All I Learned About Politics I Learned By Watching Movies

By

Jenean McBrearty

Many Americans have little understanding of, or knowledge about, government,

politics, and power. Some, especially the young, are hostile to authority, are impatient

with the cumbersome nature of the political system, or suffer from decidedly far Left or

Right ideological partisanship.

There is no magical cure for ideological fervor, apathy or frustration. However,

students can become acquainted with central political and sociological concepts by

viewing a few home videos.

1. The Madness of King George (1994)

Nobody does monarchy better than the British. Though Hollywoodized for public

consumption, Madness nonetheless accurately recounts what it was like to be king in the

shadow of representative government and personal infirmity, thus giving us insight into

both macro and micro aspects of out political heritage.

The film begins with the opening of Parliament, which is presented as ritualized

pomp and circumstance. Bored palace employees toss the crown about, and heave great

sighs of relief when his majesty departs. It was still a no-no to look the sovereign in the

eye and protocol demanded never turning your back on the king when leaving, and there

was still deference to the title, but little respect for the person much less awe.

Americans are likewise relieved when elections are over at any level of

government. By inauguration time, we’re exhausted by the incessant name-calling,

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gossip-mongering, and rehashing of election-night by those experts who predict the

outcome, parse the meaning of the returns, and then tell us why we were stupid to vote as

we did. After all the fuss and feathers, we know that we’ve been had – kings and politicos

are still in power and policy, or lack there of, stays pretty much the same.

Madness, however, reminds us there are real people involved in governing. The

screen-image sorrow of King George at the loss of the American colonies as he loses his

wits, his eyes tearing, is gut wrenching:

Peace of mind! I have no peace of mind. I have had no peace of mind since we

lost America. Forests, old as the world itself, plains, strange delicate flowers,

immense solitudes. And all nature new to art. All ours. Mine. Gone. A paradise

lost.

How does the one in charge deal with the heartbreak of defeat with the entire

country watching? It’s enough to drive any paternalistic leader crazy. Sharper than a

serpent’s tooth was the ingratitude of his colonial children.

Yet, recovered from his bout of stress-exacerbated porphyria, George muses, “Ah,

America, well we’ll just have to deal with it.” Historian Christopher Hibbert (1998)

quotes George as saying to John Adams, “I was the least to consent to the separation; but

the separation having been made and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I

say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the Unites States as an

independent power.” Sanity, it seem, is closely related to political pragmatism.

Historically accurate also is the fact that George’s English ministers aren’t

especially fond either of their monarch’s German heritage— another fact of which many

Americans are unaware—or his holier-than-thou morality. George is too faithful, and too

prolific for his reserved, but randy courtiers. Having many children is not just unseemly,

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it’s burdensome, but why? Prices and princesses are taxpayer subsidized while bastards

are not.

But why can’t the Prince of Wales legally marry his mistress, Mary Fitzherbert?

She is a Catholic. As the Prince of Wales is not only the future king but also the future

head of the Church of England, this would be tantamount the Pope and taking a Jewish

wife. Though the film assumes the audience will understand—or not care—why there is

anti-Catholicism in George’s realm, the fact is relevant to American politics. Catholics

were not allowed to serve in the military, and King George needed more homegrown

recruits. Mercenaries were expensive and unreliable, albeit well trained, but attempts to

repeal anti-Catholic legislation were so unpopular, British subjects rioted in the streets.

The problems associated with dual royal roles were recognized by our Founding

Fathers. Hence, the “no establishment” clause of the 1st Amendment and “no religious test

as a qualification to any office or public trust” in Article VI, guaranteed that religious

barriers would not interfere with America’s governance or future defense needs.

2. The Crossing (1999)

Nowhere does the pragmatic benefit of religious tolerance become more apparent

than in the film The Crossing (2000), an A&E production that pays homage to the

secular celebration of Christmas :Washington’s victory at Trenton.

