Graham Greene on Screen: From Novelist to Film Noir Writer

Course Description

Graham Greene was one of the few 20th century novelists to grasp the aesthetic and story-telling possibilities of the cinema, initially as an incisive  film critic on The Spectator magazine and, later, as a much-in-demand screenwriter. This course focuses on the 1940s, the most creative  years in his film career, when he collaborated with the brilliant director Carol Reed on The  Fallen Idol  (1947) and The Third Man (1948). These two highly innovative films brought Greene critical acclaim and public attention—a rare feat for a screenwriter at that time! The Third Man developed from a “treatment” rather than a novel or story. The Fallen Idol was adapted from a short story, The Basement Room, which was expanded for the screen. The last of this trio of films  was  Brighton Rock (1949), which Greene adapted from his best-known novel, but with a changed ending to avoid the hand of the censor. Greene also permitted Hollywood adaptations of his work: This Gun for Hire (1942) and The Ministry of Fear (1944), two films often cited as being among the best of the early film noir cycle. We will read the fictions and watch the films they inspired. How do these films measure  up today? How accurately do they reflect the dangerous mood of the thirties and forties? The course also offers other Greene materials, including the 1984 Guardian interview in which he reflected frankly on the vagaries of his decades-long involvement with film-making.

Course Details