The Graduate

1. In class we talked about The Graduate. The film was released in 1967 and was directed by Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols is one of 12 people to win all the major American entertainment awards, Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from AFI in 2010. Mike Nichols won the Oscar for Best Director for The Graduate. He is also married to ABC anchor, Diane Sawyer. The Graduate was written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham. The film grossed $40 million in the box office. We also discussed the Academy Awards the film was nominated for and won. The Graduate was nominated for 8 Oscars such as: Best picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. The film won the Academy Award for Best Director. We then discussed Dustin Hoffman's career and all the Oscars he won and was nominated for. Hoffman won the Oscar for Best Actor in Kramer vs. Kramer and Best Actor for Rain Man which was his best performance. He was also nominated for The Graduate, Lenny, Tootsie, Wag the Dog, and Midnight Cowboy. We also talked about Anne Bancroft. She won the Oscar for Best Actress for The Miracle Worker. We also discussed Katharine Ross and her other memorable roles in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Stepford Wives. We discussed how The Graduate was one of the first youth rebellion films. It also asked the question, "what to do after graduation?" The film consisted of obvious camera shots and cutting. It used the awareness of film as intrusive art. The film also had overlapping sound and dialogue and overlapping action. We also discussed that the soundtrack of the film was performed by Simon and Garfunkel.

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/18530/The-Graduate/articles.html#06
I found an article written by Rob Nixon titled "Why The Graduate is Essential. The article discusses how The Graduate is still an iconic film in pop culture having been released more then 40 years ago. The article discussed how the film is a "sharp satire of the younger generation breaking free of the stultifying hypocrisy of their parents,"(Nixon). The article also concentrates on the ending scene of the film. It discusses people's reactions to the final scene of the film. Some believe it is "an expression of love winning the day even as it faces an uncertain future,"(Nixon). The article also discussed how the final scene was one of things Mike Nichols liked most about the film. It also discusses how Nichols believes the film is not all about the "Generation Gap." The article also discusses Dustin Hoffman and how he went on to becoming one of greatest actors of our time.  

3.After reading the article my perception of the film changed a little bit. The article helped me realize more about how the film is an example of the youth rebellion and younger generation breaking free. It also helped me realize how much of an impact the film still has after have been released over 46 years ago. The article also discussed people's reactions to the end scene of the film which I myself was confused about and reading the article helped me understand it better.

4. I felt The Graduate was great film. It was very funny and I enjoyed it very much. The Graduate is very important in film history. It put Dustin Hoffman on the map and he went on to becoming one of the greatest of our time. The film was nominated for 8 Oscars and won the Oscar for Best Director, Mike Nichols. The film was a box office hit. It is placed at #7 on AFI's Top 100 Best Films of All Time. The Graduate was also a film that made it aware that is was a film.

Casablanca

1. In class we discussed how Casablanca is listed as #3 on AFI's Top 100 Films of All Time. We also discussed how Michael Curtiz directed the film. Curtiz won the Oscar for Best Director for Casablanca. He was also nominated for several other of his movies such as Captain Blood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Four Daughters, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Casablanca was written by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. We also discussed that the film was based on an unproduced play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" We also discussed the Oscars the film won such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and was nominated for several others. Humphrey Bogart is listed as AFI's #1 male actor. He also won an Oscar for African Queen in 1954. Ingrid Bergman is listed as AFI's #3 female actor. She also won three Oscars in her career. We also discussed some of the themes of the film such as lost love and romance within a chaotic world. Finally we discussed some of the famous quotes of the film such as "We'll always have Paris," "Here's looking at you, kid," and "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/610/Casablanca/articles.html#00
I found an article written by Scoot McGee titled "Pop Culture 101-Casablanca." The article discussed how the film became very popular in American Culture about 20 years after it came out in 1942. It discussed how a few years after Humphrey Bogart's death in 1957 a movie theatre in Massachusetts starting showing Casablanca three weeks a year. People started wearing trench coats and snap-brim hats. The article also discussed many spoofs and rip-offs of Casablanca such as "Play it Again, Sam," "Caboblanco," "Barb Wire," and "Carrotblanca." The article also discussed Rob Reiner's loving tribute to Casablanca in his 1989 film, "When Harry Met Sally," where Casablanca is mentioned and talked bout several times in the film. The article also discussed the book sequel to Casablanca "As Time Goes By," which outraged fans.

3. After reading the article I was surprised how popular the film became after it had been released for many years. I was also surprised how mays spoofs there were of Casablanca. I think I have a better understanding about how popular the film was after reading the article since there are many spoofs of it and that it became very popular in American Culture in the '60s about 20 years after it was released.

4. In my opinion, I thought it was a fantastic film. I really enjoyed it and thought the ending was great. Casablanca is in fact a very important film in film history. It is listed #3 on AFI's Top 100 Best Films of All Time. The film won 3 Academy Awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay. The film was also nominated for 5 other Oscars such as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very popular in American Culture. Casablanca also has many famous quotes such as "We'll always have Paris," and "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Citizen Kane

1. In class we discussed how Citizen Kane was a commercial failure when it first came out in 1941. It was almost not released, and RKO almost burned the negative. We also talked about Orson Welles and how he was only 24 years old when he started making Citizen Kane, it was the first film he ever made and he had complete control over making the film. The film was nominated for 9 Oscars and won the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. After Citizen Kane, Welles never made any film with complete control over it. We also discussed how the film is number 1 on American Film Institute's Top 100 Best Films of All Time. The theme of the film was the search for the meaning of a man's life. We also discussed that the main character, Charles Foster Kane, is based on the life of William Randolph Hearst.

