South Pacific, Mister Roberts and the Caine Mutiny Court-Martial As
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ADAPTING RACE AND GENDER: SOUTH PACIFIC, MISTER ROBERTS AND THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL AS 3- 0)1 D f ? t f A l f t . B 5 4 , A thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University In partial fulfillment of The requirement for The degree Master of Arts In Drama by Matty M. Bloom San Francisco, California May, 2011 Copyright by Matty M. Bloom 2011 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read ADAPTING RACE AND GENDER: SOUTH PACIFIC, MISTER ROBERTS AND THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL by Matty M. Bloom, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree: Master of Arts in Drama at San Francisco State University. ADAPTING RACE AND GENDER: SOUTH PACIFIC, MISTER ROBERTS AND THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL Matty M. Bloom San Francisco, California 2011 This study traces the paradox of liberal and conservative tensions related to the 1950s cultures of triumphalism and the Cold War through the lenses of race and gender in three post-World War II Broadway adaptations. Race is the lens of identity in the South Pacific adaptation process analysis, which starts with the 1947 novel, Tales o f the South Pacific, and includes the original 1949 Broadway musical, the 1958 Hollywood movie, and the 2008 Broadway revival. Gender is the lens in the adaptation process analysis of Mister Roberts, which starts with the 1946 novel, Mister Roberts, and includes the original 1948 Broadway play and the 1955 Hollywood movie, both by the same name as the novel. Gender is also the window in the The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial adaptation process analysis, which starts with the 1951 novel, The Caine Mutiny, and includes the 1954 original Broadway play, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial', the 1954 Hollywood movie, The Caine Mutiny; and the 1988 made-for-television adaptation by Robert Altman, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis. Date ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis is dedicated to my beloved husband, David Klausner, whose ongoing support has made this degree possible. It is also dedicated to his family for whom the effects of World War II were profound. Additionally, it is dedicated in loving memory to my father, Herbert Charles Bloom, Battalion Intelligence Officer, S2, specializing in Photo Intelligence. He was stationed in Darmstadt, Germany, with the 3rd Army Corps Headquarters of the 7 th Army, in G2 Intelligence under Colonel Langevin. I am also greatly indebted to my advisor, Dr. Lawrence Eilenberg, for teaching me so much about the world of theater and mentoring me through this thesis. I also appreciate other SFSU Theater Arts faculty members for enriching the world of theater for me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction:.............................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: South Pacific I: Background................................................................................................................... 20 II: Descriptions of the novel and adaptations..................................................................25 III: Analysis of race.............................................................................................................36 IV: Conclusions................................................................................................................... 75 Chapter 2: Mister Roberts I: Background..................................................................................................................... 80 II: Descriptions of the novel and adaptations...................................................................87 III: Analysis of gender..........................................................................................................98 IV: Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 128 Chapter 3: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial I: Background.....................................................................................................................131 II: Descriptions of the novel and adaptations.................................................................. 137 III: Analysis of gender.........................................................................................................145 IV: Conclusions.................................................................................................................... 171 Conclusions............................................................................................................................ 174 Works Cited...........................................................................................................................183 1 Introduction This study will examine three award-winning stage adaptations of the immediate post-World War II era: South Pacific (1949), Mister Roberts (1948), and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1951). All three Broadway plays were adapted from extremely popular1 novels and were later adapted from the stage to the screen. The lens of this analysis will be on one strong aspect of identity in each of the adaptation processes. Race is the primary subject of inquiry into the South Pacific process; gender is the subject of inquiry in the processes of Mister Roberts and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. The triumphalism of American victory in World War II and the immediately ensuing Cold War jointly affected American culture in contradictory ways. In David Halberstam’s compelling thesis, the notion of the 1950s as a staid, orderly, conservative era in American culture with a minimum social dissent also contains the paradox that social ferment was beginning just below this placid surface (Preface ix). This study contends that these three postwar adaptation processes, with the stage as their cornerstone, represent the paradox of the fifties, and suggest a complex mix of midcentury liberal and conservative forces. By affirming conformity while simultaneously showing individualistic rebellion brewing against it, these three 1 The term “popular” is used in this study to refer to an artifact with a wide audience, rather than as a genre or as a pejorative description. 2 adaptation processes reveal the fifties’ paradox, with Halberstam’s thesis as a critical underpinning. This study further contends that at the same time, while revealing the complex paradox of the fifties, as these adaptations move into that decade from their respective novels as their source materials, they also mostly become more conservative. Related to the paradox of the fifties, this increasing conservativism can be seen in the higher stakes in race and gender represented on the stage and film. This study therefore also addresses how, through identity, these representations of culture are mediated by the exigencies of form, or by what is inherently required of each of the different types of adaptation. Terms used often in the study, like race, gender and gender coding, masculinity and hyper-masculinity, and liberal and conservative, are defined and contextualized below in this Introduction. Other terms will be defined as they are used in the chapters. The legendarily successful 1949 Broadway musical, South , directed by Joshua Logan, had music written by Richard Rodgers, and its book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan. The musical, which places the war as background for encounters between Americans and Pacific Islanders, is still produced at a rate of 450 stage productions per year worldwide. Yet, the highly acclaimed 2008 Lincoln Center production was the first Broadway revival in over sixty years. The chapter on South Pacific will address the following adaptation trajectory: its 1947 source novel, Tales o f the South Pacific; the 1949 musical script and original Broadway production; the 1951 London Drury Lane production’s black-and-white dress rehearsal film, which is the only 3 extant film related to the original Broadway production; the 1958 Hollywood movie; and the live performance of the 2008 Broadway revival at Lincoln Center. In addition to the contention of the fifties’ paradox and an increasingly conservative representation of race, the trajectory examined here also argues that the 2008 revival seems to expose the prior conservativism regarding race, while adding a curious new feature that is not particularly liberal. The revival also inspires questions about its timing and success at this American moment. The smash 1948 Broadway hit, Mister Roberts, written by Thomas Heggen and Joshua Logan, is based on Heggen’s highly successful, tragicomic 1946 novel by the same name. The novel and play are about an officer on a Navy cargo ship in the Pacific towards the war’s end and his conflict with his Captain. The novel and play were adapted as the hit 1955 Hollywood movie also called Mister Roberts, all three of which will be examined in this chapter. Together, the three forms constitute the first of the highly successful, lucrative, immediate post-World War II adaptation groupings. The story was again adapted in 1984 as a videotape of a live studio performance by the same name that will not be discussed, as it was not remarkable, and there are no major reviews of it. Additionally, the 1965 television series by the same name will not be included in the analysis since it lasted for only one season with low ratings. However, unlike South Pacific and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Mister