The Film Essay On this assignment you will write an essay of 5 typed pages in length, dealing with the subject of the film.  There are several approaches to this paper.  You need to pick one of the following:  1)  Write an updated review of a film from the list.  The thesis will give your judgment of the film.  Discuss in the body the director and direction, the actors and acting, and the themes (or messages) in the film.  You will need to quote from at least four sources and also list the film on the work cited page (one of the sources must be an original review—one that came out the year of the film).  THIS IS NOT A PLOT SUMMARY. Use the plot to illustrate a point you are making.  2)  Write on an actor’s persona.  Watch three or more films starring a certain individual and define his/her persona.  3) Write on a director.  Watch three or more films by a director and discuss his use of certain themes, techniques, and types of actors.  4)  Write on a genre (or type of film…like “westerns”).  Watch three or more films in a genre and discuss the formula, theme, and character types involved.  

NOTE:  If you choose 2-3 you may want to discuss your ideas with me.********************* A partial list of films—HITCHCOCK—Psycho, The Birds,  The 39 Steps,  The Man Who Knew Too Much,  Vertigo,  The Trouble with Harry, North by Northwest, Rear Window,  Rope,  Strangers on a Train, The Lady Vanishes;  John Wayne films—The Searchers, The Green Berets,  True Grit, The Angel and the Badman, Stagecoach…etc.;   Shane, The Wild Bunch, DUSTIN HOFFMAN—Little Big Man, The Graduate, Papillion;  Bonnie & Clyde, SPENCER TRACY—Captains Courageous, Bad Day at Black Rock, The Old Man and the Sea, Inherit the Wind;  ROBERT DINIRO—Raging Bull, The Deerhunter, Cape Fear;  MARLON BRANDO—Apocalypse Now, on the Waterfront, The Wild One;  FRANK CAPRA—It Happened One Night, Meet John Doe; Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, Arsenic and Old Lace, State of the Union;  TENNESSEE WILLIAMS—Baby Doll, Night of the Iguana, The Glass Managerie, Suddenly Last Summer;  JAMES DEAN—Rebel Without a Cause, Giant, East of Eden;  ORSON WELLES—Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Stranger, Touch of Evil, The Trial; Gone with the Wind;  The Godfather;  The Third Man;  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest;  Dracula; Frankenstein;  Plan Nine From Outer Space;  King Kong;  Patton;  The Best Years of Our Lives; SIDNEY POITIER—A Patch of Blue, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, A Raison in the Sun, To Sir With Love;  Sgt. York, EDWARD G. ROBINSON—Little Caesar, Scarlet Street, Double Indemnity;  The Man Who Would Be King, WOODY ALLEN—Love and Death, Annie Hall, Stardust Memories, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Broadway Danny Rose, Sleeper, Deconstructing Harry, Take the Money and Run;  FOREIGN—Shoot the Piano Player, Breathless, Open City, The Bicycle Thief,  8 ½, The Grand Illusion,  SILENT—The Big Parade, Nosferatu, The Crowd, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, Metropolis, Buster Keaton films, Charlie Chaplin films, Harold Loyd films;  Spartacus, Red Dust, WILLIAN HOLDEN—Sunset Boulevard, Born Yesterday, Stalag 17;  HUMPHREY BOGART—High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Casablanca, The African Queen; FRED ASTAIRE—Swingtime, Top Hat, Holiday Inn;  The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby, PAUL NEWMAN—Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof;  The Piano, Pulp Fiction,  Blue Velvet, Star Wars, Alien, Good Fellas, or Oked by me. Other film titles can be found by clicking on the 100 best films on: