This course will examine ways in which Hollywood—defined here as the movie and television industry—has dealt with American history.  Whether historians like it or not, most Americans get the vast majority of their information about history from television and movies.  That's the good news and the bad news.  The good part is that well made films whose producers and directors have an eye for historic settings can open a window on the past which can not be done through any other medium.  Films like “The Godfather, Part II,” though not intended as “history,” can portray life in early New York City reasonably accurately.  Even when events from the past are romanticized or reshaped for dramatic purposes, one can gain a sense of what life was like in earlier times.

On the other hand, Hollywood can and often has distorted the past and has presented inaccurate, even destructive, images of individuals or groups, with Native Americans being but one example.  Whether through ignorance or willfulness, such unfortunate portrayals can be confusing at the very least.  Because many such historically unsound films are nevertheless dramatically gripping and therefore convincing, viwers leave the theater thinking, "So that's how it was!"

Our goals in this course will be threefold:

1. To sort out different aspects of historical film from both the filmaker's and historian's point of view;
2. To become more intelligent viewers and critics of what we see on the screen;
3. To gain a deeper understanding of the American past through the films we watch.

• Reading the original novel from which the film was made
• Consulting film reviews in the library or on line
• Finding articles about the film, actors, or directors
• Researching historic topics relating to the film