George Washington had many things in common with King George III. Both men

were tall, had long noses, were fond of farming, and were considered extremely moral by

the standards of the day, colonialism and slavery notwithstanding. However, our George

had an unwavering sense of mission, or, at the very least, a tenacity born of desperation.

At forty-two, having inherited Mount Vernon from his brother, married and raising step-

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children (one of whom died of epilepsy at sixteen in her step-father’s arms), he knew that

the Revolution was an all or nothing crap shoot. It was win or be hanged so it was

understandable that he was on the front lines with the seventeen year olds.

The film begins six months into the war. Washington’s armies are dissipated, his

supplies dwindling, and his officers dispirited after losing yet another battle at

Philadelphia, but Washington escapes British pursuit by crossing the Delaware River.

Here he waits, exhausted, for the river to freeze, thus allowing the final British attack that

will end the Revolution.

Washington dictates a letter to the Continental Congress, begging for resources

and warning of defeat if he cannot pay, feed, clothe, and arm his troops. Congress

responds by making him “Commander in Chief” and announcing the government has

retreated from New York.

How did Washington turn desolation into victory? Leadership. Washington got

the right men for the job, and then employed two strategies for successful problem

solving. He removed himself from his advisors to think about the problem, and delegated

authority in deference to expertise without regard for religious, class, or regional

distinctions. In one scene, as Washington and his generals dine with a Revolution-

friendly family, we learn that Glover is a fisherman from Maine; Knox was a bookseller,

Mercer a physician.

Trenton was across the river, ten miles downstream. Fifteen hundred Hessian

mercenaries - well fed, armed, trained and warm - had everything George needed to

continue the war. Alone, George stared at Trenton, considering all aspects of the problem:

weather, timing, logistics of transport, and approach. He defined the mission, formulated

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the plan, then went to the people who could execute it – all without a bureaucrat or MBA

in sight.

Few Americans know that Christmas is an important secular holiday celebrating

George Washington’s victory at the Battle of Trenton with only American six casualties

and no fatalities. Fewer still realize how close we came to losing the Revolutionary War.

3. Advise and Consent. (1962)

In this film, Robert Leffingwell is the president’s choice for a new Secretary of

State during the Cold War. The battle for his confirmation is the central story that displays

the working of the United States Senate, public education abounding. For example, the

wife of the French ambassador is treated to a gallery seat. A knowledgeable friend offers

an explanation of how the Vice President is the president of the Senate, but only votes in

case of a tie.

The Senate becomes a living, working entity in the film. We see the textbook

descriptions of the committee hearings, the jobs of the whips, the intrigue, the calling in

of favors owed, the roll call votes along with the incompetence, the vulnerability, and the

ethical lines that will not be crossed. That a senator would commit suicide over a wartime

homosexual incident seems dated today. Now it’s chic to “come out” and even chicer to

apologize to the homosexual lobby for not doing it sooner. Still, the price of some scandal

is still high. Ask Randy “Duke” Cunningham of California who was sentenced to 8 ½

years for bribery, impeached President Clinton, or witness the resignations of politicians

at every level for sexual and criminal misdeeds.

4. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Get out the hankies. Though fewer Americans know Greer Garson as a movie star,

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they can recognize an academy award winning performance when they see it. As the

loving wife and mother who must cope with bombing raids, a son in RAF, and the

incomprehensibility of war, Garson-as-Miniver is the archetypical role model for female

bravery and sensitivity.

While Mr. Miniver participates in the evacuation of Dunkirk, Mrs. Miniver is

threatened by a wounded German paratrooper. She believes motherly attention will

dissolve Nazi indoctrination, but soon learns otherwise. Fanaticism trumps maternal

concern.

Luckily, she does not have to kill him, but she soon learns about death on the

“backyard” battlefield. After a night bombing raid, the community gathers in a partially

destroyed church to hear a sermon painfully relevant today. The bombs have killed

beloved people: an elderly station master who grew roses, a young choir boy, and the

young bride of a young flier - Mrs. Miniver’s new daughter-in-law. How to understand

the death of innocents?

