All Quiet on the Western Front (USA: Lewis Milestone, 1930: 136 mins)
Norris, Margaret. Writing War in the Twentieth Century. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia, 2000. [Available in BCTC Library: PN56 W3 N67 2000]
The Blood of a Poet (France: Jean Cocteau, 1930: 55 mins)
Cocteau, Jean. "Preface to Blood of a Poet (1946) Current (April 24, 2000)
The Blue Angel (Germany: Josef von Sternberg, 1930: 124 mins)
Brockmann, Stephen. "Der blaue Engel (1930) and Learning to Talk." A Critical History of German Film Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2010: 97-111. [Professor has copy of the book]
1931
Naremore, James. "Film Acting and the Arts of Imitation." Cyncos 27.2 (2011) ["Louise Brooks once said that in order to become a star, an actor needs to combine a natural-looking behavior with personal “eccentricity.” My presentation will explore some of the analytical problems raised by this phenomenon: What constitutes eccentricity and how is it balanced by naturalness in specific cases? What happens when a movie star acts in a film in which he or she impersonates the eccentricities of another star (Larry Parks as Al Jolson, Clint Eastwood as John Huston, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep as Julia Child, etc.)? How can we distinguish between impersonation as caricature and impersonation as dramatic illusion? What is the difference, if any, between impersonation and stylistic influence?"]
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura. "Silent Ozu." The Eclipse Viewer #1 (August 7, 2012)
Trouble in Paradise (USA: Ernst Lubitsch, 1932: 83 mins)
Naremore, James. "Film Acting and the Arts of Imitation." Cyncos 27.2 (2011) ["Louise Brooks once said that in order to become a star, an actor needs to combine a natural-looking behavior with personal “eccentricity.” My presentation will explore some of the analytical problems raised by this phenomenon: What constitutes eccentricity and how is it balanced by naturalness in specific cases? What happens when a movie star acts in a film in which he or she impersonates the eccentricities of another star (Larry Parks as Al Jolson, Clint Eastwood as John Huston, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep as Julia Child, etc.)? How can we distinguish between impersonation as caricature and impersonation as dramatic illusion? What is the difference, if any, between impersonation and stylistic influence?"]
1932
Bird of Paradise (USA: King Vidor, 1932: 80 mins)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #5: The Human Sacrifice." Acidemic (February 28, 2012)
Brody, Richard. "DVD of the Week: Boudu Saved From Drowning Current (Decenber 8, 2010)
Faulkner, Christopher. "Boudu Saved from Drowning: Tramping in the City." Current (August 22, 2005)
Broken Lullaby (USA: Ernst Lubitsch, 1932: 76 mins)
Iannone, Pasquale. "Broken Lullaby." Senses of Cinema #56 (2010)
Freaks (USA: tod Browning, 1932: 64 mins)
Bradley, S.A. and James Hancock. "A Good Cast is Worth Repeating, Part II: Tod Browning." Hellbent for Horror #31 (January 26, 2017)
Dennis, Zach, et al. "Freaks." Cinematary #164 (October 6, 2017)
Longworth, Karina. "Six Degrees of Joan Crawford: The Flapper and Douglas Fairbanks Jr." You Must Remember This (August 15, 2016) ["Joan Crawford’s early years in Hollywood were like -- well, like a pre-code Joan Crawford movie: a highly ambitious beauty of low birth does what she has to do (whatever she has to do) to transform herself into a well-respected glamour gal at the top of the food chain. Her romance with Douglas Fairbanks Jr -- the scion of the actor/producer who had been considered the King of Hollywood since the early days of the feature film -- began almost simultaneous to Crawford’s breakout hit, Our Dancing Daughters. But the gum-snapping dame with the bad reputation would soon rise far above her well-born husband, cranking out a string of indelible performances in pre-code talkies before hitting an early career peak in the Best Picture-winning Grand Hotel."]
