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Doubt / Miramax Films presents ; a film by John Patrick Shanley ; a Scott Rudin production ; produced by Scott Rudin, Mark Roybal ; written for the screen and directed by John Patrick Shanley.

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PIFF 2009 - Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

Welcome to the 2009 Philadelphia Film Festival and Cinefest!

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40 best directors - guardian.co.uk Film

Globalization: Media in Africa

annotated bibliography for world film history upto 1945: Spellbound 1945

Spellbound (1945) is a psychological mystery thriller produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is an adaptation of the novel The House of Dr. Edwardes (1927) by Francis Beeding. Hitchcock creates an absorbing tale of psychiatrist, Constance Peterson, who tries to uncover the truth of Edwardes' imposture, John Ballentine, with whom she falls madly in love with. Ballentine is accused of the murder and identity theft of Edwardes, who is appointed to be the new head of a mental asylum. Little do the viewers know, Ballentine, himself doesn't know his identity, and he accepts the fact that he killed Edwardes without recalling the incident. It turns out that the character of Ballentine is complex and with the use of psychoanalysis, Freudian dream analysis, Peterson, with the help of Dr. Alex, is able to reveal the truth behind the peculiar mystery. As the plot unfolds, viewers perceive the emergence of repetitive themes: a female doctor in a male dominated world, Freud and psychoanalysis with the use of a Dali dream, all of which play a critical role in this unique film especially in the 1940s after World War II.

JSTOR: Film QuarterlyVol. 21, No. 1 (Autumn, 1967), pp. 13-24

Johnson, William. Orson Wells: Of Time and Loss. "Film Quarterly" Vol. 21, No. 1 (1967) pp. 13-24

In this article William Johnson refutes the notion that all of Orson Welles’ films are inferior to Citizen Kane. Johnson begins by discussing the characteristic features of Welles’s films, which share common stylistic and thematic elements. He then goes on to note Kane’s cinematic achievements are due to its stylistic innovations—wide angle perspective, unusually long takes, abrupt cuts—and notes that Kane actually appears more modern then many films of 1967. He then goes on to note that while Welles films are often showy, this is only one aspect of them and that some of the most powerful scenes in Kane are void of special effects. Moreover, Johnson concludes by noting the risk that Welles has taken in all of his films which all carry Kane’s central theme of lost innocence.

This article is relevant to my thesis in that Johnson uses Citizen Kane as a model to which he compares Welles’s other films against. While other critics usually do this in order to highlight the deficiencies in Welles’s films following Kane, Johnson does this in order to point out stylistic and thematic elements that are common throughout Welles’s films. In effect Johnson systematically bolsters both Kane’s status while at the same time giving merit to many of Welles’s films that are often seen as inferior. Moreover, Johnson addresses the extreme passing and jumps in time throughout Citizen Kane, an aspect of the film that Welles addresses on multiple levels. Through his brilliant use of mise-en-scene and editing, Welles juxtaposes images that not only feature Kane at different ages, but also those who know him, giving time a tangible quality. The extreme lapse and jump in time is an integral and innovative part of Kane’s narrative which as previously stated, hinges upon the use of flashbacks to provide insight into Kane’s life and discover the meaning behind his dying words.

Carlson, Shear and Carringer.

Carlson, Shear and Carringer. "Citizen Kane." PMLA, Vol. 91, No. 5 (Oct., 1976), pp. 918-920

In his letter to the editor of PALMA, Jerry W. Carlson asserts that Robert L. Carringer's article “Rosebud, Dead or Alive: Narrative and Symbolic Structure in Citizen Kane” fails to account for the important rhetorical function of Rosebud in both the opening and closing shots of the film. Carlson argues that the complexity of the film’s ending is implicit throughout the film’s narrative and while the closing scene may appear excessive and stylized, it reiterates many themes that are set up in the opening sequence. Moreover, Carlson writes that Rosebud’s revelation in the final scene does not only reiterate previously established motifs, but also works in conjunction with beginning shots to provide the film with a sense of closure, without undermining its deliberate ambiguity. When viewed rhetorically Carlson believes Citizen Kane’s ending is much more complex then what Carringer’s analysis suggests.

This article relates to my thesis in that it addresses Citizen Kane’s narrative complexities, which simultaneously provides both closure and ambiguity. Throughout the film we follow Thompson as meets with 5 people who were close to Kane. Throughout each interview Thompson, like the viewer expects to learn more about the newspaper tycoon, but with each succeeding flashback, Kane’s depiction becomes more and more elusive. Thus, Welles subverts viewer expectation by suggesting a conclusion about Kane will be reached through access to the past, preserving both the film and Kane’s ambiguity. Similarly, the beginning and opening sequences frame the film in such a way—relating the snow globe and Kane’s last words in the beginning sequence to the burning sled in the last shot— to suggest closure, yet at the same time ultimately providing an ambiguous image. The narrative complexities behind Citizen Kane are just one of the many reasons it is hailed as on of the greatest films of all time.