The Preacher delivers the answer. “This is not only a war of soldiers in uniform. It

is a war of all people, fought in factories and farms and in the hearts of every man,

woman and child. This is the people’s war. It is our war.” Never have the words of the

closing hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers, been so inspiring. This is the film Hollywood

would never make today.

5. The Battle For Russia (1942 released on DVD 2000)

The romanticized version of a people at war in Mrs. Miniver‘s Britain evaporates

with the archival footage of the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad. As part of Frank

Capra’s Why We Fight propaganda series, the film introduces us to a pre-WWII USSR.

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Many Americans are too young to remember the acronym, but cannot help but be

fascinated by the scenes of the various peoples and cultures that formed United Soviet

Socialist Republic They are surprised to learn, for instance, that the sun never sets on

Russia - when it is sunrise on one end, its sunset on the other; that it gets so cold - forty

below in northern areas; or that it contains vast oil reserves - more than the mid-east, oil

Hitler needed to continue his war.

For this reason, except for Poland that was the trifecta victim of Germany, Russia

and Czechoslovakia, probably no country suffered as much from Nazi barbarism as the

Soviet Union. Twenty-one million people died in the war against populations, many of

them sacrificed to the Nazis by Stalin’s scorched earth policy, buying him time to bring

his armies out of the Eastern region and build up his armaments.

The siege of Leningrad is particularly educational. It was a modern city of over 2

million inhabitants and presents us with a view of how a large city prepared itself for an

all-out ground assault. An army of people, including women and children, dug trenches

around the outskirts of the city, and used every scrap of metal and furniture to barricade

the roads. Rations were cut to starvation levels - 4 ounces of bread a day, 8 ounces for

munitions workers.

When the city refused to surrender the artillery bombardment began that

continued day and night for months. When winter struck, thousands died of cold, hunger,

thirst and disease, yet the munitions production continued. It seemed the city could not

hold, but wave after wave of invading troops were repulsed by those in the trenches in

sub-zero weather. Leningrad needed a miracle.

A port on Lake Ladoga was the only unoccupied Russian territory near Leningrad,

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but it was 100 miles away across the lake. When the lake froze, a convoy of trucks set out

on the ice with food and fuel, and returned with the wounded and sick. Eventually,

though strafed by German planes and fighting the cold, darkness of winter, the Russians

built a railroad on the ice bringing ever more supplies and carrying back needed

munitions. Were those people real? Did that really happen? Yep.

6. Judgment at Nuremburg. (1961)

The 1961 black and white Academy Award winner is a grown-up film that

examines the issue of personal responsibility versus loyalty to country. The war trials are

used to explore how Nazism could have succeeded in a modern country with a long

tradition intellectualism. Specifically, the trial of German judges forces us to contemplate

the role of elite leadership in the demise of German morality.

The script is a brilliant exposition of crucial issues surrounding international

law and its limitations. As long as compliance is voluntary, for example, can we even

consider international law, law? Perhaps international wishful thinking is a more

accurate. And how does State sovereignty figure into the equation? For the United States,

no international convention, document, or court decision can trump the Constitution.

When we are first introduced to the defendants, our first instinct is to reject any

defense for the four Nazi defendants, so certain are we that the German people alone are

responsible for the horrors of Nazism. Yet, fact-by-fact, Herr Rolf (Maximillian Schell),

the defense attorney, dispels our simplistic assumptions about the “causes” of Nazi

fascism.

For example, one witness for the prosecution, Dr. Wyk, asserts that sterilization of

mental incompetents was a novel idea in Nazi Germany. Herr Rolf, however, reads a

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United States Supreme Court opinion that upholds a sterilization law in the state of

Virginia, an opinion written by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Even the Vatican negotiated with

Hitler, we learn, and Churchill praised his determination of will. Aren’t they responsible

for Hitler too, Herr Rolf asks us?

