In this dissertation, I argue that Douglas Sirk was attempting to dissolve the boundaries of the cinematic medium by assimilating elements of avant-garde art, architecture and design into the colour, composition and settings of many of his most popular studio produced films. While the exaggerated artifice of this director�s formal style has often been remarked upon, it has yet to be interpreted in the light of his detailed cognisance of the major art and architectural movements of the period, which include German Expressionist painting and Machine Age Modernist design. This is a lacuna that my thesis should at least partially fill, since I have shown that Sirk�s highly self conscious visual approach was deeply influenced by the artistic debates that were taking place in Europe during the 1920s and �30s and in America after World War II. To my mind, there is no doubt that this director�s syncretic mise-en-scène was the result of an interdisciplinary, transnational dialogue, and I have sought to illuminate some of the social, philosophical and political meanings that it seems to convey.

In this dissertation, I argue that Douglas Sirk was attempting to dissolve the boundaries of the cinematic medium by assimilating elements of avant-garde art, architecture and design into the colour, composition and settings of many of his most popular studio produced films. While the exaggerated artifice of this director�s formal style has often been remarked upon, it has yet to be interpreted in the light of his detailed cognisance of the major art and architectural movements of the period, which include German Expressionist painting and Machine Age Modernist design. This is a lacuna that my thesis should at least partially fill, since I have shown that Sirk�s highly self conscious visual approach was deeply influenced by the artistic debates that were taking place in Europe during the 1920s and �30s and in America after World War II. To my mind, there is no doubt that this director�s syncretic mise-en-scène was the result of an interdisciplinary, transnational dialogue, and I have sought to illuminate some of the social, philosophical and political meanings that it seems to convey.