In examining these Gainsborough films, it will be necessary to look at them from several different perspectives. The generic markers suggested by Elsaesser (1972) cover a number of areas; some of which operate on the level of film form, such as the use of music and mise-en-scene, and some of which are more thematic in nature, such as the influence of social pressures and the characters' inability to act. In order to identify the more formal melodramatic aspects of these films, I wish to use a number of the categories suggested by McQueen (1998), which share a number of concerns with Elsaesser's points. This analysis of the films' formal features will then be followed by an examination of the themes and narratives within the texts.
Formal Generic Markers
Of the categories for recognising and defining genres listed by McQueen, the following are of particular interest:
Costumes and props
Setting
Music
(ibid. 1998:27)
These categories will now be analysed in turn to analyse the formal qualities of the films, and therefore their positioning within the generic boundaries of melodrama.
Costumes and props
A film's use of costumes and props is of course related to the setting of the narrative. In looking at these particular films, it is necessary to make the distinction between the different melodramatic sub-genres utilised by the films. The Man in Grey, Fanny By Gaslight and The Wicked Lady can be classified as costume melodramas (or "costume epics", in the words of Williams (1983: 16)). They Were Sisters conforms more with Elsaesser's conception of the domestic melodrama; the differences between these two melodramatic forms are represented in the costumes and props.
The generic grouping of 'costume melodrama' suggests its reliance upon the use of costumes. Part of the function of the costumes and props of The Man in Grey, Fanny By Gaslight and The Wicked Lady is to create a degree of historical realism. However, perhaps the most significant use of costume in the melodrama (both in the costume and domestic sub-genres) is related to the clear demarcation of characters' moral positions.
Hesther's first appearance in The Man in Grey is illustrative of this in highlighting her malevolent nature and lower class status. As she approaches the girls' school, there is a clear visual contrast between the identically dressed - and upper class - girls playing outside and Hesther, dressed entirely in black. This contrast is continued when the upper class Clarissa arrives at the school in her furs. The character of Hesther is then introduced as being both different and subordinate to the other girls; her appearance in black can be seen as also connoting her sinister nature.
Barbara's entrance in The Wicked Lady works in a similar way; her dark dress and hood contrasts with the light dress worn by Caroline and provides an external expression of her character.
The clothes worn by the characters played by James Mason are also extremely significant. The threatening power embodied by these figures is illustrated by their authoritative dress; long coats, high collars and a cane, compared with the more standard suits of the other male characters. This is however only possible within the wider expressive freedoms of the costume melodrama; the more restrictive contemporary domestic setting of They Were Sisters limits Mason's character to a dark suit.
Setting
Setting is important in two distinct ways in these films, both in social setting and that which can be perceived through the mise-en-scene. Although there is clearly a large amount of difference between the historical settings for the costume melodramas and They Were Sisters, all the narratives operate within the area of aristocratic or bourgeois society. This is representative of the middle class setting for the majority of melodrama.
Lord Rohan's house in The Man In Grey is characteristic of the way in which mise-en-scene interacts with the setting; the house, as it is shown, is overly large, sparsely decorated, and lit in such a way as to may it appear alternately full of shadows or saturated with a bright and cold light. The mise-en-scene in this way reinforces Clarissa's feelings of being uncomfortable and never really belonging in the house.
Music
McQueen suggests that both music and dialogue are of importance in defining genre. However, Elsaesser makes the point that speech loses some of its "semantic importance" within the melodrama (1972: 52); the statements that would then otherwise be made through dialogue find expression through mise-en-scene and music. There are numerous times in the narratives when the excessive emotion within the frame is corresponded to, and heightened by, the swelling of the soundtrack.
During a scene in They Were Sisters, in which Charlotte, unable to bear being humiliated and verbally abused by her husband, starts drinking, the music functions subjectively. As a long take follows her down the stairs as she cries and picks up a decanter, melancholic music accompanies the images. Although Charlotte does not speak in this scene, the music expresses Charlotte's inner loneliness and sense of entrapment, reinforced by the long take which remains on her, holding her within the frame.
Themes and narratives
There are a number of narrative themes shared between the films. The romance and conflict narratives are of particular relevance here. The narratives are also significant in how they achieve closure and the extent to which these endings represent an artificial coda in presenting a positive ending. Before a closer examination of the films, however, I wish to discuss the use of particular character types in these films.
