EN/AS3233 AMERICAN FILM: WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
ASSIGNMENT 2: You are expected to write a 6-8 page paper (more-or-less, exclusive
of endnotes) on some aspect of American cinema (a stylistic movement, film genre,
studio, a particular film, etc.). This paper should use, correctly, the Chicago
(Turabian) style book with footnotes or endnotes, no bibliography) or MLA (author
and page number in parentheses, with bibliography). It must argue some point (in
other words, it must have a clearly stated thesis), and should be elegant and
well-organized. Due in tutorials of WEEK TWELVE!!!!
ASSIGNMENT 1: You will write an annotated bibliography for the paper above. I
expect about 8-10 entries, arranged in standard (Chicago or MLA) bibliography style,
with 2-3 sentences on each entry telling me a little bit about it and how it will
benefit your paper. NOTE!! You are not confined to these sources in the writing of
your paper, nor must you use every one of them in the paper. Due in tutorials of
WEEK NINE!!!!
You should discuss your topic with your tutor before doing a lot of research on your
paper. Following are some suggestions, but you are by no means restricted to the
topics.
SUGGESTED PAPER TOPICS
PEOPLE
Gregg Toland: cinematographer for Welles, Wyler, et al.
Pat Sullivan: early animator (Felix the Cat)
Orson Welles: the influence of his early work in magic, radio, &/or theater on his
films.
Oscar Micheaux: an early black filmmaker.
Harold Lloyd: silent American comedian.
Winsor McCay: the “father” of the animated cartoon?
Walt Disney: as artist, businessman, or social scientist; or as a corporation
Edgar Ulmer: director of “B” Hollywood films & Yiddish films (something of a cult
figure)
Rudolph Valentino: silent film “sex symbol”
Kenneth Anger: avant-garde filmmaker
Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle: silent comedian involved in a scandal in 1921
Dorothy Arzner: early female director
Barney Balaban: president of Paramount Pictures, 1936-1964
Wallace Beery: actor in silent & early sound films
Ralph Bellamy: “second banana” in many CHC films
Ward Bond: another “second banana,” esp. in Westerns
Busby Berkeley: choreographer & director
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Betty Boop: sexy cartoon character
Billy Bitzer: cinematographer for D.W. Griffith
William Castle: sleazy film producer & sometimes director
Roger Corman: ditto
Russ Meyer: ditto again
George Cukor: gay director, made “women’s films”
Cecil B. DeMille: director of spectaculars, mostly for Paramount
Karl Freund: cinematographer & director
Jean Harlow: blonde “bombshell” actress
Sessue Hayakawa: Japanese actor in American films
William Randolph Hearst: Model for Citizen Kane?
Bernard Herrmann: composer for Hitchcock, Welles, et al.
Sven Nykvist: cinematographer for Bergman, Woody Allen...
Ronald Reagan: actor, president of SAG, sportscaster, senile ex-president of the US
Ritz Bros.: minor league Marx Bros.
Pia Zadora: what can I say?
Faith & John Hubley: blacklisted Disney animators
Ub Iwerks: another early Disney animator
Erich Korngold: composer for Warner Bros.
Butterfly McQueen: played “Prissy” in Gone with the Wind
Ida Lupino: actress, director, producer
Maya Deren: avant-garde filmmaker
Mary Pickford: silent film star; producer
Lillian Gish: another silent film star
Louise Brooks: silent film star, one of the most beautiful women ever
Clara Bow: yet another silent film star
Theda Bara: you guessed it; also a “vamp”
Margaret DuMont: the “fat lady” in Marx Bros movies
Ed Wood: the worst director ever?
Shannen Doherty (again...what can I say?)
ANY AMERICAN FILM(S); production, distribution &/or exhibition
FILM MOVEMENTS, GENRES, STYLES, ETC.
Film Noir
German Expressionism: influence on American film, etc.
World War 2 movies
Vietnam War movies (Rambo, Platoon, et al.)
African-American films
Asian-American films
Westerns
Gangster movies
Musicals
Screwball comedies
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“Buddy” movies
Action movies
“Women’s movies”
“Dumb” movies
Slasher movies
Teen flicks
Movies about movies
COMPANIES
Any of the major or minor studios
Essanay Co.: early film company
“Poverty Row”: small, independent production companies during the days of the
Hollywood studio system
Famous Players: ancestor of Paramount
First National: became part of Warner Bros.
IMP (Independent Motion Picture Co.): absorbed into Universal in 1912
Kalem: early film company
Kinemacolor: early color film company
L-KO: early producer of comedy shorts
Monogram: producer of Westerns (now Allied Artists)
Mutual: made Chaplin shorts
Technicolor
Industrial Light & Magic
MISC.
Unions in Hollywood
Radio stars in movies (1930s & 1940s)
Special effects (in a particular film, or development of special f/x, etc.)
American Society of Cinematographers
Labor relations at the Disney &/or Fleischer animation studios
Aroma-Rama &/or Smell-O-Vision
Female directors, technicians, or animators
Screen Extras Guild: they deserve some recognition, too
Sequels &/or remakes
“Synergy” & marketing (tie-ins, promotions, etc.)
American films in foreign markets
Costume design, set design, make-up, etc.
Any technological innovation...
The “Red Scare” & blacklisting in Hollywood
Mergers, buy-outs, corporate manoeuvres, etc.
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