Hollywood History: Warner Bros Style - From James Dean to Harry Potter

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No prerequisites.

Content of Course

1. The story so far: former glory and new challenges. McCarthy and the movies: I Was a Communist for the FBI (Douglas, 1951); Good Night and Good Luck (Clooney 2005).

2. Cinemascope, the youth market:  Rebel Without a Cause (Ray,1955); East of Eden (Kazan,1955).

3. American justice meets Hitchcock: The Wrong Man (Hitchcock 1956).

4. Media power, politics and the people: A Face in the Crowd (Kazan, 1957).

5. No fear of the Production Code: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Nichols, 1966).

6. The studio and control: independent producers, rebellious sixties: Bonnie and Clyde (Penn, 1967).

7. New expressions of social change: Deliverance (Boorman, 1972); Dog Day Afternoon (Lumet, 1975).

8. Clint Eastwood and Warner Bros: a long and fruitful association. The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976); Bird (1988); Letters from Iwo Jima (2006).

9. Co-productions, “tent-pole” movies: Superman, Batman and Harry Potter. Batman (Burton, 1989).

10. Review of Warners’ Hollywood. Return to the ‘Golden Age’ in L.A.Confidential (Hanson,1997).

Teaching method(s)

The course will use extracts from selected films but is based on introductions to full screenings of films followed by tutor-led group discussion.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

• Appraise the history of a major Hollywood film studio;

• Show an awareness of the economic, social, technical and political constraints and opportunities on a developing industry;

• Form considered opinions of the movies produced by Warner Bros. within their original cultural contexts;

• Reflect on their importance within cinematic and cultural history.

Sources

Core Readings

Recommended:

• Finler, Joel W., 2003. The Hollywood Story. London: Wallflower Press

• Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin, 2010. Film History, An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill International

Web Sources

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/

https://www.warnerbros.co.uk/

Class Handouts

Credits, notes, websites and background reading will be provided.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.