Characters
One of the key defining points for melodrama, and one of the main reasons for it being critically derided, is the way in which it uses stereotypes, particularly in the construction of morality. Gainsborough's melodramas utilise a number of stereotyped characters, which I wish to examine in turn. These films are particularly interesting in this respect as they often feature the same actors playing the same character type in different films.
Firstly, and perhaps most importantly within the genre, is the role of the victim. This character type is portrayed as fundamentally good and often innocent, and because of which, is unable to perceive the danger until it is too late, and then incapable of escaping their situation. With only one exception in these films, the victim is female. The victim is also characterised by a sense of self-sacrifice, which is in turn exploited by others. Perhaps the most excessive representation of the victim is Charlotte in They Were Sisters. From the first time that she meets her future husband, she is completely controlled by him, told what to do, and unable to resist his commands. Her inability to challenge her submissive position is further reflected by her alcoholism; the 'strong' action of escape is inverted into one of self-destruction.
Within each of the films, this victimisation comes from a combination of three sources, the dominant man (James Mason in The Man in Grey, Fanny By Gaslight and They Were Sisters), the seductive and manipulative woman (Margaret Lockwood in The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady) and the oppressive social structure.
The utilisation of the romance narrative necessitates the male romantic lead, as exemplified by Stewart Granger in The Man In Grey and Fanny By Gaslight. In both of these films Granger, as a good man, tries to help the victim, coming into conflict with the dominant man, but in both cases failing in some way to effect this rescue.
Utilising these character types as well as Elsaesser's thematic points as discussed in the previous chapter, I now wish to concentrate upon the narratives and themes within the films. Synopses of each of the films are available in the appendix.
The Man in Grey
Although The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady were the first and last to be produced of this selection of films, they share a number of similarities. Both costume films concern Margaret Lockwood's character manipulating other characters in order to obtain both money and the husband of a close female friend. In both films, narrative closure is partly achieved by the death of Lockwood's character. However, as, in The Man In Grey, this occurs after the murder of Clarissa, it is impossible for the other main narrative thread, the romance between her and Rokeby to be concluded within the Regency period setting. This romance narrative is therefore brought to a conclusion through a scene in the narrative coda of the contemporary wartime setting without the interventions of Lord Rohan and Hesther.
The innocence and naivety that construct Clarissa as a victim is highlighted as Lord Rohan rolls a die to decide who will be his wife. The shot of the rolling die, connotative of Lord Rohan's gambling and unpredictable nature, cuts on action to a shot of a rolling ball as Clarissa plays with a puppy. Clarissa is then portrayed as being somewhat immature, in contrast to Lord Rohan's cynical approach to his own marriage.
Clarissa does not however wish to be married to Lord Rohan; it is primarily at the request of her godmother that she accepts the offer of marriage without any feelings of love. The representation of the wedding night reinforces the idea that Clarissa is unable to do anything to resist the forces that have forced her into this marriage. Clarissa is first shown praying beside her bed, her face lit by a harsh light as slow music plays. Lord Rohan's entrance to the room is accompanied by the entrance of deeper, more suspenseful strings in the soundtrack. The light used on Lord Rohan creates heavy shadows as there is a cut to a shot from behind Clarissa, showing his approach from the other side of the room. This scene therefore indicates the exploitative nature of the marriage; the virginal Clarissa lies in bed awaiting the dark and silent figure of Lord Rohan.
After this point the two characters are quite separate. The scene immediately following that of the wedding night is Lord Rohan's presentation of a necklace, the "Rohan Star", to Clarissa. After this necklace, signifying Clarissa's formal acceptance into the family, is put onto the table before her, Rohan reveals the true nature of the marriage; that they are to have separate lives, and all that he requires is an heir. After this pronouncement, none of the scene's following shots show the two characters in the same frame. Clarissa is then shown modelling for a painting of her and her child; even though she tells the artist that she never sees the boy and that he is scarcely hers, the painting presents Clarissa as a happy mother. The artist tells her that it is her obligation to appear happy, even when not, due to her good fortune. This is a further restriction upon her; not only is she told how her life is to be, but also how she must appear.