Island of Lost Souls (USA: Erle C. Kenton, 1932: 70 mins)
Gallagher, Ryan and James McCormick. "Erle Kenton's The Island of Lost Souls." CriterionCast #128 (August 3, 2012) ["A twisted treasure from Hollywood’s pre-Code horror heyday, Island of Lost Souls is a cautionary tale of science run amok, adapted from H. G. Wells’s novel The Island of Dr. Moreau. In one of his first major movie roles, Charles Laughton is a mad doctor conducting ghastly genetic experiments on a remote island in the South Seas, much to the fear and disgust of the shipwrecked man (Richard Arlen) who finds himself trapped there. This touchstone of movie terror, directed by Erle C. Kenton, features expressionistic photography by Karl Struss, groundbreaking makeup effects that have inspired generations of monster-movie artists, and the legendary Bela Lugosi in one of his most gruesome roles."]
"Lost Isles." Grand Old Movies (November 2015)
I Was Born, but ... (Japan: Yasujirô Ozu, 1932: 100 mins)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura. "Silent Ozu." The Eclipse Viewer #1 (August 7, 2012)
No Blood Relation (Japan: Mikio Naruse, 1932: 94 mins)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura."Silent Naruse." The Eclipse Viewer #2 (September 3, 2012)
Dixon, Wheeler Winston. "One Hour With You." Senses of Cinema #56 (2010)
Naremore, James. "Film Acting and the Arts of Imitation." Cyncos 27.2 (2011) ["Louise Brooks once said that in order to become a star, an actor needs to combine a natural-looking behavior with personal “eccentricity.” My presentation will explore some of the analytical problems raised by this phenomenon: What constitutes eccentricity and how is it balanced by naturalness in specific cases? What happens when a movie star acts in a film in which he or she impersonates the eccentricities of another star (Larry Parks as Al Jolson, Clint Eastwood as John Huston, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep as Julia Child, etc.)? How can we distinguish between impersonation as caricature and impersonation as dramatic illusion? What is the difference, if any, between impersonation and stylistic influence?"]
1933
42nd Street (USA: Lloyd Bacon, 1933: 89 mins)
LoBrutto, Vincent. "An American Musical: 42nd Street." Becoming Film Literate: The Art and Craft of Motion Pictures. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2005: 144-150. [BCTC Library: PN1994 L595 2005]
Apart From You (Japan: Mikio Naruse, 1933: 61 mins)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura."Silent Naruse." The Eclipse Viewer #2 (September 3, 2012)
Baby Face (USA: Alfred E. Green, 1933: 71 mins)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #3: The Animus." Acidemic (February 1, 2012)
Ecstasy (Czechoslovakia/Austria: Gustav Machatý, 1933: 82 mins)
Hudson, David. "Sex in the Movies." Green Cine (2005)
Every-Night Dreams (Japan: Mikio Naruse, 1933: 65 mins)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura."Silent Naruse." The Eclipse Viewer #2 (September 3, 2012)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura. "Silent Ozu." The Eclipse Viewer #1 (August 7, 2012)
The Private Life of Henry VIII (UK: Alexander Korda, 1933: 97 mins)
Berrett, Trevor and David Blakeslee. "Alexander Korda's Private Lives." The Eclipse Viewer #43 (June 5, 2016)
Rivas, T.J. "Cinematic Responses to Fascism." Film History and Aesthetics Wiki (A Project of Film 110: Introduction to Film History and Aesthetics at Westminster College)
Zero for Conduct (France: Jean Vigo, 1933: 44 mins)
Flores, Steven. "The Auteurs: Jean Vigo." Cinema Axis (July 3, 2014)
The Black Cat (USA: Edgar G. Ulmer, 1934: 65 mins)
