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Nightmare Alley - Film Noir And The American Dream

Page 44

by Mark Osteen


  Web Gallery of Art. “Dürer, Albrecht.” Web. July 27, 2008. www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/d/durer/1/04/2adorat.html.

  Welsch, Tricia. “Sound Strategies: Lang’s Rearticulation of Renoir.” Cinema Journal 39.3 (2000): 51–65. Print.

  Wieder, Robert, and George Hall. The Great American Convertible: An Affectionate Guide. New York: Doubleday, 1977. Print.

  Williams, Tony. “The Big Night (1951): A Naturalist Bildungsroman.” Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader 4 95–107.

  ———. “The Naturalist Horizons of Nightmare Alley (1947).” Excavatio 22.1-2 (2007): 121–37. Print.

  ———. “Phantom Lady, Cornell Woolrich, and the Masochistic Aesthetic.” Silver and Ursini, Film Noir Reader 129–43.

  Wollen, Peter, and Joe Kerr, eds. Autopia: Cars and Culture. London: Reaktion, 2002. Print.

  Wollheim, Richard. “Dreams.” Bloom 77–87.

  Woolrich, Cornell [as William Irish]. I Married a Dead Man. Polito 797–973.

  ———. Phantom Lady. 1942. New York: Pocket, 1944. Print.

  Žižek, Slavoj. Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT P, 1991. Print.

  INDEX

  Page numbers in italics refer to photographs.

  Accused, The, 199, 201–3, 282–83nn23–34

  Ace in the Hole, 254

  Act of Violence, 97, 100–104, 187, 272nn30–31

  amnesia in, 78–79, 100, 104

  function of disability in, 101, 270n2

  and informing, 100, 101, 104

  advertisements, 5, 135, 251, 275n4

  African Americans, 11–12, 178

  Hollywood representation of, 155, 277n5

  and jazz, 16, 155, 156–57, 172–73, 178, 245, 290n46

  rarely featured in film, 154, 158

  agency, 126, 208

  and American Dream, 3, 20–21, 143–44

  automobiles and, 134

  as noir theme, 20–21, 46

  psychiatric stripping of, 98, 205

  women and, 197, 199, 280n10

  Aldrich, Robert, 150, 284n42

  Algren, Nelson, 174

  alienation, 48, 76, 97, 289n34

  and individualism, 69, 249

  as noir theme, 14, 77–78, 92

  Alton, John, 70, 95, 96, 176

  American Dream, 4, 5, 12, 47, 75, 142, 198

  agency at core of, 3, 20–21, 143–44

  automobiles and, 134, 152

  as chimera and sham, 64, 249, 260

  and criminality, 4, 199, 226

  and domesticity, 99–100, 101, 258, 260

  in hitchhiking films, 135, 144

  and individualism, 4, 135

  jazz and, 156, 170, 179

  No Man of Her Own depiction of, 62, 64

  in portraiture films, 107–8, 126

  The Prowler depiction of, 221, 249–50, 255, 260

  pursuit of as nightmare, 10, 199

  pursuit of happiness and, 2, 17

  red noir films on, 221, 226, 234, 242–43

  and self-reinvention, 45, 79, 105, 115, 250

  Try and Get Me! depiction of, 249–50

  of upward mobility, 10, 63, 231, 259

  amnesia, 15, 271n22

  in dream films, 37–40

  in identity films, 47, 49–50, 59

  in vet noir films, 77, 78–79, 88, 92, 93–96, 97, 99, 100, 104

  Anatomy of a Murder, 174

  Andersen, Thom, 225, 288n25

  Anderson, Edward, 136

  Andrews, Dana, 81, 109, 111

  Angelus (Millet), 127–28, 274n22

  antifascism, 12, 221, 285–86n3

  anxiety, 13, 14, 161, 270n10

  automobiles and, 152

  postwar, 12, 13, 78, 97

  Appointment with Danger, 277n7

  Arlen, Harold, 156

  Armored Car Robbery, 289n38

  Armstrong, Louis, 158, 170, 172, 278nn21–22

  art forgery, 4, 16, 274n21, 275n27

  and authorship, 122

  in La chienne, 120–21

  in Crack-Up, 106–7, 127–30

  in Laura, 110, 112

  and originality, 107, 127–28, 129–30, 131

  in Scarlet Street, 122–25

  Ashley, Edward, 163, 165

  Asphalt Jungle, The, 220–21, 239–44, 289n38, 289–90nn40–43

  as heist film, 239, 240, 289n38

  atomic bomb, 12, 151, 161

  authenticity, 4–5, 107, 179, 220–21

  authorship: cinematic, 17, 106, 119, 185, 215–16, 218

  and forgery, 122

  and identity, 120, 124

  automobiles, 16, 132–53, 275n2

  and American Dream, 134, 152

  as amoral space, 16, 133, 135, 137, 148, 150, 152, 199

  and autonomy, 134, 143, 151

  and commodification, 133, 134, 135, 142, 150

  criminals and, 135, 136, 146, 148, 149

  as domestic space, 133, 135, 136–37, 139, 148

  and freedom, 16, 132, 135, 136, 148

  and guns, 140–41, 145, 147

  and identity, 133, 134, 135, 137

  loss of, 135, 145

  and masculinity, 147

  and mobility, 16, 139, 142, 143, 144

  in postwar period, 133–34, 135, 152

  and risk, 135, 145, 147

  and roadside restaurants, 143, 275n3

  and sexuality, 135, 137, 140

  and sovereignty, 143, 145

  as Trojan horse, 16, 135, 148, 149, 151

  used, 139, 142–43, 275n6. See also convertibles; hitchhikers; hitchhiking films; lam films

