University of Dundee DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Going Down the 'Wabbit' Hole A Remediative Approach to the Filmmaking of the Coen Brothers Barrie, Gregg Award date: 2020 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 24. Sep. 2021 Going Down the ‘Wabbit’ Hole: A Remediative Approach to the Filmmaking of the Coen Brothers Gregg Barrie PhD Film Studies Thesis University of Dundee February 2021 Word Count – 99,996 Words 1 Going Down the ‘Wabbit’ Hole: A Remediative Approach to the Filmmaking of the Coen Brothers Table of Contents Table of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Declaration ............................................................................................................................................. 6 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 8 Chapter One - In the Blood: Hard-Boiled Beginnings ....................................................................38 Chapter Two - ‘Well, we’ll go out to Miller’s Crossing…’: The Hammett Amalgamation ..........64 Chapter Three - ‘I saw so much, I broke my mind…’: Remediating Chandler and Everything but the Kitchen Sink ..........................................................................................................................104 Chapter Four - Completing the Trinity: The Direct Remediation of Cain and the Revisitation of Hitchcock ............................................................................................................................................164 Chapter Five - No Country for Straight Adaptation: The Remediation of Dickey and McCarthy .............................................................................................................................................................202 Chapter Six - Remakes, Remediations and Reappraisals: Approaching True Grit and The Ladykillers ...........................................................................................................................................257 Chapter Seven - Anthologies of Remediation: Hail, Caesar! and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs ...............................................................................................................................................293 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................................320 References .........................................................................................................................................326 Bibliography....................................................................................................................................326 Filmography ....................................................................................................................................346 2 Table of Figures Figure 1 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) .......................................................................... 43 Figure 2 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) .......................................................................... 44 Figure 3 - Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) .......................................................................... 44 Figure 4 – Screenshot from Torn Curtain (1966) ........................................................................... 46 Figure 5 – Screenshot from Torn Curtain (1966) ........................................................................... 47 Figure 6 – Screenshot from Torn Curtain (1966) ........................................................................... 48 Figure 7 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) .......................................................................... 49 Figure 8 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) .......................................................................... 50 Figure 9 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................... 51 Figure 10 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 51 Figure 11 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 52 Figure 12 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 53 Figure 13 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 54 Figure 14 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 55 Figure 15 – Screenshot from Psycho (1960) .................................................................................. 55 Figure 16 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ........................................................................ 56 Figure 17 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ........................................................................ 57 Figure 18 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ........................................................................ 58 Figure 19 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ........................................................................ 58 Figure 20 – Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ........................................................................ 60 Figure 21 – Screenshot from A Fistful of Dollars (1964) ............................................................... 61 Figure 22 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 69 Figure 23 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 70 Figure 24 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 71 Figure 25 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 71 Figure 26 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 75 Figure 27 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 76 Figure 28 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 77 Figure 29 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 80 Figure 30 - Screenshot from A Fistful of Dollars (1964) ................................................................ 81 Figure 31 – Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) .................................................................. 89 Figure 32 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 89 Figure 33 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 90 Figure 34 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 91 Figure 35 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 91 Figure 36 - Screenshot from Blood Simple (1984) ......................................................................... 92 Figure 37 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 94 Figure 38 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 95 Figure 39 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) ................................................................... 96 Figure 40 - Screenshot from The Third Man (1949) ...................................................................... 97 Figure 41 - Screenshot from The Third Man (1949) ...................................................................... 97 3 Figure 42 - Screenshot from The Third Man (1949) ......................................................................98 Figure 43 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) .................................................................100 Figure 44 - Screenshot from Sullivan's Travels (1941) ...............................................................101 Figure 45 - Screenshot from Miller's Crossing (1990) .................................................................102 Figure