Moreover, as witnesses take the stand, we come to see the awful moral dilemmas

the German people faced when confronted by state law. For example, the Nuremburg

laws forbade interactions with Jews. Was it wrong to report your neighbors? Witness that

seem to be blameless, for example Dr. Wyk who was a law professor who took the Hitler

oath but then refused to wear the arm band with the swastika on it, lose their right to

claim moral superiority. Herr Rolf castigates Wyk by asking him if he realized that if men

like him had refused to take the oath, Hitler could not have come to absolute power.

Constitutional provisions for structural independence of the three branches of

American government, then, seems more than just a convenience. An independent

judiciary is a necessary protection against the accumulation of power. Luckily for us, a

bunch of dead American white men understood that at the Constitutional Convention

in1787.

In the end, defendant Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster), now fully informed about

the “final solution“, begs Judge Heywood (Spencer Tracy) to believe that he never knew

it would come to this. “You knew it would come to this the first time you sentenced to

death a man you knew to be innocent,” Heywood replies. He speaks for us all.

7. Nighjohn (1996)

This Hallmark film is about slavery, and the prohibition of literacy for the

enslaved because it meant power.

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Nightjohn is a “bad” slave. We know because he carries the scars of many

whippings. We also know that he made it North and has returned to find his wife and

child, teaching slaves to read wherever he goes.

For nine-year old Sarny, raised by the house slave when her mother is sold,

learning letters is easy. It’s putting meaning with symbols and sounds that befuddles her.

That changes one day in church. We see her “aha!” as she connects makes the connection

between word and thought.

Now she can forge passes for the newly married slave couple separated by

masters who compete for slave offspring. She can read ledgers that contain a record of

the Master’s wealth, and love letters exchanged between the Master’s wife and the new

doctor in town. She can protect herself and save her own life when the runaway couple

isn’t caught because of her forgery.

Black ancestors fought for more than freedom from the white man’s cotton fields.

The Brown decision was so important to black people precisely because it was a

government acknowledgement of the importance of literacy in achieving freedom and

equality of opportunity. Black ancestors fought for freedom to pursue intellectual assets.

One of the more interesting aspects of the film, however, is that it dispels some of

stereotypes of white people. Plantations were economic institutions first, institutions

within a culture of harshness that extended to everyone involved. The Master is cruel to

his own sons too, demanding they do not make friends with the slaves for good reason.

Oppression can only survive if slaves are not individuals or friends. Thus, when it is

crucial to get the cotton crop in, the Master and his sons work all day in the fields too.

And when the mother complains her sons are tired, the Master tells his sons to go to bed,

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that they will work tomorrow. Nor is the Master immune from exploitation. He is cheated

by his own brother when the price of cotton plummets, and is cuckolded by a English

doctor.

Deelee is the female house slave. Her sexual relationship to the Master is subtly

conveyed for Hallmark audiences, demonstrating that not all truth need be explicit, in

scenes that show her as the one “working wife” who runs the household, delivers the

babies, and supervises the rest of the slaves. In the end, Deelee loses both Nightjohn and

Sarny, making the condition of slavery as lonely as it is harsh. Yet, as Sarny sets off to

new plantation in a rugged wagon, she begins to instruct a fellow young slave in the

magical signs of the alphabet, demonstrating that once acquired, the ability to read is a

treasure that no one can steal.

8. Separate But Equal. (1991)

This is a made-for-TV mini series, so there is some repetition. Given the

complexity of the story of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, however, the

repetition is an asset.

Many Americans know little about the historic Supreme Court decision. For

example, the Brown case was actually four consolidated cases that dealt with the same

issue: segregation of public elementary and secondary schools. The universities had

already been desegregated due to the state expense of funding parallel university

institutions.

The term, separate but equal, refers to language in the SCOTUS Plessey v

Ferguson decision that, once again, upheld school segregation by race as legal as long as

school facilities were equal. To defeat anti-segregationists challenges, all a state had to do

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was equalize school facilities to satisfy federal law, and maintain segregation as a matter

of states’ rights. The Herculean burden for Thurgood Marshall, then, was to find a way to

overturn well-settled law.

