The transgressive discourse of Rowland Brown’s cinema (1931-1933): A brief career in pre-code Hollywood
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Abstract
This article consists in the analysis of the director Rowland Brown’s film work and career, who was one of the first (if not the first) directors-screenwriters of Hollywood. He developed his career during Hollywood’s pre-Code era and he only directed three idiosyncratic films linked to the gangster genre: Quick Millions (1931), Hell’s Highway (1932) and Blood Money (1933). There were a great number of reasons why he was thrown out from Hollywood and he was not allowed to return to direct, among them the highly transgressive and critical discourse of his cinema. Despite of the singularity and originality of his film work, today Brown is a forgotten figure, only recognised by a prestigious group of film historian. His cinema has not been studied thoroughly yet. The final aim of this article it to contribute to filling this gap in the History of Film.
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