Screening Data
In order to learn more about the exhibition history of the Campus Theatre, the primary method that was used was the cataloging of the programming schedule of the first five years of the art deco theater's history. This process involved scanning through every digitized version of “The Bucknellian,” Bucknell University’s Campus newspaper and recording the advertisements promoting weekly screenings and events being held at the Campus Theatre from 1941 through 1946. The data speaks volumes in regards to the influences that both the studio system and the reality of global conflict had on the cinema.
Though 402 films compile the data set, it cannot be called entirely comprehensive as some issues of the Bucknellian were either not digitized or had no pertinent information surrounding the Campus Theatre for the dates which were viewed. With that in mind, this catalog is a large, but partially incomplete sample of the films shown over the course of these five years.*
Defining a Genre
A separate obstacle that arose in the cataloging of these films is that the ‘genre’ category became an almost entirely arbitrary way of categorizing these works. As one integral facet of this research deals with the number of war films that were produced and distributed by film studios and subsequently exhibited by movie houses, the question of what exactly constitutes a 'war' film emerged and needed to be addressed. Filmmaker Samuel Fuller has been noted as saying that, “a war film's objective, no matter how personal or emotional, is to make the viewer feel war." Though this definition is succinct, it is still too subjective to base any sort of empirical evidence on.
(quotes from book)
As as a result, the criteria by which a film can be classified as a war film in the context of this research are:
- Depictions of a wartime battle (whether it be naval, air or on land) with combat scenes that are essential to the unfolding of the narrative (i.e. The Story of G.I. Joe)
- Depictions of the home front as civilians attempt to cope with the altered realities created by the country's involvement in the war effort (i.e. Swing Shift Maisie).
- Depictions of the return and reintegration of soldiers into society having come back from active duty (i.e. The Roaring Twenties).
Another issue (though admittedly, more minor) was how to categorize films that fit into multiple genres. For example, The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin meets the criteria to be defined as a war film but it is undoubtedly a comedy film. In instances such as these, the shared label of war/comedy was applied.
The number of films in which World War II can be considered to play a large role in the unfolding of the plot went up exponentially after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941. While there is noticeable diversity in the film production companies who were producing motion pictures during this time period, there are only two distribution companies outside of the eight major studios (one being Walt Disney Pictures) who sent films to the Campus Theatre. Some films took significantly longer than others to arrive at the Campus Theatre than others after their premiere.
This page has paths:
- The Campus Theatre Nicholas Nam
