right- Biloxi Blues, 134, 267
World, 159 wing extremism in, 294, 295, 395, Bimba, Anthony, 383
Bennett, Bruce, 140 396 Binder, Frederick, 439
Bennett, Joan, 450 Betsy Ross, 202 The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars
Bennett, Robert Russell, 122 Better Luck Tomorrow, 231–232, 233 & Motor Kings, 213, 215, 321, 325
Benny, Jack, 201, 264, 482 Between the Lines, 376, 381 Biographical films, xix; African
Benton, Robert: and Great Beulah Land, 555 Americans, 210, 314, 338, 340–341;
Depression, 27; and Midwest, Beverly Hills 90210, 417 and American Revolution, 51,
422, 426; and Southwest, 491, Beverly Hills Cop series, 213, 215, 575 154, 155–156, 304; baseball, 192–
493; and women’s roles, 38 Beyond the Limit, 44, 45 194, 210, 321, 322, 335; civil rights
Benton, Thomas Hart, 502 Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, 549, movement, 338, 340–341;
Beranger, Clara, 18 550 Columbus, 149, 150–152; and
Berenger, Tom: and Civil War, 67; Bhopal disaster, 43 crime, 513; and democracy/
and Mexican-American War, 88; Biberman, Herbert J., 292, 388 equality, 573; and 1890s, 12;
and right-wing extremism, 294, Bickford, Charles, 73, 365 football, 365–366, 368–369;
395; and Spanish-American War, Bierce, Ambrose, 63 government/politics, 400, 528;
90; and Vietnam War, 99, 565, The Big Brass Ring, 531–532, 532 and Indian wars, 106, 108; Irish
569 The Big Broadcast, 381 Americans, 250; labor issues,
Berg, Alan, 294, 378, 395 The Big Broadcast of 1936, 381 390; Latin America, 235; Lincoln,
Berg, A. Scott, 192 The Big Broadcast of 1937, 381 64, 176, 177–178, 530; Mexican
Berg, Gertrude, 264 The Big Broadcast of 1938, 381 Americans, 273–274, 494, 495;
Berg, Moe, 320 The Big Chill: and drugs, 523, 525; musicians, 494; Native
Bergan, Ronald, 363, 364, 367 and 1960s, 36; and nostalgia, 29; Americans, 162–167; 1980s
Berger, Thomas, 284, 431, 485 and Yuppie lifestyle, 44–45 women, 44; presidents, 113–114,
Bergin, Patrick, 253 The Big Combo, 513, 516 142, 184, 197, 349, 406, 528; and
Bergman, Andrew, 24, 25, 511, 598 The Big Country, 393, 396 radicalism, 293; and Southwest,
Bergman, Ingrid, 237, 251–252 The Big Easy, 471, 472 494, 495; and success myth, 597;
 Index ] 613
women, 314. See also specific Black Panthers, 294, 337, 340 Bogart, Humphrey: and American
people The Black Pirate, 17, 20 Adam, 563; and detective films,
Biopics. See Biographical films Black Power movement, 337 584, 585; and Great Depression,
Bird, Caroline, 27 Black Rain, 229 23; and labor issues, 385; and
Bird, Robert Montgomery, 277–278 Black Robe, 235, 239 New York City, 439; and
Birdwell, Michael, 139–147, 497–505 The Black Stallion, 243, 247 seafaring experience, 453–454,
Birdy, 43, 45 Blade Runner, 152, 588, 589 455; and sexuality, 547; and
Birmingham church bombing Blair, Clay, 81, 85 tobacco, 524; and World War II,
(1963), 340, 341 Blair, Patricia, 141 127
Birth control, 32, 310, 535 The Blair Witch Project, 6, 8, 381 Bogdanovich, Peter, 40, 493
The Birth of a Nation, xxi; and Blake, Robert, 283 Bogosian, Eric, 378
America, 52, 53; Civil War in, 58– Blanchard, Felix “Doc,” 366 The Bold Caballero, 270
60, 67; and democracy/equality, Blassingame, John, 553, 555 Bolger, Ray, 427
572, 576; family in, 354, 361; Blast from the Past, 78, 79, 485, 486 Bolshevism on Trial, 290, 295
historical inaccuracies in, xiii, Blaxploitation genre, 207, 212; Bombers B-52, 76
xiv, xvii; Lincoln in, 64–65, 176; detectives in, 587; slavery in, 555; Bombs over Burma, 228
and Mexican Americans, 271; women’s roles in, 311 Bond, Julian, 341
and Progressivism, xv, xvii; Blaze, 469, 472 Bond, Ward, 128, 237
protests against, xiii, 464, 553– Blazing Saddles, 434, 435, 493, 495 Bondi, Beulah, 142
554; and right-wing extremism, Bleeding Kansas, 425 The Bone Collector, 214, 215
393, 396; slavery in, xiii, xiv, xv, Blessed Event, 376, 381 Bonfire of the Vanities, 376, 381
553–554, 556; soldiers in, 567–568, Bligh, William, 449 Bonnie and Clyde: crime in, 32, 513–
570; South in, 462, 463–464, 472; Blockade, 291 514, 516; FDR in, 188, 189; Great
and Wilson, xvii, 464, 572; Blondell, Joan, 440 Depression in, 26–27, 28, 32, 36;
women’s roles in, 306, 308, 311 Blonde Venus, 356, 361 Midwest in, 426, 428; and 1960s,
The Birth of the Cold War, 72, 79 Blood Feud, 173 32–33; South in, 469, 472;
Biskind, Peter, 33, 522 Blood In, Blood Out: Bound by Southwest in, 492, 495
“The ‘Bison 101’ Headliners” Honor, 273, 275 The Bonnie Parker Story, 513
(Harrison), 280 Blood in the Face, 396 Bonus March, 291
Blache, Herbert, 58 Bloom, Claire, 77 Boone, Daniel, 578; as antebellum
Black, Gregory, 127 Blow, 523, 525 frontier hero, 139–141; and
The Blackboard Jungle: New York Blowup, 549, 550 Trans-Appalachian West, 498,
City in, 444; public high schools The Blue and the Gray, 64, 67 499, 504
in, 414, 415, 416, 417; teenagers Blue Collar, 213, 215, 388, 390 Boone, Pat, 422
in, 244, 247 Blue-collar work, 384, 385, 389. See Boone, Richard, 144
Black Diamond Express, 594 also Labor issues; Work Boorman, John, 130, 513, 591
Blackface, 59 The Blue Dahlia, 547–548, 550 Boorstin, Daniel, 202
Black Fury, 386, 390, 573, 576 Blue in the Face, 524, 525 Booty Call, 215
The Black Hand, 261 The Blue Max, 111, 114 Borchers, Hans, 121
Black Hand, 509 Blue Sky, 315 The Border, 273, 275, 495
Black Hawk Down, 576 Blue Velvet, 516 Border films, 493, 495
The Black Image in the White Mind Blyth, Ann, 313, 449, 451, 600 Bordertown, 272, 275
(Fredrickson), 553 B movies: and Cold War, 74; Bordwell, David, 16
Black Legion: blue-collar work in, government/politics in, 326; and Borgnine, Ernest, 493
385, 390; and democracy/ Indian wars, 104, 106, 107; and Born in East L.A., 273, 274, 275
equality, 573, 576; right-wing World War II, 126, 128 Born on the Fourth of July:
extremism in, 291, 295; small The Boat People, 39, 40 American Adam in, 101, 564, 565,
towns in, 459, 460 Boat people, 94 566; and 1980s, 45
Black Like Me: and civil rights Bobby Kennedy: In His Own Words, Borstein, Alex, 227
movement, 335–336, 342; race in, 173 Boss, 400
211, 212, 215; and Southwest, 494, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, 359, Boss Cox’s Cincinnati (Miller),
495 361, 549, 550 398
Black Like Me (Griffin), 211, 212, Bobrick, Benson, 155 Boss of Boys Town, 326, 330
494 Bob Roberts, 350, 527, 530, 531, 532 Boston, 326–327, 399, 400, 529
The Blacklist, 298 Body and Soul, 19, 20 Boston Public, 417
Black Market Rustlers, 128, 134 Body-building, 601 Bottoms, Timothy, 450
Black Mask magazine, 584, 585 The Bodyguard, 214, 215 Boulevard Nights, 273, 275
Black nationalism, 331, 340 Body Heat, 550 Boulle, Pierre, 570
614 [ Index
Bound for Glory: and New Deal, 523, 525; public high schools in, Broken Arrow (1995), 232
188, 189; and 1970s, 388, 390; and 415, 417; teenagers in, 246, 247 Broken Blossoms, 311, 355, 361
railroads, 543, 544 Breakheart Pass, 543, 544 Broken Lance, 359, 361
The Bounty (1984), 449, 456 Breaking Away, 389, 390 Broken Rainbow, 284, 286
Bounty mutiny (1789), 449 Breaking Boundaries, Testing Limits, Bronson, Charles, 543, 588
Bow, Clara, 18, 449–450, 546 523, 525 Bronston, Samuel, 201
Bowers, Claude, xiv Break of Dawn, 272, 275 A Bronx Tale, 260, 261, 440, 444
Bowman, James, 261 Breathing Lessons, 231, 233 Brooklyn, 440
Bowman, Peter, 130 Breathless, 492 Brooklyn Bridge, 441
Bowser, Pearl, 19 Breen, Joseph, 253, 512 Brooks, Albert, 593, 594
Boxcar Bertha, 388, 390, 543, 544 Breen Office, 385, 386 Brooks, James, 444, 493
Boxer Rebellion (1990), 498 Brennan, Walter, 490, 503 Brooks, Louise, 18, 546
Boxing: and African Americans, Brewster’s Millions (1914), 601 Brooks, Mel, 266, 434, 493
210; and 1890s, 12; and Irish Brewster’s Millions (1921), 601 Brooks, Richard: and Korean War,
Americans, 251; and Italian Brewster’s Millions (1935), 601 84; and Midwest, 426; and public
Americans, 260; and New York Brewster’s Millions (1945), 601 high schools, 414; and
City, 443 Brewster’s Millions (1985), 601 Southwest, 492; and women’s
Boycott, 336, 342 Brewster’s Millions (McCutcheon), roles, 38, 311
Boyd, William, 290 601 Brosnan, John, 476
Boyer, Paul, 32 Brian’s Song, 368, 372 Brosnan, Pierce, 253, 301
The Boy from Stalingrad, 127, 134 Brickman, Paul, 245 The Brother from Another Planet,
Boy Meets Girl, 302 The Bridge, 67 215
The Boys in Company C, 570 Bridge, James, 38 The Brotherhood, 261
The Boys in the Band, 546, 549, The Bridge on the River Kwai, 226, Brother Orchid, 239
550 570 Brothers, Larry, 87
Boys’ Night Out, 486 Bridges, Beau, 245, 314 The Brothers McMullen, 254, 441,
Boys Town: and Catholicism, 236, Bridges, Jeff, 294, 301, 520, 531 443, 444
237, 239; and Irish Americans, Bridges, Lloyd, 490 Brown, Barry, 422, 423
252, 254 The Bridges at Toko-Ri, 82, 85, 454, Brown, Clarence, 5, 335, 459
Boyz N the Hood: African 456 Brown, Dee, 166
Americans in, 215; crime in, 515, The Bridges of Madison County, 261, Brown, Dwier, 323
516; teenagers in, 246, 247 425, 428 Brown, Jim, 213, 370
Bradbury, Ray, 450, 460 A Bridge Too Far, 131, 134 Brown, John, 425, 579
Bradford, William, 4 Bridge to the Sun, 229, 233 Brown, Molly, 455
Bradley, Omar, 30 Bright Leaf, 300, 302, 525 Brown, Rob, 411
Braestrup, Peter, 97 Bright Lights, Big City, 44, 45, 525 Brown, Thomas, 172
Branagh, Kenneth, 72 Brighton Beach Memoirs, 267 Browne, Alicia R., 58–68
Branch, Taylor, 331 Bright Road, 210, 211, 215 Browne, Joseph, 84
Brando, Marlon: and American A Bright Shining Lie (1998), xii, xxi, Browne, Roscoe Lee, 337
Adam, 563, 564; and antebellum 95 Browning, Tod, 18
frontier hero, 146; and Asian A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul The Browning Version, 411
Americans, 227; and Italian Vann and America in Vietnam Brownlow, Kevin, 18, 579
Americans, 259; and (Sheehan), 95 Brown of Harvard, 363, 372
McCarthyism, 75; and New York Bright Victory, 133, 134, 574, 576 Brown v. Board of Education, 210,
City, 439; and right-wing Brigman, William E., 545–551 334, 335
extremism, 393; and sexuality, Briley, Ron, 409–412, 413–418 Bruce, David, 140
548, 549; and South, 469 Bringing Up Baby, 312, 536 Bruck, Jerry, Jr., 376
Brandon, Henry, 491 Broadcast News, 379, 381 Brynner, Yul, 142
Brandt, Allan, 524 Broadway Danny Rose, 443 The Buccaneer (1938), 142, 146, 305,
The Brasher Doubloon, 586, 589 Broadway Limited, 543, 544 308
Brask, James, 101 Broderick, Matthew, 65, 417, 568 The Buccaneer (1958), 142, 146, 305,
Braugher, Andre, 333 Brodie, Fawn, 158 308
Braverman, Jordan, 126 Brokaw, Tom, 116, 123, 125, 576 Buchanan, Jack, 601
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Asian Broken Arrow (1950): frontier in, Buchholz, Horst, 77
Americans in, 227; New York 580, 581; Native Americans in, Buchman, Sidney, 345
City in, 441, 444; sexuality in, 106, 108, 167, 283, 286, 491, 580; Buck, Pearl S., 227
548, 550 Southwest in, 495; women’s roles Buck and the Preacher, 212, 215
The Breakfast Club: drugs in, 519, in, 307, 308 Buck Dance, 279
 Index ] 615
Buckner, Robert, 425 Bush, George W., 322 The Callahans and the Murphys,
Buck Rogers, 475 Bush, Niven, 192 249, 254
Buddy films: and African Bus Stop, 424, 428 Calley, William, 432
Americans, 213; and antebellum Bustin’ Loose, 213, 215 Call of the Wild (1935), 12, 13
frontier hero, 143; and Native Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Call of the Wild (1972), 12, 13
Americans, 285; and South, 465; Kid: and 1890s, 13; and New Call of the Wild (London), 12
and Trans-Appalachian West, York City, 440; railroads in, 543, Camera movement, 59, 165
503; and women’s roles, 314, 494 544; revisionism in, xix, 433, 435; Cameron, James, 455
Buel, Joy Day, 305 women’s roles in, 307, 308 “Campaign 1960” (Pipes), 532
Buel, Richard, Jr., 305 Butkus, Dick, 370 Campbell, Edward, 466
Buffalo Bill. See Cody, William F. Butler, David, 424 Campbell, Joseph, 564
“Buffalo Bill” Butterfield 8, 313, 315, 548, 550 Campbell, Martin, 488
Buffalo Bill (1944), 286 Bye, Bye Birdie, 246, 247, 591, 594 Campbell, Russell, 423
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Bye, Bye Braverman, 444 The Candidate, 401, 530, 532
Sitting Bull’s History Lesson, 107, Byington, Spring, 306 Candy, John, 544
108, 164, 167, 286 Byrne, Gabriel, 150, 251, 253 Cantor, Eddie, 186, 264
The Buffalo Soldiers, 108 By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Cape Fear, 360, 361
Bugsy, 265, 267, 494, 495 424, 428 Capitalist tycoons, 297–302, 422
Builders of the Bay Colony Capone, Al, 509, 511
(Morison), 4 Caan, James, 132, 368 Capote, Truman, 426, 441
Bujold, Geneviève, 378 The Caballero’s Way, 270, 275 Capra, Frank: and African
Bull Durham, 324, 325, 539 Cabanne, W. Christy, 271, 489 American soldiers, 118–119, 333,
Bullets or Ballots, 512, 516 Cabaret, 314, 315 341; and American Adam, 562,
Bullitt, 514 Cabeza de Vaca, 488, 495 563; and Catholicism, 235; and
Bullock, Sandra, 521 Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Nuñez, democracy/equality, 574, 576;
Bulworth, 528, 532 488 and family, 357; and
Bundy, McGeorge, 94 Cabin in the Sky, 210 government/politics, 344, 345,
The ‘Burbs, 485, 486 Cable. See Media; Television 527, 528, 529; and Great
Burdeau, George, 286 Cable Act (1922), 225 Depression, 22, 185; and Italian
The Burden of Southern History Caesar, Adolph, 333 Americans, 258; and Lincoln, 177,
(Woodward), 462 Cage, Nicholas, 520, 521 179; and media, 374–375; and
Burgess, Guy, 409 La Cage aux Folles, 549, 550 propaganda, 117, 123; and
Burgess, John, 58 Cagin, Seth, 522 religion, 426; and sexuality, 346;
Burgoyne, John “Gentleman Cagney, James: and alcohol, 519; and small towns, 457, 458; and
Johnny,” 54 and Cold War, 77; and crime, soldiers, 567, 569–570; and
Burke, James Lee, 87 512; ethnicity of, 234, 250, 253; success myth, 597–598; and
Burn, Witch, Burn (Night of the and FDR, 186, 188; and film George Washington, 201
Eagle), 8 industry, 573; and labor issues, Capricorn One, 476, 478, 479
Burner, David, 33, 35 388; and New York City, 439; Captain January, 242, 458
Burnett, Carole, 538 and seafaring experience, 453; Captains and Kings, 91
Burnett, W. R., 511 and sexuality, 547; and World Captains Courageous, 448, 451, 452,
The Burning Question, 521 War I, 110, 251 456
Burns, George, 378 Cahan, Abraham, 13, 598 Captains Courageous (Kipling), 451
Burns, Ken: and American Cain, Christopher, 490 Captains of the Clouds, 133, 134, 250,
Revolution, 156, 157; and Cain, James M., 512, 548 254
baseball, 443; and Civil War, 64, Caine, Michael, 131 Captain Video, 475
107, 108; and Lincoln, 178; and The Caine Mutiny: seafaring Captive City, 513, 516
Native Americans, 165–167; and experience in, 454–455, 456; and The Captive God, 270, 275
slavery, 555; and West, 434–435 World War II, 130, 134 Capucine, 13
Burns, Ric, 166, 438 The Caine Mutiny (Wouk), 454 Caputo, Philip, 97
Burr Conspiracy, 499 Calamity Jane, 308 The Cardinal, 237, 239, 252, 254
Burrows, Edwin G., 437 Calamity Jane, 579 Cardinal, Tantoo, 285
Burstein, Andrew, 156, 159 Caldwell, Erskine, 468 Carey, Harry, Sr., 499
Burton, Richard, 77, 78 Cale, Paula, 368 Carlisle School for Indians, 432
Burton, Tim, 347 Calhoun, John C., 86, 142 Carmen Jones: race in, 210, 211, 215;
Busby, Mark, 488–496 California, 270, 275 women’s roles in, 311, 314
Bush, George, Sr., 54–55, 123, 409. California, 278, 449, 591–592 Carmen Miranda: Bananas Is My
See also 1980s Callahan, George, 192 Business, 315
616 [ Index
Carnal Knowledge, 359, 361, 549, 550 Cat People, 359, 361 The Chase (1994), 379–380, 381
Carnegie, Andrew, 297, 511, 596 Caute, David, 288 The Chase (Foote), 469
Carnegie Commission, 364–365 Cavanaugh, Frank, 366 Chase, Anthony, 148–152, 344–351,
Carnes, Mark, 570 Cawelti, John G., 513, 584, 589, 596 527–533
Caro, Robert, 401 Cease Fire, 43, 45, 84, 85 Chase, Charlie, 18
Carpenter, John: and Arab The Celluloid South (Campbell), Chattanooga Choo Choo, 544
Americans, 222; and Puritanism, 466 Chavez, Cesar, 388
7; and small towns, 460; and Censorship: and American Chayefsky, Paddy, 259, 379
teenagers, 246 Revolution, xiii; and Catholic Cheaper by the Dozen, 357, 361
The Carpetbaggers, 300, 302 Americans, 253; and crime, 511, The Cheat, 226, 233
The Carpetbaggers (Robbins), 300 512, 513; and democracy/equality, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie,
Carr, Lena, 286 573, 574; and drugs/alcohol, 519, 219, 220, 224
Carradine, David, 229, 388 521, 522; and Great Depression, Chen, Joan, 230, 232
Carradine, John, 140 xvii; and interracial Chen Kaige, 232
Carradine, Keith, 378 relationships, 227, 466; and Irish Cher, 347, 440
Carrey, Jim, 460, 565, 594 Americans, 253; and labor issues, Chernobyl disaster, 43
Carrie (1952), 12, 13 385, 386, 388; and 1920s, 17, 20; Chernow, Ron, 297
Carrie (1976): family in, 360, 361; and sexuality, 469, 546, 547, 548, Cherokee people, 141, 145, 161
and 1970s, 40; public high 549, 550 Cheyenne Autumn: and machine in
schools in, 415, 417; teenagers in, Centuries of Childhood (Ariès), 241 the garden, 592, 594; Native
245, 247 A Century of Women, 315, 539 Americans in, 286, 431, 435
Carroll, John, 127 Chadwick, Bruce, 58 Cheyenne people, 103, 106–107
Carson, Jack, 440 Chafe, William H., 465 Cheyenne Warrior, 286
Carson City, 543, 544 Challenger explosion (1986), 474 Chicago, 400, 481
Carter, Dan, 332 Chamberlain at Gettysburg, 67 Chicago “Black Sox” scandal (1919),
Carter, Everett, 464 Chambers, John, 134 320, 427
Carter, Jimmy, 70 Chambers, Robert, 52 Chicanas/Chicanos. See Mexican
Carville, James, 532 The Champ, 242, 247 Americans
Car Wash, 213, 215 Chan, Jackie, 232 Chicano nationalism, 269, 273
Casablanca: American Adam in, Chandler, Jeff, 162 A Child of the Ghetto, 264–265
563, 566; Nazis in, 127, 134, 512, Chandler, Lane, 143 Children, 241–243, 247–248;
516; sexuality in, 547, 550; Chandler, Raymond: and American colonial era, 352; and crime
tobacco in, 524, 525 Adam, 563; and detective films, genre, 512; filmography, 247;
Casey at the Bat, 320, 325 583–584, 585, 586, 587; and historiography, 241, 352–354; and
Casey’s Christening, 249, 254 sexuality, 548; and women’s South, 470; and sports, 363. See
Casino, 516 roles, 313 also Family; Teenagers
Castle Keep, 130, 131, 134 Chaney, James, 338 Children of the Corn, 427, 428
Castle Keep (Eastlake), 131 Chaney, Lon, 18, 141 Children of the Damned, 243, 247
Castro, Fidel, 319–320 Chan Is Missing, 230–231, 233 The Children Pay, 355, 361
Casualties of War, 100, 101 Chao, Rosalind, 230 The Children’s Hour, 410, 411
The Cat and the Canary, 18 Chaplin, Charles: and Alaska Gold China: 1930s perspectives, 228; and
Cat Ballou, 581 Rush, 12–13; and alcohol, 519; Nixon, 183; and World War II,
Catch-22, 130, 131, 134 and American Adam, 562; and 118, 127
Catch-22 (Heller), 32, 36, 131 children, 242; and drugs, 521; China Girl, 127, 134
The Catered Affair, 358, 361 and leftist radicalism, 291; and China Seas, 310
Catholic Americans, 234–240; New York City, 442; and 1920s, China Sky, 126, 134, 228
filmography, 239; 1930s 17; and railroads, 543; and China’s Little Devils, 127, 134, 228
perspectives, 234–235, 236; success myth, 597; and women’s The China Syndrome: media in,
prejudice against, 88, 234, 252, roles, 311; and World War I, 109; 379, 381; and 1980s, 43, 45;
257; World War II–era and World War II, 266 women’s roles in, 38, 41, 314, 315,
perspectives, 235, 236–237. See Chapman, Brenda, 267 538, 539
also Irish Americans; Italian The Chapman Report, 548, 550 Chinatown: capitalist tycoons in,
Americans Charisse, Cyd, 543 300, 302; and crime, 514;
Catholic Legion of Decency, 253, Charlie Chan and the Curse of the detectives in, 587, 588, 589;
512, 547, 548 Dragon Queen, 230 government/politics in, 327, 330;
Catholic Workers movement, 236 Charlie Chan Carries On, 227 sexuality in, 549, 550
Catlin, George, 590 The Chase (1966), 393–394, 396, Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), 225
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 311 469, 472 Chinnock, Charles, 438
 Index ] 617
Cho, John, 232 York City in, 438, 441, 444; 453; and railroads, 541, 543;
Cho, Margaret, 232 success myth in, 599, 601 slavery as cause of, 59, 62, 64,
Chomsky, Noam, 71 Citizen Ruth, 295, 425, 428 552, 553, 555, 556; soldiers, 62, 65,
Choose Me, 378, 381 The City, 436, 444, 481–482, 486 507–508, 567–568; and women’s
Chopin, Kate, 471 City Across the River, 444 roles, 306. See also The Birth of a
The Chosen, 264, 267 City Hall: government/politics in, Nation; Reconstruction
Choy, Christine, 231 328–329, 330, 399–400, 401; New The Civil War: documentary style
Christensen, Carol, 87 York City in, 442, 444 in, 107; Lincoln in, 178, 179;
Christensen, Terry, 25 City Lights, 519, 525, 562, 566 slavery in, 64, 555; war emphasis
Christensen, Thomas, 87 City of Hope, 328, 330 of, 64, 67
Christian, Fletcher, 449 City of Promise, 330 Civitas, 403, 407
Christie, Agatha, 584 City of the Dead (Horror Hotel), 8 Clancy, Tom, 79, 405
Christie, Julie: and 1890s, 13; and “City on the hill,” 3, 4, 561 The Clansman (Dixon), 59, 464, 553
revisionist westerns, 433; and City/state government, 292, 293, Clara’s Heart, 214, 216
women’s roles, 307 326–330, 398–401. See also Clarens, Carlos, 512, 514
Christ in Concrete (Di Donato), Government/politics; Law Clark, Harrison, 200
258–259 enforcement Clark, Joseph, 416
Christopher Columbus (1949), 149, Civilization, 110, 114 Clark, Walter Van Tilburg, 431
152 Civil rights: armed forces Clarke, Alan, 371
Christopher Columbus (1985), 150– desegregation, 403, 406; and Clarke, John, 371
151, 152 Asian Americans, 229; and city Clarke, Shirley, 440
Christopher Columbus (1987), 151– government, 401; and Jewish Class, 411
152, 152 Americans, 266; and Mexican Class issues: and Civil War, 62–63;
Christopher Columbus: The Americans, 269, 273, 274; and and drugs, 521; 1890s, 10; and
Discovery, 150, 151, 152 Native Americans, 431; 1980s, 55; family, 353; and Founding
Christopher Strong, 312, 535 and 1980s perspectives, 29, 55; Fathers, 154; and Italian
Chu, Louis, 231 and Eleanor Roosevelt, 187; and Americans, 256, 258, 259; and
Churchill, Winston, 112, 118, 145 Roots, xv; and World War II, 116, New York City, 441, 442; 1920s,
Cigarettes Are Sublime, 524 321, 332. See also Civil rights 15; and seafaring experience, 447,
Cimarron, 579, 581 movement 455; and suburbia, 482; and
Cimino, Michael: and Asian Civil Rights Act (1964), 337 World War I, 112; and World
Americans, 515; and 1970s, 39; Civil rights movement, 207, 210, War II, 130, 132–133. See also
and Southwest, 493; and success 331–343; and blaxploitation Capitalist tycoons; Elites; Labor
myth, 597; and trans- genre, 212, 587; and Cold War, issues
Appalachian West, xx 72; and democracy/equality, 575; Class of 1984, 415, 417
Cinematography, 55, 157, 165 documentaries, 335, 341–342; Clayburgh, Jill, 38, 314, 368, 440
Cinema verité, 330 filmography, 342–343; Clayton, Jack, 593
Cinqué, 452 historiography, 331–332; and Clean and Sober, 523, 525
The Circus, 17, 20, 562, 566 Jewish Americans, 266; and Clear and Present Danger: Congress
The Cisco Kid, 270, 275 Native Americans, 283; 1960s in, 347, 348, 350; presidency in,
Cisco Kid series, 19–20, 270, 275 perspectives, 337; 1970s 405, 408
Cities: and American Adam, 562; perspectives, 337–338; post– Clear and Present Danger (Clancy),
and American Revolution, 55; World War II era perspectives, 405
and detective films, 584, 588; and 210, 333–335; and right-wing Clearcut, 286
film noir, 74, 584; government, extremism, 394; and slavery, 59– Cleopatra, 546, 550
292, 293, 326–330, 398–401; and 60, 553; and South, 465; and Clifford, Clark, 406, 532
Ku Klux Klan, 15; Midwest, 424; World War II, 332–333. See also Clift, Montgomery: and Civil War,
riots, 337, 340, 433; Southwest, Post–World War II era 63; and Cold War, 73; ethnicity
493–494; and suburbia, 481–482, perspectives of, 237; and New York City, 441;
484; and success myth, 599; and Civil society. See Media and women’s roles, 307
World War II, 116, 125. See also Civil War, 58–68; Catholic Clinton, Hilary, 525
Urbanization; specific cities Americans in, 235; current Clinton, William Jefferson: and
Citizen Kane: American Adam in, popularity of, 50; and family, AIDS, 546; and government/
563, 564, 566; capitalist tycoons 352, 354; filmography, 67; and politics, 531; and Nixon, 183; and
in, 302; childhood in, 242, 247; government/politics, 530; presidency, 403; public
1890s in, 12, 13; government/ historiography, xiv, 58, 59, 60, ambivalence about, xix; scandals,
politics in, 401, 529, 532; media 61–62, 63, 65; and land 406–407, 469; and space
in, 12, 374, 375–376, 381; New ownership, 468; naval action, program, 478; and The West
618 [ Index
Clinton, William J. (continued) Native Americans, 282–283; Comanche people, 103, 105, 161
Wing, 406–407; and World War 1960s perspectives, 72, 76–78; Combat!, 569, 570
II, 122 1980s, 42, 43, 78; Nixon policies, Combat films. See War films;
Cloak and Dagger, 129, 134 181, 183; post–World War II era specific wars
Clockers, 515, 516 perspectives, 73–75, 76; and Come and Get It, 299, 302
Clooney, George, 146 presidency, 402–403, 404–405; Come Back, Little Sheba, 424, 428
Close, Glenn, 377, 550 and Puritanism, 4, 6; and right- Comedy genre: and African
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: wing extremism, 292–293, 394; Americans, 213; American Adam
and machine in the garden, 594; and seafaring experience, 454; in, 562; capitalist tycoons in, 299;
and Midwest, 427, 428; and and sexuality, 546, 549; and and Civil War, 60; detectives in,
1970s, 40, 41; and space program, small towns, 459–460; and 585; family in, 356–357; and
479 soldiers, 567; and space program, football, 364, 367–368; and
Close-ups, 573 474, 475, 476; and Truman, 69, Jewish Americans, 265; and labor
Clueless, 246, 247, 417 196–197; and war films, 75–76; issues, 388; and leftist radicalism,
Clurman, Harold, 424–425 and George Washington, 201; 289; and Lincoln, 178–179; media
Coal Miner’s Daughter, 44, 45, 470– and World War II, 69, 71, 122, in, 375; and Mexican Americans,
471, 472 129. See also McCarthyism; Post– 274; New Deal in, 186; and 1920s,
Cobb, 322, 325 World War II era; Post–World 18; and 1960s, 33; and Nixon, 182;
Cobb, Humphrey, 112 War II era perspectives and nuclear weapons/power, 32,
Cobb, Lee J., 439, 503, 563 Cold War (1998–99): Cold War in, 404–405; and railroads, 543, 544;
Cobb, Tyrus “Ty,” 320, 322 72–73, 79; Korean War in, 85; and suburbia, 481, 482, 485; and
Cobra, 257, 258, 261 and 1960s, 36; Nixon in, 183; teenagers, 243–244, 246; and
Coburn, James, 131 Truman in, 197 George Washington, 201; and
Cochise, 103, 106, 161, 162 The Cold War: Containing the westerns, 434, 493; and
Cody, William F. “Buffalo Bill,” Soviet Threat, 197 witchcraft, 6; women’s roles in,
104, 107; and frontier, 579; and The Cold War (Lippman), 69 311; and World War II, 131, 133,
Indian leaders, 164, 166; and Coles, Robert, 241 134
Southwest, 489; and World War Collectivism, 24, 25, 459 Come Fill the Cup, 519, 525
I, 279–280 College: and drugs, 521; football, Come See the Paradise, 132, 134, 229
Coen, Ethan, 251, 469, 516 363–365, 366, 368, 370 Coming Home: and 1970s, 39, 41;
Coen, Joel, 251, 469, 516 The College Boob, 363, 372 and Vietnam War, 100, 101;
Coffy, 311 College Coach, 363, 372 women’s roles in, 314, 315
Cohan, George M., 188, 250 College Days, 363, 372 Coming to America, 443, 601
Cohen, Joseph, 265 The College Hero, 363, 364, 372 Commager, Henry Steele, 53, 350
Cohen, Lizabeth, 148 College Humor, 363, 372 Command Decision, 129, 134
Cohen’s Advertising Scheme, 264, College Lovers, 363, 372 Communes, 32
267 Collier, Peter, 29, 35, 169 Communism: documentaries, 72;
The Cohens and the Kellys, 264, 267 Collins, Robert G., 40 and labor issues, 387; and New
The Cohens and the Kellys in Colonial era: Catholic Americans, York City, 442; 1930s, 26; Soviet
Trouble, 265 234, 235; and Enlightenment, 153; support for, 30; and World War
Cohn, Harry, 159 family, 352; Jewish Americans, II, 345. See also Leftist
Colbert, Claudette: and American 263; seafaring experience, 448; radicalism; McCarthyism
Revolution, 51; and New York Trans-Appalachian West, 497; The Commuters, 481, 486
City, 441; and Puritanism, 5; and women, 303–304. See also Companionate family, 353, 355
Trans-Appalachian West, 500; Puritanism The Complete Make-Up Artist, 227
and women’s roles, 303 The Color Purple, 213, 214, 216 Computer graphics imaging (CGI),
Cold Turkey, 524, 525 Colossus: The Forbin Project, 380, 455, 576
Cold War, 69–80; and antebellum 381 Computers, 301, 380–381; and
frontier hero, 141, 144, 145–146; Columbian Exposition (1892–93), special effects, 381, 455, 576. See
and consensus history, 53; and 10, 12, 149 also Technology
democracy/equality, 574–575; Columbine shootings (1999), 413, Comstock, George, 37
documentaries, 71–73, 404; end 416 The Coneheads, 485, 486
of, 70, 79, 84; and family, 76, 358; Columbus (d’Aulaire & d’Aulaire), Coney Island, 440
and fear of radicalism, 288; 151 Coney Island, 13, 440, 444
filmography, 79–80; Columbus, Christopher, 148–152, Confession of a Nazi Spy, 126, 134,
historiography, 70–71; and 263 292, 441–442
Korean War, 81, 84; and Columbus and the Age of Discovery, The Confessions of Nat Turner, 555
Mexican Americans, 271; and 151 Confidence, 185, 189
 Index ] 619
The Confidence Man, 105 171, 173; and machine in the Corruption: baseball, 320; and
Conflict (Leckie), 81 garden, 594 Congress, 345, 346, 347–348; and
Conformism: and American Coogan, Jackie, 242 crime, 513, 514; and football, 365,
Revolution, 53; and 1960s, 30, Coogan’s Bluff, 514 367; and government/politics,
33, 97; and private schools, 410; Cook, John, 336 326, 327–328, 329, 527; and Great
and sexuality, 548; and suburbia, Cookie’s Fortune, 465, 472 Depression, 22; and Midwest,
484, 485–486. See also Cooley High: African Americans in, 422–423; and New York City,
Individualism 212, 216; public high schools in, 439; and South, 471; and
Congress, 344–351; declining role 414, 417; teenagers in, 245, 247 suburbia, 485; and success myth,
of, 349–350 Cool Hand Luke, 469, 472 xx; and George Washington,
Congress of Industrial Coolidge, Calvin, 15 200. See also Political machines;
Organizations (CIO), 387, 388 Coolidge, Martha, 245 Watergate scandal
Congress of Racial Equality Cool World, 440, 444 Cortes, Carlos E., 256, 259
(CORE), 331, 336 Cooper, Gary: and baseball, 192, Cosby, Bill, 213
Congress: We the People, 350 322, 323, 443; and capitalist The Cosby Show, 442
A Connecticut Yankee in King tycoons, 300; and Civil War, 62; Costas, Bob, 320
Arthur’s Court, 11, 13 and Cold War, 75; and frontier, Costello, Dolores, 450
A Connecticut Yankee in King 579; and government/politics, Costello, Lou, 11, 376
Arthur’s Court (Twain), 11 529; and McCarthyism, 502; and Costner, Kevin: and baseball, 323,
Connelly, Marc, 451 media, 375; and Native 324; and government/politics,
Connelly, Thomas, 67 Americans, 277; and sexuality, 404; and machine in the garden,
Connery, Sean, 251, 348, 411, 454 547; and small towns, 458; and 592; and Native Americans, 107,
Connick, Harry, Jr., 119 Southwest, 490; and success 285, 431, 581; and race, 214; and
