Easy Rider

Easy Rider was written by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. Easy Rider was filmed on a very low budget of $555,000 and was directed by Dennis Hopper. That did not seem to matter because it took in over $60 million worldwide. The film was rated R and included things like violence, drugs, and sex. The film appealed to a teenage audience. The film used anamorphic images, shots filmed with a hand-held camera, and a hallucinatory dream sequence. Another reason why it was appealing to teens was the soundtrack. Some of the main characters were played by Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and Jack Nicholson. Music from The Band, The Byrds, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Steppenwolf, and others were used in this film. The heroes in this movie go looking for American and encounter things from hippie communes to small-town communities. They start out in Los Angeles and travel to New Orleans. Their journey turned out to be a failure. They searched and did not find what they were looking for. They idealized their journey and ended up not finding their Holy Grail. It was an anti-establishment type of film. This film showed the industry that films could still be good without having a huge budget to shoot a film.

Femme Fatale

A femme fatale is a woman that is very seductive who can lead men into compromising and dangerous situations. She is ofter alluring and mysterious. Femme fatale is french for "fatal woman." The pictures from http://moderntimes.com/palace/film_noir.html show that these woman are very beautiful and have a mysterious side to them. The way they dress is even seductive. The Belton text supports this description. The text says that the objective of females in film noir is to castrate or destroy the male hero. They were usually viewed as just things to men and sexual fantasies for them. They would take advantage of this and use it against the men to overpower them. Femme fatales use their seductive ways to ensnare men and manipulate them. The men think that they are romantically interested and that is exactly what a femme fatale wants them to think. A good example of a femme fatale would be Joan Bennett in Scarlet Street. A few others include Jean Simmons in Angel Face, Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, and Jane Greer in Out of the Past.

The Role of Females in War Films

Women are very important in war films. Even the lack of women changes the whole dynamic of a film. Without women, men have to prove themselves to older, more knowledgeable men who are like father figures to them. When women are brought into a setting that is a majority of men, they become objects of desire that men long for. Usually this desire is between two or more soldiers that battle to try to win their affection. This rivalry almost creates a tie between the soldiers. Women can be dangerous to men in war films. Women create emotions in a man that may make him weak. This vulnerability eventually results in the demise of the soldier because the emotions that he feels for the women lie outside of the realm of war. War is portrayed as very masculine, and any feelings that a man might feel for a women introduces femininity into this very masculine world.

Slapstick Comedy

Slapstick comedy is a type of comedy that is physical. Gags would quickly spiral into mix-ups and lead to physical rowdiness. Slapstick refers to the sticks that clowns would use to hit each other in theatrical pantomime. The 1920s brought out three heroes. The three major stars of the slapstick comedy genre during this time were Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Charlie Chaplins's character was a tramp that was odd and an outcast from society. He was a rebel who could not keep a job that had a daring nature. Chaplin hated many things in society and rebeled against it. Buster Keaton was unlike Chaplin in that he accepted the modern world. Most of his comedies consisted of him and a machine. Harold Lloyd was similar to Keaton because of his role as a middle-class worker, but he was devoted to impressing people and making it in his community. I think that the genre of slapstick comedy was a successful movie vehicle because the American people could relate to these heroes. I'm sure many people felt the way that Chaplin did and felt as if they were outcasts. Then there were people who accepted what was going on in society and embraced it as Keaton did. Lloyd represented the uncertainties that many people probably have had at one time or another. There was a little of something for everyone to relate to in their own lives, which is probably why these comedies were so successful.

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny is a phrase that expresses the idea that the United States was destined to develop from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. It was used to justify the expansion to the West of the country and the belief that we had the right to take over no matter what or who was in the way. This idea is commonly used in many Western films. These films usually have the country expanding it's civilization to the west, like the idea of Manifest Destiny. A common theme of Westerns is that the pioneer from the East traveling to the West has to learn and take on the Western culture. A few example of these types of Westerns include, A Man Called Horse, Little Big Man, Dances With Wolves, City Slickers, and Western Union. It could have also been someone from the West and traveling East to find that his or her customs are much different than the customs and culture in the East, which is just the opposite. Usually there is a conflict in the West, such as the cowboys and indians coming to blows. Some examples of this type of film are The battle at Elderbush Gulch, Ulzana's Raid, Dances With Wolves, and The Last of the Mohicans. Another conflict Easterners had to face while journeying to the West is the frontier. They have to leave the wilderness and learn how to adapt and survive in the West. Whatever the conflict or storyline of the Western is, Manifest Destiny always seems to be involved in the plot somehow.

Typecasting

Typecasting occurs when an actor or actress is strongly identified with one type of role. Typecasting makes it harder for these actors and actresses to find work playing characters outside of this role. After actors and actresses are successful in one type of role, they are usually placed in the same type of role because that is what they know how to do and they do it well. Sometimes actors just can't act outside of a certain role and they are typecasted. Typecasting is usually seen as a negative thing, but some actors and actresses welcome because it is steady work. The negative aspect is that an actor is so strongly identified with one role that it is impossible for them to find work as different characters. Child actors are very prone to being typecasted. Most of the child actors don't make that step into acting as an adult. It seems to make them less marketable. To escape typecasting, actors usually try to get roles that are the complete opposite from what they are used to playing. Jackie Chan is an example of a typecasted actor. He only plays roles in action movies. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also typecasted in action movies and is seen as a tough guy. Adam Sandler is an example of an actor who is typecasted as only an actor who plays in comedies and is seen as the goofy, kind of angry guy. Even though some actors and actresses embrace typecasting, it is more likely that they try to fight it and break from the mold that they were placed in.

Movie Studios

Different studios usually have different qualities form others and are strong in certain genres of movies. M-G-M studios did mostly musicals and comdey films. It was more of a flashy studio. Some of the actors and directors that worked there were Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, Vincente Minnelli, Joan Crawford, Judy Garland, and Elizabeth Taylor. The moguls for M-G-M were Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. Movies that came out of this stuio were Babes in Arms, The Good Earth, and Madame Curie. Paramount also did comedies, but usually romantic comedies. The also did epics. Some of the actors and directors that worked for Paramount include Cecil. B. DeMille, Preston Sturges, Bing Crosby, and Marlene Dietrich. Paramount was know for it's wit and sexy elegance. Movies that came out of this studio were Monte Carlo, Trouble in Paradise, Morocco, and Shanghai Express. The tycoon of this studio was Adolph Zukor. Warner Brothers was a working man's studio. Film genres that came out of this studio were film noir, war films, gangster, weepies, and "women's films." Actors and directors from this studio include Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, and Ida Lupino. Jack L. Warner was the mogul for this studio. Movies that came out of this studio include Little Caesar, Public Enemy, and Confessions of a Nazi Spy. 20th Century Fox was known for action/adventure, soaps, disaster films, and social message films. The mogul for 20th Century Fox was Darryl Zanuck. Actors and directors from this studio include Betty Grable, Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, and Shirley Temple. Movies that were made at this studio were The Grapes of Wrath, Boomerang, and Pinky. RKO did musicals and mostly film noir. Pandro Berman and Howard Hughes were the tycoons of this studio. It was the only studio to disappear after Howard Hughes went bankrupt. Katharine Hepburn, Irene Dunne, Ginger Rogers, and Fred Astaire were actors that worked for RKO. Movies that came out of this studio were Citizen Kane, Crossfire, and Vendetta.