Howard Hawks as Auteur (Discussion)

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Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema

Group 4

  1. How does Sarris characterize Hawks' visual style?
  2. What does Sarris mean by "professionalism" and how have we seen that in Hawks's films?

Peter Wollen (in Theories of Authorship)

All Groups:

  1. Wollen writes, "...by a process of comparison with other films, it is possible to decipher...a structure which underlies the film and shapes it.... It is this structure which auteur analysis disengages from the film" (146).
    • What does he mean by a "structure"? On the next page, he puts "Hawks" in quotation marks and refers to it (him?) as a structure. (Remember: Edward Buscombe quoted Wollen in last week's readings.)
  2. A lot of this essay contrasts the work of Howard Hawks with that of John Ford. What "master antinomy" does Wollen seen in Ford's work (what what does "antinomy" mean?)?

From Howard Hawks American Artist

Jacques Rivette

All Groups:

  1. What is the relationship of Hawks's comedies and dramas?

André Bazin

Group 1:

  1. How does Bazin defend the auteurist emphasis on the director?

V. F. Perkins

Group 2:

  1. What function does language serve in Hawks's comedies?

Lee Russell (Peter Wollen)

Group 3:

  1. How does Russell characterize the Hawksian group?
  2. What aspects of Hawksian "professionalism" does Russell discuss?

Naomi Wise

Group 4:

  1. Wise sees Bonnie Lee in Only Angels Have Wings as the quintessential "Hawksian woman." What characteristics does she see associated with the Hawksian woman?
  2. Wise maintains that Hawks's films "frequently show a merging of sexual roles for the benefit of both sexes" (113). What does she mean by this? Have you seen evidence for this in the films we've watched?
  3. In the end, Wise claims that "a central theme throughout Hawks is the shedding of sexual roles" (118). Do you agree?

Bibliography

  1. Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema, 52-56.
  2. From Theories of Authorship, John Caughie, ed. (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981):
    1. Peter Wollen, "The Auteur Theory," 138-151.
  3. From Howard Hawks American Artist, Jim Hillier and Peter Wollen, eds., (London: British Film Institute, 1996):
    1. Jacques Rivette, "The Genius of Howard Hawks," 26-31.
    2. André Bazin, "How Could You Possibly be a Hitchcocko-Hawksian," 32-34.
    3. V. F. Perkins, "Hawks's Comedies," 68-71.
    4. Lee Russell (Peter Wollen), "Howard Hawks," 83-86.
    5. Naomi Wise, "The Hawksian Woman," 111-119.