Nordic Exposures: Scandinavian Identities in Classical Hollywood Cinema (New Directions in Scandinavian Studies)

__Nordic Exposures__ explores how Scandinavian whiteness and ethnicity functioned in classical Hollywood cinema between and during the two world wars. Scandinavian identities could seem mutable and constructed at moments, while at other times they were deployed as representatives of an essential, biological, and natural category. As Northern European Protestants, Scandinavian immigrants and emigres assimilated into the mainstream rights and benefits of white American identity with comparatively few barriers or obstacles. Yet Arne Lunde demonstrates that far from simply manifesting a normative unmarked whiteness, Scandinavianness in mass-immigration America and in Hollywood cinema of the twentieth century could be hyperwhite, provisionally off-white, or not even white at all.Lunde investigates key silent films, such as Technicolor's The Viking (1928), Victor Sjostrom's He Who Gets Slapped (1924), and Mauritz Stiller's Hotel Imperial (1927). The crises of Scandinavian foreign voice and the talkie revolution are explored in Greta Garbo's first sound film, Anna Christie (1930). The author also examines Warner Oland's long career of Asian racial masquerade (most famously as Chinese detective Charlie Chan), as well as Hollywood's and Third Reich Cinema's war over assimilating the Nordic female star in the personae of Garbo, Sonja Henie, Ingrid Bergman, Kristina Soderbaum, and Zarah Leander. Nordic Exposures explores how Scandinavian whiteness and ethnicity functioned in classical Hollywood cinema between and during the two world wars. Scandinavian identities could seem mutable and constructed at moments, while at other times they were deployed as representatives of an essential, biological, and natural category. As Northern European Protestants, Scandinavian immigrants and emigres assimilated into the mainstream rights and benefits of white American identity with comparatively few barriers or obstacles. Yet Arne Lunde demonstrates that far from simply manifesting a normative unmarked whiteness, Scandinavianness in mass-immigration America and in Hollywood cinema of the twentieth century could be hyperwhite, provisionally off-white, or not even white at all. Lunde investigates key silent films, such as Technicolor's The Viking (1928), Victor Sjostrom's He Who Gets Slapped (1924), and Mauritz Stiller's Hotel Imperial (1927). The crises of Scandinavian foreign voice and the talkie revolution are explored in Greta Garbo's first sound film, Anna Christie (1930). The author also examines Warner Oland's long career of Asian racial masquerade (most famously as Chinese detective Charlie Chan), as well as Hollywood's and Third Reich Cinema's war over assimilating the Nordic female star in the personae of Garbo, Sonja Henie, Ingrid Bergman, Kristina Soderbaum, and Zarah Leander. Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 14 1. Racializing Vinland - The Nordic Conquest of Whiteness in Technicolor’s The Viking 27 2. Scandinavian/American Whiteface - Ethnic Whiteness and Assimilation in Victor Sjöström’s He Who Gets Slapped 49 3. Hotel Imperial - The Border Crossings of Mauritz Stiller 75 4. Garbo Talks! - Scandinavians, the Talkie Revolution, and the Crisis of Foreign Voice 101 5. Charlie Chan is Swedish - The Asian Racial Masquerades and Nordic Otherness of Warner Oland 128 6. Two-Faced Women - Hollywood’s and Third Reich Cinema’s War for the Nordic Female Star 156 Conclusion 187 Notes 192 Bibliography 210 Index 218 Racializing Vinland: The Nordic Conquest Of Whiteness In Technicolor's The Viking -- Scandinavian/american Whiteface: Ethnic Whiteness And Assimilation In Victor Sjöström's He Who Gets Slapped -- Hotel Imperial: The Border Crossings Of Mauritz Stiller -- Garbo Talks! Scandinavians, The Talkie Revolution, And The Crisis Of Foreign Voice -- Charlie Chan Is Swedish: The Asian Racial Masquerades And Nordic Otherness Of Warner Oland -- Two-faced Women: Hollywood's And Third Reich Cinema's War For The Nordic Female Star. Arne Lunde. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This series offers interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the Nordic region of Scandinavia and the Baltic States and their cultural connections in North America. By redefining the boundaries of Scandinavian studies to include the Baltic States and Scandinavian America, the series presents books that focus on the study of the culture, history, literature, and politics of the North. --Book Jacket