Abstract The paper shows how the Gestapo, the secret police of Germany during Hitler's reign, was one of the strongest tools used to control the German people. The paper explains that the Gestapo controlled the media, used a network of spies in order to repress subversives, forced family members to spy on each other and threatened those who would not cooperate, often using physical violence and blackmail. The paper relates further that because the Gestapo was not subject to judicial review and they had the liberty of incarcerating citizens without trial, their powers were limitless.
From the Paper "The Gestapo, or the Geheime Staatspolizei, first appeared in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. These political police originally served the Prussian government. When the Gestapo was taken over by the Germans, it was already a well-established organizational and bureaucratic mechanism, but from 1934 to 1939 the Gestapo expanded exponentially. When Hitler became the German chancellor in 1933, he named Hermann Goring the interior minister of Prussia, making Goring the head of the Prussian Political police. In the early days, Goring was in control of the Gestapo."
From the Paper "Alfred Hitchcock made Blackmail as his first sound feature in 1929, and Vertigo in 1958 during his most creative period. The two films share certain characteristics in terms of the way the filmmaker presents women and in the relationships the female characters have with the male characters in the two works, and indeed these same elements and approaches can be found in many Hitchcock films made between the two. Tania Modleski links Hitchcock's works specifically to sexual violence in her feminist analysis of his works, and she cites other critics on the subject when she writes:
In film studies, Hitchcock is often viewed as the archetypal misogynist, who invites his audience to indulge their most sadistic fantasies against the female (Modleski 17)."
Abstract The writer examines the history of the development of economic sanctions. It defines this tactic as a type of coercive diplomacy, a strategic political tactic by which a demand to one's adversary is backed up with a threat of punishment for non-compliance that is estimated to be severe enough to be persuasive. The paper traces the policy back to the bible, differentiating between economic sanctions and blackmail.
From the Paper "Coercive diplomacy consists of four possible tactics: a demand, the means used to create a sense of urgency, threatened punishment for noncompliance and possible incentives. Differences and combinations of these tactics provide five type basic types of coercive diplomacy, identified as the ultimatum, the tacit ultimatum, the "try-and-see" approach the "gradual turning of the screw", and the carrot and stick approach. (3)"
Examines the factors involved in the collapse of Enron, from its successful history of brokering to its unethical practices which ultimately led to its bankruptcy.
900 words (approx. 3.6 pages), 8 sources, 2002, $ 35.95
Abstract Enron is quickly becoming a 21st century equivalent of the 1950's game show scandals that inspired the film "Quiz Show". Both events involved a very large organization, an apparently active conspiracy to deceive the public and employees and touches a very broad section of our political and economic power structure. Enron had emerged from the smoke and mirrors associated with all scandals as a clearly unfathomable organization - Enron is an enigma. Before the bankruptcy, Enron enjoyed an enormously successful history of brokering energy to and from various points on the compass - from virtually blackmailing California during that state's energy crisis of the summer of 2000, to the general failure to meet energy contracts throughout the county. Enron's excesses, mismanagement, shady accounting, questionable ethics and its octopus-like hold on seemingly half of all the congressional politicians in Washington combine to lend credence to conspiracy theorists who assert that there are commercial forces at work behind governmental decisions that supercede concerns for the American citizenry. Like any scandalized person or organization, prior to exposure, everyone is ecstatic to be in bed together, but post-exposure, all the partners jump out of bed faster than roaches under a sun-lamp. Enron collapsed because it was a giant built upon a balsa wood foundation.
Abstract This paper explains that the plot of "The Big Sleep" which revolves around blackmail and murder, does not strictly adhere to the old mystery tradition of solving the problems in logic and deduction but rather deals with the psychological complexities of people who exist in an underground, liminal world and for whom life is more of a burden than a gift. The author points out what stands out above the rottenness is the profound sense of helplessness and hopelessness which pervades the lives of most of the characters, including detective Philip Marlowe, who comes off with a brash air of conceited self-confidence and an equally loud aura of indifference. The paper suggests that Marlowe's character is the embodiment of Chandler's essential message: Hope to divert disaster, even when you shouldn't be bothered to care and even when no one else seems to care but you.