From his first appearance as Clarissa travels to find Hesther, Rokeby is presented as an ambiguous character; he appears to be a highwayman at first, but it is revealed that his guns are nothing more than pieces of wood. Rokeby is also impetuous in kissing Clarissa, showing in this action little respect for her either as a woman or member of the establishment.
Lord Rohan only appears again after Clarissa brings Hesther back with her. Although he discovers that she is not a respectable woman, as Clarissa had told him, Hesther's pronouncement that her only way to escape the confines of her class was to deceive her way into this comfortable home, and that she cares about no-one other than herself, impresses Lord Rohan. Her mercenary nature attracts him to her and he allows her to stay. Clarissa's return after seeing Rokeby leave in the rain is representative of Elsaesser's comment about the staircase often being the vertical axis on which dramatic discontinuities take place (1972: 60). As she returns, saturated by the rain and becoming ill from exposure, she reaches the staircase and the film cuts to a shot from her point of view of Hesther and Lord Rohan from a low angle. This scene destroys all the hopes of happiness that Clarissa had with Rokeby, replacing them with the power that Lord Rohan and Hesther have over her.
Clarissa is portrayed as an innocent to such an extent that she is totally unable to perceive Hesther as acting malevolently throughout the narrative. It is instead left to her servant boy, seemingly unable to stop Hesther, to witness the murder. Lord Rohan, after being told of this, reacts by beating Hesther to death. His reason for doing this is however apparently not that he had any strong feelings for Clarissa, but instead the Rohan family crest; "who dishonours us dies".
Although the title of the film and Lord Rohan's early appearances suggest that he is the film's sinister character, it is Hesther instead, by her much more subtle manipulation and duplicity that creates the tragedy of the narrative. Although Lord Rohan is far from being a sympathetic character, he is honest with Clarissa on the nature of their marriage and lives by the code of his family, and although attracted and impressed by Hesther, cannot condone her murder of another Rohan. Lord Rohan in this way represents the social pressures upon Clarissa and the eventual punishment for Hesther as a woman not willing to conform to them.
The Wicked Lady
The Wicked Lady shares many of the themes and concerns of The Man in Grey, both in the portrayal of historical aristocracy and Margaret Lockwood's portrayal of an even more aggressive character, Barbara.
In the initial scenes of the film, the intended marriage between Ralph and Caroline, based on their love and respect for each other, is quickly disrupted by Caroline's decision to ask her cousin Barbara to be present at the wedding. Barbara's entrance to the home in a large black cloak is quickly followed by her pursuit and seduction of Ralph. When Barbara meets Ralph whilst riding, she pretends that her horse has bolted and is out of her control, shouting for Ralph to help her as she is simultaneously driving the horse faster. It is after this act of Barbara as the helpless girl needing Ralph's help that she succeeds in getting him to embrace her and winning him from Caroline.
This scene is then juxtaposed with Caroline in her wedding dress. Dramatic discontinuity is achieved by Barbara's entrance to this scene, as she continues to affect innocence and tells Caroline that there was nothing that they could do, but Ralph and Barbara had fallen in love. Barbara's earlier joke about Caroline being a 'self-sacrificing little ninny' is then borne out by her insistence that the wedding will take place, but with Barbara as the bride. Ralph's explanation of his feelings for Barbara is in purely physical terms. Barbara, therefore, by the means of her beauty and cunning, manages to disrupt the initial romantic order of the narrative. Furthermore, Caroline invites Barbara to stay with her and Ralph, and believes that, firstly, she is a friend, and secondly that the rearrangement of the wedding is beneficial for everyone (except her). Her self-sacrifice and innocent inability to mistrust Barbara therefore highlight Caroline as a 'victim' character from the beginning.
Barbara's discovery of the secret passage comes as a result of her wish to sleep in a separate room from Ralph. When Caroline shows her it, suspense music enters on the soundtrack, foreshadowing its future use as the route of escape from the home. Therefore, in wanting to have a separate life even though married (as in The Man in Grey), a way to achieve a yet greater degree of separation from Ralph is uncovered. When Barbara first assumes the highwayman's guise in order to reclaim her mother's brooch from Ralph's sister, she gains a large amount of power from this exercise. In the highwayman guise, Barbara is able to correct her previous mistake of gambling with a far more experienced card player, and belittle Ralph's sister by slapping her when asked for a kiss. Barbara is then empowered by the assumption of this masculine role.
However, as Barbara continues to act as a highwayman, she meets Captain Jackson, the genuine highwayman. The character of Jackson is distinct amongst Mason's roles in the Gainsborough films. Whilst a number of his characteristics, such as his overt and powerful masculinity and his wilfulness, are continuous across the films, in The Wicked Lady, he is operating outside of the aristocratic establishment and is, at least with those outside of the land owning classes, a popular figure within the narrative. Whereas Mason is a powerful Lord in The Man in Grey and Fanny By Gaslight, as a highwayman he is on the other side of the law, without his actions being justified by his position and status. He is also viewed as possessing a dangerous virility and is rescued by his supporters when hanging from the gallows. Furthermore, he is disgusted by Barbara's bloodlust; whereas he is motivated by the money, she is motivated by the sense of danger and without any remorse for killing.
Shocked by Barbara's deathbed confessions, Kit leaves Barbara to die alone. As she tries to follow him, she falls and is framed by the rectangular window behind her. This shot then reinforces the extent to which Barbara is alone and, abandoned by those who previously cared, is left to die.
Fanny By Gaslight
Although also set in the nineteenth century, Fanny By Gaslight is quite distinct from the two films discussed previously. This film is the most overtly concerned with the pressures of society, and particularly the socially respected attribute of respectability. When Fanny, Lucy and Fanny's parents are seated around the table in Fanny's home, a shot is used which positions them very low in the frame, thus allowing the walls and décor to dominate the shot and suggesting Elsaesser's comment on the suffocating patriarchal hierarchy of the middle class home (1972: 61).
The Shades, the house of ill repute owned by Fanny's father Hopwood, makes the connection between vice and the aristocracy as Hopwood allows a Lord and his friend entry. The hypocrisy is further highlighted when he returns home and is told that Lucy is an actress. Despite the shades being his livelihood, he tells Lucy that 'it is not nice for a young lady to parade herself before a gaping audience'. This scene then cuts straight to women doing high-kicking dancing in his establishment, undermining his respectable stance. This use of editing can therefore be seen as highlighting the hypocrisy in patriarchal dialogue by placing it alongside 'actual' events.
The voice of Lord Manderstoke (James Mason) is audible before he comes into shot from before a curtain, bearing all the signifiers of power; top hat, cigar and cane. His belligerent character is illustrated immediately as, after being refused entry by a doorman, he forces his way into the Shades, breaking the doorman's arm. After being removed by Hopwood, the fight between them draws working class men as spectators.
The courtroom scene immediately following this demonstrates the balance of power in the narrative. Fanny is here shown as powerless and her accusations are not listened to. The mise-en-scene supports this; Fanny is shown behind bars, as if she were being tried, whilst in separate shots, the judge is filmed from an empowering low angle, with an official crest behind him. Two reasons, in addition to Fanny's gender, can be given as to why her words are discounted. Firstly that it made publicly known that her father owned a bordello, and secondly that her opposition in the courtroom, Lord Manderstoke, is himself a powerful member of the establishment. The court then appears to function for no other reason than to maintain the appearance of social respectability and the dominance of the higher classes. This is furthered by both the judge's request for Lord Manderstoke's name to be left out of the reporting of the case and his "suggestion" that the Shades be immediately closed down, which it is.
After Fanny is sent to stay with her real father, Clive, and his wife, it is discovered that this marriage is also a duplicitous one. Clive does not trust his wife for the truth about Fanny's parentage to be made known to her. After being called to help her, Fanny finds Clive's wife to be a greedy woman with many infidelities. After finding Clive and Fanny together, she assumes that they are romantically linked and proposes using this as grounds for a divorce in order for her to marry Manderstoke, whom she has met at a ball. After Clive reveals the truth to her, her reaction is to state that Clive will lose his political position if this is revealed in a divorce court, and that he should therefore accede to her extortionate settlement demands. Faced with a lack of options because of the strong social pressures on him and his position, Clive chooses to commit suicide. There is here a very expressionistic use of lighting and sound, mimicking the train that Clive is to fall under and showing subjectively his fear when faced by this situation. This act of inner violence is caused by his being unable to act in any 'active' way to escape losing his status (which he states, is as important to the country as it is to him). Clive can therefore be seen as representing the only male 'victim' in these films; he is exploited within his marriage and unable to effect change. This is reinforced by the subjective way in which his suicide is shown.