Connolly, Walter, 299 myth, 598; and Trans- Southwest, 493; and women’s
Connor, Bull, 336 Appalachian West, 501, 502; and roles, 307
The Conquering Horde, 490, 495 George Washington, 200; and Cosway, Maria, 158
The Conqueror (1917), 144, 146 women’s roles, 307; and World Cotten, Joseph, 376, 424, 459, 460
The Conqueror (1956), 227 War I, 113 Cotton Comes to Harlem, 216
The Conquerors (1932), 299 Cooper, James Fenimore: and Coughlin, Father Charles Edward,
The Conqueror Worm (Witchfinder American Adam, 139, 562; and 288
General), 8 antebellum frontier hero, 139; Countdown, 476, 479
Conquest of Cochise, 167 and frontier, 578, 580; and Counterculture. See 1960s
The Conquest of Paradise: Native Americans, 104, 277, 278; Counterpoint, 133–134
Christopher Columbus and the and seafaring experience, 449, Country, 43, 45, 423–424, 428
Columbian Legacy (Sale), 148 504; and Trans-Appalachian The Country Girl, 525
Conrack, 414, 417 West, 498; and women’s roles, The Court-Martial of Jackie
Conrad, Joseph, 448 304 Robinson, 333, 342
Conroy, Kevin, 6 Cooper, Maxine, 74 Courtroom dramas, 376–377
Conroy, Pat, 414 Cop Land, 440, 444 Courtwright, David, 518
Consensus history, 53, 61–62, 64 Coppola, Francis Ford: and crime, The Covered Wagon, xii, xxi, 579,
Conservatism: 1920s, 15, 17; and 514; and Italian Americans, 238, 581
1960s, 35; 1980s, 42, 44, 54–55; 259, 261; and 1970s, 39; and Cover Girl, 440, 444
and South, 463, 469. See also success myth, 599 The Coward, 58, 67
Right-wing extremism Coppola, Sofia, 261, 417 Cowboy Commandoes, 128, 134
Considine, Bob, 192 Cops, 515 Cowboys, 489. See also Westerns
Considine, David, 241, 242 Corbally, Kate, 534–535 Cox, George Barnsdale, 398
Conspiracy theories, xii–xiii, 170– Corbett, James J., 12 Cox, Ronny, 394
171, 514 Corey, Wendell, 244 CPW, 442
Conspirator, 74 Corinna, Corinna, 214, 216 The Craft, 6, 8
Consumer society, 53 Corman, Roger, 19, 513, 522 Crafton, Donald, 20
Contact, 476, 479 Cornbread, Earl and Me, 212, 216 Crain, Jeanne, 209, 334
Containment: and Cold War, 69, A Corner in Wheat: and capitalist Crane, Stephen, 62, 568
71; and Vietnam War, 94, 95, 96 tycoons, 298, 302; and 1890s, 12, Crash, 594
Conte, Richard, 440 13; and Midwest, 422, 428 Crash Dive, 208, 216, 454, 456
The Contender, 348, 350, 531–532 The Corn Is Green, 414 Craven, Avery, 63
The Contrast, 385, 390 Cornish, Dudley Taylor, 568 Craven, Wes, 460
The Conversation: and crime, 514, Corporate culture, 300 Crawford, Broderick: and
516; and Kennedy assassination, El Corrido, 273 government/politics, 329, 528,
620 [ Index
Crawford, Broderick (continued) Cromwell, John, 177 Curley, James Michael, 326–327,
531; and right-wing extremism, Cronkite, Walter, 94, 117 399, 400, 529; and Barry, 401;
292, 293; and South, 469 Cronon, William, 303, 430 Catholicism, 237; and Long, 329
Crawford, Joan: and antebellum Cronyn, Hume, 132 Curly Top, 242, 247
frontier hero, 142; and frontier, Crook, George, 164, 165 Curtis, Jamie Lee, 550
142, 580; and sexuality, 547; and Crosby, Bing, 237, 251, 253, 467 Curtis, Tony, 265, 465, 599, 600
success myth, 600; and women’s Crosland, Alan, 19–20 Curtiz, Michael, 425, 450, 600
roles, 18, 311, 312, 313, 535 Crosscutting: The Birth of a Nation, Custen, George F., 199
Crawford, John, 201 59; and Midwest, 422, 426; and Custer, George Armstrong, xix,
Crawford, Sam, 322–323 Trans-Appalachian West, 504 104, 106–107, 431, 579
Crazy Horse, 103, 106, 161–162, 166 Crossfire: anti-Semitism in, 208, Custer Died for Your Sins (Deloria),
Crazy Horse, 108 266, 267; and democracy/ 431
Crazylegs, 366, 372 equality, 574, 576; FDR in, 188, Cutter’s Way, 43, 45, 129
Creamer, Robert W., 192 189
Creating the West (Nash), 498 Crossing Delancey, 267, 444 Da, 253, 254
Creek people, 141, 145, 163 Cross of Iron, 131, 134 D’Acierno, Pellegrino, 259, 261
Creel, George, 111 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Dacus, J. A., 218
Cremin, Lawrence A., 409, 413 232 Dafoe, Willem: and American
Crèvecour, Hector St. John de, The Crowd: American Adam in, Adam, 565; and civil rights
572 562, 566; and 1920s, 19, 20; movement, 339, 394, 465; and
Crime, 509–517; and Catholic success myth in, 599, 601 Vietnam War, 99, 569
Americans, 236, 238; and family, Crowther, Bosley, 170, 201, 458 Dailey, Dan, 110
359; filmography, 516; and The Crucible (1967), 8 A Dainty Politician, 326, 330
Hispanic Americans, 273, 515; The Crucible (1980), 8 Daley, Richard J., 237, 251, 400
and Irish Americans, 250–251; The Crucible (1996), 6–7, 8, 304, 308 Daley: The Last Boss (1995):
and Italian Americans, 238, 256, The Crucible (Miller), xv, 6, 31, 304 Catholic Americans in, 237, 239;
257–258, 260–261, 515–516; and Crucible of Empire: The Spanish- Irish Americans in, 251, 254;
Jewish Americans, 265; Kefauver American War, 90, 91 political machine in, 400, 401
committee, 509, 512–513, 587; The Cruel Sea, 454, 456 Dallas, 494
legislation, 509–510; and Cruise, Tom: and American Adam, Dalton Gang, 510
Midwest, 422–423, 426; and New 565; and football, 369, 370; and Daly, Carroll John, 584
York City, 439–440; 1920s, 15, 19, private schools, 410; and Damn Yankees, 322, 325, 591, 594
510–511; 1920s perspectives, 18; teenagers, 245 Damon, Matt, 164
1930s, 23, 26–27, 511; 1930s Crump, Owen, 84 Dana, Richard Henry, 448–449
perspectives, 19, 439, 511–512; Crusoe, 555, 556 Dancer, Texas Pop. 81, 493, 495
1960s perspectives, 26–27, 32–33, Cruze, James, xii Dances with Wolves: frontier in, 581;
426, 469, 513–514; 1970s Cry-Baby, 246, 247 and Indian leaders, 163, 167; and
perspectives, 514; 1980s, 514–515; Cry Havoc, 127, 134 Indian wars, 107, 108; and
post–World War II era Crystal, Billy, 323, 544 machine in the garden, 592, 594;
perspectives, 30, 512–513; and Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, xi and Native Americans, 285–286,
Prohibition, 15, 19, 509, 510, 511; C-SPAN, 349 286, 307, 431, 435; women in, 307,
and public high schools, 414; Cuba. See Cuban missile crisis; 308
and railroads, 542–543; and Spanish-American War Dandridge, Dorothy, 311, 314
revisionist westerns, 432; in Cuban missile crisis (1962), 31, 76, Dangerous, 573, 576
silent movies, 510–511; and 404 Dangerous Hours, 385, 390
success myth, 439, 509, 510, 511, Cukor, George: and sexuality, 548; Dangerous Minds, 416, 417
512, 598–599; and teenagers, 244, and success myth, 599, 600; and Dangerous World: The Kennedy
245; and television, 515–516; and women’s roles, 306, 534, 537 Years, 173
women, 538. See also Detective Culbert, David, 118, 119, 134 Daniel, 442
films Cultural mythology. See American Daniel Boone (1906), 146
“Crime as an American Way of cultural mythology Daniel Boone (1907), 146
Life” (Bell), 509 The Culture of the Cold War Daniel Boone (1936), 140, 146
Crimson Tide, 214, 216, 454, 456 (Whitfield), 69–70 The Daniel Boone Show, 141, 146,
Cringely, Robert X., 301, 380, 381 Cumings, Bruce, 81 505
Cripps, Thomas, 19, 119, 464 Cummings, Robert, 466 Daniel Boone Through the
Crisp, Donald, 300 The Cummington Story, 121, 123, 124 Wilderness, 146
Crockett, Davy, 139, 142–144, 145, Cunliffe, Marcus, 202, 567 Daniel Boone, Trailblazer, 140–141,
499, 578 Cuomo, Mario, 27 146
 Index ] 621
Daniels, Roger, 256 Davy Crockett at the Fall of the DeBakey, Michael, 219
Daniels, William, 155 Alamo, 143, 146 Debo, Angie, 162–163
Danner, Blythe, 155, 193, 304 Davy Crockett Goes to Congress, 144, DeCarlo, Yvonne, 554
Dante, Joe, 379 146 December, 134
Darby, Kim, 13 Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter, 146 December 7th, 117–118, 122, 124
Darby O’Gill and the Little People, Davy Crockett, Indian Scout, 146 Decker, Jeffrey Louis, 597, 598
254 Davy Crockett in Hearts United, 147 Declaration of Independence, 3, 392
The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Decolonization, 331
358, 361, 424, 428 Frontier: antebellum frontier Dee, Ruby, 335, 337, 443
Dark City, 594 hero in, 143–144, 147; frontier in, Dee, Sandra, 548
Dark Command, 425, 428 580, 581; Trans-Appalachian Deep Impact, 477, 478, 479
Dark Paradise (Courtwright), 518 West in, 505 Deep Throat, 549, 550
The Dark Side of Camelot (Hersh), The Dawn of Freedom, 202 The Deer Hunter, xxi; landscape in,
170 The Dawn of the Eye: The History of xx; and 1970s, 39, 41; soldiers in,
Dark Star, 479 Film and TV News, 380 570; and Vietnam War, 100, 101;
Darnell, Linda, 307 Day, Donald, 527 and women’s roles, 538
Darro, Frankie, 23 Day, Doris, 359, 376 Dees, Morris, 392
Darwell, Jane, 24, 423 Day, Dorothy, 236 DEFCON 2, 404, 408
Da Silva, Howard, 155, 200, 501, 502 Day, Mark, 88 The Defiant Ones: and civil rights
Dassin, Jules, 337 The Day After, 43, 45, 427, 428 movement, 335, 342; and
A Date with Judy, 244, 247 A Day at the Races, 442–443 democracy/equality, 575, 576;
Daughter of the Dragon, 227 Day-Lewis, Daniel, 7, 504 and race, 119, 210, 216; and
Daughters of the Dust, 215, 216 The Day Lincoln Was Shot, 179 South, 465, 472
D’Aulaire, Edgar Parin, 151 Day One, 132, 134 Defoe, Daniel, 555
D’Aulaire, Ingri Mortenson, 151 Days of Glory, 127, 134 Degas, Andre, 223
Daves, Delmer, 105–106 Days of Heaven, 428, 491, 495 Degler, Carl N., 553
David and Lisa, 359, 361 Days of Waiting, 231, 233 De Havilland, Olivia, 441
David Halberstam’s The Fifties, 72, Days of Wine and Roses, 520, 525 Dein, Edward, 74
79 The Day the Earth Stood Still, 592, De La Beckwith, Byron, 340
David Harum: 1890s in, 11, 13; small 594 Delamar, Penny, 227
towns in, 120–121, 458, 460 The Day the World Ended, 75 DeLaughter, Bobby, 340
Davidoff, Solomon, 263–268 Dazed and Confused, 417 Deliverance, 469–470, 472
Davidson, Craig, 321 D-Day: The Sixth of June, 133, 134 Deliverance (Dickey), 469
Davidson, Phillip, 96 Dead Again, 524, 525, 588 Deloria, Vine, 431
Davies, Delmer, 491 Dead End, 326, 330, 439, 444, 594 Del Rio, Dolores, 235
Davies, Joseph E., 127 A Deadly Affair, 77 Del Ruth, Roy, 265, 424
Davies, Marion, 18, 51, 438 The Deadly Mantis, 574, 576 De Mille, Cecil B.: and Asian
Davis, Bette: and African Dead Man, 286 Americans, 226; and Irish
Americans, 208; and democracy/ Dead Man Walking, 238, 239 Americans, 251; and Jackson, 142;
equality, 573; and Great Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, 134 and McCarthyism, 502; and
Depression, 23; and right-wing Dead Poets Society, 410, 411 1920s, 17; and railroads, 542; and
extremism, 292; and South, 466; Dean, James: and family, 358; and seafaring experience, 453; and
and tobacco, 524; and women’s public high schools, 414; and sexuality, 547, 548; and small
roles, 305, 310, 312, 536 Southwest, 491; and suburbia, towns, 459; and Trans-
Davis, Bill C., 238 484; and youth rebellion, 30, 53, Appalachian West, 501; and
Davis, Brad, 132 244 Viertel, 535; and George
Davis, Briton, 164 Dean, Jay “Dizzy,” 322 Washington, 200
Davis, Elmer, 126 Dean, John, 405 Demme, Jonathan, 471
Davis, Geena, 375, 494 De Antonio, Emile, 72, 575 A Democracy at War (O’Neill), 125
Davis, Glenn, 366 DeAntonio, Michael, 96 Democracy/equality, 572–577; and
Davis, Morgan Halsey, 338 Dear America: Letters Home from American Adam, 561; and Cold
Davis, Ossie, 335 Vietnam, 100, 101 War, 79; and FDR, 185;
Davis, Peter, 96 Death, 242, 352. See also Violence filmography, 576–577; and
Davis, Sammy, Jr., 213 Death Valley Days, 435 frontier, xx, 143; and Mexican
Davison, Bruce, 348 Death Wish series: crime in, 514; Americans, 272; and Puritanism,
Davy Crockett (1910), 146 detectives in, 588, 589; 4, 5; and slavery, 552; and small
Davy Crockett (1916), 146 government/politics in, 326, 330 towns, 458, 459; and tobacco,
Davy Crockett (1955), 146 Deaver, Michael K., 350 524; and World War I, 111
622 [ Index
Democracy in America (de Devil’s Doorway, 162 580; media in, 379; Midwest in,
Tocqueville), xix The Devil’s Hand (Naked Goddess, 421; Native Americans in, 166;
Democratic Vistas (Whitman), 573 Live to Love), 8 Puritanism in, 7; railroads in,
Demon Seed, 594 The Devil’s Own (The Witches), 8 543; small towns in, 457, 458;
De Mornay, Rebecca, 550 DeVito, Danny, 544 South in, 208, 468; space
Demos, John, 303 Dewey, Arthur, 200 program in, 475, 477; World War
Dempster, Carol, 52 Dewey, George, 89 II in, 118, 119–120
De Niro, Robert: and baseball, 322; DeWilde, Brandon, 491 Disoriented, 232, 233
and Catholicism, 237, 252; and The DI, 98, 101 Distant Water, 273
crime, 515; and Italian Dial M for Murder, 313–314, 315 Dittmer, John, 331
Americans, 259, 260; and New Dialogue, 77, 278, 281, 425. See also Diversity. See Ethnic diversity
York City, 439; and Vietnam Language Divide and Conquer, 118
War, 100 “Dialogue between My Head and “The Divinity School Address”
Denison, Michael, 473–479 My Heart” ( Jefferson), 158 (Emerson), 561
Dennehy, Brian, 389 Diamond Lil, 11–12 Divorce, 243, 352, 353, 355, 359
Dennis, Sandy, 414 Diamond Lil (West), 11–12 Dix, Richard, 144, 145, 299
Denver and Rio Grande, 542, 544 Diamonds Are Forever, 479 Dixon, Thomas, 59, 306, 464, 553
De Palma, Brian: and adolescence, Diane of Star Hollow, 261 Dmytryk, Edward, xv, 63, 130, 266
245; and Catholic Americans, Diaz, Cameron, 370 Dobie, J. Frank, 488
235; and Cold War, 78–79; Dick, 182, 183 Documentaries: African Americans,
directing style, 40; and 1920s, 19; Dickey, Bill, 192 334, 335, 336, 341–342; baseball,
and space program, 478 Dickey, James, 469 192, 321; capitalist tycoons, 301;
Depardieu, Gerard, 151 Dickstein, Morris, 31 civil rights movement, 335, 341–
Depp, Johnny, 376 Dick Tracy, 327, 330 342; Civil War, 64, 67; Cold
Derek, John, 366 The Dick Van Dyke Show, 483–484 War, 71–73, 404; drugs, 524;
Dern, Bruce, 39, 100, 593 Didion, Joan, 379 FDR, 187, 189; feminism, 539;
Dern, Laura, 295 Di Donato, Pietro, 258–259 football, 371–372; Founding
De Rochemont, Louis: Die Another Day, 214 Fathers, 156, 157–158;
documentary style, 73; and race Die Hard series, 44, 45, 575 government/politics, 301, 330,
relations, 334; and World War II, Diem, Ngo Dinh, 93 350, 400, 531, 532; Great
113, 117, 120 Dietrich, Marlene, 13, 547 Depression, 25–26, 27, 291;
Deschanel, Caleb, 555 Dillinger, 512, 516 Indian wars, 107–108, 164–165,
The Desert Fox, 134 Dillinger, John, 23, 511 431; Irish Americans, 253;
Desparate Journey, 127, 134 Dillon, Matt, 523 Kennedys, 171–172, 173; Korean
Desperado, 495 Dillon, Robert, 55, 56 War, 84–85; labor issues, 301,
Despues del Terremoto/After the Dime novels, 278, 279, 489 330, 388, 389; McCarthyism, 72–
Earthquake, 273, 275 Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart, 231, 73; media, 380–381; Mexican-
Destination Gobi, 129, 134 233 American War, 87–88; Native
Destination Moon, 475, 479 Dinesen, Isak, 538 Americans, 162, 164–165, 431–432;
Destination Space, 479 Diplomacy (Kissinger), 95 New Deal, xvi, 25–26, 27, 423;
Destination Tokyo, 454, 456 Direct address, 274 New York City, 438; 1920s, 19;
Destiny of Empires: The Spanish- Directors, 40 1960s, 33, 34; Nixon, 182–183;
American War of 1898, 13, 90, 91 The Dirty Dozen, 130, 135 nuclear weapons, 31; police, 494;
Detective films, 583–589; and Dirty Harry series: crime in, 514; right-wing extremism, 395, 396;
American Adam, xx, 563; democracy/equality in, 575; sexuality, 549; slavery, 66, 556;
filmography, 589; 1960s detectives in, 588, 589; space program, 475, 478;
perspectives, 586–587; government/politics in, 326, 330 Spanish-American War, 90, 91;
traditional/classic, 583–584; Disabilities, people with, 184–185, suburbia, 481–482; tobacco, 525;
World War II–era perspectives, 189 Truman, 196–197; Vietnam War,
128, 584, 585–586 Disclosure, 601 39, 96–97, 98; West, 166–167,
Detective Story, 440, 444 Discovery (spacecraft), 474 434–435; women, 304, 305;
Detente, 1969–1975, 183 Disney, Walt, 421, 458. See also World War I, 112–113, 114. See
De Tocqueville, Alexis, xix Disney productions also World War II
The Devil at 4 O’Clock, 237, 239 Disney productions: American documentaries
Devil in a Blue Dress, 588, 589 Revolution in, 51; Arab Documentary style: and Cold War,
The Devil in Miss Jones, 549, 550 Americans in, 221–222; and civil 73, 74; and historical
The Devil’s Disciple, 51, 53–54, 56 rights movement, 336; family in, inaccuracies, xii; and Kennedy
The Devil’s Disciple (Shaw), 53, 54 354; frontier in, 141, 143–144, 145, assassination, 172; and leftist
 Index ] 623
radicalism, xvi; and radicalism, Doyle, Arthur Conan, 583 Dunne, Philip, 292
294; and right-wing extremism, Doyle, Robert C., 98, 567–571 Dunning, William, xiv, 59
395–396 Dragnet, 587 Dunst, Kirsten, 182
Dodsworth, 428 Dragon Seed, 127, 227 The Dunwich Horror, 7, 8
Dog Day Afternoon, 442, 444 Dragoti, Stan, 494 Durant, Will, 294
Dogma, 238, 239 Dramatic license. See Historical Durante, Jimmy, 440
Doherty, Thomas, 241, 244, 572–577 inaccuracies Durso, Joseph, 193
Dole, Bob, 123 Dray, Philip, 522 Duvall, Robert: and alcohol, 520;
Domestice violence, 355 Dr. Bull, 458, 460 and Civil War, 66; and Irish
The Domino Principle, 514 Dr. Dolittle, 213, 216 Americans, 252; and Korean
Donahue, Troy, 548 The Dream Is Alive, 478, 479 War, 84; and media, 377; and
Donald, David H., 62, 175, 530 Dr. Ehrlich’s Magic Bullet, 573, 576 Midwest, 426; and Native
Donaldson, Roger, 404 Dreiser, Theodore, 12, 15–16 Americans, 164; and Puritanism,
Donaldson, Scott, 482 Dressler, Marie, 109 6; and Southwest, 490
Donat, Robert, 409 Dreyfuss, Richard, 415, 416 Dying for a Smoke, 525
Donehue, Vincent J., 185 Driving Miss Daisy: and civil rights Dykstra, Robert, 430
Don Juan Quilligan, 444 movement, 342; race in, 214, 216;
Donlevy, Brian, 299, 329, 399, 449 and South, 465, 472 Eagle Dance, 279
Donnie Brasco, 516 The Drowning Pool, 589 The Eagle Has Landed, 131, 135
D’Onofrio, Vincent, 98 Dr. Strangelove, xxi; Cold War in, Early film. See 1920s perspectives;
Donohue, Stacey, 256–262 77, 79; and machine in the Silent movies
Don Q, Son of Zorro, 17, 20, 270 garden, 592, 594; Midwest in, Earp, Wyatt, 579
Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy 427, 428; and 1960s, 32, 36; Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, 574,
“Satchel” Paige, 321, 325 presidency in, 404–405, 408; 576
Doped Youth, 521 sexual symbolism in, xv–xvi Eastlake, William, 131
Dorinson, Joseph, 437–446 Dru, Joanne, 307 East of Eden, 358, 361
Dor-Ner, Zvi, 151 Drugs, 518–519, 521–524; Eastwood, Clint: and Cold War, 78;
Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall, 17, filmography, 525–526; and and democracy/equality, 575; and
20 football, 370; and government/ detective films, 588; and
Do the Right Thing: Italian politics, 348; 1960s, 32; and Midwest, 425; and revisionism,
Americans in, 260, 261; New westerns, 433–434 xix, 581; and right-wing
York City in, 442, 444; race in, Drugstore Cowboy, 523, 525 extremism, 393; and South, 463;
215, 216 The Drug Traffic, 521, 525 and Southwest, 492, 493; and
Doubleday, Abner, 319 Drum, 555, 556 space program, 478; and
Double Indemnity (1944): and Drums along the Mohawk: women’s roles, 307, 308
crime, 512, 516; family in, 357, American Revolution in, 51, 56; Easy Money, 525
361; women’s roles in, 313, 315 family in, 352, 356, 361; frontier Easy Rider: antebellum frontier
Double V campaign, 321, 332–333 in, 140, 580, 581; Puritanism in, hero in, 146, 147; democracy/
Douglas, Gordon, 73, 76 4, 8; Trans-Appalachian West in, equality in, 575, 576; drugs in,
Douglas, Kirk: and American 500, 505; women’s roles in, 303, 522, 525; and 1960s, 33, 36; South
Revolution, 53, 54; and frontier, 304–305, 308 in, 469, 472
580; and machine in the garden, The Drunkard’s Fate, 519, 525 Easy Riders, Raging Bulls (Biskind),
592; and right-wing extremism, Drury, Allen, 346 33
293; and World War I, 112; and Du Bois, W. E. B., 157, 331, 341 Eat a Bowl of Tea, 231, 233
World War II, 131 “Duck Amuck,” 593 Eat a Bowl of Tea (Chu), 231
Douglas, Michael: and capitalist Duck Soup, 146 Eaton, Peggy, 142
tycoons, 301; and government/ Duffy’s Tavern, 254 Ebert, Roger, 222, 232, 411
politics, 531; and media, 379; and Dumbrille, Douglass, 201 Ebsen, Buddy, 143
New York City, 441; and success Dumont, Margaret, 442 Echevarrı́a, Nicolás, 488
myth, 601 Dun, Dennis, 230 Edge of the City, 335, 342, 387, 390
Douglas, Paul, 73 Dunaway, Faye: and government/ Edison, Thomas A.: and Asian
Douglass, Melvyn, 491 politics, 327; and Great Americans, 226; and 1890s, 10–11;
Dower, John W., 125 Depression, 27; and New York and machine in the garden, 591;
Downs, Cathy, 307 City, 440; and sexuality, 549; and and Native Americans, 279; and
Down to the Sea in Ships (1923), Southwest, 492 New York City, 438; and
449–450, 456 Duncan, Russell, 65 railroads, 542; and success myth,
Down to the Sea in Ships (1949), Duncan, Todd, 208 596, 597
450, 456 Dunne, John Gregory, 379 Edison the Man, 573, 576, 597, 601
624 [ Index
Editing: and baseball, 192; The The Emigrants, 421–422, 428, 503, 142, 145, 305, 498; and Mexican
Birth of a Nation, 59; and 505 Americans, 270, 274, 275; and
Midwest, 422, 426; and Trans- Emma (Austen), 246, 417 organized crime, 515; and public
Appalachian West, 504; and The Emperor Jones (O’Neill), 16 high schools, 415; and soldiers,
World War I, 110; and World Emperor of the North, 543, 544 569; and Southwest, 494–495;
War II, 119, 122 Empire State Building, 439 and Spanish-American War, 90;
Edmonds, Walter, 51 Empire State Express, 11, 542 and suburbia, 485; and
Edmunds, Dave, 51 The Empire Strikes Back, 40, 41, teenagers, 246; and World War
EdTV, 594 566. See also Star Wars trilogy II, 118, 573–574. See also Race
Educating Rita, 44, 45 The Enchanted Cottage, 128, 135 relations; specific groups
The Education of Henry Adams Encyclopedia of New York City, 437 Ethnography, 18, 19
(Adams), 590 End of the Line, 544 E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, 243, 247,
Edward M. Kennedy: Tragedy, The Enemy Below, 134, 135, 456 354, 361
Scandal & Redemption, 173 Enemy of the State, 214, 216, 594 Europe, James, 16
Edwards, Blake, 19 The Enforcer, 439, 444, 513, 516 Evans, Gene, 81
Edwards, James, 208, 333 Enlightenment. See American Evans, Walker, 423, 468
Edwards, Jonathan, 3, 4 Revolution; Founding Fathers “Eve” image of women, 310
Edwards, Sherman, 155 Enough, 223–224 The Evening Star, 494, 495
Edward Scissorhands, 486 Enrico, Robert, 63 Event Horizon, 475, 479
1890s, 10–14; capitalist tycoons, Enright, Ray, 425 Evers, Medgar, 340
297–298; filmography, 13–14; Entertaining Angels, 236, 239 Evers, Myrlie, 340
machine in the garden, 10, 590– Entrepreneurship. See Success myth Everybody’s All American, 368–369,
591 Environment: and machine in the 372
Eighteenth Amendment. See garden, 592; and Native Every Two and a Half Minutes, 120
Prohibition Americans, 167; 1980s disasters, Eve’s Bayou, 215, 216
Eight Iron Men, 133, 135 43; and regional films, xix–xx; Exceptionalism: and American
Eight Men Out, 320, 325 and seafaring experience, 455– Adam, 561, 565–566; and
8 Mile, 326, 330 456; and westerns, 581 frontier, 430; and Puritanism, 4;
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 123, 201, Equality. See Civil rights; Civil and slavery, 552. See also
322 rights movement; Democracy/ American cultural mythology
Eleanor and Franklin, 187, 189 equality Exclusive, 376, 381
Eleanor and Franklin: The White Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), Exclusive Rights, 330
House Years, 189 534 Executive Action, 170–171, 293, 295,
Elder, Harris J., 169–174 Erali, Elisa, 6 514
Election, 417, 425, 428 Erikson, Tod, 514 Executive Suite, 300, 302, 441, 444
The Electric Horseman, 379, 381 Ermey, R. Lee, 98 Ex-Lady, 311
Eleni, 44, 45 The Ernest Green Story, 336, 342 Exodus, 266, 267
Eliot, T. S., 15 Escalante, Jamie, 416 The Exorcist: and Catholic
Elise, Kimberly, 306 Escape from Crime, 381 Americans, 237, 239; and
Elites, 52, 327–328, 455. See also Escape from Hong Kong, 127, 135 childhood, 243, 247, 360, 361
Capitalist tycoons; Class issues Escape from L.A., 222, 224 “Exploitation” films: and drugs,
Elkins, Stanley, 61, 202 Escape from New York, 441, 444 521; and sexuality, 484, 548
Ellen, Vera, 12 Esparza, Moctesuma, 274 Eye of the Needle, 134, 135
Ellington, Duke, 15 Espejo, 274, 275 Eyes on the Prize, 216, 341–342
Elliot, Sam, 90 Esperanza, 273, 275 Eyre, Chris, 494
Elliott, Jan, 286 Espionage: Civil War, 60; and Cold
Ellis, Joseph J., 156, 157, 158 War, 73–75, 77, 78; and New Fabian, 13
Ellsberg, Daniel, xii, 180 York City, 441–442; and A Face in the Crowd, 292, 295, 574,
Elmer Gantry, 426, 428 sexuality, 549; World War II, 576
Elmer Gantry (Lewis), 426 128, 129 Facenda, John, 371
Elmtown’s Youth (Hollingshead), Esquire magazine, 547 Face/Off, 232
244 Estevez, Emilio, 490 A Face of War, 98, 101
Elvis Meets Nixon, 182, 183 The Eternal Grind, 384, 390 The Faculty, 417
The Emerald Forest, 286, 591, 594 The Eternal Mother, 356, 361 Fail-Safe: Cold War in, 77, 79; and
Emerson, Ralph Waldo: and Ethan Frome, 460 machine in the garden, 592, 594;
American Adam, 561, 563; and Ethnic diversity: and American Midwest in, 427, 428; and 1960s,
machine in the garden, 590; and Revolution, 56; and democracy/ 32, 36; presidency in, 404, 408
Puritanism, 3; and railroads, 541 equality, 573; and frontier, 141, Fairbanks, Douglas, 17, 109, 489
 Index ] 625
Fairclough, Adam, 331 schools in, 415, 417; teenagers in, Fields, W. C., 356
Fair Employment Practices 245, 246, 247 Fighting Back, 341
Commission, 332 Fat, Chow Yun, 232 Fighting Father Dunne, 236, 237,
The Falcon and the Snowman, 78, Fatal Attraction: family in, 360, 361; 239, 254
79, 239 New York City in, 443, 444; The Fighting Kentuckian, 502, 505
The Falcon Takes Over, 586, 589 sexuality in, 550 The Fighting Lady, 120, 124
Falk, Peter, 439 The Fatal Glass of Beer, 356, 361 The Fighting Seabees, 135, 569, 570
Fallen, 214, 216 Father Goose, 134, 135 The Fighting 69th: Irish Americans
Falling Down, 229 Father of the Bride (1950), 221, 357, in, 236, 237, 239, 250, 251, 254;
The Fall of Montezuma, 270, 275 361 soldiers in, 569, 570
Fame, 417 Father of the Bride Part II, 221, 222, Fighting Youth, 291, 295
Fame and Fortune (Alger), 596 224 The Fight in the Fields, 388, 390
Family, xx, 352–362; and Fat Man and Little Boy, 132, 135 Fight No More Forever: Ken Burns
antebellum frontier hero, 145; Faulk, John Henry, 30 Presents the West, 165–166, 167
and children, 243; and Cold Faulkner, William, 209, 335, 466, The Fights of Nations, 264, 267
War, 76, 358; in early films, 355; 470 Film and the First World War,
filmography, 361–362; in The Faust, Drew Gilpin, 305, 462, 466 109
Grapes of Wrath, 24, 356, 360, Faye, Alice, 12, 422 Film art techniques: acting style,
361, 423; historiography, 352–354; FBI: The Untold Stories, 515 142; camera movement, 59, 165;
in horror films, 356, 359–360, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, cinematography, 55, 157, 165;
361; and Italian Americans, 261; 376, 381, 523, 525 cinema verité, 330; close-ups,
1930s perspectives, 354, 356–357; The Fearmakers, 74 573; computer graphics imaging,
1960s perspectives, 353, 359, 360; Fear on Trial, 30, 36 455, 576; dialogue, 278, 281; direct
1970s perspectives, 40, 359, 360; Federal Bureau of Investigation address, 274; framing, 59, 504;
post–World War II era (FBI): and civil rights hand-held camera, 531; lighting,
perspectives, 353, 357–358; and movement, 338, 339, 394, 465; 55; mise en scene, xix–xx; new
presidency, 403; and public high and crime, 513, 514–515, 587; and realist cinema, 530–531, 532;
schools, 416–417; and slavery, right-wing extremism, 394, 395 point of view, 530; special effects,
555; and suburbia, 481; and Feist, Felix, 73 381, 455, 476, 576. See also
westerns, 354, 358–359; and Feldshuh, David, 332 Documentary style; Editing;
women, 310, 354, 355, 356–357, Felperin, Leslie, 484 Music
360; World War II–era Feminism, xx, 534–540; and Film & History: An Interdisciplinary
perspectives, 356, 357. See also baseball, 324; and Civil War, 306; Journal of Film and Television
Children filmography, 539; historiography, Studies, xiii
A Family Affair: family in, 357, 361; 534; and Irish Americans, 251; Film industry: and American
small towns in, 460; teenagers and media, 379; 1920s, 16; 1930s Revolution, 52; and democracy/
in, 243, 247 perspectives, 535–536; 1970s, 37, equality, 573, 574; 1890s, 10–11;
Fancy Pants, 13, 14 38–39, 538; 1980s, 44; post–World and Internet, 381; Jewish
Fandango, 493, 495 War II era perspectives, 537–538; Americans in, 265, 592; labor
Faragher, John Mack, 139, 306, 498 and sexual thrillers, 550; and issues in, 17, 384, 385; and
Far and Away, 253, 254, 330 silent movies, 534–535; and machine in the garden, 591–592,
Farewell, My Lovely, 589 westerns, 308, 494. See also 593–594; and McCarthyism, xv,
Farewell My Concubine, 232 Women 29–30, 73–74, 75, 143, 563–564;
A Farewell to Arms, 114 Ferber, Edna, 299, 313 and New Deal, 186; and New
Fargo, 516 Ferrell, Robert, 30 York City, 438–439, 444; 1920s,
Farley, Chris, 389 Ferrer, Mel, 211, 334 15, 16–17, 19–20, 52, 521; 1970s,
Farmer, Gary, 285 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, 246, 247, 40; and radio, 377–378; scandals
Farm Manpower, 120 415–416, 417 in, 52, 521; and small towns, 458,
Farms. See Rural life The Fictional Republic: Horatio 459, 460; and success myth, 599,
Farm Security Administration, 25– Alger and American Political 600; and television, 374
26 Discourse (Nackenoff ), 597 The Filmmakers’ Gettysburg, 67
Farrell, Glenda, 24 Fiddler on the Roof, 267 Film noir: and Cold War, 74–75;
Farrow, John, 51 Field, Sally: and Great Depression, and crime, 512, 514; detectives in,
Farrow, Mia, 51 27; and labor issues, 314, 389, 584, 586–587; and FDR, 188; and
Fascism, 25, 44, 290. See also 467; and media, 377; and sexuality, 357, 547–548; and
Nazism; Right-wing extremism women’s roles, 314, 315, 538 South, 468; and success myth,
Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Field of Dreams, 323–324, 325, 427, xx; and tobacco, 524; and
drugs in, 519, 525; public high 428 women’s roles, 313–314, 548
626 [ Index
Filmographies, xxi; African The Fireball, 237, 239 and Lincoln, 177, 178; and
Americans, 215–216; American Firsov, Fridrikh Igorevich, 30 machine in the garden, 592; and
Adam, 566; American First Blood, 101, 601 Midwest, 423; and railroads, 542,
Revolution, 56; antebellum First Person Plural, 233 543; and seafaring experience,
frontier hero, 146–147; Arab First Person Singular: John Hope 454; and South, 466; and Trans-
Americans, 224; Asian Franklin, 341, 342 Appalachian West, 500, 503; and
Americans, 233; baseball, 194, The First Texan, 87, 91, 145–146, 147 women’s roles, 303
325; capitalist tycoons, 302; First Wives Club, 444 Fonda, Jane: and alcohol, 520; and
Catholic Americans, 239; First Yank in Tokyo, 228 media, 379; and right-wing
children/teenagers, 247; civil Fish, Hamilton, 294 extremism, 394; and Vietnam
rights movement, 342–343; Civil Fishburne, Lawrence, 333 War, 100; and women’s roles,
War/Reconstruction, 67; Cold Fisher, Frances, 308 314
War, 79–80; Columbus, 152; Fishing industry, 451 Fonda, Peter, 33, 146, 469, 522
crime, 516; democracy/equality, Fishman, Robert, 482 Foner, Eric: on American
576–577; detective films, 589; A Fistful of Dollars, 492, 495 Revolution, 55; on
