weimar and now: german cultural criticism Edward Dimendberg, Martin Jay, and Anton Kaes, General Editors 1. Heritage of Our Times, by Ernst Bloch 2. The Nietzsche Legacy in Germany, 1890–1990, by Steven E. Aschheim 3. The Weimar Republic Sourcebook, edited by Anton Kaes, Martin Jay, and Edward Dimendberg 4. Batteries of Life: On the History of Things and Their Perception in Modernity, by Christoph Asendorf 5. Profane Illumination: Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution, by Margaret Cohen 6. Hollywood in Berlin: American Cinema and Weimar Germany, by Thomas J. Saunders 7. Walter Benjamin: An Aesthetic of Redemption, by Richard Wolin 8. The New Typography, by Jan Tschichold, translated by Ruari McLean 9. The Rule of Law under Siege: Selected Essays of Franz L. Neumann and Otto Kirchheimer, edited by William E. Scheuerman 10. The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research, 1923–1950, by Martin Jay 11. Women in the Metropolis: Gender and Modernity in Weimar Culture, edited by Katharina von Ankum 12. Letters of Heinrich and Thomas Mann, 1900–1949, edited by Hans Wysling, translated by Don Reneau 13. Empire of Ecstasy: Nudity and Movement in German Body Culture, 1910–1935, by Karl Toepfer 14. In the Shadow of Catastrophe: German Intellectuals between Apoca- lypse and Enlightenment, by Anson Rabinbach 15. Walter Benjamin’s Other History: Of Stones, Animals, Human Beings, and Angels, by Beatrice Hanssen 16. Exiled in Paradise: German Refugee Artists and Intellectuals in America from the 1930s to the Present, by Anthony Heilbut 17. Cool Conduct: The Culture of Distance in Weimar Germany, by Helmut Lethen, translated by Don Reneau 18. In a Cold Crater: Cultural and Intellectual Life in Berlin, 1945–1948, by Wolfgang Schivelbusch, translated by Kelly Barry 19. A Dubious Past: Ernst Jünger and the Politics of Literature after Nazism, by Elliot Y. Neaman 20. Beyond the Conceivable: Studies on Germany, Nazism, and the Holo- caust, by Dan Diner 21. Prague Territories: National Confl ict and Cultural Innovation in Franz Kafka’s Fin de Siècle, by Scott Spector 22. Munich and Memory: Architecture, Monuments, and the Legacy of the Third Reich, by Gavriel D. Rosenfeld 23. The Ufa Story: A History of Germany’s Greatest Film Company, 1918–1945, by Klaus Kreimeier, translated by Robert and Rita Kimber 24. From Monuments to Traces: Artifacts of German Memory, 1870–1990, by Rudy Koshar 25. We Weren’t Modern Enough: Women Artists and the Limits of German Modernism, by Marsha Meskimmon 26. Culture and Infl ation in Weimar Germany, by Bernd Widdig 27. Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in 1920s Germany, by Janet Ward 28. Graphic Design in Germany: 1890–1945, by Jeremy Aynsley 29. Expressionist Utopias: Paradise, Metropolis, Architectural Fantasy, by Timothy O. Benson, with contributions by Edward Dimendberg, David Frisby, Reinhold Heller, Anton Kaes, and Iain Boyd Whyte 30. The Red Count: The Life and Times of Harry Kessler, by Laird M. Easton 32. The Dark Mirror: German Cinema between Hitler and Hollywood, by Lutz Koepnick 33. Rosenzweig and Heidegger: Between Judaism and German Philosophy, by Peter Eli Gordon 34. The Authority of Everyday Objects: A Cultural History of West German Industrial Design, by Paul Betts 35. The Face of East European Jewry, by Arnold Zweig, with fi fty-two drawings by Hermann Struck. Edited, translated, and with an introduc- tion by Noah Isenberg 36. No Place Like Home: Locations of Heimat in German Cinema, by Johannes von Moltke 37. Berlin Alexanderplatz: Radio, Film, and the Death of Weimar Culture, by Peter Jelavich 38. Berlin Electropolis: Shock, Nerves, and German Modernity, by Andreas Killen 39. A Concise History of the Third Reich, by Wolfgang Benz, translated by Thomas Dunlap 40. Germany in Transit: Nation and Migration, 1955–2005, edited by Deniz Göktürk, David Gramling, and