  automobility, 133, 135, 147, 152

  and criminality, 136

  and mobility, 16, 134, 142, 261

  autonomy, 99, 148, 181, 183

  automobiles and, 134, 143, 151

  Babener, Liahna, 111, 112, 273n4, 273n8

  Bacall, Lauren, 65, 68

  Balkun, Mary McAleer, 5

  Barnes, George, 234

  Barrymore, John, Jr., 28, 265n15

  Basinger, Jeanine, 191

  Baudry, Jean-Louis, 21

  Beaumont, Hugh, 83, 281

  bebop, 158, 276n1, 277n7

  Belafonte, Harry, 172, 173, 278nn24–25

  Bel Geddes, Barbara, 211, 284n44

  Belton, John, 4, 93

  Bennett, Bruce, 179, 189

  Bennett, Joan, 70, 106, 117, 121–22

  Benson, Sally, 48, 188, 267–68n11

  and No Man of Her Own, 61, 64, 268n12, 268nn15–16, 268n18

  Bernhardt, Curtis, 97, 100, 205, 272n27, 272n29

  Bernstein, Elmer, 176–77, 279n32

  Berry, John, 211, 284n42

  Bessie, Alvah, 286n7

  Be Still, My Love (Truesdell), 202, 203, 282nn26–27, 283nn32–33

  Best Years of Our Lives, The, 13, 77, 81–82, 270n1, 287n20

  betrayal, 53, 88, 170, 239

  and blacklist era, 221, 240–41

  and secrets, 229, 237

  Beverly, William, 135

  Bezzerides, A. I., 227

  Biberman, Herbert, 285–866n3, 286n7

  Biesen, Sheri Chinen, 112, 189, 273n8

  Bigamist, The, 147, 215, 216–18, 285nn51–55

  Big Combo, The, 77, 174–76

  Big Heat, The, 187

  Big Night, The, 28–30, 44, 265nn13–18

  Black Angel, 165–67, 278n17

  blacklist, 17–18, 221, 228, 240, 247, 286n13

  fight against, 244–45

  onset of, 223–24

  red noir films on, 245–47, 255

  studio heads and, 223, 247

  testifying and informing during, 223, 290nn43–44

  use of “fronts” during, 223, 224, 255. See also red scare and witch hunt

  blackness, 184

  jazz and, 16, 154, 155, 160, 161, 166, 178, 180

  Black Path of Fear, The (Woolrich), 31

  Blankfort, Henry, 290n45

  Blind Alley, 264n1

  Blo
ck, Libbie, 211, 284n46

  Blue Dahlia, The, 78, 82–84, 270nn9–11

  Blue Gardenia, The, 168–70

  Blues in the Night, 156–58, 277nn5–6

  blues music, 156–58, 160, 167, 177, 179, 182

  blues philosophy, 173

  “Body and Soul” (song), 181, 233

  Body and Soul, 5, 220, 231–34, 249, 288nn24–30

  Boehm, Sydney, 97

  Bogart, Humphrey, 65, 67, 68, 88, 268–69n22

  and Hollywood Ten, 222–23

  Bolton, Muriel Roy, 58, 188, 267n8

  Bond, Anson, 214

  Boone, Richard, 115

  boxing, 231–33, 288n27

  Brackett, Leigh, 188

  Brandell, Jerrold, 42

  Brecht, Bertolt, 286n7

  Bredell, Woody, 51

  Breen, Joseph, 254, 256, 284n40, 285n49

  Breen, Richard, 277n7

  Breen Office. See censors

  Brick Foxhole, The (Brooks), 84, 270n12

  Bridges, Lloyd, 250, 255

  Brill, Lesley, 43, 266n26

  Britton, Andrew, 276n13

  Brodie, Steve, 54, 85, 139

  Broe, Dennis, 139, 225, 230, 264n10, 286n10, 287n22

  Brook, Vincent, 264n7, 277nn5–6

  Brooks, Richard, 84, 270n12

  Browder, Earl, 224, 286n11

  Brown, Royal, 273n5

  Brute Force, 225–26, 287n15

  Buhle, Paul, 220, 224, 290n45, 290n47

  Butler, David, 154, 158, 159, 276n1, 277n9, 279n29

  Butler, Hugo, 255, 265n13

  Caged, 207–10, 284nn40–41

  Cagney, James, 148

  Cain, James M., 11, 133, 188, 286n6

  Campbell, D’Ann, 280n2

  Cantor, Paul, 142, 277n14

  capitalism, 4, 240, 261

  and crime, 17, 220, 228, 234–35, 240–41, 249

  Force of Evil on, 234–37, 249

  Marx and Engels on, 227, 235–36

  Strange Love of Martha Ivers on, 189, 231

  Try and Get Me! on, 250, 291n2

  Carnovsky, Morris, 88, 227

