Hollywood has often been the purveyor of American values, creating a curious field where they sometimes promote certain values and at the same time strive for a broad audience. Still, Hollywood sometimes even function as a propaganda apparatus, something which is especially evident in the films that Hollywood put out in the time around WWII. Films such as The Great Dictator, Casablanca, God is My Co-Pilot spring to mind as examples of films that very much took a standpoint on the war, and presented it in a biassed way.
Later, of course, the Cold War set in and it is immediately evident in the films produced during these years that specific fears and beliefs were evident in them. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Blob and a host of other science fiction films were clear examples of the fear of the Russian invasion. On the other side, the film noirs began to emerge, creating a critical voice in Hollywood production. With such films as Murder, My Sweet or Double Indemnity, Hollywood took on a darker edge, often criticising the culture from which they emerged. During the 1960s and later even more Hollywood films begin to contain criticism of American society and values, in films such as Dr. Strangelove, The Planet of the Apes, Zabriskie Point and Apocalypse Now.
This course will try, through an investigation of the presented films, to answer certain questions about Hollywood’s paradoxical place in American society, as both a producer of specific values as well as being critical of them at the same time.
1. Reading Film, Reading Culture (5-09)
In this introductory session, we will examine how films can be regarded as cultural products and how this may influence our reading of them. Also, we will discuss whether films are symptoms or critical.
2. World War II, critique (12-09)
Case Study: Charles Chaplin, The Great Dictator (1940).
3. World War II, propaganda (19-09)
Case Study: Michael Curtiz, Casablanca (1942).
Reading: Jack Nachbar, ‘Doing the Thinking for All of Us: Casablanca and the Home Front.’
4. “You’re next!” (26-09)
The 50s invasion films, enforcing fears.
Case Study: Don Siegel, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956).
Reading: Jim Welsh, ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Metaphor for the Fifties.’
5. Dark Side of the Screen (3-10)
Film noir and cultural critique.
Case Study: Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard (1950).
Reading: Katelin Trowbridge, ‘The War between Words and Images - Sunset Boulevard.’
6. “Damn you all to hell!” (10-10)
Case Study: Franklin J. Schaffner, The Planet of the Apes (1968).
Reading: Eric Greene, Introduction from Planet of the Apes as American Myth.
7. Vietnam War: the war of critique (17-10)
Case Study: Francis Ford Coppola, Apocalypse Now (1979).
Reading: ‘Dark Hearts and Knuckleheads’, from Jake Horsley, The Blood Poets: A Cinema of Savagery 1958-1999.
8. Propaganda returns (24-10)
Case Study: Randall Wallace, We Were Soldiers (2002).
Reading: Tom Doherty, ‘The New War Movies as Moral Rearmament: Black Hawk Down & We Were Soldiers.’
Reading List
This is a list of some of the literature I have used and some that might be of interest when doing research in this field.
Books
Ames, Christopher (1997). Movies About Movies: Hollywood Reflected, Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.
Bordwell, David, Staiger, Janet and Thompson, Kristin (1985). The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film Style & Mode of Production to 1960, London: Routledge, 1996.
Stokes and Maltby: Identifying Hollywood’s Audiences: Cultural Identity and the Movies
Dick, B.F.: The Star Spangled Screen: The American World War II Film
French, Karl and French, Philip (1999). Cult Movies, London: Pavilion Books Limited.
McAdams, Frank (2002). The American War Film: History and Hollywood, Westport and London: Prager.
Palmer, R.B.: Hollywood’s Dark Cinema: The American Film Noir
Peary, Danny (1981). Cult Movies: The Classics, the Sleepers, the Weird, and the Wonderful, New York: Delta Books.
Rollins, Peter C. (ed): Hollywood as Historian: American Film in a Cultural Context.
Seed, David (1999). American Science Fiction and the Cold War, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Articles and Essays
Corsaro, Domenic J. ‘Chaplin as Satyr: Mocking the Mystic Ebullience, or Life, Liberty and Prosperity in Three Chaplin Films (with An Afterword in the Final Speech from The Great Dictator).’
Dirks, Tim (1996). ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers,’
Eco, Umberto (1984). ‘Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage.’
Haastrup, Helle Kannik (1995). “Metafilmens Fascination,” Kosmorama 41, no 213.
Jackson, Kathy Merlock (2000). ‘Playing It Again and Again: Casablanca’s Impact in American Mass Media and Popular Culture.’
Jaffe, Ira S. ‘”Fighting Words”: City Lights, Modern Times, and The Great Dictator.’
Merlock, Ray (2000). ‘Casablanca: Popular Film of the Century.’
Nachbar, James (2000). ‘Doing the Thinking for All of Us: Casablanca and the Home Front.’
Trowbridge, Katelin (2002). “The War Between Words and Images - Sunset Boulevard,” Literature Film Quarterly, 30 no. 4
Topics
This list is not exhaustive but represents examples of what could be done within the course. If there are any questions about subjects or clarifications of these examples, feel free to e-mail me.
How did the Cold War influence American sf films?
This project can be defined within a specific period, such as the 1950s, or it can compare a variety of films. Another approach is to examine the similarities between films across the entire Cold War period. A good starting point is David Seed’s American Science Fiction and the Cold War.
A comparative analysis of the three ‘body snatcher’ films, Don Siegel’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers (1993)
Your analysis can focus on the way the pods are introduced, the differences in what the pods may symbolise, or the aesthetics of making re-makes.
Analyse the portrayal of women in Hollywood mainstream film
Laura Mulvey’s “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” is the basic text for this type of analysis. Barbara Creed can also be useful, depending on the type of films used.
Discuss the racial conflicts portrayed in Planet of the Apes
Look at the different representations of humans and apes, as well as the hierarchical positions of the different ape races. Discuss to what extent this is a reflection of contemporary American society. Eric Greene, Planet of the Apes as American Myth is a very useful book in this connection.
How were the film noirs of the late 40s and 50s critical of American society?
This could be done by looking at the main characters such as protagonist, antagonist and the femme fatale, or one could look at the plot structures and narratives, as well as the portrayal of society such as the police. Another aspect could focus on the aesthetic functions of these films as opposed to typical Hollywood aesthetic techniques at the time.
Analyse Charlie Chaplin’s function as critical voice within Hollywood filmmaking
Films such as Modern Times and The Great Dictator seems to be very critical and aware of surrounding society, despite their clear status as comedies. Examine how these comedies comment on contemporary society.
Analyse Hollywood filmmaking with an emphasis on the studio system and the impact it has had on mainstream films today
This historical topic examines the rise and fall of the Hollywood system, dealing with vertical integration. This topic is probably best approached from two angles, one dealing with the historical development and the other tracking the aesthetics of the Hollywood films, dealing with audience reception and popularity.
Discuss the Vietnam film as a genre
To what extent may the Vietnam film be considered a genre? Films such as Apocalypse Now, We Were Soldiers, The Deer Hunter, and Platoon seems immediately very different, despite sharing the setting of Vietnam. Is this enough to categorise them as a specific genre or are more similarities needed to solidify this concept? Discuss the implications and usefulness in creating a genre called the Vietnam film.
Compare Apocalypse Now with We Were Soldiers
Both these films take place in Vietnam and give a portrayal of what it was like to be in Vietnam, yet they do not appear to be particularly similar. Compare and contrast the aesthetic choices of the films, as well as the way they portray the Vietnam war in both an ideological and aesthetic way.