Anton Kaes 41. Weimar on the Pacifi c: German Exile Culture in Los Angeles and the Crisis of Modernism, by Ehrhard Bahr 42. The 1972 Munich Olympics and the Making of Modern Germany, by Kay Schiller and ChristopherYoung 43. Berlin Psychoanalytic: Psychoanalysis and Culture in Weimar Republic Germany and Beyond, by Veronika Fuechtner 44. Cinema and Experience: Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno, by Miriam Bratu Hansen 45. Siegfried Kracauer’s American Writings: Essays on Film and Popular Culture, edited by Johannes von Moltke and Kristy Rawson Siegfried Kracauer’s American Writings Siegfried Kracauer on vacation, early 1950s. Courtesy of Deutsches Literaturarchiv, Marbach. Siegfried Kracauer’s American Writings Essays on Film and Popular Culture siegfried kracauer Edited by Johannes von Moltke and Kristy Rawson With an Afterword by Martin Jay University of California Press berkeley los angeles london University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kracauer, Siegfried, 1889–1966. Siegfried Kracauer’s American writings : essays on fi lm and popular culture / Siegfried Kracauer ; edited by Johannes von Moltke and Kristy Rawson ; with an afterword by Martin Jay. p. cm.—(Weimar and now: German cultural criticism ; 45) In English with some essays translated from German. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-27182-1 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn 978-0-520-27183-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)—isbn 978-0-520-95200-3 (ebook) 1. Motion pictures. 2. Motion pictures—Reviews. I. Von Moltke, Johannes, 1966– II. Rawson, Kristy, 1963– III. Title. PN1995.K6955 2012 791.43—dc23 2011046517 Manufactured in the United States of America 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100% post-consumer fi ber paper that is FSC certifi ed, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy. It is acid-free and EcoLogo certifi ed. Contents Preface: Notes on This Edition ix Acknowledgments xi introduction: affi nities 1 part i. a cultural critic in new york 27 1. Why France Liked Our Films (1942) 33 2. Hollywood’s Terror Films (1946) 41 3. Jean Vigo (1947) 47 4. The Revolt against Rationality (1947) 51 5. On Jewish Culture (1947) 54 6. Filming the Subconscious (1948) 57 7. Psychiatry for Everything and Everybody (1948) 62 8. Those Movies with a Message (1948) 72 9. National Types as Hollywood Presents Them (1949) 81 10. The Mirror Up to Nature (1949) 105 11. Preston Sturges, or Laughter Betrayed (1950) 109 12. Art Today (1961) 115 13. About the State of the Humanities 117 14. A Statement on the Humanistic Approach 124 15. Talk with Teddie (1960) 127 vi / Contents part ii. fi lm reviews 133 16. An American Experiment (1941) 137 17. Dumbo (1941) 139 18. Film Notes from Hollywood (1941) 141 19. A Few American Films (1941) 142 20. William Wyler’s New Bette Davis Film (1941) 143 21. Flaherty: The Land (1942) 145 22. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) 146 23. Paisan (1948) 150 24. The Decent German (1949) 157 25. The Eternal Jew (1956) 162 26. A Few Notes on The Connection (1961) 165 part iii. book reviews 167 27. In Eisenstein’s Workshop (1943) 171 28. The Russian Director (1949) 173 29. The Movie Colony (1942) 176 30. A Lady of Valor (1947) 178 31. The Teutonic Mind (1948) 181 32. Consciousness, Free and Spontaneous (1948) 183 33. Indologian Holiday (1948) 185 34. Portrait in Film (1948) 188 35. Total Teaching (1949) 190 36. Pictorial Deluge (1950) 192 37. Movie Mirror (1950) 195 38. Réfl exion faite (1952) 197 part iv. toward a theory of fi lm 199 39. Stage vs. Screen Acting (1950) 201 40. The Photographic Approach (1951) 204 Contents / vii 41. Silent Film Comedy (1951) 213 42. The Found Story and the Episode (1956) 217 43. Letter to the Editors of fi lm 56 (1956) 226 afterword: kracauer, the magical nominalist / martin jay 227 Notes 237 Index 277