Cigarettes aren’t merely sublime; they’re useful

Now that Hollywood has decreed that smoking in movies is as bad – and in fact perhaps worse – than gratuitous sex and violence, it’s not a great surprise that folk are reminiscing about the role smoking has played in the movies. This Slate sideshow doesn’t break much new ground – and, lamentably, declares smoking “deplorable – but it’s worth watching for the super video clips from the Golden Age of Gold Leaf.

It’s worth mentioning, however, in rather more detail than the slideshow does just why smoking and the cinema became inextricably linked. Sure, smoking was a more mainstream activity and, sure, clouds of cigarette smoke look kinds cool in black and white, but there was a practical reason too that goes a little beyond just observing that cigarettes can be useful props: they solve one of the great problems actors face (on stage or screen) – what do you do with your hands? Take this classic Bogart image for instance: it simply won’t work as well if he has both hands in his pockets or were his right arm just hanging by his side.