American Cinema

S01E01 The Hollywood Style

June 7, 1995 55 min

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...

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S01E02 The Studio System

June 14, 1995 55 min

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,...

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S01E03 The Star

June 21, 1995 55 min

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...

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S01E04 The Western

June 28, 1995 55 min

The western is an American myth that has been translated by other cultures and reinterpreted time and again, but never dies. With clips and critical commentary on westerns from John Ford's Stagecoach through the work...

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S01E05 Romantic Comedy

July 5, 1995 55 min

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...

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S01E06 The Combat Film

July 12, 1995 55 min

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...

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S01E07 Film Noir

July 19, 1995 55 min

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,...

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S01E08 Film in the Television Age

July 26, 1995 55 min

Television first arrived in American homes just as the Hollywood studio system was collapsing. As the new medium took hold, so did a new era of motion picture entertainment. Top directors, actors, and film scholars...

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S01E09 The Film School Generation

August 2, 1995 55 min

Maverick filmmakers of the 1960s and '70s, including Brian DePalma, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg, capitalized on new technology and borrowed from classical Hollywood and French New Wave as they reinvented the American film. The...

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S01E10 The Edge of Hollywood

August 9, 1995 55 min

While many of the old rules are still in force, independent filmmakers today often add their dissenting voices to the forum. This program looks at some alternative visions from new talents including Spike Lee, Joel...

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S01E11 Film Language

August 22, 1996 55 min

"Film Language" illustrates basic terms such as tracking shots and zooms and also provides a primer on editing technique.

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S01E12 Writing and Thinking About Film

August 22, 1996 55 min

"Writing and Thinking About Film" provides a formal and cultural analysis of a classical film sequence. It serves as a critical how-to guide for those new to film critique.

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S01E13 Classical Hollywood Today

August 22, 1996 55 min

"Classical Hollywood Today" offers interviews with contemporary directors, European filmmakers, scholars, and critics, as well as studio-era veterans who probe Hollywood's influence on both American and world culture.

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