Edgar G. Ulmer

Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row examines the full scope of the career of this often overlooked film auteur, with essays exploring individual films, groups of films (such as his important work in film noir), repetitive themes appearing across the spectrum of his work, and a case study of three essays analyzing The Black Cat (1934).

Edgar G. Ulmer: Detour on Poverty Row illuminates the work of this under-appreciated film auteur through 21 new essays penned by a range of scholars from around the globe. Ulmer, an immigrant to Hollywood who fell from grace in Tinseltown after only one studio film, became one of the reigning directors of Poverty Row B-movies. Structured in four sections, Part I examines various contexts important to Ulmer's career, such as his work at the Producers Releasing Corporation (PRC), and his work in exploitation films and ethnic cinema. Part II analyzes Ulmer's film noirs, featuring an emphasis on Detour (1945) and Murder Is My Beat (1955). Part III covers a variety of Ulmer's individual films, ranging from Bluebeard (1944) and Carnegie Hall (1947) to The Man from Planet X (1951) and Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957). Part IV concludes the volume with a case study of The Black Cat (1934), offering three different analyses of Ulmer's landmark horror film.

Chapter 1 Table of Contents
Chapter 2 Dedication
Chapter 3 Introduction
Part 4 I: Texts and Contexts
Chapter 5 1. Edgar G. Ulmer: The Low-End Independent FilmmakerPar Excellence
Chapter 6 2. Edgar G. Ulmer: The Godfather of Sexploitation?
Chapter 7 3. At the Border: Edgar G. Ulmer'sThe Singing Blacksmith (1938) andCossacks in Exile (1939)
Part 9 II: Film Noir
Chapter 10 4. Dead Fathers and Other Detours: Ulmer's Noir
Chapter 11 5. See Spot: The ParametricFilm Noirs of Edgar G. Ulmer
Chapter 12 6. Even the Pictures Lie: The Unreliable Narrator in theFilm Noirs of Edgar G. Ulmer
Chapter 13 7. Edgar G. Ulmer's Homicidal Noirs: Psychosis and Possession inStrange IllusionThe Strange Woman, andBluebeard
Chapter 14 8. All Wrong Turns: Tracking Subjectivity inDetour (1945)
Chapter 15 9. Masculinity and Masochism inDetour (1945)
Part 16 III: Individual Films
Chapter 17 10. Puppets and Painting: Authorship and Artistry in Edgar G. Ulmer'sBluebeard
Chapter 18 11. BeyondCitizen Kane:Ruthless as Radical Psychobiography
Chapter 19 12. "The Gateway to America": Assimilation and Art inCarnegie Hall (1947)
Chapter 20 13. MeetingThe Man From Planet X (1951)
Chapter 21 14. Nothing to Hyde: ReadingThe Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)
Chapter 22 15. Murder, Family, and Weird Science:The Amazing Transparent Man
Chapter 23 16. "A Sword and Sandal Gone Screwy" or, Edgar G. Ulmer's Journey to the Lost City—L'Atlantide
Part 24 IV: Case Study—The Black Cat (1934)
Chapter 25 17. Bauhaus of Horrors: Edgar G. Ulmer andThe Black Cat
Chapter 26 18 The Devil's Contract: The Satisfaction of Self-Destruction in Edgar G. Ulmer'sThe Black Cat
Chapter 27 19 "Tremonstrous" Hopes and "Oke" Results: The 1934 Reception ofThe Black Cat