The 1930s: The Great American Movie Genres…

• Her Dilemma (a.k.a. Confessions of a Co-Ed) (1931) dir. Dudley Murphy
  • Sound became the main feature of cinema in America, the visuals sank to the backdrop.
  • Lighting became flatter to abide multiple cameras
• Love Me Tonight (1932) dir. Rouben Mamoulian
  • An explosively inventive musical, shows life as a symphony.
  • The music carries from one to another through the city while the camera follows.
  • Used sounds that fit, but not necessarily always originating from the associated item.
• The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920) dir. Carl Boese and Paul Wegener
  • Had bold diagonal composition.
  • Horror movie.
• Frankenstein (1931) dir. James Whale
  • Borrows heavily from The Golem.
  • Very different from original novel.
• Eyes Without a Face (1960) dir. Georges Franju
  • Builds dread through the mystery of the masked woman.
• Audition (1999) dir. Takashi Miike
  • One of the greatest shocks in cinema with the thing in the bag.
• The Public Enemy (1931) dir. William A. Wellman
  • One of the first great gangster pictures.
  • Shows no empathy, very charming.
• Scarface (1932) dir. Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson
  • Turns gangster genre into tragedy.
• Scarface (1983) dir. Brian De Palma
  • Very effective crane shots, lots of 80’s charm.
  • Mirrors shot from the original with different meaning.
• Seven Samurai (1954) dir. Akira Kurosawa
  • Gangster themes mixed in with classical storytelling.
• Once Upon a Time in America (1984) dir. Sergio Leone
  • One of the best gangster pictures.
• The Iron Horse (1924) dir. John Ford
  • Uses train as camera dolly.
• My Darling Clementine (1946) dir. John Ford
  • Shows difference between ideals in westerns and gangster movies.
• Twentieth Century (1934) dir. Howard Hawks
  • Comedy film, expertise in acting quickly.
• Bringing Up Baby (1938) dir. Howard Hawks
  • Even faster pace, overlapping dialogue.
  • There was a great deal more realism in this.
• The Men Who Made the Movies: Howard Hawks (1973) dir. Richard Schickel
  • Shows Howard as plain spoken and somewhat gruff.
  • Shaped popular movie genres.
• Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) (introduced in Episode 1) dir. Mervyn LeRoy
  • Choreographed by a military man.
• Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) dir. Winsor McCay
  • Animated film, one of the first.
• The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) dir. Lotte Reiniger
  • Uses cutouts of characters to animate.
• Plane Crazy (1928) dir. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks
  • Turned animation into a multi nationally famous art form.
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) dir. David Hand, William Cottrell, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce, and Ben Sharpsteen
  • Worldwide box office hit.
  • Primitive motion capture.
• One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) dir. Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wolfgang Reitherman
  • Cheaper animation style, did not look as good.

…And the Brilliance of European Film

• The Blood of a Poet (1931) dir. Jean Cocteau
  • Surreal world of an artist’s mind.
• Inception (2010) dir. Christopher Nolan
  • Used same rolling hallway.
• Zéro de conduite (1933) dir. Jean Vigo
  • Slow motion, and plays with sound.
• If…. (1968) dir. Lindsay Anderson
  • Combines themes of Zero de conduite with British classes.
• L’Atalante (1934) dir. Jean Vigo
  • Used upward angles to hide continuity errors.
• Le Quai des brumes (1938) dir. Marcel Carné
  • Poetic realist film, very dark mood.
• Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) dir. Marcel Carné
  • The street mime portrays what happened, now with musical backing.
• La Règle du jeu (1939) (a.k.a. The Rules of the Game) dir. Jean Renoir
  • The camera simply observes humanity.
  • Powerful message reflective or French ideals after the second world war.
• La Grande Illusion (1937) dir. Jean Renoir
  • Shows equality between the good and evil of each type of person.
  • Not a linear path from start to finish for plot.
• Limite (1931) dir. Mário Peixoto
  • Creative camera movements.
• The Adventures of a Good Citizen (1937) dir. Stefan Themerson
  • A surreal movie, based on men carrying a big mirror.
• Two Men and a Wardrobe (1958) dir. Roman Polanski
  • Seems to follow the example, also about carrying a wardrobe around.
• Das Blaue Licht (1932) dir. Leni Riefenstahl
  • Uses soft light and mist, mountains and close ups.
• Triumph of the Will (1935) dir. Leni Riefenstahl
  • Romanticizes Hitler. Geometric and bold images.
• Behind the Scenes of the Filming of the Olympic Games (1937) dir. Leni Riefenstahl
  • Filming the Olympic games, with zoom lenses to show great detail.
• Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty (1938) dir. Leni Riefenstahl
  • Makes divers soar by reversing images and not showing them touch the water.
• Tiefland (1954) dir. Leni Riefenstahl
  • Accused of using people from concentration camps in this film.
• The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) dir. Ray Müller
  • Never compromised on her style.
• Vertigo (1958) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Uses tracking shot he remembers from his childhood movie viewings.
• Saboteur (1942) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Otherworldly logic, clothes dry when they are needed.
  • No music to build tension.
• Sabotage (1936) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Portrays fear as a very different thing than shock, builds suspense to make the shock greater.
• The 39 Steps (1935) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Film is filled with hands.
  • Instead of an establishing shot, the world very slowly comes into view.
• Marnie (1964) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
  • Very effective shots to show energy levels.
• Ninotchka (1939) dir. Ernst Lubitsch
  • Glamorous, indulgent in escapism.
• The Wizard of Oz (1939) dir. Victor Fleming
  • Uses color to show a transition between places.
  • Shows the dream as a false one.
• Gone with the Wind (1939) (introduced in Episode 2) dir. Victor Fleming
  • Attacks escapism as a truly awful thing, while being escapist.