Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2011 Vive la Différence: Hollywood and France, 1914-1945 Louise G. Hilton Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Hilton, Louise G., "Vive la Différence: Hollywood and France, 1914-1945" (2011). LSU Master's Theses. 1206. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1206 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE: HOLLYWOOD AND FRANCE, 1914-1945 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Liberal Arts in The Interdepartmental Program in Liberal Arts by Louise G. Hilton B. A., Louisiana State University, 2004 May 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish, first of all, to thank my thesis advisor, Dr. Charles Shindo, for his counsel and infinite patience during the time I spent working on this project. Dr. Karl Roider also deserves heartfelt thanks for his unflagging support throughout my studies at LSU and for his agreeing to be a member of my thesis committee. I extend my appreciation to Dr. William Clark for giving of his valuable time to be a part of my committee. Last but certainly not least, I wish to express my gratitude to my family for putting up with me during the time I spent researching and writing my thesis, and especially to my father, Dr. Stanley E. Hilton, without whose affectionate support, expertise, and counsel I would not have been able to complete this project. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... iv INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: ―WITH FRIENDS SUCH AS THESE . .‖ ................................................. 8 CHAPTER 2: ―IT‘S AN ILL WIND . .‖ .......................................................................... 48 CHAPTER 3: ―AUX BARRICADES! . .‖ ...................................................................... 84 CHAPTER 4: SOUND AND FURY ............................................................................. 136 CHAPTER 5: ―ALLONS, ENFANTS DE LA PATRIE‖ ................................................. 207 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................ 277 VITA........................................................................................................................... 293 iii ABSTRACT France in the early decades of the 20th century underwent a profound identity crisis. Torn between tradition and modernity, the country perceived itself to be isolated internationally and threatened politically, economically, and culturally by both internal and external forces. In French eyes, the United States moved rapidly from an ally to an adversary that not only opposed France on major foreign policy issues after World War I, but threatened the European continent both economically and culturally. For broad segments of the French elite, the United States represented modernity – and everything that was wrong with it. Contributing powerfully to anti-American sentiment in France were cultural exports from the United States, especially motion pictures. Hollywood was, for French cultural nationalists, both a symbol of what they disliked about the United States – a society shaped by the assembly-line and, hence, once characterized by intellectual, spiritual, and artistic mediocrity – and a threat to French culture and the very existence of the French movie industry. Hollywood achieved a dominant position in the French (and world) market during the war and maintained that position in the inter-war period. French audiences, in general, applauded American films and were enthusiastic about American film stars, especially those who visited Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, but French film critics tended to regard Hollywood movies as shallow, artificial, and, because they came off studio assembly-lines, irritatingly repetitive. The advent of sound proved to be a boon to French filmmakers, but Hollywood continued to dominate French screens, a situation temporarily ended only by the outbreak of a new war in 1939. Throughout the post-1917 period, including the World War II years, Hollywood studios themselves were a microcosm of the cultural war as French movie iv personnel who emigrated to the United States found themselves caught up in a factory- like system that emphasized standardized products geared for a mass market and left little room for artistic creativity. v INTRODUCTION The tension that arose between France and the United States during the months preceding the second Gulf War in 2003 opened the floodgates of mutual recrimination, suggesting that the friendship that both countries habitually proclaim toward one another perhaps represents only a thin veneer of cordial sentiment covering strong undercurrents of antagonism. In the United States cultural chauvinists urged the transformation of French fries into ―freedom fries,‖ called for a boycott of French wines, and urged American tourists to avoid French destinations, while the Internet hummed with deprecatory comments and jokes about the French national character. In France the Quai d‘Orsay steadfastly rejected Washington‘s policy toward Iraq and attempted to mobilize broader European opposition, while wide segments of the French public denounced the United States. But at the same time, there was a more reflective response on the part of many French observers. Two authors quickly published best- selling books on the roots of anti-Americanism, recommending that the French reexamine their motives for America-bashing,1 while significant sectors of French opinion refused to join in the condemnation of the United States. ―The quarreling about Iraq, declining U.S. tourism to France and calls for an American boycott of French products have alarmed many in this country and provoked some soul-searching,‖ one American correspondent reported from Paris. Indeed, at the grassroots level there were even demonstrations of affection and gratitude toward this country, especially on the anniversary of the 1944 landings in Normandy that had led to the liberation of France 1 Jean-François Revel, L'obsession anti-américaine: Son fonctionnement, ses causes, ses inconséquences; Philippe Roger, L’Ennemi américain: Généalogie de l'antiaméricanisme français. 1 from Nazi tyranny. ―From signs on the Eiffel Tower to red roses on the immaculate graves of U.S. soldiers who fell in France,‖ read a news item in July 2003, ―the French, in large ways and small, offered gestures of healing on America‘s Independence Day.‖2 The French reaction to the abrupt crisis in official relations between the two countries was, in short, ambivalent – and it is ambivalence that characterized French attitudes toward the United States throughout the 20th century. Underscoring the fluctuating temperature of official waters, today, with Nicolas Sarkozy, the most ―America-friendly‖ president France has seen in decades, occupying the Palais de l‘Élysée, relations between the two nations are markedly friendlier than under his predecessor, Jacques Chirac. Sarkozy, a colorful and controversial figure, made headlines in 2007 when he decided to vacation in the United States. The newly- elected French president ―risked horrifying the historically anti-American French establishment‖ by spending two weeks on vacation in New Hampshire, a decision ―seen by some as proof of his desire to bolster Franco-American ties sorely strained by the invasion of Iraq.‖3 More importantly he reintegrated France into NATO in April 2009, ending nearly a half-century of estrangement from that alliance.4 The cultural dimension of Franco-American relations has always been a vibrant one. France long has had the allure of romance and escape for Americans. Scores of students move to Paris every year for their junior year abroad (the author was among those fortunate ranks of temporary Parisians), and artists and writers throughout the 2 Jamey Keaten, ―Bashing French has long history,‖ The Advocate (Baton Rouge), 1 Sept. 2003, 17A; Elaine Ganley, ―French welcome U.S. on Independence Day,‖ The Advocate (Baton Rouge), 5 July 2003, 9A. 3 Henry Samuel, ―Nicolas Sarkozy risks revolt with U. S. holiday,‖ The Telegraph, 4 Aug. 2007, available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1559445/Nicolas-Sarkozy-risks-revolt-with-US- holiday.html. 4 Paul Belkin, ―France: Factors Shaping Foreign Policy, and issues in U.S.-French Relations,‖ Congressional Research Service, 14 April 2011, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32464.pdf. 2 century have found inspiration in that city, whether it be Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and other members of the Lost Generation