Abstract The paper shows that with only one exception, most of directorFrankCapra's greatest movies take place during the depression, 1929-1941, or shortly after. His films are unique in that they are some of the first to display a faith in American opportunity and values in the context of institutional reform. This paper explores five Capra files in chronological order, "It Happened One Night"(1934), "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), "Meet John Doe" (1941)and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946) as summarized by author Ray Carney in his book "American Vision: The Films of FrankCapra". The paper shows how Carney illustrates these films' inclusion of characters that display the courage to act on their own conviction and to sway out of control groups to act in the interest of common good.
From the Paper "MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN portrays Longfellow Deeds as a personification of small-town virtue. After inheriting $20 million from a distant relative, Deeds moves from Mandrake Falls, Vermont to a mansion in New York where he is victim not only to bureaucratic pressures and social scrutiny, but is actually threatened with being made over into someone else. Under attack by shyster lawyers with motives to steal his fortune, Deeds successfully defends himself in court so that he will be declared sane enough to distribute millions of dollars to destitute farmers. Carney's interpretation of Capra's motivation for this work is that given the fundamental state of affairs, the marginality, and alienation of individual in a society that he is unable imaginatively to leave, he must therefore shape some sort of public expressive performance."
Abstract This paper examines the directoring history of FrankCapra, a classic moviedirector in the 1920s and 1930s. It looks at criticism of Capra's style, but also how his unique genre of 'feel-good' movies was widely accepted by the masses. The paper focuses on his movie "Mr Smith Goes to Washington".
From the Paper "Frank Capra has been dismissed as a movie director because his films are too feel-good. The plots which he favored were, to use his phrase as quoted in Daniel D. Fineman's article on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, "'Capra-corny'" (1130). This remark shows that Capra took pleasure in his image of being a director of sentimental films. His films, however, as more than mere sentimental sappiness. One reason for this is the superb acting he coaxed from the cast of his movies. But there is another reason, as well, as to why Capra's films avoid being mere maudlin: there is an element of social criticism in them. This is particularly true for Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Although the storyline certainly is sentimental, and there is the predictable happy ending of the honest David triumphing over the corrupt Goliath, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is an indictment of the Goliath that was twentieth-century politics, complete with its political machines involved in graft."
Abstract This paper reviews two films that deal with confronting the powerful to maintain one's dignity. In both "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" directed by FrankCapra, and "Matewan" directed by John Sayles, the protagonists must take on those with power. The reviewer also analyzes the differences in these two films, particularly in the ways the characters choose to overthrow the system. A brief plot summary is given for each film.
From the Paper ""Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" is a classic Jimmy Stewart, Frank Capra film that shows just how much political influence exists in Washington D.C. In this film, Jefferson Smith (Jimmy Stewart) is appointed as a Senator after the man holding the office dies. He is a naive and trusting, honest man who the political leaders of his state feel they can manipulate and puppet in Washington. He has no idea he has been sent to Washington to ensure the state's political bosses profit from a dam the state does not need, built on land the politicians secretly own. When he finds out, his honor and honesty will not allow him to do anything but fight them for his own ideas, which include building a boy's camp on the very same land. He even finds that his own boyhood idol, Senator Paine, is corrupt and manipulated by the political bosses back home. "
Abstract Analysis of directorJohnFord's 1946 Western film centering on the lighting. How lighting conveys the theme and mood of the movie. Source of light; dramatic effect. Gives detailed examples of varioius lighting techniques used from several key scenes. How Ford and cinematographer Joseph MacDonald employed lighting and other elements to create a film that falls between the myth and reality.
From the Paper "In John Ford's Western My Darling Clementine (1946), the lighting adds to the gritty and harsh nature of the landscape, the town, and the characters. Cinematographer Joseph MacDonald relies heavily on source lighting for dramatic effect. Much of the film is shot with low-key lighting without the use of much fill light for the same purpose. There are also strong signs of the direction of the light, suggesting where the source lies. Day-for-night photography is used for many of the exterior night scenes, giving added dramatic effect and making the night sky appear at times to be on fire.
