Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth

Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth connects the rise of film and the rise of America as a cultural center and twentieth-century world power. Silent film, Paula Cohen reveals, allowed America to sever its literary and linguistic ties to Europe and answer the call by nineteenth-century writers like Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman for an original form of expression compatible with American strengths and weaknesses. When film finally began to talk in 1927, the medium had already done its work. It had helped translate representation into a dynamic visual form and had "Americanized" the world. Cohen explores the way film emerged as an American medium through its synthesis of three basic elements: the body, the landscape, and the face. Nineteenth-century American culture had already charged these elements with meaning--the body through vaudeville and burlesque, landscape through landscape painting and moving panoramas, and the face through portrait photography. Integrating these popular forms, silent film also developed genres that showcased each of its basic elements: the body in comedy, the landscape in the western, and the face in melodrama. At the same time, it helped produce a new idea of character, embodied in the American movie star. Cohen's book offers a fascinating new perspective on American cultural history. It shows how nineteenth-century literature can be said to anticipate twentieth-century film--how Douglas Fairbanks was, in a sense, successor to Walt Whitman. And rather than condemning the culture of celebrity and consumption that early Hollywood helped inspire, the book highlights the creative and democratic features of the silent-film ethos. Just as notable, Cohen champions the concept of the "American myth" in the wake of recent attempts to discredit it. She maintains that American silent film helped consolidate and promote a myth of possibility and self-making that continues to dominate the public imagination and stands behind the best impulses of our contemporary world.

Film is a distinctly American medium, and the history of film is bound up with the history of America. Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth is a broad cultural study that connects the rise of film to the rise of America as a cultural center and world power in the twentieth century. Paula Marantz Cohen argues that through the medium of silent film, America was able to sever its literary and linguistic ties to Europe, and answered the call by nineteenth-century writers like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman for an original form of expression uniquely compatible with its strengths and limitations as a nation.

Drawing widely from disparate topics in American Studies, this groundbreaking study demonstrates that nineteenth-century literature anticipates twentieth-century film—that, in a sense, Douglas Fairbanks was the successor to Walt Whitman. Instead of condemning the culture of celebrity and consumption that film inspired, Cohen looks at the creative and democratic facets of this culture and its roots in nineteenth-century popular entertainment. She champions the concept of the American myth in the wake of recent attempts to discredit it, maintaining that film helped to consolidate and promote the myth of possibility and self-making that continues to dominate the public imagination and stands behind the best impulses of our contemporary world.

Offers a reappraisal of silent film and the concept of the American myth

About the Author:
Paula Cohen is Professor of Humanities and Director of the Literature Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her books include Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism and The Daughter's Dilemma: Family Process and the Nineteenth-Century Domestic Novel.

Library Journal

Veteran cultural critic Cohen (Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism) explores the advent of the silent film, asserting that the early 20th-century medium represented what American society at the time both embraced (e.g., authentic expression and self-determinism) and rejected (e.g., antiquated European notions and societal stasis). The author considers the raw materials of film the body, the landscape, and the face and these components' respective 19th-century antecedents in vaudeville, panoramic displays, and portrait photography. She also discusses their corollaries in genre (comedy, the Western, and melodrama) and their film vocabulary (the cut, the long shot, and the close-up). Her contention that the medium is reflexive is not new, yet her seamless integration of seemingly disparate facts is refreshing and convincing. Cohen even reserves some praise for the consumerism fed by the star system and its concomitant fandom. The reader will gain insights into the American myth and will regret only that the book is so slim. A thoughtful, engaging, and scholarly study of the American myth of self-creation. Jayne Plymale, Univ. of Georgia, Athens Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth connects the rise of film and the rise of America as a cultural center and twentieth-century world power. Silent film, Paula Cohen reveals, allowed America to sever its literary and linguistic ties to Europe and answer the call by nineteenth-century writers like Emerson, Thoreau and Whitman for an original form of expression compatible with American strengths and weaknesses. When film finally began to talk in 1927, the medium had already done its work. It had helped translate representation into a dynamic visual form and had "Americanized" the world.Cohen explores the way film emerged as an American medium through its synthesis of three basic elements: the body, the landscape, and the face. Nineteenth-century American culture had already charged these elements with meaning--the body through vaudeville and burlesque, landscape through landscape painting and moving panoramas, and the face through portrait photography. Integrating these popular forms, silent film also developed genres that showcased each of its basic elements: the body in comedy, the landscape in the western, and the face in melodrama. At the same time, it helped produce a new idea of character, embodied in the American movie star.Cohen's book offers a fascinating new perspective on American cultural history. It shows how nineteenth-century literature can be said to anticipate twentieth-century film--how Douglas Fairbanks was, in a sense, successor to Walt Whitman. And rather than condemning the culture of celebrity and consumption that early Hollywood helped inspire, the book highlights the creative and democratic features of the silent-film ethos. Just as notable, Cohen champions the concept of the "American myth" in the wake of recent attempts to discredit it. She maintains that American silent film helped consolidate and promote a myth of possibility and self-making that continues to dominate the public imagination and stands behind the best impulses of our contemporary world. In Silent Film And The Triumph Of The American Myth, Paula Marantz Cohen Tells The Story Of Silent Film's Rise. American Silent Film, She Contends, Answered The Call By Nineteenth-century Writers Like Emerson And Thoreau For An Original Mode Of Expression Compatible With American Strengths And Weaknesses. Tracing Silent Film's Roots In Popular Nineteenth-century Forms Such As Vaudeville, Landscape Painting, And Portrait Photography, Cohen Documents The Way Silent Film Took Three Elements Already Charged With Meaning - The Body, The Landscape, And The Face - And Developed The Cinematic Genres Of Comedy, The Western, And The Melodrama. At The Same Time, American Silent Film Helped Produce A New Concept Of Character, Embodied In The Movie Star. -- From Back Cover. Literary Antecedents Of American Silent Film -- Houdini, Keaton, And The Rise Of The Body -- Hart, Fairbanks, And The Vitalization Of Landscape -- Griffith, Gish, And The Narrative Of The Face -- The Birth Of The Star System And The Shaping Of The Modern Self -- The Transition To Sound. Paula Marantz Cohen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [201]-210) And Index. Contents......Page 10 Introduction......Page 14 1 Literary Antecedents of American Silent Film......Page 32 2 Houdini, Keaton, and the Rise of the Body......Page 54 3 Hart, Fairbanks, and the Vitalization of Landscape......Page 82 4 Griffith, Gish, and the Narrative of the Face......Page 118 5 The Birth of the Star System and the Shaping of the Modern Self......Page 142 6 The Transition to Sound......Page 172 Epilogue......Page 188 Notes......Page 194 Bibliography......Page 212 B......Page 222 D......Page 224 F......Page 225 G......Page 226 H......Page 227 L......Page 228 M......Page 229 P......Page 230 R......Page 231 S......Page 232 T......Page 233 W......Page 234 Z......Page 235 Introduction. 1. Literary Antecedents of American Silent Film. 2. Houdini, Keaton, and the Rise of the Body. 3. Hart, Fairbanks, and the Vitalization of Landscape. 4. Griffith, Gish, and the Narrative of the Face. 5. The Birth of the Star System and the Shaping of the Modern Self. 6. The Transition to Sound. Epilogue. Notes. Bibliography. Index AT ONE POINT in Mary Pickford's 1917 film, The Little American, Mary's character, a young American woman who has recently arrived in France to visit a relative, finds herself caught in the throes of World War I and faced with a band of vicious "Huns" who have broken into the chateau where she is staying.