The first big-screen meeting of two titans of horror, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, The Black Cat was a box office smash for Universal and the film’s newly arrived Austrian émigré director, Edgar G. Ulmer. In Hungary, a storm strands four travellers, including psychiatrist and war vet Dr Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi), in the house of Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff), an Austrian architect and part-time Satanic cult leader. Highly stylised and wonderfully convoluted, it’s heaped with the sort of over-the-top grotesqueries that were only gotten away with in Hollywood’s pre-Code era. – Anna Bogutskaya
Saunders, D.J.M. "Hope and History: Beyond Violence." Bright Lights Film Journal #82 (November 2013)
Imitation of Life (USA: John M. Stahl, 1934: 111 mins)
Courtney, Susan. "Picturizing Race Hollywood's Censorship of Miscegenation and Production of Racial Visibility through Imitation of Life." Genders #27 (1998)
The Private Life of Don Juan (UK: Alexander Korda, 1934: 89 mins)
Berrett, Trevor and David Blakeslee. "Alexander Korda's Private Lives." The Eclipse Viewer #43 (June 5, 2016)
The Rise of Catherine the Great (UK: Paul Czinner and Alexander Korda, 1934: 95 mins)
Berrett, Trevor and David Blakeslee. "Alexander Korda's Private Lives." The Eclipse Viewer #43 (June 5, 2016)
Blakeslee, David and Robert Nishimura."Silent Naruse." The Eclipse Viewer #2 (September 3, 2012)
1935
The 39 Steps (United Kingdom: Alfred Hitchcock, 1935: 89 mins)
Keane, Marian. "The 39 Steps." Current (November 23, 1999)
Wilmington, Michael. "The 39 Steps." Current (December 9, 1985)
Mad Love (USA: Karl Freund, 1935: 68 mins)
Deighan, Sam, et al. "Mad Love (1935)." The Projection Booth #343 (October 3, 2017) ["Karl Freund's final film as a director and Peter Lorre's first film in America, Mad Love (1935). Based upon Maurice Renard 's The Hands of Orlac, the film shifts focus from the titular Orlac to Dr. Gogol, a cunning physician who specializes in some questionable procedures. He’s fascinated by the actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) and, rebuffed in his advances, manages to enter her life after he backhandedly helps her husband, concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive), by giving him a new pair of hands after his have been crushed in an accident. But what kind of gift are the hands of a murderer on a master musician?"]
Top Hat (USA: Mark Sandrich, 1935: 101 mins)Deighan, Sam, et al. "Mad Love (1935)." The Projection Booth #343 (October 3, 2017) ["Karl Freund's final film as a director and Peter Lorre's first film in America, Mad Love (1935). Based upon Maurice Renard 's The Hands of Orlac, the film shifts focus from the titular Orlac to Dr. Gogol, a cunning physician who specializes in some questionable procedures. He’s fascinated by the actress Yvonne Orlac (Frances Drake) and, rebuffed in his advances, manages to enter her life after he backhandedly helps her husband, concert pianist Stephen Orlac (Colin Clive), by giving him a new pair of hands after his have been crushed in an accident. But what kind of gift are the hands of a murderer on a master musician?"]
Heldt, Guido. Music and Levels of Narration in Film. Intellect, 2013. ["This is the first book-length study of the narratology of film music, and an indispensable resource for anyone researching or studying film music or film narratology. It surveys the so far piecemeal discussion of narratological concepts in film music studies, and tries to (cautiously) systematize them, and to expand and refine them with reference to ideas from general narratology and film narratology (including contributions from German-language literature less widely known in Anglophone scholarship). The book goes beyond the current focus of film music studies on the distinction between diegetic and nondiegetic music (music understood to be or not to be part of the storyworld of a film), and takes into account different levels of narration: from the extrafictional to ‘focalizations’ of subjectivity, and music’s many and complex movements between them."]