Citizen Kane, The Great Gatsby, and Some Conventions of American Narrative

Carringer, Robert L. "Citizen Kane, The Great Gatsby, and Some Conventions of American Narrative" Critical inquiry [0093-1896] 2.2 (1975). 307-.25

In this article Robert Carringer compares two great American narratives— The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane—and highlights their striking similarities. For example, both works are retrospective narratives that feature wealthy and controversial protagonists whose private lives and feelings are little known. Carringer then goes on to discuss the screenplay of Citizen Kane, originally titled American, written by Herman Mankiewicz. The parallels between the screenplay and Gatsby are even more obvious and Carringer notes that Fitzgerald and Mankiewicz were actually good friends. Moreover, Carringer concludes by saying that the similarities apparent in The Great Gatsby and Citizen Kane are perhaps due to their American narratives, which, in literature utilize specific conventions and themes, suggesting that such conventions may be extending across mediums.

This article is relevant because it addresses some of the formal narrative conventions behind Citizen Kane and relates it to another great masterpiece thereby solidifying its status as a cinematic work of art. Yet interestingly enough, on a strictly narrative level, by highlighting the numerous parallels between Gatsby and Kane, Carringer in effect lessens Kane’s innovativeness by making the film appear as though it were recycling a narrative that has been used before. Thus while Kane follows the conventions of an American narrative, this article in effect de-bunks its notion as completely innovative, and rather suggests that the films formal and stylistic cinematic aspects are what truly garners the film its prestige.

Reading Kane

Leff, Leonard J. "Reading Kane" Film quarterly [0015-1386] 39.1 (1985). pp. 10-21 (24 November 2008)

This article provides another way of reading Kane, that addresses audience reaction to the film rather then it’s meaning. Leff begins by discussing the flashbacks in “Kane” and more specifically, how although narrators are portrayed in the third person, their narrations are given a first person bias. Leff asserts that each narrator not only relates events in which they were not present, but their narrations also elicit images that are inconsistent with their character. He then goes on to explore not the meaning of these shifts in point of view, but rather their purpose, and cities specific examples from flashback narration. Focusing specifically on flashbacks featuring Mr. Thatcher, Leff makes note of the inconsistencies between, and across narrator and image. Leff asserts that these inconsistencies constitute a divergence between the putative narrator and the actual narrator, which makes it nearly impossibly to gain insight into Kane’s true character. The author concludes by discussing “Rosebud” and acknowledges that while the meaning of the sled is unclear, the viewer’s discovery of the meaning behind Kane’s last words gives the film a sense of closure.

This article pertains to my thesis as it addresses the unique narrative structure of Citizen Kane and its implications. Thompson’s search for the meaning behind Kane’s last words takes him to five people, who knew Kane well, each of whom tell five different and biased stories. As Leff points out, the biased narration of each person is not only evident in the story they tell but also in the images that are provided in each flashback. What results is a fragmented and ambiguous narrative analogous to the viewers final impression of Kane, who in the end (even with the discovery of rosebud) appears ever more elusive. While the film is often criticized for its ambiguous ending, Kane is innovative in the sense that it represents a departure from traditional Hollywood conventions that insist upon narratives that end with neatly packed resolutions.

Citizen Kane

Carringer, Robert L. "Citizen Kane." Journal of Aesthetic Education, Vol. 9, No. 2, Special Issue: Film IV: Eight Study Guides (Apr., 1975), pp. 32-49

In his essay on Citizen Kane Robert Carringer describes the history behind Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, both of which have been labeled by prominent film critics as the greatest of their kind. While he made about a dozen films, Citizen Kane is regarded as Welles’s one undisputed masterpiece. According to Carringer, Welles’s approach to film was innovative and resembled that of experimental filmmakers as his primary objective was always to find new ways to work within the cinematic medium. Welles often starred in his own films and his narratives typically portray the downfall of a powerful figure. Moreover, Carringer writes of how Welles eschewed the traditional Hollywood style of editing and cinematography in favor of more obtrusive camera and editing devices that draw attention to the medium. Welles’s background in theater earned him a reputation that granted him entry into Hollywood and allowed him to sign an unprecedented contract with RKO that granted him full control over Citizen Kane. Carringer notes that Kane was an extremely collaborative project and that its cinematic achievements are in large part due to the screenwriter, musical score composer, and cinematographer who were some of Hollywood’s best talents. Moreover, Carringer asserts that while Citizen Kane is revolutionary, this is largely due to its fusion of previously established techniques and materials that when combined, produce a film that is completely unique. After Kane, Welles worked on a number of films that achieved little to modest success and thus Citizen Kane remains Welles’s greatest cinematic achievement.

This article pertains to my thesis as it addresses the innovative cinematic techniques used in Citizen Kane, and specifically Welles’s extensive use of deep focus shots. Such shots were rare at the time due to limited technology and their effects proved to be extremely dramatic. These shots require a small camera opening and thus necessitate an enormous amount of light. In order to achieve this Welles had to use special lights, lenses, and superfast film stock. The results however, constituted an innovation in filmmaking as deep focus shots eliminated the reliance upon editing to break down a dramatic space, as was standard practice before Kane. With extreme depth of field, all objects appear in sharp focus and thus allowing the dramatic center to shift within a continuous shot. The deep focus shots used throughout Kane are not only innovative, but also serve many different functions. Consider for example the flashback sequence when Walter Thatcher officially becomes Kane’s financial and personal guardian. The sequence begins with a young Kane playing in the snow. Mrs. Kane is placed in the foreground signing Charles away, while Mr. Thatcher and Charles’s father occupy the middle ground, and Kane remains in the background playing in the snow. Not only is the shot beautifully composed, but the depth of focus allows the viewer to attend to all aspects of the shot, which foreshadows Kane’s loss of innocence. The deep focus shots used throughout Citizen Kane are an aspect of the film that is highly regarded one of the reasons this film often labeled as the greatest of all time.

