CTCS 409
FILM CENSORSHIP
FALL 2009
Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.
Room SCA108
Dr. Rick Jewell
The Hugh M. Hefner Professor of American Film
Dr. Drew Casper
The Alma and Alfred Hitchcock Professor of American Film
The professors wish to thank Hugh M. Hefner for his generous support of this course and of the School of Cinematic Arts
Course Description:
An historical survey of film censorship from the beginnings to the present, with an emphasis on selected topics.
Teaching Assistants: Elena Bonomo (), Lara Bradshaw ()
Required Textbooks:
CASPER , Drew. Post-War Hollywood: 1946-1962. Malden, MA.: Blackwell, 2007
GOLDBERG, Bernard. Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. Washington, D.C.: Regency Press, 2002.
JEWELL, Richard B. The Golden Age of Cinema: Hollywood, 1929-1945. Malden, MA.: Blackwell, 2007.
SYKES, Charles J. A Nation of Victims: The Decay of the American Character. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Course Requirements:
***These requirements apply to both undergraduate and graduate students***
- Midterm Exam 25% of final grade October 13
- Final Exam 25% of final grade December 10. 11-1
- Term Paper 50% of final grade November 17
Prompt and Regular Attendance at all Lectures & Screenings
Term Papers:
Both undergraduate and graduate students will devise their own paper topic. Please contact Dr. Jewell or Dr. Casper or one of the TAs if you need guidance.
Term papers should be 12-15 pages, double-spaced, and should be well-researched beyond the materials of the course. The term paper will be due in class on November 17th and will comprise 50% of your final grade.
Missing the midterm: (excusable only with a doctor’s certification of illness or a death in the family) will result in a 3-hour+ comprehensive final exam.
Penalties for Late Papers:
- 1 day to 7 days late: One full letter grade deducted
- 8 days to 14 days late: Two full letter grades deducted
- 15 days to 21 days late: Three full letter grades deducted
- over 22 days late: Automatic F for the assignment
FAILURE TO COMPLETE ANY OF THE REQUIREMENTS WILL RESULT IN AN AUTOMATIC GRADE OF F FOR THE COURSE.
Academic integrity: The School of Cinematic Arts expects the highest standards of academic excellence and ethical performance from USC students. It is particularly important that you are aware of and avoid plagiarism, cheating on exams, submitting a paper to more than one instructor, or submitting a paper authored by anyone but yourself. PLAGIARISM WILL BE REPORTED TO THE OFFICE OF STUDENT JUDICIAL AFFAIRS (see your “SCampus”), WILL RESULT IN FAILURE OF THE COURSE, AND COULD LEAD TO DISMISSAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY. If you have any questions or doubts about how to properly cite a source, see a TA or drop by the Writing Center (Taper Hall 310).
Disability Services: Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to the TA by the third week of classes, and remember that it is your responsibility to make sure appropriate accommodations are made BEFORE the day of an exam. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30am - 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, phone number (213)740-0776.
English-as-a-Second-Language Students: ESL students are afforded special exam accommodations (extended time for test-taking), but these accommodations must be arranged in advance of the midterm. Please notify one of the TAs by the third week of classes if you qualify for and require such accommodations, and be sure to ask the T.A. BEFORE the day of the midterm and final to learn the place and time of the ESL exam.
