SYLLABUS: THE HISTORY OF THE MOVIE INDUSTRY (Film 2902)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

READINGS

I. Sklar, Robert (1975) Movie Made America; Random House; NY; 340 pp

II. The following which can be found on the web sites to which they are linked:

From Stranger and Friend. The Way of an Anthropologist by Hortense Powdermaker. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1966.

Hollywood: The Dream Factory by Hortense Powdermaker

Review of Hollywood: The Dream Factory

Response to the review

III. ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

Altman, Rick (2004) Silent Film Sound Columbia University Press; NY; 462pp

Anger, Ken (1965) Hollywood Babylon Associated Professional Services; Phoenix, AR; 271pp

Boyreau, Jacques (2002) Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters Chronicle Books, San Francisco; 144pp

Davis, Ronald L. (2005) Just Making Movies: Company Directors on the Studio System University Press of Mississippi; Jackson; 239pp

Gabler Neal (1988) An Empire of their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood Crown Publishers; NY; 502pp

Hofler. Robert (2005) The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson Carrroll & Graf; NY; 468pp

Huang ,Yunte (2010) Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History W.W. Norton; NY; 354pp

Lasky, Jesse (1973) Whatever Happened to Hollywood W.H. Allen; NY; 308pp

Napoli, Philip (2010 ) Audience Evolution: New Technologies and the Transformation of Media Audiences; Columbia University Press; NY; 272pp

Rogin, Michael Paul (1996) Blackface, White Noise: Jewish Immigrants in the Hollywood Melting Pot University of California Press, Berkely, CA; 330pp

Slide, Anthony (2010) Inside the Hollywood Fan Magazine: A History of Star Makers, Fabricators, and Gossip Mongers University Press of Mississippi; 281pp

Additional Books to Choose from May Be Added

ASSIGNMENTS

Midterm Exam (essay) (30%)
Final* (essay) (30%)
Term Paper** (30%)and brief presentation (10%)

*one question of the final will be a summary of the three books

**The term paper should be substantial (probably 15-20 pages) and on some aspect of the history of the movie business. You will get to make a brief (10 minute) presentation of your paper to the class.

The course deals with the development of the film industry as a result of technological developments, social, cultural and especially governmental interactions with the growing industry. It will examine the development of the various roles in the film industry, the kinds of films that were made, the development of the theaters and the audiences, the interactions with the government and the development of ancillary business.

A number of films will be shown during the term (mostly, but not exclusively documentaries) and a number of narrative films which relate to these aspects of film making will be distributed.

The following is a list of topics which will be covered in the course. The topics interact with one another so these are not meant to be sequential.

TOPICS

I. The roles statuses and interactions of the people who make films

II. The kinds of films

III The people who see films

IV. The technology behind the films

V. The governmental involvements at direct and indirect levels.

VI. Ancillary businesses dependent on the industry