r The Awful Truth r l '.ll.l I", r. THE DIFFERENT SAME AND

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1 228 THE COURTNG OF MARRAGE ime sang of "i" as "gea fun," and as "jus one of hose hings," he allowed he singe o hope ha hey would mee now and hen, allowed hem o suvive hei pleasue wih some humo, some syle, inac. O when John Dyden wies "Faewell, fai Ameda" his love undesandably akes his leave o die because love is unequied. Bu Kip seems o be singing his seenade o one who is heself o die ("when you'e sepping on he sas above"), appaenly he oppoune momen fo inspiing his declaaion. Maybe he jus means ha she is moving on o highe hings, and maybe he woe he song o be sung by anyone bu himself, especially by Adam. Maybe i is fo him o sing on Adam's beh.llf, like an inveed Cyano. He almos does. When Adam is abou o leave hei apamen afe Amanda's homecoming o silence and his haanguing sequel, Amanda says, "Adam, don' you dae slam ha doo," and when he does he spieful slamming ses off a conapion of consequences (a so of schizophenic Rube Goldbeg machine), an image of he cunning of hisoy, o of he logic of naaive, he las consequence of which is he uning on of a ecod of Kip singing his song. The ecod playe is unde pessue and you can' ell Kip's voice fom Adam. So Kip half ges he wish o povide Adam's exi music, confimaion ha Adam mus confon him and Amanda ogehe. And in his vicoy seenade Adam uns he ables, does some vesifying himself. He sings he song 50 ha i begins wih he wods "Hello, Amanda," and goes on o welcome he, o welcome he back, afe a bale he claims was fun. n he couse of his ewiing he changes "when you'e sepping on he sas" o "when you'e gazing a he sas," a change ha bings Amanda safely down o eah, and while she mus appeciae his she may also esen i a lile, and esen a lile he bullying alen ha wess Kip's song, which was hes, away o his own puposes. Bu how could she no also admie i? is his final claim upon he, ovecoming a once he bmishness of he gun and he childishness of he eas. She will yield o his achievemen of genle genialiy ("Hooay fo ha lile diffeence!"), bu no wihou conesing i. Afe all, whose diffeence is i? Haed, as fo depaue, away fom us, hey esume hei advenue of desie, hei pusui of happiness, someimes alking, someimes no, always in convesaion. 11 THE [ SAME AND [ DFFERENT.. The Awful Tuh Allsne will ell him, o WHm him of, visiing him a his apamen, befoe becoming his sise, is ha his ancien poem o he, which she is ahoul 10 ecile, will hand him ' ",. l' l l' l l '.ll.l,'1",

2 ! i j!! 1 i i iii poses an achievemen of his film-ha is, an achievemen of is diec o, Leo McCaey-ha anscends he compaable achievemens of Fank Capa, Howad Hawks, and Geoge Cuko. The anscendence is no, no doub, by vey much, bu he supise is ha Leo McCaey should be seing he example a all fo his moe famous, o moe pominen, colleagues. To ge pas W~il may be hadly moe han pejudice hee, i may help o noe Jean Renoi's emak ha "Leo McCaey undesood people bee han any ohe Hollywood dieco."* Thee could hadly be, fom ha souce, highe paise. l, -~...".1'.. ~5: imii 3fdllleall ]11 i~ s._ y N ceain sceenings have fel The.A.wful Tuh (1937) o be he ~ bes, o he deepes, of he comedies of emaiage. This feeling may be found eccenic on any numbe of gounds. Tha expec iniial ageemen wih i is egiseed in he qualificaion on ceain 1 sceenings." By he qualificaion mean no only ha hee have been sceenings on which 1 have no fel his way; mean also o sugges ha he expeience of his film is moe dependen on he qualiy of he individual session of sceening han is companion films ae. Specifically, my connecion wih he film, even my undesanding of i, has been especially dependen, i seems o me, on he pesence wih me of an appeciaive audience. This could mean eihe ha my espo:1ses ae less fee han in ohe cases, equiing infeciousness and a socially inspied willingness o be pleased, o be sociable; o ha my esponses ae moe fee, paicipaing o no as hey equie, he film no focing is aenion upon me. s he lae possibiliy eally cedible? po Repoed by Andew Sais in The Amuic~N Cinema (New Yok: E. F. Duon,md Co., 1968), p

3 232 THE SAME AND DFFERENT No would McCaey's colleagues in he gene of emaiage hemselves have been supised a his pesence. You may no find ha Cuko is emembeing McCaey when nea he beginning of The Philadelphia Soy Dinah says, "Nohing possibly in he leas eve happens aound hee," hee yeas afe Aun Pasy had said, nea he beginning of The Awful Tuh, "Nohing unusual eve happens aound hee." Since Dinah's line OCcus in he play The Philadelphia Sfoy, maybe i was jus Philip Bay who was emembeing Aun Pasy a yea o wo lae and Cuko didn' cae one way o he ohe whehe he line was eained fo he film scip. O maybe he wies and diecos in quesion wee all emembeing, o each wok discoveing fo isel( a way of waning is audience, aking i by he hand as if o say, ha a naaive is abou o begin. ("Wha's happening?" asks Becke's blind Hamm, apped beween beginning and ending.) Bu can i be doubed ha Howad Hawks is paying homage o McCaey in all bu aking ove he conen of he gea esauan sequence in His Gil Fiday fom he gea esauan o nighclub sequence in The Awful Tuh? n boh sequences, Cay Gan as a goup awkwadly seles iself aound a able, opens a convesaion wih his esanged wife and wih Ralph Bellamy by saying, "So you wo ae going o ge maied." Gan hen quizzes hem abou whee hey will live, and elaboaely picues his wife's pleasue in geing away fom he big ciy wih is igos of elegan shops and heaes o he peace and quie and advenue of he Wes (Oklahoma Ciy in he pesen film, Albany in he lae). n boh he woman ies o poec he new man againshe onslaughs of he old and in boh he convesaion uns, wih some elief, o a business poposiion. Thee is also in boh a momen (in The Awful Tuh his Comes no wihin he esauan sequence bu in he sequence ha fojows i in Bellamy's apamen) a which Gan, beaking up laughing as he begins eciing an inimae memoy, has o be signaled off he subjec by he woman. And we should noe ha he las nigh, a Gan's pospecive in-laws' house, as ene Dunne pus on he sise ac, she says, in geeing he fahe of he family, ") neve would have ecognized you fom his descipion," hus pepaing he way fo Wae's iniial wods o Buce, "Hildy, you led me o expec a much olde man." f The Awful Tuh does have a ceain specialness, pehaps his is o be aibued less o is dieco han o SOme special place i occupies in he gene of emaiage. is he only membe of he gene in which he f j f j l:,i ~ 233 opic of divoce and he locaion in Connecicu ae undisplaced, ha is, in wha one is mos likely o ake as hei naual places; in which he pai's soy boh opens wih he fonne and closes a he lae. Bu how do we know ha his kind of naual o saigh accoun is so impoan, moe impoan, say, han he fac ha in his film he woman's fahe is no pesen bu is eplaced by someone called he woman's Aun"? Besides, if gene iself wee decisive, Hichcock's M. and Ms. Smifh (1941), which woks billian vaiaions wihin he gene, would have moe life fo us han is o be deived fom is somewha cold comfos. Any answe having o do wih he deph of paicipaion in he gene mus invoke a dieco's auhoiy wih he gene, his naiveness o subjecion o i, he dieco and he gene knowing how o ge he bes fom one anohe. And his mus mean, accoding o ou undesanding of his gene, knowing how o ake a woman mos deeply ino he foces ha consiue he gene, which in un means finding a woman, and finding hose qualiies in a woman, in whom and in which hose foces can mos fully be given play. Hee is a place we come unpoecedly upon he limiaion of ciicism by he fac of somehing ha is called pesonal ase. Abou Happmed One Nigh said ha is appeciaion depended on a ceain accepance of Claudee Colbe; bu my sense of The Awful Tuh is ha if one is no willing o yield o ene Dunne's empeamen, he alens, he eacions, following hei deail almos o he loss of one's own ideniy, one will no know, and will no cae, wha he film is abou. Pauline Kael, fo insance, in he Pofile of Cay Gan has his o say abou ene Dunne in The Awful Tuh: "hough she is ofen funny, she ovedoes he coy gugles, and ha bigh oohy smile of hes-she shows boh ows of eeh, peily held ogehe---can make one wan o slug he."* Whaeve he causes of his cuious esponse, i disqualifies whaeve she has o say as a esponse o The Awful Tuh. T S, believe, paiculaly had o ecall he sequence of evens ha consiue he film; and since am going o ake som~hing like his difficuly o be inenal o McCaey's achievemen in i, i will help o * The New Yoke. July 14, Repined in Whm he Ligh!s Go Down (New Yok: Hol, Rineha and Winson, 1980), p. 7.

