Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Hawksian Woman

If you want an illustration of the two things Howard Hawks loved most -- 1) strong female characters and 2) repeating lines and concepts in every movie -- I've put together a little two-minute collection of clips (the music, which is probably at too low a volume level, is the theme from Rio Bravo).



Most of these clips are from four Hawks films that basically feature the same character being played by different actresses: Only Angels Have Wings (Jean Arthur), To Have and Have Not (Lauren Bacall), Red River (Joanne Dru) and Rio Bravo (Angie Dickinson). The character has a checkered past but gets upset when men doubt her integrity based on the way she looks; talks tough but has a vulnerable streak; talks too much and falls in love with a taciturn man; and she's hard to get -- all you have to do is ask her.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This was beautifully done! Smooth and well-edited. It really does show Hawks' almost verbatim dealings time and again with certain male-female issues. Thanks! Bravo!

Anonymous said...

I wish you had put more clips of Marianna Hill in this. It was a great compilation, but she had a few more good scenes in Red Line 7000 than you put in there.

Anonymous said...

it is a great compilation to see how howard hawks steal from himself:) thanks