| Film | Year | Director | Notable cast members | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrowsmith | 1931 | John Ford (renowned filmmaker with four Oscar wins for Best Director)1 | Helen Hayes (EGOT winner, nicknamed “The First Lady of American Theatre”)2 Ronald Colman (famous actor of the 1930s–50s, who received one Oscar win and three Oscar nominations)3 | The film was an adaptation of Sinclair Lewis’ Pulitzer-winning novel, Arrowsmith (1925).4 With a box office of $1,250,000, Arrowsmith was listed as one of the all-time bestselling motion pictures by 1938.5 The film received four Oscar nominations.6 |
| The Painted Veil | 1934 | Richard Boleslawski | Greta Garbo (international star of the 1920s–30s, who received three Oscar nominations)7 | The film was adapted from W. Somerset Maugham’s 1925 novel The Painted Veil—which received three cinema adaptations (in 1934, 1957, and 2006), proving its enduring appeal. Produced with a budget of $947,000, The Painted Veil earned a total of $1,658,000 (1934 values) in domestic and foreign markets.8 |
| Jezebel | 1938 | William Wyler (a renowned filmmaker with three Oscar wins for Best Director)9 | Bette Davis (a famous actress with two Oscar wins and ten Oscar nominations)10 Henry Fonda (a famous actor with one Oscar win and two Oscar nominations)11 | In 2009, Jezebel was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the films that would be “preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures.”12 The film received two Oscar wins and three Oscar nominations.13 |
| Pacific Liner | 1939 | Lew Landers | Victor McLaglen (famous boxer-turned-actor with one Oscar win and one Oscar nomination)14 | Despite its low budget as a B film, Pacific Liner was screened like an A production for the first six weeks of its release.15 The film received one Oscar nomination.16 |
| The Rains Came | 1939 | Clarence Brown (renowned filmmaker with six Oscar nominations for Best Director)17 | Myrna Loy (famous actress, who was regarded by the LA Times as “Queen of the Movies”)18 Tyrone Power (one of the most well-known actors of the 1930s–40s)19 | The film was adapted from the 1937 novel The Rains Came by Louis Bromfield, a Pulitzer-winning and bestselling author of the 1920s.20 The film received one Oscar win and four Oscar nominations.21 |
| Panic in the Streets | 1950 | Elia Kazan (renowned filmmaker with two Oscar wins for Best Director)22 | Richard Widmark (Hollywood star of the post-war era, who received one Golden Globe win and one Oscar nomination)23 | The film received one Oscar win and the International Award at the 1950 Venice International Film Festival.24 |
| The Killer that Stalked New York | 1950 | Earl McEvoy | Evelyn Keyes (well-known actress of the 1940s, who co-starred in the classic film Gone with the Wind)25 | The Killer that Stalked New York was regarded only as a B film but has nevertheless often been included in the all-time list of film noirs as well as epidemic films.26 |
| The Whip Hand | 1951 | William Cameron Menzies (renowned filmmaker with two Oscar wins, two Oscar nominations, and one nomination at the Venice Film Festival)27 | Raymond Burr (television star of the 1950s, who received two Primetime Emmy awards)28 Elliott Reid (familiar face of the 1950s movies and television, famous for his role in the Hollywood classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes)29 | The film sparked conflicting reactions from contemporary film critics. It was a box office failure, losing approximately $225,000. According to Mark Miller, this was largely due to the sudden script change that caused a surge in the production expense.30 |
| The Barbarian and the Geisha | 1958 | John Huston (renowned filmmaker with two Oscar wins and twelve Oscar nominations)31 | John Wayne (Hollywood icon and an international star of the 1950s, who received one Oscar win and two Oscar nominations)32 | The film attracted much attention thanks to the popularity of John Wayne and the reputation of John Huston. However, it performed poorly at the box office, unable to cover the production budget of $4 million.33 |
| The Spiral Road | 1962 | Robert Mulligan (renowned filmmaker who received one Oscar nomination and an award at the Cannes Film Festival for his most well-known film, To Kill A Mockingbird)34 | Rock Hudson (movie and television star of the 1950s–60s, who received one Oscar nomination)35 Gena Rowlands (famous actress with two Oscar nominations, four Emmy wins and two Golden Globe wins)36 | The movie drew attention thanks to the popularity of Rock Hudson and Gena Rowlands but received mixed reviews from contemporary film critics.37 |
From Disease Incubation to Disease Receipt: Representing Epidemics and Race in Pre- and Post-Second World War American Cinema (1931–1939 and 1950–1962)
By: Phạm Thùy Dung, Daniel R. Curtis and Qijun Han
Figures & Tables
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18146/tmg.842 | Journal eISSN: 2213-7653
Language: English
Page range: 1 - 31
Published on: Dec 30, 2023
Published by: Sound & Vision
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
© 2023 Phạm Thùy Dung, Daniel R. Curtis, Qijun Han, published by Sound & Vision
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.