4 THE SAME AND DFFERENT summaize is main segmens. (1) n a pologue, a he Goham Ahleic Club, Jey Waine (Cay Gan) is abou o ge a sun-lamp eamen o make i appea ha he's spen he las wo weeks in Floida, "even if i akes all afenoon." He is speaking o a passing acquain <lnce wih a squash acke: "Wha wives don' know won' hu hem." And he adds, "And wha you don' know won' hu you." He invies he acquainance o come home wih him lae on fo Joecion, mean fo dinks. (2) Eneing he house wih his, and ohe acquainances, Jey discoves ha his wife is no a home. He inwns he explanaion a he Aun Pasy's place in Connecicu, an explanaion which collapses Aun Pasy WJ:ks in looking fo he. Lucy VVMine (ene Dunne) enes, in evening dess, follmved by Amand Duvall, he singing eache, i emeges, wih a soy abou chapeoning a dance and hen on he oad back having he ca beak down miles fom nowhee, and spending he nigh a a vey inconvenien inn. Jey mockingly peends o believe l,? soy and is complimened by Amand fo having "a coninenal mind." The guess ake he cue o leave, says his faih is desoyed, Lucy says she knows wha he means and osses him a Califonia oange ha he had bough he as fom Floida. She says he's euned o cach he in a uh, o which he esponds by calling he a philosophe. gives a speech which includes he lines: "Maiage is based on faih. When ha's gone eveyhing's gone." She asks if he eally means ha and upon his affiming i she elephones fo a divoce. (3) He lawye, on he phone, epeaedly ells no o be hasy, ha maiage is a beauiful hing; he is epeaedly ineuped by his wife asking him why hey have o be ineuped, whom he epeaedly invies, each ime coveing he phone, o shu he mouh. (4) n divoce cou, M. Smih (he dog Asa) is icked by Lucy ino choosing o live wih he. Jey asks fo visiing ighs. (5) Aun Pasy wans o ge ou of he apamen she and Lucy have aken and have some fun onigh fo a change. Lucy objecs ha hey haven' an esco. Aun Pasy salks ou and comes back wih hei neighbo fom,1coss he hall, Dan Leeson (Ralph Bellamy). Jey appeas fo his visiing ime wih M. Smih, whom he accompanies a he piano. The ohes (6a) Dan's mohe wans him in geneal abou women and in paicula abou ha kind of woman; (6b) Aun Pasy wans agains acing on he ebound, poining ou o he ha he oas is buning; (6c) 6,1 coninued; (6d) 6b coninued. (7) n a nighclub Jey's '1 fiend Dixie Belle sings and enacs "My Deams ae Gone wih he Wind." On each ecuence of he ile line ai jes fom he floo blow Dixie Belle's flowing ski up highe and highe-she finally gives up ying o hold i down. On meeing Dixie Belle, Lucy had said, wih some supise (pesumably given he view of Jey's ase in women), ha she seems like a nice gil. When Jey coecs Dan's impession ha Lucy dislikes dancing, Dan, fom whom we lean ha he is a champion dance, akes he cno he floo. music changes and Dan is moved o ake ove he floo wih his champion jiebugging. Jey so hooughly enjoys Lucy's ase of couny life ha he ips he ochesa o epea he same numbe. Jey pulls up a chai o he edge of he dance floo, sis legs cossed, his ams daped befoe him caelessly, pefecly, foning he dances and he camea, lookinfl' di~cly a :ne wold.vih as handsome a smile as Cay Gan has i in him o give, in as full an :'''Tlb!em of he viewe-viewed, he film uned explicily o is audience, o ask who is scuinizing whom, as know in film. hink o i as a hieaic image of he human, he human ansfigued on film. This man, in wods of Emeson's, caies he holiday in his eye; he is fi o sand he gaze of millions. Call his he end of Ac One. (8a) Lucy and Dan a he piano in his apamen make a due of "Home on he Range"; (8b) Jey enes o discuss hei business deal abou a (8c) Dan's mohe comes in wih gossip abou Lucy; Jey so of cleas he name wih a speech of mock gallany, exiing on he line, "Ou maiage was one of hose agedies you ead abou in he newspapes," bu Maw is sill no saisfied,,,\'heeupon Lucy eeas o le he and Dan so he mae ou alone. (9) Lucy euns o he apamen o find hee, ewading himself wih a dink fo having, he says, given he ha swell efeence; she haughily efuses an offe of financial fom him, and laughs heaily as he piano op falls on his hand. As hey walk owad he doo fo Jey o leave, Dan knocks. She opens he doo, concealing Jey behind i. Dan apologizes fo his mohe's suspicions and insiss on eading Lucy a poem of love he hjs wien fo he. As he embaks on i Jey fom behind he doo pods Lucy o wih suepiious pencil jabs in he ibs. The phone ings, jus he ohe side of Jey. Lucy answes; we ae shown by an inse ha i is Amand; Lucy asks whoeve i is o wai and pus down he phone; as she cosses back pas Jey o complee he exchange wih Dan, behind he back Jey picks up he phone and leans who is on he ohe end.

5 ~ LJO THE SAME AND DFFERENT -f Lucy ges id of Dan by giving him a kiss; he depas noisily. Lucy makes an appoinmen ino he waiing phone, handed o he by Jey, fo hee o'clock he nex afenoon, explaining o Jey afe she hangs up ha i was he masseuse. Jey finally leaves, saying he's jus seen a hee-ing cicus. The siuaion pepaes fo he juggling of face. (10) A hee o'clock, evidenly he nex afenoon, Jey foces his way ino Amand's apamen only o discove Lucy singing fo a musicale. (11) The face eups as M. Smih feches Amand's ha WJey, whom i. doesn' fi, y as he will. The wo men find hemselves in he same bedoom, Amand o avoid Jey, Jey o avoid Dan and Maw who have come ogehe his ime o apologize again. Fom he bedoom he wo men dash acoss he living oom pas he assembled ohes and ou he doo. Lucy had wien a lee o Dan elling him ha she was sill in love wih Jey and had asked Aun Pasy o delive i. Dan says, a moose if wise man, "'ve leaned a lo abou women fom you, Lucy; 've leaned ha a man's bes fiend is his mohe." As he and his bes fiend sa hei exi, Aun Pasy akes Lucy's lee fom he manle and delives i: "Hee's you diploma." Call his he end of Ac Two. (12a) M. Smih baks a he SOCiey page of he newspape Lucy is eading; i says ha Jey and Babaa Vance ae o be maied as soon as his divoce is final, which incidenally is oday; (12b) The newspape Comes alive in a monage of Jey and Babaa's whilwind omance, which mosly consiss of hei aending o paicipaing in sociey spos evens; a sequence ha eads like he sociey segmen of, say, a MODidone News. (13) n Jey's apamen, o say goodbye on he eve of hei final decee, Lucy ecies a poem wien in anohe ime fo he by Jey. She inoduces i by saying, "This will hand you a laugh," bu neihe of hem is ickled in he ibs. They sample some champagne ha he life has gone ou of; evidenly hey ae unable o celebae eihe divoce o maiage. To accoun fo Lucy's pesence when she answes a phone call fom Babaa Vance, Jey invens he ale ha his sise is visiing fom Euope, hen afe a pause explains ha she can' come ove wih him onigh because she's busy and anyway is euno Euope almos immediaely. Lucy says he's slipping. (14) Tha nigh, a he Vance house, Lucy ineups a flagging family occasion wih a vulga display as his jaw-down sise. She claims o be a nighclub pefome and shows hem how wih Dixie Belle's "Gone wih he Wind" ("Thee's a wind effec igh hee bu you will jus have o use, 237 you imaginaion"). Jey joins he on he exi fom he song and dance, and (15) hey dive o hei conclusion in Connecicu. THAT THERE S NOT a dull scene in he film is Jess impoan a fac, o less supising given is company, han ha hee is no knock-ou scene, nohing you migh call a winning scene, unil pehaps he end of he wo-men-in-a-bedoom face, which in my ouline figued as he end of Ac Two; bu possibly he peceding ecial sequence can be aken so, o pehaps he sequence peceding he ecial, as Jey pokes Lucy in he ibs o laugh a Dan's poem. Even if you conside wha my ouline figued as he end of Ac One as a winning scene, his nigh club sequence akes place much lae in is film han, say, he esauan se L quence of His Gil Fiday in is film, which aleady followed seveal insances of kaock-ou business. We have in his absenc'? of a ceain kind of scene he beginning of an explanaion of he paicula achieve 1 men of his film-if, ha is o say, one egads his film as a seious achievemen. Speaking of an absence in his egad is puing nega ively a viue ha, pu posiively, empowes he pesening of an un ( boken line of comic developmen, a coninuous unfolding of hough and of emoion, ove a longe span han is imagined in he companions among he gene of comedy in which we ae placing he film. unde sand he poin of he achievemen o be he acking of he comedic o is oos in he eveyday, o show he fesival o which is evens aspie o be a cossoads o which and fom which a nomal life, an unended diunal cycle, may sensibly poceed. wan o spell ou his pecepion a lile fuhe now, if moe o less absacly, as a kind of gauge of film's ole in he gene of emaiage. The diunal succession of ligh and dak akes he place in hese films of he annual succession of he seasons in locaing he expeience of classical comedy. The poin is o show ha he diunal, he alenaion of day and nigh, and in he ciy, mosly shele-ed fom he naual seasons (as in a film sudio), is iself neveheless ineesing enough o inspie life, ineesing enough o be lived happily; lived wihou, one may say, oubeaks of he comic, as if hee is no longe a cedible place fom which ou wold can be boken ino; ha is, no communal place, no place we have ageed upon ahead of ime. An answe is being given o an ancien quesion concening whehe he comic esides funda

