Paris in the Dark: Going to the Movies in the City of Light, 1930–1950 by Eric Smoodin

Abstract

Reviewed by: Paris in the Dark: Going to the Movies in the City of Light, 1930–1950 by Eric Smoodin Alexander Hertich Smoodin, Eric. Paris in the Dark: Going to the Movies in the City of Light, 1930–1950. Duke UP, 2020. ISBN 978-1-4780-0692-3. Pp. 224. Relying primarily on magazines, newspapers, and movie listings, Smoodin offers a different approach to conceptualizing French cinema from the beginning of the [End Page 286] spoken era until just after Liberation. Instead of exploring national cinema at the macro level through an analysis of productions, he examines reception, focusing on which films were available and where they were being screened in Paris and the near suburbs, detailing the dynamic between cinémas d'exclusivité and cinémas des quartiers. The first chapter provides a baseline, describing the movie-going landscape of the early 1930s. We learn that talkies were slow to dominate, with many Parisian cinemas, especially those in the working-class 20e arrondissement, not being wired for sound until 1931–32. Tallying weekly film listings, Smoodin tracks the number of French and international film productions, including specialized versions of films for French audiences, shown during various weeks. Contrary to the "simplified, heroic narrative" (42), ciné-clubs were widespread during the 1930s, viewed as a cultural activity equivalent to an art exhibit or concert. Run by men and women, they featured varied themes, both mainstream and avant-garde, and many met in posh theaters on the Champs-Elysées, indicating their widespread acceptance. Smoodin explores violence, primarily right-wing, in cinemas: a screening where the audience became violent seemingly because the film was not French, the Fascist storming of a cinema showing L'âge d'or, and a confrontation between Communists and Fascists outside a cinema in Clichy where five people were killed. He details closings of theaters during the Occupation (in June 1940 only around 50 of the 230 cinemas in Paris were showing films, a number that increased to 150 the following year). When Allied troops reached Paris in August 1944, only three cinemas were open; by October 1945, 275. This, and the availability of previously banned films, marked a new era for French cinema. A second tack examines how film stars were portrayed in publications. Although case studies on Maurice Chevalier or the German Brigitte Horney, who was presented as a major star during the war before fading as the Americans arrived, are illuminating, they seem tangential to the book's presumed focus. Furthermore, while his book does bring new insight to the era and dispel some commonly held myths, Smoodin's conclusions are often speculative. Discussing spectators' desire to either wait for a film to come to their neighborhood or travel across town, a major motif, he writes: "We have little evidence with which to judge these filmgoing habits" (87). Similarly, a film magazine "seems to indicate" that the "apparent success" of a Bresson film "perhaps indicates the possibility" that a knotty film could garner commercial success; however there "may have been" other reasons (132). His analysis appears to be limited by his major reliance on material available online from the BNF. Although many of those involved have passed away, in-person interviews, personal journals, minutes from cine-club meetings, or other ephemera would have allowed Smoodin to be more definitive. Nevertheless, the book offers an engaging perspective on Parisian filmgoing habits of the era. [End Page 287] Alexander Hertich Bradley University (IL) Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French