AMERICAN FILM, Revised Syllabus Prof. Shelley Stamp

Transcription

1 FILM 134A Spring 2017 AMERICAN FILM, Revised Syllabus Prof. Shelley Stamp Mon & Wed 5:20-8:20 pm Communications 107 Oakes 105 Office Hours: Mondays 11:00am 1:00pm & by appointment Course Website: Teaching Assistants: Alessia Cecchet Sections E & F (Thurs 1:30pm & 2:45pm, Communications 117) Laimir Fano lfano@ucsc.edu Sections C & D (Thurs 11:00am & 12:15pm, Communications 117) Alex Flores joalflor@ucsc.edu Sections G & H (Thurs 4:00pm & 5:15pm, Communications 117) Rolando Vargas rvargas1@ucsc.edu Sections A & B (Thurs 8:30am & 9:45am, Communications 117) COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will examine the history of American narrative cinema from the advent of sound through to 1960, a period encompassing the heyday of Hollywood s studio era, as well as its demise. We will consider developments in film style, film technology and the film industry against the broader canvas of American cultural history. We will examine Hollywood s response to technological innovations like sound, color, television and widescreen formats; the history of movie-going practices and film censorship; how issues like crime, warfare, race, gender and sexuality have been dealt with on screen; and the continuing controversy over sex and violence in the movies. Students will also learn basic skills for film history research. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Readings: Please complete weekly reading assignments prior to each class meeting. Lectures and discussions will assume your familiarity with concepts presented in the assigned articles. All readings are contained in the Course Reader available at the Bay Tree Bookstore. Film Marketing and Reception Project (20%): You will choose an American film made between 1930 and 1960, one we have not studied in class, and research how the film was marketed and reviewed at the time of its original release. Materials you gather might include original reviews, posters, trailers, pressbooks, news stories, movie star profiles, interviews, etc. You will write a 1,500-word essay analyzing the information available from these sources. Due in class Monday, May 1 Research Paper: Your major work for the course will be a 2,500-word research paper on some aspect of American film history using one film as a case study. You are encouraged to use the material you gathered in your film marketing and reception project to prepare for the research paper. Once you have decided upon a research topic for the quarter, you will write a brief proposal of your topic and compile a bibliography of diverse source material on that subject. Paper Proposal and Bibliography (10%): Due in class Monday, May 15 Final Paper (30%): Due in class Monday, June 5 Final Exam (30%): The final exam will be a short-answer/essay exam covering all readings, screenings, lectures and discussions from the first day of the quarter to the last. Students with disabilities must request special exam accommodations no later than two weeks into the course. All others must write the exam at the assigned date and time: Monday, June 12, 7:30 10:30 pm Class attendance and participation (10%): You are required to attend all lectures, discussion sections, and screenings. Active participation in discussions during lecture and section will count favorably in your final evaluation; repeated absences will lower your grade. Students with unexcused absences for more than three discussion sections will receive a 0 for participation and attendance.

2 CLASS POLICIES Disability Resources: If you qualify for classroom accommodations, be sure to get an Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and submit it to Professor Stamp within the first two weeks of the quarter. Contact the DRC at (voice), (TTY) or for more information. Laptop Policy: Computers are permitted for note-taking purposes only during lectures. All other electronic devices must be turned off and put away. Students wishing to take notes using a laptop must sit in the section of the class designated for computer use. Students using laptops or other electronic devices for anything other than note-taking will be asked to leave the class and will have computer privileges suspended for the remainder of the quarter. Absolutely no computers or electronic devices are permitted at screenings or discussion sections. Lateness Policy: All papers are due in hard copy at the beginning of class on the dates indicated above. Extensions can only be granted in exceptional circumstances and only with the prior permission of your TA. Essays submitted late without an extension will be accepted only at the discretion of your TA; if accepted, they will be subject to a penalty of one grade step per day (i.e., a B paper would become a B- if submitted one day late, a C+ if submitted two days late, etc.). Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct: Plagiarism is a serious academic offense. Students caught plagiarizing the work of others, submitting duplicate papers, cheating on exams or committing any other act of academic misconduct will automatically fail the class and will be referred to their College Provost for disciplinary action. See Any act of academic misconduct will result in failure of the class. In Film & Digital Media courses you may be assigned films or other material that could contain difficult ideas, uncomfortable language, or graphic depictions of sex or violence. You will be asked to treat these portrayals critically, to examine the potential social impact, and to evaluate the works in a given context. Instructors are always happy to speak with you about your work, and might direct you to CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services at ) or the Disability Resource Center (drc@ucsc.edu or ) should you need additional support in order to do your best work. 2