6 THE SAME AND DFFERENT menally in evens o in an aiude owad evens. n claiming hese films o enlis on he side of aiude hee, am assuming ha saniy equies he ecogniion of ou dependence upon evens, o happensance. The suggesion is ha happiness equies us no o suppose we know ahead of ime how fa, o whee, ou dependence on happensance begins,lnd ends. have had occasion in spe.lking of he caee of Ohello o invoke Monaigne's hoified fascin,lion by he human being's hoo of iself, as if o say: life is had, bu hen le us no buden i fuhe by agically o cail i agic whee we ae fee o choose ohenvise. undesand ~,!onaigne's alenaive o hoo o be he achievemen of wha he calls a,i1' end a gay and sociable wisdom. ake his gaiey as he ;:::uac on which wha am calling diunal comedy an aiude owad human lean mosly fom Tho~)u, and paly fom Kiekegaad, o :!11 inees in i. Tagedy is of having you own ~xpeience and leaning fom i; comedy is he possibiliy of having i in good ime. (Should someone ake he ideas of aiude and of pespecive hee as being maes of some known elemen of psychology, say of some paicula feeling o mae of whl, i may help o say ha aiude and pespecive ene as well ino he consiuion of knowledge, he consiuion of he wold. The diffeence beween aking a saemen as ue a poseioi o as ue a pioi can be said o be a diffeence in he aiude you ake owad i. When he heo of Beahles5 says "Thee is no unhappy love," he is no, as some may be, leaving he mae open o quesion, o evidence; fo him i is knowledge a pioi; you may say a definiion. One wans o say hee: i is a uh no necessay in all imaginable wolds bu necessay in his-l mean in my<--wold: "When love hee no, chaos is come again"-a ha momen hee will be no wold, hings will have gone back o befoe hee is a wold. And aiude and pespecive, and [ suppose somehing like he same division of aiude and pespecive, ae a play in he disincion beween he facual and he ficional The quesion is again how a mae ges opened o expeience, and how i is de/emined by language o, le us say, by naaion. The uhs of aihmeic canno be moe ceain han ha Hamle had a double and woe i all unbaced. Ophelia's wod fo i cannol be doubed. Some who concen hemselves wih he poblem of ficion may be making oo lile of he poblem of "The acking of he comedic o is oos in he eveyday." This is my fomulaion of he fuhe inepeaion of he gene of emaiage woked ou in He Awful Tufh. inend i o accoun fo seveal feaues of he gene ha diffeeniae i fom ohe comic foms. Fo example, he sabiliy of he conclusion is no suggesed by he fomula "hey lived happily eve afe" bu ahe equies wods o effec ha his is he way hey lived, whee "his" coves of couse whaeve one is pepaed o call he conclusion w wok bu coves i as a summay o epiome of he as a whole. (n Chape 3 expess his densiy of he conclusion by speaking of is aphoisic qualiy.) Thee is no ohe life fo hem, and his one i( is a happy hough; i is his comedy's hough of happiness. Again, have poined seveal imes o he absence, o he c0mpnmise, of he fesival wih which classical comedy may be e'( ;ced o conclude, say a wedding; have accoun:ed fo his compojt;sf' o subvesion by saying vaiously ha his co,cdy expecs he pai o find happiness alone, unsponsoed, in one anohe, ou of hei capaclb fo impovising a wold, beyond ceemony. Now add ha his is no o be undesood exacly o meely as somehing ue of modem sociey bu as somehing ue abou he convesaion of maiage ha modem sociey comes o lay bae. The couage, he powes, equied fo happiness ae no somehing a fesival can ewad, o pehaps so much as ecognize, any longe. O ahe, whaeve fesival and ceemony can do has aleady been done, And wasn' his ue? n.1ackin:?, he magical o mechanical view of he sacamens, Luhe says, "All ou life should be bapism." once ook his as a moo fo omanic poey. * migh ake a vaiaion of i as a moo fo he omance of maiage: all ou life should be fesival. When Lucy acknowledges o Aun Pasy he love fo Jey afe all, wha she says is, "We had some gand laughs." No one laugh a ife--ha would be a laugh of cynicism. Bu a un of laughs, wihin life; finding occasions in he way we ae ogehe. He is he one wih whom ha is possible fo me, c,ny as he is; ha is he awful uh. "Some gand laughs" is his comedy's lingo fo maiag<' as fesive exisence. The quesion, accodingly, is wha his comedy means Whaeve i means i will no be somehing caused and pe "A Mae of Meaning," in M"./ W~ M~,," Wha We Say?, p. 229,

7 240 THE SAME AND DFFERENT vened by wha we mosly call eos. This is a fuhe feaue in which he comedy of emaiage diffe-s fom ohe comedy.' The obsacles i poses o happiness ae no complicaions unknown o he chaaces ha a conclusion can so ou. They have somehing o lean bu i canno come as news fom ohes. (No is ou posiion as audience bee in his egad han ha of he chaaces. To he exen ha he effec of classical comedy depends on a sense of ou supeioiy o comic chaaces, he comedy of emaiage undemines ha effec. We ae no moe supeio o hese chaaces han we ae o he heoes and heoines of any advenu~;:>.) is no a mae of he ecepion new expeience bu a mae of a new ecepion of you own expeience, an accepance of is auhoiy as you own. Kiekegaad woe a book abou ou having los he auhoiy, hence so much as he possibiliy, of claiming o have eceived a evelaion. ** f his means, as Kiekegaad someimes seems o ake i o mean, he end of Chisianiy, hen if wha is o succeed Chisianiy is a edempive poliics o a edempive psychology, hese will equie a new buden of faih in he auhoiy of one's eveyday expeience, one's expeience of he eveyday, of eah no of heaven (if you ge he disincion). undesand his o be he buden undeaken in he wiing of Emeson and of Thoeau; doubless his is a eason i is had o place hem in a given field. One migh ake he new buden of one's expeience o amoun o he claim o be one's own aposle, o foeun oneself, o be capable of deliveances of oneself. This would amoun o an ovecoming of wha, in The Claim of Reason, call he fea of inexpessiveness. Hee is a fom in which a is asked o do he wok of eligion. Naually his siuaion makes fo new possibiliies of faudulence, among boh hose who give hemselves ou as aposles and hose who hink of hemselves as skepics. is cenally as a ile fo hese hee feaues of diunal comedy, he comedy of dailiness--is conclusion no in a fuue, a beyond, an eve afe, bu in a pesen coninuiy of befoe and afe; is ansfomaion of a fesival ino a fesiviy; is coecion no of eo bu of expeience, o of a pespecive on expeience--ha eain he concep of ema call aenion hee o Hay Levin's ich noducion o he Signe ediion of The Comedy of Eos. An essay of mine abou ha book, "Kiekegaad's On Auhoiy and Revelalion,,. appeas in Mus We Mean Wha We Say? See, fo example, pp. 351, Thus 241 iage as he ile fo he gene of films in quesion. The ile egises, o my mind, he wo mos impessive affimaions known o me of he ' ask of human expeience, he accepance of human elaedness, as he [ accepance of epeiion. Kiekegaad's sudy called Repeiion, which is " a sudy of he possibiliy of maiage; and Niezsche's Eenal Reun, he call fo which he pus by saying i is high ime, a heighening o [ ascension of ime; his is lieally Hochui, Geman fo maiage, wih ime iself as he ing. As edempion by suffeing does no depend on somehing ha has aleady happened, so edempion by happiness [ does no depend on somehing ha has ye o happen; boh depend on a faih ii somehing ha is always happening, day by day. does he fanasy of maiage being aced ou in hese chapes pojec a meaphysic, o a vision of he wold ha succeeds he cedibil [ iy of meaphysics. was only a mae of ime, because as he fanasy becomes fulle and cleae o iself i poses fo iself he following kinds of quesion. Wha mus maiage be fo he value of maiage o eain ( is eminence, is auhoiy, among human elaions? And wha mus he j wold be like fo such maiage o be possible? Since hese ae quesions abou he concep as well as abou he fac of maiage, hey ae quesions abou maiage as i is and as i may be, and hey ae mean as quesions abou weddedness as a mode of human inimacy geneally, inimacy in is aspec of devoedness. This ecen conjuncion of ideas of he diunal, of weddedness as a mode of inimacy, and of he pojecion of a meaphysics of epeiion, ~ ses me musing on an old suggesion ook away fom eading in Ge f, ude Sein's The Making of Ameicans. She speaks, seem o ecall, o he effec ha he knowledge of ohes depends upon an appeciaion of hei ep eaings (which is wha we ae, which is wha we have o 14 offe). This knowing of ohes as knowing wha hey ae always saying and believing and doing would, naually, be Sein's descipion of, o diecion fo, how he eade is o know he own mos famous manne of wiing, he hallmak of which is is epeaings. The applicaion of his hough hee is he suggesion ha maiage is an emblem of he knowledge of ohes no solely because of is implicaion of ecipociy bu because i implies a devoion in epeiion, o dailiness. "The lile life of he eveyday" is he wife's descipion of maiage in The Childen of Paadise, as she wondes how maiage can be a mach fo he omanic glamou of disance and dama. A elaionship "gown sick wih, [ [,

