Program Notes for American Cinema
1. The Hollywood Style
In the classical Hollywood film, the story is primary. Filmmakers rely on style — structure, narrative, and visual
elements — to effectively tell their story. Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack are among the premier directors who
discuss how classical Hollywood style, evolving and yet enduring over time, informs their work.
2. The Studio System
This program surveys Hollywood's industrial past during the era of contract players and directors, studio police forces,
and colorful movie moguls. It also looks at the filmmaking environment of today with studio heads Michael Eisner,
Howard Koch, and others. Paramount Pictures, one of the oldest and most successful of the Hollywood studios,
serves as a case study.
3. The Star
Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Dustin Hoffman — these among many others are names synonymous with Hollywood.
Early on, Hollywood saw that recognizable talent could minimize the financial risks of film production. Critics, film
scholars, and studio publicists view the stars from many angles: as marketing tools, cultural icons, and products of
the industry. Joan Crawford headlines as a case study of the cultural phenomenon of stardom.
4. The Western
The western is an American myth that has been translated by other cultures and reinterpreted time and again, b
never dies. With clips and critical commentary on westerns from John Ford's Stagecoach through the work of Arth
Penn, Sam Peckinpah, and Clint Eastwood, the program traces the aesthetic evolution of the genre as well as its
sociological importance.
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5. Romantic Comedy
Breezy and silly to witty and intelligent, romantic comedies have been with us since the 1930s. But the surface humor
has often just barely masked issues of gender and sexuality. This program looks back on screwball comedies
including It Happened One Night and His Girl Friday. Directors James Brooks and Nora Ephron present
interpretations of the genre that reveal the underlying social and psychological messages.
6. The Combat Film
Beginning with World War II combat films — produced under directives from the federal government — this program
examines the role of the combat film in filling a social and political need. Critics and directors describe the evolution of
these films, the rise of the Vietnam film, and the influence of the newsreel documentaries and TV news on the
genre.
7. Film Noir
These cynical and pessimistic films from the 1930s and '40s touched a nerve in Americans. Historians link the
genre's overriding paranoia to Cold War-related angst over the nuclear threat and the Hollywood blacklist. In addition,
a cinematographer demonstrates the creation of noir lighting, which gave films their peculiar look and emphasized the
themes of corruption and urban decay.
8. Film in the Television Age
Television first arrived in American homes just as the Hollywood studio system was collapsing. As the new me
took hold, so did a new era of motion picture entertainment. Top directors, actors, and film scholars trace the
influence of each medium on the other, from the live and fresh dramas of the Golden Age of Television and the
growth of Hollywood spectacles to the megalithic entertainment industry of today.
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