Film noir and family values

Nov. 3, 2000 12 AM PT

Share via
- Facebook
- X
- Email

Young Chang

Arthur Taussig has more than 1,000 titles in his film collection at

home. The videos range from “Peter Pan” and “Amadeus” to “Pulp Fiction”

and “Psycho.” It is understandable, then, how the moderator of a film

noir series at the Orange County Museum of Art is also the author of a

book and the creator of a Web site focusing on films and family values.

“There is no connection,” Taussig said about his varied tastes. “I

know about film. If you know about one kind of film, you know about all

kinds of films.”

Taussig’s film noir series, which began in October, will continue

indefinitely with “Sorry Wrong Number,” to be screened tonight and “The

Postman Always Rings Twice” on Dec. 1. Upcoming plans include a set of

noir Humphrey Bogart films and a set of Joan Crawford films.

The Orange Coast College professor, film critic and author says about

25 to 30 books have tried to explain film noir. He defines the genre as

an “attitude.”

“Basically it is a response to the idealism of the Eisenhower era and

Frank Capra films,” said Taussig, who is also the adjunct curator of

films for the museum. “Where everything was sort of wonderful, sort of

the Beaver Cleaver version of America. It’s the dark side of that. Decay,

death, corruption and other happy things.”

Maxine Gaiber, director of education at the museum, worked with

Taussig on the series. She said film noirs often started out as

low-budget B-movies, filmed at night to lower costs. They look at the

dark side of people and the social forces that shape them.

“I think some of the heroes that we see in films now, like in

‘American Beauty,’ probably have their roots in film noir,” Gaiber said.

“This helps us understand film now.”

Which may explain how Taussig is both a film noir expert and critic

for contemporary child-appropriate movies.

His free Web site, called o7 www.FilmValues.comf7 , offers about

1,000 reviews on contemporary movies, videos and cable showings. Taussig

comments on each film’s moral statement, degree of violence, whether and

how it deals with sexuality and gender issues and other titles seen as

alternates. Each review is about 500 words, which is easy to read for

busy parents, Taussig said.

The reviews point out which characters perpetrate violence, what

forces motivate the villain, whether the criminals were punished and who

smoked or drank.

“If the villain smokes or drinks, it’s different from whether the hero

smokes and drinks,” Taussig said.

But he stresses his purpose: to give information to parents who don’t

know where to get it, rather than opinions.

“The reviews are without social, political or religious agenda. It’s

up to the parents to inject their own agendas to their children,” he

said.

A chart with nine categories -- nudity, blood, immorality and

watchability for adults, to name a few -- indicates with symbols how much

of each is reflected in the movie.

A television/movie guide lists the schedule of reviewed films. When

one is based on a book, site visitors can click on an icon for the book,

which encourages children to read.

Taussig also gives away the endings of films in his summaries. Parents

should know what they’re taking they’re child to see in the theater, he

said.

The site, which went up about a year ago, has been visited more than

45,000 times through the main page and multiples of that number through

Film noir and family values

More on this Subject