Essay Instructions: Choose 3 films that feature one particular star, with at least two of the three films from different times in the star's career. films of Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, and Charles Chaplin), or you may choose films that feature another actor who has achieved star status (e.g., James Cagney, Bette Davis, Robert DeNiro, Marlene Dietrich, Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, Sidney Poitier, Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep,etc. The alternative is to choose 3 films that represent the directorial efforts of one director following the above guidelines (i.e. Hitchcock, Hawkes, Scorsese, Spielberg, etc.).
Using the 3 films that you have viewed plus appropriate additional material, analyze what a particular star says about American culture. What are the ideological concerns, values, societal roles, goals, etc. of the wider culture of the time period the star represents? How is the star's persona calculated to represent these concerns? Have ideological concerns, values, societal roles, etc. changed during the star's artistic life and, if so, has the star's persona changed to reflect these concerns? This should be at least a 5 page paper. Appropriate additional material may consist of information from the texts, interviews of the star in magazines or newspapers of his/her era, critical reviews of the films, reference books on social concerns and values of the time period.
An alternate assignment is to choose 3 films that represent the directorial efforts of one director following the above guidelines. In this case we want to explore the director's use of style, their infusion of authorship, and how this relates in a cultural/social context.
A warning: This is absolutely not a "biography" or a "filmmography."
one resource: Thomson, David. New Biographical Dictionary of Film : Expanded and Updated.
Westminster, MD, USA: Knopf Publishing Group, 2004. p i.