The opening sequence of Rouben Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) is shot entirely from the protagonist's first-person point of view, intending to reproduce "a real a vicarious experience," ...according to the director; "The audience does not see him-they are him" (Robinson 1961, 125). Mamoulian's film is arguably the very first Hollywood production to employ the first-person point of view shot with such extensive stylistic bravado. Consequently, Mamoulian's theoretical understanding of the technique, and its ostensible reproduction of subjective experience, is widely accepted as intuitive and self-evident. Film critic Michael Sevastakis wholeheartedly accepts the spectatorial implications of Mamoulian's technique, describing the viewer as a "participant of the action through the subjective camera, who intimately shares the protagonist's experiences" (1993, 125). Thomas here argue that the opposite is true: The extended use of the point of view shot, interspersed throughout Mamoulian's film, actually distances the spectator from identifying with Henry Jekyll. More specifically, identification with the character in this opening sequence is quite impossible, at least until Jekyll looks into a mirror, a full 1 minute and 38 seconds into the lengthy setpiece. While the mirror functions as a concrete device, tactfully employed to reveal the face of Fredric March as Henry Jekyll, the mirror in Mamoulian's film also underscores how we understand the cinema itself, specifically with regard to the dynamics of identification and the spectatorial gaze.
ORSON WELLES AND ROUBEN MAMOULIAN: Dr. JEKYLL AND Mr. HYDE? At first glance the mention of these two directors in the title might sound preposterous or even blasphemous. Orson Welles has been ...enshrined in cinematic history as the child prodigy, as the genius who both epitomized and revolutionized the American cinema in the 40s. On the other hand, Rouben Mamoulian has been acknowledged as an innovator who, sadly enough, suffered the tragedy of running out of innovations eventually (Sarris 160). The verdict of the film historians as regards the importance and the status of these two filmmakers is so far remarkably clear and incontestable. My goal in this article is to begin to challenge some of the widely held assumptions regarding their work and bring to the surface an aspect of Mamoulian's contribution to cinema that remains to this date entirely overlooked. For Welles' Citizen Kane made in 1941...
Created by George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward and sung by generations of black performers,Porgy and Besshas been both embraced and reviled since its debut in 1935. In this comprehensive account, ...Ellen Noonan examines the opera's long history of invention and reinvention as a barometer of twentieth-century American expectations about race, culture, and the struggle for equality. In its surprising endurance lies a myriad of local, national, and international stories.For black performers and commentators,Porgy and Besswas a nexus for debates about cultural representation and racial uplift. White producers, critics, and even audiences spun revealing racial narratives around the show, initially in an attempt to demonstrate its authenticity and later to keep it from becoming discredited or irrelevant. Expertly weaving together the wide-ranging debates over the original novel,Porgy, and its adaptations on stage and film with a history of its intimate ties to Charleston,The Strange Career of Porgy and Bessuncovers the complexities behind one of our nation's most long-lived cultural touchstones.
This work examines the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde through an analysis of the film of Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1937). The main theme of the film is Jekyll’s creation of a new ...character, Hyde, from himself. This theme raises a philosophical question regarding the battle between good and evil. Mamoulian associates the character of Hyde with the metaphor of the primitive man; he explores the potential of evil in man as a consequence of the repression of his primitive needs. Mamoulian’s interpretation points to a conflict between the spiritual and material aspects of man. As such, it presents a perspective which can be interpreted by different disciplines. In this regard, this work examines the context which produces and supports both the film and Mamoulian’s theme. It examines how this context shapes the characters. Further, this context is explored as a possible means of reading the film through Sufism and psychoanalysis. In Sufism it is the nafs, when it is not properly tamed, which represents the dark and material aspect of the human. In this respect, this work first investigates the relationship of the nafs with the character Hyde, and the nature of the conflict created by the nafs. Following this, the work outlines Carl Jung’s definition for the potential of evil in psychoanalytic theory and explores the conflict of Jekyll/Hyde by considering the shadow archetype of Jung.
