1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910456591603321

Autore

Brook Vincent

Titolo

Driven to Darkness : Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir / / Vincent Brook

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New Brunswick, NJ : , : Rutgers University Press, , [2009]

©2009

ISBN

1-280-49243-0

9786613587664

0-8135-4833-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (299 p.)

Disciplina

791.43/6556

791.436556

Soggetti

Film noir - History and criticism - United States

Jewish motion picture producers and directors - United States

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Jews in Germany: Torn Between Two Worlds -- 3. Jews and Expressionism: "Performing High and Low" -- 4. The Father of Film Noir: Fritz Lang -- 5. Fritz Lang in Hollywood -- 6. The French Connection: Robert Siodmak -- 7. Viennese Twins: Billy and Willy Wilder -- 8. The ABZs of Film Noir: Otto Preminger and Edgar G. Ulmer -- 9. Woman's Directors: Curtis Bernhardt and Max Ophuls -- 10. Pathological Noir, Populist Noir, and an Act of Violence: John Brahm, Anatole Litvak, Fred Zinnemann -- Appendix: American Film Noirs by Jewish Émigré Directors -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

From its earliest days, the American film industry has attracted European artists. With the rise of Hitler, filmmakers of conscience in Germany and other countries, particularly those of Jewish origin, found it difficult to survive and fledùfor their work and their livesùto the United States. Some had trouble adapting to Hollywood, but many were celebrated for their cinematic contributions, especially to the dark shadows of film noir. Driven to Darkness explores the influence of



Jewish TmigrT directors and the development of this genre. While filmmakers such as Fritz Lang, Billy Wilder, Otto Preminger, and Edward G. Ulmer have been acknowledged as crucial to the noir canon, the impact of their Jewishness on their work has remained largely unexamined until now. Through lively and original analyses of key films, Vincent Brook penetrates the darkness, shedding new light on this popular film form and the artists who helped create it.