HAWKS DIRECTORS, 4 EDItION Sarris, Andrew, " The World of Howard Hawks, 'in Films and each of these films could well serve as one of the very best examples Filming(London), July and August 1962 and artistic embodiments of the type: gangster (Scarface), private eye 'Hawks Issue" of Cahiers du Cinema(Paris), January 1963 (Bringing up Baby), newspaper reporter(His Girl Friday), Pmo, (The Big Sleep), western(Red River, Rio Bravo), screwball come Hawks Issue"of Movie(London), 5 December 1962 Comolli, Jean-Louis, Howard Hawks ou I,ironique, in Cahiers du picture(The Criminal Code), science fiction(The Thing), musical Cinema(Paris), November 1964 (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), race-car drivers(The Crowd Roars, Red Brackett, Leigh, " A Comment on the Hawksian Woman, in Take Line 7000), and air pilots(Only Angels Have wings). But into each One(Montreal), July/August 1971 these narratives of generic expectations Hawks infused his particular Wise, Naomi, "The Hawksian Woman, in Take One(montreal) themes, motifs, and techniques April 1972 Born in the midwest at almost the same time that the movies ' Hawks Issue"of Filmkritik(Munich), May/June 1973. themselves were born in America, Hawks migrated with his family to Wood, Robin, To Have(Written) and Have Not(Directed), in southern California when the movies did; he spent his formative years Film Comment(New York), May/June 1973 working on films, learning to fly, and studying engineering at Cornell Haskell, Molly,""Howard Hawks: Masculine Feminine, in Film University. His initial work in silent films as a writer and producer Comment(New York), March/April 1974 would serve him well in his later years as a director, when he would phen, M,""Hawks in the Thirties, in Take One(Montreal), produce and, if not write, then control the writing of his films as well. Although Hawks work has been consistently dis ly discussed as exemplary Special issue, Wide Angle, vol. 1, no. 2, Summer 1976. of the Hollywood studio style, Hawks himself did not work for Richards, Jeffrey, The Silent Films of Howard Hawks, in Focus on a single studio on a long-term contract. Instead, he was an indepen- Film(London), Summer/Autumn 1976. dent producer who sold his projects to every Hollywood studio. Durgnat, Raymond, ""Hawks Isn't Good Enough, 'in Film Comment Whatever the genre of a Hawks film, it bore traits that made it New York), July/August 1977; see also February and March/ un nmistakably a Hawks film. The narrative was always elegantly and symmetrically structured and patterned. This quality was a sign of Hawks Section"of Positif(Paris), July/August 1977 Hawks' sharp sense of storytelling as well as his sensible efforts Dossier: le cinema de Howard Hawks, in Cinematographe(Paris), work closely with very talented writers: Ben Hecht, William Faulkner March 1978 and Jules Furthman being the most notable among them. Hawks Rohmer, Eric, and others, ""Hommage a Hawks, in Cinema(Paris), films were devoted to characters who were professionals with fervent March 1978 vocational commitments. The men in Hawks'films were good McBride Hawks, in Film Comment(New York), March/ what they did, whether flying the mail, driving race cars, driving cattle, or reporting the news. These vocational commitments were Burdick, D M, ""Danger of Death: The Hawksian Woman as Agent usually fulfilled by the union of two apparently opposite physical of Destruction, 'in Post Script (Jacksonville, Florida), Fall 1981. types who were spiritually one: either the union of the harder, tougher. M c Carthy, T,""Phantom Hawks, in Film Comment(New York) older male and a softer, younger, prettier male (John Wayne and September/October 1982. Montgomery Clift in Red River, Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Lev, P,""Elaborations on a Theme, in Quarterly Review of Film Bravo), or by a sharp, tough male and an equally sharp tough female Studies(New York), Spring 1984 Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday, Bogart and Jewell,RB, " How Howard Hawks Brought Baby Up, in Journal Bacall in To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep, John Barrymore of Popular Film(Washington, D. C ) winter 1984 and Carole Lombard in Twentieth Century). This spiritual alliance of Big Sleep, in Cine physical opposites revealed Hawks unwillingness to accept the Action&excl: (Toronto), no. 13/14, 1988 cultural stereotype that those