Big Hollywood Visits Hillsdale College: The Films of 1939
by Robert J. AvrechI’m in Michigan, on assignment for Big Hollywood, to cover a four-day film festival presented by The Center for Constructive Alternatives at Hillsdale College.
For the next few days I will screen some landmark films from, arguably, Hollywood’s greatest year, and attend lectures by distinguished film scholars.
First impressions: Hillsdale is sort of like a set for a Frank Capra film.
Hillsdale College Campus.
About an hour from Detroit, Hillsdale is in the middle of flat farmland where white-tailed deer graze in golden fields.
Most of the buildings are informed by peaked roofs and references to classical Greek and Colonial architecture. The school is situated on 200 acres, has 100 full time faculty members and approximately 1,300 students.
Refusing all Federal dollars, Hillsdale is one of the few Conservative American colleges—Claremont and Grove City are two others that spring to mind—thus the school is truly independent, not shackled by government grants or political headwinds.
Hillsdale, a co-educational, liberal arts college, established by Freewill Baptists on Dec 4, 1844, was the first American college to prohibit in its charter all discrimination based on race, religion, or sex. In the 1970s Hillsdale refused, on principle, to “submit Assurance of Compliance forms mandated by Title IX” of Affirmative Action programs, on the grounds that its own policies were less discriminatory than those of the federal government.
The Constitution and our American freedoms are taken very seriously by administration and students alike.
Over the next few days I’ll report on Hillsdale College, and the Films of 1939.
Here’s my schedule:
Sunday, March 7, 2010
4:00 p.m. Showing of “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” (dir. Sam Wood)
8:00 p.m. “Hollywood in 1939”
David Thomson
Author, “Have You Seen…?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films
Monday, March 8, 2010
4:00 p.m. Showing of “Young Mr. Lincoln” (dir. John Ford)
8:00 p.m. “John Ford: Chronicler of America”
Dan Ford
Author, The Life of John Ford
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
4:00 p.m. Showing of “Ninotchka” (dir. Ernst Lubitsch)
8:00 p.m. “The Art of Ernst Lubitsch”
Scott Eyman
Palm Beach Post
Author, Ernst Lubitsch: Laughter in Paradise
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
“John Ford”
Lecture by John Marini
Claremont McKenna College, Professor of Political Science
4:00 p.m. Showing of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (dir. Frank Capra)
8:00 p.m. “Capra as Director”
Peter Bogdanovich
Director and Film Historian
Thursday, March 11, 2010
11:00 a.m. Faculty Roundtable
I need to keep track of three time zones: dual time piece displays (top) California, (bottom) New York. The second watch shows the local time. I know, I know, New York and Michigan are in the same time zone. What can I tell you. The redundancy is reassuring. If one watch quits, I have the second as back-up.
I have to tell you, I hate traveling. I hate being in new places. I hate not sleeping in my own bed. And I really hate being separated from the love of my life, Karen.
Look, when you’ve been in love with the same woman since age nine—I never said I was normal—being away from said woman induces a kind of inner chaos. It’s like, I’m gone for a few days and oh-oh, now she’s going to get wise to how easy life can be without yours truly always kvetching about everything under the sun.
Let’s face it, I’m a high maintenance husband.
Another reason I hate to travel, even to see great films, is because I always end up in some random corner of the universe—Japan, China, Kansas—where kosher food is not only unavailable, but not even a rumor.
But I have to hand it to Hillsdale. They have done everything possible to accommodate my religious observance.
Hillsdale’s Joe Cella, who assisted in promoting this film forum and invited me to attend, listened patiently over the phone and said:
“I’ll run the traps for some kosher food.”
I was like, “Huh?”
I felt like I was talking to Grizzly Adams.
Finally, Joe explained that running the traps is Midwestern talk for, y’know, getting stuff done.
So: I’ve got a refrigerator and microwave in my room. Tons of fresh fruit and salad, and of course all the food Karen packed for me.
Note to self: In the future, do not pack the diet Ginger Ale. The can explodes like a grenade at 30,000 ft.
