StageCoach

Title of Film: StageCoach

1.   In class we discussed the success of John Ford’s “StageCoach” and how it singlehandedly revitalized the moribund genre. Stagecoach was set to be in the year 1880. It was shot in Monument Valley. Stagecoach is filled with various scenes of action. It starts out with a group of people who are on a journey, but they are troubled by the threat of Geronimo. They all learn a lot about each other on this adventure. The passengers on the stagecoach are Doc Boone, Dallas, the Ringo Kid, Samuel Peacock, Lucy Mallory, Buck, Marshal Curly Wilcox, Luke Plummer, and Hatfield. However, when the odds are against them, they all learn that they have to work together if they all wish to survive the attacks.

We also discussed the various themes and roles that are displayed in Stage Coach. There were a lot of different social classes amongst the passengers of the stagecoach. One is a drunken doctor, one is a prostitute, another is a professional gambler. Then there is also an army wife, a cop, a banker, a liquor salesman, and a fugitive. Sexual and social predjudices are very obvious in Stagecoach. The women aboard the stagecoach are not always respected by all of the passengers throughout the movie. Especially since one is a prostitute. Additional themes presented in Stagecoach is greed, revenge, redemption, and lots of alcoholism.

      http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/stagecoach.html

2) Before John Ford’s “Stagecoach”, the Western genre was considered to be cheap and “B-movie” status. However, prior to its release, the Western genre seemed to have been revitalized. Stagecoach had given the genre new life for many years to come. Even though Stagecoach is not the greatest Western movie ever, it played a main part in the status of Westerns as an American genre. It also captured the stunning view of the Monument Valley landscape. In addition, instead of the usual “bad guy vs. good guy” routine, Stagecoach used social commentary, moral drama and characterization.

3) Stagecoach can be considered as a “redemption story” in addition to the fact that it lacks moral rigor. There’s also a revenge subplot that can be described as uncritical as any in the Western genre. The cinematographer from Stagecoach, Greg Toland used some of the same camera angles and lighting in Stagecoach as he did for other popular movies like Citizen Kane, for example. The Indian attack scene that is towards the end also established new heights for action movie making.

4) Stagecoach is your average cowboy vs. indian movie that combines a lot of very diverse and dynamic characters with fully rounded personalities with extreme action. I think most of the characters have a great amount of emotion and depth to them wich empowers the storyline. Even though Stagecoach contains a lot of clichés, I think John Ford did a fairly good job with this film. He did a nice job choosing all the right camera angles and controlling all the aspects of the film. However, I think that the action is the best part of the movie and it plays a big role in the reason why John Wayne was a successful actor.

His Girl Friday

Title of Film: His Girl Friday

1) In class we discussed the initiation of the Production Code and the Seal of Approval. The Production Code prohibited nakedness, suggestive dancing, ridicule of religion, the depiction of illegal drug use, the use of liquor, methods of crime, methods crime, references to sex perversions, child birth, and venereal diseases. The Production Code also banned bad language and offensive phrases. In addition, murder scenes had to be filmed in a way that doesn’t look realistic and brutal murders couldn’t be shown in detail.
       The Seal of Approval was a visible sign that was displayed before the showing of the movie that said “This picture approved by the Production Code Administration of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.” This seal informed viewers that the film was eligible for exhibition.
His Girl Friday is known as a screwball comedy that used overlapping dialogue to make the conversations sound more realistic. Most of the characters would speak before the other character gets to finish. They talk over each other throughout the entire film, which sometimes makes it hard to understand.

2)http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/His_Girl.html
 In the above article, the author, Damien Cannon tells how His Girl Friday teams up live-wire screenplay with a well-chosen cast. He describes the movie as an “outstanding, breakneck-paced screwball comedy”. Most of the article summarizes the main events and aspects of His Girl Friday as well as the main plot of the film.