drugs/alcohol/tobacco, 525–526; Fitzgerald, F. Scott: and American Reconstruction, 60; on South,
1890s, 13–14; family, 361–362; Adam, 562; and Civil War, 60; 464, 466, 467
FDR, 189–190; feminism, 539; and 1920s, 16, 19; and success Fontaine, Joan, 145, 211
football, 372–373; Founding myth, 598 Food for Fighters, 120
Fathers, 159, 202; government/ Fitzgerald, Zelda, 18 Fools Rush In, 274, 275
politics, 330, 350, 401, 408, 532– The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys A Fool There Was, 310
533; Great Depression, 28; Indian (Goodwin), 169 Foot, Dorothy, 81
leaders, 167; Indian wars, 108; Fitzmaurice, George, 18 Football, 363–373; college, 363–365,
Irish Americans, 254; Italian Five Easy Pieces, 40, 41 366, 368, 370; documentaries,
Americans, 261–262; Jewish Five Graves to Cairo, 127, 135 371–372; filmography, 372–373;
Americans, 267; Kennedys, 173; Five Star Final, 376, 381 and Irish Americans, 251; 1960s/
Korean War, 85; labor issues, Fixed Bayonets, 82, 85 1970s perspectives, 363, 366–368;
390; Lincoln, 179; machine in the “Fix-it” children, 241, 242 post–World War II era
garden, 594; media, 381–382; Flaherty, Robert, 18 perspectives, 363, 365–366; Texas,
Mexican Americans, 275–276; Flash Gordon, 228, 475 494
Mexican-American War/ The Fleet’s In, 128, 135 Foote, Horton, 332, 469, 470
Spanish-American War, 91; Fleming, Thomas, 154–155, 249 Foote, Shelby, 67
Midwest, 428; Native Americans, Fleming, Victor, 264, 448, 452 Footlight Parade, 186, 189
286; New York City, 444–445; Flesh and the Devil, 310 For a Few Dollars More, 492, 495
1920s, 20; 1960s, 35–36; 1970s, Fletcher, Dexter, 55 For All Mankind, 478, 479
40–41; 1980s, 45; Nixon, 183; Flirting, 411 Forbes, Ella, 305
Puritanism, 8; radicalism, 295– Florida Special, 543, 544 Force 10 from Navarone, 131, 135
296, 396; railroads, 544; schools, Florio, Maria, 284 Ford, Edsel, 176
411–412, 417–418; seafaring Flower Drum Song, 229, 233 Ford, Francis, 249
experience, 456; sexuality, 550; Floyd, Pretty Boy, 511 Ford, Gerald, 123
slavery, 556; small towns, 460– Flying Leathernecks, 129, 133, 135 Ford, Glenn, 145, 414, 415
461; soldiers, 570–571; South, Flying Tigers, 126, 127, 135 Ford, Harrison: and antebellum
471–472; Southwest/Texas, 495– Flynn, Elizabeth Gurley, 251 frontier hero, 146; and
496; space program, 479; Flynn, Errol: and 1890s, 12; government/politics, 347, 405;
suburbia, 486; success myth, ethnicity of, 253; and frontier, and New York City, 441; and
601–602; Trans-Appalachian 579; and Indian wars, xix, 106; women’s roles, 310, 539
West, 505; Truman, 197; West, and Midwest, 425 Ford, Harry, 219
435–436, 581–582; women, 308– Flynn, John T., 297 Ford, Henry, 299
309, 315; World War I, 114; Flynn, Sean, 146 Ford, Jesse Hill, 337
World War II, 123–124, 134–136 FM, 378, 381 Ford, John: and alcohol, 519; and
Film ratings system, 513, 549 Follow the Fleet, 453, 456 American Adam, 563; and
Filson, John, 139, 498 Fonda, Henry: and American American Revolution, 51; and
The Final Countdown, 131–132, 135 Revolution, 51; and Catholicism, Burns, 435; and Catholicism, 235,
The Final Days, 183 237; and Cold War, 77, 404; and 236, 237–238; and children, 242;
Final Season (Stanton), 323 1890s, 12; and government/ and Civil War, 62; and family,
Finding Forrester, 411 politics, 528–529; and Great 356; and frontier, 140, 579; and
Fink, Mike, 139 Depression, 24, 291; and Indian government/politics, 326, 399,
Finney, Jack, 459 wars, 106; and labor issues, 385; 529; and Irish Americans, 236,
 Index ] 627
237, 249, 251, 252–253; and American Revolution; The French Connection, 440, 444,
Korean War, 84; and land Washington, George 522–523, 525
ownership, 468; and Lincoln, 1492: The Conquest of Paradise: The French Connection (Moore),
177, 178, 530, 597; and machine in Catholic Americans in, 235, 239; 522–523
the garden, xvi, 592; and Columbus in, 150, 151, 152; The French Lieutenant’s Woman,
Mexican Americans, 270; and Native Americans in, 286 42, 45
Midwest, 423; and Native Four Days in November, 171–172, French New Wave, 426, 492, 574
Americans, 104, 106, 431, 491; 173 French Revolution, 288
and New Deal, xv, 24, 187; and “Four Freedoms” (Rockwell), 116 The Freshman (1925), 364, 372
1920s, 18; and production Four Little Girls, 341, 342 The Freshman (1990), 260
history, xvi–xvii; and Four Walls, 265 Freudianism, xv–xvi, 358
Puritanism, 4, 8; and railroads, Fox, William, 17 Friar, Natasha A., 280
542; and seafaring experience, Fox-Genovese, Elizabeth, 305 Friar, Ralph E., 280
453, 454, 455; and sexuality, 549; Foxx, Jamie, 370 Friday the 13th, 246, 247, 360, 361
and soldiers, 567, 570; and Foxy Brown, 311 Fried Green Tomatoes, 544
South, 467, 468; and Southwest, Fragging, 99 Friendly Persuasion, 62, 67
489–490, 491, 494; and success Framing, 59, 504 Friends, 442, 484
myth, 597; and Trans- Francis Covers the Big Town, 376, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, 250, 254
Appalachian West, 500, 503; and 381 The Frisco Kid, 254
women’s roles, 303, 305, 307; and Frank, Pat, 31 The Frogmen, 129, 135
World War I, 110; and World Frank: A Vietnam Veteran, 39, 41 From Dusk Until Dawn, 495
War II, 117–118, 119, 122, 453, 454, Frankenheimer, John: and civil From Here to Eternity, 130, 135, 548,
570 rights movement, 340; and 550
Foreign Agent, 128, 135 government/politics, 173, 348, From Here to Eternity ( Jones), 130
Foreign Correspondent, 126, 135 405; and Korean War, 83; and From Reverence to Rape (Haskell),
Foreman, Carl, 75, 490 right-wing extremism, 394; and 16, 310
The Forgotten War (Blair), 81, 85 soldiers, 567 From the Earth to the Moon, 478,
The Formula, 44, 45 Frankfurter, Felix, 265 479
Forrest, Nathan Bedford, 471 Franklin, Benjamin, 51, 154, 155, The Front, 36, 294, 295, 441
Forrest, Steve, 504 596. See also Founding Fathers Frontier, 578–582; and American
Forrest Gump: American Adam in, Franklin, Bonnie, 538 Adam, 561, 562; and crime, 510;
565, 566; and leftist radicalism, Franklin, Carl, 471 and democracy/equality, xx; and
293, 295; and Nixon, 183; and Franklin, John Hope, 156, 157, 341 1890s, 10, 13; filmography, 581–
South, 465, 471, 472; success Franklin, Wayne, 421 582; and Indian wars, 103, 104,
myth in, 601 Fraser, Brendan, 410 580; and Native Americans, 277–
Forrest Gump (Groom), 471 Frasier, 484 278, 579, 580; 1960s perspectives,
Forster, Marc, 214, 471 Freaks and Geeks, 417 141, 503; and Puritanism, 4–5,
Fort Apache: frontier in, 579, 581; Frears, Stephen, 492 497–498; and soldiers, 567, 569;
Indian wars in, 104, 106, 108, 167; Frederick, Pauline, 329 and Southwest, 489; and space
Irish Americans in, 236, 239, 252, Fredrickson, George M., 553 program, xx, 478–479; and
254 Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Spanish-American War, 90; and
Fort Apache, the Bronx, 440, 444 Harry T. Moore, 341, 342 Trans-Appalachian West, 497–
Forten, Charlotte, 555 Freedom Rides, 336 498; and women, 303; World
For the Boys, 132, 135 Freedom Road, 555 War II–era perspectives, 140,
For the Love of Ivy, 211, 216 Freedom Song, 339, 342 579, 579–580. See also
Fort Ti, 580, 581 Freedom Summer (1964), 336, 338, Antebellum frontier hero;
The Fortunate Pilgrim, 261 339 Westerns
40 Guns to Apache Pass, 167 Freeman, Al, Jr., 340 Frontier Films, 26, 291
42nd Street, 439, 444 Freeman, David, 377 The Frontiersman, 141, 147
48 Hours, 213, 216 Freeman, Morgan: and African “Frontier Thesis” (Turner). See
The Forward Pass, 363, 372 Americans in film, 214; and civil “The Significance of the Frontier
Foster, Jodie, 476, 538, 549–550 rights movement, 338; and in American History”
Foster, Meg, 6 media, 377; and public high Frontline: Blood of ‘Nam, 39, 41
Foster, Robert, 84 schools, 416; and slavery, 556; The Front Page: media in, 375, 381;
Founding Fathers, 153–160; and women’s roles, 307 1920s in, 19, 20; political
filmographies, 159, 202; Freidel, Frank, 346 machines in, 401; right-wing
historiography, 52, 154, 156–157; French, Philip, 370 extremism in, 290, 295
and nationalism, 49. See also French and Indian War, 500–501 Front Page Woman, 312, 536
628 [ Index
Frost, David, 196 Gangster films: and American equality in, 574, 576; and Jewish
The Frozen War—America Adam, 564; and Catholic Americans, 266, 267
Intervenes in Russia, 1918–20, 114 Americans, 236; family in, 361; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 313
Fuchs, Lawrence H., 237 and hoboing, 23; and Irish Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907), 225
Fuel Conservation, 120 Americans, 250–251; and Italian The Geography of Hope: Ken Burns
The Fugitive, 236, 239 Americans, 257–258; and Jewish Presents the West, 165, 166, 167
Fuller, Charles, 333 Americans, 265; and 1920s, 18, 19; George, Dan, 107, 162, 563
Fuller, Sam, 74, 81, 82, 131 post–World War II era, 513; George, Gladys, 585
Fuller, Samuel, 569 success myth in, 510, 511, 598– George M, 250
Full Metal Jacket: and machine in 599. See also Crime; The George Wallace, 340, 342
the garden, 594; and 1980s, 43, Godfather trilogy George Washington (1984), 51, 56,
45; soldiers in, 97–98, 101, 570 Garbo, Greta, 310, 312, 535, 546 159
Full of Life, 261 Garcia, Andy, 375 George Washington: A Life
Fulton, Robert, 455 Garden images. See American (Randall), 202
Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker, 341, Adam; Frontier; Machine in the George Washington Slept Here, 201,
342 garden; Nature 202, 482, 486
The Funeral, 261 Gardens of Stone, 43, 45, 101 George Washington: The Man
Funny Girl: and democracy/ Gardner, Ava, 76, 537 Behind the Myths (Rasmussen &
equality, 575, 576; and Jewish Gardner, James, 294 Tilton), 202
Americans, 266, 267; New York Garfield, John, 265 George Washington II: Forging a
City in, 440; women’s roles in, Garland, Judy, 187, 543 New Nation (1986), 51, 56, 159
314, 315 Garner, James, 585 Gere, Richard, 550, 600
Furhammer, Leif, 126 Garnett, Tay, 569 German-American Bund, 288
Furlong, Edward, 294 Garofalo, Janeane, 378 Gerolmo, Chris, 339
Fur trade, 503 Garrett, Greg, 121 Geronimo, 103, 106, 162–165, 319
Fury, 459, 460, 573, 576 Garson, Greer, 187, 536 Geronimo (1939), 167
Fussell, Paul, 109, 111, 125–126, 134 Gas, Food, Lodging, 493, 495 Geronimo (1962), 167
Fyne, Robert, 121, 125–136 Geronimo (1993): Geronimo in, 163,
Gates, Bill, 301, 381
167; Native Americans in, 286;
Gates, William, 410
Gable, Clark: and Civil War, 62; Southwest in, 494, 495
Gatewood, Charles, 164
and 1890s, 12; and media, 376; Geronimo: An American Legend,
A Gathering of Eagles, 76
and New York City, 441; and 108, 163–164, 165, 167
A Gathering of Old Men, 338, 342
sexuality, 547; and slavery, 554 Geronimo and the Apache
A Gathering of Old Men (Gaines),
The Gabriel Horn (Holt), 502 Resistance, 164–165, 167, 431, 435
338
Gabriel Over the White House: and Geronimo’s Revenge, 167
Gattaca, 594
government/politics, 25, 350; and Gershwin, George, 16, 440
Great Depression, xix, 25, 28; The Gaucho, 17, 20 Get a War Job, 120
and radicalism, 290 Gay/lesbian people, 409–410, 546, Gettysburg: Catholic Americans in,
Gaddis, John Lewis, 70, 71 549 235, 239; Civil War in, 66, 67;
Gail, Max, 194 “Gay Nineties”. See 1890s women’s roles in, 308
Gaines, Ernest, 337, 338, 464 Gay rights movement, 546 Ghost, 213, 216
Gaines, Richard, 200 Gebler, Ernest, 5 Ghost Dance: Ken Burns Presents
Galbraith, John Kenneth, 27 Gehrig, Eleanor Twitchell, 192, 193 the West, 167
Gall (Indian leader), 106 Gehrig, Lou, 191–194, 322, 323, 443 Ghosts of Mississippi: race in, 214,
Gallagher, Tag, 236 Gender roles: early 20th century, 216, 340, 342; South in, 465, 472
The Gallant Hours, 130, 135 355; and family, 352–353, 359; and Ghost World, 417, 418
The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, World War II, 116. See also Giant, xxi; landscape in, xx;
227 Family; Feminism; Masculinity; Mexican Americans in, 271, 275;
Gallico, Paul, 192 Women Texas in, 491, 495; women’s roles
Gambino, Carlo, 515 The General: Civil War in, 60, 67; in, 313, 315
Gambling on the High Seas, 187, and machine in the garden, 594; GI Bill, 353
189 railroads in, 543, 544 Gibran, Kahlil, 219
Gambon, Michael, 405, 406 General Motors, 435 Gibson, John, 393
Gandhi, 538 Genovese, Eugene, 61, 64, 462, 463, Gibson, Josh, 321
Gandolfini, James, 261 466, 553, 555 Gibson, Mel, 146, 576
Gangs, 273, 509. See also Crime Gentleman Jim, 12, 14, 251, 254 Gidget, 358, 361
Gangs of New York, 327, 328, 330, Gentleman’s Agreement: and anti- Gidget Goes Hawaiian, 359, 361
516 Semitism, 208, 410; democracy/ Gidget Goes to Rome, 359, 361
 Index ] 629
Gilda, 548, 550 Goldberg, Whoopi, 213–214, 238, Goodwin, Doris Kearns, 169, 189
Giles, Paul, 259 336, 340 Gordon, Bernard, 480
Gilman, Owen W., Jr., 462–472 The Goldbergs, 266, 267, 442 Gordon, Richard E., 484
Gimme Shelter, 33, 36 Goldblum, Jeff, 525 Gordon, Ruth, 532, 536
Gipp, George, 365 Gold Diggers of 1933, 186, 189, 600, Gordon-Reed, Annette, 156, 159
Girl, Interrupted, 214, 216 602 Gore Vidal’s Lincoln, 65, 67, 178, 179
Girl from Brooklyn, 440, 444 Golden Boy, 311, 312, 315 The Gorgeous Hussy, 142, 147
The Girl Hunters, 589 Goldman, Emma, 294 Gorillas in the Mist, 44, 45
Girl of the Rio, 235, 239 Goldman, Eric, 333 Gorky Park, 43, 45, 79
Gish, Annabeth, 182 The Gold Rush: and American “The Gospel of Wealth”
Gish, Dorothy, 311 Adam, 562, 566; and 1890s, 12–13, (Carnegie), 297
Gish, Lillian, 109, 188, 306, 311 14; nostalgia in, 17, 20 Gossett, Louis, Jr., 338, 450
Gitlin, Todd, 29, 35 Goldwyn, Samuel, 192, 263, 438 Go Tell the Spartans, 570
Give ‘Em Hell, Harry!, 197 Golina, Valerie, 222 Gotham (Burrows & Wallace), 437
Give ‘Em Hell, Harry! (Miller), 197 Gompers, Samuel, 388 Gothic genre, 6, 7, 134, 468
Give Me Liberty, 202 Gone with the Wind, xxi; Civil Gotti, John, 515
Give Us This Day, 258, 261 War/Reconstruction in, 60–61, Gould, Elliott, 84, 585
The Glass Key: crime in, 512, 516; 62, 67; and democracy/equality, Gould, Jay, 297
government/politics in, 330, 399, 572, 576; family in, 354, 361; Gould, Lewis, 35
401 influence of, xii; Irish Americans Gould, Stephen Jay, 194, 322
Glenn, John, 474, 477 in, 235, 239, 254; land ownership Gouzenko, Igor, 73
Glenn, Scott, 220, 477 in, 467–468; and 1930s, 28; and Government/politics, xix, 527–533;
The Glenn Miller Story, 597, 601 Raintree Country, 63; slavery in, and antebellum frontier hero,
Gloria Steinem, 539 554, 556; South in, 462, 465, 472; 144; and Catholic Americans,
Glory: Civil War in, 65, 67; race in, women’s roles in, 305, 308, 311 237; and cities as growth
214, 216; slavery in, 556; soldiers Gone with the Wind (Mitchell), 60– machines, 327–329; Congress,
in, 568, 570 61, 467 344–351; documentaries, 301, 330,
Glover, Danny, 27, 108, 214, 339 Gonzalez, Corky, 273 350, 400, 531, 532; filmographies,
“G” Man, 512, 516 Gonzalez, Juan L., 263 330, 350, 401, 408, 532–533; and
“G” Men, 253, 254 Gonzalez, Pedro J., 272 Great Depression, 22, 24, 25–26,
Go, Man, Go!, 202, 216 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 27–28; historiography, 398–399,
Godard, Jean-Luc, 492 492, 495 527–528; 1920s, 15; and nuclear
God Bless You, Buffalo Bill (Sarf ), The Good, the Bad and the weapons, 31; political machines,
164 Beautiful, 315 326–327, 328, 398–401, 529; and
Goddard, Paulette, 453, 501 Goodbye Billy: America Goes to right-wing extremism, 292, 293;
Goddard, Pauline, 200 War, 1916–17, 112, 114 and sexuality, 550; and space
The Godfather trilogy: American Goodbye, Columbus, 266, 267, 442 program, 477. See also Law
Adam in, 564, 566; Catholic Goodbye, Columbus (Roth), 442 enforcement; New Deal;
Americans in, 238, 239; crime in, Goodbye, Darkness (Manchester), Presidency
514, 516; family in, 359, 361; 125 Grable, Betty, 12, 440
government/politics in, 327, 330; The Goodbye Girl, 443, 445 The Graduate: and democracy/
Irish Americans in, 253, 254; Goodbye, Mr. Chips, 409, 411, 414 equality, 575, 576; family in, 359,
Italian Americans in, 257, 259, The Good Earth: Asian Americans 361; and 1960s, 33, 36; sexuality
261–262; New York City in, 439, in, 227, 228, 233; family in, 356, in, 549, 550; women’s roles in,
444; success myth in, 599, 601; 361 538
women’s roles in, 314, 538 GoodFellas: crime in, 516; Italian The Grafters, 326, 330
God Is My Co-Pilot, 127, 135 Americans in, 260–261, 262; New Graham, Don, 490
The Godless Girl, 295 York City in, 439, 445 The Grand Duchess and the Waiter,
Gods and Generals, 66, 67 Gooding, Cuba, Jr., 333, 370 17, 20
Gods and Monsters, 111, 114 Goodman, Andrew, 338 Grande Isle, 471, 472
God’s Little Acre, 468, 472 Goodman, John, 193, 322, 443 Grand Illusion, 111, 114
Goebbels, Joseph, 112 Goodman, Paul, 244 Granger, Stewart, 449
Go for Broke, 129, 135 Good Morning, Vietnam, 43, 45, 101 Grant, Cary: and alcohol, 519; and
Going My Way: Catholic The Good Mother, 361 1890s, 11; and sexuality, 547; and
Americans in, 237, 239; Irish Good Neighbor Sam, 486 suburbia, 482; and women’s
Americans in, 251, 253, 254 “The Good War” (Terkel), 125 roles, 304
Going to Congress, 17, 20, 527, 532 The Good War’s Greatest Hits Grant, Joanne, 332
Goin’ South, 493 (Beidler), 125 Grant, Rodney A., 166, 285
630 [ Index
Grantham, Dewey, 471 The Greatest Show on Earth, 544 Grier, Pam, 311
Granville, Bonita, 376 Great Expectations, 445 Grierson, Benjamin, 62
The Grapes of Wrath, xxi; and The Great Gatsby (1926), 19, 20 Grierson, John, 123
Catholic Americans, 236, 239; The Great Gatsby (1949), 19, 20, Griffin, John Howard, 211, 212, 336,
family in, 24, 356, 360, 361, 423; 441, 445 494
land ownership in, 468; and The Great Gatsby (1974), 19, 20, 441, Griffin, Patrick, 112
leftist radicalism, 291, 295; and 445 Griffith, Andy, 292
machine in the garden, xvi, 592, The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald), 16, Griffith, D. W.: and alcohol, 519;
594; and Midwest, 423, 424, 428; 19, 562, 598 and American Revolution, 50–51,
and New Deal, xv, 24, 187, 189; The Great K&A Train Robbery, 543, 52–53, 56; The Battle, 58; and
and 1930s documentaries, 26; 544 capitalist tycoons, 298; and
political bias in, xiv–xv; The Great Locomotive Chase, 543, Catholic Americans, 234; and
production history, xvi–xvii; and 544 children, 242; and crime, 510;
Southwest, 491, 495 The Great Man, 302 and democracy/equality, 572;
The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck), The Great McGinty: Catholic and 1890s, 12, 13; and family, 355;
423 Americans in, 237, 239; and historical inaccuracies, xiii,
Grapewin, Charley, 24, 423 government/politics in, 329, 330, xiv; impact on historical
Graves, Leonard, 122 399, 401; Irish Americans in, 251, understanding, xii; influence of,
Graves, Peter, 79 254 279; and Italian Americans, 257;
Gray, J. Glen, 568 The Great Meadow, 140, 147 and Jewish Americans, 264–265;
Grayson, Helen, 121 The Great Meadow (Roberts), 140 and leftist radicalism, 289; and
Graziano, Rocky, 443 Great Migration, 116, 125, 341 Lincoln, 64–65, 176, 177; and The
Grease, 245, 247, 415, 418 The Great O’Malley, 253, 254 Longest Day, 130; and Mexican
Greased Lightning, 213, 216 Great Plains. See Midwest Americans, 270, 271; and
“Greaser” films, 270 The Great Sioux Massacre, 167 Midwest, 422; and Native
The Greaser’s Gauntlet, 270, 275 Great Society, 94 Americans, 104; and New York
The Great Bull Market (Sobel), 22 The Great Train Robbery: children City, 438; and 1920s, 17, 20; and
Great Depression, 22–28; and in, 242, 247; and railroads, 542, Progressivism, xv; and right-
capitalist tycoons, 299; and 543, 544; and Southwest, 489, 495 wing extremism, 393; and South,
Catholic Americans, 236; and The Great Waldo Pepper, 19, 20, 111 463; and Trans-Appalachian
children, 242; and Civil War, 61; “Great War”. See World War I West, 498; and George
and democracy/equality, 573; and The Great War (1965), 110, 114 Washington, 199, 200; and
Drums along the Mohawk, 500; The Great War and the Shaping of women, 306, 311; and World
and family, 353; and FDR, 185– the 20th Century, 114 War I, 110
186; and film industry, 459; The Great War in Modern Memory Griffith, Melanie, 310, 440, 441,
filmography, 28; immigration (Fussell), 109 539
during, 263–264; and labor Greed, 599, 602 Grisham, John, 339, 471
issues, 385; and Mexican Green, Ron, 241–248 Grizzard, George, 156
Americans, 272; and Midwest, The Green Berets, 97, 101, 569, 570 Groom, Winston, 471
423; and New York City, 439; Green Berets, 405 The Group, 188, 189
and 1920s, 19; 1930s perspectives, Greenberg, Hank, 321 Growing Up Absurd (Goodman),
xiv–xv, 22, 23–24, 25–26; and Greenblatt, Stephen, 42 244
nostalgia/sentimentalization, Green Card, 443, 445 The Grudge, 270, 275
120–121; and radicalism, 25, 26, Greene, Graham, 77, 166, 285, 431 Guadalcanal Diary: democracy/
290, 291; and sexuality, 545, 547; The Greening of America (Reich), equality in, 573, 576; and New
and South, 466, 467; and 32, 35 York City, 440; World War II in,
suburbia, 481; and teenagers, 357; The Green Mile, 188, 189 126, 135
and westerns, 431, 580; and Green Pastures, 210 Guerrero, Ed, 210, 212, 215
women’s roles, 306, 312; and Greenstreet, Sydney, 585 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner:
World War II, 125. See also New Greenwald, Maggie, 494 family in, 360, 361; race in, 119,
Deal; 1930s; 1930s perspectives Greenwood, Bruce, 404 210, 211, 216, 337, 342; women’s
The Great Depression, 27, 28 Gregory, James, 83, 293 roles in, 537, 539
The Great Dictator, 266, 267 Grenada invasion, 78 Guggenheim, Charles, 197
The Great Escape, 130, 135, 570 Gressley, Gene M., 581 Guggenheim, William, 455
“Greatest Generation,” 116 Grey, James, 515 Guide to Life and Literature of the
The Greatest Generation (Brokaw), Grey, Zane, 280–281, 290 Southwest, 488
125 Grey Lady Down, 454, 456 Guillermin, John, 111
The Greatest Love of All, 262 Grier, Edward F., 156 Guillermin, Meyer, 263
 Index ] 631
Guilty by Suspicion, 294, 295, 347, Halper, Thomas, 326–330 Harlow, Jean, 310, 376, 547
350 Hamburger Hill: and 1980s, 43, 45; Harmon, Tom, 366
Guilty of Treason, 73, 79 soldiers in, 570; Vietnam War in, Harmon of Michigan, 366, 372
Guinness, Alec, 130 98–99, 101 Harold of Orange, 286
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, 349 Hamby, Alonzo L., 31 Harold Teen (1928), 243, 247
The Gunfighter, 580, 581 Hamer, Fannie Lou, 341 Harold Teen (1934), 243, 247
Gunfighters, Highwaymen, and Hamill, Mark, 564 Harper, 587, 589
Vigilantes (McGrath), 432 Hamilton, Alexander, 154 Harper, Tess, 520
Gung Ho (1943), 126, 135 Hamilton, George, 90 Harper, Valerie, 538
Gung Ho (1986): Asian Americans Hamilton, Guy, 53, 54 Harrington, John, xi
in, 44, 45, 229; labor issues in, Hamilton, Margaret, 427 Harris, Ed, 477, 493
389, 390 Hamilton, Murray, 344 Harris, Joel Chandler, 468
Gunn, Giles, 561 Hamilton, Neil, 52 Harris, Richard, 251, 253, 388
Gunning, Tom, 591 Hamilton, Nigel, 170 Harrison, Louis Reeves, 280
The Guns of Navarone, 130, 135 Hamlet on the Holodeck (Murray), Harrison Narcotics Act (1914), 518,
Gunton, Bob, 182 380 521
Gusfield, Joseph, 518 Hammerstein, Oscar, 422 Harry and Tonto, 162, 167
Guthrie, A. B., Jr., 502 Hammett, Dashiell: and American Harry Truman, 1884–1972, 197
Guthrie, Woody, 188–189, 388, 543 Adam, 563; and crime, 512; and Hart, Kitty Carlisle, 27
Gutiérrez, David, 272 detective films, 584; and Hart, Walter, 266
Gutman, Herbert, 61, 64 government/politics, 399; and Hart, William S., 270, 430–431, 579
Guys and Dolls, 440, 445 sexuality, 548 Harvest of Shame, 388, 390
The Gypsy Warriors, 135 Hampton, Henry, 341, 342 Harvey, 520, 525
Hancock, John, 154, 156 Harvey, Lawrence, 83, 144, 293
Hackers, 380, 381 Hancock, John Lee, 323 The Harvey Girls, 543, 544
Hackman, Gene: and civil rights Hand-held camera, 531 Hasan, Zia, 37–41
movement, 339, 465; and drugs, Hands on a Hard Body, 493, 495 Has Feminism Gone Too Far?, 539
523; and football, 370; and Great Hands Up!, 60, 67 Hasford, Gustav, 98
Depression, 27; and Native The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Haskell, Molly, 16, 18, 310, 536
Americans, 164; and New York 360, 361 Haskin, Byron, 87
City, 440; and public high Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream, Hastie, William, 331
schools, 416; and right-wing 325 Hate on Trial: Challenging the First
extremism, 394; and tobacco, Hanks, Tom: and American Adam, Amendment, 395, 396
525; and Vietnam War, 43 565; and FDR, 188; and media, A Hatful of Rain, 525
Haddon, Dayle, 367 381; and South, 471; and space Hathaway, Henry, 503
Hadley, Reed, 270 program, 477, 478; and suburbia, Hatosy, Shawn, 411
Hail the Conquering Hero, 127, 135, 485; and World War II, 122, 123 Hatta, Kayo, 231
459, 460 Hanlan, James P., 398–401, 430–436 Hauer, Rutger, 78
Hair, 97, 101 Hannah and Her Sisters, 443, 445 Hauser, Rick, 5–6
Hairspray, 246, 247 The Hanoi Hilton, 101, 570 Having Our Say: The Delaney
The Hairy Ape (O’Neill), 16 Hansberry, Lorraine, 335 Sisters’ First Hundred Years, 342
Halberstam, David, 72, 81 Hanser, Richard, 122 Hawaii, 449, 456
Haldeman, H. R., 181 Happy, Texas, 493, 495 Hawaii, 89, 90, 231
Hale, Edward Everett, 499 “Happy Days Are Here Again,” 185 Hawaii (Michener), 449
Haley, Alex, 63–64, 267, 338. See Hardball, 323 Hawke, Ethan, 132
also Roots Hard Ball, 325 Hawks, Howard: and antebellum
Haley, Jack, 427 Hard-boiled detectives, xx, 584, frontier hero, 140; and crime, 19,
Half Baked, 523, 525 585–586, 587 511; and Mexican Americans,
Half Moon Street, 44, 45 A Hard Day’s Night, 32 270; and railroads, 543; and
Half Slave/Half Free, 555 Harding, Warren G., 15, 200 Southwest, 490, 492; and World
Hall, Bernard H., 422 Hardwicke, Catherine, 523 War I, 113
Hall, G. Stanley, 241, 243 Hardwicke, Edward, 6 Hawn, Goldie, 443
Hall, Philip Baker, 182 Hardy, Oliver, 502 Hawthorne, Nathaniel: and
Haller, Daniel, 7 Hardy, Rod, 87 American Adam, 561; and
Halloween: and adolescence, 246, Harlan County U.S.A., 389, 390 machine in the garden, 590; and
247; and family, 360, 361; and The Harlem Globetrotters, 210, 216 Puritanism, 3, 5, 8; and women,
small towns, 460 Harlem Renaissance, 15 304
Halls of Montezuma, 129, 135 Harling, Robert, 494 Hay, John, 89
632 [ Index
Hay, Peter, 60 Henry and Dizzy, 243, 247 High Plains Drifter, 393, 396
Hayakawa, Sessue, 130, 226 Hepburn, Audrey, 441 Hill, Amy, 230
Hayden, Sterling, 77, 143 Hepburn, Katherine: and alcohol, Hill, Arthur, 332, 333
Haynes, James Earl, 30 519; and Asian Americans, 27; Hill, George Roy: and 1890s, 13;
Hays, Will H., 52, 253 and 1890s, 13; and government/ and 1920s, 19; and revisionism,
Hayward, Susan, 142, 519 politics, 528, 529; and women’s xix, 433; and World War I, 111
Haywood, Big Bill, 294 roles, 306, 310, 311, 312, 535–536, Hill, Walter: and Cold War, 79;
Hayworth, Rita, 440, 537 537; and World War II, 127 and Indian wars, 108, 163–164;
Headin’ Home, 194 Heppenheimer, T. A., 474 and Southwest, 494; and success
The Headmaster, 411 Herbeck, Dale, 363–373 myth, 601
Head Office, 301 Here Comes Mr. Jordan, 368, 372 Hiller, Arthur, 194
Head of the Class, 418 Here Comes the Navy, 453, 456 The Hi-Lo Country, 492, 495
Heale, M. J., 290 Herek, Stephen, 178–179 Hilty, James W., 170
Hearst, Patty, 293 Her Honor, the Governor, 329, 330 Hinshaw, David, 425
Hearst, William Randolph: and Hernandez, Juano, 209 Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings, 132,
American Revolution, 51; and Herndon, James, 175 196. See also Nuclear weapons/
1890s, 12; and government/ Hero, 375, 381 power; World War II
politics, 529; and New York City, Heroes, 100, 101, 570 Hiroshima: The Legacy, 196, 197
438; and Spanish-American War, Heroes for Sale, 185, 189, 290–291, Hirsch, Elroy “Crazylegs,” 365, 366
90 295 His Girl Friday: government/
Heartbreak Ridge, 78, 79 Heroes of the Alamo, 143, 147 politics in, 330; and media, 375,
Heart Like a Wheel, 44, 45 Herring, George, 93 381; women’s roles in, 311, 312,
Hearts and Minds, 96, 101, 570 Herrman, Lesley, 452 357, 361, 536, 539
Heathers, 246, 247, 416, 418 Herrmann, Edward, 193 Hispanic Americans, 235; and
Heaven Can Wait, 368, 372 Herron, Ima Honaker, 458–459 crime genre, 273, 515; film
Heaven Help Us, 238, 239 Hersch, Patricia, 246 invisibility of, 354; and public
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison, 130, 135, Hersh, Seymour, 170 high schools, 416; women’s roles,
237, 239 Hershey, Barbara, 388 311. See also Mexican Americans
Heaven’s Gate, 493, 495, 597, 602 Herz, Martin F., 93, 95 His People, 264, 267
Hecht, Ben, 19, 375, 511 Hesburgh, Theodore, 35 Hiss, Alger, 180
Heckerling, Amy, 245, 246, 415, 417 He Stayed for Breakfast, 127, 135 Historians and the American West
Hedaya, Dan, 182 Hester Street: and 1890s, 13, 14; (Malone), 430
Heflin, Van, 365 immigration in, 13, 443; Jewish Historians Film Committee, xiii
Hefner, Hugh, 546 Americans in, 264, 265, 267; New Historical inaccuracies: Alamo, 271;
Hegedus, Chris, 532 York City in, 439, 445; women’s American Revolution, xiii, 50, 51,
The Heiress, 441, 445 roles in, 38, 41, 306, 309 52, 54; baseball, 193; civil rights
The Heiress ( James), 441 Heston, Charlton: and antebellum movement, 339, 340–341, 342,
Heisler, Stuart, 399 frontier hero, 142; and Civil 394, 465; Civil War, 64, 65; Cold
Hell Below, 454, 456 War, 62; and 1890s, 12; and War, 71–72, 79; Columbus, 149,
Hellcats of the Navy, 454, 456 football, 367; and Trans- 151–152; 1890s, 11; football, 365–
Heller, Joseph, 32, 131 Appalachian West, 503 366; Founding Fathers, 154–155,
Hell in the Pacific, 130–131, 135 Hey, Kenneth, xv 201; frontier, 579; Indian wars,
Hellman, Lillian, 410, 468, 469 Heyl, John, 411 106, 164, 278, 280; inevitability
Hellmann, John, 170 Hickok, Wild Bill, 579 of, xiii–xiv; Jackson, 142;
Hell’s Hinges, 579, 581 Hickover, Steve, 267 Kennedys, xii–xiii, 171, 172, 253–
Hell to Eternity, 272, 275 Hicks, Jack, 493 254; Lincoln, 530; McCarthyism,
Help!, 32 Hidden Army—Women in World 73; Mexican Americans, 273;
Hemings, Sally, 157, 158–159 War II, 122, 124 Mexican-American War, 87, 271;
Hemingway, Ernest, 16 Hiding Out, 416, 418 Native Americans, 7, 162, 163,
Hemp, 523–524 Higham, John, 393, 598 164, 281, 303; and New
Hemphill, Robert, 99–100 High Art, 523, 525 Historicism, 42, 44; 1960s, 34;
The Hemp Revolution, 523–524, 525 High Crimes and Misdemeanors, presidency, 404; Puritanism, 5,
Henderson, Robert M., 51, 52 350, 532 7–8, 304; Reconstruction, xvii;
Hennessey, William, 509 High Noon: and Cold War, 75, 79; seafaring experience, 448, 450,
Henry, Justin, 243 Mexican Americans in, 271, 275, 455; slavery, xiii, xiv, 452, 554–
Henry Aldrich for President, 243, 247 307; small towns in, 460; 555, 556; soldiers, 570; South, 465;
Henry Aldrich series, 243, 244, 245, Southwest in, 490, 495; women Stone, xii–xiii; Stone on, 34;
247 in, 307, 309 Trans-Appalachian West, 501,
 Index ] 633
503, 504; Vietnam War, xii, xiii, Hitchcock, Alfred: and Cold War, Hollywood studio system, 11, 16–17,
96, 99–100; Washington, 201; 77; and railroads, 543, 544; and 459, 460. See also Film industry
West, 435; World War I, 110, 112; seafaring experience, 454; and Hollywood’s World War I, 109
World War II, 131, 133 small towns, 459, 460; and Hollywood Ten, 29–30, 69, 387, 512.