Triumph of the Will (Germany: Leni Riefenstahl, 1935: 110 mins)
Beloff, Zoe, J. Hoberman and Nicolas Rapold. "Art and Fascism." Film Comment Podcast (February 27, 2019) ["This week, the Film Comment Podcast digs into Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will and the ways in which the reputation of the notorious film—and that of its maker—have shifted over the years. In a feature article on the legendary Nazi-propaganda project in the latest issue of Film Comment, contributing editor J. Hoberman writes that, “Triumph of the Will is an organic product of cinema history, a synthesis of Metropolis’s monumental mass ornament, Potemkin’s pow, and Hollywood extravagance.” Once denounced as fascist propaganda, the film came to be celebrated as a masterpiece of formal daring in the 1960s and 1970s, a rehabilitation that culminated with Riefenstahl receiving a controversial tribute at the 1974 Telluride Film Festival. Film CommentEditor in Chief Nicolas Rapold is joined by Hoberman and filmmaker and professor Zoe Beloff for a discussion of the film’s relevance to the current historical moment (Steve Bannon and Roger Ailes are purportedly big fans) and the larger question of artistry in the service of evil."]
Dracula's Daughter (USA: Lambert Hillyer, 1936: 71 mins)
Deighan, Samm and Kat Ellinger. "Lust for a Female Vampire Lover: The Evolution of Lesbian Vampires in Cinema, Part 1." Daughters of Darkness #1 (March 12, 2016) ["This first episode of three begins by examining the lesbian vampire from her origins in eighteenth century Gothic literature, particularly Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s unfinished poem “Christabel” (1797) and Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu’s story “Carmilla” (1871), both of which explore themes of monstrosity, repressed sexuality, and female identity. “Carmilla” — the source material for the majority of lesbian vampire films — follows a lonely young woman named Laura, who makes a strange, seductive new friend, Carmilla, whose designs on Laura are decidedly sanguinary. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s surreal horror film Vampyr (1932) was the first to adapt “Carmilla,” however loosely, but was followed soon after by the more straightforward Universal horror film, Dracula’s Daughter (1936). The latter — with its depiction of an elegant, sympathetic female vampire reluctantly driven to act out her bloodlust out on female as well as male victims — was among the first to portray vampirism as a blend of madness, female hysteria, sexual dysfunction, and addiction. Dracula’s Daughter would influence subsequent adaptations of “Carmilla,” like Roger Vadim’s lush arthouse effort Blood and Roses (1960) and obscure Italian Gothic horror film Crypt of the Vampire (1964). The film co-starred Hammer star Christopher Lee, who spends much of the running time in an outrageous smoking jacket. Speaking of Hammer studios, the episode wraps up with a discussion of their Karnstein trilogy, a watershed moment for lesbian vampire cinema. Films like The Vampire Lovers (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1971), and Twins of Evil (1971) — as well as some of the studio’s outlier efforts like The Brides of Dracula (1960) or Countess Dracula (1971) — left a bloody mark on vampire films. With minimal violence and plenty of nudity from buxom starlets like Ingrid Pitt, these films generally depict aristocratic vampires preying on innocent young ladies in pastoral settings. A film like The Vampire Lovers was famous for its use of lesbianism and casual nudity, but is quite restrained compared to the films discussed in episode two by European directors like Jess Franco and Jean Rollin."]
Kuersten, Erich. "The Primal Father (CinemArchetypes #8)." Acidemic (March 19, 2012)
Barker, Jennifer Lynne. The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection. Routledge, 2013. [Get through interlibrary loan]
Modern Times (USA: Charles Chaplin, 1936: 87 mins)
Falzon, Christopher. "Philosophy Through Film." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (August 12, 2013)
Rembrandt (UK: Alexander Korda, 1936: 85 mins)
Berrett, Trevor and David Blakeslee. "Alexander Korda's Private Lives." The Eclipse Viewer #43 (June 5, 2016)
Sabotage (UK: Alfred Hitchcock, 1936: 76 mins)
Barker, Jennifer Lynne. The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection. Routledge, 2013. [Get through interlibrary loan]
1937
The Dybbuk (Poland: Michal Waszynski, 1937: 108 mins)
Bird, Daniel, Yossi Chajes and John Walker. "The Dybbuk." The Projection Booth #269 (May 3, 2016) ["Based on Sholom Ansky's 1904 play, Michal Waszynski's 1937 Yiddish-language Polish film, The Dybbuk, tells the story of a broken promise and its consequences."]
