Runaway Romances: Hollywood's Postwar Tour of Europe

by Robert Shandley

Overview

In the 1950s and early 1960s, America imagined itself young and in love in Europe. And Hollywood films of the era reflected this romantic allure. From a young and naïve Audrey Hepburn falling in love with Gregory Peck inRoman Holiday to David Lean’s Summertime, featuring Katherine Hepburn’s sexual adventure in Venice, these glossy travelogue romances were shot on location, and established an exciting new genre for Hollywood.

As Robert Shandley shows in Runaway Romances, these films were not only indicative of the ideology of the American-dominated postwar world order, but they also represented a shift in Hollywood production values. Eager to capture new audiences during a period of economic crisis, Hollywood’s European output utilized the widescreen process to enhance cinematic experience. The films—To Catch a Thief, Three Coins in the Fountain, and Funny Face among them—enticed viewers to visit faraway places for romantic escapades. In the process, these runaway romances captured American fantasies for a brief, but intense, period that ended as audiences grew tired of old World splendors, and entered into a new era of sexual awakening.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781592139477
Publisher:	Temple University Press
Publication date:	04/03/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Robert R. Shandleyis Associate Professor of Film studies and German at Texas A&M University. He is the author ofRubble Films: German Cinema in the Shadow of the Third Reich (Temple) and editor of Unwilling Germans? The Goldhagen Debate.

Table of Contents

Preface 
Introduction 
1. Hollywood’s Move Abroad 
2. How Rome Saved Hollywood 
3. Foreign Affairs: Metaphors of Transatlantic Relations 
4. Tourists with Big Cameras: Widescreen Runaways and Class Mobility 
5. Marrying the Enemy: The Occupation Romance 
6. The End of the European Romance 
Notes 
Filmography 
Bibliography 
Index 
Photographs follow page 110

Editorial Reviews

Shandley (film studies & German, Texas A&M Univ.; Rubble Films: German Cinema in the Shadow of the Third Reich) makes the case for what he calls runaway or travelog romances as a legitimate film genre. Shot and (for budgetary reasons) finished in Europe and elsewhere outside the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s, these films take place primarily in post-World War II Europe. Many of the films from this time period that come to mind, like Roman Holiday, Three Coins in the Fountain, Funny Face, and To Catch a Thief, are discussed here. As Shandley observes, "While not the first runaway film with a contemporary setting, Roman Holiday provided a production and narrative model off which many other films would build." In this well-researched book, he devotes chapters to the "occupation romance" and the use of widescreen and also includes an extensive bibliography. Shandley even cites items from the Paramount Production Records Collection at the Margaret Herrick Library. A useful-if a bit brief and pricey-analysis; recommended for academic libraries.
—Barb Kundanis

Library Journal

QUOTE: “Shandley's careful analysis is informed by a wealth of relevant historical and critical studies. Runaway Romances is both conceptually interesting and original and it is a meaningful scholarly addition to the field.”—Antje Ascheid, Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Georgia, and author of Hitler's Heroines: Stardom and Womanhood in Nazi Cinema (Temple)

From the Publisher