American History in Film – New Films for Fall 2024
FILM3-5b-Tue2
Laurence Paluzzi
This course will take place in person at 60 Turner Street. The room will be equipped with a HEPA air purifier.
October 15 - November 12
They say history is written by winners. But hasn’t Hollywood written its own version of history, leading many people to believe that the film reflects what really happened? Students watch a film at home each week. Classes begin with a brief look at the historical period. Then we discuss whether the film is consistent with historical events. This is a new course with new films for Fall 2024, different from the films studied in the prior “American History and Film” course.
We start with The Alamo (1960), directed by John Wayne, a conservative, at the height of the Cold War. Do his politics affect the way the story is told? Then we watch The Conspirator (2010), directed by Robert Redford, a liberal. The film deals with Mary Surratt, the lone female charged as a co-conspirator in Lincoln’s assassination. Did Redford portray her trial as a rush to judgment? Next we view Bonnie and Clyde (1967), a film set during the Depression. In it Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow go on a violent crime spree: stealing cars, robbing banks, and murdering lawmen – having a great time doing it. Is this believable? In The Long Walk Home (1990), two women, a black maid and her white employer, must deal with the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott. Just how much white backlash was there? Finally, in JFK (1991), New Orleans DA Jim Garrison investigates the Kennedy assassination. How successful was he in implicating the American military and intelligence agencies?
Roughly the same amount of lecture and discussion.
No book will be required. The SGL will provide reading material. Students either rent the assigned movies, or borrow them from the library. In past semesters, some films have been available for free online. The SGL will inform students about where the films can be viewed.
The movies run from approximately 90 minutes to 3 hours. Then there is another 30 minutes to do the assigned reading.
Laurence Paluzzi is a retired attorney and former instructor at the MA Department of Revenue where he taught many important tax issues. Most recently, he taught Marijuana Tax and Regulation, Paid Family and Medical Leave, and Vaping and Tobacco Control Law. Laurence attended the New England School of Law, and during that time studied at both Oxford University in England, and Heidelberg University in Germany. He retired from the Department of Revenue in 2021. And like many of us, Laurence loves finding a good movie to watch.