#1 - Screwball Comedy

(DUE Monday, Sept 14,2015)

The Thin Man (1934) My Man Godfrey (1936)

Topper (1937) Bringing Up Baby (1938) - L
The Philadelphia Story (1940) His Girl Friday (1940) - L
Sullivans Travels (1941) L The Lady Eve (1941) L

The word 'screwball' in the 1930s meant 'insane' or eccentric.

There are many elements which make up a screwball comedy - different ones
found in different movies. But at the heart of them all is a unique
relationship between the man and a woman - who are so confused by the
way they feel about each other that they express their feelings via either
verbal and/or physical fights. Screwball comedies also combine the
lunacy of farce with the comic violence of slapstick, and the sophisticated
and witty dialogue of the romantic comedy with a delivery at break-neck
speed.

For your paper, make sure to put:

your name, Title of film, year, director and the stars.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHILE VIEWING YOUR FILM

Do you see any reflection in the Great Depression in the film?

Do you see any effects of the Production Code in the film? (Institution of marriage, sexual
relations, language, dress)

How are love and romance portrayed? (Screwball comedies have been described as sex
comedies without the sex.)

How is the battle of the sexes portrayed? (Women definitely had the upper hand in most
screwball comedies - surprising since women had just recently won the right to vote. Screwball
heroines were strong-willed, sexy, independent and clever)

What was the social class of the two participants? (Often, at least one of the characters, and
usually the heroine, has unlimited cash (It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey), no need to
work for a living and, therefore, time to do exactly what they want, however outrageous it may
be. Often, the message is that a rich heiress can be happy with a down to earth, working class
man and these poor but happy heroes make the heiress see that money is not a prerequisite for
happiness what can that tell us?)

What is the surrounding of the film? (Many are set in sumptuous hotel suites or apartments.
Parties, nightclubs and heavy drinking are often depicted (Topper, Thin Man). Clothes are
glamorous and outrageous - wacky hats are prized. All this elegance is set against the sometimes
unglamorous and comic situations the characters find themselves in slipping, falling, etc. It is
generally the richest and fanciest characters who are the most badly behaved and the everyman or
everywoman character who shows the most sense what can that tell us?)
Are there elements of pretence, misrepresentation, or misunderstanding, where
characters spend most of the time pretending to be something they are
not?

Are there elements of sharp wits and slapstick comedy? (These

comedies are often defined by fast, clever talking - sometimes at breathtakingly speed. (His
Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby).

Is there a story of rebellion? (Often, the character rebelling was the heroine -
heiresses rebelling against their fathers or small town girls rebelling against their
restrictive backgrounds. Despite such rebellions, in their resolutions the movies
return to conformity with the hero and heroine enjoying a conventional marriage
and the rebellious heroine returning to the family fold.)

DO NOT VIEW IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT

(Well watch it in class)
 #2 - FILM NOIR
DUE Wednesday, Sept 23, 2015
Double Indemnity (1944) L Laura (1944) L
Detour (1945) L The Big Sleep (1946) L
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) L Kiss Me Deadly (1955) - L
Gun Crazy (1949) L DOA (1950) L
Pickup on South Street (1953) L The Big Heat (1953)

Film noir is the French label for the "black film" genre that peaked in the 1944-1955
period. Its origins are the detective novels of Dashiell Hammett 1929-34 (Sam Spade
played by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon in 1941) and Raymond Chandler
1933-43 (Philip Marlowe played by Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep in 1946) and the
femme fatale novels of James Cain 1934-42 (Phyllis Dietrichson played by Barbara
Stanwyck in Double Indemnity in 1944). Noir has influenced films to the present day,
such as the crime thrillers of Don Siegel (Dirty Harry in 1971), gritty scifi of Ridley
Scott (Blade Runner in 1982), predatory femmes of Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction in
1987), and hardboiled cops of Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential in 1997).

For your paper, make sure to put:

your name, Title of film, year, director and the stars.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER IN YOUR PAPER:

What is the world of the film? (Usually FN creates a story in a

contemporary world. Where is it when is it?)

Who is the hero? (Is he an anti-hero, is he a loner, is he a criminal, is

he lost who is he? What criminal, violent, misogynistic or greedy
perspectives might be seen in this character?)

Is he/she on a quest? (Is he/she in search of something, on a

journey of discover?)

What is behind the dangerous women, the femme fatales, of

film noir? (What causes these women to be dangerous? What does
she want from her man?)

What expressions of anxiety, pessimism and suspicion might

be seen in the film?
Is it possible to relate the evils and woes of the film to any of
the evils or woes of society?

