The Film Photonovel: A Cultural History of Forgotten Adaptations

199 Pages·2019·117.948 MB·English

by  Jan Baetens

THE FILM PHOTONOVEL
WORLD COMICS AND GRAPHIC NONFICTION SERIES
Frederick Luis Aldama and Christopher González, editors
The World Comics and Graphic Nonfiction series includes monographs and
edited volumes that focus on the analysis and interpretation of comic books
and graphic nonfiction from around the world. The books published in
the series use analytical approaches from literature, art history, cultural
studies, communication studies, media studies, and film studies, among
other fields, to help define the comic book studies field at a time of great
vitality and growth.
THE FILM
PHOTONOVEL
A Cultural History of
Forgotten Adaptations
Jan Baetens
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS AUSTIN
Copyright © 2019 by the University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2019
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Names: Baetens, Jan, author.
Title: The film photonovel : a cultural history of forgotten adapta-
tions / Jan Baetens.
Other titles: World comics and graphic nonfiction series.
Description: First edition. | Austin : University of Texas Press,
2019. | Series: World comics and graphic nonfiction series |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018031172 | ISBN 978-1-4773-1822-5
(cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 978-1-4773-1823-2 (library e-book) |
ISBN 978-1-4773-1824-9 (nonlibrary e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Fotonovelas—History and criticism. | Film
adaptations—History and criticism. | Motion pictures and
literature.
Classification: LCC PN6714 .B35 2019 | DDC 741.5/9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031172
doi:10.7560/318225
Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
1. Excavating the Film Photonovel 1
2. A Brief History of the Film Photonovel 9
3. Word and Image, Telling and Showing 41
4. Clear Grids, Blurred Lines 80
5. Action? Stop! Pose and Movement 114
6. Globalizing the Film Photonovel? 145
APPENDIX: PUBLISHERS AND MAGAZINES 155
NOTES 161
REFERENCES 169
INDEX 176
THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
Illustrations
FIGURE 2.1. Stagecoach (Stagecoach, 1939, John Ford) 18
FIGURE 2.2. “Cuori vagabondi” (Maria Grazia Francia, 1948) 19
FIGURE 2.3. “La Fureur de vivre” (Rebel Without a Cause, 1955, Nicholas
Ray) 30
FIGURE 3.1. “L’Adorable Voisine” (Bell, Book and Candle, 1958, Richard
Quine) 48
FIGURE 3.2. “La Voix de la conscience” (Crimen y castigo, 1951, Fernando
de Fuentes) 57
FIGURE 3.3. “Revoir Florence” (Porta un bacione a Firenze, 1955,
Camillo Mastrocinque) 58
FIGURE 3.4. “Las Noches de Cabiria” (Le Notti di Cabiria, 1957, Federico
Fellini) 59
FIGURE 3.5. “La Piste des éléphants” (Elephant Walk, 1954, William
Dieterle) 65
FIGURE 3.6. “La Belle et la bête” (La Belle et la bête, 1946, Jean
Cocteau) 70
FIGURE 3.7. “Moderato cantabile” (Moderato Cantabile, 1960, Peter
Brook) 75
FIGURE 3.8. “Arizona” (original unknown) 78
vii
FIGURE 4.1. “L’Amant fantôme” (Pandora and the Flying Dutchman,
1951, Albert Lewin) 88
FIGURE 4.2. “Cœurs en détresse” (El Indiano, 1955, Fernando Soler) 89
FIGURE 4.3. “Pane, amore e . . .” (Pane, amore e . . . , 1955, Dino Risi) 91
FIGURE 4.4. “Pain, amour, ainsi soit-il” (Pane, amore e . . . , 1955, Dino
Risi) 92
FIGURE 4.5. “Pain, amour et . . .” (Pane, amore e . . . , 1955, Dino
Risi) 93
FIGURE 4.6. “La Loi” (La Legge, 1959, Jules Dassin) 98
FIGURE 4.7. “La Chartreuse de Parme” (La Chartreuse de Parme, 1948,
Christian-Jacque) 102–103
FIGURE 4.8. “Hélène de Troie” (Helen of Troy, 1956, Robert Wise) 106
FIGURE 4.9. “L’Enquête mystérieuse” (The Frightened City, 1961, John
Lemont) 110
FIGURE 5.1. “Monte-Carlo” (The Monte Carlo Story, 1957, Sam Taylor/
Giulio Macchi) 120
FIGURE 5.2. “Les Voies du Cœur” (Le vie del cuore, 1942, Camillo
Mastrocinque) 121
FIGURE 5.3. “Pain, amour et . . .” (Pane, amore e . . . , 1955, Dino
Risi) 124–125
FIGURE 5.4. “La Princesse de Clèves” (La Princesse de Clèves, 1961,
Jean Delannoy) 127
FIGURE 5.5. “Volupté” (Go Naked in the World, 1961, Ranald
MacDougall) 129
FIGURE 5.6. “La Finestra sul cortile” (Rear Window, 1954, Alfred
Hitchcock) 132
FIGURE 5.7. “La Finestra sul cortile” (Rear Window, 1954, Alfred
Hitchcock) 134
FIGURE 5.8. “La Finestra sul cortile” (Rear Window, 1954, Alfred
Hitchcock) 139
FIGURE 5.9. “Ascenseur pour l’échafaud” (Ascenseur pour l’échafaud,
1958, Louis Malle) 143
FIGURE 6.1. “The Curse of Frankenstein” (The Curse of Frankenstein,
1957, Terence Fisher) 148
FIGURE 6.2. Bhob Stewart, The Bonnie and Clyde Scrapbook (Bonnie
and Clyde, 1967, Arthur Penn) 153
viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Acknowledgments
Many individuals and institutions have to be thanked for their invaluable
help and support.
First of all, I thank Frederick Aldama, editor of the World Comics and
Graphic Nonfiction Series, who encouraged my project from its first stut-
tering until its final form. Equal thanks are due to the two anonymous
reviewers of the manuscript as well as to Jessica Rutherford and Kip
Keller for having carefully read and edited the text. It was a privilege to
work with all of you.
As I was writing this book, many colleagues and specialists in the field
generously offered time and space for discussion, and I have greatly ben-
efited from their insights and erudition: Alain Boillat (Lausanne), Geert
Buelens (Utrecht), Philippe Capart (Brussels), David Filipe (Wexner Cen-
ter for the Arts, Ohio State University), Michel Delville (Liège), Giovanni
Fiorentino (Viterbo), Guido Furci (Paris), Luke Gartlan (St. Andrews,
Scotland), Tara Kreider (Thompson Library, Ohio State University), Wil-
liam Horrigan (Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University), Donata
Meneghelli (Bologna), Susan Liberator (Billy Ireland Cartoon Library,
Ohio State University), David Pinho Barros (Porto), Marie-Françoise Plis-
sart (Brussels), Domingo Sánchez-Mesa (Granada), and Bruno Takodjerad
ix