Historical scholarship. See women’s roles, 313–314 See also McCarthyism
Historiography Hito Hata: Raise the Banner, 230, Hollywood vs. America (Medved),
Historiography: American 233 360
Revolution, 49, 50, 52, 53, 55; Hit the Deck, 453, 456 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr., 4
childhood, 241, 352–354; civil Hit the Ice, 376, 381 Holocaust: and Jewish Americans,
rights movement, 331–332; Civil Hobbes, Thomas, 153 266; 1990s perspectives, 133; and
War, xiv, 58, 59, 60, 61–62, 63, Hobbs Act, 509 right-wing extremism, 395–396;
65; Cold War, 70–71; Columbus, Höbling, Walter, 567 and slavery, 552
148–150; consensus history, 53, Hoboing, 22–23, 27, 543 Holt, Felix, 502
61–62, 64; family, 352–354; Hocus Pocus, 8 Holt, Tim, 424
feminism, 534; Founding Hoff, Joan, 181, 182, 183 Holy Man, 213, 216
Fathers, 52, 154, 156–157; frontier, Hoffa, 236, 239, 251, 254, 390 Home Alone, 360, 361
10, 277, 430, 497–498, 578; Hoffman, Abbie, 33, 101 Homefront, 1917–1918—War
government/politics, 398–399, Hoffman, Anthony, 478 Transforms American Life, 114
527–528; Kennedys, 169–170; Hoffman, Dustin: and American Home of the Brave: and civil rights
labor issues, 383–384; leftist Adam, 563; and children, 243; movement, 333; democracy/
radicalism, 29, 35, 288; Lincoln, and media, 375; and Native equality in, 574, 576; race in, 119,
175–176; Mexican Americans, Americans, 431; and New York 124, 208–209, 216, 333, 342;
269, 270; Native Americans, 107, City, 440, 442; and 1960s, 33; and World War II in, 133, 135
161, 162–163; New York City, 437; Nixon, 181; and sexuality, 549 Home ownership. See Land
1920s, 15–16; 1920s perspectives, Hofstadter, Richard: on Lincoln, ownership
52; 1930s perspectives, 53, 305; 175; on political machines, 398, Homestead steel strike (1892), 10,
1960s, 29, 33–35; 1980s 400; on right-wing extremism, 383
perspectives, 42, 55; Nixon, 180– 392–393; on World War I, 15 Homeward Bound (May), 76
181; post–World War II era Hogan’s Heroes, 570 Homosexuality, 409–410, 546, 549
perspectives, 53; presidency, 402– Holbrook, Hal, 476 Hondo, 580, 581
403; Puritanism, 4; railroads, Hold Autumn in Your Hand The Honeymooners, 442, 483
541–542; Reconstruction, xiv, 58, (Perry), 491 Hong, James, 230
59–60; right-wing extremism, Hold ‘Em Navy, 363, 372 Hong, Terry, 225–233
288, 392–393; slavery, xiv, 59, 61, Hold ‘Em Yale (1928), 363, 372 Hoodlum Empire, 513, 516
305, 466, 552–553; small towns, Hold ‘Em Yale (1935), 363, 372 Hooked: The History of Illegal
457, 458–459; South, 462–463, Holden, William, 228, 454, 492, Drugs, 524
466, 467; Southwest/Texas, 488– 493 Hool, Lance, 88, 91
489; space program, 473–475; Hold that Co-Ed, 363, 372 Hoop Dreams, 410, 411, 416, 418
suburbia, 480–481; success myth, Holiday, 536 Hooper, Tobe, 460
596–597; Trans-Appalachian Holiday, Billie, 314 Hoosiers: antebellum frontier hero
West, 497–498; Vietnam War, Holli, Melvin G., 398 in, 146, 147; public high schools
95–96; Washington, 198–199, Holliday, Judy, 599 in, 416, 418; Trans-Appalachian
201–202; West, 107, 430, 581; Hollingshead, S. B., 244 West in, 504–505
women, 303–304; World War I, Holloran, Peter C., 234–240, 249– Hoover, Herbert, 175
109, 111; World War II, 125–126 255 Hoover, J. Edgar, 339, 512, 587
History Alive: The American Hollywood. See Film industry Hope, Bob: and detective films,
Revolution, 51, 56, 159 Hollywood: An Empire of Their 586; and 1890s, 13; and
History and Memory, 233 Own, 267 government/politics, 327; and
A History of News (Stephens), 374 Hollywood as Historian (Rollins), media, 378; and Eleanor
A History of the Jews in America 527 Roosevelt, 187; and suburbia,
(Sachar), 263 Hollywood Dreams and Biblical 484; and George Washington,
History of the United States Naval Stories, 596 201
Operations in World War II Hollywood High, 524, 525 Hopkins, Anthony, 182, 301, 448
(Morison), 125 Hollywood on Trial, 36 Hopper, Dennis: and adolescence,
“The History of the United States” Hollywood’s Indian (Rollins & 245; and antebellum frontier
(Stoner), 148 O’Connor), 432 hero, 146; and drugs, 522; and
History profession, xii, xiii, 51–52. Hollywood’s New Deal (Muscio), 1960s, 33; and South, 469; and
See also Historiography 346 Trans-Appalachian West, 504
634 [ Index
Horne, Lena, 311 Huber, Richard, 597 Hutton, Timothy, 394, 395, 410
Hornsby, Alton, Jr., 212, 213 Hud, 491, 495 Hwang, David Henry, 232
Horowitz, David, 29, 35, 169 Huddle, 363, 372 Hyams, Peter, 476
Horror films: and children, 243, Huddleston, David, 301 Hynes, Samuel, 109
360; family in, 356, 359–360, 361; Hudson, Hugh, 51, 55–56 Hytner, Nicholas, 7
media in, 379; 1920s, 18; and Hudson, Rock, 62, 76, 491, 546
nuclear weapons/power, 75; and The Hudsucker Proxy, 300, 302 I, the Jury, 586, 589
Puritanism, 5, 7; small towns in, Huffman, Felicity, 406 I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,
460; teenagers in, 246; and Huggins, Miller, 193 24, 28, 573, 576
witchcraft, 6 Hughes, Albert, 515 I Am Curious (Yellow), 549, 550
Horror Hotel (City of the Dead), 8 Hughes, Allen, 515 I Am Joaquin, 273, 275
Horse Feathers, 364, 372 Hughes, Howard, 300 Ibi, Keiko, 231
Horseman, Pass By (McMurtry), Hughes, John, 245–246, 415, 416 Icebox.com, 227
491 Hughes, Langston, 15 Ice Cube, 485
The Horse Soldiers, 62, 67 Hughes, Robert, 139 Ice Station Zebra, 76, 454, 456
Horton, James, 332, 333 Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell, The Ice Storm: and Asian
Hough, Emerson, xii, 490 300 Americans, 232; sexuality in, 549,
Houghton, Katharine, 210, 211 “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley” 550; suburbia in, 484, 486
The House, 100 (Pound), 15, 16 Idealism: and Cold War, 75; and
House Committee on Un- Huie, William Bradford, 337 1920s, 15, 16, 17; and Puritanism,
American Activities (HUAAC). Hula, 18, 546 3, 6; and Spanish-American War,
See McCarthyism The Hulk, 232 90. See also Progressivism
A House Divided (Half Slave/Half Human Wreckage, 521, 525 Idemoto, Michael, 232
Free), 555, 556 Humor: and antebellum frontier The Idol Makers: Inside NFL Films,
Household Saints, 260, 262 hero, 139, 142–143, 146; and 372
The House I Live In, 342 children, 242; and Jewish If . . ., 409, 411
House Made of Dawn, 286 Americans, 265, 266, 443; and I.F. Stone’s Weekly, 376, 381
The House of Bamboo, 228 Native Americans, 162. See also “I Have a Dream” speech (King),
House of the Seven Gables (1940), 8 Comedy genre 179, 470
The House of the Seven Gables Hunnicutt, Arthur, 143 Ike, 134, 135
(Hawthorne), 3 Hunt, Helen, 444 I Killed Geronimo, 167
The House of Yes, 171, 173 Hunter, Holly, 379 I Led Three Lives, 73–74
The House on 92nd Street, 441–442, Hunter, Robert, 404 I’ll Be Seeing You, 128, 135
445 The Hunters, 82, 85 I’ll Cry Tomorrow, 519, 525
The House on Carroll Street, 347, The Hunt for Pancho Villa, 432, 435 I’ll Fly Away, 338, 339, 342
350 The Hunt for Red October, 79, 454, Illsley, Mark, 493
House Party, 215, 216, 246, 247 456 I’ll Take My Stand, 467
Houston, Charles Hamilton, 332 The Hunt for Red October (Clancy), Illtown, 523, 525
Houston, James, 450 79 I Love Lucy, 483
Houston, Sam, 87, 144–146 Huron people, 234 The Image, 379, 381
Houston, Whitney, 214 Hurry Sundown, 211, 216 Imagining Indians, 286
Howard, Ken, 155 Hurt, William, 379, 531 I Married a Communist (The
Howard, Leslie, 23 Hurwitz, Leo, xiii, 291 Woman on Pier 13), 74, 387, 390
Howard, Ron, 245, 372, 377, 477 Huston, John: and American I Married a Doctor, 459, 460
Howard, Terrence, 336 Revolution, 52; and capitalist I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can, 525
The Howards of Virginia, 56, 159, tycoons, 300; and Catholic I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, 215, 216
304, 309 Americans, 237, 238; and Civil Imitation of Life, 186, 189, 356, 361
Howe, E. W., 422, 459 War, 62; and detective films, 584; The Immigrant, 443, 597, 602
How Green Was My Valley, 242, and 1890s, 13; and government/ Immigration: Arab Americans, 218;
247, 414 politics, 327; and seafaring Asian Americans, 225–226, 228–
The Howling, 379, 381 experience, 450, 451; and 229, 230; and crime, 514; and
How the Other Half Lives (Riis), 510 sexuality, 547, 549; and soldiers, democracy/equality, 572–573; and
How the West Was Lost, 108 62, 567, 568; and Southwest, 491; drugs, 521; 1890s, 10, 13; Irish
How the West Was Won, 503, 505, and World War II, xx, 117, 119, Americans, 235, 236, 249; Italian
580–581 121, 130, 570 Americans, 235, 236, 256, 258,
How to Marry a Millionaire, 313, 315 Huston, Walter: and Great 259, 260; Jewish Americans, 13,
How We Advertised America, 111 Depression, 25, 290; and Lincoln, 263–265, 572; and machine in the
H.S.T., Days of Decision, 84, 85, 197 177; and World War II, 118, 127 garden, 593; and Mexican
 Index ] 635
Americans, 270, 272–273; and Revolution, 53, 54; and football, Intruder in the Dust: race in, 208,
New York City, 443; 1920s, xii, 370; and Great Depression, 22, 209, 216, 335, 339, 342; small
200; and seafaring experience, 25, 27; and Native Americans, towns in, 459, 460; South in,
447; and Southwest, 491; and 161; and 1920s, 16; and public 470, 472
success myth, 597, 598; and high schools, 415; and Intruder in the Dust (Faulkner),
Trans-Appalachian West, 503; Puritanism, 5; and westerns, 433 209, 335
and Vietnam War, 94; and Indochina 1975: The End of the The Invasion of the Body Snatchers:
George Washington, 200; and Road?, 39, 41 and Cold War, 75, 79; and
World War II, 121. See also Industrialization: and crime, 510; democracy/equality, 574, 576;
Acculturation/assimilation; and Lincoln, 177; and 1920s, 15; small towns in, 459, 460
Nativism and railroads, 541; South, 467; Invisible Agent, 127, 135
Immigration Act (1917), 225 and westerns, 492 The Invisible Scar (Bird), 27
Immigration Act (1924), 200 Industrial Workers of the World In Which We Serve, 453, 456
Immigration and Nationality Act (IWW), 289, 383 Iran-Contra affair, 350
(1965), 226 The Informer, 236, 239, 337 I Remember Mama, 224
Immigration Restriction Act (1928), Inge, William, 32, 424, 426 Irish Americans, 249–255; and
xii Ingebretsen, Edward J., 3–9 Catholicism, 235, 236, 237; and
The Immoral Mr. Teas, 548, 550 Ingram, Rex, 249 city/state government, 328;
Immortal Alamo, 147 In Harm’s Way, 549 filmography, 254; and Jewish
I’m No Angel, 28, 547 In Love with Night: The American Americans, 264; and labor issues,
Imperialism, 10, 89–90 Romance with Robert Kennedy 388; and Mexican-American
The Imperial Presidency (Steel), 170 War, 88, 91; and South, 467
(Schlesinger), 402 Innocence. See American Adam The Irish in America: The Long
Inaccuracies. See Historical The Innocents, 243, 247 Journey Home, 253, 254
inaccuracies In Old Arizona, 19–20, 270, 275 Iris masking, 59
Ince, Thomas, 58, 110 In Old Chicago, 249–250, 254 Irma la Douce, 548, 550
Inchon, 84, 85 In Old Kentucky: and 1890s, 11, 14; Ironclads: The Monitor and the
Incident at Oglala, 286, 396 nostalgia/sentimentalization in, Merrimac, 453, 456
In Cold Blood, 426, 428 121; South in, 467, 472 Iron Curtain (Behind the Iron
In Country, 100, 101 The Insider, 525 Curtain), 73, 79
Independence, 52, 56, 159 Inside the Cold War, 196, 197 The Iron Horse: frontier in, 579, 581;
Independence Day: African Inside the White Slave Traffic, 510, Irish Americans in, 236, 239, 251,
Americans in, 214, 216; Jewish 516 254; Lincoln in, 176–177; and
Americans in, 266, 267; tobacco Internet, 97, 380, 381 1920s, 18, 20; railroads in, 542,
in, 525 Interracial relationships/ 544
Independent schools. See Private miscegenation: and African The Iron Major: football in, 366,
schools American actors, 211, 214; and 372; Irish Americans in, 236, 239,
Indiana Jones series, 146 Asian Americans, 227, 228, 229; 251, 254
Indian leaders, 103, 106, 161–168; and Native Americans, 283, 285– The Iron Road, 254
Geronimo, 103, 106, 162–165, 319. 286; 1920s perspectives, 354; The Iron Triangle, 570
See also Indian wars; Native post–World War II era Ironweed, 27, 28, 188, 189
Americans; specific people perspectives, 63; and public high Iroquois people, 166
Indians. See Indian wars; Native schools, 414; and South, 466 The Iroquois Trail, 580, 581
Americans In the Days of Daniel Boone, 147 Irreconcilable Differences, 243, 247
Indians, Outlaws and Angie Debo, In the Days of War, 58, 67 Irvin, John, 98, 99
432, 435 In the Heat of the Night: detectives Irving, Washington, 149
Indians (Kopit), 107 in, 587, 589; race in, 210, 216, 337, Isaksson, Folke, 126
Indian wars, xix, 103–108, 278, 430, 342 Isenberg, Nancy, 156, 159
490; and antebellum frontier In the Line of Fire, 78 Island in the Sun, 211, 216, 335, 342
hero, 140, 141, 144–145; and In the Mouth of Madness, 7 Isolationism, 113, 117–118, 349, 500,
frontier, 103, 104, 580; In the Navy, 453, 456 501
Geronimo, 163–164; and Indian In the White Man’s Image, 432, 435 Is Paris Burning?, 134, 135
leaders, 161–162. See also In the Year of the Pig, 96, 101 Isserman, Maurice, 35
Frontier; Native Americans; In This Our Life, 208, 216 It, 361
Westward expansion Intolerance: capitalist tycoons in, The Italian, 257, 262
The Indian Wars, 279–280, 286 298; New York City in, 438, 445; Italianamerica, 262
Individualism: and American women’s roles in, 311; and World Italian Americans, 256–262; and
Adam, 561–566; and American War I, 110, 114 Catholicism, 236, 238; and city/
636 [ Index
Italian Americans (continued) Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, 472; women’s roles in, 305, 309,
state government, 328; and 173 536, 539
Columbus, 148, 149, 151; and James, Henry, 243, 441, 565 JFK, xxi, 173; and democracy/
crime, 238, 256, 257–258, 260–261, James, Jesse, 510, 579 equality, 575, 576; government/
515–516; filmography, 261–262. James, William, 4 politics in, 326, 330, 405, 408;
See also Catholic Americans James Bond films: African historical inaccuracies in, xii–
Italian in America, 262 Americans in, 214; and capitalist xiii, 254; public responses to, 172;
Italian neorealism, 574 tycoons, 301; and Cold War, 32; and radicalism, 293; and
The Italians in America, 151, 152 and sexuality, 549 Southwest, 494, 495; and
Itam Hakim Hopitt, 286 James Henry Hammond and the Vietnam War, 171, 405
It Happened in Brooklyn, 441, 445 Old South (Faust), 466 JFK: Reckless Youth (Hamilton),
It Happened in Springfield, 334, 342 Jameson, Fredric, 13 170
It Happened One Night, 346, 357, Jane, Thomas, 323 JFK: The Book of the Film (Stone &
441, 445 Janes, Regina, 155 Sklar), 172
It Happens Every Spring, 323, 325 Janice Meredith, 50, 51, 56, 159 Jim Crow. See Segregation
It Happens Every Thursday, 381 Janie, 244, 245, 246, 247 Jim Thorpe, All American, 365, 366,
It’s a Wonderful Life: capitalist Japanese American internment, 30, 372
tycoons in, 300, 301, 302; family 116, 132, 226, 228, 229 Joan of Paris, 133, 135
in, 357, 361; Italian Americans in, Jarmusch, Jim, 378 Jobs, Steve, 301, 381
258, 262; small towns in, 458, Jaws: and film industry, 40, 41; and Joe, 33, 36
461; suburbia in, 482, 486 sea, 455, 456; and women’s roles, The Joe Louis Story, 210, 216
It Should Happen to You, 599–600, 314 Joe Smith, American, 127, 135
602 Jaws (Benchley), 455 Joffe, Roland, 6
Ivanek, Zeljke, 238 “Jazz Age”. See 1920s John Birch Society, 288, 292
Ivens, Joris, 121 The Jazz Singer (1927): and John F. Kennedy and the Media:
Ives, Stephen, 108, 165, 435 democracy/equality, 572–573, 576; The First Television President, 171
Ivory, James, 158 family in, 354, 360, 361; and Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, 173
I Was a Communist for the FBI, 73, immigration, 256; and Jewish Johnny Guitar, 309, 580, 581
387, 390, 442 Americans, 264, 267; New York Johnny Tremain, 51, 56, 159
I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, 247 City in, 438, 445; and talking John Paul Jones: and American
I Was a Teenage Werewolf, 247, 359, picture revolution, 19–20 Revolution, 51, 56; and seafaring
361 The Jazz Singer (1943), 264, 267 experience, 448, 456; George
I Will Fight No More Forever, 166, The Jazz Singer (1980), 264, 267 Washington in, 199, 201, 202
167 Jefferson, Martha, 304 Johns, Tracy Camilla, 440
Jefferson, Thomas, 3, 153, 154, 155, Johns, Vernon, 335
Jabara, James, 219 156–159. See also Founding Johnson, Ben, 493, 494
Jackie: Behind the Myth, 171, 173 Fathers Johnson, Clark, 336
The Jackie Robinson Story: and Jefferson in Paris, 154, 158–159 Johnson, Lady Bird, 406
African Americans, 210, 216; Jeffries, John W., 133 Johnson, Lamont, 530
baseball in, 321, 325; and civil Jenkins, Allen, 291 Johnson, Louanne, 416
rights movement, 335, 342; New Jerry Maguire, 243, 247, 370, 372 Johnson, Lyndon B.: and city/state
York City in, 443 Jesse James, 543, 544, 579, 581 government, 330; and civil rights
Jackknife, 100, 101 Jessel, George, 264, 294 movement, 336; and Vietnam
Jackson, Andrew: and American Jesus Christ Superstar, 239 War, 94, 96, 349, 405–406
Adam, 561; as antebellum Jesus of Montreal, 239 Johnson, Martin, 19
frontier hero, 141–142; and Jesus of Nazareth, 239 Johnson, Nunnally, xiv, 77
Crockett, 143–144; and Houston, Jewish Americans, 263–268; Johnson, Osa, 19
145; and Trans-Appalachian baseball, 321; and Catholic Johnson, Van, 237
West, 499 Americans, 237; and democracy/ The Joker Is Wild, 440, 445
Jackson, Carlton, 22–28 equality, 572; and family, 261; Jones, Chuck, 593
Jackson, Helen Hunt, 104 and film industry, 265, 592; Jones, Eugene, 98
Jackson, Kathy Merlock, 241, 242 filmography, 267; immigration, Jones, James, 130
Jackson, Kenneth T., 480, 481, 486 13, 263–265, 572; and New Jones, James Earl, 323, 335
Jackson, Martin A., 175–179, 196– York City, 443; prejudice against, Jones, Jennifer, 12
197 188, 266, 410; and success myth, Jones, John Paul, 200–201
Jackson, Samuel L., 214, 339 598 Jones, Mary (Mother), 251
Jacobellis v. Ohio, 548 Jewison, Norman, 32, 333, 334 Jones, Robert F., 199
Jacob’s Ladder, 100, 101 Jezebel: South in, 465, 466–467, 469, Jones, Tommie Lee, 490
 Index ] 637
Joosten, Kathryn, 407 and Midwest, 424; and New xiii, 172, 254; and Korean War,
Joplin, Scott, 494 York City, 442 83; and right-wing extremism,
Jordan, Winthrop, 553 Kazan, Nicholas, 223 293, 393; and Southwest, 494;
Joseph, Chief, 165–166 Kazin, Michael, 35 and Vietnam War, 171, 405
Journalism. See Media Keams, Geraldine, 286 The Kennedy Imprisonment: A
The Journey of RFK, 173 Keane, Brian, 166 Meditation on Power (Wills), 169
Joyce, James, 26 Keaton, Buster: and Civil War, 60, Kennedys, 169–174, 513;
Joy Luck Club, 231, 233 61; and Midwest, 427; and 1920s, filmography, 173; historiography,
Joy Luck Club (Tan), 231 18; and railroads, 543 169–170; Irish heritage, 253–254.
Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Keaton, Diane, 38, 220, 294, 564 See also Kennedy, John F.;
Boys, 332, 333, 341, 342 Keaton, Michael, 377, 523 Kennedy assassination
Judge Priest, 458, 461, 467, 472 Keats, Steven, 265 The Kennedys: An American Drama
Junger, Sebastian, 455 Keegan, John, 568 (Collier & Horowitz), 169
The Jungle, 384–385, 390 Keenan, Tracy, 464 Kennedys Don’t Cry: The Real-Life
The Jungle (Sinclair), 384 Keeping the Faith, 266, 267 Saga of America’s Most Powerful
Jungle Fever, 260, 262 Kefauver, Estes, 144, 512–513 Dynasty, 171, 173
Junior Miss, 244, 247 Kefauver Committee, 509, 512–513, The Kennedys: The Next
Jurado, Katy, 271, 307 587 Generation, 173
Jurassic Park, 361 Keighley, William, 569 The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the
Just Around the Corner, 532 Keitel, Harvey, 515, 524 White House During the Cuban
Juvenile delinquency. See Crime; Keith, Brian, 503 Missile Crisis (May), 404
Teenagers Keller, Gary D., 271 Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part
Kelly, Gene, 441 III, The Legend Continues, 167
Kael, Pauline, 283, 314, 378 Kelly, Grace, 307, 313–314, 454 The Kentuckian, 502–503, 505
Kagan, Jeremy Paul, 273, 494 Kelly, Machine Gun, 511 Kerber, Linda K., 303, 304
Kahn, Herman, 32 Kennan, George F., 69, 71, 94 Kercheval, Ken, 332
Kahn-Leavitt, Laurie, 305 Kennedy, 173 Kern, Jerome, 440
Kaiser, Henry, 387 Kennedy (Sorensen), 169–170 Kerr, Deborah, 243, 410
The Kaiser: The Beast of Berlin, 279 Kennedy, Burt, 87 Kerr, E. Katherine, 347
Kaminsky, Stuart, 510 Kennedy, David M., 148, 288, 298 Kerry, John, 38
Kane, Carol, 265, 306 Kennedy, Edward “Ted,” 98, 170, Keystone Cops, 544
Kanin, Garson, 117, 536 171 Keystone Kops, 234, 253, 311
Kansas City, 327, 330, 428 Kennedy, Jeremiah J., 249 Khrushchev, Nikita, 93
Kansas-Missouri Border Wars Kennedy, John F.: and Camelot The Kid, 17, 20, 242, 247
(1856–1865), 425 image, 184, 348; and Catholicism, The Kid from Texas, 490, 495
Kansas Pacific, 542, 544 236, 237, 253; and civil rights Kids, 247
Kansas Raiders, 425, 428 movement, 336; and Congress, The Killer Angels (Shaara), 66
Kaplan, Jonathan, 494 346, 348; education of, 409; and The Killing Fields: Asian Americans
Kaquitts, Frank, 164 frontier, 503; and government/ in, 229; and 1980s, 43, 44, 45;
The Karate Kid series, 229 politics, 532; and Nixon, 182; and Vietnam War in, 101
Karl, Frederick R., 426 nuclear weapons, 31, 32, 405; and The Killing of Sister George, 546,
Karlsen, Carol F., 303, 304 space program, 474, 478; and 549, 550
Karnow, Stanley, 96 Trans-Appalachian West, 503; Kill Me Again, 588, 589
Kasdan, Lawrence, 29 and Vietnam War, 94, 405; and Kilmer, Val, 395
Kasem, Casey, 219 World War II, 170, 171, 253–254, Kilpatrick, Jacquelyn, 277–287
Kassel, Michael, 264 454. See also Kennedy Kim, Young Oak, 226
Kauffmann, Stanley, 452 assassination Kinchloe, Joe L., 241
Kaufman, Bel, 414 Kennedy, John F., Jr., 170–171 Kinetoscope, 10
Kaufman, Philip, 450, 476, 477 Kennedy, Joseph P. (studio King (1978), 338, 342
Kaye, Danny, 265, 395, 440 executive), 249 King, Florence, 455
Kaye, Tony, 396 Kennedy, Joseph Patrick (Kennedy King, Henry, 119, 349
Kazaam, 221–222, 224 patriarch), 169 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 336, 340;
Kazan, Elia: and African Kennedy, Robert F., 170, 171, 173, assassination of, 331, 337, 433, 513;
Americans, 209, 334; and Beatty, 513 biographical films, 338, 341; and
32; and Catholic Americans, 237; Kennedy assassination: conspiracy Founding Fathers, 154, 157;
and Irish Americans, 252; and films, 170–171, 172, 405; and historiography, 331–332; and
Jewish Americans, 266; and crime, 513; documentaries, 171– Lincoln, 179; and To Kill a
McCarthyism, xv, 75, 563–564; 172; historical inaccuracies, xii– Mockingbird, 470
638 [ Index
King, Stephen, 415, 427, 460 Korean War, 81–85; and Catholic 235, 236, 251; documentaries, 301,
King, Tom, 286 Americans, 237; documentaries, 330, 388, 389; in early films, 384–
King: A Filmed Record . . . From 84–85; Kissinger on, 95; and 385; 1890s, 10, 383; filmography,
Montgomery to Memphis, 341, labor issues, 387; post–World 390; and football, 370–371;
342 War II era perspectives, 76, 81– historiography, 383–384; and
A King in New York, 442, 445 82, 84; and seafaring experience, Jewish Americans, 266; and
King Kong, 439, 445 454; and soldiers, 82, 84, 85, 568; Mexican Americans, 272, 273;
King of the Cowboys, 128, 135 and World War II, 81, 82, 129 1930s perspectives, 385–386;
Kingpin, 222, 224 The Korean War: Fire and Ice, 84, 1980s/90s perspectives, 19, 389–
King Rat, 570 85 390; post–World War II era
Kings of the Sun, 270, 275 Korea: The Unknown War, 84–85 perspectives, 387–388; and
Kinsey, Alfred, 545, 546, 548 Korea: The War That Didn’t End, presidency, 403; South, 388–389,
Kinski, Nastassja, 55 84, 85 467; and West, 434; and women,
Kiowa people, 103 Korty, John, 338 314; World War II–era
Kipling, Rudyard, 451 Kotcheff, Ted, 494 perspectives, 26, 386–387. See also
Kirby, Jack Temple, 463 Kotto, Yaphet, 337 Class issues; Leftist radicalism
The Kiss, 11 Koufax, Sandy, 263 LaCapra, Dominick, 43
Kissing Cousins, 146 Kovic, Ron, 100–101 La Cava, Gregory, 25
Kissinger, Henry: and Nixon, 180, Kozol, Jonathan, 413 L.A. Confidential, 327, 330
182; and nuclear weapons/power, Kramer, Jane, 38 Ladd, Alan, 563
32; and Vietnam War, 94, 95 Kramer, Stanley: and African Lady for a Day, 185, 189
Kiss Me Deadly: Cold War in, 74, Americans, 208, 333, 335; and Lady from Chungking, 228
75, 79; detectives in, 586, 589 Cold War, 76; and nuclear Lady in Cement, 587, 589
Kiss Me Deadly (Spillane), 74 weapons/power, 31; and Lady in the Lake, 586, 589
Kiss Me Kate, 440 women’s roles, 537 Lady Sings the Blues, 314, 315
Kiss of the Spider Woman, 44, 45 Kramer vs. Kramer: childhood in, Lady Windemere’s Fan, 17–18, 20
Kiss the Girls, 214, 216, 588 243, 247; family in, 360, 361; New Laemmle, Carl, 17
The Kitchen, 223, 224 York City in, 444; women’s roles Lafayette, 51, 56, 159
The Klansman, 337, 342 in, 38, 41 Lafayette, Marquis de, 51
The Klansman (Huie), 337 Kreiser, Lawrence A., Jr., 58–68 Lafitte, Jean, 142
Klehr, Harvey, 30 Krepinevich, Andrew F., 95 LaFollette, Robert, 289
Klein, Jim, 72 Kristofferson, Kris, 87, 368, 490 Lafragua, José Maria, 88
Klein, Richard, 524 Krulak, Victor, 95–96 Laguna Woman, 286
Kleinerman, Isaac, 122 Kubey, Robert, xi Lahr, Bert, 427
Klinkner, Philip A., 207 Kubo, Duane, 230 LaMotta, Jake, 260
Klondike Annie, 12, 14 Kubrick, Stanley: and machine in Lancaster, Burt: and American
Kluger, Richard, 332 the garden, 592, 593; and nuclear Revolution, 53–54; and baseball,
Klute: detectives in, 587, 589; and weapons/power, xv–xvi, 32, 77, 323; and football, 365; and leftist
1970s, 40, 41; prostitution in, 404, 405; and sexuality, xv–xvi, radicalism, 293; and Midwest,
549, 550 550; and space, 476; and 426; and right-wing extremism,
Knight, Thomas, 332 Vietnam War, 97–98; and World 394; and success myth, 599, 600;
Knights of Labor, 251 War I, 112 and Trans-Appalachian West,
Knock on Any Door, 208 Ku Klux Klan: and democracy/ 502
Knotts, Don, 475 equality, 572; and Gone With the Landis, John, 601
Knowles, John, 411 Wind, 61; historiography, 15; Landis, Kenesaw Mountain, 321
Knute Rockne, All-American, 251, 1920s perspectives, 59, 393, 464, The Land of Opportunity, 64, 67
254, 365–366, 372 554, 572; 1970s perspectives, 338; The Land of Oz (Baum), 427
Koch, Ed, 444 1980s perspectives, 27, 394; and Landon, Philip J., 69–80, 81–85
Koenig, Mark, 192 radicalism, 291; and westerns, Land ownership: and Manifest
Kolko, Gabriel, 95 434 Destiny, 497; and Native
Komatsu, Sylvia, 87 Kung Fu, 229 Americans, 281–282; and South,
Kopit, Arthur, 107 Kurosawa, Akira, 271 467–468; and suburbia, 480–481,
Koppes, Clayton, 127 Kutler, Stanley, 181, 527 482, 483; and Trans-Appalachian
Kopple, Barbara, 389 Kwan, Nancy, 228 West, 497, 498
Koppman, Lionel, 263 Lane, Mark, 172
Korea and Communism in the Labor issues, 383–391; and baseball, Lang, Fritz, 438, 459
Pacific, 84 320, 324; and capitalist tycoons, Langdon, Harry, 562
Korea—Forgotten War, 84, 85 298; and Catholic Americans, Lange, Dorothea, 423
 Index ] 639
Lange, Hope, 347 The Last Temptation of Christ, 238, Lee, Kaiulani, 305
Lange, Jessica, 315, 368, 538 239 Lee, Quentin, 232
Language: and American Last Train to Madrid, 291 Lee, Richard Henry, 155
Revolution, 49; and Arab Latham, Earl, 297 Lee, Robert E., 66–67
Americans, 222; and Asian Latinos/Latinas. See Hispanic Lee, Spike: and African Americans
Americans, 227; and Cold War, Americans in film, 215; and civil rights
77; gangster films, 515–516; and Lauer, Matt, 223 movement, 340–341; and crime,
Jewish Americans, 265; and Laughton, Charles, 13, 177 515; and Italian Americans, 260;
Native Americans, 278, 281; and Launius, Roger, 473, 474 and New York City, 442
slavery, 425 Laurents, Arthur, 333 Leff, Leonard J., 547
Lankevich, George, 437–446 Lavin, Arnold, 83 The Left Handed Gun, 490, 495
Lanning, Michael Lee, 99, 100, Law enforcement: and Catholic Leftist radicalism: and Great
570 Americans, 234, 237, 253; Depression, 25, 26, 290, 291, 423;
Lansbury, Angela, 83, 543 documentaries, 494; and New historiography, 29, 35, 288; leftist
Larner, Jeremy, 531 York City, 440; 1930s films, 291; 1930s perspectives,
Lasch, Christopher, 37 perspectives, 326; 1970s 290, 291; 1960s, 29, 35, 513; 1960s
The Last American Hero, 376, 381 perspectives, 326. See also Crime; perspectives, 293–294; 1980s
The Last Command: antebellum Detective films perspectives, xvi, 294; post–
frontier hero in, 143, 145, 147; Lawford, Peter, 345 World War II era perspectives,
and film industry, 17, 20; The Lawless, 273 292; and Progressivism, 288–289;
Mexican Americans in, 271, 275; The Lawnmower Man, 380, 381 and Vietnam War, 96; World
Mexican-American War in, 87, Lawrence of Arabia, 111, 114 War II–era perspectives, 292. See
91 The Lawrenceville Stories, 411 also Labor issues
The Last Days of Disco, 523 Lawson, John Howard, 387 Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist,
Last Days of Disco, 525 Lazarus, Emma, 263 36
Last Exit to Brooklyn, 442, 445 LBJ, 532 The Legacy of Thomas Jefferson, 159
The Last Hurrah: Catholic Leab, Daniel J., 208 The Legend of Bagger Vance, 214,
Americans in, 237, 239, 251, 254; Leadbelly, 494, 495 216
government/politics in, 326–327, Leadership. See Indian leaders; Legends of the Fall, 111, 114
330, 399, 401, 529, 532 Presidency; Specific leaders Legislatures (Wheare), 349–350
The Last Hurrah (O’Connor), 237, League of Nations, 15, 113, 117, 349, Lehman, Ernest, 599
326, 399 406 Lehmann, Chris, 407
The Last of the Dogmen, 286 The League of Nations: The Hope of Leigh, Vivian: and Civil War, 60,
The Last of the Mohicans (1920), 4, Mankind, 114 61, 62; and South, 467, 469; and
8 A League of Their Own, 321, 325 women’s roles, 305
The Last of the Mohicans (1932), Lean, David, 130 Lemmon, Jack, 237, 238, 375, 520
499, 505 Lean on Me, 416, 418 Leni, Paul, 17
The Last of the Mohicans (1936): Lear, Norman, 524 Leonard, Elizabeth D., 306
Native Americans in, 278; and The Learning Tree, 212, 216, 459, 461 Leone, Sergio, 265, 492, 542
Puritanism, 4, 8; Trans- Leary, Timothy, 32 Lepke (Murder, Inc.), 265, 267
Appalachian West in, 499, 505 Leatherstocking, 498, 505 Lerner, Irving, 84
The Last of the Mohicans (1985), The Leather-Stocking Tales Lerner, Ralph, 153
504 (Cooper), 277, 578 LeRoy, Mervyn, 19, 306, 511
The Last of the Mohicans (1992): Leave It to Beaver, 460, 461 Lesbian/gay people, 409–410, 546,
Native Americans in, 286; Trans- Leaves of Grass (Whitman), 561 549
Appalachian West in, 504, 505; Leaving Las Vegas, 520–521, 526 Less Than Zero, 526
women in, 304, 309 Leaving Las Vegas (O’Brien), 520 Lethal Weapon series, 146, 214, 216,
The Last of the Mohicans (Cooper), Le Carré, John, 77 575
104, 277, 304, 498 Leckie, Robert, 81 Let’s Be Fashionable, 481, 486
Last of the Red Men, 4 Lecoq, Monsieur, 583 Letters from an American Farmer
The Last Outpost, 167 Ledbetter, Huddie, 494 (Crèvecour), 572
The Last Picture Show, 40, 41, 493, Leder, Mimi, 477 Let There Be Light, 121, 124
495 Lee, Ang, 232, 425, 484, 549 Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
The Last Picture Show (McMurtry), Lee, Bruce, 229 (Agee), 468
493 Lee, Chris Chan, 232 Leuchtenburg, William E., 25, 27,
Last Stand at Little Big Horn, 431, Lee, Gypsy Rose, 13 466
435 Lee, Harper, 332, 470 Lev, Peter, 40
Last Tango in Paris, 549, 550 Lee, Jason Scott, 232 Levin, Murray B., 288, 295
640 [ Index
Levine, Anna, 308 Lincoln, Abraham, 175–179; and 242, 247; family in, 352, 361;
Levine, Myron, 403 American Revolution, 52; and women’s roles in, 306, 309
Levine, Sam, 440 Civil War, 64–65; and Little Women (1949), 242, 247, 306,
Levinson, Barry: and baseball, 324; democracy/equality, 576; 309
and Jewish Americans, 265, 267; filmography, 179; and Little Women (1994): children in,
and machine in the garden, 593; government/politics, 530; and 242, 247; family in, 352, 361;
and Southwest, 494; and success Puritanism, 3; and success myth, women’s roles in, 306, 309
myth, 601 597; and Trans-Appalachian Litvak, Anatole, 313
Levy, Asser, 263 West, 499, 504 Litwak, Leon, 435
Levy, Eugene, 221 Lincoln (1992), 178, 179 Live to Love (The Devil’s Hand), 8
Lewinsky, Monica, 407 Lincoln (1993), 530, 532 Livingston, Robert, 270
Lewis, Jan, 157 Lincoln (Vidal), 178 Lloyd, Frank, 5, 87
Lewis, Jon, 246 Lincoln at Gettysburg (Wills), 176 Lloyd, Harold, 18, 364, 543
Lewis, R. W. B., 139, 561 The Lincoln Conspiracy, 178, 179 Loader, Jayne, 72
Lewis, Sinclair, 15, 426, 459 Lincoln Motion Picture Company, Lo Bianco, Tony, 328
Lewis, Sydney, 246 19 Locke, John, 153
Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Lincoln of Illinois, 178, 179 Logan, James, 474
Corps of Discovery, 166–167, 434– Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 176, Logan, Josh, 424
435 179 The Log of a Cowboy (Adams),
Lewy, Guenter, 95 Lincoln the Lover, 176, 179 489
Leyendecker, J. C., 199–200 Lindbergh, Charles, 18, 111, 344 Lolita, 359, 361, 550
Li, Gong, 232 Lindsay, John, 443 Lomax, John, 494
Libeled Lady, 376, 381 Ling, Bai, 232 Lombard, Carol, 543
The Liberation of L. B. Jones, 337, Linklater, Richard, 417, 494 Lombardi, 371, 372
342 Liotta, Ray, 323, 439 Lombardi, Vince, 371
Liberty! The American Revolution, Lipnicki, Jonathan, 243 London, Jack, 12, 385, 450
51–52, 56, 155, 159 Lipper, Kenneth, 328 Lone, John, 230
Liebman, Ron, 314, 315, 389 Lippman, Walter, 69, 73, 111 Lonely Are the Brave: frontier in,
Life, 213, 216 Lithgow, John, 119, 333, 338 580, 581; and machine in the
Life and Labor in the Old South Little Annie Rooney, 17, 20 garden, 592, 594; and Southwest,
(Phillips), 552 Little Big Horn (Greasy Grass), 491, 495
The Life and Times of Hank Battle of, 107–108, 166, 431 The Lonely Crowd (Riesman), 30
Greenberg, 321, 325 Little Big Man: American Adam in, Lonesome Dove: Native Americans
The Life and Times of Judge Roy 563, 566; Indian wars in, 106, in, 108, 286; and Southwest, 490,
Bean, 13, 14 108, 167, 284, 286; Native 495; and western genre, 435
The Life and Times of Rosie the American actors in, 107, 162, 284; Lonesome Dove (McMurtry), 490
Riveter, 390 revisionism in, xix, 431, 435, 581; Lone Star, 142, 493, 495
Life as a House, 482, 486 and Vietnam War, xix, 97, 101; Lone Star (Adams), 142
Life Begins at Forty, 374, 381 women’s roles in, 106–107, 309 Long, Huey P., 292, 293, 329, 399,
Lifeboat, 440, 454, 456 Little Caesar: and crime genre, 511, 528, 532
Life in Camelot: The Kennedy Years, 516; and democracy/equality, 573, Long, Jodi, 230
171, 173 577; Italian Americans in, 236, Long, Shelley, 243
The Life of Abraham Lincoln, The 239, 257, 258, 262; and 1920s, 19, Long, Walter, 464
Greatest of Americans, 176 20; and 1930s, 28; success myth The Longest Day, 122, 130, 135
The Life of Emile Zola, 573, 577 in, 598, 602 The Longest Yard, 367, 372
Life Portrait of Richard Nixon, 183 The Little Colonel, 242 The Long Goodbye, 514, 589
Life with Father, 352, 361 The Little Drummer Girl, 44, 45 The Long Gray Line, 253, 254
Life with Henry, 243, 247 The Little Foxes, 468–469, 472 The Long Peace (Gaddis), 70
Lifton, Robert, 38, 131 The Little Fugitive, 440, 445 Longstreet, James, 67
Lighting, 55 Little Italy, 262 The Long Voyage Home, 455, 456
Lilac Time, 18, 20 Little Nikita, 43, 45, 78 The Long Walk Home, 213, 214, 216,
Lilies of the Field, 238, 239, 342 Little Odessa, 443, 445, 515, 516 336, 342
“Lilith” image of women, 310 Little Old New York, 455, 456 Looking Away: Hollywood and
Lillian Russell, 12, 14 The Little Puritan, 8 Vietnam, 97
