Task 29. Work with the text.

Pre-reading tasks.

a) You are going to read an article about Paul Newman, the Hollywood film star. What do you know about him?

b) What questions would you like to ask about Paul Newman?

Reading. Read the article and try to find the answers to your questions.

Paul Newman

actor, director, racing driver

1. Paul Newman, actor, director, and racing driver, was born so good-looking that people said it was a shame to waste such beauty on a boy. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1925, and did some acting in high school and college, but never seriously considered making it his future career. However, after graduating, he immediately started working in the theatre. He met his first wife, Jackie Witte, while they were acting together, and they got married in 1949. They had three children, a boy and two girls.

2. He found work in the theatre and on several TV shows in New York. When he was thirty, he went to Los Angeles and made his first film. It was what Newman called an ‘uncomfortable’ start in the movies, in the role of a Greek slave. The experience was so bad that he went back to the theatre, and didn’t accept another film role for two years.

3. The film he chose was his big break. He played the boxer, Rocky Graziano, in the film “Someone up There Likes Me”. Newman is a method actor who believes in living the part before beginning the film. He spent days – from morning till night – with Graziano. He studied the fighter’s speech and watched him box, and they talked endlessly about Graziano’s childhood. The picture brought Newman stardom overnight.

4. He was living in Los Angeles away from his family when he met Joanne Woodward, an actress who he had first met in New York. They worked together in “The Long Hot Summer”. His wife, Jackie, and Paul recognized that their marriage wasn’t working, and got divorced. Newman and Miss Woodward were married in Las Vegas in 1958.

5. Newman went on to make films such as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, “The Hustler”, “Butch Cassidy” and the “Sundance Kid”, “The Sting” and “Towering Inferno”. He has made over forty-five films, and has won many awards, but he has never won an Oscar.

6. His marriage to Woodward is one of the longest and strongest in Hollywood. They have three daughters, and they have co-starred in six films. Ever since the film “Winning”, Newman has been passionately interested in car racing, and in 1979 he came second in the twenty-four hour Le Mans race. But the end of the 1970s was not all good new for him. In 1978 his only son, Scott, died of drug overdose, and as a result Newman created the Scott Newman Foundation to inform young people on drug abuse.

7. He has a strong social conscience, and has supported causes such as the anti-nuclear movement, the environment, and the driver education. All the money from “Newman’s Own” salad dressing, popcorn, and spaghetti sauce, now a multi-million dollar business, goes to charity. He is more than just a movie star. “I would like to be remembered as a man who has tried to help people to communicate with each other”, says Newman, “and who has tried to do something good with his life. You have to keep trying. That’s the most important thing”.

Comprehension check.

I. Which of your questions were answered?

II. What interested you most about Paul Newman?

III. Here are the summaries of the seven paragraphs of the article. Match them to the correct paragraph.

1. ___ Some of his films.

2. __ His rise to stardom.

3. _ The end of one marriage, the beginning of another.

4. __ His early life.

5. __ The highs and lows of his later life.

6. __ His first professional work.

6. ___ Newman the person, not the movie star.

IV. Here are the answers to some questions from paragraphs 1-3. What are the questions?

a) In 1925.

b) After graduating.

c) While they were acting together.

d) In 1949.

e) Three.

f) He was thirty.

g) A Greek slave.

h) No, he didn’t (enjoy making the film).

i) About Graziano’s childhood.

V. Write some questions based on paragraphs 4-7. Ask the rest of the class your questions.

Vocabulary.

1. There are two other words that mean “a film” in the text. Find them. Which one is mainly American English?

2. Match a word in the text to the following definitions.

Paragraph 1

3. to use badly or unproductively (e.g. time, money)

4. a profession or occupation

Paragraph 2

5. a person who is the property of someone else and who has to work for them

Paragraph 3

6. a lucky opportunity that leads to success

7. the state of being a star

Paragraph 6

8. more of something (e.g. a drug) than is safe

9. using something in the wrong way

Paragraph 7

10.a person’s understanding of what is right and wrong

11.an organization that helps people who need help

12.to do something again and again

Writing. Write about your favourite film star.

Task 30. Work in pairs.Imagine that one of you is a reporter interviewing a famous film star. Ask him/her in what films he/she has starred; what his/her favourite role is; what role he/she’d like to play and why; what plans he/she has for the future; with whom of the producers he/she likes to work best of all, etc. The other partner should imagine that he/she is the star. What will you tell about your work and life?

Task 31. Role-Playing.

The Best Film of the Year

Situation: The annual spectators’ conference is held at the end of the year with the aim of selecting the best film of the year. Two films have won universal acclaim – an amusing comedy and an earnest, thought-provoking feature film. Which of them should be awarded the first prize?

Characters:

a) Sergiy Tropenko, aged 28, a young and promising scientist. Scientific exploration is his life. Rather tired. Likes cinema very much but understands it as entertainment versus art. He goes to the pictures to relax and to enjoy himself. Believes that all people go to the cinema to have a good laugh and to forget their worries. Thinks that the comedy under discussion is the best film of the year: the actors are in top form, the music in the picture creates a kind of frame-work for the story. The comedy he saw and liked has become a source of inspiration for his further investigation.

b) Oleg Kaladze, 20 year-old youth, a great cinema fan. His favourite actress is playing the leading role in the comedy, which Oleg likes very much. He is struck by the artistic quality of certain scenes. Is not impressed by the feature film. Thinks that it is ahead of its time and in fact acting is most important for the success of the film, while the plot is insignificant. Oleg is for the comedy.

c) Alla Larina, aged 25, a teacher of Ukrainian Literature. Doesn’t think it is possible to discuss these two films as they belong to different genres. Each is fine in its own way. The feature reflects a human creature, his ideas. It represents an individual consciousness. Its excellence lies in its power over other people’s minds. The comedy gives you a short and pleasant rest, a kind of relaxation. Both films are superb, both are the best.

