Nice Guys Finish Last?

On the face of it, both Rules of the Game and His Girl Friday depict a pessimistic, dog-eat-dog world.  Both films have characters who care for their reputation and comfort over the well-being of innocent others.  The Marquis and his wife condone the killing of his wife's would-be lover to return to their domestic cocoon.  The Mayor and the Sheriff are willing to hang an innocent man to win an election.  Walter Burns will manipulate and swindle Bruce to get Hildy back.  Do both of these movies have cynical views of human nature and/or the society's they show?  Or is there some silver lining in the dark clouds?  Is their any value in either movie that is redeeming, noble or heroic?

Is Friday Feminist or Feeble-Minded?

Hildy Johnson is a confident career woman who can compete with men (and defeat them) in the dog-eat-dog world of journalism. She is even willing to divorce her man if he doesn't treat her right. Yet, at the same time, she seeks the domestic joys of children and caring for her man -- and in the end returns to the rascal whom she left in the first place. What is the role of women in this film? Does it tell us anything about "modern" women in 1940's America?

Marriage -- and Divorce -- His Girl Style

His Girl Friday charts the marriage and divorce and remarriage of Walter and Hildy and the engagement -- and near marriage -- of Hildy and Bruce. Hildy says she wants domestic bliss in suburban Albany but she chucks it to remarry Walter and relaunch her career. Can someone balance career and marriage? Who is the best kind of spouse?  Is happiness possible in marriage?   What is this film saying about that state of marriage in the modern world?

She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not . . .

At the begining of the film, Genevieve, Robert's mistress, is entertaining guests at a dinner party.  As they discuss Andre's profession of love for Christine after his heroic crossing of the Atlantic, she offers this observation on love by Chamfort:"Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins." What does this bon mot mean?  Is this a theme in the rest of the film?  What is the meaning of love and intimate relationships in The Rules of the Game?

What Rules? What Game?

What is the meaning of the title of The Rules of the Game? What is the "game"? What are the "rules"? Who are the participants? How does one "win" the game? What are the penalties for breaking the rules?

The Hunt

Perhaps the most famous scene from The Rules of the Game involves the scene in which the Marquis' guests shoot rabbit and pheasant beaten from the forest by the gamekeeper. What is so distinctive and striking about the scene? Why does it pack such an emotional punch? What is the deeper significance or symbolism of this scene?

A Little Bird Told Me . . .

The gossip of the members of his community about his demotion, rather than the demoition itself, is the direct cause of the doorman's downfall in The Last Laugh.  Some of the most expressive images in the film demonstrate the spread of gossip and the resultant mockery of the neighbors: the camera moves to an outstretched ear, the camera follows the doorman along a walk of shame, grotesque and blurry heads superimposed on the neighborhood mock him with unabashed laughter.  What is the movie saying about gossip as a form of communication?  What is it saying about the community that listens to it?  How does what other people think of us influence how we think of ourselves?

Shiny, Happy People

The concluding scene of The Last Laugh depicts the incredible gluttony and generosity of the unnamed, demoted doorman after he miraculously inherits a fortune from a dying American millionaire. He feasts on mounds of food, eating caviar as if it were candy and drinking champagne as if it were water. A tracking shot of the "spread" emphasizes the opulence and indulgence of our hero. What is the point of this ending? Is is a happy ending or a parody of a happy ending? Is this supposed to be objective reality or a fantasy? Is this a cynical commercial ploy or is there deeper significance to the ending?

Tragedy of the Common Man?

When the unnamed doorman in The Last Laugh is demoted to bathroom attendant, his world collapses. At the end of the film he is estranged from his family, fellow workers and neighbors and only the night watchman gives him succor. Is this film a tragedy in the Aristotelian sense (that is, does he fall because of some tragic character flaw?)? Is it an indictment of the society of the time? A study of the inevitable effects of aging? Or, to put the point another way, whose fault is the doorman's downfall?