Film Noir Syllabus

1 Film Noir: Detectives and Dames from Page to Screen Spring Quarter Instructor: Dr. Clare Rolens Class Location and Time: Office: Phone: Email: clarerolens@gmail.com Office Hours: Class Description: Film noir, a style and a sub-genre forged in the 1940s and 1950s, is as seductive now as it was then. Humphrey Bogart’s performance as the hard-boiled detective Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon back in 1941 continues to inform our twenty-first century imagination; we can see much of Sam Spade in films like Memento (2000), The Dark Knight (2008), No Country For Old Men (2007), and Drive (2011). In this class, we will work toward a definition of film noir and neo noir by close attention to a few key themes: 1) gender and agency, 2) appearance versus reality, 3) sexual anxiety, and 4) adaptation from literary source to film. We will read changes in U.S. histories of gender, consumption, and crime through films and novels that engage in exciting artistic experimentation; from the hard-boiled detective of the 1940s to the bumbling antidetective of the 1990s, film noir and its shift to neo noir combines pop sensibilities with deep historical and philosophical conundrums of the twentieth century. Note- all of these films and episodes are streaming on the Arts Library’s website e-reserves: all other texts will be located on the course website and the Main Library’s ereserves Films (in the order we will watch them): The Maltese Falcon (1941) The Big Sleep (1946) Double Indemnity (1944) Gilda (1946) Detour (1945) Laura (1944) Mildred Pierce (1945) In a Lonely Place (1950) Plein Soleil (1960) The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) The Naked Gun (1988) The Big Lebowski (1998) Lone Star (1996) Fargo (1996) 2 Texts: at University Bookstore: use only these editions, not e-versions of the assigned readings. James M. Cain, Double Indemnity (1943), Vintage Reprint Edition (1989) Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955), Norton Reprint Edition (2008) Chester Himes, Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965), Vintage Reissue Edition (1988) Schedule of Readings: If we are discussing materials on e-reserves, I expect you to print out the text and bring it to class or have it handy on your computer. Week 1 Apr. 1 Introduction: Defining Noir In-class reading: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, and cozy detective fiction Apr. 3 The Maltese Falcon, film (1941) Borde and Chaumeton, Panorama du Film Noir, excerpt (e-reserves) Apr. 5 The Maltese Falcon, excerpt from Black Mask pulp magazine (1929) (e-reserves) Raymond Chandler, “The Simple Art of Murder” essay (e-reserves) Week 1 Prompt: How is noir and hard-boiled crime fiction, in the hands of Hammett and Chandler and in film noir, a shift from previous crime stories? Post your response to the course blog. Write a comment in response to one other student’s post. Week 2 Apr. 8 Good Girl, Bad Girl: The Big Sleep and Double Indemnity The Big Sleep (1946) Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep (1939), excerpt (e-reserves) Apr. 10 James M. Cain, Double Indemnity, pp. 1-50 Apr. 12 Double Indemnity, pp. 51-115 Double Indemnity, film (1944) Week 2 Prompt: write a short story (from 2 to 8 pages long) in the style of hardboiled/noir crime fiction and film. Your story can be parodic or serious, as you choose. In groups of three students each, you will share your story and give feedback regarding hard-boiled/noir style. You will email your story to me, and to the two other members of your group. Post your final story on the course blog. Week 3 Apr. 15 Detecting the Femme Fatale: Gilda and Detour Gilda, film (1946) Mary Anne Doane, Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis excerpt (1991) (e-reserves) 3 Apr. 17 Mary Anne Doane, Femmes Fatales excerpt, “Gilda’s Strip-Tease” (e-reserves) E. Ann Kaplan, “‘Gilda Didn’t Do Any Of Those Things You’ve Been Losing Sleep Over!’: The Central Women of 40s Films Noirs,” From Women in Film Noir (1998) (e-reserves) Apr. 19 Detour (1945) Week 3 Prompt: Compare and contrast two femmes fatales from any of the films/novels we have read so far. Week 4 Apr. 22 Women’s Noir as Film Gris: Laura and Mildred Pierce Laura, film (1944) Apr. 24 Vera Caspary, Laura excerpt (1943) (e-reserves) Liahna Babener, “De-feminizing Laura: Novel to Film” from It’s a Print!: Detective Fiction from Page to Screen (e-reserves) Apr. 26 Mildred Pierce, film (1945) Joyce Nelson, “Mildred Pierce Reconsidered” from Movies and Methods, Vol. II (e-reserves) Week 4 Prompt: Do you think the films Laura and Mildred Pierce present subversive, somewhat feminist female protagonists? Or rather do you view these films as being somewhat conservative in terms of gender? Post your response to the course blog for the rest of the course. Write a comment in response to one other student’s post. Week 5 The Homme Fatal Strikes Again Apr. 29 In a Lonely Place (1945) May 1 In-Class Midterm May 3 Masculinity and Neo-Noir Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955) pp. 1-60 Week 5 Prompt: based on In a Lonely Place and The Talented Mr. Ripley so far, write a short definition of “homme fatal” and defend that definition. Post your response to the course blog. Week 6 May 6 The Talented Mr. Ripley pp. 60-130 May 8 The Talented Mr. Ripley pp. 130-190 4 May 10 The Talented Mr. Ripley pp. 190-250 Week 6 Prompt: Do you like Tom Ripley? Do you find him sympathetic, repulsive, or both? Would you, for example, want to invite him to a party, have a drink with him, walk around Paris with him, take Italian lessons with him, or go to a museum with him? (These are just ideas- you do not have to address each of these questions). Explain your reasoning with concrete examples from the text. Post your response to the course blog. Week 7 Masculinity in Neo-Noir, continued May 13 Plein Soleil, film (1960) May 15 The Talented Mr. Ripley, film (1999) Edward A. Shannon, “‘Where Was the Sex? Fetishism