Dr. Jewell’s Office Hours:
SCA 303 (sign up for an appointment at the desk in Critical Studies)
3:30-5:15 pm, Tuesdays
9:00am-10:00am, Wednesdays
Dr. Casper’s Office Hours:
SCA 325 (sign up for an appointment at the desk in Critical Studies)
1:00pm-2:00pm, Tuesdays
12:00pm-2:00pm, Wednesdays
CTCS 409 SYLLABUS FOR FALL 2009
August 25
Historical Overview I (The Silent Period: Beginnings to 1929 and Classic Hollywood: 1927-1945)
Red Dust (MGM, 1932)
• Director: Victor Fleming
• Screenwriter: John Lee Mahin (based on a play by Wilson Collison)
• Producers: Hunt Stromberg, Irving Thalberg
• Director of Photography: Harold Rosson
• Art Director: Cedric Gibbons
• With Clark Gable, Jean Harlow
Read: Jewell, Introduction and Chapter 1
September 1
Historical Overview II (Classic Hollywood continued)
Foreign Correspondent (United Artists, 1940)
• Director: Alfred Hitchcock
• Screenwriters: Charles Bennett, Joan Harrison, Robert Benchley, James Hilton, Richard Maibaum (based on the story by Vincent Sheehan)
• Producer: Walter Wanger
• Director of Photography: Rudolph Maté
• Editor: Dorothy Spencer
• Art Director: Alexander Golitzen
• With Joel McCrea and Laraine Day
Read: Jewell, Chapter 2
September 8
Historical Overview III (Classic Hollywood continued)
The Palm Beach Story (Paramount, 1942)
• Director: Preston Sturges
• Screenwriter: Preston Sturges
• Producers: Paul Jones, Buddy G. DeSylva
• Director of Photography: Victor Milner
• Editor: Stuart Gilmore
• Art Directors: Hans Dreier, Ernst Fegté
• With Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea
Read: Jewell, Chapter 4
September 15
Historical Overview IV (Postwar Hollywood: 1946-1962)
Blackboard Jungle (MGM, 1955)
• Director: Richard Brooks
• Screenwriter: Richard Brooks (based on the novel by Evan Hunter)
• Producer: Pandro S. Berman
• Director of Photography: Russell Harlan
• Editor: Ferris Webster
• Art Directors: Randall Duell, Cedric Gibbons
• With Glenn Ford, Sidney Poitier, Anne Francis
Read: Casper, Part I
September 22
Historical Overview V (Postwar Hollywood continued)
Elmer Gantry (United Artists, 1960)
• Director: Richard Brooks
• Screenwriters: Richard Brooks (based on a novel by Sinclair Lewis)
• Producer: Bernard Smith
• Director of Photography: John Alton
• Editor: Marjorie Fowler
• Art Director: Edward Carrere
• With Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons
Read: Casper, Part II
September 29
Historical Overview VI (Reactionary/Revolutionary Hollywood: 1963-1976)
The Killing of Sister George (Associates & Aldrich, 1968)
• Director: Robert Aldrich
• Screenwriter: Lukas Heller (based on the play by Frank Marcus)
• Producer: Robert Aldrich, Walter Blake, Edgar J. Scherick
• Director of Photography: Joseph F. Biroc
• Editor: Michael Luciano
• Art Director: William Glasgow
• With Beryl Reid, Susannah York, Coral Browne
Read: Casper, Part IV
October 6
Historical Overview VII (Postmodern Hollywood: 1977-present)
Lust Caution (Focus Features, 2007)
• Director: Ang Lee
• Screenwriters: James Schamus, Hui-Ling Wang (based on a story by Eileen Chang)
• Producer: Lloyd Chao
• Director of Photography: Rodrigo Prieto
• Editor: Tim Squyres
• Production Designer: Lai Pan
• Art Director: Joel Chong
• With Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen
October 13
MIDTERM EXAM -- NO SCREENING
October 20
Various Cultural Approaches to Censorship
Last Tango in Paris (Franco London, PEA, UA, 1972)
• Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
• Screenwriters: Bernardo Bertolucci, Franco Arcalli (based on a story by Bertolucci)
• Producer: Albert Grimaldi
• Director of Photography: Vittorio Storaro
• Editor: Franco Arcalli, Roberto Perpignani
• Production Designer: Ferdinando Scarfiotti
• With Marlon Brando, Maria Schneider
October 27
Violence
Taxi Driver (Columbia, 1976)
• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Screenwriter: Paul Schrader
• Producers: Phillip M. Goldfarb, Julia Phillips, Michael Phillips
• Director of Photography: Michael Chapman
• Editor: Tom Rolf, Melvin Shapiro
• Art Director: Charles Rosen
• With Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster
November 3
Television Censorship
Screening To Be Announced
November 10
Pornography: From Smokers to Cybersex
Caligula (Penthouse Productions, 1979)
• Directors: Tinto Brass, Bob Guccione, Giancarlo Lui
• Screenwriter: Gore Vidal
• Producers: Bob Guccione, Franco Rossellini
• Director of Photography: Silvano Ippolito
• Editors: Nino Baragli
• With Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud
Read: Sykes, pp. 1-62.
