Robert Stuart Thomson

Robert Thomson was born in Vancouver in 1940. He graduated from West Vancouver High School in 1958 then went to the University of British Columbia where he graduated in 1962 with a first class honors degree in French and Italian. While doing his B.A. Thomson was awarded a one year scholarship to attend the University of Florence; he also received a Woodrow Wilson fellowship (1962) which he used to attend Yale University. He received his PhD from Yale in 1966. (Thomson says that one of his biggest thrills in life was to see two much-admired people on the same stage as himself: Barbara Tuchman and “Duke” Ellington.) After a teaching career Thomson took early retirement (1995) and set up his own publishing house, Godwin Books. (www.godwinbooks.com) He has published several of his own books and has been instrumental in reprinting and gaining recognition for the books of his great-uncle, George Godwin (1889-1974).

Movies that go over well in the high school English class (2nd excerpt from book that should appear in April)

My last posting was from my new book on using movies to teach English. It contained a movie report on “Casablanca” that was written by a grade eleven student. My next postings will also be taken from the book. The following is also from chapter one. It’s a list of movies that I like, several of which I have used successfully in the classroom.

GOOD MOVIES TO WRITE REPORTS ON

Here are some titles which I think would go over well in the classroom.

[Note from January 16, 2019:  Later in this chapter  I  write about teaching with movies and their eponymous books in tandem. I use five of the books listed below to show how they complement the movies made from them: different but complementary: Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre, Of Human Bondage, White Fang and one other (I am having a senior moment…)  My main goal is to get my students reading, not just in class to get credit, but as something that will enrich and delight them throughout their whole life.]

 

The Agony and the Ecstasy (based on the novel by Irving Stone) The story of Michelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel.

All Quiet on the Western Front (based on the novel by Erich Remarque) A young German discovers the horrors of fighting France in the trenches of World War One.

Babe A poignant story of animals who talk and an orphaned pig who learns to be a sheep dog. (based on The Sheep-Pig, a novel by Dick King-Smith)

Ben Hur (novel by Wallace Lewis) The story of an aristocratic Jew who is made a galley slave of the Romans then strangely rises to become the adopted son a Roman admiral.

Black Robe Excellent view of what the French-Canadians had to face in their conversion to Christianity work with the Hurons. Very few movies have been made on this interesting subject.  (novel by Brian Moore)

Brave Heart (novel by Randall Wallace)

The Bridge over the River Kwai (novel by Pierre Boulle) In 1943 five hundred British soldiers are forced by the Japanese to build a bridge over a river in Thailand. See section 10, below, for a sample passage.

The Call of the Wild (novel by Jack London) See section 10, below, for a sample passage.

Captains Courageous (novel by Rudyard Kipling) A listless, unhappy rich boy falls overboard in the Atlantic and is rescued by a Portuguese fishing boat. He learns some valuable lessons about himself and life.

Carrie (novel by Stephen King)

Christine (novel by Stephen King)

Cinema Paradiso. Very interesting the young boy becomes a projectionist’s helper and gets a good basic liberal education by seeing hundreds of movies several times. (Screenplay by Giuseppe Tornatore)

Doctor Zhivago (novel by Boris Pasternak) This is a film-making masterpiece.

The Duelists Dispels any notion that it takes two to start a fight. (short story by Joseph Conrad)

East of Eden (novel by John Steinbeck)  A subtle study in parental alienation.

The Gladiator (novel by Ben Kane) A Roman general is driven into slavery by the young emperor. He becomes a famous gladiator and seeks revenge.

The Godfather (novel by Mario Puzo) The story of the Corleone family and how they run their “business” in New York City and Las Vegas.

Gone with the Wind (novel by Margaret Mitchell) The American Civil War and its effect on a few families in Georgia. See section 10, below, for a sample passage.

Great Expectations, 1946 version.  (novel by Charles Dickens) An excellent example of post-war gothic style although Mills is far too old for the part. This movie doesn’t begin to convey the complexity of the novel.

Jane Eyre (novel by Charlotte Bronte)  See section 10, below, for a sample passage.