Music that makes a man a killer - Telegraph

Monahan, Mark. "Music that makes a man a killer" The Daily Telegraph 1 July 2006. 1 December 2008.

In this article Mark Monahan pays homage to Bernard Herrmann, without whose contributions Monahan feels cinema would be unimaginable. Born in New York to Russian Jewish Immigrants, Herrmann studied at NYU and made his conducting debut on Broadway at only 20 years old. In 1934 he began composing and conducting for CBS radio where he met Orson Welles who helped launch his career as a musical score artist in 1941 with Citizen Kane. Hermann has a wide range of film credits including The Magnificent Ambersons, Cape Fear, Jason and the Argonauts. After working on Kane, Herrmann worked on Hangover Square (1941), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and On Dangerous Ground (1952), before teaming up with Alfred Hitchcock, creating what Monahan calls “one of the most fruitful collaborations in the history of cinema”. One of Herrmann’s most famous musical scores is the one he created for Psycho, where employed a strings-only orchestra and solidified his legacy with the powerful and unforgettable musical shrieks of the shower scene. In 1966 Herrmann and Hitchcock parted ways after a disagreeing over the musical score for Hitchock’s next project, and their collaboration ended. After that Herrmann worked in both the French and American new waves, and ended his career in 1976 with Martin Scorsase’s Taxi Driver (1976).

The musical score is an integral part of any film. Just as editing guides the viewer’s attention, the musical score sets the tone of a scene or sequence and gives the audience privileged access to the narrative based on the musical foreshadowing. In this article Monahan recognizes the power and brilliance behind Herrmann’s scores, as they not only complement the action but also are the action, and allow the viewer entry and insight into the inner lives of the characters. Herrmann’s scores permeate characters psyches and surroundings, and as Monahan points out, when combined with Kane’s images, the effect is nothing short of brilliant. The opening scene, which Monahan discusses, is perhaps where Herrmann’s score is most powerful, as it works in conjunction with Welles’s visuals and sets up the film’s themes of Rosebud (and loss of innocence) and ambition (Kane’s ultimate downfall). Herrmann uses these concepts and creates leitmotifs, which are heard throughout the film. In the opening sequence for example, as the camera ascends upon Xanadu, Kane’s estate, Herrmann uses low brass and woodwind to create an effect that is both eerie and ominous, giving insight into the private life behind Kane’s sacred fortress and setting up the film’s musical theme. Herrmann’s powerful score is one of the most psychologically defining aspects of the film and constitutes a powerful and lends support to its claim as one of the greatest films of all time.

News Marches in Place: Kane's Newsreal as a Cutting Critique.

Damico, James. News Marches in Place: Kane's Newsreal as a Cutting Critique. Cinema Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2 Spring 1977 pp51-58

In this article author James Damico argues that the newsreel in Citizen Kane serves a variety of functions, and when juxtaposed with the rest of the film, actually provides a critique on newsreels themselves. The News on the March sequence is often seen as demonstrating the inability of simple biographical facts to account for the entirety of a man’s life, and provides a counterpart to the rest of the film, which gives a more ambiguous and less reductive understanding of existence. This inability is actually what drives the narrative, as Thompson, the reporter, sets out to find truths about Kane that are unaddressed in the newsreel. Moreover, Damico asserts that the criticism of the newsreel not only exists on a narrative level, but also in many aspects of the film, and is especially evident in the film’s camerawork and editing. Moreover, the author goes on to suggest that the ubiquity of still photographs present throughout the News on the March and the rest of the film proper provides evidence to suggest Welles’s questioning of the general concept montage. Damico concludes that the concept of montage is completely at odds with Welles’s own concept of filmmaking, and that while he sometimes utilizes montage, his films consist more so of discrete and coherent sequences.

The newsreel in Citizen Kane speaks to the film’s innovative narrative structure and fits in with many of the films reoccurring motifs. The film begins with an end—the death of Charles Foster Kane—and the narrative that follows takes us through a retrospective investigation of his life. The film’s structure, like Thompson’s investigation and Kane’s life, is extremely fragmented. This is apparent not only through the films non-linear narration, but also through its stylistic fusion of multiple genres, which is clearly evident through the use of the newsreel. Moreover, the newsreel itself is fragmented and incomplete and presents the puzzle with a missing piece that is the reason behind the investigation that drives the narrative. Additionally, in noting that the newsreel is at odds with Welles’s traditional style of filmmaking, Domino highlights the fact that the newsreel is used deliberately to serve a larger function within the film. Thus, this article pertains to my thesis because it addresses Citizen Kane’s stylistic innovations and demonstrates how many aspects of the film operate on multiple levels—the newsreel in this case— creating the depiction of Kane as an elusive and contradictory persona.

Citizen Kane

Street, Sarah. Citizen Kane. History Today 1996 Mar; 46 (3): 48-52.

