History of American Film

Actors

100

This actress was the star of many films, including The Lady Eve, Double Indemnity, and, most important for this class, Baby Face.

Barbara Stanwyck

200

This Bahamian American star of films like No Way Out, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and In the Heat of the Night passed away earlier this year at age 94. He won an Oscar for his role in Lilies of the Field

Sidney Poitier

300

This actor starred in Casablanca as Rick Blaine, and was voted the greatest male star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute

Humphrey Bogart

400

This actress starred in the Blaxploitation films Coffy and Foxy Brown, and later in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown.

Pam Grier

500

This actress was a highly controversial figure in the 1930s, as her bawdy sense of humor often made her the target of censorship and attacks from religious groups

Mae West

Films

100

This film, made by Stan Brakhage, was made by the director attaching the body parts of the titular insect to film strips to create the appearance of movement.

Mothlight

200

This 1937 Robert Florey film starred Anna May Wong as a woman attempting to uncover the truth of her father's murder, and in the process uncovering smugglers.

Daughter of Shanghai

300

At the 2016 Academy Awards, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this film about bank robbers, its stars were brought out to announce Best Picture - However, due to an error, they announced the wrong film had won.

Bonnie and Clyde

400

This landmark film of queer cinema was made in 1947 by Kenneth Anger, and opens with a sailor carrying a lifeless body.

Fireworks

500

Name the director of the film from which this image is taken.

Edwin S. Porter

Directors

100

This director of Illusions and Daughters of the Dust graduated from UCLA and is part of a movement known as the LA Rebellion.

Julie Dash

200

This director, along with Dorothy Arzner, was one of the only women given a directing position in Classical Hollywood. Her films Outrage and The Bigamist were assigned for this class.

Ida Lupino

300

This director of Boyz n the Hood was the first Black man to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Directing

John Singleton

400

These three actors and directors are considered the "Big Three" of silent comedy.

Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd

500

This filmmaker, a UCLA graduate, directed the film Manzanar, in which he revisits childhood memories of living in an internment camp. 

Robert A. Nakamura

Changes to the Industry and Legal Trouble

100

This 1948 Supreme Court decision prevented movie studios from owning and operating movie theater chains.

United States v. Paramount 

(The Paramount Decision/Decree)

200

This religious group played a significant role in the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code. Getting a condemnation from this group would often harm a film's chances of success.

The National Legion of Decency or the Catholic Legion of Decency

300

This government agency was created during World War II in order to ensure that American media was promoting American ideology and educating the population about the war effort.

Office of War Information (OWI)

400

This 1915 Supreme Court decision ruled that films were a business rather than an art, and therefore films are not protected under the First Amendment

The Mutual Decision

(Mutual Film Corp. v. Industrial Commission of Ohio)

500

This 1952 Supreme Court decision overturned a previous 1915 decision, ruling that films were art and therefore protected under free speech. 

The Miracle Decision

or

Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson

Misc.

100

This film was the first to be released with a PG-13 rating.

Red Dawn

200

This term is used to describe films that have easy to grasp ideas and are likely to be engaging to a wide audience.

High Concept

300

Name both of the musicals we discussed this quarter.

Cabin in the Sky and Flower Drum Song

400

This director is a pioneer of African American cinema, producing 44 films between 1919 and 1948, including Within Our Gates.

Oscar Micheaux

500

This filmmaker's experimental short Meshes of the Afternoon features a Grim Reaper-like figure with a mirror for a face, and was influential to filmmaker David Lynch.

Maya Deren