cinema

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Wzux22

Humanities

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in the attached file there are 13 question related to American Cinema. you can choose to answer 7 to 8 questions only + question number 13 is required.

Each question you pick should be 1 to 2 pages long

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1. The Silent Era. For this question, you do not have to respond to all three parts, just one of them or you can combine a couple of the parts to form your complete answer. Creativity is always rewarded. a. What was the most important subject matter during the first 20 years of the 20th century and the films that best illustrated them? b. What made Chaplin a universal symbol of American culture? Why did he resist the sound era until his first all-talking film The Great Dictator in 1940? Read about Chaplin’s earlier life in Great Britain before coming to America and how his intense struggles with his family and apart from them influenced his American films. What drove his ambition, then, to become the most important cinemactor (a Time Magazine conflation), cinemadirector, and one of Hollywood’s wealthiest individuals? c. Chaplin’s comrades-in-comedy, Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton, and Laurel and Hardy, were the leaders of Comedy’s Greatest Era (Agee). Compare these artists with each other to define their performance characteristics and types of silent comedies they employed. 2. The Pre-Code Era. Describe the films of this era and how they took advantage of lax censorship. Who were the key actresses who created these “women’s pictures” and helped to save the industry from the Great Depression? What factors led to Hollywood’s self-censorship and a critical shift to a 30-year period of much stricter censorship? Was this period of film sustainable? What role did The Divorcee (1930) play in this movement—and I think it really was? How did Mae West (I’m No Angel, She Done Him Wrong) and her sexual innuendo finally bring down the Pre-Code Era? 3. How did IT and Clara Bow personify the newfound era of women’s rights in the 1920s? Was the “woman’s picture” of the early 1930s an extension of women’s prolonged campaign to secure rights beyond the suffrage movement? 4. Black Fury (1935) and Modern Times (1936) were closely related in terms of the labor/social problems of The Great Depression. Although essentially different genres, compare how the two resonated with their audiences in that time period. You may also bring into your discussion the required film for this week, The Grapes of Wrath (1940, John Ford) or another recommended Depression film. 5. Cinema Exiles from Hitler infused Hollywood with important new talent from Europe who changed the nature of American Cinema forever. Explain how from their influence in the early 1930s all the way through the 1950s at least. A list of the emigres is included with this exam. 6. The Hollywood Propaganda Campaign of WWII to inform the military and others on Why We Fight was a key component of winning the war while keeping the Homefront united in the common battle to protect freedom and democracy. Discuss a few of the documentary films that Hollywood directors and artists like Frank Capra, Anatole Litvak, John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler, and George Stevens contributed to the war effort. 7. Your texts emphasize how censorship throughout film history has determined what we ultimately see on the screen. Utilizing several articles from your texts, and especially the Gregory Black article in Ross, “Hollywood Censored: The Production Code Administration and the Hollywood Film Industry, 1930-1940,” in the chapter Censorship and the Attack on Hollywood “Immorality,” starting on p. 101. The Discussion Points and the Documents sections are also important congregators that will deepen your understanding of the subject. 8. The emigres contributed immensely to the making of Casablanca, as you witnessed in class from Cinema Exiles and the entire film. Describe the roles of the various participants in the film, including the actors and others behind the camera. What was the impact of Casablanca on American audiences in 1943 (although it premiered briefly near the end of 1942)? 9. Write an extended textual analysis of one film we have seen in class or that is on the Outside Screening list, which also included films I have placed on BB Content in various folders and separately. 10. Film Noir is one of the several most exciting and interesting film genres. From the Luhr text especially and the descriptions on BB Content, how do we define Murder, My Sweet (1943), Crossfire (1947) and Out of the Past (1947) as definitive noirs? Include one other film on the required or recommended list for outside screening to illustrate further the influence of noir. 11. Crossfire is also considered a social problem film from that rich period of the late 1940s. Discuss the topic of antisemitism in America in the 1940s and how this film provides one of the two textbook cases of the subject. Now see Gentleman’s Agreement (Elia Kazan, 1947) and illustrate how in other ways the bigotry of antisemitism made its way through the genteel society, both Jewish and gentile). See Mintz, Ch. 16. 12. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler) is considered the best film about returning WWII veterans. Why and how did the film’s characters resonate with American society in 1946 and 1947, and many years after? 13. This is a required question for everyone. In Post WWII America, The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began its pursuit (also read prosecution and persecution) of Hollywood for its alleged Communist connections. It wasn’t enough that witnesses admit their involvement in the party; they also were required to “Name Names” to fulfill their roles as “friendly witnesses.” Some refused to do either and the most famous group was known as The Hollywood Ten, 10 producers, writers, and directors who went to prison for defying HUAC. The question we must pursue until the end of time is “How did HUAC and its supporters within the Federal Government and Hollywood itself defy the United States Constitution and change the face of the motion picture industry for several decades?“ Be sure to include the Blacklist that was initiated in November 1947 as The Waldorf Agreement and its lasting influence. See Ross, Chapter 7, and Mintz, Chapters 15-17, as well as the articles on BB Content. Be sure to include at least a brief discussion of Elia Kazan’s role in HUAC testimony and how he was vilified by some until his death.
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Explanation & Answer