Elephant Boy (UK: Robert Flaherty and Zoltan Korda, 1937: 80 mins)
Harvey, Dennis. "Sabu’s Enduring Star Power." Keyframe (January 5, 2014)
Grand Illusion (France: Jean Renoir, 1937: 114 mins)
Cowie, Peter. "Grand Illusion Current (November 22, 1999)
Jennings, Tom, et al. "La Grande Illusion (1937)." The Projection Booth #318 (April 16, 2017)
Make Way for Tomorrow (USA: Leo McCarey, 1937: 91 mins)
Overstreet, Jeffrey. "#6: Make Way For Tomorrow." Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (2011)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (USA: William Cottrell, et al., 1937: 83 mins)
Disney’s first animated feature preserves some of the most grotesque aspects of the Grimm tale, making them all the more macabre by depicting them visually. Scariest of all is the queen-turned-witch, with a lair that is part laboratory and part torture chamber, littered with victims’ bones, and featuring an underground river that she rows across in a chilling scene reminiscent of The Phantom of the Opera. Walt Disney drew inspiration for the film from German expressionism, encouraging his animation crew to screen films like Nosferatu for ideas. In turn, Dario Argento has said that he tried to recreate the look of Snow White in Suspiria (1977). – Kelly Robinson
Rapold, Nicholas. "Short and Sweet: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Reverse Shot #29 (2011)
The Spanish Earth (USA: Joris Ivens, 1937: 52 mins)
Barker, Jennifer Lynne. The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection. Routledge, 2013. [Get through interlibrary loan]
1938
The Adventures of Robin Hood (USA: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, 1938: 102 mins)
Heldt, Guido. Music and Levels of Narration in Film. Intellect, 2013. ["This is the first book-length study of the narratology of film music, and an indispensable resource for anyone researching or studying film music or film narratology. It surveys the so far piecemeal discussion of narratological concepts in film music studies, and tries to (cautiously) systematize them, and to expand and refine them with reference to ideas from general narratology and film narratology (including contributions from German-language literature less widely known in Anglophone scholarship). The book goes beyond the current focus of film music studies on the distinction between diegetic and nondiegetic music (music understood to be or not to be part of the storyworld of a film), and takes into account different levels of narration: from the extrafictional to ‘focalizations’ of subjectivity, and music’s many and complex movements between them."]
Alexander Nevsky (Soviet Union: Sergei M. Eisenstein and Dmitri Vasilyev, 1938: 112 mins)
Hoberman, J. "Alexander Nevsky Current (April 23, 2001)
Bringing Up Baby (USA: Howard Hawks, 1938: 102 mins)
Klevan, Andrew. "Expressing the In-Between." LOLA #1 (2011)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #2: The Anima." Acidemic (January 29, 2012)
Holiday (USA: George Cukor, 1938: 95 mins)
Naremore, James. "Film Acting and the Arts of Imitation." Cyncos 27.2 (2011) ["Louise Brooks once said that in order to become a star, an actor needs to combine a natural-looking behavior with personal “eccentricity.” My presentation will explore some of the analytical problems raised by this phenomenon: What constitutes eccentricity and how is it balanced by naturalness in specific cases? What happens when a movie star acts in a film in which he or she impersonates the eccentricities of another star (Larry Parks as Al Jolson, Clint Eastwood as John Huston, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep as Julia Child, etc.)? How can we distinguish between impersonation as caricature and impersonation as dramatic illusion? What is the difference, if any, between impersonation and stylistic influence?"]
