TCF 440/540
Seminar In American Cinema (Spring 2014)
http://goo.gl/s8cfGT

This is an addendum to the full syllabus. The instructor stipulates that a student's receipt of this addendum shall act as a contract between the instructor and the student. Receipt of this addendum presupposes that a student has read and understands the policies contained here and in the full online syllabus: goo.gl/ox15XM. Please contact the instructor if you have any questions about these policies.

Grades and other course materials are posted on Blackboard Learn.

THIS OUTLINE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGES ANNOUNCED IN CLASS
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Date	Topic/Screening	Readings
1/8	Introduction to the Course Ordinary People (Redford, 1980; 124 min.)
1/13	Film Analysis: Narrative Form	Butler, ch. 2 (21-32); ch. 3 (55-79) Recommended: for more on narrative, see David Bordwell, "Three Dimensions of Film Narrative"
1/15	Film Analysis: Mise-en-Scene Out of the Past (Tourneur, 1947)	Butler, ch. 7
1/20	No Class: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Why not read King's "I Have a Dream" or "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" today?
1/22	Film Analysis: Cinematography Ball of Fire (Hawks, 1941)	Butler, ch. 8 First Reading Quiz
1/27	Film Analysis: Editing & Sound	Butler, chs. 9 (293-313), 10
1/29	View on your own: The Maltese Falcon (Huston, 1941) view online Recommended, not required: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (excerpt, Wiene, 1920) Le Jour se Lève (excerpt, Carné, 1939; Gorgas VCR 84-24)
2/3	Discussion The Concept of Genre	Kitses (6-27), Buscombe (33-45), Collins (157-163)
2/5	Analytical Exercise Due Film Noir as Genre The Grifters (Frears, 1990) Recommended on : Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944) 99 River Street (Karlson, 1953) Scarlet Street (Lang, 1945) Raw Deal (Mann, 1948)
2/10	Discussion	Silver & Ursini (17-26, 37-52, 53-64, 65-76)
2/12	The Concept of Authorship View on your own: Only Angels Have Wings (Hawks, 1939) view online To Have and Have Not (excerpts, Hawks, 1944) view online view online
2/13	Assignment One Due, Thursday, 11:59 pm (see Notes on Writing Film Analyses for tips)
2/17	Discussion	Caughie (9-16, 22-67)
2/19	Howard Hawks as Auteur Monkey Business (Hawks, 1952) Recommended: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Hawks, 1953) Recommended on : His Girl Friday (Hawks, 1940) I Was a Male War Bride (Hawks, 1949)
2/24	Discussion	Sarris (on Hawks, 52-56), Caughie (138-151), Hillier & Wollen (26-31, 32-34, 68-71, 83-86, 111-119)
2/26	The Concept of Star Dark Victory (excerpt, Goulding, 1939) The Petrified Forest (Mayo, 1936)
2/27	Assignment Two Due, Thursday, 11:59 pm (see Notes on Writing Film Analyses for tips)
3/3	Discussion	Dyer (Stars, 106-50; recommended: 88-105)
3/5	Humphrey Bogart as Star The African Queen (Huston, 1951)
3/10	Discussion	Sklar (104-120, 165-176, 227-251)
3/12	Domestic Melodrama as Genre Imitation of Life (Stahl, 1934)
3/13	Assignment Three Due, Thursday, 11:59 pm (see Notes on Writing Film Analyses for tips)
3/17	Discussion	Haskell (153-188)
3/19	Domestic Melodrama Since World War II Juno (Reitman, 2007)
3/22-30	Spring Break
3/31	Discussion	Gledhill (5-39), Elsaesser (43-69)
4/2	Melodrama Variations: TV Soap Opera Research Paper Topics Due Backstage Wife/As the World Turns (CBS, 1956-2010)
4/7	Discussion	Butler ("Zero-Degree Style," 55-120), Butler ("Actors," 75-91)
4/9	Douglas Sirk as Auteur Imitation of Life (Sirk, 1959) Recommended: Far From Heaven (Haynes, 2002)
4/14	Discussion	Sarris (on Sirk, 109-110), Fischer (3-28), Willemen (in Fischer, 268-272); recommended: Doherty (online)
4/16	Lana Turner as Star The Bad and the Beautiful (Minnelli, 1952) (Passover)
4/21	Discussion (Passover)	Dyer ("Four Films...", 30-52)
4/23	Discussion: Course Summary, Final Paper Prep, Extra Credit Help Mildred Pierce (Curtiz, 1945)
4/25	Shot Logger Extra Credit Due, TCF office, 4:45 pm
4/27	Mildred Pierce Extra Credit Due, via email, 11:59 pm
4/30 Wed.	Final Paper Due 11:59 pm, via Blackboard Learn/TurnItIn

Supplemental Survey

Reading List (in order of assignment)

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. John Caughie, Theories of Authorship: A Reader (New York: Routledge, 1981).
6. Andrew Sarris, The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968 (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973) 52-56, 109-110.
7. Jim Hillier and Peter Wollen, eds., Howard Hawks American Artist (London: British Film Institute, 1996).
8. Robert Sklar, City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).
9. Molly Haskell, "The Woman's Film," in From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies (New York: Penguin, 1974) 153-188.
10. 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.
11. Thomas Elsaesser, "Tales of Sound and Fury: Observations on the Family Melodrama," Home is Where the Heart Is: Studies in Melodrama and Woman's Film, ed. Christine Gledhill (London: British Film Institute, 1987) 43-69.
12. Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in Television Style (New York: Routledge, 2010), 55-120.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. Paul Willemen, "Distanciation and Douglas Sirk," Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director, 268-272.
16. Recommended, not required: Thomas Doherty, "Douglas Sirk: Magnificent Obsession," The Chronicle Review, 49, no. 12 (November 15, 2002), p. B16. Available online.
17. Richard Dyer, "Four Films of Lana Turner," Movie 25: 30-52.

Contact: jbutler@ua.edu
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