JCM412-512 Seminar in American Cinema

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in the film noir, Double Indemnity.

TCF 440/540 Seminar in American Cinema is a discussion-oriented course taught by Jeremy Butler.

Course objectives

The student will learn the three major critical methods applied to the American cinema: genre study, the auteur "theory," and the star "system." We will begin with the film noir, director Howard Hawks and actor Humphrey Bogart, and then, during the second half of the semester, turn our attention to the melodrama, director Douglas Sirk, and actress Lana Turner.

Our focus will shift back and forth from the primary texts (the films themselves) to the writings on them. The latter will eventually lead us into considerations of feminism, Marxism, structuralism and semiotics.

The online syllabus is over here:

www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/s08/

Graduate student responsibilities

1. Edit your own Screenpedia user page, with basic information about you. And a photo would be nice! See User:Jeremy Butler for an example. This is optional for undergraduate students.
   1. Prepare online lecture notes. Due one week after the lecture (a Wednesday, by midnight). See sample lecture notes and study guide instructions.

Extra credit

Do some major editing work on Wikipedia.

• "Major" means adding significant new material to a Wikipedia article or creating a new article. Generally, this should involve two-to-three paragraphs of new material, as a minimum.
• The student may earn up to 3 extra credit points editing Wikipedia. The point value will be determined by Dr. Butler. You must send him the URL of the article you've edited and you must edit it under your own name (no nicknames).
• The editing must be done by midnight the Friday of the last week of classes.
• Suggested Wikipedia articles to edit.
  • As I notice Wikipedia articles that need help, I'll list them here; but you're encouraged to find your own to edit. For a sample of how an individual article about a specific film should look, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_up_Baby .
  • There is a general Wikiproject that focuses on film and specifies film topics that need work. Also, Wikipedia maintains a list of articles which need expansion, which it calls "stubs." The list of film-related stubs is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Film_stubs .
  • Jump cut
  • Long shot
  • Low-key lighting
  • Low-angle shot
  • Gangster film
  • Red River (film)
  • Only Angels Have Wings
  • Alexandre Astruc
  • Star system (film) -- needs historical overview (perhaps using image of Florence Lawrence promotion)
  • Molly Haskell
  • Andrew Sarris
  • Man's Favorite Sport?
  • Terms of Endearment
  • The Bad and the Beautiful

Online study guides

Chronological order

1. Film Analysis: Discussion of film form chapters, Film Art
2. Classical Style: Discussion of mise-en-scene and cinematography chapters, Film Art
3. Editing: Discussion of editing chapter, Film Art
4. Sound: Discussion of sound chapter, Film Art
5. Concept of Genre: Lecture / Discussion of Kitses (6-27), Buscombe (33-45), Collins (157-163).
6. Film Noir as Genre: Lecture / Discussion of Silver & Ursini (17-26, 37-52, 53-64, 65-76). TCF 440/540 Group A
7. Concept of Authorship: Lecture / Discussion of Caughie (9-16, 22-67). TCF 440/540 Group B
8. Howard Hawks as Auteur: Lecture / Discussion of Sarris (on Hawks, 52-56), Caughie (138-151), Hillier & Wollen (26-31, 32-34, 68-71, 83-86, 111-119). TCF 440/540 Group C
9. Noir & Sexuality: Lecture / Discussion of Place (47-68), Dyer (52-72). TCF 440/540 Group D
10. Concept of Star: Lecture / Discussion of Dyer (Stars, 106-50; recommended: 88-105). TCF 440/540 Group E
11. Humphrey Bogart as Star: Lecture / Discussion of Sklar (104-120, 165-176, 227-251). TCF 440/540 Group A
12. Domestic Melodrama as Genre: Lecture / Discussion of Haskell (153-188) -- in-class discussion preempted by midterm exam. TCF 440/540 Group B
13. Domestic Melodrama Since World War II: Lecture / Discussion of Gledhill (5-39), Elsaesser (43-69). TCF 440/540 Group C
14. Melodrama Variations: TV Soap Opera: Lecture / Discussion of Butler ("Apparatus," 53-70), Butler ("Actors," 75-91). TCF 440/540 Group D
15. Douglas Sirk as Auteur: Lecture / Discussion of Sarris (on Sirk, 109-110), Fischer (3-28, 268-272); recommended: Doherty (online). TCF 440/540 Group E
16. Lana Turner as Star: Lecture / Discussion of Dyer (30-52) [Also in Fischer (186-206)].

List of lecture notes

Category:TCF440/540 Lecture

List of discussion notes

Category:TCF440/540 Discussion

Texts & resources

Books

1. David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: An Introduction, Eighth Edition (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006).
2. John Caughie, ed., Theories of Authorship (Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981).
3. Richard Dyer, Stars, Second Edition, Supplementary Chapter by Paul McDonald (London: British Film Institute, 1998).
4. Recommended, not required: Lucy Fischer,ed., Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1991).

Film Art chapter equivalences

In case you wish to use the previous, seventh edition of Film Art in class, here is how the chapters line up.

7th Edition	8th Edition
1	1
2	2
3	3
4	9
5	10
6	4
7	5
8	6
9	7
10	8
11	11
12	12

Articles and book chapters

1. Jim Kitses, Horizons West (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1969) 6-27.
2. Edward Buscombe, "The Idea of Genre in the American Cinema," Screen, 11.2 (1970): 33-45.
3. Richard Collins, "Genre: A Reply to Ed Buscombe," Movies and Methods, ed. Bill Nichols (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976) 157-163.
4. Alain Silver and James Ursini, eds., Film Noir Reader (New York: Limelight, 1996).
5. Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973) 52-56, 109-110.
6. Jim Hillier and Peter Wollen, eds., Howard Hawks American Artist (London: British Film Institute, 1996).
7. Janey Place, "Women in Film Noir," Women in Film Noir, ed. E. Ann Kaplan (London: British Film Institute, 1998) 47-68.
8. Richard Dyer, "Homosexuality and Film Noir," The Matter of Images: Essays on Representations (London and New York: Routledge, 1993) 52-72.
9. Robert Sklar, City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).
10. Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (New York: Penguin, 1974) 153-188.
11. Christine Gledhill, "The Melodrama Field: An Investigation," Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film, ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 5-39.
12. Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama," Home is Where the Heart Is, 43-69.
13. Jeremy G. Butler, "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus: Televisual Style and As the World Turns," Cinema Journal, 25.3 (1986): 53-70.
14. Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV': Characters, Actors, and Acting in Television Soap Opera," Cinema Journal 30.4 (1991): 75-91.
15. Lucy Fischer, "Three-Way Mirror: Imitation of Life," Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director ed. Lucy Fischer (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press) 3-28.
16. Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk," Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director, 268-272.
17. Recommended, not required: Thomas Doherty, "Douglas Sirk: Magnificent Obsession," The Chronicle Review, 49, no. 12 (November 15, 2002), p. B16. Available online.
18. Richard Dyer, "Four Films of Lana Turner," Movie 25: 30-52.