Course details

Name: ENFL - 360

Title: FILM COMEDY

Section: 01

Semester: Fall - 2010

Credits: 3

Description:
This course will survey the history of American film comedy.Perhaps more than any other genre, comedy has been the domain of autuers, not only writer-directors such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Frank Tashlin and Woody Allen, but also of performers—Mae West, W.C. Fields, the Marx Bros. andBob Hope. We will situate important films within the history of the industry—the coming of sound, the establishment of the production code, and the rise of post-war independent production. We will pay particular attention to what scholars have called the Vaudeville aesthetic, the anarchic comedies of the 1930s as well as the central place of the schlemiel/coward persona in films featuring Jack Benny, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis. Films likely to be screened include It’s a Gift, Duck Soup, To Be or Not to Be, The Road to Utopia, The Girl Can’t Help It, Zelig,Animal House. A mid-term project and final paper will be required and thoughtful participation in discussion will be expected.

Schedule: Thursday From 2:30 pm To 5:30 pm

Graduation requirements:

• Genre Study (Film)
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Teaching Faculty: Simon Arthur (simona)

Is course canceled: No