American History Film Research Project for History 1302
The goal of this American History Film Research Project is to stimulate you to think critically
about how movies inform our view of history.
It is a simple-minded belief that students learn everything they need to know about history in a
classroom, from the boring facts that spill forward across the pages of mind-numbing textbooks.
We live in a visual age, and as a historian whether I like it or not – students learn a lot of history
from films. Films are infinitely more interesting that the thick textbook that students buy each
semester. Truth be told everybody watches films, everybody! As a historian I believe that it is
imperative that we ask crucial questions about these “historical films,” questions such as who are
the historians creating these films? Whose histories are they telling? Are there histories they are
not telling? Are we as a society shaped by historical films, if so how?
For this project you will chose a film from the list of films about American History. The film you
choose must have a specific historical trail that you can study, assemble, investigate, and
immerse yourself in just as the people making a historical will do.
There must be a trail that you can follow, so this means that not every film will work. There must
be sources that you can document. The film must deal with American history, not simply a
person or event so chose a film that you believe should be a part of our national or cultural
memory, something that should be studied in school.
Below you will find a series of questions that can be used as prompts to start you on the path of
gathering information. There are general questions about history and specific film and historical
questions.
General Questions:
How do you define history?
What is the role of history in culture?
Do Americans need to know their history?
Why is history a required subject in school?
Is history to create national pride and individual identity? Or should history just be about the
facts?
Is history political?
What is cultural memory, popular memory, and collective memory?
Specific Questions:
How do you define cinematic history?
Why do film-makers make historical film, what is their agenda?
What do films about history tell us about the past?
What questions or answers did the film-maker bring to the film-making?
What questions or answers does an audience take away from such films?
What is the relation between “fact” and “fiction” in such films?
How do such films deal with “evidence” when it is there?
What if there is little or no evidence?
Do films qualify to be called “history”? Can film-makers be called “historians”?
Does creativity destroy authenticity?
What do professional historians think of historical films?
Why do some historical films trouble some professional historians?
Why are professional historians not more involved in making historical films?
Why should people interested in American history see historical films?
What can we learn about history or the making of history through film?
To what extent do such films present history with “integrity”?
When is a film-maker “responsible” when dealing with historical subjects? When is a film maker
irresponsible?
Project Instructions and guidelines: Synopsis: is a condensed, focused summary: Give the main facts. Outline the main plot. Most importantly, make sure the specific “historical” element is clearly visible. Historical Context: write an essay on the historical subject of the film and provide an annotated list of print, video, and online resources on the historical subject. Scene Analysis: write a short essay on one important scene in the film. Issue Essay: write a 3-page essay on an issue in history that the film raises. Images: provide a minimum of six images that are related to the film or the historical subject. Produce a PowerPoint presentation that explains how and why these images relate to the film or historical subject Works Cited: provide a works cited page
Historical Films List- Hist 1302/Course Section G008
Gilded Age – Wyatt Earp
Tombstone
Hatfield &McCoys
Bury My Heart at Wounded
Knee
1900s – Ragtime
1910s – All Quiet on the Western Front
1920s – The Great Gatsby
The Untouchables
Iron Eagles
Rosewood
The 1930s – The Day the Bubble Burst
All the Kings’ Men
Bonnie and Clyde
Cinderella Man Public Enemies
Grapes of Wrath
Berlin 36
The Jesse Owens Story
1940s/WWII – Schindler’s List
Sophie’s Choice
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Pianist
Valkyrie
Hart’s War
Tuskegee Airman
Windtalkers
Red Tails
Saving Private Ryan
Pearl Harbor
Miracle at St. Anna
Bugsy
42
Post-WWII/Cold War –The Master
The Good Shepherd
Gangster Squad
McCarthyism – Guilty by Suspicion
Goodnight and Good Luck
Civil Rights – The Express
The Help
The Long Walk Home
The Rosa Parks Story
Ghosts of Mississippi
Malcolm X
Murder in Mississippi
Panther
Ruby Bridges
Boycott
4 Little Girls
Selma
1960’s – J. Edgar (1920s to 1960s)
JFK
Bobby
13 Days
Apollo 13
The Right Stuff
Vietnam – Apocalypse Now
Born on the 4th of July
