Movies, films, flicks, motion pictures. Tim calls them “the most tyrannical art form in history,”
Tim Tynan takes movies apart, examines them and assigns them to high-school history students as he teaches the middle decades of a century that ended as those kids were being born.
He pushes them to pay attention to how films deal with issues like family, church and state as clues to a film maker’s values. How characters, story lines and production techniques can manipulate audiences. The Motion Picture Production Code was rigidly enforced from 1934 until 1968 for exactly that reason. (It proceeded to impose its own kind of manipulation of course.)
Tim’s very binge-able list of celluloid classics stretches from the mass urban migrations of 1920s through the Great Depression and WWII, the postwar 50s, nuclear brinksmanship, the struggle for Civil Rights and the Sexual Revolution of the 60s and 70s:
“Sunrise” 1928. German, subtitles. Betrayal, temptation, murder. Often called greatest film of the Silent Era.
“I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang” 1932. Army veteran is charged with crime he didn’t commit. Marries woman who blackmails him.
“King Kong” 1933. American film crew captures and exhibits KK. He’s machine-gunned by warplanes while clutching a damsel, believing he is protecting her.
“Duck Soup” 1933. The Marx Brothers use satire to warn about the rise of Fascism in Europe. Mussolini banned it.
“Modern Times” 1936. Chaplin’s tragicomedy portrays the pressure caused by the advent of punch-clocks and assembly lines amid the poverty of the Great Depression
“It Happened One Night” 1938. Romantic comedy in which a pampered socialite falls for bad-boy reporter.
“Grapes Of Wrath” 1940. Oklahoma farming family ends up as migrant workers in California. “…wherever there’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there.”
“Casablanca” 1942. Besieged by French and German officials and WWII refugees, nightclub owner and arms runner sacrifices his love of a woman for democratic values.
“Life Boat” 1944. During WWII, a merchant-marine vessel and a u-boat are sunk in North Atlantic. British and American civilians are stranded on life boat with German captain hiding his identity.
“Crossfire” 1947. Anti-Semitism is underpinning of film-noir drama. Who is a murderer among group of demobilized soldiers?
“Third Man” 1949. American arrives in Vienna. His friend is dead. Suspecting murder he searches for acquaintances of the deceased. Gritty images of post-war Vienna.
“The Day The Earth Stood Still” 1951. Humanoid-like alien accompanied by a eight-foot robot comes to Earth in peace. Warns earthlings to join interplanetary organization policed by invincible robots.
“High Noon” 1952. Marshal retires to start family with pacifist bride. He’s forced to protect frontier town against murderous outlaws. The townspeople are too cowardly to join him.
“On The waterfront” 1954. Union mob boss intimidates and murders longshoremen. He forces promising prizefighter to take dive. “I coulda’ been a contender” Marlon Brando sobs.
“Rebel Without A Cause” 1955. Three teenagers of the Silent Generation collide with families, rival delinquent gangs and police during the 1950s.
“Invasion Of The Body Snatchers” 1956. Alien spores from depths of space transform into pods, produce identical copies of humans lacking moral judgment and emotion.
“Defiant Ones” 1958. An African-American and a white inmate bust out of the joint shackled together. Despite mutual hatred they learn to cooperate to gain freedom.
“Dr. Strangelove” 1964. Political satire. Maniacal general orders first-strike nuke attack on USSR. The fact that the real world had flirted nuclear annihilation 2 year earlier is chilling.
“Bonnie and Clyde” 1967. Murderous crime spree in southern and mid-west states in 1930s. Barrow and Parker pose for the press, Tommy guns in hand.
“Easy Rider” 1969. Rebellious hippie saga. Drugs, communal lifestyle, personal indulgence, rejection of war and suburban values.
“Five Easy Pieces” 1970. Child-prodigy rejects past to work as oil rigger. Exposure to working class shakes his values as he encounters dying father.
“Chinatown” 1974. Corruption, murder and cover-up involving Water Wars in Los Angeles in early part of last century.
“Nashville” 1975. Five days leading up to presidential primary of populist candidate. Includes a jaundiced take on country and gospel music business. 
Randy Gaynes
And I’m sure Time didn’t mean to overlook “Cabin Boy,” “Dumb and Dumber,” and the James Coburn classic: “Waterhole Number 3”, which should have been titled “Waterhole Number 2.”
See you next year at the movies!!