| Contents |
Mamoulian, art, and cinema -- Mamoulian and early film sound : Applause, City Streets, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde -- Mamoulian and rhythm : Applause, City Streets, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, We Live Again, High, Wide, and Handsome, Golden Boy, the Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand -- Mamoulian and the musical : Applause, Love Me Tonight, The Gay desperado, High, Wide and Handsome, Summer Holiday, Silk Stockings -- -- Mamoulian and color : Becky Sharp, Blood and Sand, Summer Holiday, Silk Stockings -- Mamoulian and Filmmaking under censorship : Applause, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Song of Songs, Queen Christina -- Conclusion : Mamoulian's Legacy -- Appendix 1: Completed films directed by Mamoulian -- Appendix 2: Plays directed by Mamoulian -- Appendix 3: Additional films consulted. |
| Abstract |
"In an industry where top-tier talent like John Ford, Frank Capra, and Alfred Hitchcock took some time to reach what many consider to be their most mature and celebrated period of filmmaking, Mamoulian is notable among studio-era Hollywood directors for "finding" his style and offering it nearly full blown upon his first feature-film outing. With the exception of Orson Welles, it would be difficult to name another studio-era director who burst so strikingly onto the film scene with an approach that seemed to redefine stylistic expectations. Certainly temperament helped-Mamoulian was ambitious, confident, and eager to follow his artistic instincts. Mamoulian was also fortunate to begin his career at Paramount, a studio known for giving its directors more autonomy than the norm, at the precise moment when the arrival of sound film threw the parameters and definition of cinema into question. But equally important, Mamoulian was able to announce himself as a filmmaker with such daring and assurance in Applause (1929) because he had spent the previous half-dozen years thinking deeply about art and how it should be used"-- Provided by publisher. |
