Tashlinesque

by Seife, Ethan De

• ISBN13: 9780819572400
• ISBN10: 0819572403
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-03-01
• Publisher: Wesleyan Univ Pr

Summary

Frank Tashlin (1913-1972) was a supremely gifted satirist and visual stylist who made an indelible mark on 1950s Hollywood and American popular culture--first as a talented animator working on Looney Tunes cartoons, then as muse to film stars Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope, and Jayne Mansfield. Yet his name is not especially well known today. Long regarded as an anomaly or curiosity, Tashlin is finally given his due in this career-spanning survey. Tashlinesque considers the director's films in the contexts of Hollywood censorship, animation history, and the development of the genre of comedy in American film, with particular emphasis on the sex, satire, and visual flair that comprised Tashlin's distinctive artistic and comedic style. Through close readings and pointed analyses of Tashlin's large and fascinating body of work, Ethan de Seife offers fresh insights into such classic films as Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, The Girl Can't Help It, Artists and Models, The Disorderly Orderly, and Son of Paleface, as well as numerous Warner Bros. cartoons starring Porky Pig, among others. This is an important rediscovery of a highly unusual and truly hilarious American artist. Includes a complete filmography.

Table of Contents

Preface: Tashlin Resurgent	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction The Director Who Wasn't	p. 1
Tish-Tash in Cartoonland	p. 16
Tashlin, Comedy, and the "Live-Action Cartoon"	p. 52
"Hurry up! This is impossible!": Tashlin's Early Feature Films	p. 69
The Artist and His Model: Tashlin and Jerry Lewis in the 1950s	p. 94
The Director and the Bombshell: Tashlin and Jayne Mansfield	p. 119
Disorderly Conduct: Tashlin in the 1960s	p. 145
The Man in the Middle: Tashlin, Auteurs, and Programmers	p. 174
Who's Minding the Store?: Tashlin's Influence	p. 187
Appendix: Frank Tashlin's Creative Work	p. 211
Notes	p. 219
Index	p. 243
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