Cinema Journal (2010) - "Two Ways of Looking": The Critical Reception of 1940s Horror

Details

• article: "Two Ways of Looking": The Critical Reception of 1940s Horror
• author(s): Mark Jancovich
• journal: Cinema Journal (01/Apr/2010)
• issue: volume 49, issue 3, pages 45-66
• DOI: 10.1353/cj.0.0213
• journal ISSN: 0009-7101
• publisher: University of Texas Press
• keywords: 1940-1949, Alfred Hitchcock, Andy Webster, Budgets, Charles Coburn, Claude Rains, Criticism and interpretation, David O. Selznick, Dramatic arts, Film, Film genres, George Sanders, History, Horror film, Horror films, Ida Lupino, Ingrid Bergman, London, England, Mark Jancovich, Motion picture actors and actresses, Motion pictures, New York City, New York, Oscar Wilde, Paramount Pictures, Production Code Administration, Reading, Rebecca (1940), Reception study, Robert Florey, Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Taste, United States, Universal Studios, Works'

ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=%27Two+Ways+of+Looking%27%3A+The+Critical+Reception+of+1940s+Horror&rft.jtitle=Cinema+Journal&rft.au=Jancovich%2C+Mark&rft.date=2010&rft.issn=1527-2087&rft.eissn=1527-2087&rft.volume=49&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=45&rft.externalDocID=R04323638

Links

• Google Scholar
• jstor.org
• DOI.org

Abstract

This essay examines the ways in which the reception of 1940s horror was often bound up with concerns about cultural distinctions, examining the different ways in which New York Times critics evaluated horror productions during the period. While the Times critics displayed affection for many low-budget horror films, particularly those starring Boris Karloff, they complained about both high-and low-budget films that indulged in "psychologization," viewing such subtexts to be pretentious and overreaching, draining the films of their fun and vitality.