A Filmic View of Poise, Style and Subtlety

Examining a Vanished World of Adult Behavior

Six Lectures

1. "Ninotchka" (1939) - In this film an urbane Frenchman meets a steely, Soviet woman official on a Paris street. This acclaimed comedy starring Greta Garbo, reveals the full range of womanly adroitness at the highest level of self-control.
2. "Laura" (1944) - Another famous film that juxtaposes a variety of adults. Coming from totally different strata of society, each one struggles to maintain adult poise and mature serenity under strain and pressure.
3. "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) - Humphrey Bogart purveys an astonishing range of competence and effectiveness in situations that demand an essential element of adult behavior — total awareness. Dealing with very tough people, Bogart outfoxes all of them.
4. "The Red Shoes" (1948) - After viewing this film, executives of the Rank Organization walked out of the screening room in grim silence. Not one of them recognized it would become one of the most loved and influential films. The character of Boris Lermontov is the supreme emblem of Old World charm, panache, sophistication, poise and circumspection in every social situation.
5. "That Hamilton Woman" (1941) - Vivian Leigh is overwhelming in this portrayal of a woman whose exquisite sense of the world and refined emotions brought her to the highest level of an unforgiving society. In the end, she surrenders another element required of an adult — a sense that the world is a dangerous place.
6. "The Razor's Edge" (1939) - Derived from Somerset Maugham’s famous novel, both film and novel may well be the ultimate expression of what it means to be an adult. The central character, played by Tyrone Power, portrays adulthood as a sacred quest.

The American Experience

Two Views of America Not Taught in Civics Classes

Six Lectures

1. "The Natural" (1984) - Robert Redford is a talented baseball player from a farming family. He is ruined by a charmingly boyish susceptibility to city women. In the end, the plain girl from his past rescues him from doom.
2. "The Way We Were" (1973) - This film sets out to combine two of the myths — or stereotypes — of the American experience. There is the handsome WASP man with a talent for writing F. Scott Fitzgerald-type stories. And, there is the Jewish girl, a left-wing political radical, who tries to change him by constant badgering.
3. "Three Days of the Condor" (1975) - The remarkably versatile Robert Redford finds himself at the center of political corruption that reaches so high, it makes one despair about government, freedom, and the rule of law. Faye Dunaway is glamorous and a compliant help-mate.
4. "L.A. Confidential" (1997) - A difficult film to make that steals the thunder of Polanski’s earlier triumph about corruption in Los Angeles. The characters are strong, the story often repellent. All of it redeemed by intelligence and a deep surge of decency.
5. "Nashville" (1975) - Over the course of a few days, an extraordinary number of different people become involved in the lies and deceptions that attend a political convention. A bold and sweeping exploration of the American political scene that defies rational depiction.
6. "Erin Brockovich" (2000) - Julia Roberts alone is worth the price of admission. A typically out-of-theway part of America in which corporate interests seek to conceal wrong-doing and health hazards. The film demonstrates that individual initiative can bring about change and improvement in a society sliding into cynicism.