The beauty of this film is its presentation of the race relations landscape of the

time and the complexity of the issue. The black community itself was divided as to

whether it was time to press for integration at the elementary and secondary levels. Some

feared that a defeat at the Supreme Court would cause a political backlash, and delay the

progress being made in the social arena. Better to have first-rate separate schools than

racial problems at integrated schools. Segregationists, black and white, did have sound

arguments for their position.

The film is divided into two segments. The first deals with the circumstances of

the South Carolina case. Fighting for educational equality was still a dangerous endeavor.

The preacher is relieved of his job as principal of an all-black “dog” school, and his

house burns while the white fire-fighters watch. The parent of the complaining child loses

his job. We go back to New York, Marshall tells his associates, they have to live here and

deal with the consequences of challenging the status quo.

The second half of the film deals with the Supreme Court - its vocabulary (2),

politics, how it works, and how the composition of the court changed suddenly with the

death of the Chief Justice. Who would replace him? Once again, we get to see national

politics at work. President Eisenhower appointed California Governor Earl Warren as a

thank-you for delivering California to the Republicans in the presidential election. He

was also the Governor who ordered the Japanese internment during WWII.

To the NAACP, his appointment was a crisis. Better the devil you know, an aide

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tells Marshall. At the time, no one knew what the new guy would do. Yet, historically,

many people have a change of heart when they are elevated to representing the interests

of all the people over sectarian interests. Earl Warren was no exception. Though never

having served as a judge - not even traffic court - he united the court that handed down

the unanimous decision. It is doubtful Earl Warren could survive a Senate confirmation

hearing today, given his background.

9. Hair (1979)

The 1960’s musical tribute to sex, drug, and rock n’ roll is also a poignant

examination of the meaning of maturing, duty, and responsibility. Of course, the long

hair, sex and drugs don’t shock us today, but the language makes some Americans gasp.

The “N” word is present in this film as are racial epithets such as coon, pickaninny, etc.,

songs representing gays in the military, and explicit terms of sexual proclivities.

Other aspects of the Boomer generation’s revolution are explored too: inter-

racial relationships, group marriage, and, of course, the culture split over the Vietnam

War.

Claude Bukowski is a cowboy from Oklahoma on his way to Army basic training

who meets draft card burning Berger and his flower children in Central Park. All Claude

wants is to see the sights of New York, but Berger introduces him to the counterculture,

believing this will dissuade Claude from military service. Though not explicit, there is a

homosexual component to Berger’s affection for Claude. Greater love than this no man

hath than he lay down his life for his friend, and Berger does, albeit unwittingly.

Though an anti-war “message’ story, Hair does give the other side of the 60’s

social revolution. The heart-rending song, Easy to Be Hard, is sung by the fiancé of

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Lafayette, the black hippie, trying to escape from adult responsibility as well as protest

racial injustice. Do you only care about the bleeding crowd? she wails, how about a

needing friend. I need a friend, she says, as she holds the hand of their two-year old child.

Hair lets us see a glimpse of their parents and grandparents’ milieu, and gives a

framework for discussing social revolutions and the “Boomer effect” on society including

the deluge facing social security. Students can now understand why the Boomer

generation is so selfish, drug ridden, and well organized, and a powerful voting bloc.

There’s so many of them!

10. Citizen X. (1995)

In the old USSR, party loyalty meant more than professional competency.

Thus, when a child serial killer terrorizes the Rostov-on-Don Oblast, the government-by-

party-bureaucracy impedes his capture. The new pathologist, Burokov, is put in charge of

the police investigation by the scheming, influence-wielding General Fetisov. We, too,

are overcome by the psychological burdens he must bear in the face of stubborn denial

that anything like serial murder exists in the perfect Communist state.

The predator’s victim selection from the train station where poor people gather

with their goats and parcels is unnerving. They’re all here, the new detective states - the

weak, the lame, the retarded. He could have added the alienated, the anomic, and the

lonely, the run-away, the abused, and the throw-aways.

