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Introduction


reviews
‘It would be difficult to propose, in the context of an introduction to classical Hollywood, a more precise and rigourous study … this book deserves to become essential for undergraduate courses.’
Professor Reynold Humphries, University of Lille

‘Amongst the finest introductions to Hollywood in particular and film studies in general … subtler, more complex, yet more readable than most of its rivals, many of which it will displace.’
Robin Wood

‘What I found particularly appealing about this book was the equally developed breadth and depth to the interpretation of film and space. Film space is self-consciously loaded with meaning and is manufactured to be read in detail. Deborah Thomas captures the reach of the broader perspective taking account of the quintessentially American spaces of her chosen films. The west and small-town America intimates not only the dialectics of space, but also how this reflects particular American consciousness. Thomas's close-up makes enquiries about that other peculiarly American space, the Hollywood Studio System and its set designs. The book aligns itself closely to concepts of constructed, mediated space that occurs at every level of film making, rather than simply the representation of spaces.
Thomas examines the details of décor to ascertain their symbolic positioning. She considers the use of space in the set design that is both literal and metaphorical. Features of rooms are shown to re-orientate conceptions of space, not simply within a particular scene, but extending their significance through the entire film. An object on the wall in the first scene may not be seen again, but its significance lingers. Thomas shows the decorative to challenge and undermine the firmness of category and border. The next level of spatial significance is the actor's body in space, the actor's dimensions and negotiation of space, and the filmmakers' ability to represent a movement through space. To comprehend space one needs to move through spaces, the acting body is therefore the site of transference between the viewer and the actual site of the film. Space is also created and manipulated by the camera eye. Interestingly the book makes it apparent that film technique has a dialectical relationship with the tectonics of building. Architecture acknowledges the specular and blind space that buildings necessarily have, and Thomas's interpretation of film technique acknowledges a similar regard for the specular and blind space in filmmaking. Rather than perceiving isolated facades, space in film and architecture unfolds. Finally, Thomas moves her reading out into the audience's space.
Thomas considers how the narrative of space is used as an adjunct to character and action revealing an unspoken narrative to the role of space. The successful discussion of literal boundaries and surfaces in My Darling Clementine (1946) analyses mirrors, windows, doorways, curtains and the use of light and dark. There is fluidity to all these tropes of transgression. All these sites of spatial slippage focus on both the disruptive, with the smashing of the mirror, and harmony when reflections melt into a complete whole. To reinforce the readers' perceptions of spatial slippage Thomas gives a close schematic analysis of several paralleling scenes. The reading of repetition and difference creates dialogue between those scenes, so that boundaries are repeatedly crossed. For instance, the mirrors intimate transgressions at the architectural edge, which open up meanings to depict the violation of the clear boundaries of character. These close textual details ground any indeterminacy that might arise out of a spatial analysis that points to transgression, transparency and slippage.
Thomas set the precedent for her analysis of spatial transgression with the glass cases of butterflies in It's a Wonderful Life (1946). In a broader perspective Thomas analyses small town America in All I Desire (1953) and the spatial transgressions between public and private space. The literal spaces reflect back upon the thematic, indicating how social constructions define and flout space. The influence of the city on the west has a similar intimation of fragmentary and mobile space in the transgression of clearly known and defined borders as the west extends its boundaries. A highlight is the reading of Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) that points to spatial slippage in the distinctions between the audience, actors and the framing of the scene in the discussion of diegetic and non-diegetic movement through space. Account is taken of spatial positioning of the actors, the camera, the three different sets, the audiences perceptions and the space of the narrative, all the while considering the junction with time.
Thomas uses the portrayal and projection of space as an entry point into the films rather than an analysis of space per se. She indicates how new modes of analysis can offer alternative readings that are active and open. Importantly her reading determines a fluid and mobile interpretation despite the perhaps expected fixidity of meaning in an over constructed Hollywood. Because the book is not overtly theoretically impelled by recent debates surrounding the occupation and negotiation of space, it avoids inaccessibility despite being clearly influenced by such theoretical maneuvers. This makes the book a highly readable introduction to some extremely complex levels of spatial interpretation. Not only is this book an excellent introduction to the Hollywood Studio System as well as methods and levels of film interpretation, but it is also a book from which highly developed discussions of spatial analysis can stem, opening up a route into and understanding of more theoretical based texts.’
Sarah Heaton, Scope: Online Journal of Film Studies XXX

books of related interest
The Hollywood Story
The Star System: Hollywood’s Production of Popular Identities