La Bête Humaine (France: Jean Renoir, 1938: 100 mins)
O'Brien, Geoffrey. "La bête humaine: Renoir On and Off the Rails." Current (February 13, 2006)
Too Much Johnson (USA: Orson Welles, 1938: 67 mins)
McBride, Joseph. "Too Much Johnson: Recovering Orson Welles’s Dream of Early Cinema." Bright Lights Film Journal (April 24, 2014)
1939
Destry Rides Again (USA: George Marshall, 1939: 94 mins)
McGee, Patrick. From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.[Professor has copy]
Hurne, Mark and Aaron West. "Only Angels Have Wings (1939)." Criterion Close-Up (May 15, 2016) ["Mark and Aaron fly back to 1939 to discuss Howard Hawks’ classic Only Angels Have Wings. We evaluate the special effects, how the film built suspense, the context of aviation in the late 1930s, and later films that embody a similar masculinity. "]
Stagecoach (USA: John Ford, 1939: 96 mins)
McGee, Patrick. From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007. [Professor has copy]
The Wizard of Oz (USA: Victor Fleming, et al, 1939: 102 mins)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #3: The Animus." Acidemic (February 1, 2012)
The Spanish Earth (USA: Joris Ivens, 1937: 52 mins)
Barker, Jennifer Lynne. The Aesthetics of Antifascist Film: Radical Projection. Routledge, 2013. [Get through interlibrary loan]
1938
The Adventures of Robin Hood (USA: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, 1938: 102 mins)
Heldt, Guido. Music and Levels of Narration in Film. Intellect, 2013. ["This is the first book-length study of the narratology of film music, and an indispensable resource for anyone researching or studying film music or film narratology. It surveys the so far piecemeal discussion of narratological concepts in film music studies, and tries to (cautiously) systematize them, and to expand and refine them with reference to ideas from general narratology and film narratology (including contributions from German-language literature less widely known in Anglophone scholarship). The book goes beyond the current focus of film music studies on the distinction between diegetic and nondiegetic music (music understood to be or not to be part of the storyworld of a film), and takes into account different levels of narration: from the extrafictional to ‘focalizations’ of subjectivity, and music’s many and complex movements between them."]
Hoberman, J. "Alexander Nevsky Current (April 23, 2001)
Bringing Up Baby (USA: Howard Hawks, 1938: 102 mins)
Klevan, Andrew. "Expressing the In-Between." LOLA #1 (2011)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #2: The Anima." Acidemic (January 29, 2012)
Holiday (USA: George Cukor, 1938: 95 mins)
Naremore, James. "Film Acting and the Arts of Imitation." Cyncos 27.2 (2011) ["Louise Brooks once said that in order to become a star, an actor needs to combine a natural-looking behavior with personal “eccentricity.” My presentation will explore some of the analytical problems raised by this phenomenon: What constitutes eccentricity and how is it balanced by naturalness in specific cases? What happens when a movie star acts in a film in which he or she impersonates the eccentricities of another star (Larry Parks as Al Jolson, Clint Eastwood as John Huston, Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan, Meryl Streep as Julia Child, etc.)? How can we distinguish between impersonation as caricature and impersonation as dramatic illusion? What is the difference, if any, between impersonation and stylistic influence?"]
O'Brien, Geoffrey. "La bête humaine: Renoir On and Off the Rails." Current (February 13, 2006)
McBride, Joseph. "Too Much Johnson: Recovering Orson Welles’s Dream of Early Cinema." Bright Lights Film Journal (April 24, 2014)
1939
Destry Rides Again (USA: George Marshall, 1939: 94 mins)
McGee, Patrick. From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.[Professor has copy]
Hurne, Mark and Aaron West. "Only Angels Have Wings (1939)." Criterion Close-Up (May 15, 2016) ["Mark and Aaron fly back to 1939 to discuss Howard Hawks’ classic Only Angels Have Wings. We evaluate the special effects, how the film built suspense, the context of aviation in the late 1930s, and later films that embody a similar masculinity. "]
Stagecoach (USA: John Ford, 1939: 96 mins)
McGee, Patrick. From Shane to Kill Bill: Rethinking the Western. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007. [Professor has copy]
The Wizard of Oz (USA: Victor Fleming, et al, 1939: 102 mins)
Kuersten, Erich. "CinemArchetype #3: The Animus." Acidemic (February 1, 2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment