HITCHCOCK'S AMERICA

Course Syllabus:

September 12: Introduction to the Master of Suspense:

• Hitchcock's life:
  • biographical milestones
• Hitchcock's art:
  • suspense --- and so much more
• Hitchcock begins work in America:
  • focus on World War II

September 19: The American Small Town:

• SHADOW OF A DOUBT
  • Hitchcock in Santa Rosa, California

September 26: The American Production System: The Studios:

• PSYCHO
• SPELLBOUND
  • management, stars, collaborators
  • the reinvention of the horror genre

October 3: The American Literary Connection:

• REAR WINDOW
  • Hitchcock and American writers

October 10: The American Landscape:

• NORTH BY NORTHWEST
• SABOTEUR
  • public spaces and private terrors

October 17: American Masculinity on Trial:

• STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
• THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)
• ROPE
  • revalidating the patriarchy
  • the homosexual menace

October 24: American Individualism:

• VERTIGO
• THE WRONG MAN
  • Hitchcock as auteur
  • feminist approaches

October 31: American Capitalism:

• THE BIRDS
  • Hitchcock the self-promoter:
    • cameo appearances, TV shows, etc.
• Hitchcock's America: some final thoughts

Course Business:

The lecture each week will focus on one main film (indicated in bold within the schedule above), but, because of the constraints of class time, the screening of films in their entirety will not be possible. Class time will be used for lecture, discussion, and the screening of clips from Hitchcock's films. Because comprehension of the material covered will be greatly enhanced by familiarity with the films, it is expected that every student will view the main film to be covered in each week's lecture before the class meeting time. Group screenings of the films, either in the Library Multi-Media Center (which has such facilities) or arranged privately, are encouraged.