In this article Sarah Street discusses Citizen Kane with respect to its iconic status, making note of the importance of Welles’ politics in understanding both its contemporary context, as well as publisher William R. Hearst’s reaction against the film. Street highlights the similarities between Hearst and Kane, and feels that Welles uses Kane to criticize Hearst, citing Welles’s opposing political ideology as evidence. Street makes note of film’s role in the late 1930s which was beginning to exert a great deal of influence on public opinion, and suggests that Welles uses Citizen Kane to make a larger statement about the status of newspapers and journalism of the time. Despite the Hearst controversy surrounding the film, the author goes on to acknowledge Kane’s cinematic achievements, many of which were achieved through the use of special effects. Street concludes her article by acknowledging Welles as the clear visionary behind Kane, and notes that the film uncovers “universal truths” which will make its legacy long lasting.
This article relates to my thesis in that it demonstrates the influence and impact of Citizen Kane and to a larger extent the power of film in general. Despite the political and social controversy surrounding the film and Hearst’s initial attempts to stop its release, Citizen Kane’s legacy proves that a great film will always be recognized and acknowledged as a great film. Moreover, Street recognizes Kane’s cinematic achievements and cites the films formal and stylistic cinematic aspects as reason behind the film’s venerable status, rather then its narrative that may or may not allude the life of Hearst.

The Problem of Coherency in Fritz Lang's Fury (1936)

Fritz Lang's first American film, "Fury," concerns the story of a man whom, falsely accused of a kidnapping and murder, is held in a county jail against his will and is subject to mob justice at the hands of the local community. Such people burn the jail he is in and believe he dies, but he in fact survives and shows up later on during the trail of some of the lynchers, condemning the masses for their behavior while reflecting on his own mistakes. Many scenes, in particular the moment when the mob descends upon the jail, are still very captivating, but they seem to be in opposition to earlier moments in the film, where the happy relationship between Joe and Katherine is shown (aping a more lighthearted comedy in the process). The dramatic shift from carefree entertainment to social commentary, then poses an interesting question - is this shift consistent with the tone of the film? It is my argument that it is not, and through careful examination of the film as well as study of its various meanings and messages, it will hopefully be revealed that the shift detracts from the film's underlying social messages. However powerful such scenes may be, they cannot be fully appreciated without our understanding of the main characters. The change from lighthearted romp to stinging critique is too abrupt to justify, and the social commentary suffers to some extent because of this.

Christensen, Terry. . Projecting politics : political messages in American film / Terry Christensen and Peter J. Haas. 076561443X (hardcover : alk. paper) series Armonk, N.Y. : M.E. Sharpe, c2005. Chapter 2: p.19-40 Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1995.9.P6 C4

     Chapter two of Terry Christensen and Peter Haas’ book Projecting Politics, “The Making of a Message” explores how political messages can be most effectively projected through film production and techniques. The authors state the most common way films send political messages is through the screenplay, which entails the subject matter, characters and plotting. In political films, dialogue is of the utmost importance; more words are spoken and what is said is given greater weight. Dialogue is a precarious aspect of the film because if too much is said then the movie is deemed inactive and boring; if the political implications are too obvious, the effectiveness of the messages can be subverted; and if the film is too understated, the political messages might be overlooked. Therefore, the authors argue that political films are most effective when they allow audiences to infer their own conclusions, or at least let them think that they have.
     This notion is relevant to my thesis, as the political messages in Casablanca are not verbally broadcasted throughout the film; but rather, they are embedded in dialogue that is relevant to the narrative of the story. A perfect example of this is when Rick says, “Louis, this is a start of a beautiful friendship”- words that allow us to reach our own conclusions. We may interpret the words on a surface level, as simply reconciliation between friends within a story; or we may look beneath the surface and infer the political implications of the words – the start of a great friendship between an American and a Frenchmen to signify supporting an American alliance with European countries to fight against the Nazi regime.
     The authors also discuss movie conventions that can be used in a political film to minimize the risk of controversy. The most relevant to my thesis is personalization, when movies with a political subject matter focus on the personal drama of politically active characters, making them more acceptable and accessible to mass audiences. This is in direct accordance with my thesis, as it supports the notion that because Casablanca works so well as a character drama, it is such an effective form of propaganda.
     Another important element of the film that the chapter touches upon is the importance of casting. The casting of movie stars influences the effectives of the political messages on the public. “Stars are the creation of the public: political and psychological models who demonstrate some quality we admire" (33). This notion of the star system and the affect it has on viewers is pertinent to my thesis because it shows the profound capacity of the character Rick Blaine, and the actor Humphrey Bogart, to sway public opinion. The book states, “the so-called star system frequently cues the audience to political values transmitted by a movie" (33). Thus the casting of an actor who is renowned as an American icon, like Humphrey Bogart, reassures audiences that the movie they are seeing supports National (American) values and serves to enhance the legitimacy of the political messages being sent.

Black city cinema : African American urban experiences in film

Massood, Paula J. Black city cinema : African American urban experiences in film / Paula J. Massood. Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 2003.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1995.9.N4 M33 2003

In Black City Cinema, Paula Massood shows how popular films reflected the massive social changes that resulted from the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to cities in the North, West, and Mid-West during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Paula Massood demonstrates how the urban has functioned as a central organizing trope in the articulation of Black culture, progress, protest and subjectivity. Massood probes into the relationship of place and time, showing how urban settings became an intrinsic element of African American film as Black people became more firmly rooted in urban spaces and more visible as historical and political subjects. Illuminating the intersections of film, history, politics, and urban discourse, she considers the chief genres of African American and Hollywood narrative film: the black cast musicals of the 1920s and the "race" films of the early sound era to blaxploitation and hood films, as well as the work of Spike Lee toward the end of the century.