3 CLASS SCHEDULE Films selected to the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress Mon Apr 3 HOLLYWOOD MUSICALS and the COMING OF SOUND Gold Diggers of 1933 (Mervyn LeRoy, 1933) 96 min Gomery, Sound Roth, Some Warner s Musicals in the Spirit of the New Deal Wed Apr 5 GENRE and the HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931) 71 min Schatz, The Hollywood Studio System: Skal, 1931: The American Abyss Mon Apr 10 GANGSTER FILMS in DEPRESSION-ERA AMERICA The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931) 84 min Jowett, Bullets, Beer and the Hays Office: The Public Enemy Cawelti, The Gangster As Tragic Hero Wed Apr 12 The PRE-CODE ERA Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933) 75 min Jacobs, The Fallen Woman Film & the Impetus for Censorship Jacobs, Glamour and Gold Diggers Mon Apr 17 FAST-TALKING LOVERS and SCREWBALL COMEDY AFTER the CODE It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1934) 105 min Gehring, Screwball Comedy Within American Humor Bergman, Frank Capra and the Screwball Comedy Wed Apr 19 DEPICTING the GREAT DEPRESSION The Grapes of Wrath (John Ford, 1940) 129 min Sklar, The Golden Age of Turbulence and the Golden Age of Order Sobchack, The Grapes of Wrath (1940): Thematic Emphasis Through Visual Style Mon Apr 24 HOLLYWOOD GOES to WAR The Best Years of Our Lives (William Wyler, 1946) 172 min Izod, War, Prosperity, Divorce and Loss, Jackson, The Uncertain Peace: The Best Years of Our Lives E Class will run long tonight!! Wed Apr 26 THE WOMAN s FILM and HOMEFRONT AUDIENCES in WW II Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945) 112 min Doane, The Woman s Film: Possession and Address Williams, Mildred Pierce and the Second World War 3

4 Wed May 3 CARMEN MIRANDA and LATIN AMERICAN GOOD NEIGHBORS Weekend in Havana (Walter Lang, 1941) 81 min López, Are All Latins From Manhattan? Hollywood, Ethnography and Cultural Colonialism Roberts, The Lady in the Tutti-Frutti Hat : Carmen Miranda, A Spectacle of Ethnicity Mon May 8 FILM NOIR in POST-WAR AMERICA Out of the Past (Jacques Tourneur, 1947) 97 min Schrader, Notes on Film Noir Place and Peterson, Some Visual Motifs in Film Noir Wed May 10 HOLLYWOOD WESTERNS and the RISE of INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION Red River (Howard Hawks, 1948) 125 min Schatz, Hollywood in Transition Sklar, Empire to the West: Red River Mon May 15 WOMEN and INDEPENDENCE in POST-WAR HOLLYWOOD Not Wanted (Ida Lupino, 1949) 93 min Byars, The Social Problem Film in the 1950s Waldman, Not Wanted Paper Proposal & Bibliography due in class today Wed May 17 HUAC, McCARTHYISM and HOLLYWOOD S RED SCARE On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954) 108 min Sklar, Hollywood at War for America and at War with Itself Biskind, The Politics of Power in On the Waterfront Mon May 22 BLACK STARDOM and BLACK AUTHORSHIP in the CIVIL RIGHTS ERA Odds Against Tomorrow (Robert Wise, 1959) 96 min Bogle, The 1950s: Black Stars Knight, 1959: Movies and the Racial Divide Wed May 24 TEENAGERS, DELINQUENCY and YOUTH CULTURE Rebel Without A Cause (Nicholas Ray, 1955) 111 min Biskind, Wild in the Streets: Juvenile Delinquency Doherty, Dangerous Youth Mon May 29 Memorial Day. No class. Wed May 31 SCIENCE FICTION, TECHNOLOGY and the SPACE AGE Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegal, 1956) 80 min Belton, Glorious Technicolor, Breathtaking CinemaScope, and Stereophonic Sound Samuels, The Age of Conspiracy and Conformity: Invasion of the Body Snatchers 4

5 Mon June 5 HOLLYWOOD in the TELEVISION AGE: DIVESTMENT and INVESTMENT A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957) 126 min Sklar, The Disappearing Audience and the Television Crisis Anderson, Hollywood in the Home Research Paper due in class today Wed June 7 BREAKING the PRODUCTION CODE Tea and Sympathy (Vincent Minnelli, 1956) 122 min Miller, Here We Go, Down and Dirty! Custen, Strange Brew: Hollywood and the Fabrication of Homosexuality FINAL EXAM Monday, June 12, 7:30 10:30 pm 5