As the death toll mounts, he asks for computers, communication with Quantico

Virginia where the serial killer information bank is located, and he wants publicity to

warn the public. The answer is no. Burokov wants to have a psychiatrist help. It’s a

revolutionary idea. Meanwhile, the government of the Soviet Union is crumbling under

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the weight of its own ineptitude, the progression of dissipation symbolized by the wall

poster that slowly shreds.

The most memorable line in the film is dear to the heart of a social scientist: “The

strength of a bureaucracy is measured in its ability not to show special treatment.” It’s

almost as if HBO heard the prayers of every sociology teacher and made a film so rife

with examples of bureaucratic characteristics, it could have been written by Max Weber

himself.

Yet all of it, the ramshackle housing, the old cars, and the aging parents, is a

reflection of the hardship and destruction of the Great Patriotic War. Mother Russia never

recovered, and Communism and the arms race finished her off. Now, Russia struggles to

remake itself much the same way Iraq and Africa struggle – without leadership.

11. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

This epic film gives invaluable insight to the nature of Mid-east tribalism and the

fragility and contingency of desert existence. Shariff Ali (Omar Sharif), after shooting

Lawrence’s (Peter O’toole) guide for dipping into a tribal well, explains, “He was

nothing, the well is everything.” One look at the vast, arid landscape and we get it. Rules

and ruthlessness mean one’s survival. Resources must be measured. Do-goodism is a

luxury of the resource-wealthy. Virtue is maximizing your survival chances. This is the

foundation of political realism.

But this film is particularly relevant today because it gives students a quick and

dirty history lesson in World War I military alliances and issues. Give them artillery,

Dryden says in the early 20th century, and you give them independence. This is Iran’s

message in the early 21st century: when we have nuclear weapons, we have independence

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from the West. This too is the foundation of political realism.

Knowing where modern-day animosities come from assist us to understand how

to deal with a different mind-set – one that sees generosity as weakness, harshness as

righteousness, and self-interest as wisdom. It also lets us see that there is little difference

between cultures when it comes to power: treachery is neither a western nor eastern

invention and pragmatism must win over idealism if there is to be peace. Faisal thanks

Lawrence for his heroism stating the virtues of war are the virtues of young men; the

virtues of governing are the virtues of old men. It must be so. And when Lawrence

leaves, he tells his British negotiators, they are both equally thankful to be rid of him.

There are other films that come to mind when I think about political concepts, but

these films deliver information that begins to build a foundation for understanding

politics, sociology, and history. They serve as a point of reference for talking about the

nature of successful leadership, decision-making, and the unalterable conditions of

history. They ask students to contemplate big issues, core values, and the meaning of

citizenship - the individual in relation to the state - and to reflect on all the people who

made it possible for us to sit in classrooms and debate, discuss, and disagree. For students

who are not good readers or who are visual learners, they are a pragmatic substitute for

textbooks.

1. George III , Christopher Hibbert, Basic Books, 1998.

2. For example, krytocracy being “rule by judges” was as much a political question in 1950s as it is today.

Examples of Film Quiz Questions

The Madness of King George

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1. What, according to king George, is the role of the monarch and the royal family given the power of parliament?

2. Why can’t the Prince of Wales marry his Catholic mistress?

3. What, according to the English politicians, accounts for George’s madness?

4. Why does the Prince of Wales refer to his position as a “predicament”?

5. What is meant by the ‘wisdom of America”?

6. What is the cause of George’s madness according to Dr. Willis?

7. Describe two medical “treatments” given to the King.

8. Why has Willis never read Shakespeare?

9. How many houses of Parliament are there? What are called?

10. Why are people leaving service at court?

11. The present Queen is a descendant of George III; is she also a descendant of Henry VIII? Explain.

The Crossing

1. On what day did the crossing take place?

2. Why did some of the American generals despise Washington?

3. What was the British general doing instead of pursuing Washington and his army?

4. How old were the “lads” in Washington’s army?

5. The German lieutenant asks permission from Washington to warn his men that they would be fighting the Hessians. Why?

6. Drawing on classroom lecture on leadership, give three examples of Washington’s leadership abilities.

a.

b.

c.

