Quick viewing(Text Mode)

Film History

Film History

Indiana University Press http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815615 .

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iupress. .

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Indiana University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Film History.

http://www.jstor.org FilmHistory, Volume 14, pp. 121-135, 2002. Copyright© John Libbey ISSN:0892-2160. Printedin Malaysia

The Catholic Vision in Hollywood:Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock

MarfaElena de las CarrerasKuntz

This articleexplores the differentways in which fear of being involvedin anythingevil. I alwaystried a Catholicview of the human conditionis re- to avoid it',he acknowledgedto Truffaut.4 flected in the cinema of , Frank FrankCapra was the most explicitof the four Borzage, FrankCapra and AlfredHitchcock. directors in discussing his religious affiliation. The belief system at work in the canon of these Capra'sbiographers and criticsagree thatthe power Hollywoodfilmmakers of the studioera is rootedin a and consistency of the filmmaker'smoral vision are Catholicunderstanding of the humanperson and his rootedin his own lifeand experiences.Even if Joseph relationshipto others, to the worldand to God. No- McBride'sbiography : The Catastrophe tions of love, sin, redemptionand communion- as of Success (1992) shows that Capra's1971 memoir taughtand livedin the Catholictradition - are central should be readwith qualifications, it still provides the to understandthe worldviewof fourfilmmakers who point of departureto examine the extent to which were raised in the Catholicfaith.1 Capra's moralvision is shaped by the Catholicism Ford(1894-1973), Borzage (1894-1962) and into he was born, There are many revealingrefer- Capra (1897-1991) share a common immigrant ences in Capra's The Name Above the Titleto the background:they were bornin the last decade of the Catholicfaith in connectionwith his personallife and 19th century into large Europeanfamilies of rural work.An individualistby temperamentwho did not backgroundwho had leftthe OldWorld searching for accept his religiousheritage as a given butgradually a betterfuture in the UnitedStates. Fordand Borzage came intoit, Caprawrites that in his earlyadulthood were first generation Americans of Irish and Ital- he was a 'ChristmasCatholic'.5 In the mid 1930s, the ian/Austrian/Swissorigins, respectively;and Capra astonishing success of was born in Sicilyand immigratedto the US at age (1934)triggered an artisticcrisis, which resulted in a six. As noted by theirbiographers, the culturaland conversionexperience, not unlikethe one faced by religiouspatterns of these hyphenatedfamilies were many of his characters.He relates that the admon- absorbedby their children and combined,in the case ishmentof an anonymouslittle man catapultedhim of Caprawith long-lastingrepercussions, with the back to action:'The talents you have, Mr.Capra, are prevailingvalues of the Anglo Protestant estab- not yourown, not self-acquired.God gave you those lishment.2 talents; they are His gifts to you, to use for His Hitchcock(1899-1980), on the other hand, of was born in Londoninto a middle-class family, Maria Elena de las Carreras-Kuntz is a film critic English and Irishdescent. He noted to Francois and Fulbright scholar from Argentina. living in Los Truffaut:'Ours was a Catholicfamily and in Angeles. She has a Ph.D. in Film Studies from UCLA. this in itselfis an He attendedCatholic and teaches at both UCLA and State Uni- eccentricity'.3 the the Jesuit St. a versity at Northridge. She reports on international schools, including IgnatiusCollege, film scene for several Argentine publications and formativeexperience that left a lasting influence.'It currently is writing a series of articles on cinema and was probablyduring this periodwith the Jesuits that Catholicism for CRISIS. a strong sense of fear developed - moralfear - the Correspondence to jkuntz(o)ucla.edu. 122 MariagIPlg·V~~~~o·Pnirl Elena9--V-----CI·I~~P Carreras--PMaria~Elena de las Carreras Kuntz conflict:the clash between a Catholicmoral view - an idealisthero - and his desire to be a successful Hollywooddirector - the materialisticworld which his memorablevillains inhabit.8 John Ford'sCatholicism is also a knownfact: a complex personality,he was a man of faith and deeply held convictions. His biographers- begin- ningwith grandson Dan Ford- attest to this fact but fall short of exploringthe full implicationsof this lifelong fidelityto the Church,which resulted, for example, in the conversion of his Protestantwife. They tend to dwell (sometimes rathernegatively in the case of RonaldL. Davis)on what they perceive as the Irishqualities of Ford's religiousbeliefs, like superstition,childishness and the adorationof the Virgin Mary. The two most recent biographers, Joseph McBrideand Scott Eyman,tend to empha- size the ethnic component of Ford's Catholicism, examiningit primarilyin relationshipto the liferather thanthe work. Hitchcock,an intenselyprivate person, did not disclose publiclythe importanceof Catholicismin his adultlife. He was a parishionerof the Churchof the Good Shepherd in BeverlyHills, where he attended Mass withhis wifeAlma Reville, a close collaborator duringhis entirecareer, who converted to Catholi- cism beforetheir marriage in 1926. LikeFord, Hitch- cock was reluctantto discuss his cinema otherthan incinematic terms. So to assess the Catholicoutlook that Frenchcritics saw as shaping his work,one has to look at the evidence of the films. When Truffaut asked Hitchcockif he considered himselfa Catholic artist,the filmmakerwas not so much evasive as cryptic:'Maybe one's earlyupbringing influences a Fig.1. The purpose. And when you don't use the gifts God man's lifeand guides his instinct.I am definitelynot youngFrank blessed you with- you are an offense to God - and antireligious;perhaps I'msometimes neglectful.'9 Borzage,a star of to Whether wrote the facts or with Frank Catholicismis westernsfor humanity.'6 Capra Dealing Borzage's the about this as not on a level. ThomasInce, printed legend definingepisode, possible purelybiographical Borzage about1915. McBridenotes, it doesn't alterthe autobiographical grew up in a Catholicfamily who had settled outside resonance of Clarence,the guardianangel in It'sa of Salt LakeCity, staunch Mormonterritory. Accord- [Allphotos WonderfulLife (1946): through him the herobecomes ing to his Swiss biographerHerv6 Dumont, Borzage courtesyof aware of the effects of his God-giventalents. had not been baptised and did not want to convert RichardKoszarski Inlater years, through his wife,Lucille Reyburn, to the familyfaith at the time of his death. In 1997 I Collection.] who had convertedto Catholicism,Capra returned interviewedBorzage's nephew Frank, who con- to the faith.He definedhimself 'as a Catholicin spirit; firmed this information., Jr., com- one who firmlybelieves thatthe anti-moral,the intel- mented on the long-runningfamily joke about the lectual bigots and the Mafiasof illwill may destroy unbaptisedBorzages faringmuch betterin lifethan religion,but they willnever conquer the cross'.7If his the Catholicones. films are seen as a form of submerged biography Dumontpoints out thatthe enigmaof Borzage then one can understandwhy in so many of them - an extremely private person - can start to be Capra is fashioning plots that reflect his personal unraveledby notingthat at age 25 the filmmakerhad The Catholic Vision in Hollywood: Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock 123 become a Mason and was active in his CulverCity, been created in God's image and resemblanceand CaliforniaLodge. Dumont,in his definitivebiography by virtueof this filiationwe are all, the livingand the (unavailableso far in an Englishtranslation), makes dead, part of the same body - the communionof the case that the Borzage canon should have a saints - held together by the redeeming power of Masonic interpretation,whose thematic model is love. Inthis sense, Capra'smain narrative trope (an Mozart'sThe Magic Flute with its hero's Gnostic idealisthero rising up to defendthe commonpeople) journeyof enlightenmentthrough the acquisitionof partakesof this notion.A joyfulsense of community, knowledge.10The contentionof this articleis thatthe of belongingto somethinglarger than themselves, of Borzage canon - not the biography- reflects a being partof a familyand family-likeinstitutions, is at Catholicview of love in its theological meaning of the heartof Capra'sworks of maturityfrom Mr. Deeds Charityor Agape, unselfishlove, self-sacrificingand Goes to Town(1936) to It'sa WonderfulLife. But it is freely given, an analogy to the love of God for his also presentvery forcefully in earlier films, like Ameri- creatures. can Madness (1932), the social melodramaabout a Inthe last decade, the most compellingargu- Quixoticbanker (WalterHuston), whose business ments about Catholicismin film - in English-lan- philosophyis to lend on character,not collateral, and guage scholarship- have been advanced by Lee who is repaid handsomely by hundreds of small Lourdeauxin his book Italianand IrishFilmmakers in customers when bankruptcyseems imminent.The America:Ford, Capra, Coppola, and Scorsese. 1 The comedy Ladyfor a Day (1933)operates on a similar authorargues thatthe Catholicidentity of these four principle:Apple Annie is helped by her beggar directors- notwithstandingthe crucial differences friends,a racketeerand his associates, and the New between first and second generation hyphenated Yorkelite to impersonatea ladyof distinctionso that Americans- can be probedby examininghow three her daughterwill marrya Spanish aristocrat.Lost keyCatholic ideas and beliefsare renderedcinemati- Horizon(1937) shows the Utopian Shangri-La,a cally: communion, mediation and sacramentality. mysteriouscommunity in the Himalayasfollowing the Centralto Lourdeaux'sview is the notionthat ethnic- teachings of their Lama, a two-hundredyear old ity and Catholicbeliefs are two sides of the same Frenchmissionary. coin, thatis, an Irishand Italianway of being Catholic Capra'sfilms celebrate the values associated resultsin certaintypes of themes and imagery.This withlife in a community- solidarityand selflessness appreciationof the artist'sethnic backgroundis un- as the best way to livea fulfillingexistence - but do doubtedlyuseful to accountfor certain thematic and so in a non-ethnicway, unlikethe second generation visual aspects in the workof a director:Bunuel, for Italian-Americansrepresented by FrancisCoppola, example, cannot be fully grasped withoutunder- MartinScorsese and MichaelCimino, who tend to standing his lifelongrebellion against the Catholic keep the forms, ratherthan the spirit,of communal Churchof 19th centurySpain; nor Fellini'sbrand of activities.Lourdeaux notes that Capra's communi- anticlericalismoutside of Italianculture. But an em- ties - however idealised, one may add - are a blue- phasis on ethnicitywill tend to disregard how a printfor the principleof subsidiarityso fundamental Catholicidentity can be reflectedin filmmakerslike inthe Catholicsocial vision.This doctrine posits, and Hitchcockor Borzage,whose ethnicidentities do not Caprashows, thatin order to protectthe social order, play a crucialrole in theircanon. and especially those most vulnerableand needy, One should be carefulin assigning values to intermediateinstitutions are needed. These family- an artworkby virtueof ethnicityor religiousaffiliation. like organisationsprovide protection against anar- Yetthe specificallyCatholic concepts of communion, chy, the despotismof the powerfuland the intrusions mediationand sacramentalityare centralto explain- of the state. ing the key filmsand overallthemes of these classic The idea of communion- be itthe celebration Americanfilmmakers. of communitylife or the unionbetween the livingand theirdear dead - is a visualhallmark of Ford'sworld. Communion Ritualslike births,weddings, burials,dances and Intheological terms, communion is the beliefthat our meals cement the linksamongst the communityand relationshipwith God does not excuse us fromour bringto the screen some of Ford'smost memorable responsibilitytowards our neighbor,for whom we moments.The Irishrituals of courtshipplay a comic should care, especially for one in need. We have role in TheQuiet Man (1952). The dance is an act of 124 124 Maria Elena de las Carreras Kuntz - Maria-· Elena~- de·l~-p Carreras-~ Kuntz~)-~-~~- Fig.2. Former flameMarjorie Rambeauis out ofthe picture whenLoretta Youngcaptures SpencerTracy withher home-making skillsin Borzage'sMan's Castle (Columbia, 1933).

