Bell telephone turns into a promising instance of photogenie.33 Yet, the phone must be

answered. As Godard has noted, we "cannot resist it. Who can? The phone reminds us

that ... we cannot resist the unknown future" (qtd. in Thomson, "Telephones" 27). But

when the phone is answered, we are back on the narrative track. The future, as Godard

accurately suggests, cannot be resisted. So the plot must resume: the phone call initiates

the pursuit of Archer's murderer, which then gets Spade tangled up in the tale of the

missing falcon.


Figure 3-6: The telephone rings: all is lost

 Epstein also realized the telephone's capacity to activate the narrative drive. While

we are focused on "the curtain at the window and the handle of the door," he lamented,

"[t]he telephone rings. All is lost" (242). Action now takes over, directing all attention to

the onward momentum of the plot. Visual pleasure yields to narrative closure. Still,