Kidnapped (novel by Robert Louis Stevenson) The uncle of a young man prevents him from claiming his inheritance by having him kidnapped on a ship bound for the American colonies. The young man is rescued by a Highland Scot who is loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Lawrence of Arabia (screenplay)

The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance (adapted from a short story by Dorothy Johnson)

Midway (screenplay) A realistic account of the great American naval victory that took place north-west of Hawaii in 1942.

Les Misérables (novel by Victor Hugo)

Mutiny of the Bounty (report by William Bligh) Overall the best version is still the Laughton-Gable one.

My Fair Lady (based on the play, Pygmalion, by George Bernard Shaw) One of the best musicals ever made in my opinion.

Of Human Bondage (novel by Somerset Maugham) See section 10, below, for a sample passage.

Papillon (novel by Henri Charrière). I use this as an example in the apendix.

Paths of Glory (novel by Humphrey Cobb)

The Quiet Man (short story by Maurice Walsh)

Rebel without a Cause (play by Robert M. Lindner)

Schindler’s List (book by Thomas Keneally)

The Sea Wolf (novel by Jack London)

The Shawshank Redemption (book by Stephen King)

Spartacus (novel by Howard Fast)

Tess of the Durbeyvilles (novel by Thomas Hardy)

The Thirty-nine Steps (novel by John Buchan)

Tunes of Glory (novel and screen play by James Kennaway)

Twelve Angry Men (novel by Reginald Rose)

Von Ryan’s Express, by David Westmeier

White Fang (novel by Jack London)

Zorba the Greek (novel by Nikos Kazantzakis)

For my lady readers: If you find my list somewhat weighted towards movies about war (twenty of them) I would suggest you balance it off by adding movies that  appeal to women, e.g., The Little Foxes, Splendor in the Grass, etc. One might object to violence in war movies but it is a vital part of their message and in many cases they do contain much food for thought. Working with war movies like the ones above might do wonders to motivate some of the young men in your class.

Many movies definitely were not made with school children in mind so it would be wise to ward off problems by getting administrators and parents on-side. Possibly send home a letter for parents to sign their approval.

 

On my soon to be published book on teaching English with more media.

I will be blogging soon, especially if this blog manages to get itself transmitted. I have a new book coming out within a couple of months. It’s an idea book for teachers of English who want to expand their program and use more media. The first chapter is on teaching with main stream movies and the following extract contains an example of a good student report. The movie he chose to review is Casablanca.

THE EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER ONE

In order to follow more closely the report on Casablanca (below), you might want to watch Casablanca again yourself (It should be available on Youtube if you don’t mind watching it on your computer screen.)

One of my grade eleven students, Massimo, wrote the following report on Casablanca which we watched together in class.  I am including it here as an example of a very good report. I gave it a solid A. It is clear that he listened closely to both my introductory remarks and the movie itself. The class (which was composed of the highest stream of grade tens) liked the movie and during the rest of the year I received several movie reports (to which I assigned extra marks).

As the year progressed and we did further work on movies I detected a noticeable positive change in the students’ morale and attitude towards our English program.

The whole class responded well to writing movie reports so I was able to do several in class and give marks to students who did extra movie reports on their own at home.

Movie reports can be done as a class exercise, (in which case there will be plenty of scope for comparing perceptions) or at home (if so, I think one should reward such kind of work with a mark). A big advantage of writing reports at home is that the student gets to choose his/her movie. This individualizes the curriculum, which is a good thing.

 

 4  A SAMPLE MOVIE REPORT BY A STUDENT 

                                   CASABLANCA

The purpose of a movie report is to help you to think about what you see at the movies. It is also a good vehicle for expressing your ideas and developing your ability to express them. Try to answer all of the questions that you think are relevant to the movie. In your journal make a note that you have seen this movie and write what you thought of it and maybe whether it affected you personally. Credit: one mark or half a mark, depending.

1. Title: Casablanca 
2. Director: Michael Curtiz
3. Produced in which country? The U. S. A.  In what year was the movie released? 1942 

4. Is it based on a book? It was written from an unproduced play.
5. Main actors and actresses: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre
6. How would you rate this movie? (check one)

(a) excellent _X_(b) good  ___   (c) fair ___  (d) mediocre ___  (e) rotten ___

7. List the main characters in the movie and briefly describe them (even if you can’t remember their names):

Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, an American who runs a nightclub in Casablanca; Paul Henreid (Lazlo) is from central Europe somewhere. He has recently escaped from a German concentration camp; Ingrid Bergman plays Elsa, Lazlo’s wife; Claude Rains is the French chief of police in Casablanca. Peter Lorre has a part.

