Film Studies Daily Log

Thursday, November 19

We watched parts of The Jazz Singer (1929) as a historical document in two senses: as the landmark film in launching synchronized sound in the movies, and as an examination of the Jewish experience in America, exemplifying the conflicts inherent in the process of assimilation which the Jewish studio moguls in Hollywood were themselves embarked upon.

We then looked at the anti-Jewish backlash against Hollywood in the form of the Hays Code and the reign of Joseph Breen as chief crusader against everything evil in the movies from drunkenness to sexual perversion, all sponsored by "the scum of the earth," namely Eastern European Jews.

Students received two handouts on the Hays Code, which along with the documentary film Complicated Women (to be shown Friday) will be the subject of a quiz on Tuesday.

HW due Tuesday:
Quiz over the Hays Code and the pre-Code period.