Limerick, Patricia Nelson, 277, 281, Little Rock Nine, 335, 336 Looking for Mr. Goodbar, 38, 41
498, 581 The Littlest Rebel, 467, 472 Loos, Anita, 18, 535
The Limey, 516 Little-Thomas, Iris, 336 Lopez, Jennifer, 223, 440
Lin, Justin, 231–232 Little Women (1933): children in, Lopez, Lalo, 86
 Index ] 641
Lord, Daniel, 253 Americans, 237, 238; and Cold Magnum Force, 588, 589
Lord, Jack, 229 War, 77; and machine in the Maher, Christopher, 223
Lords of Discipline, 410, 411 garden, 592; and media, 38; and Mahler, Sean, 368
The Lords of Flatbush, 262 sexuality, 549 Maid in Manhattan, 232, 440, 445
Lorentz, Pare, xvi, 25, 423, 481 Lupino, Ida, 451 Maid of Salem, 5, 6, 8
Lorre, Peter, 585 Lusitania (ship), 110 Maier, Pauline, 51
Los Angeles, 327 Lutic, Bernard, 55 Mailer, Norman, 130
Losers Are Pirates, 96 Lynch, David, 516 Maine incident (1898), 89
The Lost Battalion, 110, 114 Lynd, Helen Merrell, 24–25, 244, Main Street (1922), 459, 461
Lost Boundaries: and African 457 Main Street (Lewis), 15, 459
Americans in film, 208, 209, 216; Lynd, Robert, 24–25, 244, 457 Major Dundee, 62, 67
and civil rights movement, 334– Lyndon Johnson Talks Politics, 39, A Majority of One, 440, 445
335, 342 41 Major League: baseball in, 320, 325;
The Lost Empire, 229 Lyne, Adrian, 550 and football, 371, 373; Trans-
Lost Highway, 516 Lyons, Oren, 167 Appalachian West in, 504, 505
Lost in Yonkers, 445 Lyons, Paul, 35 Makers of Men, 363, 373
The Lost Man, 211, 216 Making Movies Black (Cripps), 464
Lost Moon (Lovell), 477 Mac, 260, 262 The Making of Star Wars, 40
The Lost Weekend: alcohol in, 519– MacArthur, 134, 135 The Making of the President, 173
520, 521, 526; New York City in, MacArthur, Charles, 19, 375 The Making of “The Wild Bunch”,
442, 445 MacArthur, Douglas, 81, 84 493, 495
Lou Gehrig’s Greatest Day, 194 MacCann, Richard Dyer, 423 Making Sense of the Sixties, 36
The Lou Gehrig Story, 194 MacDonald, Scott, 421, 458 Making the Varsity, 363–364, 373
A Love Affair: The Eleanor and Lou Machiavelli, Niccolo, 527 Mako, 230
Gehrig Story, 193, 194 Machine Gun Kelly, 513 Malamud, Bernard, 324
Love and Sacrifice. See America Machine in the garden, 590–595; Maland, Charles J., 561–566
Lovecraft, H. P., 7 1890s, 10, 590–591; and film Malcolm X: and civil rights
Love Field, 494, 495 industry, 591–592, 593–594; and movement, 340–341; and Haley,
Love Finds Andy Hardy, 243, 247 The Grapes of Wrath, xvi, 592, 338; historiography, 331, 332; on
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing, 594 South, 463
228, 233 Machine politics. See Political Malcolm X: African Americans in,
Lovejoy, Frank, 73 machines 215, 216; civil rights movement
Lovell, Jim, 477 Mack, Charles, 52 in, 332; historical inaccuracies in,
Love Madness, 521 MacKay, Kenneth Campbell, 289 340–341, 342
Love on the Run, 445 Mackendrick, Alexander, 599 Malcolm X: Make It Plain, 341, 342
The Lovers, 548 MacLaine, Shirley, 227, 538 Malden, Karl: and American
Lovers and Other Strangers, 262 MacMurray, Fred, 5 Adam, 564; and Catholic
Lovett, Christopher C., 29–36 Macpherson, Jeanie, 535 Americans, 237; and Korean
Love with the Proper Stranger, 257, Macready, George, 112 War, 83; and McCarthyism, xv,
262 Macy, William H., 460 75
Loving vs. Virginia, 229 Madame Spy, 128, 135 Male and Female, 17, 20
Loy, Myrna: and Asian Americans, Madden, David, 597 Malick, Terrence, 133, 491
227; and media, 376; and New Madden, John, 371 Malkovich, John, 229
York City, 441; and suburbia, Made in America: Self-Styled Success Malle, Louis, 494, 549
482; and women’s roles, 536; and from Horatio Alger to Oprah Malloy, Mary, 447–456
World War II, 129 Winfrey (Decker), 597 Malone, Michael, 430
Loy, R. Philip, 578–582 Madigan, 514 Maltby, Richard, 578–579
Lubitsch, Ernst, 17 Madison, James, 154 The Maltese Falcon: detectives in,
Lucas, George: directing style, 40; Mad Max, 146 584, 585, 589; sexuality in, 547,
and 1960s, 32; and 1970s, 39; and Mad TV, 227 550; success myth in, xx
radio, 378; Star Wars trilogy, 564; Mafia. See Organized crime The Maltese Falcon (Hammett), xx,
and teenagers, 245, 378, 415; and Magic Town, 457, 461 584
westerns, 431 The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Maltin, Leonard, 367
Luciano, Charles “Lucky,” 509 12, 14, 424, 428, 594 Mama Runs Wild, 481, 486
Ludlow massacre (1914), 298, 434 The Magnificent Ambersons Mamet, David, 531
Ludwig, Edward, 73, 568–569 (Tarkington), 12 Mamoulian, Rouben, 20
Luedtke, Kurt, 376 Magnificent Doll, 159 The Man, 337, 342
Lumet, Sidney: and Catholic Magnum, P.I., 101 The Man (Wallace), 337
642 [ Index
A Man Called Horse, 286 Mapa, Alec, 232 Marx, Leo, 590
A Man Called Peter, 188, 189 Maranzano, Salvatore, 511 Marx, Zeppo, 364
Manchester, William, 125, 169–170 Marceau, Sophie, 301 Marx Brothers: and antebellum
The Manchurian Candidate: and March, Fredric: and antebellum frontier hero, 146; and football,
democracy/equality, 574, 577; frontier hero, 142; and 364; and Jewish Americans in
government/politics in, 326, 330, Columbus, 149; and right-wing film, 264, 265; and New York
350, 532; Korean War in, 83; extremism, 394; and seafaring City, 442–443
presidency in, 173; radicalism in, experience, 454; and World War Marxism, 26. See also Leftist
293; soldiers in, 570 II, 121, 129 radicalism
Mancini, Henry, 520 The March of Time series, xii, 71, “Mary” image of women, 310
Mandel, Robert, 410 73, 79, 113, 117 Mary of Scotland, 236, 239
Mandell, Daniel, 192 Margie, 244, 245, 247 Mary Silliman’s War, 305, 309
Mandingo, 555, 556 Margin for Error, 187, 189 Masalowski, Peter, 569
Manduke, Joe, 212 Margolis, Mark, 151, 223 Masayesva, Victor, 286
Manesh, Marshal, 222 El Mariachi, 495 Masculinity: and American Adam,
The Man from Del Rio, 271, 276 Marie, 44, 45 564; and American Revolution,
Man from Frisco, 387, 390 Marijuana, 521, 523–524. See also 53, 54; and family, 360; and
The Man from the Alamo, 145, 147, Drugs Indian wars, 105, 430; 1970s
271, 276 Marine Raiders, 126, 135 perspectives, 38–39; and
Mangione, Jerre, 258, 259, 260 Marines: training, 97–98; and portrayals of women, 308; and
Manhattan. See New York City World War I, 110; and World sexuality, 549; and Trans-
Manhattan, 38–39, 41, 443, 445 War II, 78, 120, 129 Appalachian West, 503; and
Man Hunt, 126, 135 Marion, Frances, 18, 535 veterans, 100; and World War I,
Manifest Destiny: and antebellum Maris, Roger, 323 110. See also Gender roles
frontier hero, 139, 141; and Maritime experience. See Seafaring MASH (1970): Catholic Americans
machine in the garden, 592; and experience in, 237, 239; football in, 367, 372;
Mexican-American War, 86, 88, A Marked Woman, 310, 312, 536, 539 Korean War in, 83–84, 85; and
143; and 1920s, 18; and The Mark of Zorro (1920), 17, 20, 1960s, 83–84; and 1970s, 40, 41
Puritanism, 3; and revisionist 270, 276 M*A*S*H (1972–1983), 84
westerns, 431; and Trans- The Mark of Zorro (1940), 270, 276 Mask of Fu Manchu, 227
Appalachian West, 497 Marling, Karal Ann, 201 The Mask of Zorro, 488, 496
The Man in Blue, 262 Marlowe, 589 Mason, James, 111
Man in Space, 475, 479 Marooned, 476, 477, 479 Massacre, 286
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit: Marriage. See Family Mass Appeal, 237, 238, 239
and capitalist tycoons, 300, 302; Mars Attacks!, 347, 350 Masseria, Giuseppe “Joe the Boss,”
New York City in, 442; suburbia Marsh, Mae, 464 511
in, 483, 486 Marshall, Garry, 600 Massey, Raymond: and frontier,
Mankiewicz, Herman J., 192 Marshall, George, 503 579; and Lincoln, 178; and
Mankiewicz, Joseph L., 335, 536 Marshall, George C., 118, 570 Midwest, 425; and railroads, 543;
Mankiller, Wilma, 167 Marshall, Penny, 321 and seafaring experience, 453
Mann, Abby, 338 Marshall, Peter, 188 Matewan: labor issues in, 383, 389–
Mann, Anthony, 76, 597 Marshall, S. L. A., 82, 111 390; leftist radicalism in, 295;
Mann, Daniel, 424 Marshall, Thurgood, 331, 332, 335 and 1920s, 19, 20; South in, 471,
Mann, Delbert, 76, 424 Marshall Plan, 69 472
Mann, Horace, 413 Martı́, José, 89 The Matrix, 381
Mann, Michael, 504 Martin, Ralph G., 171 Matthau, Walter, 375
Mannequin, 312 Martin, Steve, 443, 544 Maurin, Peter, 236
Man of Conquest, 144–145, 147 Martinez, A, 285 The Maverick Queen, 309
Mansfield, Jayne, 600 Marty, 259, 262, 441, 442, 445 May, Elaine Tyler, 76
Manson, Charles, 33 Martyrs of the Alamo: antebellum May, Ernest, 404
Mantle, Mickey, 323 frontier hero in, 143, 147; and Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision,
The Man Who Knew Too Much, 77 Mexican Americans, 271, 276; 231, 233
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Southwest in, 489, 495 Mayer, Louis B.: ethnicity of, 263;
435, 491, 495 Marvin, Lee, 131, 514 and Gone with the Wind, 60; and
The Man Without a Country, 499, Marx, Chico, 364 1920s, 17; and small towns, 457,
505 Marx, Groucho, 146, 264, 364, 442– 458
The Man with the Golden Arm, 358, 443 Mayfield, Julian, 337
361, 521–522, 526 Marx, Harpo, 364 Mayflower (ship), 5, 448
 Index ] 643
Mayflower: The Pilgrims’ Adventure, McGavin, Darren, 98 and small towns, 461; success
448, 456 McGillis, Kelly, 193, 347, 471 myth in, 598, 602
Mayo, Archie, 459 McGinley, James C., 370 Meet the Applegates, 485, 486
Maysles, Albert, 33 McGlynn, Frank, 176 Meinig, D. W., 277
Mazursky, Paul, 38, 441, 549 McGrath, Richard, 430 Méliès, Georges, 473
McBride, Joseph, 345, 529 McGrath, Roger D., 432 Melting pot model, 56. See also
McCabe & Mrs. Miller: and 1890s, McGuire, Dorothy, 62 Ethnic diversity
13, 14; revisionism in, 13, 433–434, McKinley, William, 89 Meltzer, Milton, 27
436; women’s roles in, 307, 309 McLaglen, Victor, 236, 252 Melville, Herman: and American
McCanlies, Tim, 493 McLean, Donald, 409 Adam, 561; and government/
McCarey, Leo, 74 McMurtry, Larry, 435, 490, 491, politics, 346; and Native
McCarran Act (1950), 30–31 493 Americans, 105; and seafaring
McCarthy, Cormac, 492, 495 McNamara, Robert S., 96, 406 experience, 448, 449, 450
McCarthy, Nobu, 229, 230 McNamee, Gregory, 319–325 Melvin and Howard, 300, 302
McCarthy: Death of a Witchhunter McQueen, Butterfly, 61, 311, 554 The Member of the Wedding, 242,
(Point of Order!), 72, 79, 350, 575, McTiernan, John, 79, 591 247
577 Meager, Timothy, 249 Memento, 516
McCarthyism, 69–70; and Meaney, George, 388 Memoirs (Truman), 196
American Adam, 563–564; and Means, Russell, 504 Memphis Belle (1944), 119, 124, 132,
antebellum frontier hero, 145; Mean Streets: Catholic Americans 135, 570
and Asian Americans, 228; and in, 238, 239, 259, 262; crime in, Memphis Belle (1990), 119, 124, 132,
democracy/equality, 574–575; and 514, 515, 516; New York City in, 133, 135
detective films, 586, 587; 439, 445; and 1970s, 40, 41 The Men, 133, 135, 574, 577
documentaries, 72–73; and film Medak, Peter, 515 Menace II Society: crime in, 515, 516;
industry, xv, 29–30, 73–74, 75, A Medal for Benny, 272, 276 race in, 215, 216; teenagers in,
143, 563–564; and government/ “Me Decade”. See 1970s 246, 247
politics, 344, 347, 348; and labor Media, xix, 374–382; and crime, Mencken, H. L., 5, 15
issues, 387, 388; and leftist 510, 511; documentaries, 380–381; Mendes, Sam, 550
radicalism, 288; and Native and 1890s, 12; and FDR, 184–185; Menendez, Ramon, 274
Americans, 282–283; and 1960s, filmography, 381–382; and labor Men in Black, 214, 216
29–31; and Nixon, 180; post– issues, 384; and Mexican- Men in Black II, 214, 216
World War II era perspectives, American War, 86; 1920s, 16, 17, Men in Crisis: Wilson Versus the
73, 75; and Puritanism, 6; and 19; 1970s, 37, 38; radio, 25, 30, Senate, 114
right-wing extremism, 292, 293, 184, 294, 377–378, 381–382; and Menjou, Adolphe, 12
294; and Trans-Appalachian right-wing extremism, 393; and Menninger, Karl, 422
West, 502; and Truman, 30, 406; sexuality, 547; and space The Men of Boys Town, 237, 239
and George Washington, 200; program, 475; and Spanish- Men of Bronze, 114
and westerns, 75, 490; and American War, 12, 89, 90; and The Men of the Fighting Lady, 85
women, 304 success myth, 599–600; and The Men Who Killed Kennedy, 173
McClellan Committee, 509, 513 Vietnam War, 94; and women, Mercer, Johnny, 520
McConaughey, Matthew, 339 379, 536; and World War I, 111. Merchant, Ismail, 158
McCormack, Patty, 243 See also Television Merchant marine, 453–454
McCormick, Anne O’Hare, 536 Media Action Network for Asian Merrill’s Marauders, 130, 135
McCoy, Tim, 141 Americans (MANAA), 230 The Merry Frinks, 291, 295
McCrae, Joel, 145 “Media Decade”. See 1970s The Merry Widow, 17, 20
McCrea, Joel, 542 Media-Made Dixie, 463 Merton, Robert K., 398
McCulloch, David, 441 Medicine Man, 591, 594 Message films. See Social problem
McCullough, David, 189, 196, 406, Medicine River, 286 films
532 Medium Cool, 293, 295 Metro, 213, 216
McCutcheon, George Barr, 601 Medved, Michael, 33–34, 35, 221, Metropolis, 436
McDaniel, Hattie: and Civil War, 360 Metzger, John, 395
61, 62; and slavery, 554; and Meeker, Ralph, 586 Metzger, Tom, 395
women’s roles, 305, 311 Meet George Washington, 159 Meusel, Bob, 192
McDonald, Ian, 75 Meet Joe Black, 301, 302 Mexican Americans, 269–276;
McDonnell, Mary, 285 Meet John Doe: government/politics filmography, 275–276; and
McDowall, Roddy, 242 in, 529, 532; and media, 374–375, Mexican-American War, 86, 269,
McDowell, Malcolm, 409 377, 381; and New York City, 441, 271, 272; and Southwest, 494–
McElwee, Ross, 468 445; and radicalism, 291, 295; 495; women, 270, 271, 274, 307
644 [ Index
Mexican-American War (1846– Miller, Zane L., 398 Mitchell, Cameron, 483
1848), 86–91; and antebellum Miller’s Crossing: crime in, 516; Mitchell, Gregory, 131
frontier hero, 143, 144, 145; government/politics in, 327, 330; Mitchell, John, 181, 251
documentaries, 87–88; Irish Americans in, 251, 254 Mitchell, Julian, 409
filmography, 91; and Mexican Millhouse: A White Comedy, 182, Mitchell, Margaret, 60–61, 305, 467
Americans, 86, 269, 271, 272; and 183 Mitchell, Thomas: and American
Southwest, 489, 495 Millichap, Joseph, 10–14, 541–544 Adam, 563; and Catholicism, 237;
The Mexican Joan of Arc, 271, 276 A Million to Juan, 274, 276 and Irish Americans in film, 252;
Mexican Revolution (1910), 271, Millis, Walter, 117 and South, 467; and Southwest,
432, 492 Mills, C. Wright, 112, 297, 299 490
The Mexican Revolutionists, 271, 276 Mills, Hayley, 458 Mitchum, Robert, 82, 250, 585, 586
Mexico, 88, 91 Milne, Tom, 344–345 Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life), 274,
Meyer, Nicholas, 427 Mindszenty, Josef, 72–73 276, 515, 516
Miami Vice, 504 Mineo, Sal, 245 Mix, Tom, 289, 430, 543
Micheaux, Oscar, 19 Mining Frontiers of the Far West, Moana of the South Seas, 18, 20
Michener, James: and Korean War, 1848–1880 (Paul), 434 Moby-Dick (1925), 448, 450, 456
82, 84; and Mexican-American Miniseries. See Television; specific Moby-Dick (1930), 448, 450, 456
War, 87; and seafaring films Moby-Dick (1956), 450, 451, 456
experience, 449, 454 Minnelli, Liza, 314 Moby-Dick (1997), 450, 456
Middletown in Transition (Lynd & Mintz, Steven, 352–362, 452 Moby-Dick (Melville), 346, 448, 450
Lynd), 24–25, 244 Minutemen, 288, 292 Mock, Frieda Lee, 231
Middletown (Lynd & Lynd), 244, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, 127, Modern Times: American Adam in,
457 135, 547, 550 562, 566; and drugs, 521, 526; and
Midler, Bette, 132 The Miracle of the Bells, 237, 239 radicalism, 291, 295
A Midnight Clear, 132–133, 135 Miracle on 34th Street, 445 Modine, Matthew, 98, 119, 132, 133
Midnight Cowboy, 443, 444, 445 The Miracle Woman, 426, 428 Modoc people, 103
Midnight Express, 526 Miranda, Carmen, 235, 311 Moffett, John F., 152
Midnight in the Garden of Good Miscegenation. See Interracial The Molly Maguires: Irish
and Evil, 462–463, 472 relationships/miscegenation Americans in, 235, 236, 239, 251,
Midway, 131, 135 Mise en scene, xix–xx 254; labor issues in, 388, 390
Midwest, 421–429; filmography, The Misfits, 491 Molotch, Harvey, 327
428; and machine in the garden, Misrepresentation. See Historical Momaday, N. Scott, 431
590; 1930s perspectives, xvii, 26, inaccuracies Money, 298
423; and rural disenchantment, Miss Evers’ Boys, 332, 342 The Money Pit, 482, 486
422–425; and settlement The Missiles of October, 173 Monroe, Marilyn, 313, 537
narratives, 421–422 Missing, 44, 45 The Monroe Doctrine, 499, 505
A Midwife’s Tale, 305 Missing Files: The JFK Monsieur Beaucaire, 201, 202
Mi Familia. See My Family/Mi Assassination, 172, 173 Monsignor, 239
Familia Missing in Action, 100, 101 Monsoon Wedding, 232, 233
Mifune, Toshiro, 130 Missing in Action 2—The Beginning, Monster’s Ball, 214, 216, 471, 472
The Milagro Beanfield War: 101 Montalbán, Ricardo, 227, 272
Mexican Americans in, 273, 274, The Mission, 235, 239 Montana Belle, 309
276; Southwest in, 494–495, 496 Mission Impossible (1996), 78–79 Montgomery, George, 127, 580, 585
Mildred Pierce: family in, 356, 361; Mission Impossible (1966–1973), 78– Montgomery, Robert, 453, 585
success myth in, 600, 602; 79 Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–
women’s roles in, 312–313, 315 Mission: Impossible 2, 232 1956), 214, 335, 336
Miles, Nelson, 280 The Mission of the Shark, 132, 135 The Moon Is Blue, 548, 550
Milestone, Lewis, 18, 82, 112, 127 Mission over Korea, 85 Moonraker, 479
Militias. See Right-wing extremism Mission to Mars, 478, 479 Moonshot, 476, 478, 479
Milius, John, 78, 90, 91, 164, 460 Mission to Moscow, 127, 135, 292 Moonstruck, 262, 440, 445
Milland, Ray, 323, 453, 519, 520 Mississippi, 467, 472 Moore, Arthur, 520
Millennium Man, 594 Mississippi Burning: civil rights Moore, Colleen, 18
Miller, Arthur, xv, 6, 7, 31, 304 movement in, 332, 339, 342; Moore, Demi, 6, 304, 601
Miller, David, 491, 591 right-wing extremism in, 394, Moore, Harry T., 341
Miller, Glenn, 597 396; South in, 465, 472 Moore, Mary Tyler, 538
Miller, Henry, 294 Mississippi Masala, 233, 465, 472 Moore, Michael, 301, 330, 389
Miller, Merle, 196, 197 Miss Saigon, 227 Moore, Robin, 523
Miller, Perry, 4 Mister Roberts, 130, 135 Morales, Sylvia, 273
 Index ] 645
Moran, “Bugs,” 511 Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream Music: and alcohol, 520; and
Morgan, Dennis, 127, 250 House, 442, 482, 486 antebellum frontier hero, 144;
Morgan, J. P., 297 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town: New York and Civil War, 65; and drugs,
Moriarty, Cathy, 485 City, in, 445; small towns in, 458, 522; and 1890s, 12; and Irish
Morison, Samuel Eliot: on 461; success myth in, 598, 602 Americans, 250; and Midwest,
Columbus, 149; on Puritanism, Mr. Holland’s Opus, 416–417, 418 422, 424; and Native Americans,
4; on World War II, 71, 122, 125 Mr. Lincoln of Illinois, 179 165, 166; and New Deal, xvi, 26,
Morley, Karen, 512 Mr. Logan, U.S.A., 289, 295 185, 423; and New York City,
The Morning After, 520, 526 Mr. Roberts, 454, 456 440–441; 1920s, 16; and 1960s,
Morris, Errol, 494 Mr. Skitch, 186, 189 xvi, 33; and teenagers, 30, 53, 245,
Morris, Jimmy, 323 Mrs. Miniver, 536 378, 414, 415; and Trans-
Morrison, Toni, 65, 305, 471 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington: Appalachian West, 501; and
Morrow, Rob, 348 American Adam in, 562–563, 565, Vietnam War, xvi; and World
Morrow, Vic, 415 566; antebellum frontier hero in, War II, 71, 122. See also Musicals
Morton, Andrew, 83 144; democracy/equality in, 576, Musicals: American Revolution in,
Moscow on the Hudson, 43, 45, 443, 577; government/politics in, 326, 51, 154–155; Asian Americans in,
445 330, 344, 345–346, 349, 350; 229; Catholic Americans in, 235;
Moses, Robert, 400–401, 442 Lincoln in, 177, 179; small towns and Cold War, 75; FDR in, 186,
Mostel, Zero, 441 in, 458, 461; success myth in, 598, 187; Irish Americans in, 250; and
Mother, 222, 224 602; George Washington in, 201 machine in the garden, 592;
The Mother and the Law, 17, 20 Muckrakers, 297 Midwest in, 424; New York City
Motherhood, 356. See also Family; Mudd, Victoria, 284 in, 439, 440–441; railroads in,
Women Mueller-Stahl, Armin, 593 543–544; seafaring experience in,
Mother Macree, 252, 254 Muhammad, Elijah, 341 453; Vietnam War in, 97;
Mother Night, 133, 135 Mull, Martin, 378 women’s roles in, 314; World
Mother Night (Vonnegut), 133 Multiethnic society. See Ethnic War II–era, 128, 187
Mothers Against Drunk Driving diversity The Music Man, 424, 428, 591, 594
(MADD), 520 Mumford, Lewis, 481, 482, 484 Music of the Heart, 417, 418
Motion Picture Academy, 17 Munby, Jonathan, 511, 513 The Musketeers of Pig Alley, 436,
Motion Picture Producers and Mundt, Karl, 26 445, 510, 516
Distributors Association of Muni, Paul: and crime, 512; and Musser, Charles, 591
America (MPPDA). See Motion democracy/equality, 573; Mutiny, 333, 342
Picture Production Code ethnicity of, 265; and Great Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), 449,
Motion Picture Production Code Depression, 24; and labor issues, 456
(MPPC): and Catholic 386; and Mexican Americans, Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), 449,
Americans, 253; and crime genre, 272 456
511, 512, 513; and democracy/ Murder Inc., 439, 445 Mutually assured destruction
equality, 573, 574; and drugs/ Murder in Mississippi, 339, 342 (MAD), 32
alcohol, 519, 522; and interracial The Murder Man, 376, 381 Muzzio, Douglas, 326–330
relationships, 227, 466; and labor Murder, My Sweet, 586, 589 Muzzio, Jessica, 326–330
issues, 386; and 1920s, 17, 20; and Murder, She Wrote, 584 My America ( . . . or honk if you
sexuality, 547, 548, 549; and Murdoch, Rupert, 301 love Buddha), 233
talking picture revolution, 20 Murmur of the Heart, 549, 550 My Best Friend’s Wedding, 525, 526
The Mountain Men, 503 Murnau, F. W., 17 My Best Girl, 17, 20
“Movie Brats,” 40 Murphy, Audie, 62, 490, 568 My Big Fat Greek Wedding, 224
Movie-Made America (Sklar), 466 Murphy, Bill, 376 My Bodyguard, 418
Movietone News, 436 Murphy, Eddie, 213, 301, 575, 601 My Cousin Vinny, 259, 262
Moy, Wood, 230 Murphy, Geoff, 490 My Darling Clementine, 307, 309,
Moyers, Bill, 167, 350, 395, 434 Murphy, George, 73 579, 581
Moynihan, Daniel Patrick, 30 Murphy, Michael, 434 My Fair Lady, 314
MPPC. See Motion Picture Murray, Bill, 411 My Family/Mi Familia, 274–275,
Production Code Murray, James, 562 276, 360, 361
MPPDA (Motion Picture Murray, Janet, 380 My Favorite Brunette, 586, 589
Producers and Distributors Murray, Lawrence L., 426 My Favorite Year, 254
Association of America). See Murray, Pauli, 331 My Geisha, 227
Motion Picture Production Murrieta, Joaquin, 580 My Gun Is Quick, 589
Code Muscio, Giuliana, 346 “My Kinsman, Major Molineaux”
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, 428 Museum of the Moving Image, 444 (Hawthorne), 561
646 [ Index
My Lai massacre, 432 The Birth of a Nation, 464; and movies, 104, 106, 279–280;
My Little Chickadee, 307, 308, 309 social problem films, 208 Southwest, 488, 494; and Trans-
My Luke and I (Gehrig & Durso), National Endowment for the Appalachian West, 499; and
193 Humanities, 435 westerns, 163, 164, 282, 491;
My Man and I, 272, 276 National Football League (NFL), women, 106–107, 166–167, 303,
My Man Godfrey, 356, 361, 441, 445 371–372 307. See also Indian leaders;
My Mother, the Witch, 8 National identity. See American Indian wars
My Name Is William W., 526 cultural mythology Native Land, xxi; and labor issues,
My Posse Don’t Do Homework National Industrial Recovery Act 386, 390; and leftist radicalism,
( Johnson), 416 (1933), 383 xiii, 26, 28, 291; and New York
My Sister Eileen, 440, 445 Nationalism: and American City, 436, 445
My Son John, 74, 79 Revolution, 49–50, 53; and Civil Native Sons, 428
The Mysterious Fu Manchu, 227 War, 58; and Cold War, 70, 78; Nativism: and Catholic Americans,
Mystery Street, 272, 276 and frontier narratives, 4–5; and 238; and drugs, 521; and Italian
Mystery Train, 378, 381 Native Americans, 277; and Americans, 257; and Mexican-
Myth. See American cultural Puritanism, 4–5; and right-wing American War, 88; and George
mythology extremism, 394; and success Washington, 200
My Wild Irish Rose, 250, 254 myth, 601; and Trans- The Natural, 324, 325
Appalachian West, 499–500 Natural Born Killers, 428
National Italian American Natural Born Puritan, 8
Nabakov, Vladimir, 550 Foundation, 261 Naturalism, 12
Nackenoff, Carol, 597 National Labor Relations Act. See Naturalization Act (1790), 226
Nader, Ralph, 219 Wagner Act Nature: and American Adam, 562–
Nadine, 493, 496 National Lampoon’s Vacation series, 563; and Midwest, 422; and
Nair, Mira, 232, 235 360, 361 railroads, 541; and South, 467;
Nakamura, Eric, 232 National Organization for the and Southwest, 491; and
Nakamura, Robert A., 230 Reform of Marijuana Law suburbia, 482–483; and Trans-
The Naked and the Dead, 130, 135 (NORML), 521 Appalachian West, 497. See also
The Naked and the Dead (Mailer), National Origins Act (1924), 226 Frontier; Rural life
130 National Recovery Act (NRA), 186 Nature (Emerson), 561
The Naked City, 237, 239, 253, 254 National Velvet, 242, 243, 247 Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and
Naked Goddess (The Devil’s Hand), National Women’s Trade Union the Great West (Cronon), 430
8 League, 251 The Naughty Nineties, 11, 14
The Naked Spur, 580, 581 A Nation at Risk (Committee on Nava, Gregory, 494, 495
Nancy Drew—Reporter, 376, 381 Educational Excellence), 413 Navajo people, 104–105
Nancy Drew series, 312, 376, 381 Nation of Islam, 340 Navy, 120, 448, 453, 454. See also
Nanook of the North, 18, 20, 286 Native Americans, 277–287; actors, Victory at Sea
Narc, 327, 523, 526 104–105, 107, 162, 285, 504; and Navy Blue and Gold, 364, 373
A Narrative of a Revolutionary American Adam, 563; and Navy Blues, 453, 456
Soldier (Plumb), 567 American cultural mythology, Navy SEALs, 221, 222, 224
The Narrative of Colonel Ethan 277, 278–279; and American Nazism: and All Quiet on the
Allen (Allen), 567 Revolution, 53; and antebellum Western Front, 112; and crime
The Narrow Trail, 579, 581 frontier hero, 145; and baseball, genre, 512; and democracy/
Nash, Gary, 50, 55 321; and Catholic Americans, equality, 574; and Jewish
Nash, Gerald, 498 234, 236; and Columbus, 149–150, immigration, 264; 1970s
Nash, Gerald D., 581 151–152; documentaries, 162, 164– perspectives, 131; propaganda,
Nash, N. Richard, 426 165, 431–432; 1890s, 10, 280; 113; and racism, 208, 334; and
Nash, Roderick, 590 filmography, 286; and frontier, radicalism, 291–292; and slavery,
Nashville, 237, 239, 470, 472 277–278, 579, 580; historiography, 552; stereotypes, 127
National Aeronautics and Space 107, 161, 162–163; and land Nazi Spy Ring, 128, 135
Administration (NASA). See ownership, 281–282; Mexico, 270; The Nazis Strike, 118
Space program 1920s perspectives, 280–281; and Neal, Elise, 368
National Asian American non-native actors, 162; post– Near Dark, 460, 461
Telecommunications Association World War II era perspectives, Necessary Roughness, 494, 496
(NAATA), 230 282–283, 307; and revisionist Needful Things, 428
National Association for the westerns, xix, 106–107, 163–164, Neeson, Liam, 253
Advancement of Colored People 431–432; and right-wing Negley, Howard, 145
(NAACP), 331, 332, 335, 336; and extremism, 394–395; in silent Negro League, 321
 Index ] 647
The Negro Soldier: and civil rights Southwest, 490, 491; and World Night of the Eagle (Burn, Witch,
movement, 333, 341, 342; and War II, 132 Burn), 8
democracy/equality, 574, 577; The New Metropolis: A Century of Night of the Hunter, 188, 190
and World War II, 118–119, 124 Greater New York, 438, 445 Night of the Living Dead, 216, 360,
Neighbors, 485, 486 New Orleans, 465, 469 361
Neilan, Marshall, 424 New Orleans, Battle of, 141, 142 Night People, 77, 79
Nelson, Barry, 126 New Patriotism, 42 Night Plane from Chungking, 127,
Nelson, Craig T., 369 New realist cinema, 530–531, 532 135
Nelson, Ralph, 284 Newspapers. See Media Nimitz, Chester W., 120
Neo-noir films, 514 Newton, Thandie, 65, 158, 305 1920s, 15–21; crime, 15, 19, 510–511;
“Nerds,” 301, 477 “New Westerns,” 431. See also film industry, 15, 16–17, 19–20,
Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Revisionist westerns 52, 521; filmography, 20;
Internet, 301, 302, 381 “New woman,” 18, 304, 305, 306, historiography, 15–16;
Nesteby, James R., 208 534. See also Feminism immigration, xii, 200; labor
Network: and American Dream, New York, 436 issues, 383, 389–390; sexuality, 18,
441; and media, 38, 379, 381; New New York City, 437–446; 1890s, 12, 545. See also 1920s perspectives
York City in, 442, 445; and 13; filmography, 444–445; 1920s perspectives: American
1970s, 41; women’s roles in, 440, government, 327, 328–329, 400– Adam, 562; American
538, 539 401; 1960s, 32, 485 Revolution, 50–51, 52–53;
Neumann, Kurt, 490 New York Confidential, 513 capitalist tycoons, 298–299;
Neve, Brian, 529 New York Hooverville, 436, 445 Catholic Americans, 234, 236;
Never Been Kissed, 417, 418 New York New York, 440, 445 Civil War, 60; detective films,
Never on Sunday, 548, 550 New York Panorama, 438 584; family, 353, 354, 355; football,
Never So Few, 134, 135 New York Stories, 445 363; Ku Klux Klan, 59, 393, 464,
Never Steal Anything Small, 387– New York Town, 445 554, 572; labor issues, 385; leftist
388, 390 Next Friday, 216, 485, 486 radicalism, 290; Lincoln, 176–177;
Never Turn Back: The Life of Fannie The Next Man, 219–220, 224 Native Americans, 280–281; and
Lou Hamer, 341, 342 Next Stop, Greenwich Village, 441, Puritanism, 15–16; racism, 15, 18–
Nevins, Alan, 297 445 19, 53; sexuality, 546–547;
New Age movement, 107 Next Time I Marry, 186, 189 women’s roles, 355; World War
New Deal: and antebellum frontier Nez Perce people, 103, 165–166 I, 15, 18, 53, 110–111. See also
hero, 140; and Cold War, 72; Ngor, Haing S., 229 Silent movies
documentaries, xvi, 25–26, 27, Nicaragua, U.S. intervention in, 55, 1930s, 22–28; crime, 23, 26–27, 511;
423; and FDR, 184, 185–186; and 350, 405 sexuality, 545; South, 470. See
government/politics, 22, 346; and Nichols, Mike: and government/ also Great Depression; 1930s
labor issues, 383, 385; and politics, 530; and 1960s, 33; and perspectives
Midwest, xvii, 26, 423; 1930s sexuality, 549; and women’s 1930s perspectives: alcohol, 519;
perspectives, xv, 23, 24, 26; and roles, 539; and World War II, 131 American Adam, 562–563;
presidency, 403; and radicalism, Nicholson, Jack: and democracy/ American Revolution, 51;
290; and rural life, 121; and equality, 575; and detective films, antebellum frontier hero, 140,
Trans-Appalachian West, 499; 587, 588; and drugs, 522; and 142, 143, 145–146; Asian
and women, 535. See also 1930s Great Depression, 27; and New Americans, 228; capitalist
The New England Mind (Miller), 4 York City, 444; and Southwest, tycoons, 299; Catholic
Newhart, Bob, 524 493 Americans fr, 234–235, 236;
New Historicism, 42, 43, 44 Nickelodeons, 249, 279, 519. See also children, 242; Civil War/
New Jack City, 216, 515, 516 Silent movies Reconstruction, 60–61; crime, 19,
New journalism, 376, 426 Nick of the Woods (Bird), 277–278 439, 511–512; democracy/equality,
The New Land, 421–422, 428, 503 Nicols, Dudley, 455 573; detective films, 584–585;
Newman, David, 426 Nigh, William, 265 1890s, 11; family, 354, 356–357;
Newman, Paul: and alcohol, 520; A Night at the Opera, 442 FDR, 185–188; football, 363;
and boxing, 443; and buddy Nighthawks, 44, 45 frontier, 579, 580; government/
films, 314; and capitalist tycoons, Nightjohn, 360, 361 politics, xix, 344, 345–346; Great
300; and detective films, 587; and Nightmare in Big Sky Country, 396 Depression, xiv–xv, 22, 23–24,
1890s, 13; and Korean War, 83; Nightmare in Red, 71 25–26; historiography, 53, 305;
and media, 377, 378; and Native Nightmare on Elm Street, 360, 361, Italian Americans, 257–258; labor
Americans, 107, 164, 277; and 460, 461 issues, 385–386; law enforcement,
railroads, 543; and revisionism, Night Moves, 514 326; leftist radicalism, 290, 291;
433, 491; and South, 469; and The Night of June 13, 481, 486 Lincoln, 175, 177; media, 375, 376,
648 [ Index
1930s perspectives (continued) 514; detective films, 587–588; American War, 90; suburbia,
377, 378; Midwest, xvii, 26, 423; drugs, 522–523; family, 40, 359, 485–486; success myth, 601;
New York City, 439, 440; 360; FDR, 188–189; feminism, 37, tobacco, 524–525; women’s roles,
Puritanism, 4–5; radicalism, 38–39, 538; football, 363, 367–368; 307–308; World War I, 109;
290–291; radio, 377, 378; Indian wars, 106–107; Italian World War II, 122, 132–133, 575–
seafaring experience, 453; Americans, 259–260; labor 576
sexuality, 547; South, 466–468; issues, 388–389; law enforcement, Nishikawa, Lane, 230
suburbia, 481; success myth, 598– 326; Lincoln, 175–176; media, 375, Nitschke, Ray, 367
599; teenagers, 243–244, 357; 378; Native Americans, 284; New Nitze, Paul, 71
Trans-Appalachian West, 499– York City, 444; 1960s, 32, 245; Nixon, 528
500; women, 305, 306, 310, 311, Reconstruction, 63–64; schools, Nixon (1989), 182–183
312, 356–357, 535–536 414–415; sexuality, 549–550; Nixon (1995): and democracy/
1940s perspectives. See Post–World slavery, xv, 63–64, 554–555; equality, 575, 577; and
War II era perspectives; World South, 469–470; space program, government/politics, 532; and
War II–era perspectives 40; success myth, 601; teenagers, Nixon, 182, 183; and presidency,
1941, 134, 135 245; tobacco, 524; Vietnam War, 405, 408
1945: Year of Victory, 196, 197 39, 97; westerns, 431, 434, 493; Nixon, Richard M., 180–183; and
1950s. See McCarthyism; Post– World War I, 112–113; World civil rights movement, 337;
World War II era War II, 131 filmography, 183; and Lincoln,
1960s, 29–36; civil rights 1980s, 42–45, 514–515. See also 1980s 179; and 1960s, 35; and
movement, 336–337; drugs, 522, perspectives presidency, 402, 405; and
523; filmography, 35–36; 1980s perspectives: African Vietnam War, 39, 94, 179, 180,
historiography, 29, 33–35; and Americans, 213, 214, 341–342; 182
music, xvi; sexuality, 32, 546; alcohol, 520; American Nixon Agonistes (Wills), 180
space program, 474. See also Revolution, 51, 54–56; capitalist Nixon Reconsidered (Hoff ), 181
Cold War; 1960s perspectives; tycoons, 301; Civil War, 64; Cold Nixon’s China Game, 183
Vietnam War War, 71; detective films, 588; Nixon: The Arrogance of Power, 182,
1960s perspectives: alcohol, 520; drugs, 519, 523; family, 354, 360; 183
American Revolution, 154; Asian FDR, 188; football, 368–370; Nixon: The Triumph of a Politician,
Americans, 228–229; children,
government/politics, 328, 347; 1962–1982 (Ambrose), 181
243; civil rights movement, 337;
Great Depression, 27; Italian Noble, David W., 561
Civil War, 63; Cold War, 72, 76–
Americans, 260; labor issues, 19, No Down Payment, 483, 484, 486
78; crime, 26–27, 32–33, 426, 469,
389–390; Mexican Americans, Nolan, Alan, 67
513–514; detective films, 586–587;
274; Native Americans, 284–285; Nolan, Christopher, 516
drugs, 522; family, 353, 359, 360;
1960s, 29; nuclear weapons/ Nolan, Lloyd, 586
football, 363, 366–367; frontier,
power, 43, 132; radicalism, xvi, Nolte, Nick, 213, 367, 415
141, 503; Great Depression, 26–
27; Korean War, 83–84; leftist 294; schools, 415–416; suburbia, None but the Brave, 134, 135
radicalism, 293–294; Lincoln, 485; success myth, 601; teenagers, Noriega, Chon, 273
175–176; Native Americans, 283; 245–246, 415–416; Trans- Normand, Mabel, 311
nuclear weapons/power, 31–32, Appalachian West, 503–504; Normandy Invasion, 122–123, 133.
