This week I felt like we got a lot accomplished. We started with a little more talk about “Grand Hotel”, which lead into our discussion on the Hayes codes and then the “39 Steps” by Alfred Hitchcock. Before I discuss the Hayes Codes, we talked about the impact of Leni Riefenstahl and her film “Triumph of the Will” or “Triumph des Willens”. This film became well know as a propaganda film for the Nazi Party and to build support for Adolf Hitler. After watching some scenes and talking about we made the connection to someone else only a few years earlier. IT was very similar to what the Russian Communist did to help build support for Stalin and his Party. Even though Leni never admitted to what her films purpose was, it has been ling lasting and a great example of propaganda film.
We then moved into the told about the MPAA and William H. Hayes. The MPAA or also known as the Motion Picture Association of American was founded on the idea to protect and keep people from seeing sexual things in movies. William Hayes was appointed as the president of the association to help regulate how films are produced and what the content can be in it. The association wanted to stop people from seeing films with provocative and violent scenes because it influences people to do this. This came after someone claimed they saw a film and it convinced him to murder. We still see this today with people blaming violent video games. The MPAA is still around today, but should it?
We then watched one of Alfred Hitchcock’s many historical and influential films. The “39 Steps” was just one of these films and talked about the secret life of spies. This was a very entertaining and hilarious film. The character is constantly falling into poor situations and struggles to prove the truth. I wonder if he would have just answered the phone the first time when the women were still alive, if all this trouble would have been avoided. He ends up trying his best to avoid the law and get to the bottom of this spy game. One of my favorite scenes and when he is being chased over the mountain and the police bring in a helicopter. I want to know what the original viewers thought of this part. We found it comical because of the cheesy looks, but I want to learn their original thoughts.
History of the Motion Picture 
Spencer, I enjoyed reading your in-depth analysis of this week’s classes. It is very clear that propaganda was huge part of the war. The ever-increasing popularity of film, and its rising innovations have allowed many people throughout history to utilize it in any ways they please. I find it interesting that this avenue was taken by these two parties to promote both fascist and communist ideals. However, I am not surprised that they used film to spread their goals and recruit more followers to their cause.
“The 39 Steps” by Alfred Hitchcock was one of the best early suspenseful films I have seen. I like your thought about the man picking up the phone, and how it might have been different for him if he answered it. I also enjoyed the animation of the helicopter during the chase across the country side.
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I find it funny that you mention the phone call, because I was also thinking of the outcome if he had just answered the phone the first time. Nice to see that I was not the only one who through that during the film. I also like how you also mention how you would like know what the original viewers thought of certain parts of the film since certain parts turned out to be comical for the simple fact that it is not a film we are not used to watching, so to know what people thought of the movie at the time would be very interesting.
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