The most relevant chapter would be the second, which discusses city motifs in race films from the early sound era. Her two main examples of race films are The Scar of Shame and Within Our Gates as the illustrations for African American urbanscapes. She also goes on the discuss how the film upheld ideals of individualism and ambition, but was still targeted by both whites and blacks. She also states that the film’s message is, “racially motivated violence directed at African Americans was often caused by economic jealousy or lust rather than any actual illegal acts perpetrated by its victims.” This goes against Birth of a Nation clearly and she also mentions the race riots that occurred in Chicago during the time.

Fire and Desire: Race, Melodrama and Oscar Micheaux

Gaines, Jane. “Fire and Desire: Race, Melodrama and Oscar Micheaux”. Black American Cinema. Ed. Manthia Diawara. New York: Routledge, 1993, 49-70.

The work of early Black filmmakers is given serious attention for the first time in “Black American Cinema”. Individual essays consider such topics as what a Black film tradition might be, the relation between Black American Filmmakers and filmmakers from the Diaspora, the nature of Black film aesthetics, the artist's place within the community, and the representation of Black imaginary.

Both movies, Within Our Gates and The Birth of a Nation, have caused a lot of protest because of their racially brutal images. However the protests had different focuses. People did not want to see Micheaux ‘s film because it was too much of the truth, and people did not want to see Griffith’s film because it did not have enough. Gaines argues that the main issue was the idea of truth. The biggest difference between the two films is the fact that Micheaux has his film focus on black life and the middle class. Another interesting point that Gaines makes is that, “while the White supremacist version of the Civil War survived, Micheaux’s African American history lesson disappeared and was classified by film scholars as lost.” She discusses how the Spanish version, La Negra, that was found 70 years later is just a skeleton of the original. The lynching scene seems tangential to the story line, and yet it is the most important scene it seems for Micheaux. By turning this scene into such an important spectacle, he was trying to encourage indignation in the Black audiences, according to Gaines. Going along with many other articles on the subject, she discusses the cross-cutting in this sequence and how Micheaux displayed his unconventional style in his films.

Cine 101 Project - Nick Stergiopoulos Le Crime de Monsieur Lange

Jean Renoir's Le Crime de Monsieur Lange was championed by the Popular Front upon its release. The film begins with people in a hotel recognizing Lange as a murderer, and threatening to turn him in. His lover, Valentine, tries to defend him by telling the full story behind the murder. Both Lange and Valentine worked at a production company headed by an evil, irresponsible capitalist, Batala, who exploited both the workers and women. Batala is forced to leave after being accused of credit fraud, and fakes his own death. Upon his departure, the workers take over the business, and it thrives because of their cooperation and unity. However, this "utopia" is threatened when Batala returns. In the end, Lange kills Batala and then flees with Valentine. Ultimately, the people in the hotel let Lange and Valentine leave, and they flee in exile, "free". Because of the events going on in France and the history of the film's production, I seek to analyze the film from a historical perspective. The argument I am trying to defend is that the narration, symbolism, and style of the film ultimately reflect the ideology of the Popular Front.

Oscar Micheaux, the great and only

McGilligan, Patrick. Oscar Micheaux, the great and only : the life of America's first Black filmmaker / Patrick McGilligan. 1st ed. 0060731397 series New York : HarperCollins, c2007.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1998.3.M494 M34 2007

In a feat of historical investigation and vivid storytelling, this film biographer takes on one of the greatest and most complex figures in American entertainment, Oscar Micheaux, the son of freed slaves who formed his own film production company after Hollywood failed to bid high enough for film rights to his stories. Paced like a novel, the book is sprinkled liberally with Micheaux's own words. Micheaux's career began to fizzle, along with race films, in the late 1930s, and he died in obscurity in 1951. Rediscovered decades later, he is now considered, as McGilligan puts it, the Jackie Robinson of American film.

The book overall is a wonderful resource on background knowledge regarding aspects of Micheaux's life that others cannot find easily. The most important chapter would be Chapter 9, focusing on the years between 1919 and 1921. Since Within Our Gates came out in 1920, it gives a timeline of the events that were going on right before the movie and while filming was taking place. You can also learn some really interesting facts about the movie and how Micheaux was able to get this film out to the masses and how the original version has been lost. We also learn that he likes to always have some sort of message in his films, despite having them just be entertaining. The author also considers the flashback of the lynching to be “one of the most powerful sequences in Micheaux's body of work”.

Oscar Micheaux's Bodies and the Cinematic Cut

Gerstner, David A. "'Other and Different Scenes': Oscar Micheaux's Bodies and the Cinematic Cut." Wide Angle 21.4 (1999): 6-19. Project MUSE. 30 Nov. 2008 .

In his article David A. Gerstner argues, “that through the use of the cinematic edit Micheaux reveals the African-American body—specifically the male body—as one torn asunder by the violent irony of white culture that, on the one hand, demands his assimilation while, on the other, rejects his very presence.” He focuses on the directors themselves, as opposed to specific films. He calls them the “White and Black fathers of cinema” and discusses the ways they have both contributed to film production and style.

