SP 471 American Film History Week 8

8/14/2019 SP 471 American Film History Week 8

1/27

The 1940s

U.S. enters the war in1941

2/3 of America went to

the movies every week Hard times = more

money for the studios

Television was available

but materials were usedfor the war so moviesremained dominant

Casablanca, 1941


2/27

The 1940s

Many stars and

directors enlisted

Made propagandafilms as well as

fought

Frank Capra & the Why We Fightseries


3/27

The 1940s

Everyone pitched in

Betty Grable

Marlene Dietrich

entertaining the troops


4/27

The 1940s

Even Walt Disney

pitched in with

hundreds of trainingand propaganda

films

Der Fuehrer's Face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iumEGAUceDghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iumEGAUceDg


5/27

The 1940s

Patriotic to Post-war

Realism and Film

Noir Shift in psyche

Austere,

deglamorized &

ambivalent

Social realism

The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946


6/27

The 1940sWilliam Wylers Best Years of Our Lives, 1946


7/27

The 1940s

Cast non-actor HaroldRussell

Won both the Academy

Award as the year's BestSupporting Actor and asecond, honorary Oscar"for bringing hope andcourage to his fellowveterans." He is the onlyactor ever to win twoOscars for the samerole.


8/27

The 1940s

House Un-American

Activities Committee

and Hollywood

established in 1937 toinvestigate un-American

and subversive

activities

Investigated Hollywoodin 1947


9/27

The 1940s

Prove that the ScreenWriters Guild hadCommunist members

Show that these writerswere able to insertsubversive propaganda intoHollywood films

J. Parnell Thomas, head ofthe committee, argued thatPresident Roosevelt hadencouraged pro-Soviet filmsduring the war.

J. Parnell Thomas & Jack Warner

of Warner Brothers


10/27

The 1940s

1948 - the beginning of the endfor the Studio System

MGM, Warner Brothers, Fox,

Paramount and RKO had todivest of their theatres

Theatres could play any moviefrom any studio

Box office fell as studios were

forced to compete with eachother

and with


11/27

The 1940s

Television Began a decline in box

office that was not

reversed until


12/27

The 1940s

Jaws, 1975


13/27

The 1940s

Directed and acted intheatre

Was 26 years old when

he went to Hollywood Citizen Kane (1941)

considered the mostinfluential movie evermade

War of the Worlds radiobroadcast panickedaudience

Orson Welles


14/27

The 1940s

Based on real events

Inventive cinematography

Deep focus Chiaroscuro lighting

Exotic angles

Flashbacks

Truly American story Unresolved issues in story


15/27

The 1940s

Citizen Kane


16/27

The 1940s

The Magnificent Ambersons


17/27

The 1940s

Citizen Kane a financialdisappointment

Magnificent Ambersons

chopped and dumpedto fit the secondfeature timeslot

Contract w/RKO wascancelled and careernever recovered

Spent the next 30 yearsin Europe


18/27

The 1940s

Writer who kept controlby directing

Capra & Screwball

Comedy without thesentimentality

Believer of dumb luck

Loved to get around the

censors Career heyday lasted

from 1941-1945

Preston Sturges


19/27

The 1940s

The Miracle of

Morgans Creek

Sullivans Travels

The Lady Eve


20/27

The 1940s

First full-length

animated feature:

Snow White, 1937

Walt Disney


21/27

The 1940s

Bambi, 1942

Dumbo, 1941

Fantasia, 1940

Pinocchio, 1940


22/27

The 1940s

John Ford

Master of the Westernalthough these were not

considered serious filmsat the time

More directing Oscarsthan anyone - 4 plus 2 forWWII films for the Navy

where he was a RearAdmiral - he was atOmaha Beach on D-Day


23/27

The 1940s

White Heat, 1949

James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, EdmundOBrien

Inspired by real life gangster Ma Barker &her sons

Film was Cagneys return to the gangsterrole

Anticipates the documentary realism of1950s crime films

Cagneys last great role

Film contains increased violence and

Freudian psychological overtones as wellas elements from Greek tragedy (Oedipus)


24/27

The 1940s

Raoul Walsh, 1887-1980

52 year career spanning earlysilents to the 1960s

Assistant to D.W. Griffith &was in Birth of a Nation

Discovered John Wayne

Known for his quick pacing infilms an action director

Invented the Point of view shot


25/27

The 1940s

Griffiths Birth of a Nation & Walshs Regeneration (both 1915)

From Senses of Cinema


26/27

The 1940s


27/27

The 1930s

James Cagney, 1889-1986

Quintessential tough guybut also an accomplishedsinger & dancer

Retired in 1961 did 2 morefilms in the 80s

Films include: The Public Enemy, Each Dawn

I Die, White Heat, The RoaringTwenties,Yankee Doodle Dandy, MisterRoberts, One, Two, Three
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlPR97oYOBAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlPR97oYOBA

Documents

SP 471 American Film History Week 8