Tragic enough at the best of times, this waste of talent is doubly so now at a moment when, for the first time in the history of cinema, we are beginning to experience the rare pleasure of seeing ...films made by men who have grown up with the cinema, who have spent their lives making
films, who are so immersed technique that they transcend it.Tom Milne MamoulianI was one of those stage specialists they were hiring in those days to help the silent directors make sound movies.Rouben Mamoulian
An adaptation from the forthcoming history of the east coast motion picture industry, Hollywood on the Hudson by Richard Koszarski focusing on the role of Rouben Mammoulian in the production of ...talking films for Paramount Pictures is presented. Mammoulian was one of the stars of the Theatre Guild recruited by Jesse Lasky and Walter Wanger for the directorial post of talking films.
Provider: EFG - The European Film Gateway EFG - The European Film Gateway - Institution: Istituto Luce - Cinecittà EFG - The European Film Gateway - Data provided by Europeana Collections- ...Bremerhaven- 1 - la popolazione tedesca alza uno striscione di benvenuto- 2 - una nave ormeggiata- 3 - la banda dell'esercito suona- 4 - la popolazione danza sulla banchina- 5 - giovani americani scendono da una nave, una folla festosa li accoglie- 6 - una ragazza legge una pergamena,- 7 - un giovane la ascolta sorridente- 8 - profughi si dirigono verso il porto- 9 - abbracci e baci tra profughi e volontari- 10 - i profughi si imbarcano- 11 - la banda suona ,- 12 - i presenti al porto agitano i fazzoletti- 13 - i profughi sulla nave salutano- 14 - la nave in mare- Roma- 15 - dipendenti dell'aeroporto avvicinano la scaletta all'aereo- 16 - dall'aereo scende Shirley Jones, che riceve un mazzo di fiori dal direttore della compagnia aerea- 17 - l'attrice incontra Mamoulian e Paone, che le stringono calorosamente la mano- 18 - piccola folla all'aeroporto- 19 - l'attrice in posa alza una gamba, un fotografo accanto all'attrice- Bruxelles- 20 - uomini a cavallo- 21 - i cattolici manifestano a Bruxelles- 22 - donne ai lati delle strade salutano, agitano fazzoletti- 23 - donne manifestano con striscioni, bandiere- 24 - il massiccio corteo dall'alto di un palazzo- Termini Imerese- 25 - vigili del fuoco gettano acqua con idranti su campi di grano- 26 - i fumo sale dai covoni in cenere- 27 - i carabinieri prendono i nomi dei sinistrati- 28 - la popolazione in strada- 17 - the actress meets Mamoulian and Paone, who warmly shakes her hand- 18 - small crowd at the airport- 14 - the ship at sea- 13 - refugees on the ship greet- 12 - those present at the port shake the handkerchiefs- 11 - the band plays,- 10 - refugees embark- Termini Imerese- Bremerhaven- 5 - young Americans descend from a ship, a festive crowd welcomes them- 1 - German population raises welcome banner- 15 - airport employees approach the ladder to the plane- 16 - from the plane descends Shirley Jones, who receives a bouquet of flowers from the director of the airline- 19 - the actress posing raises her leg, a photographer next to the actress- 22 - women on the sides of the streets greet, shake handkerchiefs- 25 - firefighters throw water with hydrants on wheat fields- 9 - hugs and kisses between refugees and volunteers- 8 - refugees make their way to the port- 7 - a young man listens to her smiling- 6 - a girl reads a parchment,- 4 - the population dances on the quay- 3 - the army band plays- 28 - the population in the street- 27 - the Carabinieri take the names of the leftists- 26 - smoke rises from the broods in ashes- 24 - the massive procession from the top of a palace- 23 - women demonstrate with banners, flags- 21 - Catholics demonstrate in Brussels- 20 - men on horseback- 2 - a moored ship- Brussels- Rome- All metadata published by Europeana are available free of restriction under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. However, Europeana requests that you actively acknowledge and give attribution to all metadata sources including Europeana
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