3) His Girl Friday is obviously a Howard Hawks production, but Mr. Cannon believes it is also an actor’s dream vehicle if your name is Cary Grant, who seems to be very comfortable playing his role. He is a very talented and versatile performer. Cannon describes the harmony between Grant and his lines as a “guilty pleasure” and he compares it to licking a spoon freshly dipped in cream. However, the real surprise is that Russell matches Grant perfectly and right in the middle of the story, there is tremendous chemistry between Grant and Russell, which happens to be very magical and a lot of fun.

4) His Girl Friday happens to be just like any other film, however Howard Hawks puts so much energy into the actors’ performances on film that he forgets about all the other aspects of the film. Bad enough the dialogue is already hard to understand because of the way that it is structured. Although the dialogue is quick, His Girl Friday is still smart, funny, and touching all at the same time. They did a really good job with the cast also. They all have really good chemistry on film and it makes the movie flow smoothly. In addition, I think Howard Hawks made a good decision in changing the star reporter to a woman because it lightens the mood of the film. Evidently, His girl Friday is a movie that you might just have to watch multiple times to really appreciate the humor in it.

The Gold Rush

Title of Film: The Gold Rush

　
1) In class we discussed the cinematic style of Auteur director, Charlie Chaplin. Charlie Chaplin was highly structured and was popular for his gags in the various movies that he starred in. Charlie Chaplin could most often be remembered as the Tramp, a character that he used to develop a style. He appeared as the Tramp in the majority of his movies. Chaplin was very talented in using comedy to get his point across.

           The Gold Rush was well known for its comedy and Pathos. It emphasized on the hunger, cannibalism, rejection, ridicule, and work ethic of the Tramp. In the movie, Chaplin suffers from hunger when he gets stranded in the cabin with the prospector with no food to eat and no where to go. The fugitive, Black Larson, tries to eat the Tramp after they began to get delirious due to the fact that they’ve been stranded in the cabin for so long without food or water. Georgia, the Tramp’s crush in the movie, leads him on making him think that she is into him, when in reality she isn’t. He gets a reality check when Georgia stands him up after he invited she and her friends to the prospector’s cabin for a New Year’s Eve dinner, where he faces rejection. Lastly, the Tramp is ridiculed by Jack Cameron when Jack ties the dog to the Tramp while he is dancing with Georgia at the dance.

2) http://www.charliechaplin.com/en/filming/articles/5-Filming-the-Gold-Rush

     The following link is an article on Charlie Chaplin and the filming of The Gold Rush. In this article it tells about where Charlie Chaplin got the idea for filming the movie, which was from watching some stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike Gold Rush. He also read a book about the Donner Party Disaster of 1846. The story was about a bunch of immigrants in the Sierra Nevada that were forced to eat their moccasins and the bodies of their deceased friends.
         Chaplin set out to change the mood of the story from horror to happy by adding comedy to it. Therefore he decided to add the tramp to the story, but still keep the main elements of cold, starvation, and solitude in the story. The Gold Rush was the only one of his movies that he started to shoot with the storyline already fully established.


3) The idea that Charlie Chaplin used to produce the movie was very essential to the actual film. He did a very good job of telling his story even without sound or dialogue. All the elements connected directly back to the Klondike Gold Rush story along with witty scenes.

4) For the most part, The Gold Rush was a slightly interesting movie. Ive never been into silent films, let alone ones that weren’t even in color. However, the way the movie unfolds has a good way of drawing the viewers in by combining irony and comedy into the main elements of the movie. I thought it was witty and ironic because obviously a lot of the things that happen in the Gold Rush are impossible and less likely to ever happen, to say the least. However, the Gold Rush has a circular structure to it. After Chaplin journeys to Alaska, he goes from the prospector’s cabin, the dance hall, to the New Year’s Eve dinner, and then back to the dance hall & the cabin after.
       The Gold Rush happens to be Chaplin’s favorite film and it took over a year to make. This film was expensive to create, but it grossed over six million dollars. Overall, the Gold Rush was a very successful movie and is still remembered and referenced to by many film makers and producers.