thanksgivingfor the rugged pioneersof DrumsAlong unity,as in (1926), How Green Was My the Mohawk(1939). The people of Tombstonecele- Valley(1941) and 3 Godfathers(1948). bratewith a folkdance the buildingof a churchin My FrankBorzage dwells on a differentmanifes- DarlingClementine (1946). Dances bringsolace to tationof communion:the linksamong humanbeings the wearyfarmers of TheGrapes of Wrath,and refine- are actualised throughthe transformativeeffect of mentto the frontieroutposts of the cavalrytrilogy, Fort love,primarily that between a manand awoman.This Apache (1948),She Worea YellowRibbon (1949) and is the overarchingtheme of the Borzagecanon. Love Rio Grande (1950), as well as TwoRode Together is a healing and redemptiveforce that propels the (1961), each a study of leadershipin times of crisis. loversand those who surroundthem intoa transcen- Burialshave a moving solemnityin The Lost Patrol dental dimension, a spiritualrealm beyond death, (1934), TheLong VoyageHome (1940), TheGrapes timeand space.12The quintessential Borzagean nar- of Wrath,The Battle of Midway(1942), and TheyWere rativeinvolves a couple bravingthe storms of life- Expendable (1945). Burialsmatter because these mainlypoverty and war, but also intoleranceand films describe the dignityand courage with which selfishness - to find,through their love and suffering, characters face danger and death. Death, in turn, a safe port. The opening intertitleof Street Angel does not breakthe unionbetween the livingand the (1928) summarisesthe definingtheme of Borzage's dead, and charactersoften talk to theirdead friends. whole work: 'Everywhere ... in every town ... in every InJudge Priest(1934), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), She street ... we pass, unknowing, human souls made Worea YellowRibbon (1949), TheSun Shines Bright great through love and adversity'.The two other (1953) and the Ford episode of How the West Was pairings of Janet Gaynorand Charles Farrell,7th Won(1962), husbands share theirjoys and sorrows Heaven (1927) and LuckyStar (1929) are delicate with their long-deceased wives as if they were still romances about the powerof love to transcendthe alive. In other films, the ghosts of the loved ones harshness of life. accompanythe livingin theirjourney as a symbolof Initially,the treatmentof romanticlove may The Catholic Vision in Hollywood: Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock 125 seem traditional,following generic Hollywoodcon- cumstances surroundingthe couples - bless the ventions. However,the understandingof how love hasty weddings of soldiers called to the warfront in shapes the dynamic of a couple follows a unique 7thHeaven, A Farewellto Arms (1932) and ChinaDoll. Borzageanroute. In his films,love is a process that Priest-likemediators provide the spiritualatmos- starts as Eros, a sensual attraction,and becomes, pherewhere couples in dangercan exchange vows. through redemptivesuffering, Agape, the selfless The preacher in Man's Castle performsa moving care and concernfor the well being of the loved one ceremony,remarking that althoughthey are not in a and others.13In the most overtlyreligious films, The church, in the eyes of God, Spencer Tracy and GreenLight (1937), DisputedPassage (1939) - two LorettaYoung are husband and wife. Man'sCastle pictureswhere agnostic doctors become believers- contains meaningfulreligious epiphanies: Spencer Strange Cargo (1940), a Christianparable in the Tracy reads from the Song of Songs, and the guise of an adventurefilm, Till We MeetAgain (1944), preachercites the FirstEpistle of Saint Paul to the wherea fearfulreligious woman accepts the designs Corinthians,Chapter 1, verse 27: 'God chose those of Providenceto enter a hostileworld, and TheBig who by human standards are fools to shame the Fisherman(1959) about Simonof Galileebecoming wise; he chose those who by humanstandards are a fisherof souls, the love of the couple becomes a weak to shame the strong'. In Three Comrades subtlystated analogyof God's deep love and joy of (1938) MargaretSullavan and Robert Taylor ex- his creation. God is everywhere,,an change vows among friendsin the restaurantwhere Americanpilot hiding from the Germans, tells the they have courted.The motherin Mortal Storm (1940) Frenchnovice who saves him in TillWe Meet Again. blesses the cup of wine exchanged by James Ste- The psychological crime drama Moonrise (1948) wartand MargaretSullavan before fleeing fromthe shows a young man responsiblefor a murderwho Nazis. redeems himselfthrough the love of a youngwoman. The sting of death has no powerover couples Bymeans of delicatevisual ellipses, the sexual made one by love and suffering.The dead enter a unionis accomplishedat an earlystage of the rela- spiritual,disembodied stage, and watch over the tionshipand seals the formationof the couple. What living.As in Fordfilms, the dead and the livingare begins as Eros - a physical longing that is soon partof a mysticalbody, held togetherby love, as the fulfilled- triggers a process of spiritualgrowth ending of ThreeComrades eloquently shows. throughwhich the two become one flesh and soul. Borzage also excelled in capturingthe lighter QuintessentialBorzage films like 7th Heaven, Man's side of romanticlove. Inmany comedies, he delights Castle (1933) and ChinaDoll (1958) show the proc- the audienceby showingthe veryinstant love is born, ess by whicha fiercelyindependent - butincomplete be itthe hitof Cupid'sarrow at firstsight, or the tender - man slowly enters into the realm of domesticity momentwhen reciprocatedfeelings are confessed. inhabited by the woman, who 'makes an empty The scenes are always staged in a similarmanner: house intoa home, a home intoa haven',in the words camera, lightingand music create a privatespace of Ray Milland.A shy Janet Gaynorturns a shabby forthe man and womancaught in an intenseroman- Montmartreattic into a domestic paradise, in 7th tic spell. KayFrancis and George Brentare magneti- Heaven. In Man'sCastle, Spencer Tracyis torn be- cally attractedto one anotherin a crowded room in tween the pullto abandona pregnantLoretta Young Livingon Velvet(1935); Spencer Tracy, a street-smart or stay, and thus relinquishhis cherishedfreedom. New Yorkcab driver,courts on a busy sidewalka The dilemma is visually and aurallylaid out: the flustered Romanian immigrantplayed by Luise beckoningwhistle of passing trainsversus the stove Rainerin Big City(1937); under the Spanishmoon, a he has boughther to be paidin installments.In China sophisticated MarleneDietrich falls for the bashful Doll,the blase warpilot Victor Mature learns to enjoy GaryCooper in Desire (1936);a Spanishredheaded the home his 'temporary'Chinese wife has made of seiorita (MaureenO'Hara) is swept away- and wed the shack assigned to him. by - a daring Dutch pirate (Paul Henreid)in The The passage fromEros to Agape is markedby SpanishMain (1945). a simplebut solemn ritualof marriage.The exchange However,in Borzage'suniverse, the trajectory of vows is sacramental,that is, a sign of the actionof fromEros to Agape - the transformationof selfish- God's grace uponthe lovers.Catholic priests - sym- ness into selflessness - is not confinedto romantic patheticcharacters who understandthe unusualcir- love. In the films infusedwith a religioussensibility, 126 1Maria...,~ina.....Elona de: las Carreas Kuntz

