The Films of Samuel Fuller. Lisa Dombrowski
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Illustrations
| Samuel Fuller in Italy during World War II | 5 |
| Publicity still for Park Row | 11 |
| Drawing by Fuller for Park Row | 15 |
| Production still for Forty Guns | 19 |
| Frame enlargements from Underworld, U.S.A. | 22 |
| Publicity still for I Shot Jesse James | 32 |
| Publicity still for The Baron of Arizona | 37 |
| Publicity still for The Steel Helmet | 47 |
| Darryl Zanuck and Samuel Fuller | 53 |
| Production still for Fixed Bayonets | 61 |
| Production still contact sheet for Park Row | 66 |
| Publicity still for Pickup on South Street | 73 |
| Publicity still for Hell and High Water | 80 |
| Production still for House of Bamboo | 88 |
| Production still for Run of the Arrow | 101 |
| Publicity still for China Gate | 105 |
| Frame enlargements from Forty Guns | 114 |
| Publicity still for Verboten! | 118 |
| Frame enlargements from The Crimson Kimono | 127 |
| Frame enlargements from Underworld, U.S.A. | 140 |
| Production still for Merrill’s Marauders | 145 |
| Frame enlargements from Shock Corridor | 155 |
| Advertisement mat for Shock Corridor | 157 |
| Production still and frame enlargements from The Naked Kiss | 161 |
| François Truffaut and Samuel Fuller | 173 |
| Production still for Shark! | 179 |
| Frame enlargement from Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street | 183 |
| Production still for The Big Red One | 188 |
| Production still for White Dog | 195 |
Acknowledgments
My passion for Samuel Fuller originated during my undergraduate years at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where Jeanine Basinger has been teaching his work for over forty years. The depth of her knowledge and her love of cinema have inspired me throughout my career. I would not have thought to undertake this work—nor been able to complete it—without her.
I produced a fledgling version of this book under the patient tutelage of Lea Jacobs and David Bordwell at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I am indebted to them for their comments on drafts, as well as to Vance Kepley, Tino Balio, and Noël Carroll. Much thanks also to my Madison cohort—Jim Kreul, Jane Greene, Jonathan Whalley, Chris Becker, Chris Sieving, Jennifer Fay, and Jim Udden—who provided me with encouragement, beer, and pie when I needed them the most.
At Wesleyan, Richard Slotkin offered invaluable advice on the project, while my colleagues Leo Lensing, Scott Higgins, Jacob Bricca, Lea Carlson, Marc Longenecker, Leith Johnson, and Joan Miller have all supported my scholarship in countless ways. Thanks also to Sam Wasson, Lucas Dietrich, Shahruk Chowdhury, and Dan Butrymowicz for their research help. My editor at Wesleyan University Press, Eric Levy, has been a gem, as I tell him all the time. Much thanks to Eric Lichtenfeld for heartily recommending him.
I am tremendously grateful for the early assistance provided by Mike Pogorzelski and Joe Lindner at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the access they offered to Fuller’s personal film collection. I’d also like to thank Lauren Buisson at the University of California–Los Angeles Young Research Library Arts Special Collections, Maxine Fleckner Ducey at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research, Barbara Hall and Faye Thompson at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library, as well as Haden Guest, a true gentleman, who opened the doors for me at the Warner Bros. Archive and shared his own work on Fuller. Jon Davison and Kelly Ward discussed their memories of Fuller with great honesty and enthusiasm; they made the man come alive, which I truly appreciate.
My family—Chuck, Carol, Eleanor, Mike, Helen, and Henry—have experienced the highs and the lows of this project along with me. Their unfailing love convinced me I could do what I never conceived to be possible. Brett, my partner in crime, receives the biggest bear hug of all. His commitment, confidence, and cheers carried me through. We plan a sitcom.
Finally, I offer my heartfelt thanks to Christa Lang Fuller, her daughter Samantha, and her granddaughter Samira. The generosity of these bright, strong, funny women knows no bounds. No wonder Sam loved them so! I look forward to seeing their stories of him in print one day.
THE FILMS OF SAMUEL FULLER
Introduction
A man eyes a woman on the subway. She returns his gaze. Two other men watch. A pocketbook is picked.
An outlaw shoots his best friend in the back, then proposes to his girlfriend.
A woman furiously beats the camera with her bag to the sound of wailing saxophones. Her wig falls off. She is bald.
An African-American pulls a white pillowcase over his head and cries, “America for Americans!”
A woman’s face cracks like a broken mirror, shattered by a gunshot.
A young solider pumps round after round into a Nazi hiding in a concentration camp oven.
A newspaper editor pummels a man against the base of a Benjamin Franklin statue.
A sergeant shoots a prisoner of war, then yells at him, “If you die, I’ll kill you!”
With their startling subject matter and emphasis on conflict, contradiction, and kineticism, Samuel Fuller’s films are designed to hit you—hard. His stated goal was to “grab audiences by the balls!” By upending expectations, disregarding conventional norms, and combining realism with sensationalism, violence with humor, and intricate long takes with rapid-fire editing, Fuller created films that produce a direct emotional impact on the viewer. He wanted to unsettle the assumptions of audiences, to surprise them, to instruct as well as to entertain, always striving to reveal the truth of a given situation. His are daring and stimulating films, and they have inspired fascination in generations of fans.
As the recurring narrative and stylistic tendencies