404–405; race relations, 335–336; Vietnam War, 39, 43, 97–98; See also World War II
Reconstruction, 59–60; right- westerns, 435, 493; World War Norma Rae: labor issues in, 388–
wing extremism, 292–293; II, 131–132 389, 390; South in, 467; women’s
schools, 414; sexuality, 548–549; 1984, 594 roles in, 314, 315, 538, 539
South, 469; space program, 475– 1990s perspectives: African Norris, Chuck, 43, 100, 405
476; suburbia, 484, 485; Americans, 214–215, 339–340; Norris, Frank, 12, 542, 591
teenagers, 245; Trans- alcohol, 520–521; Civil War, 64; El Norte, 272–273, 275
Appalachian West, 503; westerns, Cold War, 72–73; Columbus, 148, North, Bob, 328
32, 431, 432–433, 491–493, 580– 149; democracy/equality, 575–576; North, Mary Beth, 55
581; World War II, 130 detective films, 588; drugs, 523– North, Oliver, 405, 531
1969, 101 524; family, 360; football, 370; North, Sheree, 483
1970s, 37–41. See also 1970s government/politics, 347–348; North and South, 64, 67
perspectives Indian wars, 107; Italian North and South Book II, 64, 67
1970s perspectives: African Americans, 260–261; Korean North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Americans, 212–213; alcohol, 520; War, 84–85; labor issues, 389– (NATO), 69
American Revolution, 51, 154– 390; media, 375; right-wing North by Northwest, 77, 543, 544
155; Asian Americans, 229; civil extremism, 294–295; schools, North Dallas Forty, 367, 373, 494,
rights movement, 337–338; crime, 416–417; slavery, 65–66; Spanish- 496
 Index ] 649
Northern Migration, 116, 125, 341 The Nutty Professor, 213, 216 O’Herlihy, Dan, 300
North of 36, 490, 496 The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps, Okazaki, Steven, 231
The North Star, 127, 135 213, 216 O’Keefe, Dennis, 601
North to Alaska, 13, 14 Nyby, Christian, 75 Oklahoma!, 218, 428
Northup, Solomon, 555 NY Kino, 291 Oklahoma City bombing (1995),
Northwest Passage, 282, 286, 500– NYPD Blue, 442 288, 295
501, 505 Oland, Walter, 227
Northwest Passage (Roberts), 501 Oakley, Annie, 579 Olcott, Chauncey, 250
Norton, Edward, 294, 396 Oates, Bob, 363 Olcott, Sidney, 249
Norton, Mary Beth, 303, 304 Oates, Warren, 450, 493 Oldfield, Barney, 18
NOSOTROS, 272 Objective, Burma!, 126, 135 Old Glory series, 499–500
Nosseck, Max, 512 O Brave New People (Moffett & The Old Gringo, 271, 276
Nostalgia/sentimentalization: and Santiago), 152 Old Hickory, 147, 499, 505
children, 242; and civil rights O’Brien, Conor Cruise, 156 Old Ironsides, 448, 456
movement, 332; and Cold War, O’Brien, Edmond, 348, 493 Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker, 264–
78; and 1890s, 11, 12, 13; and O’Brien, George, 140, 542 265, 267
family, 358–359; and frontier, O’Brien, John, 520 Old Louisiana, 159
580; and Great Depression, 120– O’Brien, Pat: and Catholicism, 237; Oldman, Gary, 348
121; and Midwest, 424; and and football, 365, 366; and Old Soldier, 84, 85
1920s, 17, 19; and 1960s, 29; and government/politics, 399; and Olivier, Laurence, 53, 54
public high schools, 415; and Irish Americans, 251; and New Olmos, Edward James, 90, 273, 416,
Puritanism, 3; and slavery, xiv, York City, 439 515
465–467, 553, 554; and small O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 146, Olson, James, 143, 144, 500
towns, 457–458; and Trans- 469, 472 The Omen, 243, 247, 360, 361
Appalachian West, 503; and An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Omnibus series, 178
World War II, 121 63, 67 Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 171,
Not a Bedroom War: New Visions of “An Occurrence at Owl Creek 173
Feminism, 315 Bridge” (Bierce), 63 Oñate, Juan, 488
Notes on the State of Virginia Ocean. See Seafaring experience Once They Moved Like the Wind
( Jefferson), 157 O’Connor, Donald, 376 (Roberts), 161
Noth, Chris, 90 O’Connor, Edwin, 237, 326, 329, Once upon a Honeymoon, 127, 135
Nothing but a Man, 211, 216, 337, 399 Once Upon a Time in America, 265,
342 O’Connor, John E., 26, 51, 52, 432 267
Novak, Kim, 521, 522 O’Connor, John M., 499 Once upon a Time in the West, 542,
Novarro, Ramon, 235 October Sky, 389, 390 544
Noverr, Douglas A., 191–195, 366 The Octopus (Norris), 542, 591 Once Upon a Time . . . When We
No Vietnamese Ever Called Me The Odd Couple, 443, 445 Were Colored, 339–340, 342
Nigger, 341, 342 Odd Man Out, 211 Once Upon a Time . . . When We
Now, Voyager, 356, 361, 524, 526 Odds Against Tomorrow, 211, 216, Were Colored (Taulbert), 339
No Way Out: African Americans 335, 342 One, Two, Three, 77
in, 208, 209, 216; and civil rights Odets, Clifford, 599 O’Neal, Ryan, 243
movement, 335, 342; democracy/ O’Donnell, Chris, 411 O’Neal, Shaquille, 222
equality in, 574, 577 Office of War Information (OWI), One False Move, 471, 472
Noyce, Phillip, 347 120, 126, 570 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,
Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy An Officer and a Gentleman, 354, 167, 286
(Kissinger), 32 361 O’Neill, Eugene, 16, 455
Nuclear weapons/power: and The Official Story, 44, 45 O’Neill, William, 116, 119, 120, 125
antebellum frontier hero, 143; Off Limits, 43, 45 One Man’s Hero, 88, 91
and Cold War, 70, 72, 75, 76; Of Human Hearts, 179 On Escalation (Kahn), 32
and Midwest, 427; 1960s Of Kennedys and Kings: Making One Week, 20, 428
perspectives, 31–32, 404–405; Sense of the Sixties (Wofford), On Moonlight Bay, 424, 428
1980s, 42, 43; 1980s perspectives, 169 On the Beach: and Cold War, 76,
43, 132; and presidency, 404–405; Of Plymouth Plantation (Bradford), 79; and 1960s, 31, 36; and
and seafaring experience, 454– 4 seafaring experience, 454, 456
455; and Truman, 196. See also Oh, Sadaharu, 320 On the Beach (Shute), 31
Cold War Oh, Sandra, 232 On Thermonuclear War (Kahn),
Number One, 367, 373 Oh, Soon-Tek, 230 32
The Nun’s Story, 238, 239 O’Hara, Maureen, 252, 253 On the Town, 440, 441, 445
650 [ Index
On the Waterfront, xxi; American Out of Africa: and 1980s, 44, 45; Kennedys, 173; media in, 38, 41,
Adam in, 563–564, 566; Catholic women’s roles in, 315, 538, 539 375, 376, 381; and Watergate, 514
Americans in, 236, 237, 239; Out of the Depths—The Miner’s Paranoid style, 392
labor issues in, 387, 390; and Story, 434, 436 Paredes, Américo, 494
McCarthyism, xv, 75, 79; New Out of the Fog, 439, 445 Parents, 485, 486
York City in, 439, 442, 445 Out of the Past, 586, 589 Paris, Texas, 493, 496
Operation Petticoat, 454, 456 The Out-of-Towners (1970), 443, Parker, Alan, 132, 339
Operation Tailwind, 101 445 Parker, Bonnie, 511. See also Bonnie
O Pioneers!, 428 The Out-of-Towners (1999), 443, and Clyde
Oppenheim, James, 176 445 Parker, Fess, 141, 143–144
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 132 The Outrage, 271, 276 Parker, Quanah, 161
Oppenheimer, Julius, 263 Outside Providence, 411 Parkes, Henry Bamford, 586
Opt, Susan, 473–479 “Over There,” 250 Parks, Gordon, 212, 459, 494
Orca, 455, 456 Owen, Sid, 55 Parks, Gordon, Jr., 212
Oregon Trail, 278 Owens, Lewis, xiv, xvii Parks, Rosa, 333, 336
O’Reilly, John Boyle, 251 The Ox-Bow Incident, 270, 276, 431, Parrington, Vernon, 175
Oren Lyons, the Faithkeeper, 167 436 Parrish, 526
The Organization Man (Whyte), 30 The Ox-Bow Incident (Clark), 431 The Passaic Textile Strike, 385, 390
Organization of American States Ozawa, Takao, 226 Passaic Textile Strike (1926), 383,
(OAS), 69 Ozma of Oz (Baum), 427 385
Organized crime: and Catholic “Passing,” 209, 334–335
Americans, 238; and detective Pabst, G. W., 18 Passion Plantation, 555
films, 587; and family, 359; and Pacific Islanders, 449 Past Imperfect (Carnes), 465, 570
Jewish Americans, 265; Kefauver Pacino, Al: and American Adam, Pastorela, 274, 276
committee, 509, 512–513, 587; 564; and American Revolution, Pat and Mike, 537, 539
legislation, 509–510; 1930s, 511; 55, 56; and football, 370; and PATCO strike (1981), 403
1980s, 514–515; and Prohibition, government/politics, 329, 399; Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, 490,
15, 19; and television, 260–261, and New York City, 439, 442; 496
515–516 and private schools, 411 The Pathfinder, 580, 581
Oriard, Michael, 369, 372 Pack journalism, 379–380 Paths of Glory, 112, 114, 594
The Original Kings of Comedy, 215, Paddy O’Day, 299, 302 Paths of Glory (Cobb), 112
216 Paget, Debra, 283, 307 Path to War, 173, 405–406, 408
Origins of the Cold War, 196–197 Paglia, Camille, 539 Patrick, Jason, 164
The Origins of the Korean War Paige, Satchel, 321, 322 The Patriot, 56, 465, 472
(Cumings), 81 Paine, Thomas, 569 Patriot Games, 254
Oriskany, Battle of, 500 Pak, Greg, 232 Patriotism. See Nationalism
O.S.S., 128–129, 135 Pakula, Alan J.: directing style, 40; Patterson, James, 29
The Osterman Weekend, 78 and Holocaust, 266; and media, Patton, 131, 135, 314, 538
O’Sullivan, Mary Kenney, 251 38, 375, 376 Patton, George S., 131
Oswald, Lee Harvey, 393 Pal, George, 475, 592 Patton, Will, 369
O’Toole, Peter, 253, 409 Pale Rider, 581 Patty Hearst, 293, 295
Ott, Fred, 11 Palk, Nancy, 305 Paul, Rodman W., 434
Ottawa people, 161 Palladino, Grace, 244, 414 The Pawnbroker, 442, 445, 549, 550
Oullette, Jean-Paul, 7 Pallette, Eugene, 299 Pawnee people, 107
Our Congressman, 346–347, 348, 350 Palmer, A. Mitchell, 298 Paxton, Bill, 477
Our Daily Bread: leftist radicalism Palmer, William J., 42–45 Payne, Alexander, 417, 425
in, 25, 28, 290, 295; Midwest in, Paltrow, Gwyneth, 158, 223 Payne Studies, 512
428 Pandora’s Box, 18, 20 Paz, Octavio, 269
Our Dancing Daughters, 18, 20, 535 Panic of 1893, 10 PCU, 523, 526
Our Gang series, 186, 414 Pannbacker, Alfred Ray, 218 Pearce, Richard, 423–424
Our Man in Havana, 77, 79 Panther, 216, 294, 295 Pearl Harbor: and Asian
Our Movie Made Children, 512 The Paper, 377, 381 Americans, 228; and FDR, 187,
Our Town, 460, 461 The Paper Lion, 366–367, 373 189; 1970s perspectives, 131; and
Outer space. See Space program Parade of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, propaganda films, 117–118, 134.
The Outlaw, 309, 580, 581 279 See also World War II
The Outlaw Josey Wales, 162, 167, The Parallax View: and democracy/ Pearl Harbor: and democracy/
436 equality, 575, 577; government/ equality, 575, 577; FDR in, 184,
Outlaws, 579–580. See also Crime politics in, 326, 330; and 189, 190; World War II in, 135
 Index ] 651
Pearsall, Sarah, 303–309 Perry, George Sessions, 491 Pirates, 142
Pearson, Jesse, 592 Pershing, “Black Jack,” 432 Pirates of Silicon Valley, 301, 302
Peck, Gregory: and Catholicism, The Pershing Story, 114 Pitt, Brad, 229
237; and Cold War, 76, 77; Personal Best, 44, 45 Places in the Heart: Great
ethnicity of, 253; and Korean The Personals: Improvisations on Depression in, 27, 28; and 1980s,
War, 82; and militias, 393; and Romance in the Golden Years, 43, 45; Southwest in, 491, 493,
racism, 332, 470; and seafaring 231, 233 496
experience, 450, 451; and Person to Person, 171 Plain Clothes, 416, 418
suburbia, 483; and Trans- Pesci, Joe, 439 Plain-man heroes, 569
Appalachian West, 503; and Peters, Brock, 470 The Plainsman, 579, 581
World War II, 119 Peters, Jean, 74 Plain Speaking (Miller), 196
Peckinpah, Sam: and Cold War, 78; Peters, Rick, 182 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,
and revisionist westerns, 432– Peterson, Merrill, 177 544
433, 492–493; and Southwest, The Petrified Forest, 23, 28 Planet of the Apes, 479
490, 491, 492–493; and World Petrik, Paula, 306 Plantation myth, xiv, 61, 464, 465–
War II, 131 Peyton Place, 484, 486 467, 553, 554
The Peculiar Institution (Stampp), Pfeiffer, Michelle, 379, 416 The Plastic Age, 355, 361
552–553 The Phantom President, 202 Platinum Blonde, 375, 381
Peerce, Larry, 266, 411 Phelps, Glenn Alan, 458 Platoon, xxi; American Adam in,
Peggy Sue Got Married, 418 Phifer, Mekhi, 368 564–565, 566; historical
The Pelican Brief, 214, 216 The Philadelphia Story: alcohol in, inaccuracies in, xii, xiii; music
Pell, John L. E., 52 519, 526; women’s roles in, 312, in, xvi; and 1980s, 43, 45; soldiers
Pelley, William Dudley, 288 357, 361, 535, 536, 539 in, 569, 570; and Vietnam War,
Penn, Arthur: and crime, 426, 513, Philanthropy, 297 98, 99, 100, 101; and women’s
514; and Great Depression, 26– Philbrick, Herbert A., 73–74 roles, 538
27, 32; and Indian wars, 106, 431; Philippines. See Spanish-American Platoon: Bravo Company
and right-wing extremism, 393; War (Hemphill), 99–100
and South, 469; and Southwest, Phillips, Carla Rahn, 149, 151 Playboy magazine, 546
490, 492 Phillips, Edwin, 23 Plaza Suite, 443, 445
Penn, Sean: ethnicity of, 250, 253; Phillips, Ulrich B., 305, 552 Pleasantville: and media, 380, 381;
and private schools, 410; and Phillips, William D., Jr., 149, 151 small towns in, 460, 461;
public high schools, 415; and Phoenix, River, 78 suburbia in, 485, 486
teenagers, 245 Physical appearance: and Plessy v. Ferguson, 335
Pennebaker, D. A., 532 democracy/equality, 575; and Plimpton, George, 366–367
Penny Serenade, 242, 247 women’s roles, 310, 312, 313, 538 The Plot to Kill Hitler, 132, 135
Penrod, 424, 428 Piccolo, Brian, 368 The Plow That Broke the Plains, xxi;
Penrod and Sam, 424, 428 Piccolo, Joy, 368 censorship of, xvii; and
People’s history. See Social History/ Pickford, Mary: and labor issues, government/politics, 25–26, 28;
People’s History 384; and Native Americans, 104; and Midwest, 423, 428; music in,
Peppard, George, 111, 300 and 1920s, 17; and small towns, xvi, 423
Pepper, Barry, 323 457–458; and women’s roles, 310, Plumb, Joseph, 567
Perelman, S. J., 442 311 Plunkitt, George Washington, 326
Perez, Severo, 495 Pickup on South Street, 74, 75, 79 Plymouth Adventure, 5, 8, 448, 456
The Perez Family, 235, 239 Picnic, 424, 425, 428 Plymouth Adventure (Gebler), 5
A Perfect Candidate, 531, 532 Picture Bride, 231, 233 Pocahontas, 7, 166, 303
The Perfect Flapper, 355, 361 Pidgeon, Walter, 345 Pocahontas (1995), 286, 303, 309
A Perfect Murder, 223, 224 Pierson, Frank, 599 Pocahontas: Her True Story, 166,
The Perfect Storm, 455–456 Pigskin Parade, 364, 373 167; and Puritanism, 7, 8; and
A Perfect Tribute, 177, 179 Pileggi, Nicholas, 328 women’s roles, 303, 309
A Perfect World, 493 Pilgrim Journey, 8 Poe, Alan, 396
The Perils of Pauline, 311–312 Pingree, Hazen S., 398 Poe, Edgar Allen, 257, 583
The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932 Pinkerton, Allan, 583 Point Blank, 513, 514, 516
(Leuchtenburg), 466 Pink Panther series, 32 Point of Order! (McCarthy: Death of
Perkins, Anthony, 62, 76 Pinky: and African Americans in a Witchhunter), 72, 79, 350, 575,
Perkins, Osgood, 512 film, 208, 209, 216; and civil 577
Permanent Midlight, 523, 526 rights movement, 334, 342; and Point of view, 530
Perot, Ross, 528 democracy/equality, 574, 577 Poitier, Sidney: and African
Perry, Frank, 484 Pipes, Richard, 532 Americans in film, 213; and
652 [ Index
Poitier, Sidney (continued) 483–484, 485. See also Cold War; POWs (prisoners of war), 65, 81,
Catholic Americans, 238; and McCarthyism; Post–World War 82–83
civil rights movement, 337; and II era perspectives POWs: The Pawns of War, 39, 41
Cold War, 78; and democracy/ Post–World War II era Powwow Highway, 284–285, 286,
equality, 575; and detective films, perspectives: African Americans, 494, 496
587; and public high schools, 414; 208–211, 334–335; alcohol, 519– Prawer-Jhabvala, Ruth, 158
and slavery, 554; and social 520; American Revolution, 53–54; Prejudices (Mencken), 15
problem films, 209, 210–211, 335; antebellum frontier hero, 140– Prelude to War, 118, 124
and South, 465 141, 143–144, 145–146; Asian Preminger, Otto: and drugs, 521,
Polanski, Roman, 327, 514, 587 Americans, 228; baseball, 192– 522; and government/politics,
Police. See Detective films; Law 193; capitalist tycoons, 300; 344, 345, 346; and Jewish
enforcement; Police procedurals children, 242–243; civil rights Americans, 266; and sexuality,
Police procedurals, 587–588 movement, 210, 333–335; Civil 548
Political machines, 326–327, 328, War, 63; Cold War, 73–75, 76; Presidency, xix, 402–408; and
398–401, 529 crime, 30, 512–513; democracy/ baseball, 320, 322; and Congress,
The Politicians, 326, 330 equality, 574–575; detective films, 349; filmography, 408; and
Politics. See Government/politics 586; espionage, 442; family, 353, government/politics, 530–531;
Polk, James K., 86, 88 357–358; FDR, 188; football, 363, and Great Depression, 25;
Pollack, Sidney, 131 365–366; government/politics, historiography, 402–403. See also
Pollard, Harry, 264 344–345; historiography, 53; Government/politics; specific
Pollution. See Environment Italian Americans, 258–259; presidents
Pollyanna (1920), 17, 20, 310 Korean War, 76, 81–82, 84; labor Presidential Man, 405, 408
Pollyanna (1960), 458, 461 issues, 387–388; Lincoln, 175, 178; The President’s Lady, 142, 147, 309
Polonsky, Abraham, 283 machine in the garden, 592–593; Presley, Elvis, 30, 146
Poltergeist: family in, 360, 361; McCarthyism, 73, 75; Mexican Preston, Robert, 368, 424, 592
suburbia in, 482–483, 485, 486 Americans, 271; Native Pretty Baby, 243, 247, 550
Pontiac, 161 Americans, 282–283, 307; New Pretty Boy Floyd, 513
Poor Little Rich Girl, 258 York City, 442; nuclear weapons/ Pretty in Pink, 246, 247, 416, 418
Popcorn Venus (Rosen), 313 power, 31; Puritanism, 4; Pretty Woman, 550, 600–601, 602
Populism, 392 radicalism, 292; seafaring Price, John, 282
Porgy and Bess, 210, 216 experience, 454; sexuality, 547– Price, Vincent, 237
Pork Chop Hill, 82, 83, 84, 85 548; slavery, 552, 553, 554; small A Price above Rubies, 440
Pornography, 549 towns, 459–460; soldiers, 568; The Pride of St. Louis, 322, 325
Port Chicago explosion (1944), 333 South, 462; space program, 475– Pride of the Marines, 128, 135, 187,
Porter, Cole, 440 476; suburbia, 482–484; 190
Porter, Edwin S., 489 teenagers, 244, 409, 414; Trans- Pride of the Yankees, 192, 194, 322,
Porter, Eleanor H., 458 Appalachian West, 501–503; 323, 325; New York City in, 443,
Portillo, Lourdes, 273 Washington, 200–201; westerns, 445
Portrait of a President: John F. 490–491, 542, 580; women’s The Priest, 238, 239
Kennedy in Profile (Manchester), roles, 306, 307, 311, 312–314, Primary Colors: government/
169 537–538; World War I, 112; politics in, xix, 530, 531, 532;
Posse, 434, 436, 494, 496 World War II, 71, 76, 121–122, sexuality in, 550
Postcards from the Edge, 526 128–129 Primary unit, 98–100, 568–569
The Postman Always Rings Twice Pound, Ezra, 15, 16 Prime Cut, 428
(1946): crime in, 516; family in, Poverty, 468. See also Class issues The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, 409,
357, 361; sexuality in, 548, 550 The Poverty of Abundance 411
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Romasco), 22 The Primitive Lover, 162
(1981), 315, 550 Powderly, Terence, 251 The Prince and the Showgirl, 313
Posttraumatic stress disorder Powell, Colin, 95 The Prince of Egypt, 267
(PTSD), 38, 121 Powell, Dick, 82, 585 The Prisoner of Second Avenue, 443,
Post–World War II era: and Powell, William, 376, 441, 536 445
American Adam, 565; and civil Powell Doctrine, 94–95 Prisoner of War, 83, 85
rights movement, 333–334; Power, Tyrone, 253, 270 Prisoners of war, 65, 81, 82–83
family, 353; labor issues, 384, 387; The Power and the Glory, 299 Prisons, 326, 367
and 1960s, 29, 30, 31; private Power and the Land, 121 Private Benjamin, 44, 45
schools, 410; railroads, 541–542; Power Broker (Caro), 401 Private eyes. See Detective films
schools, 410, 413; space program, The Power of the Press, 330 Private Parts, 378
473–474; suburbia, 480, 481, 482, Powers, Tyrone, 543 Private schools, 134, 409–412
 Index ] 653
Prizzi’s Honor: Catholicism in, 238, A Pueblo Legend, 286 Quigley, Martin, 253
239; Italian Americans in, 260, Pueblo Peoples: First Contact, 286 Quinn, Aidan, 253
262; New York City in, 445 Puette, William, 384, 390 Quinn, Anthony: and antebellum
Problem films. See Social problem Pullman railroad strike (1886), 383 frontier hero, 142; and Asian
films Pullman Strike (1894), 10 Americans, 228; and Mexican
The Problems of Peace, 39, 41 Pulp Fiction, 516 Americans, 270, 271; and
Procession of Mounted Indians and Pumping Iron, 601 seafaring experience, 451; and
Cowboys, 279 Pump Up the Volume: media in, World War II, 126
The Producers, 441, 445 378, 381; public high schools in, Quintet, 237, 239
Production Code. See Motion 418; teenagers in, 246, 247 Quiz Show, 348, 350
Picture Production Code Puppets, 262 Quo, Beulah, 230
Production history, xvi–xvii Puppets of Fate, 257, 262
The Professionals, 271, 276, 492 The Puritan, 8 Raack, R. C., 112
Profiles in Courage (Kennedy), 169 Puritanism, 3–9; and 1890s, 11; and “Race movies,” 18–19
The Program, 370, 373 Enlightenment, 153; filmography, Race relations: and Civil War, 50;
Progressivism: and American 8; and frontier, 4–5, 497–498; 1890s, 10; and football, 368, 369;
Revolution, 52; and capitalist 1920s rebellion against, 15–16; and Great Depression, 27; and
tycoons, 298; and children, 242; and soldiers, 569; and women’s Italian Americans, 260; and
and crime, 510; and family, 355; roles, 304 Jefferson, 157; and Lincoln, 178;
and leftist radicalism, 288–289; Puritan Passions, 8 and South, 463, 464–465, 469,
and Native Americans, 280; and Purple Gang, 265 470; and George Washington,
1920s, 15, 17; and race relations, The Purple Heart: Asian Americans 201. See also Civil rights
xv, xvii; and sexuality, 545 in, 228; democracy/equality in, movement; Interracial
Prohibition: and alcohol, 518, 519; 573, 577; soldiers in, 570; World relationships; Racism; Slavery;
and crime, 15, 19, 509, 510, 511; War II in, 126, 135 specific groups
and detective films, 584, 588. See The Purple Rose of Cairo, 443 Racing for the Moon, 478, 479
also 1920s perspectives The Pursuit of Happiness, 5, 8 Racing with the Moon, 134, 135
Prohibition: 13 Years That Changed Putney Swope, 337, 342 Racism: and American Revolution,
America, 519, 526 Puzo, Mario, 238, 514 53, 157; and Asian Americans, 42,
Project X, 479 A Pyromaniac’s Love Story, 443, 445 44, 225; and baseball, 321; and
The Promised Land, 8, 341, 342 Pyron, Darden Asbury, 61 democracy/equality, 572, 575;
Propaganda films: Korean War, 83, 1890s, 10, 11; and Gone with the
84; Nazi Germany, 113; Vietnam Q & A: Catholic Americans in, 237, Wind, 61; and government/
War, 96; World War I, 109, 110, 239; government/politics in, 327, politics, 328; and Indian wars,
111, 279–280; World War II, 61, 330; Irish Americans in, 253, 254 104, 105, 106–107; and Lincoln,
116–119, 126–127, 128, 133, 134, The Quadroon, 555 175–176; and Nazism, 208, 334;
569–570 Quaid, Dennis: and baseball, 323; 1920s perspectives, 15, 18–19, 53;
Property. See Land ownership and football, 369, 370; and 1980s, 42, 44; post–World War II
Prostitution, 548, 549–550, 600–601 government/politics, 347; and era perspectives, 211; and right-
Proyas, Alex, 594 space program, 477; and World wing extremism, 392, 394–395,
Prozac Nation, 523, 526 War II, 132, 229 396; and slavery, 553; and South,
Prucha, Francis Paul, 278 Quaid, Randy, 377 464, 470; and World War II, 125,
Pryce, Jonathan, 227 Quakers, 62 126–127, 332–333. See also Race
Pryor, Richard, 213, 388, 543, 601 Qualen, John, 592 relations; Segregation; Slavery;
Psycho, 245, 356, 359, 361 Quantrill, William Clarke, 425 Stereotypes
PT 109: and Catholicism, 237, 239; Quantrill’s Raiders, 425, 428 The Rack, 83, 85, 570
and Kennedys, 170, 171, 173, 253– Queen Bee, 311 The Racket, 513, 516
254; seafaring experience in, 454, Queen Christina, 312, 535, 539 Racketeer Influence and Corrupt
456; World War II in, 130, 135 Queens Logic, 445 Organizations Act (RICO), 509–
The Public Enemy: crime in, 516; A Question of Character (Reeves), 510
and democracy/equality, 573, 577; 170 Radicalism, 288–296; and capitalist
and Irish Americans, 250, 254; The Quick and the Dead, 308, 309, tycoons, 299; and censorship,
1920s in, 19, 20; and 1930s, 28; 494, 496 xiii; filmography, 295–296; and
success myth in, 598, 602 Quick Change, 221, 224 media, 378; 1930s perspectives,
Public high schools, 245, 369–370, Quicksilver, 266, 267 290–291; 1960s perspectives, 293–
413–418. See also Teenagers The Quiet American, 101 294; 1980s perspectives, xvi, 294;
Public Housing, 330 The Quiet Man, 236, 239, 253, 254 in silent movies, 288–289; World
Public Opinion (Lippmann), 111 The Quiet One, 216, 334, 342 War II–era perspectives, 291–292.
654 [ Index
Radicalism (continued) Ravitch, Diane, 413 Red Alert (George), 77
See also Leftist radicalism; Right- Ray, Nicholas, 30, 244, 358 The Red Badge of Courage: Civil
wing extremism Ray, Robert, 562 War in, 62, 67; and machine in
The Radicalism of the American Raye, Martha, 440 the garden, 594; soldiers in, 568,
Revolution (Wood), 49 Rea, Stephen, 253 570
Radio: and FDR, 25, 184; and film Reaching for Glory: Lyndon The Red Badge of Courage (Crane),
industry, 377–378; filmography, Johnson’s Secret White House 568
381–382; and McCarthyism, 30; Tapes, 1964–1965 (Beschloss), 405 Red Cloud, 103, 161, 166
and right-wing extremism, 294. The Reader’s Companion to Red Dawn: and Cold War, 78, 79;
See also Media American History, 527 and right-wing extremism, 294,
Radio City Music Hall, 439 Reader’s Companion to American 295, 394, 396; small towns in,
Radio Days, 378, 381, 443 History (Foner & Garraty), 152 460, 461
Radioland Murders, 378, 381 Reagan, Ronald (as actor): and Redford, Robert: and baseball, 324;
Rafelson, Bob, 40 football, 365; and frontier, 579; and buddy films, 314; and 1890s,
Rafferty, Kevin, 72 and Korean War, 83; and 13; and government/politics, 348,
Rafter, Nicole, 516 presidency, 42; and seafaring 530, 531; and media, 379; and
Raggedy Man, 493 experience, 454 Native Americans, 283; and
Raging Bull, 260, 262, 443, 445 Reagan, Ronald (as president): and Nixon, 181; and railroads, 543;
Ragtime, 42, 45, 254 African Americans, 213; and and revisionism, 433; and right-
Raices de Sangre, 273 American Revolution, 51, 54, 55; wing extremism, 393; and
Railroads, 541–544; and Irish and baseball, 322; and Cold War, Southwest, 494; and World War
Americans, 236, 251; and Lincoln, 70, 78; and frontier, 503; and I, 111
177; and machine in the garden, Iran-Contra affair, 350; and Red Heat, 79
590, 591, 593; and Trans- 1980s, 42, 45; and nuclear The Redman and the Child, 286
Appalachian West, 500 weapons, 42, 43, 70; and The Red Menace, 574, 577
Raimi, Sam, 494 presidency, 403; and Puritanism, Red Nightmare, 459–460
Rainer, Luise, 227 4; and Reds, xvi; and Trans- Red Planet, 478, 479
The Rainmaker (1956), 426, 428, 461 Appalachian West, 503; and Red River: family in, 359, 361;
Rains, Claude, 563 westerns, 435. See also 1980s Mexican Americans in, 270, 276;
Raintree Country, 63, 67 Reagan, Tom, 251 and Southwest, 490, 496;
Raise the Red Lantern, 232 The Real People, 286 women’s roles in, 307, 309
A Raisin in the Sun, 210, 216, 335, The Real West, 107, 108 Reds, xvi, xxi, 294, 295
342 Reap the Wild Wind, 453, 456 Red Salute, 127, 135, 291, 295
A Raisin in the Sun (Hansberry), Reasonable Doubt, 172, 173 Red Scare (1918–1920): and
335 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917), capitalist tycoons, 298–299; and
Raize, Jason, 223 458, 461 labor issues, 385; and leftist
Ralston, Jobyna, 364 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1937), radicalism, 288, 289–291
Ralston, Vera, 502 247, 458, 461 Red Sorghum, 232
Rambo II, 43, 45 Rebel Without a Cause: and Reed, Carol, 77
Rambo: First Blood II, 101 American Revolution, 53; and Reed, Donna, 366
Rambo III, 101 antebellum frontier hero, 140; Reed, John, 294
Rambo series: and democracy/ family in, 358, 360, 361; Jewish Reed, Oliver, 150
equality, 575; and 1980s, 43, 45; Americans in, 266, 267; and Reefer Madness, 521, 524, 526
and Vietnam War, 100, 101 1960s, 30, 36; public high schools The Reel Civil War (Chadwick), 58
Ramona, 104, 106, 108 in, 414, 418; suburbia in, 484, Reel Life, 593–594
The Ramparts We Watch, 113, 114, 486; teenagers in, 244, 247 Reel Politics (Christensen), 349, 527
117, 120, 124 The Reckoning (Chambers), 52 Rees, James, 202
Randall, James G., 63 Reconstruction, 58–68; and civil Reeve, Christopher, 377
Randall, Tony, 483, 600 rights movement, 331; Reeves, Keanu, 323, 371
Randall, Willard Sterne, 199, 202 filmography, 67; historiography, Reeves, Thomas C., 170
Ransom, 444 xiv, 58, 59–60, 61–62; 1930s Reevis, Chato, 164
Ransom, John Crowe, 467 perspectives, 60–61; 1960s Reform in Detroit (Holli), 398
Rape, 99, 100, 105 perspectives, 62–63; 1970s The Regeneration, 510, 516
Rashad, Phylicia, 340 perspectives, 63–64; and Reich, Charles, 32, 33, 35
Rashomon, 271 women’s roles, 306. See also The Reichart, Julia, 72
Rasmussen, William M. S., 202 Birth of a Nation Reid, Mark A., 19
Rathbone, Basil, 399 Reconstruction (Foner), 466 Reid, Tim, 339
Ratings system, 513, 549 Reda, Lou, 90 Reilly, John C., 251
 Index ] 655
Reimers, David M., 439 in, 581; and Mexican Americans, The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond,
Reiner, Carl, 32, 266 272; and Native Americans, xix, 513
Reiner, Rob, 406 106–107, 163–164, 431–432; Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd
Reinhold, Judge, 213 railroads in, 543; and Southwest, Story, 368, 373
Religion: and Irish Americans, 251– 491–493; spaghetti westerns, 32, The Rise of David Levinsky
252; and Italian Americans, 260; 492, 542, 543; violence in, 432– (Cahan), 598
and Jewish Americans, 266, 267; 433, 492, 581; women’s roles in, Rising Son (1990), 389, 390
and Midwest, 425–426; and 307, 433 Rising Sun (1993), 229, 347–348,
Puritanism, 3, 4–5; and slavery, Revolution, 51, 55–56 350
555; and George Washington, The Revolutionary, 293, 295 Risky Business, 245, 247, 550
199–200, 201. See also Catholic Revolutionary War. See American Ritchie, Michael, 320, 530
Americans Revolution Ritt, Martin: and African
The Reluctant Astronaut, 475–476, Reynolds, Burt, 367, 368 Americans, 212, 335; and Cold
479 Reynolds, Joyce, 244, 245 War, 77; and labor issues, 388,
The Reluctant Heroes, 85 Reynolds, Kevin, 493 467; and women’s roles, 314
The Remarkable Andrew, 202 RFK Remembered, 173 Ritter, Thelma, 74
Remarque, Erich Maria, 111, 112 Rhodes, James Ford, 58 Ritual Clowns, 286
Remembering Slavery, 66 Ricci, Christina, 525 The River (1937), xxi; and
“Remember the Maine”: The Roots Richard, Alfred Charles, Jr., 271 government/politics, 25–26, 28;
of the Spanish-American War, 90 Richard J. Daley, 400 Midwest in, 423, 428; music in,
Remember the Titans, 214, 216, 369, Richards, Jeffrey, 458 xvi, 26, 423
373 Richardson, Natasha, 293 The River (1984): and labor issues,
Remick, Lee, 520 Richter, Daniel K., 152 389, 390; and 1980s, 43, 45; and
Remington, Frederic, 503 Rickey, Branch, 321 South, 471
Remini, Robert, 142 Ride Lonesome, 580, 581 Rivera, Tomás, 495
Renaldo, Duncan, 270 Riders of the Dawn, 290, 295 River’s Edge, 245, 247
Renegades, 286 Riders of the Dawn (Grey), 290 Roach, Hal, 249
Renoir, Jean, 111, 468, 491 Ride the High Country, 491, 496, 581 “The Road to Business Success”
The Replacements, 370–371, 373 Ride Vaquero, 270, 276 (Carnegie), 511
Report from the Aleutians, 119, 124 Ride with the Devil, 425, 428 The Road to Romance and Ruin
Requiem for a Dream, 524, 526 Ridge, Martin, 497 (Lewis), 246
Rereading Frederick Turner Riesman, David, 30, 300 Road to War: America, 1914–1917
(Faragher), 498 Right Cross, 272, 276 (Millis), 117
Research. See Historiography The Right Stuff, 376, 381, 476–477, The Road Warrior, 146
Reservoir Dogs, 516 479 The Roaring Twenties (1939): Irish
Resting Place, 338, 342 The Right Stuff (Wolfe), 476 Americans in, 236, 239, 250, 254;
Retro-gangster films, 513 Right-wing extremism, 392–397; 1920s in, 19, 20
The Return of Draw Egan, 579, 581 and confrontational politics, The Roaring Twenties (1960–1962),
The Return of Frank James, 579– 395–396; filmography, 396; 19
580, 581 historiography, 288, 392–393; and Roarke, Constance, 139
Return of the Jedi, 566. See also Star media, 378; 1930s perspectives, Robards, Jason, 377, 441, 513
Wars trilogy 290–291; 1960s perspectives, 292– Robber barons. See Capitalist
Return of the Secaucus 7, 101 293; 1980s perspectives, 294; tycoons
Return to Life, 291 1990s perspectives, 294–295; Robbins, Brian, 323, 494
Return to Oz, 427, 428 post–World War II era Robbins, Harold, 300
Reuther, Walter, 388 perspectives, 292; and racism, Robbins, Tim, 300, 324, 527
Revisionism: and Cold War, 71, 72, 392, 394–395, 396; and westerns, Robert Kennedy and His Times
76, 78–79; and detective films, 393–394. See also Ku Klux Klan; (Schlesinger), 170
587; and Lincoln, 65; and White supremacy movements Robert Kennedy & His Times
Mexican Americans, 272–273; Riis, Jacob, 510 (1984), 173
and Puritanism, 5; and Riley, Glenda, 306 Roberts, David, 161
Reconstruction, 59–60; and Riley, John, 88 Roberts, Elizabeth Madox, 140
slavery, 552–553; and South, 462. Riley, Michael J., 392–397 Roberts, Eric, 543
See also Historiography; Rio Bravo, 492 Roberts, Julia, 525, 550, 600–601
Revisionist westerns; Social Rio Grande: Catholic Americans in, Roberts, Kenneth, 501
History/People’s History 236, 239; Indian wars in, 104; Roberts, Randy, 143, 144, 500
Revisionist westerns, xix, 430–436, Irish Americans in, 252, 254 Robertson, Cliff, 170, 171, 181, 454
580–581; and 1890s, 13; frontier Ripley, Alexandra, 60 Robertson, James Oliver, 349
656 [ Index
Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Rollover, 44, 45 Roots (Haley), 63–64, 554
Drinking and Drugging in the Romance: and Civil War, 63; and Roots: The Next Generation, 338,
20th Century: In Pursuit of feminism, 536–537; and 342
Happiness, 525, 526 Founding Fathers, 158; and New The Rosa Parks Story, 336, 342
Robeson, Paul, 72, 331, 386 York City, 443–444; and The Rose, 526
Robin Hood (1922), 17, 20 seafaring experience, 447–448, Rose F. Kennedy: A Life to
Robin Hood of El Dorado, 580, 581 450; and women’s roles, 312, 313, Remember, 173
Robinson, Amy, 515 355, 539. See also specific films Rosemary’s Baby: childhood in, 243,
Robinson, Bill “Bojangles,” 467 Romance of Louisiana, 499, 505 247; family in, 360, 361; and
Robinson, Edward G., 512, 573 Romancing the Stone, 525, 526 Puritanism, 8
Robinson, Jackie, 321, 443 Romanticism, 3. See also American Rosen, Gary, 452
Robinson, Phil Alden, 323, 339 Adam Rosen, Marjorie, 313
Robinson Crusoe (Defoe), 555 Romasco, Albert U., 22 Rosen, Phil, 176
Robocop, 300, 302, 594 Romeo and Juliet (1909), 436 Rosenberg, Ethel, 73, 442
Robson, Mark, 82, 333 Romeo Is Bleeding, 515, 516 Rosenberg, Julius, 73, 442
Rockefeller, John D., 297, 298 Romero, 235, 239 Rosenberg, Stuart, 378
The Rocketman, 477, 479 Romero, Cesar, 270 Rosenstone, Robert, 50, 156
Rockne, Knute, 365 Romero, Ned, 166 Rosenthal, Joe, 120, 129
Rock ’n’ roll, 30 Romero, Oscar, 235 Rose of the Tenements, 262
Rock ’n’ Roll High School, 415, 418 Romerstein, Herbert, 30 The Rose Tattoo, 259, 262
Rockwell, Norman, 116, 201 Romney, Jonathan, 593 The Rose Tattoo (Williams), 259
Rocky: American Adam in, 564; The Rookie, 323, 325 Rosewood, 214, 216
democracy/equality in, 575; Room 222, 418 Rosie the Riveter, 127, 135, 387, 390
Italian Americans in, 260, 262; Rooney, Mickey: and adolescence, Ross, Diana, 314
and 1970s, 39–40, 41; success 244; and Asian Americans, 227; Ross, Gary, 460
myth in, 601, 602; and women’s and family, 357; and FDR, 187; Ross, Herbert, 538
roles, 538 and public high schools, 414; Ross, Katharine, 33, 283
Rocky IV, 43, 45 and seafaring experience, 454 Rossen, Robert, 450–451, 459, 528
The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Roosevelt, Eleanor, 187 Rostow, Walt R., 94
549, 550 Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 184– Roth, Philip, 442
Rodgers, Richard, 71, 122, 422, 440 190; and civil rights, 116; and Rothafel, Samuel “Roxy,” 438–439
Rodriguez, Robert, 274, 495 crime, 511–512; education of, 409; Rothman, David J., 155
Roe v. Wade, 534 filmography, 189–190; and Irish Rough Riders, 11, 89, 90, 91
Roger & Me, 301, 302, 330, 389, 390 Americans, 250; and Japanese Rough Riders, 90, 91
Rogers, Ginger, 440, 453, 600 American internment, 226; and Rough Riders at Guantanamo, 11
Rogers, Richard P., 305 Jewish Americans, 265; and Roundtree, Richard, 311, 340, 587
Rogers, Roy, 128 Mexican-American War, 143; Rountree, Helen C., 303
Rogers, Will: and 1890s, 11; and physical disability, 184–185, 189; Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, 153
FDR, 186; and government/ and racial discrimination, 208; The Royal Tenenbaums, 525, 526
politics, 346, 348, 527; and media, and radio, 25, 184; and World Royko, Mike, 400
374; and Midwest, 422; and War II, 113, 116, 118, 126, 134, 187– Rozelle, Pete, 371
1920s, 16, 17; and small towns, 188, 189. See also New Deal RPM, 293, 295
120–121, 457, 458; and South, Roosevelt, the Man of the Hour, 184, Rubin, Martin, 586
467 190 Rubin, Steven Jay, 130
Rohrbough, Malcolm, 498 Roosevelt, Theodore: and Ruby, Jack, 393
Roland, Gilbert, 270 Geronimo, 162–163; and Ruby Ridge incident, 295
Rolfe, John, 166 presidency, 406; and Rudolph, Alan, 378
Roll, Jordan, Roll (Genovese), 466, Progressivism, 289; and Spanish- Rudy, 369, 373
553 American War, 89, 90; and Ruehlmann, William, 588
Rolling Thunder, 101 West, 430 Ruggles of Red Gap, 13, 14, 177
Rollins, Howard E., Jr., 333 Rooster Cogburn, 13, 14 A Rumor of War, 97, 102
Rollins, Peter C.: on Lorentz, 26, Roots, xxi, 216; and civil rights A Rumor of War (Caputo), 97
423; on Native Americans, 432; movement, xv; and Italian Runaway Train, 543, 544
on presidency, 402–408; on Will Americans, 261; and Jewish Runningfox, Joseph, 163
Rogers, 11, 16, 458; on Vietnam Americans, 267; and King, 338; Running on Empty, 102
War, 93–102, 98; on World War popularity of, 213; slavery in, 63– Running Wild, 244, 247
I, 109–115, 406; on World War 64, 67, 554, 556; slave trade in, Run Silent Run Deep, 454, 456
II, 71, 116–124, 131 452; and South, 465, 472 Runyon, Damon, 527
 Index ] 657
Rural life: and family, 358–359; and Salem Witch Trials, 8 Sayers, Gale, 368
Great Depression, 27, 121, 466; Salk, Jonas, 263 Sayers, Linda, 368
and labor issues, 389; and Sally of the Sawdust, 17, 20 Sayles, John: and baseball, 320; and
Midwest, 421–422, 423–424; 1980s Salmi, Hannu, 596–602 government/politics, 328; and
perspectives, 43, 44; and South, Salomon, Henry, 122 labor issues, 389; and 1920s, 19;
466–467; and Southwest, 491; Salt of the Earth: labor issues in, and South, 471; and Southwest,
and suburbia, 482. See also 388, 389, 390; leftist radicalism 493, 495
Frontier; Machine in the garden; in, 292; Mexican Americans in, Sayonara, 228
Nature; Small towns; Westerns 273, 276 Say One for Me, 237, 239, 253, 254
Rush, 526 Salvador, 44, 45 Scacchi, Greta, 158
Rushmore, 411 Sampson, Will, 107, 164 Scalphunters, 286
Rush to Judgment: The Plot to Kill Samuels, Stuart, 30 Scandalous Mayor: government/
JFK, 172, 173 Sanchez, Jaime, 493 politics in, 330, 400, 401; Irish
Rush to Judgment: The Plot to Kill Sandburg, Carl, 175, 177 Americans in, 237, 239, 251, 254
JFK (Lane), 172 Sand Creek massacre (1864), 284 Scarface (1932): and Catholic
Rusie, Amos, 320 Sanders, George, 500, 586 Americans, 235, 236, 239; and
Rusk, Dean, 94, 96 Sands of Iwo Jima: and Cold War, Italian Americans, 258, 262; and
Russell, Harold, 129 78; soldiers in, 569, 570; World 1920s, 19, 20; and 1930s, 28; and
Russell, Kurt, 222, 441 War II in, 129, 135 success myth, 511, 512, 516
Russell, Lillian, 12 Sandos, James A., 103–108 Scarface (1983), 235, 239, 516
Russell, Rosalind, 311, 312, 440, 536 Sanford, Charles, 590 The Scarlet Letter (1909), 8
Russian Revolution (1917), 289, San Francisco, 237, 239, 253, 254 The Scarlet Letter (1917), 8
294 San Francisco, 12, 32, 451, 485; The Scarlet Letter (1926), 8, 17, 20
The Russians Are Coming! The General Strike (1934), 291, 386 The Scarlet Letter (1934), 5, 8
Russians Are Coming!, 32, 36 San Jacinto, Battle of, 87, 88, 143, The Scarlet Letter (1950), 8
Russkies, 43, 45 145 The Scarlet Letter (1954), 8
Rustin, Bayard, 331 San Juan Hill, Battle of, 89, 90 The Scarlet Letter (1979), 5–6, 8
Ruth, David E., 510 The San Patricios, 88, 91 The Scarlet Letter (1995), 6, 8, 304,
Ruth, George Herman “Babe,” 191– Santa Anna, 143, 145, 271 309
195, 322, 323, 443 Santa Fe, 542, 544 The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne), 3,
Rutherford, Lucy Mercer, 189 Santa Fe Trail: Civil War in, 67; 5, 6, 8
Rutledge, Anne, 176, 178 frontier in, 579, 582; Midwest in, Scarlett, 60, 67
Ruysdael, Basil, 143–144 425, 428 Scarlett (Ripley), 60
Ryan, Cornelius, 130 Santayana, George, xiii, xiv Scar of Shame, 19, 20
Ryan, Meg, 381 Santiago, Sebastian, 152 Scary Movie, 215, 216
Ryan, Robert, 211 Sarafina!, 213 Scent of a Woman, 411, 445
Ryder, Winona, 7, 306, 416 Sarah Plain and Tall, 428 Schaefer, Eric, 521
Sarandon, Susan: and baseball, 324; Schaffner, Franklin J., 131, 527
Sabol, Ed, 371 and Southwest, 494; and Schama, Simon, 452
Sabol, Steve, 371 women’s roles, 306, 538, 539 Schatz, Thomas, 459
Saboteur, 127, 135, 441–442 Sarf, Wayne, 164 Schepesi, Fred, 493
Sabre Jet, 85 Sarris, Andrew, 529 Schickel, Richard, 159, 422, 554
Sacagawea, 166–167 Sartre, Jean-Paul, 442 Schindler’s List, 133, 135, 266, 267
Sacco and Vanzetti, 261 Saturday Night Fever, 259–260, 262, Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr.: on
Sachar, Howard, 263 441, 445 Great Depression, 22, 27–28; on
Sadie McKee, 311, 312 Saturday’s Hero, 366, 373 Kennedy, 170, 172; on
Safety Last, 18, 20 Saturday’s Heroes, 365, 373 presidency, 402, 403
Sahara, 127, 208, 216 Saturday’s Millions, 364, 373 Schlesinger, John, 78
Sahl, Mort, 70 Saunders, Frances Stonor, 145 Schneider, Barbara, 246
Saigon, 39, 41 Savage, John, 97, 423 Schneider, Bert, 96
Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women’s Save Our History, 122–123, 124 Schneider, Maria, 549
Perspectives, 233 Saville, Victor, 74 Schoendorffer, Pierre, 98
Saint, Eva Marie, 75, 563 Saving Private Ryan: democracy/ School Daze, 215, 216
Saint Patrick’s Battalion, 88–89 equality in, 575, 576, 577; soldiers Schools: desegregation, 210, 335,
Salaam Bombay!, 233 in, 569, 570; World War II in, 336, 337, 369; filmographies, 411–
Sale, Kirkpatrick, 148, 149, 151 122, 124, 133, 135 412, 417–418; private schools, 134,
Salem’s Lot, 460, 461 Savitch, Jessica, 379 409–412; public high schools,
Salem witch trials, 5, 6, 31 Savoca, Nancy, 260 245, 369–370, 413–418; violence
658 [ Index
Schools (continued) Pacific expansion, 448–452; and Sennett, Mack, 234, 249, 253, 543
in, 410, 413, 415, 416. See also war, 453–455 Sense and Sensibility, 232
College Sealing industry, 450–451 Sentimentalization. See Nostalgia/
School Ties, 410, 412 The Searchers: American Adam in, sentimentalization
Schott, Marge, 321 563, 566; frontier in, 580, 582; Separate but Equal, 335, 342
Schulberg, Budd, xv Irish Americans in, 252, 254; A Separate Peace, 410–411
Schultz, Dwight, 132 Mexican Americans in, 270, 276; A Separate Peace (Knowles), 411
Schultz, Michael A., 212, 414 Native Americans in, 105, 108, September 11 terrorist attacks
Schuster, Harold, 74 286, 491; Southwest in, 491, 496; (2001), 407, 532
Schwartzman, Jason, 411 West in, 436; women’s roles in, Sequoyah, 161
Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 224 307, 309 Sergeant, Jonathan Dickinson, 199
Schwerner, Michael, 338 The Seas Beneath, 454, 456 Sergeant Rutledge: and African
Science fiction films: American Seastrom, Victor, 17 Americans, 216; and Indian wars,
Adam in, 564; Catholic Seaton, George, 73 105, 108; and revisionist
Americans in, 237; children in, Seattle General Strike (1919), 385 westerns, 434, 436; Southwest in,
243; Cold War in, 75; The Sea Wolf (1941), 450–451, 456 494, 496
democracy/equality in, 574; The Sea Wolf (1994), 451, 456 Sergeants Three, 216
detectives in, 588; family in, 361; The Sea Wolf (London), 450 Sergeant York, 113, 114, 140, 147
government/politics in, 347; and The Sea Wolves, 133, 135 Serpico: Catholic Americans in, 237,
machine in the garden, 592; Secret Command, 128, 135 239; government/politics in, 327,
Midwest in, 427; railroads in, Secret Enemies, 128, 135 330; New York City in, 440, 445
544; small towns in, 459; and The Secret Government: The Serrano, Nina, 273
space program, 475; and World Constitution in Crisis, 350 Serving Rations to the Indians, 279
War II, 131–132, 134 Secret Honor, 182, 183, 528, 532 Settlement narratives, 421–422. See
Scofield, Paul, 7 The Secret Six, 326, 330 also American Adam; Frontier
Scorsese, Martin: and Catholicism, Security Risk, 74 711 Ocean Drive, 513, 516
235, 238; and crime, 514, 515, 516; The Seduction of Joe Tyman, 528, Seven Angry Men, 67, 425, 428
directing style, 40; and Italian 533 Seven Chances, 18, 20
Americans, 259, 260; and labor Seeing Red, 72, 79 Seven Days in May: and
issues, 388; and railroads, 543;
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, 213, 216 democracy/equality, 574, 577;
and Southwest, 493; and sports,
Segregation: baseball, 320–321, 322; government/politics in, 173, 348,
260, 443
and democracy/equality, 572; 350, 533; right-wing extremism
Scott, Bernard B., 596, 601
1890s, 10; and South, 207, 464, in, 293, 295, 394, 396
Scott, George C., 131, 410
465; and World War II, 119, 333. The Seven Little Foys, 250, 254
Scott, Janette, 54
See also Civil rights movement 1776: American Revolution in, 51,
Scott, Martha, 304
Seguin, 272 56; Founding Fathers in, 154, 159;
Scott, Randolph: and 1890s, 13; and
frontier, 580; and Native Seiler, Cotten, 49–57, 153–162 women’s roles in, 304, 309
Americans, 278; and railroads, Seiler, Lewis, 83, 322 75 Seasons: The Story of the
543; and South, 466; and Seinfeld, 484 National Football League, 372, 373
Southwest, 490; and Trans- Seiter, William, 282 The Seven Year Itch, 313, 315, 443,
Appalachian West, 499 Selena: family in, 361; Mexican 445
Scott, Ridley, 150, 494, 538 Americans in, 274; Southwest in, Seven Years in Tibet, 229
Scott Joplin, 494, 496 494, 495, 496 Seven Years’ War, 304
Scottsboro: An American Tragedy, Self, David, 404 Seversky, Alexander P., 119–120
341, 342 Self-Made Man. See Success myth Sewell, Rufus, 594
Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the The Self-Made Man in America Sex, Lies, and Videotape, 594
American South (Carter), 332 (Wyllie), 596 Sex in the City, 550
Scottsboro boys, 332, 341 Sellers, Peter, 77, 405 Sexual harassment, 601
Scourby, Alexander, 532 The Selling of the Pentagon, 39, 41 Sexuality, 545–551; and American
The Scout, 320, 325 Selma, Lord, Selma, 342 Revolution, 53; and
Scouts to the Rescue, 281, 286 Selznick, David O., xii, 60, 61, 127 blaxploitation genre, 212; and
Scream, 246, 247 Seminole, 580, 582 Catholicism, 237; in Dr.
