RUNNING AWAY FROM MYSELF

by Barbara Deming ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 17, 1969

The author was a film analyst for the Library of Congress during the forties. This is a close examination of the true nature of the movies produced in that era and ""All the characters whom I trace can be seen to be products of a deep crisis of faith."" And she proposes a connection between this ""nightmare-world"" and the problems of today. She supports her views by taking the pictures apart frame-by-frame and comes up with some depressing truths about the ""heroes"" of the day. All of whom suffer from galloping disillusionment -- the alienated cynic who finds nothing worth fighting for; the rolling stone who can't conceive of permanent values; the self-made success who is desperately unhappy; the man who would change but ends up nowhere. Even the comic moments come when everything has been taken away, i.e., Walter Huston laughing as the gold blows back to where it came from in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. So why weren't the audiences suicidal? Miss Deming goes at some lengths to explain how they were ""lulled and distracted"" away from the actual context. But did it have a subtle effect? An interesting point for psychologists and future film makers who will find Miss Deming a worthy projectionist.

Pub Date: Sept. 17, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Grossman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION