ENGLISH 395                                                                                   1939: HOLLYWOOD'S GREATEST YEAR

F. GRADY                                                                                                                                                                              WINTER 2003

455 LUCAS                                                                                                                                                                             SSB 342

516-5592 / fgrady@umsl.edu                                                                                                                                                   MW 12:30-1:45

MW 11:00-12:00, W 2:00-3:30, & by appointment                                                                                                                  [SEC. 002; #17200]  

 

            In 1990 the U.S. Post Office issued commemorative stamps honoring four classic American films: Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, and Beau Geste. It was hardly a coincidence that all four films had originally been released in 1939, for that year has widely been regarded as "Hollywood's greatest year," during which the major film studios finally shook off the effects of the Great depression, reaching new heights in employment and drawing in 40 to 50 million patrons a week to see what most students of American film consider to be some of the best movies ever made in Hollywood.

            Of course, some of this is just standard entertainment industry hoopla, at six decades' distance--Hollywood was the first to break the good news about Hollywood's artistic triumphs in 1939. And if that year marked a pinnacle of one sort, it was also the beginning of the end for the studio system that had dominated the film industry for a generation: the European markets which had traditionally provided Hollywood with a good quarter of its income were about to be lost to World War II, and soon after the war the studios finally lost the fierce battle against antitrust legislation that they had waged for two decades. Even the most successful film of 1939 (indeed, the most successful film ever to that point), Gone with the Wind, can be seen as the precursor of the blockbuster event-movie that dominates the cinema industry of our day, an industry very different in organization from the system that governed American filmmaking in the 1930s.

            In this course we'll try to see what the hoopla was all about by studying several films from that great year. Along the way we'll also learn something about the entertainment industry and the studio system, 1930s American cultural history, film language and technology, film stars and genres, and film theory and criticism. We'll be "taking Hollywood seriously," as one of your textbooks puts it, as a site of artistic, cultural, social, economic, and imaginary importance, both then and now.

Required texts:

• Edward Buscombe, Stagecoach. British Film Institute, 1992

• Tino Balio, Grand Design: Hollywood as a Modern Business Enterprise, 1930-1939. History of the American Cinema, vol. 5. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1993. (hence GD)

• Richard Maltby and Ian Craven, Hollywood Cinema: An Introduction (Blackwell, 1995). (hence HC)

• Salman Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz. British Film Institute, 1992

 

Course requirements/expectations:

            Your final grade will be based on two 4-5 page essays (20% each), midterm (15%) and final (20%) exams, two film reviews (5% each), and class participation (including some written responses to discussion questions) and attendance (15%).

            Perfect attendance is expected, and four or more absences will have an adverse effect on your grade. It is particularly important that you be present on screening days, since the films are the primary texts in the class and they need to be seen uninterrupted and in the proper format. Be aware that all of the films are longer than our scheduled 75 minutes; you should be prepared to stay for an extra 30-60 minutes on screening days.

            Film reviews should be no longer than one single-spaced page (300-500 words). The films should be chosen from a supplementary list of contemporary titles I will supply. I will also post each review on the mygateway web site for everyone's reference (which means that I'd like to receive them electronically if possible).

            Note that while you must submit two essays, there are three essay due dates specified on the syllabus (and that they are all Fridays rather than class meeting days). This arrangement is designed to give you some flexibility in arranging your semester's workload. I will distribute some suggested topics about ten days in advance of each due date, though you will not be limited to those topics. Plagiarism on papers, electronic or the old-fashioned kind, will mean an instant F for the assignment, my undying disapprobation, and possible disciplinary action by the university; please refer to the English department's plagiarism handout for further details, and please please please ask me if you have any questions.

 

Tentative Syllabus:

M JAN 13 Introduction; coming attractions

W JAN 15 Some film technique and vocabulary

            Reading: "Technology," HC 144-88;

                          "Editing," HC 201-17;

 "Introduction: Taking Hollywood Seriously," HC 1-17

 

W JAN 22 Studio production

            Reading: "Industry," HC 59-87

                          "Introduction," GD 1-12

                          "Feeding the Maw of Exhibition," GD 73-108

                          "Technological Change and Classical Film Style," GD 109-42

                          "Surviving the Great Depression," GD 13-36 (recommended)

 

M JAN 27 Dodge City (1939; 105m); Destry Rides Again (1939; 94m)

W JAN 29 Genre I: what we know about the Western

            Reading: "Genre," HC 107-32

                          "Entertainment," HC 18-52

 

M FEB 3 Stagecoach (1939; 96m); Jesse James (1939; 105m)

W FEB 5 Genre II; Ford and the idea of the auteur

            Reading: Buscombe, Stagecoach

                          Robin Wood, "Ideology, Genre, Auteur" (online/reserve)

 

M FEB 10 Ninotchka (1939; 110m)

W FEB 12 Movie stars

            Reading: "Selling Stars," GD 143-78

                          "Comedy," GD 256-80

                          "The Star System," HC 88-101

                          "Performance," HC 234-85, esp. 252-76

 

M FEB 17 Dark Victory (1939; 106m)

W FEB 19 Genre III: the "woman's picture"

            Reading: "The Woman's Film," GD 235-55

                          "Gender and Genre," HC 132-8

 

M FEB 24 Only Angels Have Wings (1939; 122m)  First Essay Due Date

W FEB 26 The Production Code

            Reading: "The Production Code and the Hays Office," GD 37-72

                          "Ambiguity…" and "Clarity and Ambiguity," HC 339-51

                          "Criticism in Practice: Only Angels Have Wings," HC 447-57

 

M MAR 3 The Wizard of Oz (1939; 155m)

W MAR 5 MGM and the spectacular

            Reading: Rushdie, The Wizard of Oz

                          "Narrative," HC 323-39, 351-55

 

M MAR 10 Gone With the Wind (1939; 232m)

W MAR 12 Genre IV: the prestige picture

            Reading: "Prestige Pictures," GD 179-211

                          "Time," HC 286-318

 

M MAR 17 GWTW continued: Hollywood and race

            Reading: TBA

W MAR 19 Midterm

 

MAR 24-26 SPRING BREAK

 

M MAR 31 Murder Over New York (1940; 65m); Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938; 92m)

W APR 2 Genre V: the B picture

            Reading: Taves, "The B Film: Hollywood's Other Half," GD 313-50

F APR 3 Second Essay Due Date

 

M APR 7 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939; 130m)

W APR 9 Hollywood and politics

            Reading: "Politics," HC 361-82, 390-404

 

M APR 14 Young Mr. Lincoln (1939; 100m)

W APR 16 Film theory and studio production

Reading: "John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln, a Collective Text by the Editors of

                          Cahiers du Cinema," xerox

 

M APR 21 The Grapes of Wrath (1940; 129m)

W APR 23 Genre VI: the social problem film

            Reading: "Social Problem Films," GD 280-98

                          "Controversy with Class," HC 382-90

 

M APR 28 The Maltese Falcon (1941; 101m)

W APR 30 Film noir

            Reading: TBA

 

M MAY 5 Conclusions (1) (2)?

F MAY 9 Third essay due date

 

W MAY 14 Final Exam 12:30-2:30

 

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

     Students with disabilities of any sort who believe that they may need special accommodations in this class are encouraged to contact the Disability Access Services Office in 144 Millennium Student Center at 516-6554 as soon as possible to ensure that such accommodations are arranged in a timely fashion.