Reflections in a Male Eye

In a career that spanned six decades, the legendary John Huston directed 38 films, including The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Prizzi’s Honor, and The Dead, as well as three documentaries on the experience of World War II combat and its aftereffects. Despite his achievements, Huston’s work has often been spurned by movie critics and film scholars. This anthology, the first in-depth study of Huston’s films since his death in 1987, challenges the conventional wisdom through a vigorous reassessment of the director’s work. Bringing together recent essays, classic pieces by Andrew Sarris and James Agee, as well as two Huston short stories and an interview with the filmmaker, Reflections in a Male Eye explores the ideology of Huston’s films, their social and political backdrop, and his vision of the American male. Arguing that Huston’s point of view was revealed subtly through his selection of topics and direction, Robert Sklar, Gary Edgerton, John Engell, and Stephen Cooper contend that it was the historical and political context of Huston’s films – not just directorial personality – that gave his work a distinct stamp. Other contributors, among them James Naremore, Martin Rubin, and Virginia Wright Wexman, examine the representation of masculinity, the image of the male body, and the use of problematical heroes in Huston’s films. They consider such issues as male bonding, sensitivity, powerlessness, and failure alongside Huston’s questioning of American idealism and traditional male gender roles. Reflections in a Male Eye includes a complete filmography covering Huston’s work as actor, director, and screenwriter and numerous stills and frameenlargements.