ABOUT THIS BOOK

The volume is the first-ever book-length study of the cinematic representation of Paris in the films of German èmigrè filmmakers, many of whom fled there as a refuge from Hitler. In coming to Paris—a privileged site in terms of production, exhibition, and film culture—these experienced professionals also encountered resistance: hostility toward Germans, anti-Semitism, and boycotts from a French industry afraid of losing jobs to foreigners. Phillips juxtaposes the cinematic portrayal of Paris in the films of Robert Siodmak, Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang, Max Ophüls, Anatol Litvak, and others with the wider social and cultural debates about the city in cinema.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Alastair Phillips lectures in film and television studies in the department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading, UK.

REVIEWS

'Alastair Phillips has produced a meticulously researched work covering a fascinating aspect of French cinema, or, more accurately, cinema in France.' - Roger Crittenden in Times Higher Education Supplement

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents - 6 Acknowledgements - 8 Chapter One: Introduction - 10 Diversity and Exchange - Rethinking the National in European Cinema - 10 Cinema and the City - 11 Paris and the 1930s - 13 Paris and French Cinema of the 1930s - 14 France and the Émigrés - 16 City of Darkness, City of Light - 19 Chapter Two: The City in Context - 22 An Historical Ambivalence - 22 Modernity and the City - 25 National Boundaries and Early European Sound Cinema - 30 Paris as Staging Ground for the Early Sound Wars - 34 Berlin as Prestige Model and Place of Work for French Film Industry Professionals - 37 Patterns of Exile and Emigration in the Pre-Nazi Era: The Russians and their Relationships to Paris and Berlin - 40 Trade and Economic Emigration from Berlin to Paris before 1933 - 42 Case Study One: Anatole Litvak - 44 Case Study Two: Kurt Courant - 47 The Rise of the Nazis in Berlin and the Politics of Departure - 51 The Place of Jews in Paris - 53 Reception: The Émigrés' Arrival in Paris - 57 Reception: The French Film Industry - 59 Case Study Three: Erich Pommer - 62 Case Study Four: Robert Siodmak - 66 Chapter Three: City of Light - 74 Paris as Spectacle - 74 Paris and the Spectacle of Entertainment - 82 Parisian Journeys Across Time and Space - 91 Chapter Four: City of Darkness - 108 The Camera Goes Down the Streets: 'The Hidden Spirit Under the Familiar Façade' - 108 Framing the Urban Decor - The Émigrés and Poetic Realism - 119 Spaces of Crime and Pleasure in the City of Darkness - 128 Parisian Journeys Between the Past and the Present - 142 Chapter Five: Divided City - 150 The Divided City in Context - 150 Divided Characters, Divided City - 157 Journeys Across the Divided City - 165 Chapter Six: Conclusion - 172 Notes - 178 Appendices - 192 Appendix One: Tobis In Paris Filmography 1929-1939 - 192 Appendix Two: Osso Filmography 1930-1939 - 193 Appendix Three: Anatole Litvak Filmography 1930-1936 - 194 Appendix Four: Kurt Courant Filmography 1929-1939 - 195 Appendix Five: Erich Pommer French-Language Filmography 1930-1934 - 197 Appendix Six: Robert Siodmak French-Language Filmography 1931-1939 - 198 Appendix Seven: Nero Films Filmography 1930-1939 - 199 Appendix Eight: La Crise est finie - 200 Appendix Nine: La Vie Parisienne - 202 Appendix Ten: Mauvaise graine - 204 Appendix Eleven: Coeur de lilas - 206 Appendix Twelve: Dans les rues - 208 Appendix Thirteen: Carrefour - 211 Appendix Fourteen: Pièges - 213 Appendix Fifteen: Liliom - 216 Filmography - 220 Bibliography - 222 Index - 244