The Dynamic Frame: Camera Movement in Classical Hollywood

2.x10 City Streets

Continuing the pattern established in Applause, Mamoulian favors ironic compositions at the expense of his characters. In City Streets, the camera follows a gangster walking down the hall, but the framing remains loose enough to show the shadow of a rival gangster trailing just behind him. The symbolism (shadow as impending death) is unknown to the characters but head-thumpingly obvious to us.

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