The film is structured on contrasts, and the low-key lighting similarly creates visual contrasts: The film's theme is the coming of civilization to the West. The western town of Tombstone becomes in Ford's..."
The paper analyzes JohnFord's movie "The Searchers" (1956) by using the ideas of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey from her famous essay, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema".
Abstract The paper explains Mulvey believes that the dichotomy between narrative and spectacle echoes the division between men and women such that men control and forward narrative and women exist as spectacle or objects of visual pleasure at which to look. The author points out many examples where JohnFord's "The Searchers" sometimes simultaneous adherence to and subversion of Mulvey's observation and theory. The author finds that the film itself suggests the link between the pleasure of sight and power.
From the Paper "In examining the film with Mulvey's structure in mind, what are we to make of the fact that the female characters in the film are infrequently spectacles? Mulvey writes that, ?Traditionally, the woman displayed has functioned on two levels: as erotic object for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic object for the spectator within the auditorium, with a shifting tension between the looks on either side of the screen.? Although the whole movie is about Ethan Edwards? obsession with avenging the rape and murders of female kin, as well as rescuing one of them, the camera barely lingers on the women. Their relevance is not as visual objects of pleasure either for the camera's masculine gaze or for the male characters (which presents a stark contrast to the work of Hitchcock that Mulvey dissects as empirical evidence for the structure she describes)."
Abstract This paper explains that the JohnFord classic western "The Searchers" focuses on the relationships and motivations of Ethan Edwards, played by John Wayne known for his super-masculine characters, and Martin, a young, part-Cherokee man, who is accompanying Ethan. The author points out that this relationship between surrogate father and son shaped the young man's view of what manhood truly encompasses. The paper stress that the use of this relationship in the film allows the trait of masculinity to be witnessed through its early development and permits the viewer to decide the positive and negative aspects of masculinity's eventual, albeit extreme, culmination.
From the Paper "Eventually, Ethan comes to fully surpass his brother Aaron as patriarch of the household. The family comes to see him as the protector, or "man of the house." When a posse arrives hunting for what appear to be cattle rustlers, Ethan forbids his brother to go along, shouldering the responsibility himself. As he leaves, Aaron's wife embraces Ethan, for which she receives a kiss on the forehead. At this instance they undeniably appear to be man and wife. Later, when the family senses danger of an attack, Ben, the young man of the house, says, "I wish Uncle Ethan was here," despite the fact his father is present and holding a gun. By the traditional ideals of masculinity, being the head of a household is a cornerstone of being considered a man, so Ethan's usurping of his brother's position suggests his natural prowess at playing the masculine role."
Tags: head-household, relationship, wayne, western, development
Examination of four FrankCapra's movies namely: "Our Daily Bread", "Meet John Doe", "State of the Union" and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" and how the film director used his vision of American Democracy to try and make amendments in America.
Abstract A brief look at how FrankCapra became America's greatest filmmaker, using the Depression times as a source of humor in his films, sprinkled with great optimism. It shows how he was the symbol of hope for the hopeless; he used his "fantasies of goodwill" as a source of national morale in his films. It discusses how, in many of Capra's films, he uses the theme of Americanization of liberty ? whereby he further supported his idea for freedom for America.
From the Paper ""Capraesque" means a blend of optimism, humor, patriotism, and, to those who really understand his work, darkness, despair, and the need to fight for things you care about ... Capra's heroes often undergo real suffering. But humor surrounds them ... The audience, like the hero, earns its laughs, and they don't come cheap. For those with the courage to see things with humor, the victory life offers in a Capra film is laughter. --Jeanine Basinge) [Mortimer]"
Abstract "This paper is a discussion of the works of five of the greatest directors in international cinema. D. W. Griffith, JohnFord, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ingmar Bergman have each had enormous influence in their art because of their individual vision and striking approach to filmmaking.
