Image of the day
An image common to 1930s Hollywood cinema, most notably in the American films of Fritz Lang: that of an impoverished man or woman gazing longingly in the shopping windows of a big city. On the other side of the glass is the idealized domestic life the couple would have if only they could afford the American splendor:
From Bad Girl (1931); featuring James Dunn; directed by Frank Borzage; cinematography by Chester A. Lyons.
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Just recently saw “A Man’s Castle” (1933) by Borzage that also has a sequence where Loretta Young gazes longingly at an oven in a shop window. Her lover Spencer Tracy ultimately ties himself down so she can get it.
Just a meme of the Great Depression and, if so, will it be coming back? “But Mack! It’s the 52-inch HDTV we’ve been dreaming of!”
I was thinking of MAN’S CASTLE too Brian! I love that scene: the way Tracy’s harshness to Loretta Young is allayed by his playfulness with his ice cream cone, and Young’s ignoring of his cruelty by biting/nibbling-on/whispering-in his ear—a trademark scene of Borzage intimacy.
But the ground for this little scuffle/fight/lovescene between the two is indeed over the dream of purchasing a real stove, locked far away behind showroom windows…
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