Agape coincides with a Christianunderstanding of criminals die at peace with themselves, having the relationshipbetween man and his neighbour,as reached redemptionthrough the serene example a reflectionof God's lovefor his creation.The rational and words of Cambreau.After the mysteriousman doctorsof GreenLight and DisputedPassage realise dies and resurrectsin a climacticsea storm,and later in an epiphanythat they can belong in the human disappears, Verne decides to returnto the colony familyonly if they sacrificethemselves for the good and pay his debt to society, whileJulie waits for him, of others. Riskingdeath, ErrolFlynn tests on himself The trajectoryfrom Eros to Agape has been com- a vaccine for a deadly disease, and John Howard pleted.The Christianallegory is unmistakable:Cam- behaves heroicallyduring a Japanese bombing.The breaufunctions as a Christfigure; he gives Gable a redemptivevalue of sacrifice is at the core of the map withthe escape routedrawn on a Bible;Gable beautifulromantic drama The ShiningHour (1938), courtsCrawford with the Song of Songs, a sacramen- where the goodness and immolationof Margaret tal act that triggersher conversion.Strange Cargo, Sullavanheals a whole family,transforms a cynical certainlyan unusualfilm for its time, withits mix of lady played by Joan Crawfordand saves two mar- sensualityand spirituality,was condemned by the riages. Legion of Decency. The Catholic organisation In many Borzage films spiritualgrowth is deemed offensivethe portrayalof the Christ-likefig- achievedthrough physical loss. Thedirector renders ure and irreverentthe use of the Scripture.Time has invisual terms the paradoxat the heartof the Gospel: shown the Legion was woefullyshortsighted in its the grainof wheatmust die inorder to give fruit.Even judgementof one of the most Catholicfilms made in thoughthe Gospel message is never made explicit, Hollywood. filmafter film shows that love overcomes the havoc wrought by selfishness, poverty and war. In the Borzageanuniverse evil is a force thatcauses moral Closely associated to communion,mediation is the degradation,and there are not so much villainsas idea that people need someone or something - a weak characterswho inhabita spiritualhell. This is person, nature,symbols - to resolveconflicts. Christ especially true of the anti-warfilms made between is the mediatorpar excellence. Fordand Capracon- 1932 and 1940:A Farewellto Arms,No GreaterGlory sistentlyuse mediatingfigures. The Borzage hero is (1934), the remarkableanti-Nazi trilogy: Little Man, not definedby mediationtraits but by his capacityto WhatNow? (1934), ThreeComrades (1940) and The reflectlove by analogywith Divine Love. The Hitch- MortalStorm (1943) and the French Resistance cock hero - an ordinaryman or woman facing ex- dramaTill We Meet Again. They are not topicalpoliti- traordinaryevil - is neithera mediatornor a reflection cal denunciationsbut timeless explorationsof what of transcendentallove. He is defined by the willing- dehumanising behaviour, violence and legalised ness to fightevil and by the price he has to pay. brutality- in sum, spiritualchaos - can do to the InCapra's narrative pattern, the herofunctions humansoul. In some instances, the only heroic re- likea mediatorbetween the needs of the community sponse is martyrdom,as beautifullyembodied by the and the entrenched forces of greed: Dickson in young novice in TillWe MeetAgain, who learnedof AmericanMadness (1932), Deeds inMr. Deeds Goes love and evil by riskingher life. to Town(1930) Vanderhofin YouCan't Take It with Strange Cargo is perhaps the film that best You(1838), Smithin Mr.Smith Goes to Washington shows the individualand communalimplications of (1939), Doe in (1941) and Baileyin Erostransformed into Agape. Itis a Gospel narrative It'sa WonderfulLife (1946) playthat role. Inthe most of the redemptionof assorted sinners,among which Christ-likeof these figures- Smithand Doe -there is a repentantprostitute, told as a romanticadventure are concrete allusions to their 'crucifixion'at the with glamorous Hollywoodstars dressed in rags hands of the powerful.If anything,the trajectoryof throughoutthe film. In an isolated penal colony, the archetypicalCapra messianic innocentis one of Cambreau (lan Hunter),an enigmatic man who passion, death and resurrection. emerges fromnowhere, leads a group of prisoners Music not only mediates between the oppo- to freedomthrough the jungle.Only tough guy Verne sites - as the harmonicaduet inYou Can't Take it with (ClarkGable) and Julie(), a hardened You(1937) - but also contributesto the creationor prostitutein search of better horizons,survive the reaffirmationof a communalspirit: the impromptu perilsof the journeyand fall in love. The rest of the singingof 'TheMan in the FlyingTrapeze' on the bus TheThe- Catholic Vision in Hollywood: - Ford, Capra, Boza adicoand- Hitchcock 12127 Hollywood:- Ford, Capra, Borzage - inIt Happened One Night(1934), the tuba playingof Deeds in MandrakeFalls, the singing of Auld Lang Syne at the end of It'sa WonderfulLife (1946). Other types of recurrentmediators are the benevolentfathers and fatherfigures, who dead or alive steer the heroes and heroines towards the commongood. To cite one of many,the dead father in TheMiracle Woman (1931), whose Christianethic standards end up destroying the religious scam cooked up by his vengeful daughter, . The Fordianhero is characterisedby a secu- larisedChrist-like trait, the willingnessto be a media- tor - to the point of self-sacrifice - for the good of the family,the community,and even the nation,as inthe case of YoungMr. Lincoln (1939). The hero, a man or a woman and even a child likeShirley Temple in WeeWillie Winkle (1938), strivesto moderateintoler- ance (socialprejudice, war, discrimination) by medi- ating between the opposing forces of chaos (the lawlessness of the West,the exploitationof the weak or poor) and repression (the letterof the law, rigid traditions). What makes Ford's heroes so interestingis theirhuman scale: they are not largerthan life.They embody contradictions,complexities and flaws. In Catholicterms, they are of fallennature, susceptible of redemption.They succeed but also fail.They are unique creatures: Tom Joad leaves his familyto become a union organiser in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Nathan Brittleswisely averts war with the Indiansin She Worea YellowRibbon (1949), a com- passionate and astute Lincoln defends innocent people froma lynchmob inYoung Mr. Lincoln (1939); pel's commandto love one's neighbour.At the end Fig.3. Frank HannahJessop redresses the moralwrong she has of the film, a new priest named Serra - like the Capra the done in Pilgrimage(1933); an idealist pastor con- Franciscanfounder of the 18th century California contemplates fronts and the of traditionsin missions - will into the shoes of the needsof the prejudice weight rigid step martyred communityon the small Welsh communityof How Green Was My hero, assuring the continuityof the church faithful. theset of Mr. Valley(1941); Judge Priestshows how tolerance is Ford wrote to producer DarrylF. Zanuckthat 'my DeedsGoes to possible in the deeply prejudicedKentucky town in heartand my faithcompel me to do it'.14 Town(Columbia, (1956). Ford sums up the Threeof the morecomplex - and writtenabout 1934). mediatortype in his last feature (1966) - Fordheroes are EthanEdwards (a hero and anti- [Photoby Irving makingthe worldlyheroine - an agnostic among hero)in TheSearchers (1956) and RansomStoddard Lippman.] Protestantbelievers - the onlyone to livethe spiritof and TomDoniphon (one herosplit in two characters) the Gospel by sacrificingherself for the community. in The Man WhoShot LibertyValance (1962). They In The Fugitive(1947) Ford and screenwriter reflecta viewof the Westas a morallandscape where transformGraham Greene's novel good and evilcan stillbe discerned- civilisedbehav- The Power and the Gloryabout the individualre- iouris betterthat lawlessness and revenge - butthe demptionof a 'whiskey'priest into a full-blownalle- heroes cannot fulfillsuccessfully their role of media- goryof Christ'sPassion, Deathand Resurrection:an tors withoutsacrificing themselves to a nameless ordinarypriest ends up fulfillingheroically the Gos- limbo 'between the winds'. Edwards returns her 128 MariaElena de las Carreras Kuntz