who are able to accomplish difficult Davis, Teo, interview with Walter Hill, "Hill on Hawks, in Sight tasks are those who appear able to accomplish them and Sound (London), vol 7, no 2, February 1997 This tension between appearance and ability, surface and essence Gross, Larry, "" Hawks and the Angels, in Sight and Sound (Lon in Hawks'films led to several other themes and techniques. Charac- don), vol. 7, no. 2, February 1997 ters talk very tersely in Hawks' films, refusing to put their thoughts Younis, Raymond, Hawks and Ford Resurgent, in Cinema Papers and feelings into explicit speeches which would either sentimentalize or vulgarize those internal abstractions. Instead, Hawks'characters reveal their feelings through their actions, not by what they say On hawKs films- Hawks deflects his portrayal of the inner life from explicit speeches to symbolic physical objects-concrete visual images of things that Bogdanovich, Peter, The Great Professional-Howard Hawks, fc convey the intentions of the person who handles, uses, or controls the television, Great Britain, 1967 piece of physical matter. One of those physical objects-the coin Schickel. Richard. The Men Who Made the Movies. Howard Hawks which George Raft nervously flips in Scarface-has become a mythic for television. United States. 1973 of American culture itself, symbolic in itself of American Blumenberg, Hans, Ein verdammt gutes Leben(A Hell of a Good gangsters and American gangster movies(and used as such in both Singin in the rain and Some Like It Hot). Another of Hawks favorite actions, the lighting of cigarettes, became his subtextual way of showing who cares about whom without recourse to dialogue. Consistent with his narratives, Hawks visual style was one of Howard Hawks was perhaps the greatest director of American dead-pan understatement, never proclaiming its trickiness or bril- genre films. Hawks made films in almost every American genre, and liance but effortlessly communicating the values of the stories and the 424HAWKS DIRECTORS, 4th EDITION 424 Sarris, Andrew, ‘‘The World of Howard Hawks,’’ in Films and Filming (London), July and August 1962. ‘‘Hawks Issue’’ of Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), January 1963. ‘‘Hawks Issue’’ of Movie (London), 5 December 1962. Comolli, Jean-Louis, ‘‘Howard Hawks ou l’ironique,’’ in Cahiers du Cinéma (Paris), November 1964. Brackett, Leigh, ‘‘A Comment on the Hawksian Woman,’’ in Take One (Montreal), July/August 1971. Wise, Naomi, ‘‘The Hawksian Woman,’’ in Take One (Montreal), April 1972. ‘‘Hawks Issue’’ of Filmkritik (Munich), May/June 1973. Wood, Robin, ‘‘To Have (Written) and Have Not (Directed),’’ in Film Comment (New York), May/June 1973. Haskell, Molly, ‘‘Howard Hawks: Masculine Feminine,’’ in Film Comment (New York), March/April 1974. Cohen, M., ‘‘Hawks in the Thirties,’’ in Take One (Montreal), December 1975. Special issue, Wide Angle, vol. 1, no. 2, Summer 1976. Richards, Jeffrey, ‘‘The Silent Films of Howard Hawks,’’ in Focus on Film (London), Summer/Autumn 1976. Durgnat, Raymond, ‘‘Hawks Isn’t Good Enough,’’ in Film Comment (New York), July/August 1977; see also February and March/ April 1978. ‘‘Hawks Section’’ of Positif (Paris), July/August 1977. ‘‘Dossier: le cinéma de Howard Hawks,’’ in Cinématographe (Paris), March 1978. Rohmer, Eric, and others, ‘‘Hommage à Hawks,’’ in Cinéma (Paris), March 1978. McBride, J., ‘‘Hawks,’’ in Film Comment (New York), March/ April 1978. Burdick, D.M., ‘‘Danger of Death: The Hawksian Woman as Agent of Destruction,’’ in Post Script (Jacksonville, Florida), Fall 1981. McCarthy, T., ‘‘Phantom Hawks,’’ in Film Comment (New York), September/October 1982. Lev, P., ‘‘Elaborations on a Theme,’’ in Quarterly Review of Film Studies (New York), Spring 1984. Jewell, R.B., ‘‘How Howard Hawks Brought Baby Up,’’ in Journal of Popular Film (Washington, D.C.), Winter 1984. Walker, Michael, ‘‘Hawks and Film Noir: The Big Sleep,’’ in Cine￾Action! (Toronto), no. 13/14, 1988. Davis, Teo, interview with Walter Hill, ‘‘Hill on Hawks,’’ in Sight and Sound (London), vol. 7, no. 2, February 1997. Gross, Larry, ‘‘Hawks and the Angels,’’ in Sight and Sound (Lon￾don), vol. 7, no. 2, February 1997. Younis, Raymond, ‘‘Hawks and Ford Resurgent,’’ in Cinema Papers (Australia), no. 120, October 1997. On HAWKS: films— Bogdanovich, Peter, The Great Professional—Howard Hawks, for television, Great Britain, 