MovieChat Forums > East Side, West Side (1950) Discussion > Scandalous subtext!

Scandalous subtext!

posted 13 years ago by vonhangman
4 replies | jump to latest

We get a lot of stuff about Barbara Stanwyk's character's family background, not obviously relevant to the plot, but we learn of ancient tensions in her parent's marriage.

Apart from a brief scene with Cyd Charise's character's family, the other characters do not have families for the purposes of the plot.

... Except, there is a scene, again of no obvious significance, where we learn that Van Heflin's character was abandoned by his parents, and he was found on the doorstop of a family in the same approximate neighbourhood as the Stanwyk family HQ.

When Heflin and Stanwyk meet, they find themselves establishing an instant, mysterious, bond.

Hypothesis: they are brother and sister, or half-brother and half-sister.

[–] toshguy 12 years ago

That could be why they never actually get together as lovers. 'Cause it would be incest and she feels it in her gut. But that makes Van's character not so likable 'cause he wanted it. Or maybe your interpretation is too subtle to have been thought up by the writers. Then the reason Mark is an orphan is to show that he is in some way or other an outsider anywhere he goes (we know that he's been abroad in hostile territory a lot), yet he doesn't gripe about it because that's the likable kind of guy the audience should think he is. The orphan thing is probably just character development.

[–] Rheli 10 years ago

Thought maybe they made him an orphan so that he would be neither upper class (like the Bournes and their clique) or low class, like the police and the people in Dwyer's old neighborhood. That way he is unique and we can't tell in advance what he might do or where he might fit in. It gives the ordinary guy a shot with the glamorous set, which must have been aimed at the mass audience.

[–] USAFmedicVET 10 years ago

"Hypothesis: they are brother and sister, or half-brother and half-sister."

A rather absurd and unfounded hypothesis. The characters demonstrated sexual chemistry, not brotherly love. So the notion that they could be brother/sister is far fetched and certainly not something that would be left ambiguous by the writer and director...IN MY OPINION.

"We in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few,
We Band of Brothers" ~ W.S.

[–] texastreasure517 8 years ago

Heflin's character seemed very concerned with Stanwyck's welfare and feelings immediately upon meeting her. Note how long he held her hand when they first met, Stanwyck withdrew her hand before Heflin released it.

I think the sibling theory has a lot of merit and one I hadn't considered.