the Sermonon the Mount,an explicitreference to the core of the Christianmoral doctrine in the New Testament,which opens withthe Beatitudes- para- doxical in purelyhuman terms - and found in the Gospel accordingto Matthewand Luke.15 LikeCapra, Ford shows an undisguised- for some, overlysentimental - affectionfor the poor,the dispossessed, and the humble, that is, for those blessed by Christin the Beatitudes:the Joads in The Grapesof Wrath(1940), expelledfrom their land; the Mexican peasants who keep the Catholicfaith in spite of brutalpersecution in The Fugitive(1947), Ford'snod to the countriesbehind the IronCurtain; the Mormonfamilies in search of theirpromised land in (1950); and the blacks and the prostitutesin the moving Christianallegory of The Sun Shines Bright.16Ford's particularfondness for the sinnertranslates into the recurringcharacters of drunkardsand MaryMagdalens, who are endowed withredeeming values of wisdom and Madonna-like purity:Doc Boone and Dallas, the drunkendoctor and saloon girlof Stagecoach (1939), chased from town by self-righteousladies of the league of de- cency; MariaDolores, the fallenwoman who helps the priest in The Fugitive(1947); Doc Hollidayand Chihuahuain (1946); and the vulnerablebrute Gypo Nolanin TheInformer (1935). InGypo Nolan, Ford and screenwriterDudley Nichols transformedthe renegade IrishCommunist of Liam O'Flaherty'soriginal into an entirelydifferent crea- Fig.4. Victor niece to the whiteworld but is destined to roamand ture,forgiven before dying by the motherof the friend McLaglenand wander;Doniphon is the unsungcowboy hero of the he betrayed. Grahame Margot Old West who made the New West possible by Ford also utilises the landscape in a sacra- asthe drunkard on a man of credit mentalmanner. In the shots of Monument andthe willinglybestowing Stoddard, law, lingering Magdalen - inJohn Ford's forthe shootingwhich propelled his career. Valley where he made nine of his Westerns and TheInformer whichhe turnedinto a universalsymbol of the Ameri- (RKO,1935). Sacramentality can West - the directorconveys a uniquesense of DistinctivelyCatholic, sacramentality is the capacity beauty and mystery,establishing a sacramentalre- of materialthings - people, objects, places, the lationshipbetween man and landscape. Fordturns cosmos - to carry,so to speak, the presence of God. it intoa primordialspace where the childrenof God To see God in and throughHis creation. are faced withthe basic issues of life:family, com- InCapra's filmic vision one waythis is reflected munity,justice, solidarity,repentance, forgiveness is inthe portrayalof the littlepeople and theirinherent and mercy.Or, as McBridewrites: 'Ford's poetic way dignity.Even though it is truethat they also have the of conveyingthe transcendence of the eternalover potentialto become a mob - as the darkMeet John the temporal'.17 Doe (1941) shows - it is even truerthat the common Intheir film work made forthe US government men are the meek of the Gospel. 'The meek can between 1942 and 1945 as partof the wareffort, Ford inheritthe earthwhen the John Does startloving their and Capraalso broughtto the screen this distinctive neighbors', says Doe at the end of his first radio approach to the inherentdignity of each human broadcast.Capra commented on severaloccasions person. Headinga combat photographyunit, Ford that the underlyingidea of his movies was actually personallyshot and edited the poetic documentary The Catholic Vision in Hollywood: Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock 129

