Transnational developments in European cinema in the 1920s

TY - JOUR

T1 - Transnational developments in European cinema in the 1920s

AU - Higson, Andrew

PY - 2010/1

Y1 - 2010/1

N2 - Transnational cinema is not a new phenomenon, as this discussion of European collaboration in the 1920s demonstrates. In an attempt to match the scale of Hollywood film-making and compete with American film distributors, some European companies established co-production arrangements with each other, while leading actors, directors and other key creative personnel worked in a variety of countries, producing films that often explored intercultural relationships and/or transnational journeying. One of the key examples explored here is the work of Mihály Kertész for the Austrian company Sascha in the mid-1920s, before he moved in 1926 to Hollywood, where he became Michael Curtiz. The films he made in this period include Moon of Israel, a Monumentalfilm co-produced with the British company Stoll, and with a range of European collaborators both behind and in front of the camera; three later films, The Red Heels, Road to Happiness and The Golden Butterfly, were made on a smaller scale, but still exhibit the same transnational arrangements. Also mentioned are various ‘British’ films of the period that embody aspects of transnationalism.

AB - Transnational cinema is not a new phenomenon, as this discussion of European collaboration in the 1920s demonstrates. In an attempt to match the scale of Hollywood film-making and compete with American film distributors, some European companies established co-production arrangements with each other, while leading actors, directors and other key creative personnel worked in a variety of countries, producing films that often explored intercultural relationships and/or transnational journeying. One of the key examples explored here is the work of Mihály Kertész for the Austrian company Sascha in the mid-1920s, before he moved in 1926 to Hollywood, where he became Michael Curtiz. The films he made in this period include Moon of Israel, a Monumentalfilm co-produced with the British company Stoll, and with a range of European collaborators both behind and in front of the camera; three later films, The Red Heels, Road to Happiness and The Golden Butterfly, were made on a smaller scale, but still exhibit the same transnational arrangements. Also mentioned are various ‘British’ films of the period that embody aspects of transnationalism.

U2 - 10.1386/trac.1.1.69/1

DO - 10.1386/trac.1.1.69/1

M3 - Article

SN - 2040-3526

VL - 1

SP - 69

EP - 82

JO - Transnational Cinemas

JF - Transnational Cinemas

IS - 1

ER -