I’ve been up for about sixteen hours.
Must get some sleep.
Stay tuned for further posts over the next few days.
Strolling along the Hillsdale campus, I discovered this statue of Margaret Thatcher. Be still my heart.
P.S. I am fuh-reezing.
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53 Comments
You made me smile. My husband thinks I still look like I did 55 years ago when we met and tells me every day how pretty I look. That makes me smile too especially since I can see in my mirror that I look exactly like what I am – a 75 year old granny and not a 19 year old girl.
Your wife and I lucky — and yes he wasn't on my radar in my early years either.
I'll look forward hearing about your adventure in cold north and what students up there had to say about those great films.
Had I only known about Hillsdale when hunting for colleges.
OK, not wanting to be away from your wife after 32 years….. I find that terribly cute!
I can only hope I'll find someone half as attentive!
Wish they had had this CCA when I attended Hillsdale 10 years ago…
Too bad HUAC and McCarthy are not still around. The National Socialist Party is now deeply embedded in hollywood.
We need loyalty oaths again.
What a wonderful experience for you, Robert. I can't wait to hear your updates.
would love to send my child to Hillsdale & other colleges named, but she wants to be a veterinarian. Are there any conservative colleges that offer hard sciences? Its great that conservativism is taking on the liberal arts, but we'd excel in the hard sciences too…
Mr A,
Dazzle them with your brilliance…
…I go with '39 as greatest movie year, but just for conversation, I nominate '68 as second-greatest…
…2001: A Space Odyssey…Bullitt…Once Upon a Time in the West…Oliver !…Rosemary's Baby…the Lion in Winter…Funny Girl…Planet of the Apes…Yellow Submarine…
…and the two great New York comedies – The Producers and The Odd Couple.
P.S. What if your back-up watch fails ? …and you now have Diet Ginger Ale all over your nosh ?
Hillsdale has an excellent science dept! You can send her there for her undergrad and then on to vet school from there (Michigan State has a fantastic vet program is a mere hour away from Hillsdale).
Hope you find Hillsdale enjoyable! I'm an alum and miss the place often (although not the snow so much). Don't miss the other statutes!
God, & infinite nature have always loved America. The American Free Spirit is, & always has been, a beautiful thing. Although lately, indoctrination, liberal media, & 'political correctness', have corrupted it's sense of Liberty, & the American Way, in our blessed civil society. I thank infinite life, (God) for the preservation of the true American free spirit. Absent the degradation of late. & pray that we may one day find our way to infinite law, & constitutional beliefs, again.
We were founded on the rights of the people, OVER the rights of government. & this, in so many ways has been turned upside down, not only in America, but in so many countries, across the world. The spirit of mankind now has precious little left, & must learn to pick itself back up, & assert it's infinite freedom, for the infinite human right.
I thank Hillsdale College, for standing strong with the people for all of these years. & hollywood without politics, for aesthetics, only for the sake of enjoyment.
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If conservatives are ever going to turn around the trend towards secular statism, it's going to require taking back at least half the academy. One part of doing that would be support of schools like Hillsdale. We need more of them and more out of the ones already in existence.
I feel the same way.
Well… physical sciences tend to be free from a lot of the garbage that goes one with the humanities. I went to a very liberal university but as I was in physics it wasn't a hotbed of progressive thought. (At least until I had the moronic Humanities requirements. Thanks God there were only a few.) There's really no way to push progressive ideals in a Quantum Physics class for instance.
(Well maybe there could be that is left as an exercise for the reader.)
ninotchka is a terrific movie.
I second what Cam said. Hillsdale does have an excellent science department. From what I understand, the biology department is especially good, particularly for a school of Hillsdale's size. I graduated from there and I know someone planning to go to vet school next year. She has had many great opportunities, including participation in a research project in South Africa. Hillsdale does offer a pre-professional program in Pre-Vet. Make sure you check out the website before discounting it: http://www.hillsdale.edu/academics/majors/vet.asp
Attending Hillsdale was the best decision I ever made. I shudder to think what I wouldn't know if I hadn't gone there.
