Grapes of Wrath: A family is forced off their land; they head to CA looking for work, but finding trouble. 1940.  Henry Fonda.  Best dir. (John Ford), best actress.  AFI's 100 Best Films; 129 minutes

Maltese Falcon: After a detective's partner is killed, he plunges into intrigue. 1941, film noir.  Dir: John Huston; Humphrey Bogart.  AFI's 100 Best Films. 

How Green Was My Valley: A family in a mining town deals with strikes.  1941.  Dir: John Ford; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor. 

Casablanca: Pre-signed papers could allow any two people to leave Morocco and escape the Nazis--but who will end up with them?  1942,  Best picture, director, & screenplay.  AFI's 100 Best

Films: 1940-44
1940 Abe Lincoln in Illinois 
1940 Fantasia
1940 Great Dictator;  between 50-100 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1940 His Girl Friday
1940 Grapes of Wrath : listed in top 25 of AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  between 200-250 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1940 The Philadelphia Story : listed between 26-50 in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time; unrated
1940 Rebecca; Academy Award Best Picture;  between 100-199 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1941 Citizen Kane : listed in top 25 of AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  between 50-100 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1941 Maltese Falcon : listed in top 25 of AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  between 200-250 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1941 How Green Was My Valley : listed between 26-50 in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  Academy Award Best Picture; unrated
1941 Meet John Doe
1941 Pinocchio X
1941 Shepherd of the Hills
1942 Casablanca : listed in top 25 of AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  Academy Award Best Picture;  in top 25 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1942 The Magnificent Ambersons
1942 Mrs. Miniver;  Academy Award Best Picture; unrated
1941 Suspicion
1942 Yankee Doodle Dandy : listed between 26-50 in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time; unrated
1943 The Life & Death of Colonel Blimp;  On the list of British 50 Best Films; unrated
1943 Song of Bernadette; Golden Globe Best Picture; unrated
1944 Double Indemnity : listed between 26-50 in AFI's 100 Greatest Films of all time;  between 50-100 of IMDb's 250 best movies; unrated
1944 Going My Way; Academy Award Best Picture;  Golden Globe Best Picture; unrated

XXX
All the King's Men Academy Award  Best Picture, GG Best Picture X
Great Expectations British Film Institute's 50 Greatest British Films

Arsenic and Old Lace: On his wedding night, this orphan discovers that the aunts who raised him are mass-murderers.  1944, Comedy, Cary Grant 118 minutes

Double Indemnity: An insurance agent helps an unsatisfied housewife make a large sum of money by killing her husband.   1944. Seven nomination, AFI's 100 Best Films list, film noir.  107 minutes

Lecture Notes

Film Noir - a dark, on-the-edge film
Often used narration
Often made cheaply
These movies pushed the Hays Code censors to the limit through subtle or devious means

Main Character:
XX a loner
XX a private eye or someone involved with crime
XX  a shady character, someone from outside the system, comfortable in forbidden areas,
Femme Fatale character
XX a Dangerous Woman- see Femme Fatale 
XX Seductive, but pushes her man toward evil
XX Unobtainable - getting involved with her is playing with fire; Gives the film a sense of doom
XX Love is actually a perversion of love, an obsession
Cinematography:
XX Almost always black and white
XX uses light and shadow with hard contrasts, including deep shadows; venetian blind effect, shadow-play. 
XXCharacter may be trapped, his situation getting worse and worse

Resources:
"American Cinema - Film Noir."  (2010).  Retrieved from Youtube:enfuegoentertainment.
XXX  http://youtu.be/m85lGQSkag0.  Parts 1-4 and about half of 5
"Femme Fatale."  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femme_fatale
"Film Noir".  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir


Hayes Code 
Officially called the Motion Picture Production Code, the Hayes Code regulated the film industry until 1968, when the rating system was put into place. 

XX Films were regulated by Hollywood, not the government. 
XX Put in place to keep the government off the film industry's back
XX Reassured Americans that corruption and decay they saw in Hollywood would not be spread
XX XX all over the country.   

Resources:
"Hayes Code."  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayes_Code