Syllabus - Film 206H - Film Noir

Film-206H – Film Genres - Film Noir: America in Transition 1940-1960

PEL Summer 2013

Instructor: Tom Hammond

Contact: hammontm@eckerd.edu, 813-900-4759

Office hours: before and after class or by appointment

Classroom:  TBA

Course description:  This course surveys the Classic Era of American Film Noir, which lasted from 1941 to 1958.  Study of this important period in cinema history is primarily concerned with the nature of a growing darkness in subject matter and a fatalistic outlook concerning narrative themes.  Did this represent the introduction of a specific and new genre of film or merely a stylistic trend?  We will study the cultural, social and political underpinnings of this movement and how they influenced not only this period in motion pictures, but how the art, literature, music and philosophical ideas of this era contributed to its development.  Our studies will also cover “Neo- Noir” of the modern period.  

Text:  The Film Noir Reader (ed. Silver & Ursini)

Netflix Subscription:  You will be required to view some films outside of class.  All of these assignments will be streamable on Netflix.  A monthly subscription costs $9.  The first month is sometimes free.

Course Requirements: One essay, a final exam, Moodle postings, a random quiz, attendance and participation.  A film journal may be submitted for extra credit.

Grade Distribution:

Essay -                       30%

Postings -                   10%

Exam -                       20%

Quiz -                         10%

Att. & Part. -               30%

Film Journal -             (+10%)

Essay:  You will write a paper (4-6 pages) on a film adaptation of a literary source.  You will read a novel and then view the movie based on it.  Discuss the nature and degree of success of the adaptation and how it relates to areas in our studies.  A list of possible subjects is provided in this syllabus under the heading: “The Hardboiled Tradition – Novels to Film”.

Moodle Postings – You can post on subjects within class studies and comment on the postings of other students.  Film reviews, research, clips, trailers, stills and links of interest all qualify for credit.

Exam – There will be one, objective style final exam.  A review of materials will be conducted a week before the test.

Quiz – A random quiz will gauge your adherence to the home viewing assignments.

Attendance and Participation:  Any pattern of absence will adversely affect your grade.  Come prepared to discuss your viewings and readings.

Extra Credit Opportunity – A journal of all your outside film viewings and readings, other than those assigned, can be handed in at the end of the term for a potential 10% addition to your grade.

Disabilities Accommodations:  If you have a disability or believe that you qualify for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or other laws, please contact Disability support Services at extension8248 or via email at dss@eckerd.edu as soon as possible.  Appropriate accommodations can only be arranged through that office, and may not be made retroactively.

Academic Dishonesty Policy:  students should familiarize themselves with Eckerd College’s policy on academic dishonesty.  Information can be found at: http://www.eckerd.edu/library/services/plagiarism/ec-policies.php

Class Schedule

(All readings are from “The Film Noir Reader”)

Week 1

            Lecture subject: Discovery, Identification & Definitions

Introductory screening: “Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light”  

            Class screening: “Out of the Past”

            Viewing assignment: “Double Indemnity”

            Reading assignment: “Towards a Definition of Film Noir,” Borde and Chaumerton, p. 17                                                                         

Week 2

            Lecture subject: The German Directors & Expressionism

            Class screening: “The Killers” (1946)

            Viewing assignment: “Scarlet Street”

            Reading assignment:  “Notes on Film Noir,” Paul Schrader, p. 53

                       

Week 3

            Subject of the term paper due for approval   

            Lecture subject: Pulp Fiction & The Hardboiled Tradition  

Class screening: “The Maltese Falcon”

            Viewing assignment: “The Killer Inside Me” (2010)

            Reading assignment: “Noir Cinema,” Higham & Greenberg, p. 27

Week 4 – Mid Term Exam

            Lecture subject: Narrative & Visual Motifs in Film Noir

            Class screening: “Phantom Lady”

            Viewing assignment: “Raw Deal”

            Reading assignment: “Phantom Lady, Cornell Woolrich, and the Masochistic                                                                                        Aesthetic,” Tony Williams, p.129 

            Reading assignment: “Mann in the Dark”, Robert E. Smith, p. 189

Week 5

            Lecture subject:  Society & Politics in Post-War America 

            Class screening: “Kiss Me Deadly”

            Viewing assignment: “The Naked City”

            Reading assignment: “Kiss Me Deadly: Evidence of a Style,” Alain Silver, p. 209

Week 6

            Lecture subject:   Existentialism & Film Noir 

            Class screening: “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”

Viewing assignment:  "Detour" (1945)

            Reading assignment: “No Way Out: Existential Motifs in the Film Noir,” Robert                                                   Porfirio, p. 77

            Reading assignment: “Out of What Past? Notes on the B Film Noir,” Kerr, p. 107

Week 7

            Review for exam

            Lecture subject: The Female Image in Film Noir

            Class screening: “Laura”

            Viewing assignment:  “Chinatown”

            Reading assignment:  “Kill Me Again: Movement Becomes Genre,” Todd                                                                   Erickson, p. 307

           

Week 8 – Final Exam (given after lecture and screening)

            Research Paper Due

            Lecture subject:  Neo-Noir 

            Class screening: “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”

             

The Hardboiled Tradition – Novels to Film

(   ) denotes a different title for the film

Dashiell Hammett

•  The Maltese Falcon
•   Red Harvest (Yojimbo, A Fistfull of Dollars, Last Man Standing)

Raymond Chandler

• The Big Sleep (1946 film version)
• The Long Goodbye
•  Farewell, My Lovely (Murder, My Sweet)

James M. Cain

•  The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946 film version)
•   Double Indemnity
• Mildred Pierce (1945 film version)

Cornell Woolrich (aka William Irish)

• The Phantom Lady
• Black Alibi (The Leopard Man)
• The Night Has a Thousand Eyes

Mickey Spillane

• Kiss Me Deadly

Jim Thompson

• POP 1280 (Coup de Torchon)
• The Killer Inside Me (2010 film version)
• The Getaway (1972 film version)

Horace McCoy

• They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
• Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

David Goodis

•  Dark Passage
• Down There (Shoot the Piano Player)

William Lindsay Gresham

• Nightmare Alley (1947 film version)

Barry Gifford

• Perdita Durango (Dance With the Devil)

James Ellroy

• L.A. Confidential

Film Noir – Required Viewings

The Maltese Falcon – 1941

Double Indemnity – 1944

Laura – 1944

Phantom Lady – 1944

Scarlet Street – 1945

Detour – 1945

The Killers – 1946

Out of the Past – 1947

The Naked City – 1948

Raw Deal – 1948

Kiss Me Deadly – 1955

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? – 1969

Chinatown – 1974

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – 2005

Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light – 2006

The Killer Inside Me – 2010