1 Frankenstein
(1931, dir: James Whale)
Portraying persecution
This is a wonderful exploration of how socie ty declares a being to be a monster, who is then hounded to his death. But it also reso nates with the experiences of German exiles coming to Hollywood in the early 1930s, fleeing persecution in their homeland: it has a sense of a dreadful doom pursuing you to the ends of the Earth. A lot of films from this period seem to be influenced by the political backdrop at the time – the rise of fascism in Europe, with exiles arriving in the US. These social forces all came together to produce this weird hybrid of European folk tales and Gothic novels, using the latest technology.
2 Cat People
(1942, dir: Jacques Tourneur)
Exploring sexual anxiety
Directed by emigre Frenchman