Fig. 5. workingwith ThorntonWilder onthe Shadow of a Doubtscript _...... : (Universal,1943).

short TheBattle of Midway(1942), fromthe pointof Negro Soldier(1944) not partof the series, sets this view of the soldiers who fought it, so that their propagandafilm about the contributionof American sacrificeand heroismcould be seen and felt by the blacks in a stillsegregated Army,in a vibrantChris- audiences at home. As part of the secret photo- tianchurch gathered for Sundayworship. graphicmissions for the Officeof StrategicServices, Borzageshares withCapra and Forda sacra- a forerunnerof the CIA,he documentedthe Doolittle mentalsense of reality,but in his filmsit dwells on the raidagainst Tokyo taking off fromthe carrierHornet humanface. Some of the most memorablemoments in 1942, dwellingon the 'faces of ordinaryseamen, in Borzage are the intenselyspiritual farewells, fore- supportingthe heroicmission', as McBridenotes.18 shadowingdeath: HelenHayes at herdeathbed inA As the executiveproducer of the WhyWe Fight Farewellto Arms(1932) to the music of 'Deathand series commissioned by Chief of Staff General Transfiguration'from Wagner's Tristanand Isolde; George Marshallfollowing Pearl Harbor, Capra laid FrankMorgan, as the GermanJewish professortalk- out the basic rhetoricaldevice of contrastingthe ing to this wife for the last time in the concentration Americandemocratic ideals - includingthe value of camp, in TheMortal Storm (1940); religion- to the dehumanisingideology of the Axis dying in JimmyStewart's arms, also in The Mortal powers.The director'spredilection for the common Storm,sacrificing herself for her husband and friend people - and theirsuffering - is a constanttheme of in ThreeComrades (1938). the series. Itcomes across most forcefullyin the last For these three directors,music - an instru- episode, WarComes to America,a celebrationof the mentof mediation- also plays a sacramentalrole; it Americanvalues he so prizedin his 1930s films.The is a means to create a communal sense and a 130 MariaElena de las Carreras Kuntz