and Dirty Minds in Patricia Highsmith’s ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley,’” (2004) (e-reserves) May 17 Working for the Man: The Black Detective Chester Himes, “He Knew” (1937) (e-reserves) Chester Himes, Cotton Comes to Harlem (1965), pp. 1-40 Essay Due at the beginning of class No Week 7 Prompt! Week 8 May 20 The Black Detective, continued Cotton Comes to Harlem, pp. 40-120 Roger A. Berger, “‘The Black Dick’: Race, Sexuality, and Discourse in the L.A. Novels of Walter Mosley,” excerpt (e-reserves) May 22 Cotton Comes to Harlem, pp. 120-160 May 24 Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970) Clues special Himes issue introduction, excerpt (e-reserves) Week 8 Prompt: Chester Himes once claimed that when he wrote his Harlem crime stories, he just used the structure established by Hammett, Chandler, and Cain, and just made the faces black. In what ways is this true, or untrue? How are his stories different from white authors in the genre? Post your response to the course blog. Week 9 May 27 May 29: Memorial Day Holiday Noir Pastiche and Parody: Postmodern Anti-Detection The Naked Gun, film (1988) 5 May 31 The Big Lebowski, film (1998) Week 9 Prompt: Where do you see the influence of film noir and noir novels of the 1940s and 1950s in The Naked Gun and The Big Lebowski? Select two scenes from one of these neo-noir films, and analyze how those scenes directly draw from, and play with, classic noir. Post your response to the course blog. Week 10 June 3 Small-Town Neo Noir: From Urban to Rural Absurdity Lone Star, film (1996) June 5 Fargo, film (1996) June 7 Review (Final Exam question #1 due) No Week 10 Prompt- happy studying for the final exam! June 14: Final exam, 3:00-6:00 Evaluation: Weekly quizzes, prompts, and attendance Midterm Paper Final exam 25% 20% 25% 30% Course Blog and Weekly Response Papers Information about the course, changes in readings, announcements of campus events will be presented on the course blog. As indicated, you will post weekly responses to the course blog. On some weeks, you will post a comment on one other student’s response, or response to one other student’s comment. The weekly responses, which unless otherwise stated must be one to two page, are due each week on Friday. These prompts should reflect the thinking and reading you have done over the week. These assignments will be the basis of class discussion. Thus, do not send your prompt as an e-mail attachment after the fact. Late work will not be accepted. I know that our lives are busy, and crises happen; students may miss one response, but only one response, before their grade is affected. 6 Attendance and Participation Attendance is mandatory. Roll will be taken in every class. If you miss more than four classes during the term, you will fail the course. Students are expected to bring the relevant readings to class every day. It is impossible to have a discussion of texts in class if you do not have the page in front of you. Weekly Quizzes In order to make sure you are keeping up on your reading, short quizzes may be given at random. You may not make up quizzes if you are late to class or absent without an excuse. Paper You will write one paper (5-6 pages) due in week 7. It will be based on prompts that I will hand out at least 3 weeks prior to the due date. It will ask you to develop a thesis around the themes such as gender, genre, narrative technique, and crime through a reading of one text that we have covered in the first two thirds of the class. With my approval, you may also write a comparative essay looking at two texts side by side. Essays must be turned in at the beginning of class on the day they are due. Late papers will be marked down 1/3 of a letter grade per school day late. All papers must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point font. Your name should appear at the top, right hand corner of each page. Make sure to keep a hard copy of all papers for your records. Please observe MLA format! If you would like to write a “multimodal” essay, that is, an essay that incorporates multiple mediums (film clips, sound clips, or images) then you may write your paper in blog format online. You must still make a strong and well-supported argument, and the text you write must be at least 4 pages double-spaces, 12 point font, times new roman. If you plan to write about films rather than text, this is the best option for you. Final Exam and Midterm The final exam and midterm will be based entirely on class lectures and readings. The midterm will be an in-class exam, but part of the final exam will involve a take-home essay. For the final, one essay question will be due on the last day of classes; the other will be written during the exam. In addition to the two essay question, the final will include short answers and identifications. E-mail Communication I check my email about once a day, seven days a week. You should allow for a 24-hour response time, although I usually will get back to you sooner. Email communication is for simple questions and course business, and if you have a more complex question about the course or the material, you should meet with me in office hours. I do not accept last minute pleas for extensions on papers, explanations of absences, or requests for summaries of class lectures. If 7 your schedule does not allow you to come to office hours, let me know in advance and I will set up additional times- I am always very happy to meet with you, so please do not hesitate to request an appointment! Accommodations Students requesting accommodations for this course due to a disability must provide a current Authorization for Accommodation (AFA) letter issued by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). Students are required to present their AFA letters to Faculty (please make arrangements to contact me privately) and to the OSD Liaison in the department in advance so that accommodations may be arranged. Contact the OSD for further information.