FLM 160 — Hollywood in the '60s: Revolution in Tinseltown
Quarter: Summer
Instructor(s): Elliot Lavine
Date(s): Jun 25—Aug 27
Class Recording Available: Yes
Class Meeting Day: Wednesdays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Tuition: $490
Refund Deadline: Jun 27
Unit(s): 2
Status: Open
Quarter: Summer
Day: Wednesdays
Duration: 10 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Jun 25—Aug 27
Unit(s): 2
Tuition: $490
Refund Deadline: Jun 27
Instructor(s): Elliot Lavine
Recording Available: Yes
Status: Open
The decade of the '60s in Hollywood represented the most significant seismic shift since the arrival of sound: the renouncement of traditional conservative values that had dominated film production since the mid-1930s when the Hays Production Code was forcefully implemented, placing censorship before art and entertainment.
In 1960, two powerful and hugely successful American films were released: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. Each of these films directly defied the Production Code—Psycho with its unprecedented display of gruesome violence and The Apartment with its frank and honest depictions of sexual mores. In the aftermath of these films, producers, writers, and directors felt more confident in their ability to transfer more provocative and explicit ideas and images to the screen without censorial intrusion, making this decade one of cultural transformation.
No fewer than 20 films will be viewed (at home) and discussed (via Zoom) in this exploration of one of Hollywood’s most exciting periods. Among the films included, along with the two mentioned aabove, are The Manchurian Candidate, Lolita, The Hustler, Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, The Loved One, Point Blank, The Wild Bunch, and Night of the Living Dead.
In 1960, two powerful and hugely successful American films were released: Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Billy Wilder’s The Apartment. Each of these films directly defied the Production Code—Psycho with its unprecedented display of gruesome violence and The Apartment with its frank and honest depictions of sexual mores. In the aftermath of these films, producers, writers, and directors felt more confident in their ability to transfer more provocative and explicit ideas and images to the screen without censorial intrusion, making this decade one of cultural transformation.
No fewer than 20 films will be viewed (at home) and discussed (via Zoom) in this exploration of one of Hollywood’s most exciting periods. Among the films included, along with the two mentioned aabove, are The Manchurian Candidate, Lolita, The Hustler, Midnight Cowboy, The Graduate, The Loved One, Point Blank, The Wild Bunch, and Night of the Living Dead.
ELLIOT LAVINE
Film Historian and Filmmaker
Elliot Lavine has been an active participant in both film production and film exhibition since the late 1970s. In the early 1980s, he directed a pair of short films in the film noir tradition, and he has been named among the nation’s leading film programmers, having begun his career at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco in 1990. In 2010, he received the Marlon Riggs Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle for his revival of rare archival titles and his role in the renewed popularity of film noir. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.