Clive's suicide functions to bring Fanny and Harry (Stewart Granger) closer together. However, Harry is also acted upon by strong social forces. Firstly, his sister's assertion that he cannot continue to be associated with Fanny comes from her low social status and connections with the Shades. Harry's sister tells Fanny directly that she has to stop seeing him in order for him to succeed in politics; that unlike in business, it is not merely necessary for him to be effective, but also respectable.
Secondly, Harry disputes his mother's belief in the class system. He talks of how it will one day be non-existent and how people should be made equal now. This is supported by the scenes in 'The Jolly Bargee'; even though Harry is surrounded by hostile working class men on his initial visit, he is greeted on his arrival at Christmas and buys drinks for all the inn's occupants.
Thirdly, Harry becomes engaged in a duel with Lord Manderstoke. Despite promising Fanny that he would not, he leaves in the night to fight him. This duel is effectively a conflict between the feminised and egalitarian in Harry and the arrogant belligerence of class in Lord Manderstoke. The romance narrative is here further problematised; although Harry wins this duel, he is also shot (as opposed to winning outright in the manner of a more traditional hero). Finally, confronted by Harry's sister and told to leave him, Fanny recognises that the sister's feelings for Harry are nothing more than another expression of her class' possessiveness and insularity.
The ending is however the most ambiguous of all the films. Harry's sister is sent away and Fanny is left to tend to him. Even though the doctor had stated that Harry's condition was very serious, Fanny states her belief that he will indeed recover. This is particularly problematic as there is no reason to believe that, even if Harry were to make a full recovery, he would be able to escape the social pressures and taboos that had obstructed their relationship throughout the film. The light in the room casts bars of shadow across the two characters; it seems that Fanny's belief in this positive conclusion is absolutely unfounded and will shortly be proved so.
They Were Sisters
Elsaesser's comments on the melodramatic form are most suited to the analysis of They Were Sisters. Although a number of his generic markers can be identified in the films already discussed, as a domestic melodrama They Were Sisters is more easily recognised as utilising Elsaesser's key points. In the films previously analysed, the actions of the characters are not limited in the way that Elsaesser describes; the range of strong actions is not limited so as to prohibit a number of murders and other sensational events. Although in the other films these actions are ultimately punished within the narrative, the bourgeois domestic setting of They Were Sisters limits this range significantly; not that these acts can be done but must be punished, but that they can't be done.
The film's narrative concerns the lives of the eponymous three sisters and their differing experiences of marriage. Whilst Lucy (Phyllis Calvert) is happily married, the marriages of the other two sisters are far from this ideal. Vera (Anne Crawford) is involved in a loveless and unfaithful marriage and Charlotte (Dulcie Gray) is trapped by her malevolent and tyrannical husband. The opening section of the film, in 1919, introduces the sisters and the men that they are to marry. Charlotte meets Geoffrey (James Mason) at a dancehall after he had previously approached, but been rejected by, Vera. The marriage that comes from this encounter in such a place of hedonism then initiates the marriages of the other two sisters. First, Brian (Barrie Livesey) proposes to Vera at the reception. Although Vera warns him that she has no feelings for him, he is willing to take this chance.
The beginning of Lucy's relationship with William (Peter Murray Hill) begins when she meets him for the second time in her father's study, shortly after the wedding reception. In both of these meetings, William is at the house to do business with Lucy's father. William is then a man sanctioned by the father, in business dealings if not overtly in marriage.
That the film then cuts to 1937 and the sisters' seventeenth wedding anniversaries allows it to be seen how these marriages have developed, and the results of the sisters' choices of suitors. Lucy and William are shown to be in a successful marriage, but without children. Vera is in a very similar loveless and independent marriage to those in The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady, whilst Charlotte is totally controlled by her husband and subjected to emotional abuse.