I'd just like to say –
I grew up in Michigan, went to Hillsdale, and have never heard the expression "run the traps."
Happy 1939ing. Say hi to Saga Steve for me.
Ninotchka is one of the few movies I would stay up late for. Back in the late 1970's I could pick up Channel 2 out of NYC, The old anntena on the roof business. They had Ninotchka on and for some reason the reception was real clear, I was oh 100 miles to the east of the city in CT. I started drinking vodka I had in the freezer with some black pepper, I gotten so drunk I passed out on the kitchen floor, the Movie was poking fun at the Soviets of that time, Garbo was well Garbo. I had a hang over that lasted four or five days. Drank the whole bottle, Stoli 100 proof. Gee's that was 33 Years ago. I was young and foolish and a hope less movie buff. Come to think of it, I don't go to the movies like I did back then 2 or 3 times a week, And that was the last time I ever drank so much that I would have a hangover the next day. I only will drink a beer or a glass of wine with a meal. I was 23, Loved the old movies of old hollywood then and now. 1939 was a year to remember in film and in other things.
Robert, stay warm! And have your hosts get you some good Vernors Diet Ginger Ale…I think it is still made in Detroit.
So glad I can make you smile. And it seems to me that your husband is a lucky man.
I really hope that my posts will inspire others to investigate Hillsdale as a college option. This is a remarkable institution.
Now I'm going to tell Karen how cute I am. I'll bet you end up with someone just as attentive, but hopefully less, er, neurotic.
The CCA's are fantastic. But listen, as an alumnus—lucky you—you can attend. Never too late, right?
You would adore this place. The level of intellectual discourse is in the stratosphere. A student told me: “Look, we know we're going against the current educational grain here at Hillsdale, but we take pride in believing and pursuing the truth.”
No fashionable moral relativism here.
Yup, Hillsdale has excellent science departments. There are so many pre-meds here that it's like Yeshiva University where 50% of the students are pre-med.
Seeveral students told me that coming to Hillsdale has enriched their lives beyond measure.
Very true. Those in the hard sciences tend—with the exception of climategate—to rely on hard data. Those in the arts are all about feelings. It's as simple and as complicated as that. Here at Hillsdale though, even those in the arts seem quite Conservative.
You know, I never thought about '68 as such a great year. But now that you menation it, it was pretty darned good. But really, Yellow Submarine?
If my back-up watch fails then next time I'll wear three watches.
My blue blazer is now embedded with Ginger Ale.
Have to order another from Land's End.
Lucky and wise you for attending Hillsdale. More pics of the wonderful statues over the next few days. Had to restrain myself from hugging Churchill.
I'm learning a great deal while I'm here. I was raised a liberal Democrat. No one ever mentioned the Constitution.
The rot in liberal academia is deep, like inbred children. Hillsdale gives me hope. Yes, support with $.
Ninotchka is the greatest American movie about the evils of Communism evuh. My favorite line:
Ninotchka: The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians.
Hope you didn't miss that line in your stupor:-)
Y'mean… y'mean… Joe is making fun of yours truly, a naive Brooklynite?
I am sooooo cild and get this, everyone is telling me how arm it is.
Vernors? I will run a trap for it.
Spelling errors: cold, warm.
Hit the submit button too darn fast.
Run the traps: Here's a fine dictionary def: http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary...
Robert, have fun at Hillsdale College, enjoy the movies and tell all the pretty girls I said Hi.
I love a man with a backup watch! I've always been pathologically early…
Yep. If I only knew then what I know now. I missed Hillsdale College by about 15 miles. I went to that fine, just fine, state college up the road a piece; ol' Central Michigan. Majored in Cinematic Arts, well, I took classes in Cinema. The major interest was partying and my minor was Frisbee. I knew about Hillsdale, but there was a reputation at CMU that that was where the "smart" kids went. You had to actually do real school work there.
