Popular Culture Review Vol. 10, No. 2, August 1999 | Page 70

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Popular Culture Review

mixed feelings about the Germans. On the one hand the war is over, and America
has “forgiven” Germany; on the other, there is a feeling that the Germans can’t be
trusted. I would argue that Tourneur is acknowledging the fact that one can’t hope
for Nazi ideology to simply “go away” even if its practice has been crushed. This
acknowledgment is in marked opposition to the optimism of America’s Marshall
plan approach.
Berlin Express brings out the continuing disunity within Europe, and be
tween Europe and America. Although the film ends on a “high note” — Max, the
Soviet soldier returns to retrieve the American’s card — there is a bitter after-taste.
After all the conflicts and clashes that have been portrayed in the film, there is
little realistic hope that any of the characters will stay in touch. The dream of a
united Europe seems as far away in 1948 as it did in 1938.
University College Cork, Ireland

Gwenda Young

Works Cited
Guback, Thomas. “Shaping the film business in postwar Germany.” The Hollywood Film
Industry ed. Paul Kerr. London: Routledge, 1982 : 245-275.
Greenberg, Joel. “Interview with Jacques Tourneur.” The Celluloid Muse. ed. Joel Greenberg
& Charles Higham. London: Angus & Robertson, 1969: 216-222.
Henry, Michel. “The Garden of the Forking Paths” [1966] reprinted in Jacques Tourneur
ed. Paul Willemen & Claire Johnston. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Festival Publica
tions, 1975:7-12.
Higham, Charles. “Interview with Lucien Ballard.” Hollywood Cameramen. Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1970: 49-63.
Koppes, Clayton & Gregory Black. Hollywood Goes to War: How Politics, Profit and Pro
pagandashaped World War II Movies. London: I. B Tauris, 1988.
Peary, Danny. Close-Up : The Movie Star Book. New York: Windward Publishing, 1978.
Peck, Gregory. Letter to the author. June 1997.
Shindler, Colin. Hollywood Goes to War: Films and American Society, 1939-52. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979.
Siegel, Joel. Val Lewton: The Reality o f Terror. London: Seeker & Warburgh/British Film
Institute, 1972.
Tavernier, Bertrand. “Interview with Jacques Tourneur.” [1971] reprinted in Jacques
Tourneur op.cit: 39-50.
Telotte, J.P. Dreams o f Darkness: Fantasy and the Films o f Val Lewton. Chicago: Univer
sity o f Chicago Press, 1985.