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/89/Citizen-Kane/articles.html
An article written by Roger Fristoe titled "Why Citizen Kane is Essential. The article talks about how the film was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles; however Welles tried to take all the credit for writing the screenplay. The article also mentioned all of the great things about the movie and how Kane's character was based off of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst hated the film and tried to prevent it from being seen in many theatres. However after WWII the film resurfaced in Europe and then on American Television and took its rightful place as a masterpiece in film history. The article also discussed how the film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards but only won the award for Best Original Screenplay. It also mentioned that when it won the award some people in the audience booed.

3. After reading the article my perception of Orson Welles. I didn't like that he tried to take all the credit for writing the screenplay. Herman J. Mankiewicz does deserve to be credited for writing the screenplay. I was also surprised that people in the audience booed when Citizen Kane won the Oscar for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. I also found it wrong that William Randolph Hearst tried to prevent the film from being screened in man theatres.

4. In my opinion, I felt that Citizen Kane was a great film that I enjoyed very much. I wouldn't consider it the greatest film ever made but it is a very good film. The film is very important in film history. The film questioned the meaning of life. It was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won the Award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. The film was very well written. It was the first film Orson Welles ever made. The film had excellent performances. It's also number 1 on AFI's Top 100 Best Films of All Time.

Gone With The Wind

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

African Americans emerged on the movie scene during this time. Alot of time they often used white actor in blackface so that they black people wouldn’t have to get that role. They were to play mostly musicals and comedies weren’t giving the changed to play serious roles. A movie like Shirley Temple in the 1930’s where Robinson dances with Shirley in the movie. Between 1915 and 1959 there were nearly 500 race movies produced for all black audience and it was an all-black cast and those movies where financed by white backers. This gives black people the short they need to play the roles that they were able to play without anyone holding them back .

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.
(http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm) Jim Crow was a law that was operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and Border States, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. This law was a racial caste system that was more than a set of anti-black laws it was a way for life for many people that believed in it. They live there life by those set of laws and never 2nd guess it once. For many that all they know and other is what they want to believe in “Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed to be servants, and God supported racial segregation.” These laws made people consider that African American were nothing but second class citizens and would never be anything but that. The educational level, buttressed the belief that blacks were innately intellectually and culturally inferior to whites. This law was made to belittle the black people in any why that white people had seen fit at that time.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

Hattie McDaniel had won best supporting actress for the roll she played in Gone with the Wind. It should have been a happy night for her and the cast of the movie, when the film opened in Atlanta Georgia, none of the African American actors in the film were able to attend the world premiere, because of Jim Crow laws which barred them from the whites-only theater.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film

Gone with the wind was a movie about a girl name Scarlett O’Hara that didn’t know what she really wanted in life because the world was given to her, and she got anything that she wanted this had made it hard for her to grow up as a person where she think everything should be given to her without having to really do much for her, and when something come up that she couldn’t have she didn’t know to act. When she lost everything she needs to step up and work hard so that she can survive. A lot of time when people have to fight for them to survive they will do anything and this what Scarlett did she killed lied and cheated. She was willing to do anything to make sure she lives. She will even hurt her own family just to make sure that she comes up on top. Her view of lift is that she doesn’t care what happen to other people just as long as things go the way she wanted and that she’s happy with what ever happen around her. When something come up right in front of here where there willing to show her that he loved her, and she won’t see pass what she wanted.

Stagecoach

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening 

As the movies was unfolding this showed the different Themes and roles that each person played, like the Different in social classes, the sexual & social prejudice Greed alcoholism and the shame that comes with it and revenge that drive someone to keep on living. The roles like the outlaw that lived to take revenge. The Doctor who is shame that comes with his drinking. The banker that was only able to think of himself, and showed the evil within mans heart.  John Ford was able to make a great movie with all of those characteristics. 

        2)  Find a related article and summarize the content.  

(http://www.wellsfargohistory.com/stagecoach/stagecoach_history.html) 

 During its time the stagecoach was considered a luxury vehicle with the ability to carry a maximum of nine passengers. The stagecoach’s traveled an average of five miles per hour, and changed horses at swing stations every twelve miles. Initially independent stage line owners were contracted by the Wells Fargo company.  However, it was not long after that Wells Fargo came to own and operate the largest stagecoach empire in the world. “Wells Fargo is endlessly linked with the six-horse Concord Coach charging across the vast plains and high mountains of the West.” 

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

 During film Stagecoach I observed that the characters were being charted by a Wells Fargo stagecoach. This I found very  interesting, because prior to watching this   film I had no idea that this company had   been around and in business for so long.   Initially I believed that the coach was simply  being used as a prop or possibly just a taxi.  However after doing some research I   learned that Wells Fargo had been using  stagecoaches since 1852 to handle  customer affairs.  Further reading of the  article helped me realize just how deeply  rooted the banking systems are into  American history. The stagecoach was  significant to this film not only because of its  strong ties to the history of Western society,  but also because the characters spent a great deal of their time within the stagecoach which led to the creation of bonds.  

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion,  formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. 

As their journey progressed the misfits started to get along. They quickly realized that they all shared the same goal of wanting to reach their destinations in one piece, without being attacked by Indians.It was not until the end of the film, that the plot was finally starting to unveil itself. Here it was finally understood, that this film was centered on the journey of two people from different backgrounds falling in love. Also a part of the plot was the adventure of the outlaw seeking to avenge the loss of his father and brother. A Western movie is not complete without a lot of shooting, Indians, and stagecoaches. All of these aspects contributed to what made this movie a really good film.