The Richness of a Narrative Arrest

The work of Hollywood director William Wyler offers a rewarding case for studying the narrative purposes of rhythmic variations. Film critics have traditionally viewed Wyler’s scenes in terms of depth of field but by looking for elements that weaken his pace, we can explain his acclaimed work as the result of how performance and picture jointly serve rhythmic purposes. My study distinguishes between two kinds of narrative arrests in Wyler’s films, 1935–1970. The unfocused arrests are critical for Wyler’s art and depend on actors’ techniques for adding emphasis and Wyler’s techniques for creating pictorial diversions. By halting dramatic progression during key scenes, Wyler seemingly expands the characters’ worlds with meanings in the spectator’s eyes. Finally, I show how changing technologies and narrative norms constrained Wyler’s later work.

Back to the Land

This chapter focuses on ways that southern depression-era authors contributed or responded to a renewed interest in the “old” South during the period. While the Southern Agrarians, William Alexander Percy, and filmmakers like Victor Fleming and William Wyler created nostalgic depictions of antebellum southern life, Richard Wright and Erskine Caldwell responded with “antipastoral” depictions of sharecropping that expose the exploitive social, economic, and environmental effects of plantation agriculture. The chapter also identifies ways that Zora Neale Hurston creates alternative forms of social and environmental thought through her depictions of African American folklore in Mules and Men (1935).

Directing

The third chapter explains how directors came to be associated with film authorship. Filmmakers were indeed accorded a level of autonomy and responsibility that was unique in industry terms. This autonomy, however, was limited to the shooting portion of the production process. In other words, directors, even so-called auteurs like George Cukor or William Wyler, had no say over scriptwriting or the editing of the picture. Furthermore, directorial autonomy, the chapter argues, was the product of economic expediency rather than of respect for artistic freedom. In fact, in order to maintain a studio career, directors had to prove they were worthy of this autonomy. They had to demonstrate their conformity and commitment to the studio’s material concerns.

Goldwyn

There are many disagreements with costar Edward G. Robinson on the set of Barbary Coast, her first picture for Sam Goldwyn. Hopkins makes These Three, the first of four films with the director William Wyler, and it is a critical success. She receives a Best Actress Academy Award nomination for Becky Sharp but is beaten out by Bette Davis. Hopkins sails to Europe, where she witnesses the militarization of the Continent, while making a film in England for producer, Alexander Korda.

“How Many Times Can You Come Back?”

Hopkins replaces Jo Van Fleet in the Broadway play, Look Homeward, Angel. Her costar, Andrew Prine, shares his experiences in the play. After it closes, she tours with it for several months. Next, she is signed for the lead in Ma Barker’s Brood, a cheaply made independent film, but her rare unprofessionalism gets her fired. Then, William Wyler hires her for his next film, The Children’s Hour, the original play that was the basis for their 1936 film These Three. Actress Veronica Cartwright, who played Rosalie, shares her remembrances. When Hopkins’s mother dies at age eighty-four, she is overcome by anguish and cannot go to the funeral. Months later, producer Stanley Raiff hires Hopkins for his off-Broadway play Riverside Drive. Raiff describes the turbulent time he has with Hopkins, leading to her firing for not being prepared—or was she? Hopkins portrays a whorehouse madam in Fanny Hill and returns to Los Angeles to play Robert Redford’s mother in The Chase.

“A Little Off-Center”

Hopkins tries unsuccessfully to find stage work, and she receives a call from William Wyler to appear in a supporting role in his next film, The Heiress, which she accepts. Academy Award winner Olivia de Havilland shares her memories of the making of the film. Regardless of the film’s success, Hopkins is ignored by the Academy but receives a Golden Globe nomination. Afterward, she takes the play on the road, playing the title role. Hopkins’s next part is the overbearing mother of Gene Tierney in the comedy The Mating Season. Following that is another film for Wyler, Carrie, based on the Theodore Dreiser novel Sister Carrie.