8 242 THE SAME AND DFFERENT 243 obligaions" is he way Amanda Bonne descibes a maiage ha canno mainain ecipociy-wha she calls muualiy in eveyhing. (This is a pomissoy emak o myself o go back o Sein's wok. Bu he gaiude feel o i now should be expessed now, befoe looking i up, because i comes fom a memoy of he wok as poviding one of hose nighsounds o daydifs of mood whose oienaion has moe han once pevened a good inuiion fom geing los. This is no unlike a. chaaceisic indebedness one acquies o films. is jus sllch a pecious help ha is easies o ake fom a wie wihou saying hanks- and no, pehaps, because one gudges he hanks bu because one awais an occasion fo giving i which neve quie seem', :0 ll.lme iself.) As he echnical, o aisic, poblem of he conclusion of he membes of he gene of emaiage is ha of poviding hem wih epiomizing densiy, he aisic poblem of he beginning of The Awful Tuh is o pese,/e is diunal suface, o pesen comic evens whose dailiness is no ineuped by comic oubeaks bu whose dif is owad a massive beakhough o he conie iself as he edempion of dailiness, a day's ceaion beyond iself. The isk of such a sucue is dullness; i mus open an acceping ameness, domesiciy, as one pole of he comic (as Me. Peibone does). The ewad of he sucue is scope, he di5 ance i ges in discoveing is conclusion. One migh picue he naaive sucue as pepaaions followed by supises (like a chess game); o pehaps as sowing followed by eaping. This would leave ou he fac ha he sowing is a sequence of ea pings (o of supises oo mild individually o be noiced as such), inceases of inees, of a willingness o be pleased, say o be civilizedj and he ea pings a sequence of discoveies whose oiginaliy canno be hough of as sown, unless pehaps as dagon's eeh. WHAT CALLED he absacness of hese claims has is own inees, bu i is useful hee o he exen ha he claims ale us o poins of he film's conceeness ha we migh ohewise slip pas. This should become asses sible as we now go on o follow ceain lines of foce hough he film. The Awful Tuh is he only pincipal membe of he gene of emaiage in which we see he cenal pai lieally ake hei own maiage o cou (sequence 4). The poin of he sequence is o damaize he dog's ole as he child of he maiage (hough eally he is is muse, since a squabble ove who was o buy him was he hing ha, accoding o Lucy's swon esimony, pecipiaed hei maiage). How funny is i when he dog is asked o choose which of he pai he wans o live wih, and when Lucy icks him wih Jey's home-coming pesen of a ubbe mouse ino (fchoosing" he? Abou as funny as he idea ha hese people do no know wha i means ha hey happened o ge maied as if o make a home fo a dog, and ha a cou of law is no moe capable" of elling hem whehe hei maiage h;:s aken, o is woh he akin& o else he leaving, han i is of deemini::g easonably he cusody of a dog. You lean o look, in a McCaey scene, fo he disubing cuen unde an ageeable suface. He has he ;'Clwe o walk a scene igh o vege a which he comic is no longe comic, wihou eihe losing he humo o leing he humo deny he humaniy of is vicims. (No o nohing is he he dieco of he Max bohes as well as of Love fai, 1939, also wih ene Dunne.) Chaplin ilnd Keaon coss he vege ino pahos o anxiey, as if dissecing he animal who laughs, demonsaing he condiion of laughe. Hawks cosses he vege wihou leing you sop laughing; as he does in his advenues. Wha do people imagine when hey call ceain film comedies "madcap"? Do hey imagine ha a vigin's buning bain is in iself wildly comic, o paiculaly so if she is fee enough, ha is, if he fahe is ich enough, ha no magic can sop he fom laughing, ha is, fom hinking and ying no o hink? Aun Pasy will call Babaa Vance a "madcap heiess." This seems a ip fom McCaey ha calling his comedy "madcap" would be abou as useful as aking he humoless, convenional, all bu nonexisen Babaa Vance o be he heoine of his film. (A ip einfoced he nex yea by Hawks, o one of his souces, in naming he heoine of Binging Up Baby Susan Vance.) This is, in any case, no exacly ou poblem since he women we ae following ae on he whole o be undesood as maied. Now fo he las ime: 1Nha is comic abou ha? (Befoe poceeding, noe a fuhe poin abou he occuence of he epihe "madcap heiess" in his film, is wha ses off he hing called in my ouline of he Jilm's sequences, a sequence Ub, he ansfomaion of he newspape phoo ino an insallmen of Movie/olle New,. The implicaion is ha he invenion of soies abou ffi<1dcap heiesses is he wok of scandalmonges, of gossip columniss o of movie eview

9 _... THE SAME AND DFFERENT 245 es, no he business of seious comic films. Accodingly when Jey descibes, fo he benefi of Dan's mohe, his and Lucy's maiage as "one of hose agedies you ead abou in he newspapes," he may be aken o mean ha somehing newspapes call a agedy is as likely as no o be wha newspapes would make of i, unless pehaps hey made of i a madcap comedy. These ae fuhe momens in he vicissiudes of he image of he newspape ha consiues a feaue of he gene of emaiage. While have noed majo occuences of his feaue, o is equivalen, in all bu one of he films of ou gene [1 have no looked fo an explanaion of is absence in Binging Up Baby], have no given he aenion i deseves o fomulaing he significance of hei ineelaions.) n he opening sequence, wha does Jey mean by "wha wives don' know" and by "and wha you don' know"? is definie ha he has been away fom home fo wo weeks and ha he has old his wife he was o be in Floida. Bu nohing else is definie. Fo all we know wha doesn' hu his acquainance because he doesn' know i is ha hee is nohing o know, of he kind he acquainance suspecs. Maybe fo some eason Jey is less ineesed in he fac of philandeing han in he possibiliy of, ha wha is impoan o him is no he culivaing of dalliances bu he CUlivaing of a epuaion fo hem. seems only mildly awkwad fo him when his wife shows him, in he following sequence, ha she knows he hasn' been in Floida. Anyway why was Floida safe han New Yok? His being caugh in a lie is less elevan o hei ensuing ageemen o divoce han he being, as she pus i, caugh in a uh. Why? Wha is so awful abou he uh ha nohing happened? And why would a maied man find i moe impoan o seem unfaihful han o be so? Pehaps i is his way of damaizing his epeaed philosophy ha "Maiage is based on faih. f you've los ha you've los eveyhing"; his way of esing he faih, a es he himself seems miseably o fail. s he pojecing his guil upon he? s he wihholding his innocence fom he? Wha we know is ha he is hiding somehing and ha he is blaming he fo somehing. have noed ha divoce is asked fo by asking o be fee. f wha Jey is ying o esablish is wha we migh call he feedom of maiage/ hen his complex wish fo epuaion is logical. All ha feedom equies is, so o speak, is own possibiliy. As long as he can choose he o i is fee-fee fo example o choose faihfulness. This would be ceaing a logical space wihin maiage in which o choose o be maied, a way in which no o feel apped in i. Bu i uns ou ha his space will have o be exploed by Jey in he way ou gene dicaes, by his choosing o emay, o begin again. An effo a feedom is mocked in he ensuing scene (sequence 2) when coninenal Amand epeaedly paises Jey fo having a coni nenal mind. Tha he hasi'fany s.:ch hing whee h::,; wife is concened is eviden enough; bu i is a way of descibing he epuaion we have sumised him o wan o esablish fo himself. Lucy picks up on his heme when "he says o Amand, who offes o say o poec he fom Jey's accusaions, "'s all igh. Ameican women ae no accusomed gallany." The film is announcing iself o be boh in and ou of a adiion ha i:;c;udes Fench face and Resoaion comedy, which /'Deans declaing is eioy o be Ameica and o be cinema. Feedom in maiage is no o be discoveed in he possibiliy of aduley, which hus becomes unusable fo comedy; i becomes eihe ielevan o else he suff of melodama. Bu Jey could no be imagined o be, howeve obscuely, declaing his feedom in maiage apa fom imagining him o be esponding o some sexual conenion beween himself and Lucy. Tha sexualiy is unde conenion means boh ha sexual saisfacion is a easonable aspiaion beween hem, and ha divoce is a easonable, civilized alenaive. ( is, fo example, made explicily clea ha divoce is economically feasible fo he woman.) Bu wha his conenion coves, wha his dagon's ooh will poduce, only ime can ell. McCaey is in a posiion o declae a disance fom Fench face because he shows himself, in wha Jey calls "ha wo-men-in-a-bed oom face," expe, whee equied, in puing face on he sage---o ahe, in saging i fo he sceen. Tha McCaey's face is made no fo he sage bu fo film is in effec saed by giving he dog a pivoal, independen ole in is choeogaphy, wih ickie and moe ievesible [6 business (fo example, a mio woked by he dog away fom a wall o cash a a facically imed momen) han you could coun on fo each pefomance of a play. M. Smih, he muse of he maiage, seems hee o be pevening is puing iself back ogehe. Bu he is eally saying ~ only wha he film is saying, ha he maiage will no go back ogehe unil i goes fuhe, unil, ha is o say, he pai's convesaion sops ~... L [ 1,