8. What is the movie about? Explain it in a paragraph or two.

The story takes place in Rick’s night club in Casablanca in Morocco (under French or maybe German control). Elsa (Ingrid Bergman) and Lazlo (Paul Henreid) arrive in town and end up in Rick’s club.  Rick is very surprised. We learn that Elsa and Rick had a fairly recent love affair in Paris. Rick traveled on to Casablanca and bought a night club; Elsa stayed in Paris in case her husband managed to escape from the German concentration camp he was held in. Then all of a sudden Elsa and Lazlo turn up at Rick’s café.  They are hoping to get a visa so that they can fly to Portugal and then to freedom in the U.S.A.  They appeal to Rick for help but there are problems. Rick is still in love with Ingrid and is bitter about her being with Lazlo. She is in love with both Lazlo and Rick and is torn between them. In the movie we learn how dangerous life in Casablanca is. We also learn the stories of a few people: an old Jewish couple and a young couple who are trying to get visas and escape to America. Rick helps them. There are German police in Casablanca and they want to take Elsa and Lazlo into custody. Will Elsa and Lazlo succeed in getting on that plane to Portugal or will she go back to Rick and leave with him? The plot is complicated and I would have liked to see the movie a second time.

9. At what time in history is the story set?

 Paris is taken over by the Germans in June, 1940, and the new French government (“Vichy”) collaborates with the Germans. Casablanca is controlled by the Vichy French and the chief of police is Claude Rains.  My guess is that the story takes place about a year after Paris falls, June 1941).

10. Over what period of time does the story take place?

This is hard to say. I would say a few weeks.

11. Where does the movie take place?

Casablanca in French Morocco

12. Do the characters seem to change or develop in any way throughout the movie? (Do they seem to learn anything about life or about themselves?) Explain.

Rick starts out being indifferent to politics and World War Two. He just wants to be left alone. (We learn later that he had fought in the Spanish Civil War which probably shows that earlier in his life he was brave and idealistic.) Throughout the movie he becomes less indifferent to what is going on in the world. In a flashback to Paris we find out that Elsa took up with Rick in Paris partly because she thought that her husband was lost forever in a German concentration camp. When she finds out that he has escaped she is loyal to him. Still, she is torn between the two men and I think she could have gone with either one. Lazlo doesn’t change at all in the movie. He is always the brave freedom fighter. Like Rick, Claude Rains seems to put his own survival ahead of everything. At the end of the movie he decides to reject Vichy and he quits his job. Rick has also changed. He gives his visa to Lazlo and decides to remain in Africa and help fight on the side of the Allies.

13. Which character do you like most in the movie? Why?

I can’t say anyone in particular. I like several. I like Claude Rains because he has such great lines.”Round up the usual suspects!” I also like Rick. He seems indifferent and cold but underneath the surface he has a good side. 

14. Name any character which you dislike. Why do you feel this way?

The head of the German S.S. is ruthless, a real rat, a complete Nazi. I hate him.

15. Were the actors and actresses well-chosen for the parts they played? How was their acting?

The acting is very good all around. Bogart seems like a tough guy, very unemotional, but he has a good heart. He plays his part well.  Ingrid Bergman is convincing as a serious person who is trying to do the right thing. Paul Henreid is convincing: a serious man, committed to defeating the Germans. Some of the lesser characters are colorful and amusing: Claude Rains as the clever chief of the French police, I am not sure what Peter Lorre is all about but with his whining voice and bulging eyes he is comical.

16. The ending: is it satisfying or not? Some points to consider:

(a) Is it believable, true-to-life, or ‘Hollywoodish’ (i. e. the “dream factory”)?                   or gothic/violent/escapist?  (b)  Does it seem to be consistent with the characterization?  (c) Does it satisfy your sense of justice? Your sense of verisimilitude? (Does it seem true to life?)

