GRAPES OF WRATH is more of the New Deal than popular front, particularly in the movie, where the placement of the government camp scene near the end mediated against some of the horror elsewhere depicted in the novel.  Steinbeck was also rather ambivalent towards socialism, although his description of the failings of…

I'm not denying that the movie had a racist agenda, just that Griffith did not see what was inherently controversial in his view that America was a white man's country. Few whites would have found BOAN's message of white reconciliation as expressed through the suppression of black liberty particularly radical in…

There isn't any evidence that Griffith supported the KKK in its 20th Century incarnation, and the rest of his work repudiates anti-immigrant and pro- prohibitionist stances taken by the organization.  He seemed rather incredulous over the controversy that his epic aroused, not just in his own comments but in the…

While your statement of the book's theme is correct, I would hardly call it a game changer.  Traditional Southern conservatives of the elite political establishment generally upheld the foundation of law as a means of maintaining order, in that it only allowed for government to exercise coercive powers only when the…

While the novel and film does point out the persecution of Blacks in the South during the Depression, it hardly calls out for civil rights.  Rather, it dramatizes the limits of traditional Southern paternalism in protecting those "good Negroes" from the wiles and passions of white trash populism.

Good recommendation for the inventory.  Interestingly, Steinbecks novel and other media surrounding the dust bowl migration that has survived the test of time, like Woody Guthrie's ballads and Dorothy Lange's "Dustbowl migrant" photograph, have created a popular impression that the "oakies" constituted the majority of…

BIRTH OF A NATION is the first example I can think of, as it provoked the first nationwide protest campaign by the N.A.A.C.P. and the revival of the K.K.K.

John Schlesinger directed a film of it around 1975, with william Atherton, Karen Black, Burgess Meredith (scoring an Oscar nom) and Donald Sutherland as Homer.

Where's my Honey!

THE WILD BUNCH is my favoriite Western, but the betrayal of personal loyalties revealed at the conclusion of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALENCE really drive the theme of the movie home.

I saw the movie when I was 4 or 5 and just getting my head around the concept of death.  The ending really upset me.

Ones experiences with faded and scratched prints when introduced to classic movies probably plays a role in ones feelings.  Nitrate prints shown with contemporary lenses can be breathtaking and sharper when originally shown.  Color processes used in the making of prints can also make a huge difference in how a film…

It may also come down to casting.  during the period after W.W.II when studios elevated Westerns from the B movie ghetto, they often looked to stars who were aging and who could carry a manly authenticity via their increasingly grizzled looks.  Today few male stars convey that aura of authenticity, and the expense of…

Both David Milch and David Simon have said that they hate casting, so this tendency might be partly due to the preferences of the showrunners to dance with the actors they know rather than to go out and find new talent.  By the way, the same phenomena is true for directors as well.

Another literary mention:  Walter M. Miller.  Just found my copy CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ from college while sorting out books.  Need to do a re-red.

There is a rhythm and cadence to the comedic timing in PLOT that didn't feel too common in American films at the time the film was originally shot but feels more commonplace today.  That probably isn't due to Roemer's influence though.

Thumbs up on the first, and the answser to the second—Leonard Kastle (with an assist from Scorsese).

Or, for that matter, The last verse of "Devonside" and about 2/3rds of Richard Thompson songs

They say "Howdy" and "Y"all" just fine, but their lips are sayin' sumpin' else.

While I enjoyed this primer It would be nice to discuss a wider assortment of songs than just the ones about disfunctional family dyamics.