10 246 THE SAME AND DFFERENT 247 puing an innocen bysande ino he woman's bedoom. Thee ae always bysandes, one as innocen as he nex. Hee face is he name of ha condiion of a life whose day and nigh mus be kep fom ouching, which appehends he appoach of uh as awful. No being agic, ievesible, i is hee a condiion of which he igh laugh would be he cue. n compaison wih he billiance of he face sequence (sequence ll}jiilielile sequence of Lucy and Dan singing "Home on he Range" (7a), wih which Ac Two opens (accoding o my figues), can seem so ame, o hin, as o give no suppo o hough a all, o fo ha cuen of disubance ha have said McCaey in ciculaion. Bu find he lile sequence equal o he face--no equal in he viuosiy of is business, which is nex o nohing, bu in is compession of conceps. The woman accompanies heself ans :::C,. ':;"'lio as ogehe hey sing a colossally familia une, one no Ameican could fail o know, no somehing folk bu somehing folksy, a favoie bu of sophisicaed sociey. Dan Lesson has viually sepped ou of is shell. is on his noe ha hese Ameicans can mee, ha any Ameican can mee any ohe; hey canno heefoe meely despise i. The woman does no despise i, he man migh jus mean i, as i sands; his would be fo a woman of he gallany sufficien eason no o despise i. She even peceives he genuine longing, a momen of oiginaliy, in he song's vaiaion of i~5 opening five noe paen a he wods "Home, hone on he ange"; he iensiy in his vaiaion, boh in he wods and in he music, is he occasion fo he depaue ino hamonizing-a depaue Dan canno bea up unde. (To check he ighness of he depaue, say he wods wihou he une. To gauge he song's oiginaliy, o passion, compae i wih "The Man on he Flying Tapeze," he song of Happened One Nigh, which opens wih he idenical configuaion of five noes, which hen epea on each ecuence wihou vaiaion.) When she complimens hem on hei pefomance he eplies, "Neve had a lesson in muh life. Have you?" These senences pey well seal he man's fae, whaeve she and Jey will be able o wok ou. This man does no know who his woman is, he does no appeciae he; hese hings follow fom his no appeciaing he voice and he aiude owad he voice. Tha exchange abou lessons is a gag based on he knowledge ha ene Dunne is a singe, a piece of knowledge no one who knew anyhing abou he could have failed o know. The iniial poin of he gag is is saisfacion of he demand of he gene ha each membe of i declae he ideniy of he and blood acess who plays is cenal female chaace. The consequen poin of he gag is o esablish ha in. he ficion of his film as well he ideniy of he chaace played by his woman, he one called Lucy Waine, is also someone idenified wih and by he voice. This becomes inceasingly peinen. n he scene peceding due, in he nighclub, Dan's hesiaion in ecognizing Dixie Bell,,'s self-evidenly souhen accen as a souhen accen need no be aken o show his unelieved supidiy. He is inelligen enough o have made and peseved a lo of money and inelligen enough o have fallen in love wih his paicula woman and o have asked he, as hey and Aun Pasy leave and M. Smih alone in he apamen ha fis nigh, whehe she sill caes fo ha fellow, applying a paable fom his expeience wih pefec accuacy: "Down on my anch 've go a ed oose and a lile bown hen. They figh a oo. Bu evey once in a while hey sop fighing and hen hey can ge igh fiendly." His hesiaion ove Dixie Belle's accen is diecly a poof solely ha he has no ea. His eacion afe his due wih Lucy jus goes o show ha in he wold of hese films his lack of ea is faal. And wha is ha eible Ameican pide in neve having had a lesson? s i diffeen fom aking pide in any ohe handicap? suppose i is no wose han aking pide in having had a lo of lessons, o in being fee of handicaps. Dan has an Ameican mind. His ideology of naualness wih espec o human o aisic gifs is o be assessed agains a coninenal ideology of culivaion (call i pide in lessons), aiudes made fo one anohe; and assessed alonb wih his ideology of exploiaion of he gifs of naue (expessed in he nex scene by his declaed expeience and hence aining in making he mineal conens of land holdings payoff). His pide in his empy mediociy wih a seves o undescoe his deafness o he fac ha he woman is accomplished and, moeove, ha he aiude owad he accomplishmens has a paicula humo abou i, no making oo much of he naual exension of a capaciy mos people have, secue in he knowledge ha i can-fo many a nomal peson, ones wihou handicaps of he eapovide pleasues. He aiude, he she akes in he gifs, is as

11 248 -~--..- THE SAME AND DffERENT 249 inenal o he pleasues hey give as Fed Asaie's accepance of his own viuosiy is o he pleasue i gives, no making oo lile of his supenaual exension of a capaciy mos people have. Dunne and Asaie shae his signal mak-making neihe oo much no oo lile of somehing-of sophisicaion. "Home on he Range" is, finally, and no alogehe SUpisingly, abou home, O ahe abou a yeaning o have a home. One migh have doubed whehe his is peinen o is pesence in.p gene is so cenally abou he finding, o efinding, of a home; bu assume his doub is allayed in ecognizing ha he ohe feaued song in The Awful Tufh, "My Deams ae Gone Wih he Wind," is also abou yeaning, o deam: " used o deam abou a coage small, a coage small by a waefall Bu now have no home a all; my deams ae gone wih he wind." (No supisingly he man's idea of home invokes open spaces, he Woman's invokes closed. Bu i eally is a home On he ange Leeson has made fo himself, no sheely aken he ange iself as home, howeve much he Ameican male's inheiance of Huck may fanasize his possibiliy, his way of aking he song.) As said, he singing of he male song, O ahe he man's esponses o he singing of i, places iecoveable disance beween he wo who sing i; he singing of he female song has he opposie effec. BEFORE CONSDERNG ha effec le us loop back and collec he insances of singing houghou he films of emaiage we have been eading. seems a finn commimen of he gene o make oom fo singing, fo somehing o sing abou and a wold o sing in. His Gil Fiday is he only excepion o his ule; i is pa of is blackness o lack music almos eniely. ecall only a few bas of Hollywood up-sweep duing is las seconds, salingly beaking he musical silence, as if o help measue he abnomaliy of his depiced wold one las ime befoe helping o dea he heae. Mos ecenly, concening Adam's Rib, we spoke of a man using a song as his capping claim upon a woman. n Binging Up Baby he pai sing " Can/ Give You Anyhing bu Love l Babi o soohe he savage beas of a leopad (whaeve ha is). n The Lady Eve i is he manls fahe who sings and whose song helps lend him he auhoiy he will equie o affec he conclusion. J happens, howeve, ha his son, ou heo, is whisling his fahe's une abou filling he bowl unil i doh un ove as he awais his heoine on he deck he moning afe he nigh of hei fis encoune. Since he fahe's song occus in he film much lae han he son's whisling i is viually impossible o noe he coincidence on a single viewing. "The Man on he Flying Tapeze" is vaiously a good song fo Happened One Nigh. s folk song alenaion of vese and efain allows Capa o ge fom i no only a geneal occasion fo an expession of solidaiy, bu a specificaion of his solidaiy as one in which in dividual (aking he vese) and sociey (giving he efain) exchange celebaoy w0ds wih one anohe in hannony and wih pleasue. is also o he poin ha he song is abou he spoiling of innocence and domesiciy by male glamou and villainy. is fuhe o he poin ha Shapely's seedy, unsocial villainy is expessed as his leaving himself ou of he song. is while he sociey of he bus is cheefully affiming f J i is solidaiy ha Shapely discoves Ellie'::; phoogaph in a newspape and looks back knowingly ove his sea a he and Pee singing.. he value of singing, fo Capa, lies in is moal o social powe and no in is isolaed aesheic powe, ha is o say, in wha Capa undesands as isolaed, is emphasized by he figue of he oad hief, who wil sing moe o less incessanly and whose singing is no wihou a ceain aesheic sanding. Bu his is a nacissisic kind of vocalizing, no a way of casing his lo wih ohes; i is a fonn of emoional hef.) Then why is :1 i jus when he bus dive is hims lf dawn ino he song and lifs his hands fom he wheel momenaily o begin he "Oh-h-h" of he e )l fain, ha he bus of sae skids off he oad (ino a depession)? Wha happens nex is ha he mohe is discoveed o have fained fom hunge. s he idea ha SOCiey has skidded because i, o is leadeship, was blindly dawn away fom aending o business? (The gea binge of he wenies followed by he moning afe of he hiies--a view of he Depession pesened, pehaps iself mocked, in a New Yoke caoon of he peiod which shows a sociey pay in full swing on an aiplane [[ which is abou o cash, ino a mounain.) O is i ha he solidaiy is compomised by hose who ae lef ouside he song of sociey-ones oo poo o sing, whom pivae good will mus pause o succo, and l!. ones oo cowadly and self-ceneed o join in song, specaos of sociey, no paicipans in i, who will have o be scaed off? (Pee gives l L