Hindsight being what it is – I coulda, I shoulda, but I didn't. A choice in life where I made a poor selection. An earlier one was when I thought about joining military service, but that was right at the end of Viet Nam, and I thought about it really for only about ten seconds.
Repeat the first two sentences here.
I had a younger girlfriend a few years ago and she would oftimes laugh at things that she was seeing in old films that we would watch together. At first it irked me b/c I thought she was laughing at the film, but what she was laughing at was the experience of seeing something she had never seen before or only heard of – the laughter of recognition of a dial pay phone used for a 5 cent phone call or the more formal patterns of speech, etc.
And fwiw – younger women will notice things in old films that men would never even be conscious of clothes, fashion, hair styles, make up.
Also – the subtlety of certain scenes or much of anything that requires reading between the lines will often get by younger people not used to older films.
Additionally – vintage 'chick flicks' usually still work on young female viewers – and all mother/daughter conflicts still work and capture the attention of young female hearts – Crawford and Blyth slapping each other on the staircase in Mildred Pierce. Freddi Washington nearly insane with hysteria as she chases the coffin of her recently departed and largely ignored by her Mom in "Imitation of Life"….also a powerful resonater with younger black women in their 20s – 40s…and beyond. That video used to sell like crazy to black females while the remake went largely ignored.
Hillsdale College also has a monthly publication called IMPRIMIS that's free to anyone and has some of the finist conservative minds in the country writing for it. The January Issue was called "The Generosity of America" by Adam Meyerson. What an excellent read!
Great article and Stay Warm
Edna
oops typo: finest not finist..yeeesh it's early!
Another great newer conservative college is Patrick Henry College in VA. where they're taking awards away from Colleges like Oxford, Yale and Harvard. Keep this college on your radar too!
The Fishman…
This reminds me of another post, both were really good….
My old alma mater! The Thatcher statue must be new — although, I was on hand when they attempted to give Margaret a bronze eagle statue, in person. She politely declined.
But definitely — you can feel good about sending your kids to Hillsdale. GREAT school.
Well, yeah, "Yellow Submarine" for the great soundtrack and the um, "blue meanies" and such…
Lucky stiff! What a great gig. Enjoy.
I will be watching for your Goodbye, Mr Chips writeup. Just attempted a defense of Sam Wood at my place. I like the movie and Donat, a talented, tragic and nearly forgotten actor, gave a great performance.
Sounds like my kind of movie festival! Great to know that there are some bastions of academia uninfected by Mr. Marx. Love, love, love the Margaret Thatcher statue.
I have attended several seminars at Hillsdale College, as a guest of Stan Marvin. The last was on the Cold War. Met and discussed books with the authors. Very much impressed with M. Stanton Evans author of "Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies", and Dan Mahoney second author of "The Solzhenitsyn Reader"
Hillsdale has outstanding conservative speakers normally scheduled of a Friday evening. Last one I heard was Mark Steyn. Bright industrious instructors and the same goes for the students. You couldn't find a better college for a family member. Recommended.
http://www.hillsdale.edu/seminars/oncampus/cca/
Al
It's hilarious that you're "fuh-reezing". It's spring! Look at that photo: the snow is melting away. I don't know what it is in Michigan, but here in Minnesota it has been 10 degrees above freezing for a week. It looks balmy there. Pftt. Californians.
Hillsdale College actually has a top-knotch Biology program and has sent several students on to Veternary school!
–A Hillsdale Student, and bio major myself
Just saw your courageous defense. Well done. Look, Wood sounds like a rather extreme individual, but his filmography is stuffed with wonderful movies. Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a masterpiece. It's an epic, the way GWTW is an epic. Donat has never been better.
If I were to judge Hollywood by personal politics alone, well, that would exclude quite a few talents. Sean Penn and Oliver Stone proudly flak for Hugo Chavez, a tyrant and a Jew-hater who has just formed an alliance with the Holocaust denying Iranians.
In any case. You did a great job, and it's a shame that you had to.
I wish I was 22 instead of 42, and that I had the money. I'd pack my bags today.
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