Charlotte's eventual decline into alcoholism is clearly related to Elsaesser's point about how, unable to be free in a closed and repressive narrative world, cathartic release is replaced by an inner violence (1972: 56). After an argument with Geoffrey, slow melancholic music accompanies the long take that follows Charlotte downstairs as she cries and picks up a decanter. Geoffrey in fact appears to encourage Charlotte's addiction as a method of maintaining her sedation. Furthermore, she is shown to be unable to escape this alcoholism even though she has significantly deteriorated as a result of it. Geoffrey will not allow her to see a doctor; she is instead confined to the attic, where she remains until she runs out of the house and is hit by a car after being told by Geoffrey that she is unable to do anything.
However, as opposed to Mason's success in avoiding any condemnation in the courtroom scene in Fanny By Gaslight, here he is exposed as being responsible for Charlotte's demise. Lucy effects this by declaring in the coroner's court that Geoffrey murdered Charlotte. Even though her word is again not initially accepted, but must be corroborated by the doctor (suggesting that the status of men is still higher than that of women) who she wanted to examine Charlotte, Geoffrey's words and accusations of conspiracy are also ignored. At the end of the film then, with one sister dead and Vera leaving the country with her lover, Lucy and William become the surrogate parents of the others' children. This makes the image of them as the successful married couple complete, and is interesting in being the only film to not only include but also conclude with an effective and happy marriage. This conclusion therefore emphasises the message that although many marriages will fail, some, even if a minority, will prosper. Even though this point is reinforced by the actual marriage between the actors Phyllis Calvert and Peter Murray Hill, it is problematic in the light of both the two other marriages in They Were Sisters and the exploitative and loveless marriages in The Man in Grey and The Wicked Lady.
Recurrent Themes
It is clear from the above analysis that a number of narrative points overlap between films.
Perhaps the most visible recurrent theme is that of the unpleasant experience of marriage. Problematic and exploitative marriages feature prominently in all the narratives, and in each case these marriages are initiated by either a manipulative woman (Margaret Lockwood in The Wicked Lady) or by social pressures (the need for Phyllis Calvert to be married off in The Man in Grey). Conversely, the only marriage in which both people are happy and respect each other is that of Lucy and William in They Were Sisters.
It is however difficult to assert that the films represent a critique of masculinity's dominance of women. Each of the women in the films are without help from female friends; the victims in The Man In Grey and The Wicked Lady relying instead on being 'saved' (with differing amounts of success) by men. Furthermore, that these women are victimised by women viewed as friends is indicative of both the idea that there is no true sense of 'sisterhood', and, more specifically in terms of the historical context, the widely publicised necessity to avoid 'loose women', for both health and security reasons.
There is also a strong sense that aristocracy and the class system are detrimental to the majority of British people. James Mason's character in both The Man in Grey and Fanny By Gaslight is able to exert his force over others without being reprimanded because of his status as a Lord. In addition to this, the other landowners in The Wicked Lady are presented as being greedy and uninterested in the welfare of their residents; they dislike Sir Ralph for his 'soft' treatment of them.
There does seem to be a perceivable difference between the costume melodramas and They Were Sisters. In The Man in Grey and Fanny By Gaslight, Phyllis Calvert is very much a victim, controlled by those around her and her social situation, but unable to do anything about it. In contrast to this, They Were Sisters portrays her character as able to challenge that of James Mason. Although his character's personality is just as cruel, if not more so, than its counterparts in the costume melodramas, he is in a far less indomitable position. This contrast between the films set in historical and contemporary periods suggests that things have now changed for the better, and that women can now effect change where before they would have either been ignored (as Fanny is in the courtroom) or merely suppressed by the social system.
They Were Sisters also features the most positive narrative closure of the films. As well as James Mason's character being punished within the legal system (in contrast to the duel in Fanny By Gaslight, and his apparent escape from retribution in The Man In Grey), Phyllis Calvert and Peter Murray Hill as the happy couple are, in the final scene, transformed into the 'complete' family that they always wanted. The ambiguous endings in the other films (including the way in which The Man In Grey's happy ending is seperated from the rest of the narrative by over a hundred years of story time) do however suggest that even after a great struggle, the culminative result may not be the one that is desired. This could be viewed as a comment on how, contrary to certain contemporary beliefs, the end of the war would not herald a 'new dawn' for British society.