From the Paper "Chandler describes his goal in creating Philip Marlowe to be that he is "the hero, he is everything...a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man...a man of honor, by instinct, by inevitability...a lonely man." Oates, on the other hand, describes him as "a cult figure of enviable sexual allure," whose primary appeal to the reader is that he is every man's "wish-fulfillment fantasy," and in turn the "essence of virility" for every woman. Yet this assumption carries a dissonant note. Chandler's obvious downplaying of Marlowe's personal sexuality is more likely intended to steer the reader to the greater nature of his quest: the search for integrity among the living who inhabit this strange, cruel, dispassionate world of 1930s Los Angeles."
Abstract The word "auteur" has slipped from common usage when describing an artist of film. Perhaps, and there are critics that would rebut it, only Woody Allen is left as someone who is involved in every creative process of film making. The paper argues that while surely there were auteurs in the early days (D.W. Griffith , Charlie Chaplin, Mack Sennett and Cecil B. deMille), there are three pinnacles in recent times (i.e., since the 1950s) that truly deserve the name that was coined for them: Alfred Hitchcock, Jean-Luc Godard, and Federico Fellini. The paper shows how each provided audiences world-wide with a style that was uniquely theirs; some masterpieces and others just good entertainment. Each worked in a different country (countries, in Hitchcock's case, but mostly, his successes were in America), each brought a particular genre to the film, and it is as different auteurs that their work is examined and evaluated.
From the Paper "La Strada, which was undoubtedly his first international success, Fellini considers "his most juvenile, lyrical, most confessional film." It was also one film which made Anthony Quinn a star- getting rid of his villain roles in American films, and providing him with a powerful image that changed his entire career. While it is often difficult for a writer-director, an auteur, to explain precisely what motivates the film, in the case of La Strada, Fellini said that "Jesus must be sought outside the church....Christ appears to men under different manifestations, even in the guise of a circus performer. Today we are finished with the Christ myth and await a new one." "
Abstract This paper discusses how in 'Blackmail' there is a scene near the beginning of the film in which the character of Frank meets his girlfriend. Prior to the beginning of the scene the music is light and cheerful which allows for a distraction in the tension that begins within the scene under observation. What occurs within the scene however is significant to Hitchcock's filmmaking style because it is a scene in which the director begins to build tension through the use of contrasting elements that allow for the audience to feel suspense. The paper further discusses how Hitchcock accomplishes this tension in an almost casual manner through the use of physical movement of the actors and simple events that are subtly undertaken. However, these elements provide a focus on Hitchcock's trademark style of directing and a comprehension of his mastery of the use of cinema.
Abstract In this article, the writer examines the book "The Big Sleep", the first in a series of 'Phillip Marlowe' crime novels by Raymond Chandler. The writer relates that the story unfolds through the narration of Marlowe, a private detective hired by the dying millionaire General Sternwood to solve a mystery blackmail case for the meager sum of twenty-five dollars a day. The writer concentrates on the discussion about the complex and contradictory character of Phillip Marlowe, focusing on his psychology. The writer analyzes the way Marlowe thinks and speaks and looks at what that can tell the audience about his relationship to the Sternwoods, to the world of crime he encounters, and to Los Angeles.
From the Paper "To gain an insight into the actions of Marlowe it is first necessary to understand the context of his milieu. As early as the 1920s Los Angeles had become a commodity. The centralisation of the American Film Industry had created a city that traded the American Dream. It was marketed as Hollywood and suburban communities in the desert became immensely popular. This picture perfect ideal was shattered in the 1930's with the Wall Street collapse becoming an increasing disaster and the Great Depression gripping the nation. Now the picture perfect town had become another city where incomes dropped and unemployment was rising. Crime was rampant and dignity was lost, people only had cynicism and disillusionment for the future."