reminderthat we are connected to a realitytran- flawlessheroes, and the forces of destruction,chaos scending our senses. To mindcomes the beautiful and disorderunleashed against them. Exceptfor a scene - and unnecessary for plot progression - of few instances of ambiguous endings - Vertigo the blindorphan singing 'CaroNome', fromVerdi's (1958), Psycho (1960) and The Birds(1963) - good Rigoletto,in Capra's (1951). triumphsover evil and the moralbalance is restored, Theuse of traditionaland religiousmelodies through- but not without the providentialintervention of out Ford'scinema providescinematographic short- chance. The protagonists,and also the characters cuts into his universe, incarnatingthe essential caught in the turmoil,do not come out of these Fordianthemes, forexample 'Shall We Gatherat the ordeals unscathed;they pay a price,either in a loss River'symbolising an ideal communityin countless of innocence (Rebecca, 1940; ForeignCorrespon- films.In Borzagethe experienceof beauty is gener- dent, 1940;,1943), the acquisition ally renderedthrough music. It performsa radical of guilt(Blackmail, 1929; Sabotage, 1936), or more transformation,delicately portrayed in the television disturbingly,through their contaminationwith evil play The Day I Met Caruso (1956), by changing (Tor Curtain,1966; Topaz,1969, ,1972). In forevera littleQuaker girl's austere view of joy. their seminal 1957 study on the director,Claude Chabroland EricRohmer defined this intertwiningof Catholic narrates good and evil as the 'transferof guilt'.20In the later Ford,Borzage, Capra and Hitchcockalso have sig- films,not untouchedby hintsof despair,evil is clearly nature narrativeforms that lend themselves to a presentedas the absence, or the slaughter,of love: Catholicreading of the humancondition. The Catho- (1954), Vertigo,Psycho and Mamie lic understandingon this matteris thathuman nature (1964), studies of isolated or obsessed individuals is weakened by originalsin but capable of redemp- confinedin emotionalor pathologicaltraps. tion, throughthe exercise of free will.19Salvation or Inthe two filmswith specifically Catholic sub- damnationare not predestined,and it mattershow ject matter,I Confess (1953) and The WrongMan we choose to behave, for in this choice lies whatwe (1957),the protagonistsare men of faith:one a priest, willbecome. played by MontgomeryCliff, and the other a family InBorzage's films, goodness, beautyand truth manand NewYork musician of Italiandescent, Henry - attributesof God in classic Catholictheology- Fonda. Bothstand accused of crimesthey have not move a person, a couple, a familyand a community committed - a recurrent motif - but to transcendthe limitsimposed by a flawedhuman neither can prove his innocence: The priest has condition,become whole, and thus fulfilltheir huma- heardthe confession of the murderer,and is there- neness. In his stories of conversionthrough love, fore bound to secrecy; the musicianhas been misi- thereflows a predilection- likeCapra and Ford- for dentified as a robber in a police lineup. The the little people, for the weak, the wounded, the machineryof authorityis about to crush them when innocent,the children,or allGod's creaturesblessed providenceintervenes: without violating his vows, the by Christin the Sermonof the Mount.It was not by priestis able to reenacta publicavowal of the murder chance thatBorzage's last picturewas TheBig Fish- by the criminal;in The WrongMan, the real robberis erman,and its climaxthat very passage of Gospel. caught ina scene immediatelyfollowing the protago- Inhis filmsabout love, beauty, suffering and sacrifice, nist's anguished prayerto the Sacred Heart.The Borzagetranslated the beatitudesof the NewTesta- climaxof thisdocumentary-style film, based on a true mentto the Hollywoodscreen. story,is the close-up of a prayingFonda dissolving overthe emergingface of the realculprit. Hitchcock's tales of original sinners The spreadingpresence of evilis a constantin The archetypicalHitchcockian situation involves an the Hitchcockianuniverse. The films are nottheologi- ordinaryman or womanwho is suddenlyinvolved in cal ruminationsabout the natureof evil, but a pres- an out-of-the-ordinarysituation. This disruptionis entation of its horrificconsequences, mainly its caused by some manifestationof evil:a malevolent 'desecrationsof beautyand purity',as Truffautsum- person,a secret organisation,political agents (Nazis marises its impact.21Like the biblicalJob, the char- or communists),a sinfulpast of sexual origin,or an acters forced to confrontevil do not understandits unbridledelement of nature.The plot is played out originor magnitude:the shy new mistress of Man- as the confrontationbetween these good but not derley,symbolising the possibilityof redemption,is The Catholic Vision in Hollywood: Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock 131 nearly destroyed by the obsessed housekeeper comes across so forcefullyin Hitchcock'swork is the mourningthe death of evil Rebecca, a character unshakeable presence of moral absolutes, rooted unseen and unheardin Rebecca, but whose malig- not surprisinglyin a Judeo-Christianworldview. nant presence threatensthe living.In Rope (1948), Maybethe Jesuit emphasis on casuistrychanneled two college graduatesmurder a friendin an aesthetic the futurefilmmaker's awareness of the factorsinter- attemptat moralemancipation. Psycho offersa chill- vening in the concreteness of a moralsituation. ing pictureof hell in the guise of a journeyinto the Ina Hitchcockfilm not onlyis the moraldimen- mind of the psychopathicmurderer Norman Bates, sion of a key act shown with clarity,but also the withwhom the audience has emotionallyidentified awareness of the character in such a moment: untilthe surprisingtwist at the end. A psychoticson ClaudeRains deciding to poison his wifein Notorious acts as ifa pactto exchange murdershas reallytaken (1946); OskarHomolka sending his young brother- place inStrangers on a Train(1951); the explosionof in-lawaway carryinga ticking bomb in Sabotage the merry-go-roundat the end symbolisesthe chaos (1936);the motherswho must choose between the he has generated.In this light,The Birds can be seen lives of theirkidnapped children or disruptingan act as a doomsday parable about contemporaryman of sabotage in both versions of TheMan Who Knew paralysedand helpless beforea force of evilbeyond TooMuch (1934 and 1956);the spyingof the reporter his understanding. in RearWindow (1953); the detectivemanipulating a The most effectiveagents of evilare invariably woman to satisfy his romanticobsession in Vertigo; seductive, well-manneredand clean-shavengentle- the womanstealing $40,000 in Psycho. men - occasionallya mysterious,elegant woman as The heroes are imperfector fight against a in The ParadineCase (1947). Since one of Hitch- darkpast: the guilt-riddenprotagonists of the period cock's techniques is to provide the viewers with dramaUnder Capricorn (1949) and the psychologi- informationwithheld from the characters so as to cal thrillerSpellbound (1945), an obsessively curious create suspense, the design of malevolentmen is James Stewartin RearWindow, the moralweakling particularlyinteresting. Joseph Cottonin Shadowof portrayedby FarleyGranger in Strangerson a Train a Doubtis a suavelysinister killer of richwidows, who (1948),the unfaithfulwife in Dial M for Murder (1954), explainshis amoralbehaviour to the audienceduring an irresponsibleCary Grant in Northby Northwest a familymeal. The camera dollies in on his profileand (1959),the sour protagonistof Frenzy(1968). By the when a voice-overremarks that widows are human same token, the agents of evil sometimes show beings, he turnshis face to the camera as if daring moralqualms, likethe troubledspies played by Os- the viewers to respond, and chillinglystates: 'Are car Homolkaand HerbertMarshall in Sabotage and they?' The charming German and ForeignCorrespondent, and the woman kidnapper Claude Rainsare in fact ruthlesskillers in the pictur- inthe 1956 versionof TheMan Who Knew Too Much. esque landscapes of Switzerlandand Brazil,in Se- Interestingly,when a scene shows a killing cret Agent (1936) and Notorious(1946). committedby a decent character,with whom the In the war drama Lifeboat(1944), about the audience has been led to identify,Hitchcock skillfully Alliedsurvivors of a Germansubmarine attack who dissociates the act from the actor: the killingstill rescue a diabolicalNazi officer and eventuallykill violates the FifthCommandment, even though the him, Hitchcockcame the closest to openly voicing perpetratorwas forced to act in self-defense. The the moraland religiousissues faced by a group of most hauntingexample perhaps is in the Cold War people in an extremesituation of physicaland spiri- spy dramaTorn Curtain, where an Americanscientist tual confinement.'What do we do with people like workingas a spy in East Germanykills a communist that?' is a question asked twice by a character.It secret agent in a gas oven. Likethe equallyhorrific encapsulatesa moraldilemma with no easy solution. scene of the bathtubmurder in Psycho, the act of Shaping the design of a Hitchcockcharacter killinga human person - however despicable - and is the beliefin man's fallen nature, or what British critic disposing of the corpse, is an ugly, arduous, dirty RobinWood discusses as the 'inextricabilityof good task. This is the premise developed in the black and evil', one way of referringto the doctrine of comedy The Troublewith Harry(1955), where the original sin.22 This intertwiningdoes not mean that directorindulged his Britishpenchant for the maca- good and evil are interchangeablefactors in a uni- bre and for ironicunderstatement. verse of moral relativism.On the contrary,what Hitchcockis farfrom assigning to himselfthe 132 MariaElena de las Carreras Kuntz