From the Paper "This paper is a discussion of the works of five of the greatest directors in international cinema. D. W. Griffith, John Ford, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, and Ingmar Bergman have each had enormous influence in their art because of their individual vision and striking approach to filmmaking. Their visual concerns have been dramatically different, but the commitment of each has led them to create powerful, effective films that continue to affect the work of filmmakers in every genre and every nation today. All five have made significant contributions toward turning filmmaking into an art, while developing different aspects of cinema and varying genres, and all five can be considered great artists.
David Wark Griffith was born in Kentucky on January 22, 1875. He began his career as an actor in small touring ..."
Abstract In this paper, the films of Chinese-AmericandirectorsJohn Woo and Ang Lee are considered in relation to Chinese and Americanized film genres. Here, Woo's "Face/Off" (1997) and Lee's "Sense and Sensibility" (1995) are examined for elements of Chinese culture and influence. This paper suggests that each director represent a different aspect of Chinese film, but that Woo's attention to the genre of action films compares most particularly with the martial arts genre made famous in Chinese film industries.
Abstract This paper is written as a creative writing piece. It presents instructions for a director for shooting a movie that begins on an airplane. It describes the scenery, the types of shots that should be taken and how the characters should be positioned in the shots. The paper presents details for three scenes in this short movie.
Table of Contents:
Airplane Scene One
Scene Two: Having fun in Europe
Final scene
From the Paper "The next scene spins in showing dancers with the mountains visible out the windows but only lit by the lights of the slopes. We identify the couple as they dance by the camera and the next scene spins in showing a 45 degree angle shot of the couple at a table is a nice restaurant with a different view out the window. The lighting is romantically low and warm, but not dark. The story action can be continued here, as the camera moves to full frontal table shot and then dollies in until we have full frontal couple shot. The camera angles alternate between full frontal couple, and individual head and shoulder shots as they talk while drinking wine and sampling hors d'ouvres. They are seated almost as closely as the airline seats enforces. Outside the large windows it is dusk and we see a cityscape of Paris."
Abstract This paper discusses Graham Greene's novel "The Quiet American" and director Philip Noyce's 2001 movie of the same name. The paper analyzes the themes and concepts that are presented as well as the moral and ethical issues associated with early American involvement in Vietnam and the lessons to be learned from that involvement.
From the Paper "The involvement of the Western powers, primarily the French and the United States, in Vietnam was based on an imperial ideology that saw the West as superior and the East as inferior. As events unfolded it became clear that the ideology of the West did not apply in Vietnam. The tragic results of nation-building in the Third World by the West are examined in the Graham Greene novel,"The Quiet American" and in director Philip Noyce's movie of the same name. By viewing the Vietnamese as inferior it..."
This paper discusses the life and works of American historical artist John Trumbull, whose paintings depict major episodes in the U.S. War of Independence.
Abstract This paper explains that, in contemporary American society, the use of images to learn history has been under-valued as exemplified by the relative under-appreciation for the art of John Trumbull, an American painter, architect and author, whose paintings of major episodes in the U.S. War of Independence form a unique record of that conflict's events and participants. The author points out that Trumbull's most famous work is his documentary painting, "The Declaration of Independence", finished in 1836, which is a familiar image in American popular iconography. The paper describes in detail the paintings "Declaration of Independence", "The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown" and "The Battle of Bunker's Hill"; each of these paintings realistically depicts not only the scenes but also the historically correct portraiture of the participants.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Biography Information
Early life
Painting Career
"The Declaration of Independence"
Avenues of Fame
Misnaming
Description of Painting
Portraiture
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Benjamin Franklin
Members of Congress
Actual Scene
"Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown"
Description of Painting
Portraitures
Cornwallis
O'Hara
General Lincoln
Actual Scene
"The Battle of Bunker's Hill"
Description of Painting
Portraiture
General Putnam
British Officers
Howe
Clinton
Small
Pitcairn
Actual Scene
Conclusion
From the Paper ""The Battle of Bunker's Hill" is also among Trumbull's most famous paintings. This painting is composed of many figures in close combat, and the painting's organization lies along a sweeping diagonal. Moreover, the dramatic contrasts of light and shadow movingly culminate in the highlighted soldier dying in the arms of a comrade.This was the first of Trumbull's Revolutionary War masterpieces to be finished, and it was also painted in the studio of Benjamin West in London. It was completed in March 1786, although the origin of the portraiture in this painting is less known than that of the two aforementioned Revolutionary War paintings. For example, it is unknown where Trumbull obtained the likeness of General Warren, although it is probable that he copied a portrait by Copley."