12 250 THE SAME AND DFFERENT LJl he child of he mohe who has fained his las en bucks, o ahe Ellie gives i, assuming ha hee is moe whee ha came fom; sill she gives i. And Pee scaes off Shapely wih anohe yam.) One migh speak of his singing as ove-deemined. A eason no o speak so may seem o be ha Feud's concep of ove-deeminaion descibes he fomaion of menal phenomena, fo example of sympoms o of images in a deam, whee he poin is ha jus his sympom o image has occued and n~somehing else. Wheeas wha? The song in his film migh have been diffeen and diffeenly sling and diffeenly placed? Bu he fac ha jus if is hee, whee and as i is hee, is wha wish o accoun fo. Ove-deeminaion seems a good name fo he fonnaion of is appeaance since he concep does no pejudge how much in he appeaance is he esul of inenion and how much of he gene, how much is he esul of specific funcion and how much of geneal sucue. Sill, among he deeminans of singing houghou ou gene, emphasize singing's special elaion o he man, as hough he man's willingness o sing, o eadiness o subjec himself o song, is a cieion of his finess fo he woman. And emphasize he chaaceisic sound shaed by "The Man on he Flying Tapeze" and "Home on he Range" wih ohe songs in hee-quae ime ha invoke he social pleasues of he ou-of-doos o of popula eneainmens, songs such as "Bicycle Buil fo Two" and "Take Me Ou o he Ball Game." n coming fom an ea essenially ealie han he ime of hese films, in consiuing pehaps he fis sound of he univesally and pesisenly popula Ameican song, hese songs esablish wha Ameicans ae ap o hink of as he popula in song: he gound, was saying, on which any Ameican can mee any ohe. This foce is mos supisingly confimed when in The Philadelphia Soy Dexe is finally moved o sing. Tha he mus sing, ene his claim ha way, is explicily and locally esablished by his having o claim Tacy a he hands of Mike, who has aleady esablished his claim by singing. Dexe is moved o song by he ecsasy of seeing Geoge depa. He ushes o a decoaed wedding able and lifs is candles ou of hei aangemen one by one o shake hem as if inging uned bells. Thus accompanying himself, invoking peals of bells, he sings he opening phase and a half of "The Lovelies Nigh of he Yea," anohe hee-quae ime une in he majo mode associaed wih he cicus. Tha i is his sound of he popula and he associaion wih a popula fom of eneainmen ha is wha is peinen is egiseed in Dexe's singing no wih wods bu wih univesal dah-dah-dah's. Whehe his ecsasy is ha of a child going o he cicus o of a man geing id of a clown, i is unimpoan o decide; and suely i healds some ighope walking. The imaginay inging of bells seems o be wha hen ses off he wedding music o begin he closing fesival. Tha Dexe's une is popula whee Mike's ("Ove he Rainbow") had been sophisicaed plays ino he hands of he Ameican o naional aspiaions was pessing owad he end of he discussion of The Philadelphia Soy, boh by having he heoes fom diffeen classes equal in song, even possibly evesed in hei ajlegiances o sophisicaion, and by suggesing ha film is he mode of mocien eneainmen in which he disincion beween he popula and he leaned o he seious beaks down, incopoaing boh. ONLY N The Awful Tuh among he membes of ou gene does he woman sing fo he man, fo his pleasue and fo his commimen. (Malene Dieich and Mae Wes have sung fo hese easons, bu hen he singing was no fo fome husbands, and pobably no fo pospecive ones eihe. This is pa of he poin of ene Dunne's song o he man, as will emege. n "Moe of The Wold Viewed" speak of Dieich and Wes, along wih Gabo, as "couesan figues" who seem "o iangulae he classical possibiliies ouside of maiage"; p. 206.) Hence only hee can he man show his inhabiaion wih he woman of he ealm of music no by himself singing bu by lisening, by appeciaing wha is sung o him, fo him. Wha he woman sings fo him is ha ohe feaued song of he film, Dixie Belle's "My Deams ae Gone Wih he Wind." n Chape 1 descibed he pefonnance hee, posing as his sise, as he claiming o have known him inimaely foeve, which is he way of consucing hei pas ogehe, a geneic obligaion. He song and dance ae mean one way fo Babaa Vance and he family and anohe way, a piv,le way, fo Jey. is essenial o he plo no meely ha Jey come o be foced o leave his house bu ha he ejoice in his having a way ou, o any>vay ha he wan o leave wih he moe han he wans anyhing else. He soluion is o ceae he ideniy so ha he vey hing ha epels he pope Vances is wha aacs jey, h~ he has a hidden, im

13 252 THE SAME AND DFFERENT 25.3 pope sise. He is of couse impessed by he shee daing of Lucy's pefomance, by he fac of i as well as by is conen. His inimae, lucid smiles of appeciaion acknowledge he emoional viuosiy, and hey edeem, ha is, incopoae, his ealie, hieaic, exaled smile a he discomfiue dancing wih Dan in he nighclub. Bu she wans and ges moe han a spiiual vicoy, o moe han evenge. The suggesion of sexual deph beween hem, and so also of sexual poblems, is egiseed in. he displaying he incesuous basis of hei pas. Bu he heapeuic move, le me say, is o demonsae ha wha is his sise in he is no he ladylike accomplishmens, as fo example he ained voice and he abiliy o dance; his sise in he is wha she shaes wih Dixie Belle, he willingness o lend he alens and he o he expession of wha Dixie Belle expesses, he ecogniion of hei capaciy o incopoae hose impopieies. He incopoaion of familiaiy and eoicism boh. And would like o say fuhe ha she heeby edeems he fac of incopoaion iself, ha we live off one anohe, ha we ae cannibals. Thus she uses he sophisicaion, he civilizaion, o beak hough civilizaion o is COndiions. So i is no, o my mind, oo much o say ha on he way ene Dunne plays his song and dance he ecogniion of he and he ficive husband's mysey, hence he mysey of he film, depends. equies he pefec deploymen of he self-conainmen, he amused bu acceping aiude owad he necessiy fo complicaion, fo he pleasues of civilizaion; one could say i equies he espec fo he doubleness (a he leas) of human consciousness, fo he comedy of being human, neihe angel no beas, awkwad as beween heaven and eah. Fo i is essenial o is effec ha he pefomance emain ouside he song and is ouine bu a he same ime show he awaeness of is inne woh, o show boh he diffeence fom and he solidaiy wih Dixie Belle n anohe Leo McCaey film, Once upon a Honeymoon (1942), anohe woman's (Ginge Roges's) ideniy is esablished fo Cay Gan by he fac ha she is evealed as someone supisingly (given ou inoducion o he) capable of bulesque dancing. Hee ecommend Robin Wood's valuable essay, "Democacy and Shponanuiy: Leo McCaey and he Hollywood Tadiion," Film Commen, Volume 12 Numbe 1, Januay-Febuay n Toge/he gain (Chales Vido, 1944), a fascinaing, someimes billian, bu unsuccessful membe of he gene of emaiage, an eminenly honoable ene Dunne, mayo of a New England own (in Vennon!, no Connecicu), is biefly, scandalously, misaken fo a sippe. and Dixie Belle's pefomance. You migh call his he edempion of vulgaiy by commonness. have been puing hese esponses o he song and dance of incopoaion as fom is sise's side. Pu fom is Dixie Belle side Lucy is declaing heself, o Jey alone of couse, as he woman he says fom he house o keep company wih. She poposes heself as a field on which he may weave passion and endeness, so ha he migh desie whee he loves; o she eminds him of his possibiliy by eminding him who she is. He poposal of heself as his kind of objec is a once an offe and a challenge. is no c~ain ha eihe of hem is eally up o i. Bu he daing poposal is ievesible, and his exi wih he means ha he is aking he up on i. THS CALLS FOR CONNECfCUT, a chance fo pespecive and econcilia ion, emoional and inellecual, say poeic o say philosophical. And again hee i~;.l poblem abou geing hee. n Adam's Rib (as in The Lady Eve) you don' see he pai aveling hee; i seems a place ha exiss mosly hough he ambiguously pojeced exensions of a home [ movie, ha is, i exiss fo movies. n Binging Up Baby he oad o Con necicu is paved wih accidens, feahes, a sheiff diecly descended fom Dogbey, and a solen ca. n The Awlul Tulh he oad also e quies he infingemen of he law and he abandoning of he eveyday l ca in which you began he jouney. Evidenly he wold elsewhee has is own laws and is eny demands a new mode, o new vehicle, of anspo. l On he oad o Aun Pasy's place in Connecicu, Jey asks Lucy if he can use he ca o dive himself back o own afe he dops he off. They ae sopped eihe fo speeding o fo playing he ca adio oo l loud, anyway fo some species of joyiding. Duing he ensuing discussion Lucy sees o i (by eleasing he bakes of he ca and leing i ino a dich) ha he ca is no fi fo fuhe use ha nigh-fo exam l ple, no fo a eun ip. She is a vesion of he scene she descibed fo Jey (and us) as she euned hone wih Amand fis afenoon. They ae miles fom nowhee bu, unlike ha ealie l nigh when Amand's ca boke down a million miles fom nowhee and hey had o find an inn, she and Jey aac he help of wo moocycle policemen. When each of he pai is hen shown being given a l

