Prof Sue Harper (University of Portsmouth)
The FilmTalk series 2011/2012 will open with Sue Harper’s lecture on Samson and Delilah (1949). This lecture series is organised by the LBI London in cooperation with the Wiener Library.
Samson and Delilah presents us with fascinating contradictions. It is a film made at the height of the Hollywood studio system, which celebrates the heroic underdog and racial minorities: it both reviles and celebrates the female body: and it combines a lush visual texture with a stern moralism. Besides trying to reconcile these contradictions, Sue Harper will analyse the symbolism of hair (not just Samson’s) and will examine the function of Edith Head’s costume designs, particularly the peacock cloak. She will assess the input of the Zionist thinker Vladimir Jabotinsky to the film’s script, and will compare the film’s treatment of Jewish/Arab relation with others in the same period.
Sue Harper is Emeritus Professor of Film History at the University of Portsmouth. She has written numerous books and articles on British cinema, and has made many radio and television appearances.