Does this film reflect a darker, inhumane side of human

nature? How?
What is the visual style of the film? (use of shadows, night
photography, low key light, Venetian blinds, etc.)
How is the technique of voice over used in the telling of the
story? (if it is.)

Do not view Sunset Boulevard we will watch that in class.

 Film review #3
DUE: Monday, Oct 12, 2015

YOUTH / REBELLION
The Wild One (1954) The Blackboard Jungle (1955) - L
Rock Around the Clock (1956) Jailhouse Rock (1957)
OR
RACE RELATIONS
The Defiant Ones (1958) To Sir, With Love (1967)
Black Like Me (1963) Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967) - L
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
OR
COLD WAR
The Manchurian Candidate (1962) L From Russia With Love (1963)
Fail Safe (1964) L

During the last half of the 1950s and through to the end of the 1960s America was
drastically changing. All segments of the society seemed to be butting heads the fears
of discontent were coming of age: the defiant youth were rebelling, the separation of
black and white was turning into a battlefield of red and gray, and the super powers of the
world were scaring everybody into digging little homes of concrete underground in your
backyard. And how did film reflect everything that was going on?

Your task is to pick a film, watch it and then discuss what it says about these turbulent
times. To help you along the way, answer whichever questions best fit your film.

What is the theme of the film? What does it have to say about that theme?

What side are they on?

How are they trying to present their story? (comedy, black comedy, drama, melodrama,
etc)

Is there an answer presented?

How were people (adults/ kids) presented: fads, clothing, slang, music, etc.

What was the level of violence / language / sexuality? (Is the production code being
stretched?)

Do we have heroes or anti-heroes?

DO NOT VIEW Rebel Without a Cause

#4 - TEEN MOVIES / MUSIC due Monday, Oct 26, 2015

Gidget (1959)
Where the Boys Are (1960) (Youtube)
Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961)
Beach Party (1963)
Muscle Beach Party (1964) (Youtube)
Beach Blanket Bingo (1965)
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965)

Teens were beginning to make their impact as a major portion of the film audience in the
1950s and 60s, so Hollywood, ever the capitalist, jumped on the film-wagon to capture that
audience. Teen stories, love, talk, dress and especially music were reflected in a large
segment of films. And within a very short period of time mid 1950s to mid 1960s, a
teenagers life had changed drastically from soft rebellion to an outright culture war.
What sort of information can we gather from these teen movies (and the music) from this
time period?

Watch one of the films listed above and discuss some of the relevant questions listed below:

What is the story about is there any great theme are they trying to make any statement,
political or social?

What can they tell us about the relationship between teen girls and boys?

What can they tell us about the view of adulthood?

What was the music like what were the songs what did they say who were the bands?

What are some of the lyrics or lines of dialogue that can help explain this time and these
films?
#5 - COUNTER CULTURE due Wednesday, Oct 28, 2015
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) -
The Trip (1967) (Youtube)
Wild in the Streets (1968)
Midnight Cowboy (1969) -
Easy Rider (1969)
Woodstock (1970)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
M*A*S*H (1970)

Something happened in the late 1960s. A whole counter culture appeared rebelling
against everything, but in a very different way from the rebellion of the 1950s and early
60s. Whether is was Vietnam, LSD, San Francisco, the draft, Hair, burning of the bra,
Woodstock, freedom from the production code, etc.it was something. What can these
films tell us about the concerns of this age?

Watch one of the films listed above and discuss some of the relevant questions listed
below:

What was the film trying to say? What was its point? What was its reason to be? What
segment of society was it attacking (and yes, it usually was attacking something)?

How did the film see this problem being resolved?

What is the level of violence, sex, language in the film?

What is the overall mood of the film (optimistic, pessimistic, etc)?

Has the use of the camera, cinematography, changed? What is the visual image, style of
the film?

Dont watch The Graduate well be watching that in class

#6 - SOUL CINEMA due: Monday, Nov 9, 2015
Shaft (1971) - L
Blacula (1972) - L
Superfly (1972)
OR
NOIR - REVISITED
Chinatown (1974) - L
Body Heat (1981)
OR
ISSUES
Watermelon Man (1970) - L
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Next (1975) - L
Network (1976) - L
All the Presidents Men (1976) - L
Taxi Driver (1976) L
Norma Rae (1979)
China Syndrome (1979)
9 to 5 (1980)

How eclectic, diverse, scattered is the world that we live in? Can all of these films survive at
the same time?

Watch one of the films listed above and discuss some of the relevant questions listed
below:

Why was this film made at this time? What was it reacting to what was it trying to say?
What was the issue that made somebody make this movie? Who was the target audience?

After watching the film, what have we learned about this time period?

Is there an answer presented in the film or just the problem?

With no production code, has the content of the film changed (sex, language, violence,
subject matter, etc)?