  Carroll, Madeleine, 192

  Caruth, Cathy, 79

  Caspary, Vera, 112, 273n3, 273n7

  Cassavetes, John, 147

  cathartic cure, 22, 25, 42

  Caught, 5, 211–14, 284–85nn44–47

  censors, 137, 188

  and The Accused, 282–83n28

  and The Bigamist, 218

  and Caged, 284n40

  and Damned Don’t Cry, 282n20

  and Gilda, 199

  and No Man of Her Own, 64, 268n19

  and Not Wanted, 285n49

  and The Prowler, 256

  and Scarlet Street and, 274n20

  and Thieves’ Highway, 287n17

  and Try and Get Me!, 254, 291n4

  and The Underworld Story, 290n46, 290n50

  Ceplair, Larry, 222, 224, 271n17

  Chamberlain, Howland, 29, 237

  Chandler, Raymond, 11, 270n9

  Chase, The, 31–34, 44, 45

  chien andalou, Un, 40

  chienne, La, 106, 116, 119–22, 126, 274n17

  children, 187–88, 189, 253

  Chopra-Gant, Mike, 13, 78, 270n11

  Christopher, Nicholas, 22

  class, 226, 241, 255

  mobility between, 2, 58, 62

  Naked City on, 226, 287n16

  The Strange Love of Martha Ivers on, 220, 228, 230, 287n22

  Cobb, Lee J., 19, 227

  Cochran, Steve, 31, 198

  Cockrell, Marian, 192

  Coffee, Lenore J., 188

  Cohn, Harry, 192, 215

  Cold War, 78, 79, 97, 100, 144

  Cole, Lester, 97, 285–86n3

  and Hollywood Ten, 272n25, 286n7

  Collins, Ray, 127

  Collins, Richard, 283n38, 286n7

  Comandini, Adele, 25, 265n10

  Committee for the First Amendment, 222–23, 244

  commodification, 228–29, 232, 234, 246

  of art and artist, 109, 120, 123

  automobiles and, 133, 134, 135, 142, 150

  of women, 170, 190, 193, 199, 211

  Communists and communism, 12, 176–77n4, 286n11

  Hollywood Left and, 221, 271n17, 290–91n1

  community, 3, 48, 69, 215–16

  complicity, 199, 200–201, 204

  Condemned, The (Pagano), 250

  condensation, 14, 22, 24–25, 43, 264n2, 265n9

  Conference of Studio Unions, 222

  conformity, 3, 16, 18, 240

  Conrad, William, 232

  consumer goods, 2, 5, 6, 10, 261

  consumerism, 6, 12, 249, 251

  Conte, Richard, 169, 175, 227, 271–72n23

  conversion narratives, 20, 23, 47

  convertibility, 134, 138–39, 140, 152

  convertibles, 142, 143, 144, 145, 147, 151, 201

  and convertibility, 16, 134, 138–39

  as means of empowerment, 147–48

  as sign of mobility, 144, 275n4

  Cook, Elisha, Jr., 159

  Cook, Pam, 204

  Cooper, George, 85

  Cooper, Maxine, 150

  Corey, Jeff, 226

  Corey, Wendell, 199, 201

  Cornered, 78, 86–87, 271nn15–17, 285–86n3

  Cortesa, Valentina, 227

  counterfeiting, 16, 62

  Cover Girl, 192

  Cowie, Elizabeth, 280n1

  Cowl, Jane, 63

  Crack-Up, 106–7, 127–31, 274–75nn21–27

  Craig, James, 170

  Crain, Jeanne, 115

  Crawford, Joan, 189, 197, 205

  Cregar, Laird, 108, 115

  crime and criminality, 17, 24, 25, 130, 242–43

  and American Dream, 4, 199, 226

  automobiles and, 135, 136, 146, 148, 149

  capitalism and, 17, 220, 228, 234–35, 240–41, 249

  as left-handed form of human endeavor, 17, 220, 243

  noncriminals and, 289–90n42

  organized, 220, 234–35, 240–41, 289nn41–42

  and upward mobility, 63, 220–21, 259

  crime jazz, 174, 279n29

  Criss Cross, 160, 277nn11–12

  Cromwell, John, 208

  Cronyn, Hume, 225

  Crooked Way, The, 78, 95–97

  Crossfire, 84–86, 270–71nn12–14

  HUAC and, 86

  Crowther, Bosley, 287n18

  Cullen, Jim, 2, 3, 47

  Cummings, Robert, 31, 202

  Cummins, Peggy, 140, 141

  Curran, Dale, 276–77n4

  Dalí, Salvador, 40, 127–28, 274n24