Kindly go through the attached files and let me know if you've got any queries.

Film Review Outline
Question 1: The Silent Era.
Question 2: The Pre-Code Era.
Question 3: How IT and Clara Bow Personified the Newfound Era Of Women’s Rights In The
1920s?
Question 9: An extended textual analysis of “The making of Casablanca”
Question 10: Film Noir: Murder, My Sweet (1943), Crossfire (1947) and Out of the Past (1947)
Question 12: The Best Years of Our Lives (1946, William Wyler)
Question 13: The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) In Post WWII America
References


Running Head: FILM REVIEW

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Film Review
Student’s Name
Institution of Affiliation
Course
Date

FILM REVIEW

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Question 1: The Silent Era.
The Most Important Subject Matter During The First 20 Years Of The 20th Century And The
Films That Best Illustrated Them?
The first 20 years of the 20th century is the period when the filming industry had no
much regard to sound and thus referred to as "the silent era.” The films during this time were
produced in an attempt to widen people's perspectives regarding several matters including but
not limited to; disease, racism, general anxiety, the Titanic and World War 1.Most films during
this period revolved around the above-mentioned issues (Vidor, K. (Director). (n.d.). However,
the most frequent subject matter of most films was World War 1 in comparison with the other
topics.
To the majority of the people in recent times, the mention of World War 1 reminds them
of trenches, bombardments, fronts and military involvement. Despite the fact that it happened
one hundred years ago, its details continue to be well known by the majority of American
citizens and beyond. This can be attributed to the existence of silent films during the 20th
century that enabled very many people to not only know but also understand in detailed of
everything that took place Vidor, K. (Director). (n.d.). Various films dealt with World War 1
from multiple perspectives such as the revelation of heroic acts as revealed in the film Wings.
Other films such as J’accuse evidently revealed the magnitude of the death toll from
World War 1. Also, films such as Shoulder Arms reflected the impact of the war on the lives of
individuals before, during and after the war. This reflection also included the social, economic,
psychological and physical impact. Similar films which reflected the same included Hearts of the
World and the Big Parade Vidor, K. (Director). (n.d.). Moreover, these films provide a clear

FILM REVIEW

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understanding of the immense global event revealing how recruits were shot and soldiers knelt in
trenches.
Question 2: The Pre-Code Era.
The Pre-Code Era films were the films adopted just after the introduction of the sound
picture as part of filmography in the year 1929. I the films acted during this era were
characterized by production code anchored on motion pictures. The Pre-Code Era films are also
characterized by censorship guidelines that have become known as the Hays Codes which were
adapted in 1930 but later improved in 1934 to remove the poor oversight.
Dorothy Mackaill who played the role of a secretary in the Safe in Hel 1931 Warner Bros
film was a key actress who created "women's pictures" that were sexually suggestive and
provocative. These actresses also portrayed women in scanty attires in publicity photos. Other
actresses were Clark Gable, Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, and Barbara Stanwyck who
together helped save the industry from the Great Depression.
These films took advantage of lax censorship to indulge in immoral behaviors that
exploited female maters. The Nefarious characters took the greatest advantage of the lax
censorship and reaped huge profits without any repercussions. As a result, these films relied on
sexual innuendo, illegal drug u...


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