Taming the cowboy: Early Danish film theory, 1910-1940

The article describes the development of early Danish film criticism and film theory from the nas-cent critical debates around 1910 until the substantial film-theoretical publications in the late thir-ties. During the 1910s, the first debates took place, predominantly in popular journals and newspa-pers, whereas in the 1920s, the first book-length approaches to film appeared, and the initial ad-vances of the state towards film were made. Finally, acknowledging a diminished Danish film in-dustry, the discourse around film during the 1930s changes from a popular and industrial coverage to a noteworthy defence of the artistic values of film. This article demonstrates how the slow theo-retical development of the discourse of film as art connects with a diminishing film industry and a progression towards a small-state subsidy system for film production. In the process of recognition of film another noteworthy discourse made a significant impact: film as education paved the way for the taming of a wild and unrestrained medium. These two discourse facilitated film in order to single out as an independent medium differentiated from especially theatre and literature. The main discourse film as entertainment is, then, slowly supplemented by two competing discourse in close connection to a general national discourse.