Meanwhile, in 1930s, Brit films were either oblivious -- including the habitually allusive Hitchcock -- or super-sublimating. ('Rebecca' was preceded in Hitch's Anglo-auteur phase by the delicate boy-girl blonde bondage of '39 Steps'.) Residues of music hall influence and brittle West End drawing-room theatre sets make it tricky to 'read' much beyond conventional gender stereotyping. The closest approximation to 'Mädchen in Uniform' was 'Things Are Looking Up', set at girls' school, a tamer pre-genre St Trinian's, or female equivalent of Will Hay's 'Boys Will Be Boys'. Cicely Courtneidge lets rip in a double role, and it's Vivien Leigh's screen debut. Not quite Scarlett in the making. Here's the bonkers title song routine for decoding:
Elsewhere, Jessie Matthews diligently worked her way through J.B. Priestley's 'Good Companions'. And the nearest or furthest in terms of lesbian subtext was the ferocious bitchy rivalry between Lilli Palmer and Renee Houston, tearing lumps out of each other in 'A Girl Must Live', where 'Chorus Line' met '42nd Street' in an otherwise tame English class conscious setting. Some sequences do rock, under Carol Reed's dynamic direction and the sparky frisson of girly roommates fixated by their toxic mutual regard. Coincidentally, Lilli Palmer -- who married Rex Harrison along the way -- later starred in the 1958 remake of 'Mädchen in Uniform'. In her own right, she is an intriguing cosmopolitan figure -- as were Korda and Pressburger, who transformed Brit cinema in 1930s/40s. Unsurprisingly, Anna Neagle in 'Mistress Nell Gwyn' played it straight, earning Graham Greene's (double-edged?) praise in his review: 'I have seen few things more attractive than Miss Neagle in breeches.' At least someone could still appreciate the depths of British cinema in the 1930s.
Olivia is in the next one dw! 😃 Haven't seen The Uninvited but will definitely give it a watch - also heard a lot about some subtext in The Haunting (1963). I need to look more into the haunted house subgenre for sure!
Meanwhile, in 1930s, Brit films were either oblivious -- including the habitually allusive Hitchcock -- or super-sublimating. ('Rebecca' was preceded in Hitch's Anglo-auteur phase by the delicate boy-girl blonde bondage of '39 Steps'.) Residues of music hall influence and brittle West End drawing-room theatre sets make it tricky to 'read' much beyond conventional gender stereotyping. The closest approximation to 'Mädchen in Uniform' was 'Things Are Looking Up', set at girls' school, a tamer pre-genre St Trinian's, or female equivalent of Will Hay's 'Boys Will Be Boys'. Cicely Courtneidge lets rip in a double role, and it's Vivien Leigh's screen debut. Not quite Scarlett in the making. Here's the bonkers title song routine for decoding:
https://youtu.be/WMIALUxUSzM?si=7avIPH32g2fm1aHw
Elsewhere, Jessie Matthews diligently worked her way through J.B. Priestley's 'Good Companions'. And the nearest or furthest in terms of lesbian subtext was the ferocious bitchy rivalry between Lilli Palmer and Renee Houston, tearing lumps out of each other in 'A Girl Must Live', where 'Chorus Line' met '42nd Street' in an otherwise tame English class conscious setting. Some sequences do rock, under Carol Reed's dynamic direction and the sparky frisson of girly roommates fixated by their toxic mutual regard. Coincidentally, Lilli Palmer -- who married Rex Harrison along the way -- later starred in the 1958 remake of 'Mädchen in Uniform'. In her own right, she is an intriguing cosmopolitan figure -- as were Korda and Pressburger, who transformed Brit cinema in 1930s/40s. Unsurprisingly, Anna Neagle in 'Mistress Nell Gwyn' played it straight, earning Graham Greene's (double-edged?) praise in his review: 'I have seen few things more attractive than Miss Neagle in breeches.' At least someone could still appreciate the depths of British cinema in the 1930s.
You have no idea how helpful this comment is for something I've been writing!!! Thank you so much
Thanks ☺️ will the next part come today??
Eagerly waiting
The series has been out for a little while! The next part is here: https://fairypage.substack.com/p/the-discerning-lesbians-starter-guide-4b8
There's Olivia (1951) and the lesbian subtext in The Uninvited from 1944 :-)
Olivia is in the next one dw! 😃 Haven't seen The Uninvited but will definitely give it a watch - also heard a lot about some subtext in The Haunting (1963). I need to look more into the haunted house subgenre for sure!