FAVz049 American film exhibition and broadcasting in the 1930s

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2014
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Kathryn Fuller-Seeley (lecturer), doc. Mgr. Petr Szczepanik, Ph.D. (deputy)
Mgr. Luděk Havel, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Voráč, Ph.D.
Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Supplier department: Department of Film Studies and Audiovisual Culture – Faculty of Arts
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Series of six lectures which are stem from various book chapters by Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, and together they address issues of film exhibition and film/radio audiences in the US in the 1920s and 1930s, focusing on small town audiences and those outside the major population centers.
Syllabus
  • Monday 20th October 10:50-14:05, C34

    1)     Studying the history of film exhibition in rural and small town America (1900-1945), why looking outside the major urban centers is important.... [introduction to collection “Hollywod in the Neighborhood”]
    2) "What the Picture Did for Me" -- analysis of reports of small town movie theater owners in the 1930s reviewing films during the Depression and defining what was a "small town film" [chapter from “Hollywood in the Neighborhood”]

  • Tuesday 21th October 12: 30-15:45, C34

    3)     Dish Night giveaways for women at Depression 1930s Movie Theaters -- how American movie theater owners in the hinterlands attracted women to the movies in hard times, and challenges they faced [chapter from the collection ”Looking Past the Screen”]
    4) Growing up going to the Movies – autobiographies of the Payne Fund Studies students, who wrote about the period 1915-1930 [chapter from book “At the Picture Show”]

  • Wednesday 22nd October 12:30-14:05, C34

    5)     Jack Benny integrating film and advertising/consumer culture into his radio program in the 1930s [chapter from upcoming book “Jack Benny and American Radio Comedy 1932-1954”]

  • Thursday 23th October 9:10-10:45, C34

    6)     Jack Benny’s use of Race on the radio through his character of Rochester in the 1930s, and Black radio and film audiences during the Depression [chapter from upcoming book “Jack Benny and American Radio Comedy”]
Literature
    required literature
  • FULLER-SEELEY, Kathryn and George POTAMIANOS. Researching and Writing the History of Local Moviegoing. In Kathryn Fuller-Seeley. Hollywood Neighborhood: Historical Case Studie of Local Moviegoing. University of California Press, 2008, p. 3-19, 290 pp. ISBN 978-0-520-24973-8. info
  • FULLER-SEELEY, Kathryn. "What The Picture Did For Me" Small-Town Exhibitors' Strategies for Surviving the Great Depression. In Fuller-Seeley, Kathryn. Hollywood Neighborhood: Historical Case Studie of Local Moviegoing. University of California Press, 2008, p. 186-207, 290 pp. ISBN 978-0-520-24973-8. info
  • FULLER-SEELEY, Kathryn. Dish Night At The Movies. Exhibitors Promotions and Female Audiences during the Great Depression. In Lewis, Jon - Smoodin, Eric. Looking Past the Screen: Case Studies in American Film History and Method. Duke University Press Books, 2007, p. 246-275, 400 pp. ISBN 0-8223-3821-1. info
  • FULLER-SEELEY, Kathryn. Coming Of Age At Picture Show Youth In 1910s And 1920s. In Fuller-Seeley, Kathryn. At the Picture Show: Small Town Audiences and the Creation of Movie Fan Culture. Smithsonian, 1997, p. 169-233, 248 pp. ISBN 978-0-8139-2082-5. info
  • FULLER-SEELEY, Kathryn (forthcoming): “Jack Benny, Rochester and Racial issues in 1930s radio and film”, in Kathryn Fuller-Seeley: Jack Benny and American Radio Comedy 1932-1954, s. 1-39
  • FULLER-SEELEY Kathryn (forthcoming): “Jack Benny, Radio Commercialism and American Consumer Culture in the 1930s and 1940s” in Fuller-Seeley, Kathryn: Jack Benny and American Radio Comedy 1932-1954, s. 1-41
Teaching methods
lecture series
Assessment methods
written test
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
The course is taught: in blocks.
General note: Kurz probíhá v rámci projektu č. CZ.1.07/2.2.00/28.0044 Inovace uměnovědných studijních oborů na Filozofické fakultě MU, který je spolufinancován Evropským sociálním fondem a státním rozpočtem České republiky. Viz. www.phil.muni.cz/music/opvk.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
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