1. FILM 3550: Hollywood History
Spring 2016
Instructor: Sean Forrest
E-mail: sforrest@uccs.edu
Lectures, Discussions, and Screenings: M/W, 1:40-4:20
Office Hours: Columbine 1001, By Appointment
Over the course of this semester we will explore American film history, primarily through the
Hollywood tradition. While this will largely follow a chronological discourse, we will be jumping in
and out of time to better understand cinema’s astounding cultural impact and influence on
society. This is will not be solely a lecture class. Indeed, discussions are our cornerstone here,
hence, class participation is absolutely vital to the success of this course. If you know that you
will be absent on a specific day, please try to let me know in advance. Attending quiz and
assignment dates while frequently skipping lectures, discussions, and screenings is entirely
unacceptable; you will not be allowed to take the quiz/exam.
This course should be a learning experience for all of us. Please don't be afraid to raise a hand
or speak up. Open and candid discussions benefit the entire class and make for a much livelier
and fulfilling period. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas about class format and
policies, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m excited for the semester, and I hope you are, too!
Required Text
The Cultures of American Film by Robert P. Kolker
Other readings will be posted via Blackboard
Grade Breakdown:
Attendance & Participation….15%
Quizzes (2).............................25%
Mid-term Paper……………….25%
Final Exam……………………35%
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2. Course Schedule
January 20: Welcome!/Cinema’s centrality in American Culture
Screening: Sherlock, Jr. (Buster Keaton, 1924)
January 25: Screening: The Birth of a Nation (D.W. Griffith, 1915)
January 27: The Origins and Forefathers of American Cinema/Griffith as an American
Filmmaking Pioneer: A tarnished legacy?/Buster Keaton: The Great Stone Face/Selected early
film clips.
Reading: Kolker, Preface/Introduction/Chapter 1 and Chapter 4-5
February 1: The inception of the Studio System & Hollywood Mode of Production
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 2 and pgs. 37-44.
Screening: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (F.W. Murnau, 1927)
February 3: European influence on American Films & Immigration to Hollywood
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 6
February 8: Advent of the “Talkie”
Screening: The Jazz Singer (Alan Crosland, 1927)
February 10: The Jazz Singer’s influence: Was it really the first talking picture?/Growing Pains
and resistance to sound and technological advancements. Did they improve or hinder
storytelling?
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 7
February 15: QUIZ #1/Screening: Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
February 17: The American People vs. Hollywood: The Production Code/Censorship & The
Arts: Was The Code inherently un-American?
Reading: Kolker, 44-47
February 22: Gangsters and Criminals as American Folk Heroes
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 9
Screening: The Public Enemy (William Wellman, 1931)
February 24: The Great Depression & Hollywood
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 8
February 29: Screwballs: Laughs & Escapism in Depression
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 10
Screening: My Man Godfrey (Gregory La Cava, 1936)
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3. March 7: 1939: The year that changed everything?
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 11
Screening: The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, George Cukor, King Vidor, et al., 1939)
March 9: The Dawn of Color: Cinema’s next revolution/The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the
Wind’s impact on Hollywood & American Culture/Melodrama reigns supreme in narrative
storytelling. Is this still the case today?
March 14: MID-TERM PAPER DUE/Hollywood Goes to War: Patriotism, Romanticism &
Propaganda
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 12
Screenings: Selections from Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series, Casablanca (Michael Curtiz,
1942)
March 16: Women in wartime culture and the workforce
Screenings: The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter (Connie Field, 1980)
March 21-27: Spring Break! Have fun and be safe.
March 28: Rise of the Auteurs: Hitchcock, Ford & Welles/The Curious Roots of Film Noir
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 13-14
Screening: Spellbound (Alfred Hitchcock, 1945)
March 30: Postwar Boom and Paranoia
Reading: Kolker, Chapters 15-17
April 4: QUIZ #2/Screening: Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen, 1952)
April 6: The Hollywood Musical/Studios on Life Support/The Code in Decline
Reading: Kolker, Chapters 18-19 and pgs. 291-294
April 11: Kubrick & The Film School Maestros: Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas, and Spielberg
Reading: Kolker, Chapters 23-24 and pgs. 311-312
Screening: Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
April 13: The Blockbuster: Forever changing the Hollywood mode of production and the
landscape of American Cinema?
Reading: Kolker, Chapter 25
April 18: Screening: Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
April 20: Special Guest Lecture: Professor Melinda Barlow (University of Colorado at
Boulder) Screening: In The Heat of the Night (Norman Jewison, 1967)
April 25: New Hollywood & Rebellion: Indies take hold
Reading: Kolker, Chapters 20-21, 26
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4. Screening: Fargo (Joel & Ethan Coen, 1996)
April 27: A New Wave of Auteurs: The Coen Bros., David Lynch, David Fincher, Quentin
Tarantino, et al.
May 2: Apocalyptic Cinema: Hollywood’s Predictions
Screening: Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006)
May 4: The Digital Revolution/The current state of American Cinema and its place in the world.
What does the future hold?
May 11: FINAL PAPER DUE
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