Screwball comedies, 186, 356–357, Semi Tough, 367–368, 373 Strangelove, xv–xvi; and family,
375, 585 Senate Special Committee to 357, 358, 359; filmography, 550;
The Sea Beast, 450, 456 Investigate Crime in Interstate and horror films, 246; and
Seafaring experience, 447–456; Commerce. See Kefauver Italian Americans, 257; and Latin
colonial era, 448; and Columbus, Committee Americans, 235; and New York
150; filmography, 456; and Send Your Tin Cans to War, 120 City, 443; 1920s, 18, 545; 1960s,
 Index ] 659
32, 546; 1970s, 37, 38–39; and 105; Irish Americans in, 236, 239, in, 546–547; suburbia in, 481;
presidency, 142; and private 252, 254 Trans-Appalachian West in,
schools, 409–410; prostitution, Shields, Brooke, 550 498–499; women’s roles in, 310,
548, 549–550, 600–601; and Shigeta, James, 229, 230 311. See also The Birth of a
racism, 106–107; and slavery, 156, Shimono, Sab, 230 Nation; 1920s perspectives
157, 158–159, 466, 555; and South, Shin, Eddie, 232 Silent Running, 593, 594
468, 469, 470; and Southwest, Shipwreck: The Lusitania, 114 Silk Stockings, 75
492; and suburbia, 484, 485–486; Shopping for Fangs, 232, 233 Silkwood, 43, 45, 538, 539
and success myth, 600–601; and Short Cuts, 591, 594 Silliman, Mary, 305
television, 37 Shortridge, James R., 421, 424 Silver, Joan Micklin: and Jewish
Sexual thrillers, 550 The Short-Timers, 98 Americans, 13, 265, 267; and
Seydor, Paul, 493 The Short-Timers (Hasford), 98 women’s roles, 38, 306
Shaara, Michael, 66 Shoshone people, 166–167 Silvers, Phil, 440
Shack out on 101, 74 Show Girl, 440, 445 Silverstone, Alicia, 417
Shades of Gray (Egerton), 463 Shue, Elizabeth, 521 Silver Streak, 213, 216, 543, 544
Shadow of a Doubt, 459, 460, 461 Shuffleton, Frank, 153 Simmons, Gene, 220
Shadow on the Land, 293–294, 295 Shull, Michael S., on African Simmons, Jerold L., 547
Shaft!, 212, 216, 587, 589 Americans, 207–217; on capitalist Simon, Neil, 267, 443
Shaft in Africa, 589 tycoons, 297–302; on FDR, 184– Simon and Garfunkel, 33
Shaft’s Big Score, 589 90; on labor issues, 383–391; on Simple Justice, 332, 335, 342
Shaheen, Jack G., 222, 218–224 radicalism, 288–296; on World Simple Justice (Kluger), 332
Shakespeare, William, 417, 450 War II, 128 Simpson, Russell, 141
Shalala, Donna, 219 Shute, Nevil, 31 The Simpsons, 484
Shalhoub, Tony, 221, 222 Sid and Nancy, 526 Sinatra, Frank: and Catholicism,
The Shame of the Cities (Steffens), Sieber, Al, 164 237; and detective films, 587; and
398 The Siege, 222–223, 224 drugs, 521, 522; and Korean War,
Shane: American Adam in, 563, Siegel, Benny “Bugsy,” 265, 494 83; and New York City, 440–441
566; children in, 242, 247; family Siegel, Don, 75, 459, 512 Since You Went Away, 127, 135
in, 359, 361; frontier in, 580, 582; Siegman, George, 306 Sinclair, Upton, 27, 384
women’s roles in, 307, 309 “The Significance of the Frontier in Singer, Bryan, 348, 516
Shanghai Express, 227 American History” (Turner), 10, Singleton, John, 515
Shanghai Story, 228 277, 430, 497–498, 578 Sin in the Suburbs, 484, 486
Shaw, George Bernard, 53, 54 The Sign of the Cross, 239, 547, 548, Sinise, Gary: and civil rights
Shaw, Irwin, 30 550 movement, 340; and space
Shaw, Robert Gould, 65, 568 Silence of the Lambs, 538, 539 program, 477; and Truman, 197,
Shawnee people, 161, 163 Silent Movie, 445 406
She Done Him Wrong, 11, 14, 547 Silent movies: and Alaska Gold Sinofsky, Bruce, 524
Sheehan, Neil, xii, 95 Rush, 12–13; alcohol in, 519; The Sins of the Father (1913), 355,
Sheeman, Winfield R., 249 American Adam in, 562; 361
Sheen, Charles: and Arab antebellum frontier hero in, 139, The Sins of the Father (2002), 340,
Americans, 221; and media, 379; 141, 143; Arab Americans in, 219; 342
and New York City, 441; and Asian Americans in, 226–227; Sioux Ghost Dance, 279
Trans-Appalachian West, 505; baseball in, 191; Catholic Sioux people, 103, 106–107, 161–162,
and Vietnam War, 99, 569 Americans in, 234, 235; children 280
Sheen, Martin, 66, 131, 253, 407 in, 242; crime in, 510–511; family Sister Act, 213, 216, 238, 239
The Sheik, 550 in, 354, 355; and feminism, 534– Sister Carrie (Dreiser), 12, 542
Shelton, Ron, 324 535; frontier in, 579; government/ Sit-in movement, 335, 336
Shenandoah, 62–63, 67 politics in, 326, 346–347; impact Sitr Crazy, 213
Shepard, Alan, 478 of, xii; Irish Americans in, 251; Sitting Bull, 103, 106, 162;
Shepard, Sam, 477, 493 Italian Americans in, 257; Jewish documentaries, 165, 166; and
Shepherd, Jack, 155 Americans in, 264–265; labor revisionist Westerns, 107, 164
Sheridan, Ann, 201, 291, 482 issues in, 384–385; Lincoln in, Sitting Bull, 167
Sherman’s March, 468, 472 176; Mexican Americans in, 270, Sitting Bull and the Great Sioux
Sherwood, Robert, 23, 177, 178 271; Native Americans in, 104, Nation, 167
She’s Gotta Have It, 215, 216, 440, 106, 279–280; New York City in, Sixteen Candles, 229, 245–246, 247
445 438; and radicalism, 288–289; 61*, 323, 325
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon: frontier railroads in, 542, 543; seafaring Skerritt, Tom, 406
in, 579, 582; Indian wars in, 104, experience in, 449–450; sexuality Sklar, Robert, 55, 364, 367, 466
660 [ Index
Sklar, Zachary, 172 Smith, Richard Norton, 202 Something Wicked This Way Comes,
Skokie, 395–396 Smith, Roger, 301 460, 461, 593, 594
Slacker, 494, 496 Smith, Will, 214, 525 Somme, Battle of, 111
Slapstick comedy, 18, 311, 543 Smith v. Allwright, 332 Sommers, Christina, 539
Slasher films, 246. See also Horror Smoke, 232, 524, 526 Songcatcher, 463, 472
films Smoke Signals, 286, 494, 496 “Song of Myself ” (Whitman), 561
Slater, Christian, 246, 378, 416 Smoke That Cigarette, 525, 526 Song of Russia, 127, 135, 292
Slaughterhouse-Five, 134, 135, 570 The Snake Pit, 208 Song of the South, 208, 216, 468, 472
The Slave Community, 553 Snipes, Wesley, 214 Songs. See Music
Slavery, 552–557; and Asian Soak the Rich, 186, 190, 299, 302 Son of Geronimo, 167
Americans, 225; The Birth of a Sobel, Robert, 22 Son of the Morning Star, 108, 570
Nation, xiii, xiv, xv, 553–554, 556; Sochen, June, 310–315, 534–540 Sons of Liberty, 202
as cause of Civil War, 59, 62, 64, Social consciousness in film: and Sophie’s Choice: Holocaust in, 266,
552, 553, 555, 556; filmography, democracy/equality, 573; and 267; New York City in, 441;
556; and Founding Fathers, 156, Mexican Americans, 273–274; women’s roles in, 315, 538, 539
157, 198, 200; historiography, xiv, 1920s, 18–19; 1930s, 25–26, 573; The Sopranos: crime in, 515–516;
59, 61, 305, 466, 552–553; and and 1960s, 30–31; 1980s, 43, 45. family in, 359, 361; Italian
land ownership, 467; and See also Social problem films Americans in, 148, 260–261, 262
Mexican-American War, 86, 143; Social Darwinism, 511 So Proudly We Hail, 127, 135
and Midwest, 425; 1970s Social History/People’s History: So Red the Rose: Civil War in, 61,
perspectives, xv, 63–64, 554–555; and American Revolution, 50, 55, 67; South in, 465, 466, 472
1990s perspectives, 65–66; and 56; and Civil War, 64; New So Red the Rose (Young), 465
plantation myth, xiv, 61, 464, Historicism, 42, 43, 44. See also Sorensen, Theodore C., 169–170
465–467, 553, 554; slave trade, Revisionism Sorkin, Aaron, 406, 407
451–452, 555–556; and Trans- Socialism, 385. See also Leftist Sorry, Wrong Number, 313, 315
Appalachian West, 500; and radicalism Sorvino, Paul, 182
women, 305–306, 466 Social justice. See Civil rights; Civil Sothern, Hugh, 142
Slavery in America, 66 rights movement Souls at Sea, 452, 456
Slaves, 555 Social problem films: and African Sound. See Dialogue; Music
The Slave Ship, 452, 456 Americans, 207, 208–211, 334–335; Sounder, 212, 216, 360, 361
Slave trade, 451–452, 555–556 and alcohol, 519–520; and The Sound of Music, 314
Slaying the Dragon, 233 Mexican Americans, 271–272; “Sources of Soviet Conduct” (“long
Slayton, Deke, 478 and World War II, 119 telegram”) (Kennan), 69
Sledge, E. B., 125 Social Theory and Social Structure South, 462–472; filmography, 471–
Sleeper, 183 (Merton), 398 472; historiography, 462–463,
Sleepless in Seattle, 443–444, 445 Society Snobs, 257, 262 466, 467; labor issues, 388–389,
Slezak, Walter, 454 So Dear to My Heart, 461 467; and land ownership, 467–
Slide, Babe, Slide, 194 Soderberg, Steven, 516 468; and plantation myth, xiv,
Slim, 385, 390 Solaris, 475, 479 61, 464, 465–467, 553, 554; and
Sling Blade, 471, 472 Soldier Blue, 97, 102, 284, 286 women, 305; World War II–era
Sloman, Edward, 264 Soldier Boys, 100 perspectives, 468–469. See also
Slotkin, Richard, 426, 510, 581 Soldiers, 567–571; Civil War, 62, 65, Segregation; Slavery
Slow Fade to Black (Cripps), 464 507–508, 567–568; filmography, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
Smalltown, U.S.A.: A Farewell 570–571; Korean War, 82, 84, 85, (SEATO), 69, 93
Portrait, 461 568; and sexuality, 545; training, Southern, Terry, 33
The Small Town in American 97–98; Vietnam War, 97–98, 99– Southern Christian Leadership
Drama (Herron), 458–459 100; World War II, 118–119, 125, Conference (SCLC), 331, 335, 338,
Small towns, 457–461; and 129. See also African American 340
Southwest, 493; and suburbia, soldiers; specific wars The Southerner, 468, 472, 491, 496
481–482, 484; and success myth, Soldier’s Home, 114 The Southern Tradition (Genovese),
598; and World War II, 120–121 A Soldier’s Story, 216, 333, 334, 342 463
Smiley, Jane, 423 A Soldier’s Story (Fuller), 333 A Southern Yankee, 61, 67
Smith, Henry Nash: on frontier, Solomon, Stanley J., 510 The South in Modern America
430, 497; on Midwest, 421, 578, Solomon Northup’s Odyssey, 555 (Grantham), 471
590 Somebody Up There Likes Me, 443 Southwest/Texas, 488–496; cities,
Smith, John, 7, 166, 303 Some Kind of Hero, 43, 45, 213, 216 493–494; and ethnic diversity,
Smith, Julian, 97 Some Kind of Wonderful, 246, 247 494–495; filmography, 495–496;
Smith, Kate, 128 Some Like It Hot, 313, 544 historiography, 488–489; and
 Index ] 661
revisionist westerns, 491–493. See The Split-Level Trap, 484 A Star Is Born (1937), 519, 526, 599,
also Mexican-American War The Spoilers, 13, 14 602
Soviet Union: collapse of, 70, 79; Sports: and African Americans, 210; A Star Is Born (1954), 599, 602
and Vietnam War, 93; and and children, 363; 1890s, 12; high A Star Is Born (1976), 599, 602
World War II, 118, 127, 292. See school, 369–370, 410, 416; and Star Reporter, 326, 330
also Cold War Irish Americans, 251; and Italian Star system, 573. See also Film
Space Cowboys, 477, 478, 479 Americans, 259, 260; and New industry
Spacek, Sissy, 336, 415 York City, 443. See also Baseball; Star Trek: First Contact, 594
Space operas, 40. See also Star Wars Football Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 40,
trilogy Sputnik (spacecraft), 473, 474 41, 475, 479
Space program, 473–479; The Spy, 202 Star Wars trilogy: American Adam
filmography, 479; and frontier, Spy Kids, 274, 276 in, 564, 566; and antebellum
xx, 478–479; historiography, 473– Spy Train, 128, 135 frontier hero, 146; and 1970s, 39,
475; 1970s perspectives, 40; and The Spy Who Came in from the 40, 41; and westerns, 431
seafaring experience, 455 Cold, 77, 78, 79 State Fair (1933), 422, 428
Space Station, 478, 479 The Spy Who Came in from the State Fair (1945), 422
Space Truckers, 475, 479 Cold (Le Carré), 77 State Fair (1962), 422, 428
Spacey, Kevin, 486 Squanto, 7 State government. See City/state
Spaghetti westerns, 32, 492, 542, 543 Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale, 7, 8 government; Government/
Spalding, Albert, 319 Stabile, Tom, 87, 88 politics
Spanish-American War (1898), 10, Stack, Robert, 51, 200, 513 State of Grace, 250, 253, 254
11, 89–91; and Asian Americans, Stagecoach (1939), 436; and alcohol, State of the Union, 528, 529, 533
226; and Civil War, 58; 519, 526; American Adam in, 563, Statue of Liberty, 440
filmography, 91; and media, 12, 565, 566; Irish Americans in, 252, St. Clair, Mal, 17
89, 90; and seafaring experience, 254; Native Americans in, 167, Steal This Movie, 101
453; and Trans-Appalachian 286; and Southwest, 489–490, Steamboat Bill, Jr., 428
West, 498 496; women’s roles in, 307, 309 Steamboat ‘Round the Bend: 1890s
The Spanish-American War: A Stagecoach (1966), 286 in, 11, 14; nostalgia/
Conflict in Progress, 90 Stagecoach (1986), 286 sentimentalization in, 121; small
The Spanish-American War: Birth Stage Door Canteen, 128, 135 towns in, 458, 461; South in, 467,
of a Super Power, 90, 91 Staiger, Janet, 16 472
Spanish Civil War, 291 Stalag 17, 83, 135, 571 Steamboat Willie, 461
The Spanish Earth, 291, 295 Stallings, Laurence, 110 Stedman, Raymond William, 278
Special effects, 381, 455, 576 Stallone, Sylvester: and American Steel, Ronald, 170
Spectacle, 50–51, 63 Adam, 564; and Italian Steele, Michael, 366
The Speeches Collection: John F. Americans, 260; and 1970s, 39; The Steel Helmet, 81–82, 85
Kennedy, 173 and success myth, 601; and Steel Magnolias, 471, 472
Speeches of Richard Nixon, 182, 183 Vietnam War, 43, 100 Steel Town, 121, 124
Speedy, 18, 20 Stampp, Kenneth M., 552–553, 555 Steffens, Lincoln, 398, 400
Spielberg, Steven: and children, Stand and Deliver, 273, 274, 276, Steiger, Rod, 563
243; and democracy/equality, 416, 418 Stein, Gertrude, 16
575; and Holocaust, 266; and Stand by Me, 544 Steinbeck, John, xiv–xv, 24, 423. See
Midwest, 427; and seafaring Stand Up and Cheer, 242, 247 also The Grapes of Wrath
experience, 455; and slave trade, Stand Up and Fight, 500 Steinberg, Shirley R., 241
452, 555–556; and World War II, Stanley, Kim, 470 Steiner, Ralph, 481
122, 133, 567, 569 Stannard, David E., 149–150, 151– Stella, 361
Spies. See Espionage 152 Stella Dallas, 312, 315, 356, 362
Spillane, Mickey, 74, 586 Stanton, Tom, 323 Stephanopoulos, George, 532
Spin City, 442 Stanwyck, Barbara: and frontier, Stephens, Michael, 374
The Spirit of Notre Dame, 364, 373 579; and leftist radicalism, 291; Stepmom, 362
Spirit of Stanford, 366, 373 and media, 374, 375; and Stereotypes, xix; adults, 246;
The Spirit of St. Louis, 344, 350 sexuality, 547, 548; and success African Americans, 61, 207, 212,
Spirit of West Point, 366, 373 myth, 598; and women’s roles, 214, 215, 306; Arab Americans,
Spitfire, 311 311, 312, 313 219–223; Asian Americans, 227,
Splendor in the Grass: and Beatty, Staples, Don, 406 228, 229, 230; European
32; family in, 358, 359, 361; and Stapleton, Maureen, 294 Americans, 285; family, 352;
Midwest, 424, 428; and 1960s, 36; Stardust Memories, 443, 445 government/politics, 399; Irish
and sexuality, 359, 548, 550 Stargate, 479 Americans, 249; Italian
662 [ Index
Stereotypes (continued) inaccuracies, xii, xiii, 172, 254; Striving for Fortune (Alger), 596
Americans, 256–258, 261, 516; and media, 378; and music, xvi; Strode, Woody, 105, 434
Jewish Americans, 264, 266; and 1960s, 34; and 1980s, 43, 45; Stroheim, Erich von, 17, 599
Mexican Americans, 270–271, and Nixon, 182, 183, 402, 405; The Strong Man, 562, 566
274; Native Americans, 103, 161, and right-wing extremism, 293, The Struggle, 519, 526
162, 277–280, 281, 283, 284; Nazis, 395; and soldiers, 567, 569; and Stuart, Jeb, 579
127; public high schools, 417; Southwest, 494; and Vietnam Student Nonviolent Coordinating
seafaring experience, 453; slavery, War, 98, 99–100, 101, 171, 405 Committee (SNCC), 331, 339
555; suburbia, 482; westerns, 430, Stone, Peter, 154, 155, 304 Students for a Democratic Society
431; women, 303, 305, 306, 307, Stone, Sharon, 308 (SDS), 293
308, 310; and World War II, 133. The Stone Killer, 100, 102 Studi, Wes: and Indian leaders, 108,
See also Racism Stoner, Winifred, 148 163, 165, 166; and Trans-
Stern, Howard, 378 Stonewall riot (1969), 546 Appalachian West, 504
Sternberg, Joseph von: and crime, Stong, Phil, 422 Studio 54, 523, 526
18, 511; and film industry, 17, 20; Storm Center, 292, 295 Studio Era. See Hollywood Studio
and World War II, 121 Stormy Weather, 311 System
Sterner, Alice P., 282 The Story of a Country Town The Stunt Man, 45
Stevens, George: and immigration, (Howe), 422, 459 Sturges, John: and Cold War, 76;
265; and Southwest, 491; and The Story of Alexander Graham and space program, 476; and
women, 313, 536; and World War Bell, 12, 14, 597, 602 World War II, 30, 132, 228
II, 117 The Story of American Freedom Sturges, Preston: and government/
Stevens, George, Jr., 335 (Foner), 464, 467 politics, 237, 329, 399; and small
Stevens, Inger, 211 The Story of Louis Pasteur, 573, 577 towns, 459; and World War II,
Stevens, Thaddeus, 59 Stothart, Herbert, 501 127
Stevenson, David, 246 Stowe, Madeline, 304, 504 Stuyvesant, Peter, 263
Stevenson, Parker, 411 St. Patrick’s Battalion, 88–89 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
Stevenson, Robert, 51, 74 Strand, Paul, 291 (1929), 510–511, 513
Stewart, James: and alcohol, 520; Strange Career of Jim Crow The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre,
and American Adam, 562; and (Woodward), 463–464, 466 19, 20, 513, 516
Styron, William, 555
baseball, 322; and Civil War, 62– Strange Days, 381
Submarine Command, 454, 456
63; and Cold War, 76; and The Strange Demise of Jim Crow,
Submarine Patrol, 454, 456
democracy/equality, 576; and 342
Submarines, 76, 79, 454–455
frontier, 580; and government/ Strangers in the Land (Higham),
Suburban Girls Club, 484, 486
politics, 344, 345, 346; and Italian 393
The Suburbanite, 481, 486
Americans, 258; and leftist Strangers on a Train, 543, 544
The Suburbanite’s Ingenious Alarm,
radicalism, 293; and Lincoln, 177; Strategic Air Command, 76, 80, 427,
481, 486
and Native Americans, 283; and 428 Suburban Pagans, 486
small towns, 457, 458; and Stratton, Monty, 322 Suburban Roulette, 484, 486
suburbia, 482; and Trans- The Stratton Story, 322, 325 Suburbia, 480–487; filmography,
Appalachian West, 503; westerns, Strauss, Isadore, 455 486; historiography, 480–481;
62–63, 580; and women’s roles, Strauss, Levi, 263 1980s/1990s perspectives, 485–
307 Strauss, Robert, 372 486; post–World War II era
Stewart, James Brewer, 554 The Strawberry Statement, 33, 36, perspectives, 482–484
Stewart, Jimmy. See Stewart, James 102 SubUrbia, 486
Stewart, Patrick, 450 Straw Dogs, 359, 362 Suburbia Confidential, 486
Stewart, Potter, 548 Streamline Express, 543, 544 Success myth, 596–602; and
The Sting, 19, 20 Streep, Meryl: and children, 243; American Adam, xx, 562; and
The Sting of Victory, 58, 67 and Great Depression, 27; and crime, 439, 509, 510, 511, 512,
Stir Crazy, 216 New York City, 441; and public 598–599; filmography, 601–602;
St. John, Betta, 449 high schools, 417; and women’s and Great Depression, 499;
Stockwell, Dean, 450 roles, 315, 538 historiography, 596–597; and
Stoloff, Darren, 158 A Streetcar Named Desire, 469, 472, Italian Americans, 259, 260; and
Stone, I. F., 376 548, 550 media, 599–600; and New York
Stone, Lewis, 244 Street Smart, 377, 382 City, 440–441; and Puritanism, 3;
Stone, Oliver: and American Adam, Streisand, Barbra, 314 and Southwest, 491; and
564; and Asian Americans, 229; Stricker, Frank, 22 suburbia, 481, 486; and Trans-
and democracy/equality, 575; and Strikes. See Labor issues Appalachian West, 499, 503. See
football, 370; and historical Stripes, 80 also American Dream
 Index ] 663
Suchet, David, 223 Taboos. See Censorship Teachers, 415, 418
The Suffragette, 535, 539 Taft, Philip, 383, 384 Teacher’s Pet, 376, 382
Suicide Attack, 84, 85 Taft, William Howard, 320, 403 Teaching Mrs. Tingle, 417, 418
Sukeforth, Clyde, 321 Taft-Hartley Act (1946), 387 Teahouse of the August Moon, 227,
Sullavan, Margaret, 466 Tajima-Peña, Renee, 231 228
The Sullivans: FDR in, 187, 190; Take a Giant Step, 211, 216 Teapot Dome scandal (1923), 200,
Irish Americans in, 236–237, 239, Take Her, She’s Mine, 293, 295 527
254; World War II in, 128, 135 The Taking of Pelham One Two Tebbe-Grossman, Jennifer, 518–526
Summerall, Pat, 371 Three, 445 Technology: and capitalist tycoons,
Summer Magic, 458, 461 Tales of Manhattan, 445 301; 1890s, 10; and Great
Summer of ’41, 134, 135 The Talkies (Crafton), 20 Depression, 25, 26; 1920s, 15, 18;
Summer of Sam, 442, 445 Talking picture revolution, 16, 19– 1970s, 40; and seafaring
A Summer Place, 548, 550 20. See also Film industry; Silent experience, 453, 455; and space
Summers, Harry, 96 movies program, 477; and World War I,
The Sun Also Rises (Hemingway), Talk Radio: and 1980s, 45; radio in, 111. See also Film industry;
16 378, 382; right-wing extremism Machine in the garden;
The Sunchaser, 286 in, 395, 396 Railroads
Sunrise, 17, 20 The Tall Target, 178 Tecumseh, 161, 163
Sunrise at Campobello, 184, 185, 187, Talmadge, Norma, 438 Tecumseh: The Last Warrior, 163,
190 The Taming of the Shrew 167
Sunset Boulevard, 599, 602 (Shakespeare), 417 Teenage Crime Wave, 244, 247
Sunsets, 232, 233 Tamiroff, Akim, 142, 399 Teenagers, xx, 241, 243–248; and
The Sunshine Boys, 443 Tammany Hall, 328 antebellum frontier hero, 140;
Sunshine State, 471, 472 Tan, Amy, 231 Asian American, 231–232; and
Super Bowl XXXVI, 372, 373 The Tanks are Coming, 133, 135 family, 353, 357, 358, 359;
Superfly, 212, 216 Tappan, Lewis, 556 filmography, 247; and media,
Superman III, 213, 216 Tap Roots, 61, 67 378; 1930s perspectives, 243–244,
Supernatural Horror in Literature Taps: private schools in, 410, 412; 357; 1980s perspectives, 245–246,
(Lovecraft), 7 right-wing extremism in, 394, 415–416; post–World War II era
Superpowers Collide, 196 395, 396 perspectives, 244, 409, 414; and
Suspect, 347, 348, 350 Taradash, Daniel, 292 private schools, 409; and public
Sutherland, Donald: and American Tarantino, Quentin, 516 high schools, 413–418; and
Revolution, 55–56; and Kennedy Tarkington, Booth, 12, 424 suburbia, 484; and women’s
assassination, 405; and Korean Tarzan’s New York Adventure, 441, roles, 314; World War II–era
War, 84; and success myth, 601; 445 perspectives, 243–244, 245
and Vietnam War, 406 Tashima, Chris, 231 Teenagers (Palladino), 414
Swan, Allan, 78, 569 Tashlin, Frank, 600 Teenpics, 244
Swanson, Gloria, 438, 546, 547 Tate, Allen, 467 Television, 378–380; and African
Sweet, Blanche, 298 Taulbert, Clifton L., 339 Americans, 209; and American
Sweet, Dolph, 294 Taxi!, 265, 267 Revolution, 51; and antebellum
Sweet Charity, 440 Taxi Driver: children in, 243, 247; frontier hero, 141; and Civil War,
Sweethearts of the U.S.A., 127, 135 and crime, 514; and New York 63–64; and crime genre, 260–261,
Sweet Rosie O’Grady, 12, 14, 440, City, 439, 442, 445; and sexuality, 515–516; and democracy/equality,
445 550; and Vietnam War, 100, 102 575; and film industry, 374; and
The Sweet Smell of Success: New Taylor, Buck, 90 government/politics, 349; impact
York City in, 441, 445; success Taylor, Elizabeth: and Civil War, of, xi; and Indian wars, 107–108;
myth in, 599, 600, 602 63; and Southwest, 491; and and machine in the garden, 593;
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, women’s roles, 311, 313, 537 and Mexican Americans, 270;
212, 216 Taylor, John, 183 and New York City, 442; and
Swerling, Jo, 192 Taylor, Lawrence, 370 1970s, 37, 38; and public high
The Swimmer, 442, 484, 486 Taylor, Libby, 304 schools, 415; and slapstick, 311;
Swing Shift, 44, 45, 134, 135 Taylor, Paul, 149 and small towns, 460; and
Swing Time, 440, 445 Taylor, Regina, 338, 339 suburbia, 483–484, 485; and
Switching Channels, 375, 382 Taylor, Robert, 129, 133, 449, 500, success myth, 600; and Vietnam
Swordfish, 214 502 War, 94; and West, 434–435; and
Sylvia Scarlett, 535 Taza, Son of Cochise, 167 women’s roles, 538; and World
Symbol of the Unconquered, 19, 20 Tea and Sympathy, 358, 362, 410, War II, 117, 121–122. See also
Syncopation, 208, 216 412 Media; specific productions
664 [ Index
Television’s Vietnam: The Impact of They Were Expendable, 252, 254, Three Came Home, 571
Media, 96–97, 102 453, 456 Three Cheers for the Irish, 254
Television’s Vietnam: The Real The Thief of Baghdad, 227 Three Days of the Condor, 514, 575,
Story, 96, 102 Thieves, 444 577
“The Tell Tale Heart” (Poe), 257 The Thin Blue Line, 494, 496 Three Girls About Town, 386, 390
Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, 283, Thind, Bhagat Singh, 226 Three Godfathers, 239
286 The Thing from Another World, 75, Three Men and a Baby, 360, 362
Tell Your Children, 521 80 Three Men on a Horse, 481, 486
Temple, Shirley, 242, 258, 458, 467 Thinking About the Unthinkable Three Mesquiteers series, 270
10, 360, 362 (Kahn), 32 The Three Musketeers (1921), 17, 20
10 Things I Hate About You, 417, The Thin Man series: alcohol in, Three O’Clock High, 416, 418
418 519, 526; detectives in, 584–585; Three Stripes in the Sun, 228
Tender Mercies, 493, 496, 520, 526 family in, 357; New York City in, The Thrill of It All, 539
Terkel, Studs, 125 441; women’s roles in, 536–537, Throw Momma from the Train, 544
Terminator II, 361, 362, 594 539 Thunderbolt, 20
Terms of Endearment: family in, The Thin Red Line, 133, 135, 576, 577 Thunderdome, 146
356, 362; South in, 463, 472; and The Third Man, 77, 80 Thunderheart, 286, 394–395, 396
Southwest, 493–494, 496 The Third Man (Greene), 77 THX 1138, 594
Terms of Endearment (McMurtry), Thirteen, 523 Tibbetts, John C., 15–21, 421–429,
493 Thirteen Days, 173, 404, 406, 408, 457–461, 590–595
Terror in Beverly Hills, 221, 222, 224 526 Tierney, Gene, 448
Terrorism, 42, 43, 44, 407. See also Thirteen Days to Glory (Tinker), 87 Till the End of Time, 129, 135
September 11 terrorist attacks Thirteen Rue Madeline, 128–129, 135 Tilton, Robert S., 202
Terry, John, 100 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, 126, 135 Time Limit, 83, 85
Testament, 43, 45 This Day and Age, 330, 459, 461 A Time of Destiny, 134, 135
Tet offensive (1968), 94, 113 This Gun for Hire, 512, 516 Time to Kill (1942), 586, 589
Tetunic, Louis, 84 This Is Korea, 84, 85 A Time to Kill (1996), 339, 342
The Texans, 490, 496 This Is the Army, 128, 135 A Time to Kill (Grisham), 339
Texas. See Mexican-American War; Thomas, Danny, 219 Tinker, Lon, 87
Southwest/Texas Thomas, Helen, 219 Tin Pan Alley, 12, 16
Texas, 87, 91 Thomas, Henry, 243 Tin Pan Alley, 440, 445
Texas (Michener), 87 Thomas, John D., 198–203 Titanic, 381, 455, 456
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 360, Thomas Jefferson, 154, 156, 157–158, Tobacco, 518, 524–526
362, 460, 461 159 Tobacco Road, 468, 472
Texas Revolt (1836), 87 Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate To Be or Not to Be, 127, 134, 135
Texas to Bataan, 128, 135 Biography (Brodie), 158 Together We Live, 291, 296, 386, 390
Texasville, 493 Thomas Jefferson: The Pursuit of To Hell and Back, 130
Thalberg, Irving, 60 Liberty, 159 To Kill a Mockingbird: African
Thanks (1999), 8 Thompson, Dorothy, 536 Americans in, 216; children in,
Thank You, Mr. President, 171, 173 Thompson, Frank, 176 243, 247; and civil rights
That Girl, 484 Thompson, Gerald, 164 movement, 332, 338, 342; and
That Touch of Mink, 359, 362 Thompson, Hunter S., 376 machine in the garden, 594; and
Thayer, Ernest Lawrence, 320 Thompson, Kristin, 16 South, 470, 472
Thelma and Louise, 494, 538–539 Thompson, Lea, 369 To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee), 470
Them, 75 Thomson, Virgil, xvi, 26, 423 Toland, Greg, 117
There Was Always Sun Shining Thoreau, Henry David, 86, 561, 563 Toll, Robert C., 379
Someplace, 321, 325 Thornton, Billy Bob, 471, 492 Toll of the Sea, 227
These Three, 410, 412 Thoroughly Modern Millie, 19, 20 Tombstone, 436, 581, 582
These Three (Hellman), 410 Thorpe, Jim, 365 Tomita, Tamlyn, 229, 232
They Call It Pro Football, 371, 373 A Thousand Acres, 423–424, 428 Tomlin, Pinky, 299
They Came to Cordura, 271 A Thousand Acres (Smiley), 423 Tommy Boy, 389, 390
They Died with Their Boots On: A Thousand Clowns, 441, 445 Tompkins, Jane, 430, 581
frontier in, 579, 582; Native A Thousand Days (1964), 173 Tone, Franchot, 127
Americans in, xix, 106, 108, A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy Tonka, 167
286 in the White House (Schlesinger), Tony Rome, 587, 589
They Got Me Covered, 187, 190 170 Toomer, Jean, 15
They Had to See Paris, 17, 20 Three Bad Men, 18, 20 Tootsie, 440, 442, 445
They Live by Night, 428 Three Brave Men, 292, 296 Topaz, 77
 Index ] 665
Toplin, Robert Brent: on civil perspectives, 501–503; in silent The Truth About Cats and Dogs,
rights movement, 394, 465; on movies, 498–499 378, 382
Civil War, 64, 555; on labor Transcendentalism, 561 Tryon, Tom, 237, 252
issues, 467; on slavery, 552–557; Transportation: New York City, Tsui Hark, 232
on Stone, 34; on westward 441; 1920s, 18; and suburbia, 480, Tucker, George Loane, 510
expansion, 435 481; and Trans-Appalachian Tudor, Deborah, 363, 367
Top Secret!, 134, 135 West, 500. See also Railroads Tune in Tomorrow, 378, 382
Tora! Tora! Tora!, 131, 135, 189, Travolta, John: and government/ Turner, Frederick Jackson, 430, 578;
190 politics, 530; and Italian and American Adam, 562; and
Torn Curtain, 77, 80 Americans in film, 257, 259; and Columbian Exposition, 10; and
Torpedo Alley, 85 New York City, 441; and Indian Wars, 103, 104, 108, 163;
Torpedo Run, 454, 456 Southwest, 494 and machine in the garden, 591;
Torpedo Squadron, 453, 456 The Treasure of Pancho Villa, 271 and Native Americans, 277; and
To Sir with Love, 414, 418 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1920s, 16; and Southwest, 489;
A Totally Alien Life-Form (Lewis), 270, 276 and space program, xx; and
246 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Trans-Appalachian West, 497,
To the Moon, 479 (1848), 86, 269 504
To the Moon and Beyond: Treaty of Paris (1898), 89–90 Turner, Graeme, 42
Celebrating Apollo 17, 478, 479 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: Irish Turner, Kathleen, 550