14 25-1 THE SAME AND DFFERENT 255 THE AWfUL TRUTH Having invied him o Connecicu o hink again, she pomps him o hink by he all bu open sexual aousal, unde he bedshee, ove he heshold, as he minues edge away. ide he es of he way o Aun Pasy's on he handlebas of a moocycle, one ealizes ha hese vehicles ae no myhological han, say, he moocycles in Coceau's Ophee. Coninuing hei ide hough he Connecicu counyside Lm:y coninues he dunk ac. Bouncing up and down On he handlebas she ses off an exciing sien. She encouages Jey o have fun oo bu his bounce poduces only a choic aspbey. They ae being diven back ino he land of childhood, in his momen hough he egion in which lile boys ae disdainful of lile gils. f Jey does no know, on inenal gounds, ha his is diffeen fom anyhing ha could have happened beween Lucy and Amand, hen he doesn' deseve o be hee. The awful uh is ha he uh of such maes can only be known on inenal gounds. (Again, fo he las ime, you can ake he pesence of hese policemen no as messenges who anspo hose bave enough o demand., '" i happiness acoss he bode fom dailiness o comic enchanmen, bu as lackeys of he ich who make hemselves available fo he pivae puposes of hose who ae iesponsible because hey own he law. My quesion is whehe one of hese views is less myhological han he ohe. Each is a oal view, hence each is capable of accouning fo he ohe. My convicion is ha ou lives depend on neihe of hem, as sand, winning ou compleely ove he ohe.) They aive a hei desinaion less h,m an hou befoe midnigh is o end hei maiage, as a cuckoo clock wi!: show ha has no one doo bu a pai of doos and a pai of skipping pesons appeaing ou of hem evey quae hou, insead of a cuckoo o wo o in place of gagoyles and vigins and knighs and a scyhed figue of ime as deah. is anohe myhological objec, a cinemaic objec, poducible only on film. As Aun Pasy has povided he locale fo hei conclusion she will povide Lucy's cc';~lme fo i, a silk nighgown ha Lucy is shown o and ie up somehow so ha i fis he. Evidenly she needs no only encouagemen and auhoiy bu insucion and pepaaion of a kind ha a woman is fie han a man o give. This would be why he "Aun" appeas insead of he fahe--o ahe why, when i is his woman, a he phase of he soy we ae uneahing, whose Aun appeas, i is Aun Pasy (Cecil Cunningham) and no he woman's aun of Binging Up Baby (May Robson), who when he fiend Majo Applegae suggess she migh be capable of emiing eoic signals esembling a leopad's, esponds "Now don' be ude, Hoace." Aun Pasy have acceped ~e complimen. Hee is wha happens in Connecicu. Lucy feigns fis supise ha Aun Pasy is no a he cabin and hen a vas faigue ha sends he bounding igh-heaedly upsais o bed. Jey is quie awae ha he expessions of supise and of faigue ae pu on. s his appaen esignaion a sign meelyha since he can' leave anyway (hee won' be a ca unil omoow) he migh as well see wnee his will all lead, puing himself in he hands.. even if somewha ske?1cally? Does he by now ealize ha she was no dunk duing he ac a he Vances'? And does he ealize ha his would have no beaing a all on whehe she mean incopoaion of he familial and he eoic by one anohe, hough i would have a beaing on how clea he memoy of i is? His esigning himself, skepically, ino he hands is 3 coninuaion o C'onfimaion of his aking he up on he exi fom he Va.ces'. He does no see how he

15 ...:10 THE SAME AND DFFERENT hing is o be managed, wha he oad is ha will lead back o hei life ogehe, bu afe he ecen pefomance who knows wha she is capable of? M. Smih is no pesen, bu afe adjusing Aun Pasy's nighgown o heself Lucy noices a black ca on he bed. Appaenly hei emaiage is o be dogged by a diffeen muse, o oem, fom ha of hei oiginal maiage, o an addiional one. Lucy shoos i off. ake i fo ganed ha he black ca is a adiionalsymbol fo female sexualiy. 14en does Lucy shoo he ca away because of wha i sands fo o because i meely sands fo i?-as if o say: no moe symbols of maiage, he eal hing is abou o ake ove. A aling doo comes open and in he adjoining oom we see, hough he open dooway, Jey dessed in a nighshi len him by he caeake. (This is, as fa as know, he oiginal ime ha Cay Gan's sophisicaion and he kind of aaciveness he exhibis ae esed by he mild indigniy of a quasi-feminine ge-up. A yea lae, in Binging Up Baby, Howad Hawks will ake his possibiliy o one of is exemes.) The cuckoo clock sikes fo he fis ime in ou pesence, in close-up, o show 11:15-he maiage has foy-five minues lef o un, ha is, he divoce has foy-five minues in which o be headed off. The wo childlike figuines, somewhee beween live figuines and auomaons, pehaps like animaed figues of celluloid, appea fom adjacen dooways in he clock and in paallel skip mechanically a few seps ou, hen um and skip back in, he wo doos closing wih he las chimes. The house clock seems o be modeled on a Swiss chale, and fo all we know i is a eplica of he couny house ou pai ae now in. n hei especive beds, in adjacen ooms, as if hei lives wee paallel, no ouching, and he skipping hey had done ogehe now seems mechanical, each looks a his and a he side of he same aling doo, silenly uging i o open again. does, upon which he pai mumble hings abou his oddiy o one anohe. Jey ges ou of bed o, i uns ou, examine and close he doo, Lucy says in he bed. He is sill no able o see how o cay himself acoss he heshold. The clock sikes 11:30 and he figuines duly appea o celebae he fac. Back in bed, Jey noices ha he SOuce of he cuen ha is causing he doo o ale and o open is coming fom his paly aised window. He heeupon hows cauion o he winds and aises he window all he way. Fo some eason, hough he doo ales mighily i does no open. Can 257 [ i be ha hei hopes ae eally gone wih he wind-{ha unlike Dixie Belle's wind ex nighclub machina, Jey's wind ex sudio machina is going o fail, like jus so much ai? Lucy has o help some moe. We ae shown ha i is he black ca ha is sopping he doo fom opening, a (' fis by lying in fon of i, hen when Jey uns up he wind, by pushing despeaely agains he doo wih an ouseched paw, in a human gesue of, find, unending hilaiy. Tha ca knows ha is hopes fo an (' undisubed life ae due any second o be gone wih he wind. Afe anohe momen Lucy ;'loices he ca and shoos i ou of he way again, as she had shooed i off he bed. Wih coopeaion now fom boh Jey and Lucy he doo opens once again, his ime discoveing Jey down on all fous, pesumably fom having been looking hough he keyhole, pesumably o discove wha he baie is o his deams' opening up. Tha his discoves him o wan he doo open, while Lucy is lef hidden in bed, is only fai: he i;'lviaion, he possibiliy of enewal, has been fully exended in he song and dance. Bu how can enewal come abou?-{he peennial quesion of efomes and evoluionaies, of anyone who wans o sa ove, who wans anohe chance. Even in Ameica, he land of he second chance, and of anscendenalis edeemes, he paadox ineviably aises: you canno change he wold (fo example, a sae of maiage) unil he people in i change, and he people canno change unil he wold changes. The way back o hei maiage is he way fowad, as if o a honeymoon even moe myseious, han hei fis. Taking a leaf fom Plao's Pammides hey discuss hei human pligh in some meaphysical dialogue, he longes sech of philosophical dialogue among he films of emaiage, he amples, obedience o he demand of he gene fo philosophical speculaion, fo he pecepion ha emaiage, hence maiage, is, whaeve else i is, an inellecual undeaking, in he pesen insance, an undeaking ha concens, whaeve else i concens, change. The elevan dialogue of his final sequence find impossible o emembe accuaely, and i deseves peseving: :l (The doo opens fo he second n half an hou we'll no longe be M. and Ms.-Funny, isn' i? Lucy: Yes, i's funny ha eveyhing's he way i is on accoun of he way you feel. JERRY: Huh? [ i

16 THE SAME AND DFFERENT 259 Lucy: Well, mean if you didn' feel he way you feel, hings wouldn' be he way hey ae, would hey?. JERRY: Bu hings ae he way you made hem. Lucy: Oh no. They'e he way you hink made hem. didn' make hem ha way a all. Things ae jus he same as hey always wee, only you'e jus he same, oo, so guess hings will neve be he same again. Ah-h. Good nigh. (The doo has opened fo he hid and bs ime.) Lucy: Lucy: You'e all confused, aen' you? Uh-huh. Aen' you? No. JERRY; Well you should be, because you'e wong abou hings being diffeen because hey'e no he same. Things ae diffeen, excep in a diffeen way. You'e sill he same, oniy 've been a fool Well, 'm no now. So, as long as 'm diffem, dc.. ;' you hink hings could be he same again? Only a lile diffeen. Lucy; You mean ha, Jeyi' No moe doubs? Gey doesn' answe he in so many wods bu says he's woied abou he dam lock, he one on he doo. Taking a cue fom he glance he pops a chai unde he knob of he doo bu hen seems supised o find ha he's locked hem ogehe in he same oom. She lies back laughing.) Wha had in mind in efeing o Plao's Pamenides was such a passage as Then, ha which becomes olde han iself, also becomes PARMENDE5: a he same ime younge han iself, if i is o have somehing o become olde han. AKSTOTLE5: Wha do you mean? PARMENJDE5: mean his.-a hing does no need o become diffeen fom,1nohe hing which is aleady diffeen; i is diffeen, and if is diffeen has become, i has become diffeen; if is diffeen will be, i will be diffeen; bu of ha which i5 becoming diffeen, hee canno have been, o be abou o be, o ye be, a diffeen-he only diffeen possible is one which is becoming. AR5TOTLES; Tha is ineviable. Philosophy, which may begin in wonde (hus showing is elaion o agedy), may coninue in agumen (hus showing is kinship wih comedy). Human hinking, falling upon iself in ime, is no equied of beings exemp fom agedy and comedy. Having invied Jey o Connecicu o hink again, Lucy pomps him o hink by he au bu open sexual aousal, unde he bedshee, ove he heshold, as he minues edge away. ("All bu": he's sill go o make a move.) The beginnings of philosophy in sexual aacion is how Plao sees he mae in The Symposium. Having once menioned his vision in conn~cion wih Godad's films, * lam moved o menion hee ha he image in Beahless in which he couple climb ogehe unde a bedshee, which hen moves in paens oo absac o ead bu unmisakable in eoic significance, has a peceden in he quie fanasic line of absac impessions ene Dunne invess he coveing bedshee wih o signal Lucy's mouning aousal accompanying he ides of philosophy. These signals of desie, and suppose anxiey, ae picked up fom he opening myseies of Jey's absence fom boh home and Floida. f his cause was genuinely unequied desie, o some dissaisfacion ha advenues Can make good, Lucy's new ceaion of heself is giving him a chance o igh he balance. The pice he will have o pay is, in his um, ha of change as well; he equies a move ha will leave him diffeen and, heefoe, no diffeen (because ohewise wha would he be diffeen fom!). He mus come o sand o himself in, say, he elaion ha emaiage sands o maiage, succeeding himself. (Can human beings change? The humo, and he sadness, of emaiage comedies can be said o esul fom he fac ha we have no good answe o ha quesion.) spoke of Jey's having o change as a pice he mus pay o igh he balance of his maiage. hink of i as he pice ended up wih in calculaing Jey's moive fo his absences as he esablishing of he possibiliy of feedom in maiage: he is going o have o find his feedom hough emaiage. i,nha his uns ou o mean, a he conclusion of The Awful Tuh, is ha he can no longe eg.ud a sexual imbalance in he maiage as he woman's faul. ge hee his way. assume o begin wih ha hee is a sexual bief each is holding agains he ohe a he opening of wha we know of hei soy. Jey's "wha wives don' know" mysey suggess his igh off; i is confimed by hei neve ouching one anohe, afe hei,:~", The Wold Viwed. p. 100.,

