regarding genre films of the 1930s
In designing future assignments, let me know if you have Netflix, which will allow us a broader ranger of film choices and length of viewing. If you have other platforms you use, please let me know.
The following is the online assignment,. Please view three clips on Youtube from the following films: 42nd Street (black and whit original 1933), Frankenstein (1931), Scarface (1932 with Paul Muni.) Please make sure you are watching the 1930s version of these films. They will all be in black and white.
1930s Hollywood is known for creating genre films which were templates that saved money in production and offered escape from the worldwide economic depression of the time. Synchronized film had only been introduced a few years prior and the public greeted the new technology with enthusiasm. The large theaters were packed with appreciative audiences. After viewing the clips from these three different films, discuss the importance of sound, and how the moving camera work that was so prevalent in silent cinema is reduced in at least one of the films. You can also relate these three different clips to German Expressionism. Which was your favorite clip and why?