  Dall, John, 140, 141

  Damarest, William, 170

  Damned Don’t Cry, The, 197–99, 281–82nn19–20

  Damone, Vic, 278n22

  D’Andrea, Tom, 66

  Danger! Women at Work, 281n18

  Dark Corner, The, 106, 113–15, 273nn9–11

  Dark Passage, 48, 65–69, 268–69nn22–23

  Dark Past, The, 19, 24–25, 45

  Dark Waters, 192

  Da Silva, Howard, 83, 138, 245

  Dassin, Jules: and Brute Force, 225, 226

  and Hollywood Left, 17, 220, 221

  and Naked City, 226, 287n16

  and Thieves’ Highway, 227, 228, 287n19

  and witch hunt, 224, 228, 234

  Daves, Delmer, 65

  Davidson, Michael, 77

  Dead Reckoning, 88–90

  de Bolla, Peter, 124

  Decker, John, 274n19

  Declaration of Independence, 2, 209

  Dekker, Albert, 51, 150

  DeLillo, Don, 5

  democracy, 12, 220

  Desperate, 139–40, 276n7

  Detour, 142–44, 161–62, 276nn12–14

  Deutsch, Helen, 137

  Devil Thumbs a Ride, The, 144

  Diana Productions, 14, 121–22

  Dieterle, William, 282n28

  Dietrichson, Phyllis,
185

  Dimendberg, Edward, 132, 175

  disability, 15, 77, 78, 93, 270n2, 270n5

  cognitive, 77, 78, 80

  and gender roles, 270n10

  and jazz, 154, 168

  and masculinity, 78, 83

  moral, 77, 101

  disabled veterans, 15–16, 77–79, 93, 105, 170, 214

  and amnesia, 77, 78–79, 88, 92–97, 99, 100, 104

  statistics on, 80, 270n6

  stigma attached to, 272n24

  and trauma, 78, 79, 80, 87, 88, 93, 97–98, 100. See also veterans

  Diskant, George, 139

  displacement, 14, 22, 25, 33, 264n2

  Dmytryk, Edward: and Cornered, 86, 271n17, 285–86n3

  and Crossfire, 84, 270–71nn13–14, 285–86n3

  and HUAC, 223, 286n7

  D.O.A., 160–61, 171

  Doane, Mary Ann, 193, 213, 281nn15–17, 284n45

  domesticity, 148, 179

  and American Dream, 99–100, 101, 258, 260

  automobiles and, 133, 135, 136–37, 139, 140, 148

  heterosexual, 78, 86

  women and, 186, 188, 190

  Donatello, 114, 273n11

  Double Indemnity, 13, 132, 133, 188, 275nn1–2

  doubles, 49, 54, 55, 88, 93, 113, 116

  Douglas, Kirk, 54, 228

  Downs, Cathy, 113, 114

  Dowson, Ernest, 111–12

  Dozier, William, 271n15

  Dratler, Jay, 273nn8–9

  Dreadful Summit (Ellin), 265n13, 265n15, 265n17–18

  dreams, 15, 22, 23, 107

  and cinema, 21, 264n3

  and emotion, 23, 44–45, 265n7

  Freudian theory on, 20, 22–23, 24, 265n8

  and guilt, 19, 26, 33, 36, 44–45

  and identity, 20, 21

  in jazz films, 162

  and memory, 25, 41–42

  as message from beyond, 26, 44

  oedipal, 24, 25–26, 28

  and reality, 33

  and self-reinvention, 20, 21, 37, 47

  as someone else’s, 19–20, 23, 33, 36–37, 40

  trauma in, 26, 42–43, 44

  and unconscious, 24, 28, 265n8

  as warning, 33–34, 36–37, 44

  dream sequences, 15, 20–21, 264n1

  in The Chase, 32–34

  in The Dark Past, 19, 24–25

  in Laura, 110, 273n6

  in Nightmare Alley, 15

  in Possessed, 206

  in Spellbound, 40–43, 266n24

  in The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry, 34, 36–37, 44, 45

  in Strange Illusion, 25–26, 44

  in Stranger on the Third Floor, 21

  in Try and Get Me!, 252

  in The Woman in the Window, 118, 274n16

  Duff, Warren, 277n7

  Dunne, Philip, 222–23

  Dürer, Albrecht, 129, 275nn26–27

  Duryea, Dan, 106, 118, 166, 245

  Dyer, Richard, 273n10

  Einfeld, Charles, 288n26

  Ellin, Stanley, 265n13

  Ellington, Duke, 174

  Ellison, Ralph, 173

  Emerald Productions, 214, 215

 

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