role of a moralist,or a Catholicapologist, for that by notkilling his 'contaminated'young niece, brought matter.In the televisionseries AlfredHitchcock Pre- up as a Comanchein TheSearchers. A compassion- sents (1955-1965), however,the directorseems to ate doctor forgoes a lucrativepractice to help the relishplaying the role of a sternfather admonishing poor inArrowsmith(1931). In The Fugitive, the perse- childrenwho deviatefrom the good path, by means cuted priest returnsto a dangerous country,and of modernday fables. The no-nonsense moralityof martyrdom,for the salvationof one soul. the stories is conveyed throughdeceptively simple The possibilityof redemptionis an omnipres- plots:what you do to otherswill be done to you. The ent traitof Ford's universe.No matterhow flawed, most recurringnarrative involves characters who weak, proud or sinful,a charactercan choose the murderand cannot extricatethemselves from the path of redemption,on manyoccasions throughan physicaland moralconsequences of these acts, for act of self-sacrifice:the unfaithfulwife in Flesh (1932), exampleBack for Christmas, Wet Saturday, One More the amoral flyer in Airmail(1932), the possessive Mile to Go, Lamb to the Slaughterand Banquo's mother in Pilgrimage,the pathetic Judas figure of Chair. Gypo Nolan in The Informer;the misguided French governor of a Polynesian island in The Hurricane the martinetcommander in Fort and The moral epiphanies in John Ford (1937); Apache; the cynicalDr. Cartwright in 7 Women.In 3 Bad Men Ford'scinematic universe is buildaround a repertory (1926) and 3 Godfathers,two wonderfulallegories of themes, notablyfamily, community, justice, duty, aboutthe ThreeMagi, the outlawsrepresent also the tradition,self-sacrifice and redemption.The director Good Thiefof the Gospel in Westernattire. favours three archetypicalnarratives, with strong of ascension toward symboliccomponents: journeys Capra's gospel parables or a of descent from home, promisedland; journeys Richard Griffithdescribed the narrativeformula lost which can be re- paradises, regained through elaborated,in close collaborationwith screen- and isolated communitiesor individuals Capra demption; writerRobert as a of in of a or nature. Riskin, 'fantasy goodwill', facing dangers physical spiritual which a messianic not unlikethe classic Ford sets his charactersin a moraluniverse innocent, of literature, himself the where and and evilhave an simpletons pits against right wrong,good objec- forces of entrenched His defeats tiveexistence. The momentin a Fordfilm is the greed. experience tragic him but his in the face crisis of an individual the momentwhen strategically, gallantintegrity conscience, of calls forth the of the 'little a charactertakes stock of who he orshe a moment temptation goodwill is, and theircombined he tri- that'allows them to definethemselves' as Fordonce people', through protest, remarked.'it enables me to make individualsaware umphs.24 GrahamGreene the formulain of each other them face-to-face with phrased Capra by bringing moralterms, to Mr.Deeds, but thanthemselves. The the referring applicable somethingbigger situation, to the entire canon: 'the theme of and forces men to revealthemselves and goodness tragicmoment, manhandledin a selfish and brutal to become aware of what are. The device simplicity deeply they truly world'.25The formulawas in 1936 withMr. allows me to find the in the common- place by exceptional Deeds. Itwas retooled in Mr.Smith and taken to a place.'23 darkextreme in MeetJohn Doe. To this trilogyof the These moral epiphanies are always subtly commonman should be added YouCan't Take It with staged, blended into the action. In The Prisonerof Youand Capra'spost-war comeback, It's a Wonder- SharkIsland (1936), Dr.Mudd, unjustly condemned fulLife. for participationin the Lincolnassassination plot, These films can also be read as modernday honors his medicalvows and saves his jailorsfrom parables,not unlikethose found inthe Gospel. They the plague. MaryStuart will face death ratherthan are storiesdrawn from real life experience, containing give up her Catholicfaith in Maryof Scotland(1936). botha paradoxand a challenge.It's a WonderfulLife InStagecoach (1939)and SergeantRutledge (1960), comes the closest to the spiritof the Gospel, be- the outlaw Ringo Kid and the brave black soldier cause it lays out a humanconflict and explores its choose to stay and helpthe stagecoach passengers transcendentalimplications: how ought we to con- and fellowsoldiers fromApache attacks. EthanEd- duct our lives?At the heartof the filmlies the clash wardsbreaks away from a cycle of rage and revenge betweenthe desires of the heartand the needs of the Cahoi Viio in Holwod Fod Borzage andHitchcockand Hitchcock 133 The CatholicThe~ ~ Vision in-Hollywood: Ford, Capra,Capra1 Borzage commongood. The hero,Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey,lives the irreconcilableconflict within himself untilthe end of the picture.Even though his nemesis Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore)typifies the classic Capravillain, he is morean externalmanifestation of Bailey's dualitythan an autonomous unrepentant Scrooge character.Most of the film is an extended flashback, in which an apprentice guardianangel Clarence(Henry Travers) reviews the lifeof this small townBuilding and Loanowner, who is contemplating suicide on ChristmasEve. The angel's challenge is how to preventhim from jumpingoff a bridge. By havingthe hero see what the life of the community wouldhave been if he hadn'tbeen born,Clarence - functioningas his conscience - triggersan experi- ence of conversion.The 'unborn'sequence shows in very cinematographicterms how the absence of Bailey'sgoodness has meant the presence of evil: BedfordFalls, renamed Pottersville, is an urbanhell of mean littlepeople, beginningwith his embittered motherand the wife he never married.The beautiful climax has Bailey surroundedby the warmthand affectionof familyand friends,whose jointefforts will . ~~~-t'~1r. pull the Buildingand Loan out of financialtrouble. »--»^jp«5^^ail Theprotagonist's wry smile is a winkto the audience: he has seen, understoodand accepted lifein all glory the object of affection,for examplea contemptuous Fig.6. Capra's and imperfections. Broadwayactor in Matinee Idol (1928), a cynicalgold post-wargospel: It'sa Wonderful Caprawrote in his autobiographythat itwas a digger in Ladiesof Leisure(1930) and the unfaithful Life(RKO, 1947). film 'to tell the weary, the disheartened, and the husbandin State of the Union(1946). Arsenic and Old disillusioned;the wino, the junkie, the prostitute; Lace (1944) presents a funnyvariant: the misguided those behind prison walls and those behind Iron love of two endearing eccentric ladies make them Curtains,that no manis a failure!To show those born poison twelvelonely gentlemen to end theirmisery. slow of foot or slow of mind, those oldest sisters Likethe Gospel parables- to which many of condemnedto spinsterhood,and those oldest sons Capra'sgreatest picturesresemble - his films por- condemnedto unschooled toil, that each man's life trayhow love, a gift freelygiven, comes to ordinary touches so many other lives. And that if he isn't realityand changes it extraordinarily;in other words, aroundit wouldleave an awfulhole.'26 how the transcendentdisrupts the course of human One of the reasons why the consistency of events. InIt's a WonderfulLife, a workof theological Capra'sCatholic vision may not seem evidentwhen optimism,the divineis above the earthand comes firstwatching the filmsis because of the absence of to it to propose salvationto a soul in despair.27The obvious religious imagery as in Ford's films: hero accomplishes salvationonly after undergoing churches,priests, rituals and bells. Capra'sCatholic an experienceof powerlessness. Hisprayer of deso- imaginationcan be traced not onlythrough charac- lation, 'Lord ... I'm at the end of my rope', rings with ters and plot structures,but by the way free will,sin, the loneliness of Gethsemane, the eve of Christ's grace and redemptionare workedout in his entire crucifixion.The Passion pattern culminates with canon. Perhapsthe single most revealingelement in Bailey'sresurrection. This spiritual rebirth is assured Capra'svision lies in the way he shows, fromhis first when he realises that life has the potentialto be films, the power of goodness to transformsinful wonderful,in spite of its imperfections.His love - an humannature. In many instances, and especially in analogy for God's love - has created a spiritual his earlywork, goodness is translatedas romantic community,a tangiblemanifestation of the Kingdom lovethoroughly metamorphosing the people who are of God. 134 Maria Elena de las Carreras Kuntz

the religious tradition that shaped their worldview. The cinema of John Ford, Frank Borzage, Frank These four directors excelled in a visual medium Capra and Alfred Hitchcock bears the mark of a eminently suited to the Catholic concept of art as Catholic identity, reflected in the themes and beliefs beauty incarnated in an imperfect world, susceptible at the core of their canon, both of which stem from of redemption.

