America and Its Fantasy Films: 1945-1951

AMERICA AND ITS FANTASY FILMS: 1945 -1951 By Martin F. Norden Martin F. Norden is Assistant Professor oí Communicator! Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Although fantasy has been well represented throughout the history ofcinema ever since films such as Georges Melies' A Trip to the Moon and Ferdinand Zecca's The Pearl Fisherman flickered across Parisian film screens at the turn ofthe century, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to the linkage between fantasy films and the societies that produced them. The trend has been to study each film either on an individual basis or within the context of similar films, but such studies seem incomplete ifthey do not contain some discussion and analysis of the cultures out of which they came. It is worth noting that a significant number ofthe most fertile periods of cinematic fantasy have occurred during times of national stress, such as wars, their immediate aftermaths, and economic depressions. The fantasy films produced during the Great Depression and the Korean War/Red Scare period, as well as those produced during the periods following World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, read in many ways as an "honor roll" ofthe fantasy film genre: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari ? 91 91. The Golem (1920), Frankenstein (1931), Dracula (1931), King Kong (1933), The Thing (1951), Them! (195.4). Forbidden Planet (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 and 1978), Star Wars (1977), and Superman (1978), to name but a few. The usual response to the linkage of fantasy films and societies is that films such as the ones just cited were used by their audiences as escapist material. In other words, audiences either undergoing or emerging from national stressful conditions needed something to divert their attention, and there these films were, placed by benevolent and understanding filmmakers, to be used for that purpose. Thus, so the argument goes, the German people coming out ofthe disaster ofWorld War I turned to Caligari and The Golem for escape, American Depression era audiences found solace in movie theaters showing King Kong, Dracula. Frankenstein, and such Busby Berkeley extravaganzas as Forty-Second Street (1933) and The Gold Diggers of 1933. etc., etc. Yet the escapism argument seems facile, obvious, and incomplete. After all, these films did not materialize out ofthe blue, ready to act as divertissements for uptight audiences) instead, it is certainly arguable that the films were symptomatic ofthe conditions ofthe societies that produced them. Another point worth making is that the resulting fantasy films ofany given society and period will usually be quite different from those fantasy films ofother societies and periods. For example, the German Expressionist films ofthe post-WWI years, with their themes and treatments ofmadness, entrapment, nightmare visions, hypnotic powers, and general pessimism, bear little resemblance in either form or content to the fantasy films produced in the United States in the five-year period following the Vietnam War, which frequently featured classic good vs. evil confrontations, sophisticated special effects, space travel, and a characteristic lightness oftouch. Individual cultural heritages, differing degrees of development in film technology, and the extent to which societies are affected by traumatic circumstances (though how one measures that is anyone's guess) are among the variables which will affect the resulting form and content ofthe films. A final point, one that seems obvious but still worth mentioning, is that even in times ofnational stress the fantasy film genre usually represents only a fraction, and frequently a rather small fraction, ofthe films produced. This factor may help explain the relative obscurity ofthe main films discussed in this essay. The time period in which America found itself immediately following World War II has often been characterized by feelings ofoptimism and high spirits; American in its "righteous might" had defeated the Axis powers, and with the world now at peace, American servicemen began returning to welcoming families, friends, and a grateful nation. Yet this period ofelation was short lived, as an undertow ofuncertainty and doubt began making itselffelt amid the euphoria. This phenomenon has been amply documented and analyzed by numerous historians. Eric Goldman, for example, suggests that the initial outbursts of elation had a hollow quality; furthermore, he contends...