17 260 THE SAME AND DFFERENT homecoming embace is ineuped (excep, as menioned, a he end of he sise ouine, and hen as a bief heaical walkaway); hen hei shaed difficulies a he end wih he doo fi in wih his line of hough. assume fuhe ha Lucy's sise ouine is no only iggeed by Jey's having made up he explanaion o excuse fo Babaa Vance's benefi ha he woman in his apamen is his sise, bu ha he ouine consiues an answe o ha explanaion o excuse, a po. pheic ealizaion of i. These assumpions add up fo me as follows. Lucy's ouine akes up Jey's casing he as his sise as if i had been an explanaion o excuse fo he benefi, a saemen of he cause of hei loss of faih, of hei faih in faihfulness, a loss in hei sexual convesaion. Then he song and dance fo him ha pus ogehe kinand desie is he eply o his excuse. migh anslae he eply in somehing like hese ems: Vey well, see he poin. We do have his poblem of having known one anohe foeve, fom he fis, of being fis o show one anohe wha equaliy and ecipociy migh be. f his means being bohe and sise, ha canno, o ha exen, be bad. Wha is necessay now is no o esange ouselves bu o ecognize, denying ou naual inimacy, ha we ae also sanges, sepaae, diffeen; o keep ou incesuousness symbolic, opic, so ha i joins us, no leing i lapse ino liealiy, which will enjoin us. 'll show you ha o be you sise, hus undesood, will be o be sange o you you have ye known me o be. am changed befoe you eyes, diffeen so o speak fom myself, hence no diffeen. To see his you will have coespondingly o suffe meamophosis. Thee is a wind effec hee bu you will jus have o use you imaginaion. So she gives ise o heself, eceaes heself; and, i Can be said, ceaes heself in his image, hough i is an image he did no know he had o know was possible in his fom. "The ouble wih mos maiages," Jey announces in he second sequence of he film, pepaing his senences abou faih, "is ha people ae always imagining hings." uns ou ha wha is wong is no wih imaginaion as such bu wih he way mos people use hei imaginaions, unning i mechanically along us of suspicion. This causes, a bes, face, he negaion of faih. "You'e all confused, aen' you?" she asks him, inviing him o wok hough he philosophy fo himself. "Uh-huh. Aen' you?" His honesy deseves one fuhe inviaion, one las chance. "No," she offes him. is he expliciness he needed. He was confused because he fel 261 she was confused and he fel impoen o povide claiy fo hem. Bu if afe all she is clea, ha is anohe soy. He cass his confusion abou changing, becoming diffeen, ino wods, hus making himself vulneable o he heapy of love. is midnigh. The figuine childen skip ou in hei paallel pahs o celebae his hou of comedy. Afe hey um o skip back he boy is dawn o an escj.pemen fom he mechanism of ime and accompanies he gil ino he side of he habiaion. The wind, an acion of naue,., effecs he closing of he doo of maiage, is he wok of no machine. We will have o imagine i fo ouselves. We ae asked by his ending o imagine specifically how wha we ae shown adds up o he sae of fogiveness he pai have achieved. n Connecicu he oad back is o be found fom wha Jey had called he oad o Reno, which he chaaceizes as paved wih suspicions. n The Lady Eve and in Binging Up Baby and in Adam's Rib, as said, he discovey of he 01: '..::ck fom divoce is explicily eniled fogiveness; in His Gil Fiday he place of fogiveness is aken by wha he film calls a epieve. Tacy's way of acceping Geoge's suggesion in The Philadel- Sioy ha hey "le bygones be bygones" is an accepance of an inepeaion of fogiveness as puing he pas ino he pas and cleaing he fuue fo a new sa, fom he same o fom a diffeen saing place. have a vaious juncues chaaceized his fogiving, he condiion of emaiage, as he fogoing of evenge. When Tacy fogoes evenge owad Geoge she finds nohing lef fo him. n Chape 1 ook he expeience of he end of a omanic comedy as a mae of a kind of fogeing, one ha equies he passage, as i wee, fom one wold (of imaginaion) o anohe, as fom deaming o waking, somehing ha suggess iself as a naual way o descibe he ecovey fom he viewing of a film as such. My adducing of A Midsumme Nigh's Deam in hinking abou The Philadelphia Soy offes an example of wha his fogeing can look like. Emeson and Thoeau call he passage o his expeience, ake i, dawn. The winning of a new beginning, a new ceaion, an innocence, by changes ha effec o consiue he ovecoming of evenge, exends a concaenaion of ideas fom Niezsche's ZaaJlusla. n a elaed momen in "On Makavejev On Begman" quoe he following fom he secion "Thee Meamophoses": " name you hee meamophoses of he spii: how he spii shall become a came and he camel a lion, and he lion a las a child. Thee ae many l l

18 262 THE SAME AND DFfERENT 20J heavy hings fo he spii, fo he song weigh-beaing spii in which dvl.'ells espec and awe: is sengh longs fo he heavy, fo he heavies... To ceae feedom fo iself and a saced No even o duy: he lion is needed fo ha, my bohe... Why mus he peying lion sill become J. child? The child is innocence and fogefulness, a new beginning, a spo, a self-popelling wheel, a fis moion, a saced Yes." Camels of heavy maiages we know; and lions who can disdain hem. A comic No o maiage is face. am aking ou films o be poposing a comic Yes. Niezsche's vision of becoming a child and ovecoming evenge is ied up wih he achievemen of a new vision of ime, o a new sance owad i, an accepance of Eenal Recuence. And hee we ae, a he of The Awful Tuh, waching wo childlike figues eand mean o eun as long as hey exis, ino a clock-house, a home of lime, o inhabi ime anew. How can my linking of Fiedich Niezsche and Leo McCaey no be chance? How can i be chance? All you need o accep in ode o accep he connecion ae wo poposiions: ha Niezsche and McCaey ae each oiginals, o anyway ha each woks on naive gound, wihin which knows and can mean wha he does; and ha hee ae ceain uhs o hese maes which discove whee he conceps come ogehe of ime and childhood and of fogiveness and of ovecoming evenge and of an accepance of he epeiive needs of he body and he soul--of one's moions and one's moives, one's ecsacies and ouines, one's sexualiy and one's loves-as he uhs of oneself. They will, whaeve we discove, be awful uhs, since ohewise why do uhs abou ouselves ake such pains o find and o say? On he way o hese closed doos of maiage we have been given a momen ha ecu o in my expeience as o an epiome of he life of maiage ha he films of ou gene ask lis o imagine, an image ake as epiomizing hei aspiaion o wha called a while ago life as fesiva no somehing a he conclusion of a comedy bu somehing of is chaace fom beginning o end. have in mind he conclusion of he sequence of he musicale (sequence 10), in which Jey goes o inefee wih an assignaion and finds himself in he mids of a decoous ecial. We know enough by his ime of he pacice of his kind of film o conside he sudden discovey of Lucy in fon of he piano as he doo open no as he supising evelaion ha she is no afe all en gaged in an eoic fom all she is. Then i is he singing (whaeve ha is) ha has been o be somehing beyond him, ou of his conol; no he (whaeve he is) is paenly a seconday fiddle. Jey, a any ae, is knocked o he gound by he pefomance hee. His whee else is pefec. Lucy's saegy in he sise ouine ha he make he connecion beween he publicly singing a pope ecial piece in a ladylike manne4" and he pivaely singing an impope piece in is appopiae manne. The epiome say we ae given of he life of maiage behind doos, fo us o imagine, of maiage as omance, as advenue-of he dailiness of life, is diunal epeiiveness, as is own possibiliy of fesiviy-is he momen of Lucy's esponse o Jey's discomfiue as he ies o make himself inconspicuous a he unanicipaed ecial and winds up on he floo in a ableau wih chai,.:.!:>le, and lamp. The specacle he makes of himself sas a laugh in he which she canno hold back unil afe sie finishes he song bu which pushes ino he song o finish wih i, is closing cadence uning o laughe. The momen of laughe and song becoming one anohe is he voice in which imagine he convesaion of maiage aspied o in hese comedies o be conduced. We head Lucy speaking o Aun Pasy of he gand laughs she and Jey have had. (All she will ell him, o wan him of, visiing him a his apamen befoe becoming his sise, is ha his ancien poem o he, which is abou o ecie, will hand him a laugh.) A he gand laughs. This pincess is able o laugh, indeed she geneally seems on The uh is ha only his man can bing he on, even if he is someimes educed o poking he ibs This may no be half a fahe's kingdom, bu she since he asks, heself fo.