1967. Schickel, Richard, The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks, for television, United States, 1973. Blumenberg, Hans, Ein verdammt gutes Leben (A Hell of a Good Life), West Germany, 1978. *** Howard Hawks was perhaps the greatest director of American genre films. Hawks made films in almost every American genre, and each of these films could well serve as one of the very best examples and artistic embodiments of the type: gangster (Scarface), private eye (The Big Sleep), western (Red River, Rio Bravo), screwball comedy (Bringing up Baby), newspaper reporter (His Girl Friday), prison picture (The Criminal Code), science fiction (The Thing), musical (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), race-car drivers (The Crowd Roars, Red Line 7000), and air pilots (Only Angels Have Wings). But into each of these narratives of generic expectations Hawks infused his particular themes, motifs, and techniques. Born in the Midwest at almost the same time that the movies themselves were born in America, Hawks migrated with his family to southern California when the movies did; he spent his formative years working on films, learning to fly, and studying engineering at Cornell University. His initial work in silent films as a writer and producer would serve him well in his later years as a director, when he would produce and, if not write, then control the writing of his films as well. Although Hawks’ work has been consistently discussed as exemplary of the Hollywood studio style, Hawks himself did not work for a single studio on a long-term contract. Instead, he was an indepen￾dent producer who sold his projects to every Hollywood studio. Whatever the genre of a Hawks film, it bore traits that made it unmistakably a Hawks film. The narrative was always elegantly and symmetrically structured and patterned. This quality was a sign of Hawks’ sharp sense of storytelling as well as his sensible efforts to work closely with very talented writers: Ben Hecht, William Faulkner, and Jules Furthman being the most notable among them. Hawks’ films were devoted to characters who were professionals with fervent vocational commitments. The men in Hawks’ films were good at what they did, whether flying the mail, driving race cars, driving cattle, or reporting the news. These vocational commitments were usually fulfilled by the union of two apparently opposite physical types who were spiritually one: either the union of the harder, tougher, older male and a softer, younger, prettier male (John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in Red River, Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo), or by a sharp, tough male and an equally sharp, tough female (Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday, Bogart and Bacall in To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep, John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in Twentieth Century). This spiritual alliance of physical opposites revealed Hawks’ unwillingness to accept the cultural stereotype that those who are able to accomplish difficult tasks are those who appear able to accomplish them. This tension between appearance and ability, surface and essence in Hawks’ films led to several other themes and techniques. Charac￾ters talk very tersely in Hawks’ films, refusing to put their thoughts and feelings into explicit speeches which would either sentimentalize or vulgarize those internal abstractions. Instead, Hawks’ characters reveal their feelings through their actions, not by what they say. Hawks deflects his portrayal of the inner life from explicit speeches to symbolic physical objects—concrete visual images of things that convey the intentions of the person who handles, uses, or controls the piece of physical matter. One of those physical objects—the coin which George Raft nervously flips in Scarface—has become a mythic icon of American culture itself, symbolic in itself of American gangsters and American gangster movies (and used as such in both Singin’ in the Rain and Some Like It Hot). Another of Hawks’ favorite actions, the lighting of cigarettes, became his subtextual way of showing who cares about whom without recourse to dialogue. Consistent with his narratives, Hawks’ visual style was one of dead-pan understatement, never proclaiming its trickiness or bril￾liance but effortlessly communicating the values of the stories and the