Overall I think this article helps to prove the point about the two films and how they relate to each other. Another added bonus is how in depth that article gets about the two directors. Gerstner specifically talks about the use of flashbacks in the film Within Our Gates. History plays a large role in the film and he discusses how the weight of the past plays into the actions of the characters in their present. Both films incorporate controversial subject matter; lynching, rape, and miscegenation are represented in the films, but from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Parallel editing presents a comparison of two different types of African American men, which was something that Griffin did not show. Micheaux authenticates, through the black man and women's perspective, his version of the proper order of things in the world, in response to Griffin’s Klan controlled order.

Race, Reception, and Oscar Micheaux's Within Our Gates

Siomopoulos, Anna. "The Birth of a Black Cinema: Race, Reception, and Oscar Micheaux's Within Our Gates," The Moving Image: The Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists, vol. 6.2 (Fall), 111-118, 2006.

This article talks about Oscar Micheaux's film and how it provided a rebuttal to Griffith's depiction of black violence and corruption with a story of the injustices faced by African Americans in a racist society. Siomopoulos primarily talks about the style of editing that were in both films. Siomopoulos states, “The complicated style of Micheaux's editing works to constitute a spectator who is more politically critical than the spectator constructed by the classical Hollywood style of Griffith's film” It compares the editing of the two films and talks about how live music plays a part in the spectatorship of the film.

This article helps to show the similarities and differences between the two films, but it uses Birth of A Nation as the main comparison piece. This helps to answer the question about how the films incorporate their views in opposite ways, by explaining the cutting. It also breaks down and explains the narrative juxtapositions in the films. Birth of a Nation uses crosscutting to present a very simple opposition between white virtue and black villainy; in contrast, Micheaux's film uses a complex editing pattern to present a larger social vision of many different, competing political positions within both white and African American society. so this article helps greatly to answer the questions about how these two film relate to each other, in style and content.

Chicago's New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life

Baldwin, Davarian L. Chicago's New Negroes: Modernity, the Great Migration, and Black Urban Life. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007.

While the book follows the stories and innovations of Madame CJ Walker, Thomas A. Dorsey, Oscar Micheaux and baseball's Rube Foster, it also provides a space in which we get to hear the thoughts and words of everyday people, those who sat in beauty parlors, enjoyed the early years of cinema, and made a way despite the racial, social and economic limitations. While the book is a scholarly monograph, Baldwin's expedition into social and cultural theory is so nuanced as to make the book accessible to a wider audience. Davarian Baldwin argues overall that this mass consumer marketplace generated a vibrant intellectual life and planted seeds of political dissent against the dehumanizing effects of white capitalism.

This book overall is great wonderful if you want to learn about black innovators in Chicago. But if you are interested in Oscar Micheaux in particular, then the best chapter would be the fourth entitled, “The Birth of Two Nations: White fears, black jeers, and the rise of a race film consciousness”. The chapter begins by discussing the history and impact of Birth of a Nation. It was an escape in which the traditional white power structure of the South was asserted and black migrants had never come north. But Baldwin proves this point invalid in his historical evidence and he also shows that Griffith’s film created two nations because people like Micheaux had to respond to the story that was told in Birth of Nation. A really interesting point that he mentions is that fact that films like Within Our Gates had to constantly battle with showing the truth of the South to the masses, but also still keeping the traditional black amusement forms. He calls this “sensational realism”. He then goes on the mention Micheaux’s life and Baldwin notes the significance of Oscar Micheaux's five silent and nine sound films in constructing a New Negro racial consciousness. He gives plenty of historical evidence and reviews from the time, which helps to put the films in a clear cultural perspective.

Oscar Micheaux's Interrogation of Caricature as Entertainment

Green, Ronald J. "Oscar Micheaux's Interrogation of Caricature as Entertainment." Film Quarterly vol. 51 no. 3 pp: 16-31.

In this article by J. Ronald Green he first gives a brief overview of Micheaux’s upbringing and then his early films. He mentions Within our Gates, but does not talk about the film specifically. However, there are a lot of interesting points in the article, which can relate to understanding the portrayals of African-Americans in his early films. Green talks about how caricature was perceived by Micheaux as a prime obstacle for black advancement and its removal was an early rhetorical objective necessary to his goal. Blacks in the performing arts desperately needed to shed the caricature being used as a shelter. One of Micheaux's principal missions was to show that a black man could be anything he wanted. The ABAB structure is used repeatedly by Micheaux as a narrative form for his cinematic, class-based critique. Micheaux presented a simple configuration of shot and edit that implies the "cutting" of the B figure by the A figure. When the minstrel and vaudeville performers, or B figures, are introduced in the same shot with the chorus members, or A figures, the B figures are gazed upon by the A figures in a way that implies reprobation. A/upper-class, B/lower-class structure of the cutting gaze manifested in its purist form in “The Darktown Revue”. In “Murder in Harlem”, the ABAB paradigm is integrated into a more complex narrative, and the idea of the entertainment stereotype as inhabiting the class relations of daily life is elaborated. The author breaks down these two Micheaux's films that include music and performance as subjects.

Micheaux interrogated entertainment as a function of class in a direct way that takes entertainment to be a literal, not just representational, sociopolitical condition inherent in the films. This tools helps to show another way that he is able to educate his audience about racism and the uplift of a people. Caricatures are just another form of blackface and other demeaning portrayals that Micheaux did not like. I also found Green’s ABAB structure very interesting overall because it brings a new dimension to Micheaux’s work.

