Through a series of case studies, this dissertation focuses on the ideological, fetishistic, and aesthetic properties of Art Deco settings, costumes, and decor in classical Hollywood productions of the 1920s and 1930s. Using methodologies particular to cultural studies and film studies, I investigate the relationship between Hollywood and modernity at a moment when Victorianism was fading. In concert with industry and advertising, popular movies were instrumental in selling the idea of modernity, making it appear sleek and sophisticated, abundant and liberating.;Film's highly visual, "superficial" nature behooves us to reckon with the medium's cosmetic qualities, and to locate ideological meanings shimmering on the surfaces. Because they are usually relegated to the backgrounds, movie designs are too easily overlooked and undervalued. Capable of behaving in powerful, diverse ways---beyond merely serving the narrative---they sometimes defy artistic-industrial intentions and function discursively to manage desire.;The dissertation begins with chapters on theoretical and art-historical issues, and then offers close studies of three representative but different films: The Kiss (MGM, 1929), Trouble in Paradise (Paramount, 1932), and Marked Woman (Warner Bros., 1937). In the first case study, connections are drawn between the studio's marketing strategies and the film's construction vis-a-vis current styles. The streamlined designs create conflict, promote consumption, and drive the narrative by glamorizing modern lifestyles. The next chapter addresses masculinity and gender politics in the stylized, decadent milieu of Art Deco Hollywood, from which an unusual but timely male hero emerges: the dandy. The final case study looks at the gangster genre's association of high-style Deco with excess and the criminal underworld. My findings suggest, however, that the fashionable, modern designs are free to circumvent this moralist narrative structure, as they are compelling visual signifiers of leisure, style, and social mobility.;Taken together, my analyses underscore Art Deco's emergence as an emblematic style of commercial modernity. I argue that these and other films of the period establish Art Deco Hollywood as a stylistic movement that not only reflected the latest trends in design, but that also marshaled a constellation of values, ideologies, and desires at a time of significant social change.
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