Abstract Approximately thirteen centuries ago, the prophet Mohammad converted a few Arab desert tribes to belief in a single god, Allah, founding the religion of Islam. Within a century, this belief had created one of history's mightiest empires and still has major influences in today's world. The paper shows that, in recent years, Islam has been under attack as a result of a few radical members who have decided to stand out for beliefs against those of the general public. One of the most prominent radicals, at least to the American public, is John Walker Lindh, also known as the ?Taliban American?. This paper traces the life and jihad of Lindh and how his conversion and views helped and hindered the Western perspective of Islam.
From the Paper "This entry opened up the sociological and racial boundaries that seem to consume this stereotypical perception of Islam. However, participating in the Taliban skewed Walker-Lindh's thinking and he eventually conformed to the severe anti-American sentiments that are prevalent in the area. Further attesting to Walker-Lindh's conformity was his adoption of Muslim looks, and an Arabic accent when speaking English. When Walker-Lindh was captured, he was barely recognizable as being the Caucasian man that he is. Walker-Lindh had a long beard, scraggly long hair, and was very dirty under his traditional Muslim dress. This proves the numbing effect that the Taliban's ideals have on their followers. Not only could they manipulate an American to fight against his own country, but brainwash his mind so that his outside appearance was transformed as well."
Abstract This paper describes the relationship of the American colonies to England prior to the Revolutionary War. The author attempts to do this from both the American perspective and that of the British, showing that the relationship between the colonies and England benefitted both sides. The author believes, however, that the main reason for the breakup that occurred between the American colonies and the Empire was the increase of taxes and contributions to the royal Reserve. Additionally, the author shows how the political thought of the time and various acts of legislation also contributed to the break-up.
From the Paper "The Seven Years War represented a trying moment in the history of the relations between the American colonies and the British. Every colony, throughout the war was forced to offer assistance to the fighting troops; consequently, the US did back Britain in its quest for victory against the French but at the same time gave rise to a serious conflict between them. The British genera opinion was that the colonies should, in their turn contribute to the increase in revenue seeing that they benefited from the protection of the empire."
Abstract This paper examines the film "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"(1936) directed by FrankCapra and uses it as an example of the type of film that become Capra's trademark, the funny story of an unintentional hero who tries to address the nation's social problems. It provides a filmography of Capra's career and looks at how Capra, more than most directors of his period, was in charge of the content and the look of his movies and was, in short, their auteur. Through a review of the film, it examines how Capra was a master at persuading the audience to identify with his heroes and their emotions.
From the Paper "This does not mean Capra simply made the same film several times. The focus of each movie is different: helping people most affected by the Depression, cleaning up corrupt politics, and fighting Fascism. But the messages are also delivered in a form unlike any other director's; a combination of comedy, sentiment, and idealism that was nearly unique. This approach was so much Capra's own that it was known by the name of "Capracorn" among those who were unsympathetic with sentiment--some said sentimentality--applied to political ideas and romance (Willis 45). His thematic unity is evident in comparisons of Deeds miserably refusing to defend himself at his hearing, in Jeff Smith breaking down in the Senate, and in John Doe being pelted with tomatoes by followers who have turned against him. "