To the Shores of Iwo Jima, 120, 124 Americans in, 251, 252, 254; New Turner, Lana, 440, 537
To the Shores of Tripoli, 133, 135 York City in, 440, 445 Turner, Nat, 555
Touch of Evil, 272, 276, 493, 496 Treviño, Jesús Salvador, 274 Turner, Ted, 108, 163, 301, 463, 471
Tourneur, Jacques, 74 Trevor, Claire, 304, 307, 500, 563 The Turning Point, 444, 538, 539
Tourneur, Maurice, 510 Trial of the Catonsville Nine, 102 Turn of the Screw ( James), 243
Tovarich, 127, 135 A Tribe Apart (Hersch), 246 Turturro, John, 260
Towards a New Cold War Tribes, 98, 102 The Tuskegee Airmen: and civil
(Chomsky), 71 Trickster persona, 213 rights movement, 333, 343;
The Town, 121, 124 The Trip, 522, 526 Eleanor Roosevelt in, 187, 190;
Toy Soldiers, 410, 412 A Trip to the Moon, 473, 479 World War II in, 132, 135
Toy Story II, 381 Triumph, 299, 385, 390 Tuskegee syphilis study, 332
Trachtenberg, Alan, 441 A Triumph of the Heart: The Rickey Tuttle, William, 128
Tracy, Spencer: and Asian Bell Story, 368, 373 Twain, Mark: on baseball, 319; and
Americans, 228; and capitalist Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of 1890s, 11; on government/
tycoons, 299; and Catholicism, Accidental Empires, 301, 302, politics, 346; and revisionist
234, 236, 237, 252, 253; and 380–381 westerns, 433; and Southwest,
government/politics, 326, 327, Troell, Jan, 421–422, 503 490
399, 528, 529; and Irish The Troubled Air (Shaw), 30 Tweed, Boss, 328
Americans, 250; and media, 376; True Confessions, 237, 239, 252, 254 12 Angry Men, 442
and seafaring experience, 448, True Detectives, 515 Twelve O’Clock High, 119, 124, 129,
451; and Trans-Appalachian True Grit, 13, 14 135
West, 501; and women’s roles, True-Heart Susie, 428 20,000 Years in Sing Sing, 250, 254
310, 537 True Lies, 224, 547, 550 Twentieth Century, 543, 544
Trading Places, 213, 216, 301, 550 True Love, 257, 259, 262 28 Days, 521, 526
Traditional/classic detectives, 583– Truman, Harry S., 196–197; and 21st Century NFL Follies, 372, 373
584 civil rights, 208; and Cold War, Twice-Told Tales (Hawthorne), 5
Traffic, 348, 350 69, 196–197; and Korean War, 81, The Twilight Zone, 63
Traffic in Hearts, 330 84; and McCarran Act, 31; and Two Against the World, 376, 382
Traffic in Souls, 510, 546, 550 McCarthyism, 30, 406; and Two for Texas, 87, 91
The Tragedy of American Diplomacy presidency, 403, 406; and World 200 Cigarettes, 524–525, 526
(Williams), 71 War II, 129, 196 The Two Jakes, 587, 589
Trail-drive films, 490 Truman (1995), 197, 408 Two Men in Dallas, 172, 173
Training Day, 214, 216 Truman Doctrine, 69, 81, 94, 95 Two Moons, 106
The Train Robbers, 543, 544 Truman (McCullough), 196 Two Mules for Sister Sarah, 238,
Tranchin, Rob, 87, 88 The Truman Show: American 239
Trans-Appalachian West, xx, 497– Adam in, 565, 566; and machine Two Rode Together, 286
505; historiography, 497–498; in the garden, 594; and media, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 476, 479;
1930s perspectives, 499–500; 380, 382; small towns in, 460, 461 and machine in the garden, 593,
post–World War II era Trumbull, Douglas, 593 594; and media, 380, 382
666 [ Index
Two Years Before the Mast (1946), Up in Smoke, 523, 526 80; seafaring experience in, 454,
449, 456 Up Periscope, 454, 456 456; soldiers in, 571; World War
Two Years Before the Mast (Dana), Up the Down Staircase, 414, 418 II in, 117, 121–122, 124
448–449 Up Tight!, 337, 340, 343 Victory Through Air Power, 119–120,
Tydings-McDuffie Act (1934), 226 Urban Cowboy, 44, 45, 494, 496 124
Tyson, Cicely, 337, 464 Urbanization, 460, 465, 510, 590. Vidal, Gore: and American
See also Cities Revolution, 157; and
Uecker, Bob, 371 Ustinov, Peter, 230 government/politics, 527, 530;
Ulasewicz, Anthony, 527 The Usual Suspects, 516 and Lincoln, 65, 178; and Nixon,
Ullman, Liv, 503 U.S. vs. Bhagat Singh, 226 181
Ullman, Sharon, 545, 546 The U.S. War with Mexico, 1846–48, Video, 97
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, 303–304, 87–88, 91 Videodrome, 594
305 Utley, Robert, 166, 430 Vidor, King: and American Adam,
Ulzana’s Raid, 286 562; and children, 242; and leftist
Uncommon Valor, 43, 45, 102, 571 Valanchi, Joseph, 513 radicalism, 25; and 1920s, 19; and
Unconquered: Trans-Appalachian Valdez, Luis, 273, 274 South, 465, 466; and success
West in, 501–502, 505; George Valens, Ritchie, 273 myth, 599; and Trans-
Washington in, 199, 200, 202; Valentino, Rudolph, 234, 257, 547 Appalachian West, 501; and
and women’s roles, 309 Valley Girl, 245, 247 World War I, 18, 110
The Undefeated, 62, 67 The Valley of the Moon, 385, 390 Viertel, Salka, 535
The Undercurrent, 289–290, 296 Valley of the Sun, 167 Vietnam: A Television History, 96,
Under Fire, 44, 45 Van Der Beek, James, 370 102
Underground Agent, 128, 135 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 297 Vietnam at the Movies (Lanning),
Underground press, 376 Van Dyke, Dick, 524 570
Under the Volcano, 44, 45 Van Dyke, Willard, 481 Vietnam Syndrome, 94–95, 504
Underworld, 18, 20, 511, 516 Van Every, Dale, 451 Vietnam Veterans Against the War,
Unfinished Business, 231, 233 Van Eyck, Peter, 77 101
Unforgiven: revisionism in, xix, 436, The Vanishing American, 281, 286 Vietnam: Voices in Opposition, 39,
581, 582; violence in, 581; Van Peebles, Mario, 434, 494, 515 41
women’s roles in, 307–308, 309 Van Peebles, Melvin, 212 Vietnam War, 93–102; African
The Unholy Three, 18, 20 Van Sant, Gus, 411 American soldiers, 39, 114, 341;
Union Pacific: frontier in, 579, 582; The Varieties of Religious Experience and American Adam, 101, 564–
Irish Americans in, 251, 254; and ( James), 4 565; and American Revolution,
railroads, 542, 544 Varsity Blues: football in, 370, 373; 51; and civil rights movement,
Unions. See Labor issues public high schools in, 416, 418; 337; and Cold War, 70, 78; and
Unitas, Johnny, 370 Southwest in, 494, 496 Congress, 349; and crime, 514;
United Mine Workers (UMW), Vasconcelos, José, 269 and democracy/equality, 575; and
251 Velasco-Marquez, Jesus, 86–87 detective films, 587;
United Nations, 113, 406 Velez, Lupe, 235 documentaries, 39, 96–97, 98;
The United States at the End of the Venona decrypts, 30 and football, 367; and Godfather
Cold War (Gaddis), 70 Vento, Arnoldo Carlos, 269 trilogy, 259; historical
The Unknown, 18, 20 Ventura, Johnny, 320 inaccuracies, xii, xiii, 96, 99–100;
The Unknown Civil War, 67 The Verdict, 238, 239, 520, 526 historiography, 95–96; history of,
An Unmarried Woman: and New Verne, Jules, 473 93–95; and Kennedy, 171, 405;
York City, 440, 445; women’s The Vernon Johns Story: The Road and Korean War, 84; and
roles in, 38, 41, 314, 315, 359, 362, to Freedom, 335, 343 Lincoln, 179; and music, xvi; and
538, 539 Veronica’s Closet, 442 Native Americans, xix, 106–107,
The Unnamable, 7, 8 Versailles—The Lost Peace, 114 284; and 1960s, 35; and 1970s, 37–
Unnamable II: The Statement of Vesey, Denmark, 555 38, 39, 40, 51; and 1980s anti-
Randolph Carter, 8 Vestoff, Virginia, 304 Asian racism, 44; 1980s
The Unnamable Returns, 8 Veterans: Vietnam War, 37–38, 43, perspectives, 39, 43, 97–98; and
Unseen Enemy, 128, 135 100–101; World War I, 110; presidency, 405–406; and
Unsolved Mysteries, 515 World War II, 121, 122, 123, 128, revisionist westerns, xix, 164,
The Untouchables (1959–1963), 19, 129 308, 432, 492, 581; and Trans-
20, 513, 516 Victorio, 103, 108 Appalachian West, 504; veterans,
The Untouchables (1987), 19, 20 The Victors, 135 37–38, 43, 100–101; and
Up Close and Personal, 379, 382 Victor/Victoria, 549, 550 Watergate scandal, 180, 182; and
Up in Arms, 128, 135 Victory at Sea: and Cold War, 71, World War I, 112–113; and World
 Index ] 667
War II, 95, 130–131. See also 1960s Voting Rights Act (1965), 337 War Brides Act (1945), 228
perspectives; 1970s perspectives War Code: Navajo Code Talkers,
The Vietnam War in Retrospect Wabash Avenue, 12, 14 286
(Herz), 95 Wacks, Jonathan, 494 War Comes to America, 118
A View from the Bridge, 262, 442, Waco siege (1993), 395 Ward, David, 320
445 Waco: The Rules of Engagement, Ward, Fred, 477
Vigilantism, 326, 392–394, 514 395, 396 Ward, Geoffrey, 64
Vignola, Robert G., 5 Wade, Wyn, 393 Ward, John William, 141, 422, 459
Villa, Pancho, 432 Wadleigh, Michael, 33, 34 Warden, Jack, 370
Village of the Giants, 245, 247 Wagner Act (1935), 383 Ware, Caroline, 270
Villa Rides, 271, 276 Wag the Dog, 382, 531, 533 War films, xviii; and American
Villiers, Alan, 448, 449 Wake Island, 126, 135, 440 Adam, 564–565; and Cold War,
Vincent, Jan-Michael, 98 Waking Life, 494, 496 75–76; and democracy/equality,
Vinson, Helen, 24 Walden (Thoreau), 561 575–576; 1970s perspectives, 39.
Violence: and blaxploitation genre, Walk East on Beacon, 73, 74, 80 See also Soldiers; specific wars
212; and boxing, 260; in detective Walker, Jimmy, 327 War Games, 43, 380, 382
films, 586; and family, 360; and Walker, Kathryn, 156 A War Imagined (Hynes), 109
Midwest, 426; and 1960s protest Walker, Moses, 320 War Is Hell, 85
movements, 513; and schools, Walker, Robert, 74 Warlock, 6, 8
410, 413, 415, 416; and slavery, Walker, Welday, 320 Warner, Harry, 499, 500
555; and small towns, 459; and Walking Tall, 514 Warner, Jack, 263
South, 469–470; and Southwest, A Walk in the Sun, 127, 135 Warner brothers, 17
492, 493, 495; and television, 37; Walk Like a Dragon, 229, 233 War of 1812: and antebellum
and Trans-Appalachian West, Walkowitz, Daniel, 435 frontier hero, 141, 142; and
504; in westerns, 393–394, 432– Walk Proud, 273, 276 Mexican-American War, 86; and
433, 492, 581; and women’s roles, Walk the Proud Land, 167 presidency, 407; and women’s
314. See also Crime; Right-wing A Walk Through the Twentieth roles, 305
extremism Century, 434 The War of the Worlds, 592, 594
Virginia City, 61, 67 Wall, Joseph Frazier, 297 War Party, 286
The Virginian (1914), 579, 582 Wallace, George, 336, 340 Warren, Charles Marquis, 425
The Virginian (1929), 579, 582 Wallace, Irving, 337 Warren, Robert Penn, 292, 329,
The Virginian (Wister), 489, 579 Wallace, Mike, 437 399, 469, 528
Virgin Land: The American West as Wallerstein, Judith, 243 Warriors, 273, 276
Symbol and Myth (Smith), 430, Wall Street, xxi; and capitalist The War Room, 382, 531, 532, 533
497, 578, 590 tycoons, 301, 302; historical Warshow, Robert, 439, 510
The Virgin Suicides, 261, 417, 418 inaccuracies in, xii, xiii; and Wartime: Understanding and
Virtual reality, 380 New York City in, 441, 445; and Behavior in the Second World
Virtuosity, 380, 382 yuppie lifestyle, 44, 45 War (Fussell), 125–126
Visas and Virtue, 231, 233 Walsh, Christy, 192 War Town, 121
Visual Communications (VC), Walsh, Francis R., 390 War without Mercy (Dower), 125
229–230 Walsh, Frank, 547 The Washerwoman’s Daughter, 249,
Visual media, impact of, xi, xii Walsh, Lawrence E., 350 254
Viva Zapata!, 271, 276 Walsh, Raoul: and crime, 510; and Washington, D.C., 400
V.I. Warshawski, 588, 589 Midwest, 425; and Native Washington, Denzel: and African
Vizenor, Gerald, 286 Americans, 106; and talking Americans in film, 214; and Arab
The Voice of the Violin, 289, 296 picture revolution, 19–20; and Americans, 222, 223; and civil
Voight, Jon: and Cold War, 79; and World War I, 18, 110; and World rights movement, 340; and
FDR, 189; and football, 370; and War II, 130 football, 369
leftist radicalism, 293; and public Walston, Ray, 415, 592 Washington, George, 198–203;
high schools, 414; and railroads, Walthall, Henry, 104 filmography, 202; as Founding
543; and Vietnam War, 39, 100 Wang, Garrett, 232 Father, 154, 155; and hemp, 524;
The Volga Boatman, 290, 296 Wang, Wayne, 230–231, 232 historiography, 198–199, 201–202;
Von Braun, Wernher, 473–474, 476 Wanted Dead or Alive, 220–221, 222, and Jewish Americans, 267; and
Vonnegut, Kurt, 133 224 slavery, 157, 198, 200. See also
Von Ryan’s Express, 134, 135, 571 War (Griffith), 52 Founding Fathers
Von Sydow, Max, 503 The War, the West and the Washington, Margaret, 51
Voss, Ralph, 424 Wilderness (Brownlow), 18 Washington Square, 441, 445
Voting Rights Act (1957), 210 The War at Home, 102, 571 Washita River massacre (1868), 284
668 [ Index
“The Waste Land” (Eliot), 15 Weaver, Jace, 286 West, Mae: and 1890s, 11–12; and
Watch on the Rhine, 127, 136 Weaver, Sigourney, 539 New York City, 440; and
Watergate scandal: and crime, 514; Webb, Jack, 98 sexuality, 547; and women’s
and democracy/equality, 575; Webb, James, 38 roles, 307
documentaries, 182; and Webb, Walter Prescott, 498 Westerman, Floyd Red Crow, 285
government/politics, 528; W.E.B. Du Bois: A Biography in Western Code, 270, 276
historiography, 180–181; and Four Voices, 341, 343 Westerns, xviii–xix, 579–581; and
media, 375; and presidency, Weber, Alice, 19 Alaska Gold Rush, 12–13; and
402 Weber, Lois, 535 American Adam, 563; and
Watergate: The Corruption of Websites. See Internet American Revolution, 51; and
American Politics and the Fall of Webster, Daniel, 86 Catholic Americans, 236; and
Richard Nixon, 182, 183 A Wedding, 237, 239 Civil War, 62–63; and
Watergate: The Fall of a President, Weekend at the Waldorf, 445 Columbus, 150; and detective
350 Weems, Parson, 154, 198, 199, 201, films, 588; and 1890s, 12–13; and
The Water Is Wide (Conroy), 414 202 family, 354, 358–359; formula,
Waters, Ethel, 209, 334 Wee Willie Winkie, 242 430–431; and Mexican
Waters, John, 246 Weinstein, Allen, 30 Americans, 270–271; and Native
Waterston, Sam, 157, 229, 338, 339 Weir, Peter, 410, 460, 594 Americans, 163, 164, 282, 491;
Watkins, T. H., 383 Weird Science, 246, 247 and 1920s, 18; and radicalism,
Wattenberg, Ben, 201–202 Weismuller, Johnny, 441 289; railroads in, 542–543; and
Watterson, John Sayle, 365 Weiss, Richard, 596–597 Southwest, 489–490; violence in,
Watts riot (1965), 433 Welcome Back, Kotter, 415, 418 393–394, 432–433, 492, 581;
Waxman, Sharon, 223 Welcome Home, 100 women’s roles in, 306–308, 433,
Way Down East: family in, 355, 362; Welcome Home, Soldier Boys, 102 494; and World War II, 128, 431.
and 1920s, 17, 20; women’s roles Welcome to the Dollhouse, 486 See also Frontier; Revisionist
in, 310, 311 Welles, Orson: and American westerns
Wayne, John: and Alamo, 87, 91, Adam, 563; and American Westmoreland, William, 95, 406
144, 271, 393, 489, 580; and Revolution, 51; and childhood, West of Everything: The Inner Life
American Adam, 563; and 242; and 1890s, 12; and of Westerns (Tompkins), 430
antebellum frontier hero, 144; government/politics, 529; and The West of the Imagination: The
and Asian Americans, 227; and media, 374, 375–376; and Golden Land, 91
Civil War, 62; and Cold War, 73, Mexican Americans, 272; and West Side Story, 235, 239, 440
78; and detective films, 586; and Midwest, 424; and Southwest, Westward expansion, xviii–xix; and
1890s, 13; and frontier, 579, 580; 493; and success myth, 599 Columbus, 149; and crime, 510;
on High Noon, 490; and Irish Wellman, William: and Cold War, and immigration, xii; and Jewish
Americans, 236, 252; and Native 73; and crime, 19, 511; and Americans, 263; and Mexican
Americans, 105, 106, 277; and revisionist westerns, 431; and Americans, 269; and Midwest,
railroads, 543; and seafaring small towns, 457; and success 421; and railroads, 541; and
experience, 453, 455; and myth, 599; and World War I, 18, violence, 393–394. See also
soldiers, 569; and Southwest, 110, 111 Frontier; Indian Wars; Manifest
489, 490, 491; and Trans- Wells, John, 407 Destiny; Trans-Appalachian
Appalachian West, 500, 501, 502, Wells, Tom, 35 West; West
503; and Vietnam War, 97; and Welsome, Eileen, 31 Westward Expansion: A History of
women’s roles, 307; and World Wen, Ming-Na, 232 the American Frontier (Ridge &
War II, 126, 129 Wenders, Wim, 146, 493 Billington), 497
Wayne’s World, 245, 247 “We’re in the Money,” 185, 186 The West Wing, xix, xxi, 406–407,
The Way West: The War for the We’re No Angels, 239, 250, 254 408
Black Hills, 1870–1876, 166, 167 Werker, Alfred, 73 We Were Soldiers, 576, 577
The Way We Were: and radicalism, We Sail at Midnight, 453, 456 Wexman, Virginia Wright, 281
294, 296; women’s roles in, 314, West: filmographies, 435–436, 581– Whalen, Richard J., 169
315; and World War II, 134, 136 582; historiography, 107, 430, 581; Whaley, Donald M., 180–183
The Weaker Mind, 519, 526 Southwest/Texas, 488–496; Whaling industry, 449–450
Wealth: and alcohol, 519, 520; and Trans-Appalachian, 497–505. See Whalley-Kilmer, Joanne, 221
detective films, 584; and football, also Frontier; Revisionist Wharton, Theodore, 280
371; and New York City, 441; and westerns; Westerns; Westward What 80 Million Women Want, 535
women’s roles, 312, 536. See also expansion Whatever Happened to George
Capitalist tycoons; Class issues; The West, 435, 436; Indian wars in, Washington?, 201–202
Success myth 104, 108, 165–166, 167 What Happened to Bill Clinton?, 533
 Index ] 669
What Price Glory? (1926), 18, 20, Why Vietnam?, 96, 102 Wilson: and government/politics,
110, 114 Why We Fight, 124; and African 349, 350, 528, 533; and
What Price Glory? (1952), 110, 114 Americans, 118–119, 333; and presidency, 406, 408; and World
What’s Up, Doc?, 314, 315 democracy/equality, 574, 577; War I, 113–114, 117
Wheare, K. C., 349–350 effectiveness of, 117, 118, 123; Wilson, Dagmar, 70
When Harry Met Sally, 444, 445 and Lincoln, 177; soldiers in, 570, Wilson, Joan Hoff, 55
When Hell Was in Season, 102 571 Wilson, Michael, 292
When Hell Was in Session, 571 Widmark, Richard: and African Wilson, Ronald W., 509–517
When the Clock Strikes Nine, 262 Americans, 209, 335; and Cold Wilson, Trey, 324
When the Daltons Rode, 580, 582 War, 31, 74, 76; and Mexican- Wilson, Woodrow: biographical
When Tomorrow Comes, 356, 362 American War, 144; and films, 113–114, 349, 406, 528; and
Where Are My Children?, 535, 539 seafaring experience, 450, 454 The Birth of a Nation, xvii, 464,
Where Do We Go from Here?, 202 Wiggin, Kate Douglas, 458 572; and World War I, 15, 109–
Where the Buffalo Roam, 376, 382, Wilcox, Harvey Henderson, 421 110, 113, 279
526 Wild, Wild West, 214, 216 Wilt, David E.: on African
Where We Stand in Cambodia, 39, Wild Bill Hickok, 579, 582 Americans, 207–217; on capitalist
41 Wild Boys of the Road: FDR in, 190; tycoons, 297–302; on detective
Wherry, Rob, 88 and government/politics, 344, films, 583–589; on labor issues,
Which Way Is Up?, 213, 216, 388, 350; Great Depression in, 23, 28; 383–391; on radicalism, 288–296;
390 New Deal in, 186 on suburbia, 480–487; on World
The Whistle, 299, 385, 390 The Wild Bunch: children in, 243, War II, 128
White, Alice, 440 247; Mexican Americans in, 271, The Wind and the Lion, 90
White, Deborah Gray, 305 276; revisionism in, 432, 436, 581, Windsor, Lucy, 141
White, Pearl, 311–312, 438 582; and Southwest, 492–493 Windtalkers, 232, 576, 577
White, Richard, 104, 498 Wilde, Cornel, 130 Winfield, Paul, 338
White, William Allen, 459 Wilder, Billy: and alcohol, 519; and Winfrey, Oprah, 65, 305, 471
White Citizens’ Councils, 335 Cold War, 77; and government/ Wing and a Prayer, 126, 136
The White Dawn, 450, 456 politics, 344; and media, 375; and Winger, Debra, 294, 395
The White Dawn (Houston), 450 women’s roles, 313; and World Wings, 18, 20, 110–111, 114
White Fawn’s Devotion, 286 War II, 83 Winkler, Allan M., 132
White Man’s Burden, 216 Wilder, Gene, 213, 543 Winkler, Henry, 100
White Nights, 43, 45 Wild Geese II, 220, 224 Winkler, Irwin, 347
White over Black ( Jordan), 553 Wild in the Streets, 33, 36, 350 The Winning of the West
White Papers, 72 The Wild One, 36 (Roosevelt), 430
The White Shadow, 415, 418 The Wild Party, 18, 20 The Winning Team, 322, 325
“White slavery,” 510 Wilentz, Sean, 157 Winter Kills, 171, 173
White supremacy movements, 294, Wiley, Bell, 62 Winter People, 471, 472
336, 340, 392, 395. See also Right- Wilkinson, Rupert, 569 Winthrop, John, 3, 4, 497–498
wing extremism Will, George, xii Wired magazine, 381
The White Vaquero, 270, 276 Williams, Ben Ames, 449 Wirz, Heinrich, 65
Whitfield, Stephen J., 69–70, 74, Williams, Billy Dee, 368 Wise, Ray, 347
265 Williams, Michelle, 182 Wise, Robert, 592
Whitman, Walt, 561, 572–573 Williams, Olivia, 411 Wise Guys, 262
Whitmore, James: and Native Williams, Robin, 410 Wiseman, Frederick, 330
Americans, 166; and race, 211, Williams, Tennessee, 259, 311, 469, Wister, Owen, 489
212, 336; and Truman, 197 548 Witch and Warlock. See Witchcraft
Whittier, John Greenleaf, 58 Williams, T. Harry, 89 Witchcraft, 6, 304
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, 525, Williams, William Appleman, 345– Witchcraft (1988), 8
526, 588 346 Witchcraft (Witch and Warlock,
Who Killed Vincent Chin?, 231, 233 Williams, William Appleton, 71 1964), 8
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, Williamson, J. W., 143, 503 Witchcraft, Part II: The Temptress,
359, 362 Willis, Bruce, 575 8
Who’s That Knocking at My Door?, Wills, Garry, 157, 169, 176, 180 Witchcraft III: The Kiss of Death, 8
262 Willson, Meredith, 424 Witchcraft IV: Virgin Heart, 8
Why Change Your Wife?, 547, 550 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, The Witches (1990), 8
Why Do Fools Fall In Love, 523, 526 600, 602 The Witches (The Devil’s Own,
Why England Slept (Kennedy), 169 Wilma P. Mankiller: Woman of 1966), 8
Whyte, William, 30 Power, 167 The Witches of Eastwick, 8
670 [ Index
Witchfinder General (The and work, 310, 312–313, 314, 353, Americans, 279–280; and 1920s,
Conqueror Worm), 8 387; and World War II, 116, 125, 53, 60, 110; 1920s perspectives, 15,
The Witch of Salem, 8 127, 387. See also Family; 18, 53, 110–111; 1930s perspectives,
A Witch of Salem Town, 8 Feminism 24; and sexuality, 545; and
The Witch Woman, 8 The Women, 535 westerns, 492
Witcover, Jules, 35 Women Get the Vote, 539 World War I (1965), 114
Witherspoon, Reese, 417 Women in disguise, 450 World War II, 125–136; African
Within Our Gates, 19, 20 Wonderful World of Disney, 143 American soldiers, 118–119, 132,
With the Marines at Tarawa, 120, Wonder Man, 445 187, 208–209, 321, 333; and
123, 124 Wong, Anna May, 226, 227, 228 Catholic Americans, 235; and
With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Wong, B. D., 232 censorship, xiii, 512; and civil
Okinawa (Sledge), 125 Wong, Russell, 232 rights movement, 332–333; and
Witness, 286 Wong Kim Ark, 225 Civil War, 61; and Cold War, 69,
Wittliff, William D., 493 Woo, John, 232 71, 122, 129; and Communists,
The Wiz, 213, 216 Wood, Gordon, 49, 50, 51, 55 345; and democracy/equality,
The Wizard of Oz, 427, 428 Wood, Natalie, 245 575–576; and family, 353, 357; and
The Wizard of Oz (Baum), 427 Woodard, Alfre, 332 FDR, 113, 116, 118, 126, 134, 187–
WKRP in Cincinnati, 378 Woods, James, 340, 370 188, 189; filmographies, 123–124,
Wofford, Harris, 169 Woodstock, 33, 34, 36 134–136; historiography, 125–126;
Wolfe, Tom, 37, 376, 476 Woodward, Bob, 181, 182, 375 Holocaust, 133, 266, 395–396, 552;
Wolfman Jack, 378 Woodward, C. Vann, 462, 466 home-front films, 127–128; and
Wollen, Peter, 148–149, 150 Work: blue-collar, 384, 385, 389; isolationism, 113, 117–118, 349,
Wolper, David, 172 and seafaring experience, 447, 500, 501; and Italian Americans,
A Woman Called Golda, 264, 267 448; and teenagers, 357; and 258–259; Japanese American
Woman of the Year: Eleanor women, 310, 312–313, 314, 353, internment, 30, 116, 226, 229;
Roosevelt in, 187, 190; women’s 387. See also Labor issues and Korean War, 81, 82, 129; and
roles in, 310, 312, 536, 537, 539 Workers’ Film and Photo League, labor issues, 384, 386–387; 1980s
The Woman on Pier 13 (I Married a 291 perspectives, 131–132; 1990s
Communist), 74, 387, 390 Working class. See Class issues; perspectives, 122, 132–133, 575–
A Woman Rebels, 312, 536 Labor issues 576; post–World War II era
“Woman’s films,” 356 Working Girl: New York City in, perspectives, 71, 76, 121–122, 128–
A Woman Under the Influence, 526 440, 441, 445; and 1980s, 44, 45; 129; and presidency, 402;
Women, 303–309, 310–315; and women’s roles in, 310, 539 propaganda films, 61, 116–119,
American Revolution, 304–305; Works Progress Administration 126–127, 128, 133, 134, 569–570;
and antebellum frontier hero, (WPA), 186, 499 seafaring experience, 453–454;
140, 141; Asian American, 227, The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and sexuality, 545–546; and space
228; and baseball, 321, 324, 539; 75, 211, 216 program, 473; and suburbia, 481;
and city/state government, 329; The World Aflame, 385, 390 and Truman, 129, 196; and
and civil rights movement, 332, The World in His Arms, 451, 456 Vietnam War, 95, 130–131; and
336; colonial era, 303–304; 1890s, The World Is Not Enough, 301, 302 westerns, 128, 431. See also World
10, 11; and family, 310, 354, 355, The World of Charlie Company, 39, War II documentaries; World
356–357, 360; filmographies, 308– 41 War II–era perspectives
309, 315; and Founding Fathers, The World of Jacqueline Kennedy, World War II documentaries, 116–
154, 156; historiography, 303–304; 173 124; battle/campaign films, 119–
and labor issues, 387; and media, The World of Suzie Wong, 228, 548, 120; and Cold War, 71, 80;
379; Native American, 106–107, 550 filmography, 123–124; home-
166–167, 303, 307; “new woman,” The World That Moses Built, 401 front films, 120–121; propaganda,
18, 304, 305, 306, 534; and New World War I, 109–115; African 116–119; readjustment films, 121;
York City, 440; 1920s, 16, 18, 19; American soldiers, 114; and seafaring experience in, 454, 456;
1920s filmmakers, 19, 535; 1970s, American Revolution, xiii, 53; soldiers in, 571
37, 38–39; 1980s, 44, 360; and and Catholic Americans, 236; World War II–era perspectives:
public high schools, 416; and and Civil War, 60; and detective American Adam, 563; Asian
seafaring experience, 449–450; films, 584, 588; documentaries, Americans, 228; baseball, 192,
and sexuality, 545, 548, 550; and 112–113, 114; filmography, 114; 321; capitalist tycoons, 299–300;
slavery/Reconstruction, 305–306, historiography, 109, 111; and Catholic Americans, 235, 236–
466; and success myth, 600–601; labor issues, 385; and League of 237; children, 242; civil rights,
suffrage movement, xx, 534–535; Nations, 349; and leftist 333; crime, 512; democracy/
in westerns, 306–308, 433, 494; radicalism, 289–290; and Native equality, 573–574; detective films,
 Index ] 671
128, 584, 585–586; 1890s, 11; Wyllie, Irvin, 596 Young Tom Edison, 573, 577, 597,
family, 356, 357; FDR, 187; 602
feminism, 536; football, 363, 365– You Only Live Once, 428
X-Men, 348, 350
366; frontier, 140, 579, 579–580; “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” 250
Indian wars, 106; Irish You’re Only Young Once, 243,
Americans, 250; Italian Yankee Doodle Dandy: FDR in, 188, 247
Americans, 258; Jewish 190; Irish Americans in, 250, 254; Youth Runs Wild, 244, 247
Americans, 265–266; labor issues, New York City in, 438, 440, 445; Youth Wants to Know, 84
26, 386–387; Lincoln, 177–178; World War II in, 128, 136 You’ve Got Mail, 381, 382
media, 375–376, 377, 378; A Yank on the Burma Road, 126, 136 Yu, Jessica, 231
Mexican Americans, 272; Native The Yards, 329, 330 Yune, Rick, 232
Americans, 282; New York City, Yates, James, 86–92 Yung, Judy, 306
440, 441–442; radicalism, 291– Yates, Peter, 347 Yuppie lifestyle, 42, 43, 44–45
292; seafaring experience, 453– The Yearling, 242, 247
454; sexuality, 547; slavery, 552; The Year of Living Dangerously, 44,
soldiers, xx, 569, 570; South, 45 Zaffiri, Sam, 99
468–469; teenagers, 243–244, 245; Year of the Dragon: Asian Zanuck, Darryl F.: and African
tobacco, 524; Trans-Appalachian Americans in, 44, 45, 229; crime Americans, 334; and
West, 499–500, 501; women’s in, 515, 516 government/politics, 349, 406,
roles, 311; World War I, 113; Yee, Kelvin Han, 230 528; and Great Depression, xv,
World War II, 82. See also Yellow, 232, 233 xvi–xvii, 24, 500; and Midwest,
World War II documentaries Yellowface, 227–228, 229, 230 422, 423; and small towns, 457,
Worster, Donald, 498 Yeoh, Michelle, 232 458; and Wilson, 113–114; and
Wouk, Herman, 454 Yiddish films, 265 World War II, 117, 130
Wounded Knee massacre (1890), Yoder, Edwin, 202 Zebrahead, 418
10, 103, 280 York, Alvin, 113, 140 Zedillo, Ernesto, 89
Wren, Celia, 261 Yo Soy Chicano, 273, 276 Zellweger, Renée, 440
Wright, Jeffrey, 336 You and Me, 326, 330 Zemeckis, Robert, 525, 601
Wright, Teresa, 192 Young, Cy, 320 Zhang Yimou, 232
Wright, Theresa, 459 Young, Jack, 250 Zhang Ziyi, 232
Wright, Will, 489, 492 Young, Nedrick, 294 Ziegfield Girl, 440, 445
Wrigley, Philip, 321 Young, Robert, 291, 494 Zinn, Howard, 27, 50, 175
Wrong Is Right, 219–220, 224 Young, Stark, 465 Zinneman, Fred, 75, 238, 490
The Wrong War (Foot), 81 Young, Terence, 84 Zola, Émile, 591
Wurzel, Elizabeth, 523 “The Young American” (Emerson), Zoot Suit, 273, 274, 276
WUSA, 294, 296, 378, 382 541 Zorich, Louis, 328
Wyatt Earp, 581, 582 Young Daniel Boone, 140, 147 Zorro Rides Again, 270
Wyler, William: and civil rights Young Guns, 490, 496 Zorro series: Mexican Americans
movement, 337; and Civil War, Young Guns II, 490, 496 in, 270, 276; and 1920s, 17, 20;
62; and 1890s, 12; and Great The Young Lions, 130, 136 Southwest in, 488, 496
Depression, 344; and Young Mr. Lincoln: Civil War in, Zorro’s Fighting Legion, 270
homosexuality, 410; and 65, 67; democracy/equality in, Zucker, Harvey, 364
Jewish Americans, 266; and 573, 577; government/politics in, Zuckert, Michael, 51
soldiers, 567; and South, 465; 530, 533; Lincoln in, 177–178, 179; Zukor, Adolph, 17, 263
and World War II, 117, 119, 121, Midwest in, 428; success myth Zwick, Edward, 567, 568
129, 132, 570 in, 597, 602 Zwigoff, Terry, 417