The Monster and the Mob: A Critical Analysis of Fritz Lang’s Fury (1936) and James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 12, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2042-1869
  • E-ISSN: 2042-1877

Abstract

Both released during the 1930s, Fritz Lang’s film (1936) and James Whale’s film (1931) shed light on the threat of mob violence during a decade shaken by economic depression and social turmoil. Considered together in this film analysis, Lang’s and Whale’s reveal the ways lynch violence infiltrated American cultural output during the 1930s. In turn, both directors can be seen as shedding a much-needed light on the social scourges of racism, antisemitism, and homophobia in the 1930s America by including scenes with mobs attempting to kill an innocent who is nevertheless presumed guilty without due process.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/fm_00153_7
2021-09-01
2024-04-24
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Baum, Christopher.. Father of Frankenstein. Penguin Group;, 1996.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Benshoff, Harry M.,, and Sean Griffin.. America on Film: Representing Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality at the Movies. John Wiley & Sons;, 2011.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. “Brooke L. Hart.”. Federal Bureau of Investigation: Freedom of Information – Privacy Act, https://web.archive.org/web/20041009195211/ http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/brookelhart.htm. Accessed 8 Sept. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Curtis, James.. James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters. Faber & Faber;, 1998.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Cutler, James E.. Lynch-Law: An Investigation into the History of Lynching in the United States. Longmans, Green, and Co.;, 1905.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Fear Lynching San Jose Kidnappers.. Madera Tribune, Archived at Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, 17 Nov. 1933, https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19331121.2.16&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Fone, Byrne.. Homophobia: A History. Metropolitan Books;, 2000.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Gehring, West.. “ Strange Fruit Indeed.. USA Today, vol. 144, no. 2844, September 2015.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Gibson, Robert.. “ The Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots in the United States, 1880-1950.. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, http://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Goldston, Robert C.. The Great Depression: The United States in the Thirties. Macmillan Publishing Company;, 1968.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Granados and Roux. “ Life and Death during the Great Depression.. PNAS, vol. 106, no. 41, 2009, pp. 1729017295.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Gustafson, Kristin.. “ Constructions of Responsibility for Three 1920 Lynchings in Minnesota Newspapers.. Journalism History, vol. 34, no. 1, 2009, pp. 4253.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Hanging Gets Gov. Rolph’s Endorsement.. Ellensburg Daily Record, AP, 27 Nov. 1933, https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=INUrAAAAIBAJ&pg=5428%2C4907032. Accessed 23 Sept. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Hurt, R. Douglas.. The Dust Bowl: An Agricultural and Social History. Nelson-Hall;, 1984.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Kaes, Anton.. “ A Stranger in the House: Fritz Lang’s ‘Fury’ and the Cinema of Exile.. New German Critique, vol. 89, 2003, pp. 3358.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Koch, Raymond K.. “ Politics and Relief in Minneapolis during the 1930s.. Minnesota History, vol. 41, no. 4, [ 1968] 2019, pp. 153170.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Lambert, Roger.. “ Hoover and the Red Cross in the Arkansas Drought of 1930.. The Arkansas Historical Quarterly, vol. 29, no. 1, 1970, pp. 319.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Loewen, James.. Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. The New Press;, 2018.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Lugowski, David.. “ Queering the (New) Deal: Lesbian and Gay Representation and the Depression-Era Cultural Politics of Hollywood’s Production Code.. Cinema Journal, vol. 38, no. 2, 1999, pp. 335.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. McWhirter, Cameron.. Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Henry Holt and Company, LLC;, 2011.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Miller, Randall.. “ Lynching in America: Some Text and a Few Comments.. Pennsylvania History: Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 72, no. 3, 2011, pp. 275291.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. November 5, 1929: Message on the Economy.. University of Virginia Miller Center: Presidential Speeches: Herbert Hoover Presidency, 5 Nov. 1929, https://millercenter.org/the-presidency/presidential-speeches/november-5-1929-message-economy. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Reuter, Edward B.. The American Race Problem. Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers;, 1937.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Talbot, Peter.. “ Confronting Truth: Marion, Indiana Struggles to Face History of 1930 Lynching.. Indiana Daily Student, 9 Dec. 2018.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Tuskegee Institute. Negro Year Book: A Review of Events Affecting Negro Life, 1952. Negro Year Book Pub. Co;, 1952, https://archive.org/details/negroyearbook52tuskrich/page/276. 3 Nov. 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Watkins, T. H.. The Hungry Years: A Narrative History of the Great Depression in America. Henry Holt and Company;, 1999.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Weinfeld, David.. “ American Jews, Blackface, and the KKK.. Canadian Jewish News, 6 Feb. 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Wood, Amy L.. Lynching and Spectacle: Witnessing Racial Violence in America, 1890-1940. University of North Carolina Press;, 2009.
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/fm_00153_7
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/fm_00153_7
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error