Casablanca - American Foreign policy

Citation:

"'Casablanca' and United States Foreign Policy." Raskin, Richard. Film History. Vol. 4. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990. 2 vols. 153-164.

The following excerpt from a film history book by Rishard Raskin of the University of Indiana places Casablanca as a film in the grander scheme of historical context. Raskin gives the valuable background of the war effort at the time and demonstrates the direct correlation with the historical events in French North Africa, Europe, and the plot and motifs of the film. Raskin explains the significance of the Casablanca Conference and the exterior significance of the city as an important meeting place that changed the course of World War II. Raskin demonstrates that the film had an impact on the decisions of Roosevelt and that the film was a classic example of using a romantic plotline to cast meaning over strong political undertones. Raskin further discusses the political development of the region both before and after the film’s release and how it changed many of the policies of the region. Ultimately, Raskin demonstrates how Casablanca was influenced by the political, economic, and wartime climate to create an influential World War II propaganda film. Additionally, Rakin shows how Casablanca played an important role in the development of U.S. foreign policy and domestic attitudes towards both the small city and towards the United States involvement in the war as well.

Nazi Cinema

Leiser, Erwin, 1923- . Nazi cinema / Erwin Leiser ; translated from the German by Gertrud Mander and David Wilson. series London : Secker & Warburg, 1974.
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1993.5.G3 L3813 1974
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1993.5.G3 L3813 1974
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1993.5.G3 L3813 1974

Leiser, Erwin. Nazi Cinema. London: Secker & Warburg, 1974.

“The Joseph Goebbels Programme”

This chapter explains the role of propaganda, specifically Joseph Goebbels' administration of it; Goebbels was minister of propaganda. Hitler defined the primary goal of propaganda as educating the masses on “the essence and function of the State” (Leiser 11). Hitler wanted film’s only purpose to be propaganda, but Goebbels disagreed, using subtler methods of propaganda. Goebbels was moved by film. He specifically admired Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. Goebbels made his films non-political so that audiences would not suspect political motives, but in reality every film was embedded with political propaganda. Goebbels preferred “people…to be manipulated without being shown the direction in which they were being led” (Leiser 12). This method of manipulation was thought to be more effective. He used different storylines to indirectly parallel it to the Nazi agenda. Goebbels was an ever-present force in film. He influenced basically every film made in Nazi Germany. His great influence was often resented by directors such as Viet Harlan. In general, Nazi films reaffirmed stereotypes and morals deemed important to the Nazis. These morals were enough for some “non-political” films to be passable by Goebbels as a form of propaganda since they were promoting a unified culture approved by the Nazi Party.
Goebbels recognized the effectiveness of film as a tool for propaganda and manipulation. He realized that film was necesary in keeping Germany unified culturally and politically. He was ultimately the man behind the whole propaganda campaign, meaning the he can be credited for all its successes as well as all its downfalls. This means that Goebbels can be blamed for the wasteful film productions at the end of the war. Kolberg is one of the feature films produced at the end of the war that did not have an overt political message and served no purpose because it could not inspire the German citizens to win the war when they were two months away from defeat. Ultimately, as minister of propaganda and being entrusted with so much power Goebbels becam too absorbed in film production and did not think rationally about the purpose of each film produced. The chapter describes how Goebbels had a fascination with film. Goebbels cites several films that "made an 'indelible impression' on him" (Leiser 10). This passion for film may have clouded Goebbels' jugement in the determination of the importance of film production at the end of the war; this film production conflicted with the war effort.

The Wizard of Oz and Crashing Cars

Fleming’s 1939 American film The Wizard of Oz is an early pioneer of the use of innovative techniques in camera work, music, visual and special effects in modern day movie production. The musical-fantasy classic has also become a firm favorite among the American public and coupled with its influence in the film industry, it should be regarded as the most significant American film of all time.

Today’s moviegoers revel in the thrill of highspeed car chases and high octane explosions. It is for this reason that engineers, designers and expert cameramen work continuously to bring us closer to the action. One new development by the Adventure Equipment group is the use of “a gyrostabilized, camera-mounted, remote-controlled crane system attached to an SUV” – affectionately referred to as the Ultimate Arm. The pan/tilt/rotation capabilities of the camera coupled with the motor’s ability to reduce turbulence and wind resistance enable the camera crew to capture steady footage from a variety of angles during even the most intense chases. The audience is transported “directly into the flow of traffic.” Much has changed since the day Dorothy first rode a tornado into Munchkin City. In 1939, audiences were stunned by the sweeping camera movements as they followed Dorothy and company along the Yellow Brick Road. It is clear that today’s techniques are a bit more complex but with so much progress constantly being made over the years, we can only imagine what lies ahead in the world of filmmaking.

NASA Tech Briefs. "Motor Used to Stabilize Remote-Controlled Camera Crane." NASA Tech Briefs.
       (Aug. 2006). NASA Tech Briefs. Findarticles.com, 1 Dec. 2008. .