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7. Why does General Glover refuse to wear an army uniform.

8. Why does General Rau want to see Washington?

9. Why was Battle of Trenton important?

10. Twice during the film, Washington is rebuked. Look up the definition of the word “rebuke’ and cite the two examples.

Advise and Consent

1. What is a “Washington lie”?

2. Why do they wake up the old sleeping Senator in the hallway?

3. Obviously, with the possible presence of 100 Senators, not everyone can talk at once. How does the body decide who gets to speak?

4. For what position is Leffington being considered?

5. Why is the president adamant about Leffington being confirmed?

6. What are the only three things a “bitch” needs to be a success in Washington?

7. Herbert Gellman names Leffington, Bukowski, and Morton as members of a communist cell. What happened to Bukowski and Morton?

8. What is the significance of the movie’s title “Advise and Consent”?

9. Does VP Harley want to be president? Support your answer.

10. Do you think the President was in on, or knew about, the blackmailing of Brig? Why or why not?

11. Why does the Vice President abstain from voting to break the tie vote?

Mrs. Miniver

1. Is Mrs. Miniver a “political” film? Support your answer.

2. Mr. Miniver is recruited to assist in the evacuation of Dunkirk. What happened there?

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3. Give three examples of the British class system as it is demonstrated in the daily lives of the townsfolk.

a.b.c.

4. In your opinion, why does the film-maker have Ms. Miniver’s daughter-in-law die rather than her pilot son?

5. Why does Lady Beldon give the Miniver rose the award to Foley?

6. Why do you think this film is considered one of the most inspiring war films ever made considering it has no battle scenes?

7. What traits does Mrs. Miniver exhibit that makes her a role model for women in war?

The Battle for Russia

1. What are the names of the two Russian museums ransacked by the Nazis?

2. What was the previous name of Leningrad? How did it get this name?

3. Explain the difference between the Russian and the German approach to troop deployment.

4. From where did the Russian troops eventually come from to defend Leningrad, and why were they able to come?

5. What is the meaning of the term “strafe”?

6. Why was the defense of Stalingrad so important to the defeat of the Nazis?

7. Name the two countries of the Balkan Peninsula that resisted the Nazi invasion.

8. Complete the following sentence:

Generals may fight battles, but ------- win wars.

9. How close were the Nazis to Moscow and to Stalingrad before being turned back?

10. Name three historical invaders of Russia and explain what happened to them.

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Judgment at Nuremburg

1. What answer does Dr. Wyk give the defense attorney when asked why he swore the loyalty oath to Hitler?

2. Why was Mr. Petersen sterilized? Would you have had him sterilized? Why or why not?

3. Do you think the Halberstrams knew about Dachau concentration camp?

4. Was the prosecutor (Richard Widmark) following the orders of his commander when he delivered his closing statement?

5. According to the defense attorney (Maximillian Schell), who bears the responsibility for the atrocities that the prosecutor presents as evidence against Ernst Janning (Burt Lancaster)?

6. Why is the trial of German judges important?

7. What event precipitates the change of the prosecution’s tone and fervor near the end of the trial?

8. What were the conditions in Germany when Hitler came to power?

9. Was forced sterilization a “novel” idea in Germany?

10. In your opinion, were these individual defendants responsible, guilty for a political regime?

Nightjohn

1. Deelee and her friends say that Waller is a dangerous man, but Deelee says that his wife is more dangerous. What reason does she give for this?

2. Is “Nighjohn a “dangerous” man? Why or why not?

3. What is Waller’s relationship with his older brother? What information does he give us to explain his ambition?

4. Why does Waller require his son and wife to beat/mistreat the slaves?

5. Are all white people in this movie bad?

6. Being brave isn’t difficult, Nightjohn tells Deelee. Why is it easy for him?

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7. Why doesn’t Waller allow Outlaw to have a relationship with Egypt?