Notes

1. I began to study the cinema of John Ford, Frank book-lengthinterview, Hitchcock-Truffaut (revised Borzage, FrankCapra and AlfredHitchcock in a edn) (NewYork: Simon & Schuster, 1983). series of articlesfor Crisis, a monthlyCatholic maga- 3. Truffaut,26. zine of cultureand politics. Essays on these and other filmmakerswhose worldviewis Catholic,like 4. Truffaut,26. Note the opposite evolutionof Hitch- cock's Luis bornin and WimWenders and KrzysztofKieslowski, have ap- contemporary Bunuel, 1900, peared there since 1996. For this articleI studied also profoundlymarked by a Jesuit upbringing. over40 JohnFord films from the morethan 130 made Bunuellove-hate relationship with the Jesuits and between1917 and 1970. Ihave reviewed 37 of Alfred the Churchhas been exploredby ManuelAlcala, a Hitchcock's53 filmsmade between1926 and 1976, Jesuit, in Bunfuel,Cine e Ideologia(Madrid, 1973). plus 12 of the 20 episodes he directedfor the Alfred 5. Capra,67. HitchcockPresents TV show. Frank directed Borzage 6. Capra,176. more than 100 films in 40 years, of which46 from the silentera are thoughtto be lost. Ireviewed more 7. Capra,443. than 40 titles. FrankCapra directed more than 35 8. See CharlesMaland, Frank Capra (Boston, 1980), films,produced many propagandafilms forthe World 91-92,179-180,182. WarII and directedfour television I effort, specials. 9. Truffaut,316-317. saw over24 filmsand the WhyWe Fight series, plus .My husband, JonathanKuntz, 10. Dumont,20-23. firstinspired me to enjoyand studythe workof these 11. Lee Lourdeaux,Italian and IrishFilmmakers in Amer- greatdirectors. I have benefitedimmensely from his ica, Ford,Capra, Coppola and Scorsese (Philadel- knowledge,passion and insight.Our marriage has phia, 1990). been and enlivened so strengthened by manygreat 12. The firstcritics to note a consistent of re- films. pattern demption and transcendence through love were 2. Researchfor this articlewas based on severalJohn HenriAgel and MichaelHenry, both writingfrom a Catholic See Henri Les Ford biographies:Andrew Sinclair, John Ford,A perspective. Agel, grands and Cinemaet nouvellenais- Biography(New York, 1979); Dan Ford,Pappy: The cineastes (Paris,1959) and Michael 'Le Fra Lifeof John Ford (EnglewoodCliffs, New Jersey, sance (Paris, 1981); Henryi, du melodrame'Positif 1979);Tag Gallagher,John Ford,The Man and His Angelico (July-August1977), Films(Berkeley and , 1986); RonaldL. 12-15. Davis,John FordHollywood's Old Master (Norman, Twomain critical assessments of Borzage'scinema Oklahoma,1995); Scott Eyman,Print the Legend, in Englishare John Belton,The HollywoodProfes- The Lifeand Timesof John Ford(New York,1999) sionals: HowardHawks, Frank Borzage, EdgarG. and Joseph McBride,Searching for John Ford, A Life Ulmer( and New York:The Tantivy,1974) (NewYork, 2001). and FrederickLamster, Souls MadeGreat Through Loveand Adversity,The Film Work of FrankBorzage ForFrank Capra I reliedon Joseph McBride'sbiog- (Metuchen, New Jersey: The Scarecrow Press, raphy,Frank Capra, The Catastropheof Success 1981). (NewYork 1992) and Capra'smemoirs, The Name Abovethe Title,An Autobiography (New York 1985). 13. Agape,in Greek, 'banquet'. The Catholic Encyclope- dia Indiana,1991) contraststhe Greek Herv6Dumont's was the mainsource for (Huntington, biography termseros (sexual with (friendship)and Frank Sarastroa love) philia Borzage: Borzage, Hollywood(Mi- agape (charity).In a Christiancontext, 'agape refers lan, 1993). to God's deep and active love for the world,ex- Inthe case of HitchcockI used the biographiesby pressed in His desire to save it fromthe powerand John RussellTaylor (New York,1978) and Donald consequences of sin and death. Theterm occurs in Spoto, The DarkSide of Genius, The Lifeof Alfred the earlyChurch with reference to a communitymeal Hitchcock(New York,1983) as well as Truffaut's eitherbefore or afterthe Eucharist.' The Catholic Vision in Hollywood: Ford, Capra, Borzage and Hitchcock 135

14. Citedby McBride,Searching for John Ford,438. 20. ErichRohmer and ClaudeChabrol, Hitchcock: The 15. The Sermonon the Mountis foundin the Gospel of FirstForty-FourFilms(Trans. Stanley Hochman) (New St. Matthew,Chapters 5, 6 and 7, and St. Luke, York,1979). Chapter6. 21. Truffaut,20. 16. McBridecalls TheSun ShinesBright a moralityplay, 22. RobinWood, Hitchcock's Films (New York 1970). forJohn 521. Inthe contextof this Searching Ford, 23. Anderson,About John Ford York, I to call it a Christian about Lindsay (New article, prefer allegory 192; and McBrideand MichaelWil- who can redeemthemselves. The 1981), Joseph imperfectpeople mington,John Ford(New York, 1975), 21. director'spredilection for the Biblicalallegory is evi- dent also in The Informer(the Judas figure),The 24. RichardGriffith, Frank Capra (Londonn/d). New Fugitive(a Christfigure), 3 Godfathers(the Three IndexSeries, n.3.p. The citation is fromthe Prologue, Wise Men). The Sun Shines Brightwas 'reallymy n/p. favourites,the only one I liketo see over and over 25. GrahamGreene, 'A Directorof Genius: Four Re- again', Fordnoted in 1968 (McBride,Searching for views', in RichardGlatzer and John Raeburn,(eds) John Ford,521). FrankCapra, The Manand His Films (AnnArbor, 17. McBride,Searching for John Ford,9. Michigan,1975) 110-116. 18. McBride,Searching for John Ford,357. 26. Capra,The Name Above the Title,383. 19. Froma Catholicperspective, the doctrineof original 27. StehenJ. Browndiscusses It'sa WonderfulLife from sin explainshow humannature has a lackof facility a Catholicperspective in 'TheologicalOptimism in in doing good. It maintainsthat humanbeings are the Filmsof FrankCapra', Theology (November-De- not bornwith a positiveinclination to moralevil. As cember 1998), 437-444. He applies concepts de- a resultof originalsin, our persons are not ordered veloped by the CatholicSwiss theologianHans Urs to God and the interiorharmony which such an von Balthasarabout the divine,the transcendent, orderingbrings with it. See TheCatholic Encylopedia. and the revelationof God's glory.

Top View