The ending came as a bit of a surprise. It could easily have turned out differently. For example, if Rick had been shot by the German officer Lazlo and Elsa might never have got on the plane. As the ending stands, Rick sacrifices his love for Elsa by staying in Casablanca and joining the cause of the Allies. Maybe he will end up in a concentration camp. Who knows? Lazlo and Elsa are on there way to safety. I was hoping that Rick and Elsa would end up together. I think she loved Rick more than she loved Lazlo. (I like Rick a lot more than I like Lazlo.) If Lazlo had been left behind in Casablanca I think he would have contributed a lot to the Allies’ cause. At the end of the movie Rick and the police chief (Claude Rains) walk off together, talking about a ‘great friendship.’ It sounds a bit gay to me.

17. Genre. Is it a comedy? Tragedy?  Love story? Adventure story?  Biography?        War movie?  etc.

  It is certainly a love story, also an adventure story. It’s also a historical film about a group of people in Casablanca during World War II. I find it hard to pin down any one category.           

18. Photography. Describe at least two scenes which you found particularly good      (interesting, beautiful, heart-warming, powerful, sad, etc.).  Include, if you          prefer, a scene or scenes which you did not like at all.

One great scene is when the French start singing the French national anthem at Rick’s. Then the Germans barge in with one of their patriotic songs. People get more and more involved in the singing and it becomes a kind of musical duel. Both songs are very powerful. The people on both sides have strong patriotic feelings.

Another scene I like is when Rick is alone in his club with his negro piano player and asks him to play once again the song that reminds him of Elsa: “As time goes by.” It’s going to cause some pleasure and a lot of pain.

19. Are there any photographic techniques (e. g., flashbacks, slow motion shots, zooms, etc.) which you found particularly effective? Describe them.

I like the flashback to Rick and Elsa together in Paris. Even though the Germans are descending on Paris they are in love and life seems wonderful. It is such a happy scene and is a complete contrast to the tense atmosphere of Casablanca. The flashback helps us to understand how Rick and Elsa feel when their paths cross in Casablanca. I don’t understand why Rick didn’t tell Elsa his plan to go to Casablanca when they were in Paris together.

20. Describe the scene in the movie which impressed you the most. Explain why it impressed you.

The scene that impressed me the most was when the people at Rick’s sang the two national songs.

21. Are there any scenes which disgusted or shocked you? Explain.  None
22. Comment on the script. I thought it was good. Maybe the producer should have included a longer explanation of the background at the beginning of the movie. I would like to have known more about the historical background.
23. What was the sound track like? (Was it effective?) Write about this in detail if it interests you.

 I can’t really recall much about the sound track apart from what I wrote in question 18.  

24. Do you see any kind of lesson about life inherent in this movie? Did the movie raise any issues that you can relate to personally? Explain.

 One point is maybe that some wars are worth fighting for. Maybe that it’s not a good idea to listen over and over to a song that reminds you of a woman you can’t have.

25. Can you suggest any further questions for this movie report form? No 

   5  MY COMMENTS ON THE SAMPLE STUDENT’S MOVIE  

       REPORT (CASABLANCA) 

I gave this report an A plus. It is one of the best student reports I have ever received. The student remembered the main points I made when I introduced the movie and this enabled him to understand the movie in greater depth. Many other  reports I’ve received were, in comparison, somewhat superficial and poorly worded. Even so, my impression is that these students too enjoyed writing movie reports. There are many interesting movies out there and once a student gets used to the criteria for evaluating a movie he/she can find lots to say.

When students read each other’s reports they stand to gain a lot of understanding and they broaden their minds. This is the social spin-off of report writing. Students are sharing ideas and perceptions and taking an interest in each other. I think they often realize that there was much more to the other person than they had thought. They are also realizing sometimes that there is a great deal more to the movie than they had first thought.

Question 17. I thought Massimo’s comment on the difficulty of pigeon-holing this movie into one specific genre was perceptive. The concept of genre can be explained by making an analogy with the way in which CD’s are organized in stores:  jazz, opera, swing, rock, country and western, rap, etc.

SEXTET FROM LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR

Love Songs In Spanish for Enjoyment and Learning

In my next blogs I will be writing about some of my favorite books, starting with Edwin Stringham and Barbara Tuchman (“The March of Folly: from Troy to Viet Nam”).

For music appreciation the best book I know of is Edwin Stringham’s 1959 “Listening to Music Creatively.”  Stringham’s  summary of the famous sextet in Lucia di Lammermoor is typical of his clear, incisive writing.