8. What do you think the Doctor is referring to when he says that Britain has replaced black slavery with white slavery?

9. Why does Deelee tell Sarny that “you got to do” after Sarny drops the tray?

10. Nightjohn is a metaphor for what is happening today in the inner cities of America. Discuss.

Separate But Equal

1. What are the arguments of each side regarding segregated schools?

2. Why does the newspaper woman advise caution to Thurgood Marshall – why is she upset that the NAACP might go to the Supreme Court with the school integration issue?

3. What convinces Earl Warren that the segregation question is a matter for the court and not the legislature?

4. List three negative consequences of becoming involved in the civil rights issue and being in favor of desegregation in the South in the 1950s?

5. What argument does justice Clark give for withholding his support from the other eight justices, and what makes him change his vote?

6. How does Earl Warren unite the court?

7. Why was it important that the desegregation decision be unanimous?

8. All schools were segregated in the United States before the Brown v Brd of Ed ruling. True or false. Explain.

9. What is the meaning of the term “separate but equal” and what is its origin?

11. What is the basis of the Brown decision? According to the Court, why is School segregation unconstitutional?

HAIR

1. What are three ‘value messages’ of the film?a.

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b.c.

2. Where was Bukowski from?

3. How do Berger and his band of merry miscreants survive on the streets/

4. How does Berger initiate Bukowski into city life?

5. Why doesn’t Berger live at home?

6. Was it possible for Bukowski to avoid the draft? How/

7. When the blonde boy sings the title song ‘hair’, he tells us why he does not cut his hair and the basis for his neurotic attachment to it. What is this reason?

8. Does Sheila love Berger (hippy) or Bukowski (cowboy)? Support your answer with two examples.

9. The movie and long hair for males makes a social statement. Agree or disagree? Why or why not?

10. When Berger is told to leave Sheila’s party, he dances on the table, When he is told to turn his car around and leave the Army base, he complies. Why?

11. Why does Lafayette tell his fiancé/son to go home?

12. Given the racial epithets and sexual/drug use in the film, in your opinion, could HAIR be made today?

Citizen X

1. Why does Burokov hesitate to accept his appointment to the ‘killer department”?

2. In the Soviet State there was supposed to be absolute equality. Give three examples of the inequality that existed at the time.

a.b.c.

3. What is the ‘electrichna’, and how does it figure into Burokov’s theory of how the killer finds his victims?

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4. Describe Chikatilo’s relationship with his fellow factory workers.

5. What does Soviet TV report to the Russians about America?

6. Why don’t the other policemen get as upset as Burokov when they search for clues to the murderer’s identity?

7. Why does the policeman mean when he states the doctor has a “reputation”?

8. Name three ways we know Burokov is headed for a nervous breakdown.

a.

b.

c.

9. Why would Burokov wish he would find three bodies at a time rather than none?

10. What role does gossip play in policework according to Fetisov?

Lawrence of Arabia

1. How does Lawrence devise his plan to attack Aqaba?

2. Why was taking that city so important to the British cause?

3. What are the virtues of young soldiers, and the vices of old men?

a. a.

b. b.

4. Why does Gen. Allenby refuse to give artillery to the Arab army?

5. What compromise does Faisal and Allenby make regarding the water pumping station? Why do they compromise?

6. Why does Lawrence tell the Arab National Council not to let the British engineers run the generators?

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7. In your opinion, is Lawrence a traitor or a patriot to the British cause?

8. How many days will it be before the camels begin to die crossing the Nefud desert?

9. What does Auda Abu Tai tell Lawrence to relieve his guilt about bloodshed?

10. Why do you think the film-maker included no roles for women in the story – we never even see their faces when they do appear.

11. Lawrence was changed by Arab culture, but Lawrence changed Ali (Omar Sharif). How do we know?

12. Why does Faisal make a point of telling Bently (the newspaperman) that the Arabs follow the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners of war and the Turks do not? In the film, is this true?

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