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distinguishing the givers from the takers. Both responses are very revealing about the social class and instincts of the two characters. The film’s acute awareness of class tensions help disguise the occasional illogicality and awkwardness of the plot. Its expressiveness is on the level of style more than overt content: in its typical sensitivity to decor and to structural opposites; in the contrasting sets of
at least partially due to the appeal of this message. It also affirmed the American fantasy of a hierarchical yet egalitarian society. In The Philadelphia Story , after a brief period of misunderstanding, members of different social classes treat each other with affection and respect, while still ultimately choosing to remain within their own class. Renoir’s The Rules of
(1943). However that may be, these films and many more like them gradually matched their ideal but not, I think, idealised narratives to the social map of England. That is to say, each social and combat group was provided with a story within which it could find an adequate reflection of its war. Gender, social class, region and division of labour together found a spot on the map, service by service, and