November 17
***Term papers Due***
The P.C. (“Politically Correct”) Debate and Backlash
Nixon (Buena Vista, 1995)
• Director: Oliver Stone
• Screenwriters: Steven J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Oliver Stone
• Producers: Oliver Stone, Dan Halsted, Clayton Townsend, Andrew G. Vajna
• Director of Photography: Robert Richardson
• Editors: Brian Berdan, Hank Corwin
• With Anthony Hopkins
Read: Sykes, pp. 63-121.
Goldberg, pp. 1-96.
November 24
The Culture Wars
The Last Temptation of Christ (Universal, 1988)
• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Screenwriters: Paul Schrader (based on a novel by Nikos Kazantzakis)
• Producers: Barbara De Fina, Harry Ufland
• Director of Photography: Michael Ballhaus
• Editor: Thelma Schoonmaker
• Art Director: Andrew Sanders
• With Willem Dafoe
Read: Sykes, pp. 122-end.
Goldberg, pp. 97-231.
December 1
Q & A with Mr. Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner: American Playboy (Van Ness Films/Twentieth Television, 1996)
• Director: Kevin Burns
• Screenwriter: Ken Warum
Final Exam
Thursday, December 10, 11am-1pm
Bibliography
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BARNOUW, Erik. Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
BECKWITH, Francis J. and Michael E. Bauman. Are You Politically Correct: Debating America’s Cultural Standards. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1993.
BERGER, Fred R. Freedom, Rights and Pornography: A Collection of Papers. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991.
BERMAN, Paul, ed. Debating P.C.: The Control Over Political Correctness on College Campuses. New York: Dell, 1992.
BERNSTEIN, Matthew. Controlling Hollywood: Censorship and Regulation in the Studio Era. New Brunswick: Rutgers, 1999.
BLACK, Gregory D. Hollywood Censored Morality Codes, Catholics and the Movies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
BLOOM, Allan. The Closing of the American Mind. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987.
BOGLE, Donald. Toms, Coons, Mulattos, Mammies and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films. Rev. ed. New York: Continuum, 1990.
CARMEN, Ira H. Movies, Censorship and the Law. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan Press, 1966.
CHOI, Jung Min. The Politics and Philosophy of Political Correctness. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992.
CLINE, Victor B., ed. Where Do You Draw the Line? An Exploration into Media Violence, Pornography and Censorship. Provo: Brigham Young University Press, 1974.
COAKLY, Mary Lewis. Rated X: The Moral Case Against TV. New Rochelle: Arlington House, 1977.
COLE, Barry and Mal Oettinger. Reluctant Regulators: The FCC and the Broadcast Audience. Reading: Addison-Wesley, 1978.
COOP, David and Susan Wendell. Pornography and Censorship. Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 1983.
COTHAM, Perry C. Obscenity, Pornography and Censorship. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1973.
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DWORKIN, Andrea. Letters from a War Zone. New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1993.
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EYSENCK, Hans Jurgen and D.K.B. Nias. Sex, Violence and the Media. New York: Harper & Row, 1978.
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GARBUS, Martin. Tough Talk. New York: Random House, 1998.
GARDNER, Gerald. The Censorship Papers: Movie Censorship Letters from the Hays Office, 1934-1968. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1987.
GIBSON, Pamela Church and Roma Gibson, eds. Dirty Looks: Women, Pornography and Power. London: BFI Publishing, 1993.
GOLDBERG, Bernard. Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. Washington: Regency Press, 2002.
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HAMILTON, Marybeth. “When I’m Bad, I’m Better”: Mae West, Sex, and American Entertainment. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
HENDERSHOT, Heather. Saturday Morning Censors: Television Regulation Before the V-Chip. Durham: Duke University Press, 1998.
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HENTOFF, Nat. Free Speech for Me--But Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992.
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