The Wizard of Oz on Ice ! (well not really)

Such is the high esteem in which Fleming’s 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz is held that curators have taken precautions to preserve this and other historically significant films from the deteriorating effects of age. Movies made before 1951 were recorded on nitrate film. Of course films are expected to fade and shrink as they get older, but nitrate paper adds an extra twist to the situation in that it is also extremely volatile. In fact, ignited nitrate paper produces its own oxygen – meaning that once ignited it is virtually impossible to extinguish the fire with water. History is rife with accounts of uncontrollable fires which have ravaged vast collections of movies recorded on nitrate paper. Exposure to heat, moisture or sharp fluctuations in temperature are also extremely damaging to these films. Thankfully though, proper steps are being taken to preserve these valuable pieces by storing them in specially designed frigid, low humidity vaults such as those in the Library of Congress and the George Eastman museum.

Dobbin, Ben. "Vaults protecting pre-1951 movies." Associated Press.(May 17, 2008).Associated Press. Findarticles.com, 1 Dec. 2008 .

Oz Inspiring 1 - Thief of Bagdad, The (1940)

Despite only modest box office success after its initial release in 1939, MGM’s The Wizard of Oz received many favorable reviews and was warmly embraced by the movie-going public. This positive response prompted London Films to produce The Thief of Baghdad one year later. The plot centered on the life of a young man who, with the help of circumstance and a djinni (genie), rises from being a lowly thief to being offered the position of Grand Vizier to the sultan. The film was a great success with “its colourful fantasy offering audiences a welcome escape from the grim daily reality of war, at a time when both colour film stock and genuine fantasy were a rarity in Britain.”

Duguid, Mark. "Thief of Bagdad, The (1940)." Screen Online Website. 1 Dec. 2008 .

The Wizard of Oz - Changes and Alterations

It appears that the classic American film The Wizard of Oz is not a direct adaption of the literary works of Oz creator L. Frank Baum. While it is true that audiences have fallen in love with Fleming’s interpretation of the literature, it is noteworthy that there have been numerous alterations. Entire scenes have either been changed or completely ignored and the film also rearranges selected elements from numerous Oz books in order to facilitate movie production. Nevertheless, there is no questioning the fact that Baum has left an indelible impression upon the entertainment world. From books to plays to films, cartoons and comics, it is easy to see that his creations have gradually infiltrated and strengthened the bloodstream of American culture.

Tysad Koupla, Nancy. "Critique on Before the Rainbow." Children's Literature Association Quarterly.
(30 April 2006). Muse.jhu.edu, 1 Dec. 2008.

The Wonderful Religion of Oz ?

Such is the popularity of Baum’s The Wizard of Oz that some critics have suggested that it and other forms of popular culture have replaced biblical teaching and mythology’s position in society’s collective imagination. So thorough is the permeation of the Oz fantasy that a mere mention of any of the popular quotes from the movie will instantly evoke the full comprehension and application of said quote to the context in question. So complete is our exposure to the fantasy that even the act of thinking about certain related issues is reduced to mere reflex. Hastings posits that while the Bible was once the “source of our verbal and visual shorthand” any reference to Biblical characters or quotations in today’s world had best be accompanied by a footnote. Can a fictitious girl and her dog really replace usurp religion’s role in the western world? The issue is definitely up for debate. One thing is for certain though, “Toto, we're not in Kansas any more."

Hastings, A. Waller. "Worshiping at the Altar of Oz ." The Lion and the Unicorn.
(21 Feb. 1997). Muse.jhu.edu, 1 Dec. 2008.

The Wizard of Oz - A Work of Art

In his article Kansas, Oz and the Function of Art , Conlon describes Fleming’s 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz as an expression of art using the film medium. He proposes the idea that the land of Oz is itself the artistic interpretation of the reality of Kansas. While art is generally mimetic, Oz is not just a mere reflection of Kansas. Nor is Oz a conflict-free version of the real world. This much is clear as Dorothy faces arguably more dire perils in Oz than in Kansas. It is true that the characters in Oz resemble their Kansas counterparts in physique and psyche, however the relationships that Dorothy forges with the Tin Man, Lion and Scarecrow are more indicative of her desire to be treated as an equal rather than the meddlesome child she is depicted as while on the farm. Oz also empowers Dorothy with the ability to evoke change in the status quo, in Kansas her opinion is often ignored or dismissed. The article is truly a unique interpretation of the film and shows that this beloved fantasy has a lot more substance than we might realize at first glance.

Conlon, James. "Kansas, Oz and the Function of Art." Journal of Aesthetic Education Vol. 24, No. 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 99-106. University of Illinois Press. JSTOR, 1 Dec. 2008.

The Wizard of Oz: Making a Masterpiece

How do you produce a film that appeals to people of all ages, becomes more cherished as time passes, will forever influence the American lifestyle and continues to inspire the world? In 1939 MGM spent an estimated $2.5 million to finance the production of The Wizard of Oz. The company clearly spared no expense in incorporating the talents of the industry’s best actors, film crew, technical experts and the most advanced technology of the day (Technicolor). A similar project in today’s economy would cost about $50 million. While initial box office numbers might not have rewarded their adventurous (and somewhat risky) approach, time has proven the project to be a resounding success. “The Wizard of Oz has witnessed more than 20 years of revival on both television and in theaters, remaining widely popular. Internationally, the film has enjoyed wider distribution than any other American film in history—fantasy, musical or otherwise.” How do you produce a film to change the world? MGM might have a “vague idea.”

Winning, Robert. "The Wizard of Oz." Film Reference Website. 1 Dec. 2008 .

Following the Yellow Brick Road

Fleming