Here’s what he writes:

“Although the broadly flowing melody is known to all the world, it requires some knowledge of the opera to realize how well the music expresses the dramatic situation of the play, and how adroitly each of the six voices reveals the conflicting emotions of each character. The sextet is sung in the second act, when Edgar returns to the castle of his enemy, Lord Henry, to find that his beloved Lucy (sister of Lord Henry) has just married another. Edgar is swept…

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The delicacy of the trumpet

Love Songs In Spanish for Enjoyment and Learning

It is perhaps a sign of the times that a lot of young (and not so young) trumpet players are fixated on playing the highest notes possible the loudest they can. I once attended a jazz workshop put on by Hugh Fraser, a local jazz trombonist of note here in Victoria. In my opinion the performance was marred by the trumpeter, whose super-loud (and high) playing was nerve-wracking. It also upset the equilibrium of the group by drowning out all the other musicians. This trumpeter was not only disrespectful, in my opinion, he was unmusical. You could maybe say his playing was physiologically impressive, but not musical. It was like a primal scream emanating from the brass.

I would like to share two examples of fine trumpet playing on Youtube. One is the solo from El Concierto de Aranjuez (google “Brassed Off” and “Concierto de Aranjuez”). The young woman auditioning…

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Dante meets political enemy in hell

November 30, 1960 Florence

Hello, J Dear,

I just got back from an afternoon in Empoli, a small town about twenty miles or so down the Arno on the way to Pisa. It was a bright, spring-like day and I went with the Colonel and Ede to see a re-enactment (in medieval costumes, with horses) of the war conference which was held after the battle of Montaperti (1260, a few miles from Siena) in which Farinata, the victor, convinces his Ghibellines to spare Florence and not raze her to the ground. Long golden trumpets, swords, standards, halberts, bright colored costumes—it was quite a show. They read out loud Canto Ten of Dante’s Inferno in which Dante (a White or moderate Guelph) encounters Farinata in the circle of the heretics. Farinata is lying on his back, agonizing in a fiery coffin but when he hears Dante talking to Virgil in Italian (with a Florentine accent) he begs him to stop and talk with him. Dante does. They soon realize that they belonged to opposite parties and start arguing bitterly. Here are Farinata’s first words to Dante (before he discovers that he is a Guelph). They are not easy to translate but I’m sure you will appreciate the nobility of the language, the concision and power of the lines. Farinata refers to Florence as his patria. This shows how powerful the city state was in the minds of people during the Middle Ages. I try to keep this in mind when I visit cities in Italy. The pride in one’s city of birth is still there.

O, Tosco, che per la città del fuoco
Oh, Tuscan who through the city of fire

vivo t’en vai così parlando onesto,
alive, go about your way, thus speaking modestly,

piacciati di restare in questo loco.
May it please you to stay in this place.

La tua loquela ti fa manifesto
Your speech reveals you to be

di quella nobil patria natio
of that noble fatherland (Florence) a native

alla qual forse fui troppo molesto.
to which maybe I was too harsh

My trip to Empoli was an exciting experience and I’m grateful to Ede and the Colonel for tipping me off and taking me with them. They are watching out for the Dante-loving Canadian.  [This passage was taken from my recent book, “Florence, Dante and Me”. You can see the cover and read excerpts by going to my website: http://www.godwinbooks.com]

Museo Galileo

Sala VII. T. Lessi, Galileo con Vincenzo Viviani, olio su tavola.

Museo Galileo, the former Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science) is located in Florence, Italy, in Piazza dei Giudici, along the River Arno and close to the Uffizi Gallery. It is housed in Palazzo Castellani, an 11th-century building which was then known as the Castello d’Altafronte. Museo Galileo owns one of the world’s major collection of scientific instruments, which bears evidence of the crucial role that the Medici and Lorraine Grand Dukes attached to science and scientists. The Museo di Storia della Scienza re-opened to the public under the new name Museo Galileo on June 10, 2010, after a two-year closure due to important redesigning and renovation works. It was inaugurated just four hundred years after the publication in March 1610 of Galileo’s Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger), the booklet that revolutionized mankind’s conception of the universe, decisively contributing to the advent of modern science.

Wikipedia