Weblog #8 "A Place in the Sun"

A Place in the Sun (1951) is a film based on a novel by Theodore Dreiser titled "An American Tragedy." Directed by George Stevens, this film focuses on George Eastman, the nephew of a wealthy executive who strives to move up in the business world. While first working for his uncle, George meets fellow worker Alice and the two begin a secret romance, as the workers are not to associate or date one another. His affection for her, however, diminishes when George meets Angela and the two begin seeing each other. While this romance grows very serious, Alice learns she is pregnant. Because George has never come clean to Alice about his love for Angela, Alice expects him to marry her and help raise the child. The remainder of the film deals with George's struggle to remain close to Angela while also dealing with the troubles brought on by Alice's situation. He does not want to leave Alice stranded, yet his love for Angela has him constantly pushing her aside until she finally asserts herself and leaves him no choice but to marry him.

The climax of the film comes when George takes Alice for a boat ride out on a secluded lake with the brief intention of drowning her. He most likely assumes that the end of Alice's life would mean the end of his problems, and he would then be able to live happily with Angela and continue to move up in the business world. Once on the lake, however, George has a slight change of heart and realizes he cannot kill Alice. Ironically, the two end up falling out of the boat and because she cannot swim, Alice drowns. George tries to hide this entire double life from Angela; however, he is eventually arrested and found guilty for the murder of Alice. The film ends as the audience sees George walking to his punishment: death by the electric chair.

This film was truly a thriller in my eyes, similar to the suspense in Double Indemnity. These two films differ, however, because of the amount of foreshadowing that exists in A Place in the Sun. Though there are many many examples of foreshadowing, two of the most noticeable to me were the scene with the news on the radio and the scene in the boat right before Alice dies. The radio scene shows George listening to a broadcasted news segment where he hears about the deaths of a number of people by drowning. The audience then sees his face change as the idea to get rid of Alice by drowning appears in his head- very obvious foreshadowing. In the scene in the boat, Alice tells George to wish upon a star. She then questions him about his wish and accuses him of wishing he was dead, clearly foreshadowing both her death and his conviction for her murder even though he was not technically responsible. I thought this film was very interesting to watch and I was very entertained.

Weblog #7 "Double Indemnity"

Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Billy Wilder, is a very interesting film about an insurance salesman who gets tangled up with a woman who wishes to kill her husband in order to reap the benefits of his accidental insurance plan. Neff, the salesman, decides to help Phyllis murder her husband because he is in love with her and believes she will be with him after; however, in the end, Phyllis turns out to be nothing more than a "femme fatale," a woman who uses men for what she wants and will go as far as killing them after they are of no use to her.

Along with being a suspenseful movie, it most importantly can be classified as film noir for many reasons. First and most importantly, it is narrated by Neff and most scenes are flashbacks of the story leading up to the current scene with which the film opens. This voice-over style is an important theme of films noir, and its use helps add suspense to the movie. A more obvious quality of this movie that can be classified as film noir is the plot. It is all about people doing whatever they can to get more money. For instance, Phyllis and Neff are not happy simply getting $50,000 from her husband's insurance plan; instead, they create an entire scheme to get $100,000. The plot consists of the "get rich fast" theme of films noir, and ends with tragedy for almost all the main characters. Along with the plot, the characters are constantly talking at a quick pace with very witty dialogue. This is a well known classification of film noir, along with the innuendos that occur between the first conversation with Neff and Phyllis about supposed "speed limits." The scenes in the film are also mostly set in very close and confined spaces, such as Neff's car and his office. This, along with the immense amount of darkness and shadows created by lots of low-key lighting, are qualities of film noir that are prominent throughout the film.

Double Indemnity is a film that exhibits all the qualities of film noir. I really enjoyed the film mainly because it was suspenseful and kept me very interested until the very end. After reading about film noir I was anxious to see a great example of the style in order to more fully understand its qualities and how it left audiences feeling after viewing. It did leave me feeling a bit off; however, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an exciting, suspenseful film.

Weblog #6 "Sullivan's Travels"

Sullivan's Travels (1941), directed by Preston Sturges, is an interesting film because it is all about one man's devotion to make a film. John Sullivan, a wealthy movie director, usually makes comedies; however, he decides he wants to make a dramatic film about those who suffer financially and otherwise in the United States. In order to correctly depict the lives of the poor, he makes the decision to travel for a couple weeks as a tramp with hardly any money. While doing so, he meets a girl and the two of them journey together a couple different times before John gets the true feel of what it is like to not live in luxury as he normally does. After many pitfalls, one including being arrested after everyone believes him to be dead, John finally resumes his status as a prestigious film maker; however, he changes his mind and decides he wants to make a comedy, not a drama, because he realizes that laughing is all some people have.

This last point is what was most interesting to me about the film. I agree with John's views on comedy because people love to laugh. During those times of war and poverty, people did not need to be reminded of their suffering by seeing it in a dramatic film. In the beginning of Sullivan's Travels, John's butler makes a good point that only the rich will be able to appreciate the dramatic film that Sullivan wishes to make because they are the ones that don't have to experience it in reality. The one thing that can help take people's minds off of the horrible or unfortunate things they may be dealing with in their lives is a film consisting of good old fashioned comedy that can let people escape for just enough time that they are able to feel happy again. John makes this realization in a scene toward the end of the movie when he and the other prisoners get to have a night at the movies. They are shown a cartoon by Disney at which all the men laugh, and John finds himself laughing as well. It is at that point he realizes that making a comedy would be of so much more help to the struggling people than a film reminding them of their suffering because humor would allow them to feel a sense of happiness and content.

This unusual dramatic movie about comedy is a great tool to illustrate the importance of comedy in our world of film. Comedies are a genre to be valued because they let us laugh, something that every person needs to make it through life. Comedies are my personal favorite genre of film because I love to laugh, and even though Sullivan's Travels was not necessarily a comedy, I really liked the message it conveyed in the end.