d) Borys Ivanenko, aged 47, a well-known film director who has made quite a number of features and popular science films. Always works in this genre. Thinks that a comedy is a simple entertainment and the comedy under discussion in no exception. It contains pleasant images but teaches you nothing. You like it because it is unreal, offers an escape. But it doesn’t affect the spectator. He leaves the theatre in the same darkness with which he entered it. Naturally Borys is for the feature film.

e) Olga Voronska, aged 60, a pensioner, prefers the feature film which made her think a lot and raised many problems. Despises people who produce and like comedies and other films for mere entertainment. Thinks that people who go to these films don’t want to be bothered, they don’t want responsibility, they want to remain asleep. Olga’s idea is that “no matter how spectacular, the film will be a failure if it has no real message.” Olga is for the feature film.

f) Helen Grabova, aged 45, a famous actress, starred in many films. Sees a lot of advantages in both films, but she never gives judgements about her colleagues. Thinks that an artist can no more judge another artist than one child can judge other children. Each artist has his particular vision. You can’t wear someone else’s glasses; they would fit badly, and you wouldn’t see. The artist’s glasses only work when they are put on non-artists, whom they move, touch, surprise. Thinks as both films have had long and successful runs they both should be equally rewarded.

Task 32. Group discussion: give your own views on the problems below and speak against your opponents.

Topic 1: The role of cinema in our life.

a. Cinema – an important tool for educating and upbringing young generations.

b. Different genres of films, their impact on the spectators.

c. Development of people’s cultural level, taste.

d. Films for entertainment and education.

Topic 2: Is the ability to perform an inborn gift or is it an acquired skill?

a. The artistic potential of a person, his timing.

b. Skilful directors, modern techniques, the possibilities of the camera to accentuate.

c. The value of the experience, necessity to acquire technique.

Task 33. Read the following text about the Oscars. Cite the text to prove that the prize-giving ceremony is a very exciting event. Consult an encyclopaedia to add some more facts to the list of the Oscars trivia given below.

OSCAR

The Oscars are awarded every year by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science. These statuettes are awarded to actors, film directors, screenwriters and so on for outstanding contributions to the film industry. The Oscars were first awarded in 1927. The first winners were chosen by five judges. Nowadays all of the members of the Academy vote. The ceremony is attended by most Hollywood stars, although some famous stars, such as Woody Allen, refuse to go, even if they win an award. The oldest winner of an Oscar was 80-year-old Jessica Tandy for her performance in the film “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1990. The youngest was Shirley Temple when she was only five years old. The statuette is of a soldier standing on a reel of film. Nobody is really sure why it is called an Oscar, although some people say that it is because when the first statuette was made, a secretary said, “It reminds me of Uncle Oscar!”

The original awards ceremony was a much simpler affair than the big budget production we’re used to today. It took place in The Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. 250 people paid $10 to attend. A total of 15 were presented and the winners knew who they were before the event. In 1940 the winners’ names were kept secret in specially sealed envelopes. This added suspense to the proceeding and has been continued until the present day.

Task 34. Read the information about Hollywood. Find more information about the modern epoch of this movie industry. What are the reasons of its popularity?

HOLLYWOOD

Hollywood is the centre of the international movie industry, and American movies are distributed all over the world. They are made in English but often dubbed into other languages. In some countries 90 percent of the movies that people see are US production. Sometimes, a film is not very popular with Americans, but people in other countries like it.

The first films were made in Hollywood in 1911. Between 1930 and 1945, the five largest Hollywood’s studios produced most of the movies and owned most of the movie theatres in the United States.

Making films is expensive. On the average, it costs 36 million dollars to produce a movie. Some of this goes to pay the salary of well-known movie stars and large sums can be spent on special effects like computer-generated imagery (CGI). Marketing the movie to the public may cost another 17 million dollars or more. To cover these costs film companies receive money for movie theatre tickets and the sale or rental of videos. They also sell CDs of the soundtrack and toys, books, or clothes associated with the movie. Indeed, there was a time when Hollywood was the most famous place in the USA, if not the world.

The Hollywood story begins at the end of the last century. In 1887 a man called Harvey Wilcox bought a large ranch in a district north-west of Los Angeles in California. His wife called the land ‘Hollywood’. In 1902-04 the first cinemas (‘nickelodeons’) opened in the USA. In 1911 two brothers from New Jersey built Hollywood’s first film studio. In 1912 the Hollywood industry was born.

There were several reasons why film makers went to Hollywood. Firstly, there was a lot of space; secondly, California’s warm sunny weather was ideal for making films outside. Thirdly, there was a variety of locations for filming: the ocean, mountains, deserts, villages, woodland and rivers.

By 1939 the great dream factory studios made nearly 500 movies a year, drew American audience of 50 million a week and earned over 700 million dollars at the box office - all with the help of 30,000 employees who dealt with everything from processing film to fan mail.

In the 1950s and 60s Hollywood became more international. Famous stars like Maurice Chevalier from France, Marlene Dietrich from Germany and Sofia Loren from Italy came to Hollywood. Even today many international stars like Gerard Depardier and Arnold Schwarzeneger make films in Hollywood.

Task 35. Read the information about the major film genres to obtain more information.

Comedy. Charles Spencer Chaplin became the most widely recognized comedy figure in the world. He emphasized the development of character and plot structure, in contrast to the simple reliance on gags and gimmicks that characterized the work of other comedy producers of the day.

Westerns. The Western (a film about life in the American West in the past) was the first American genre to be developed and has remained a staple of the American motion-picture art and industry. It has been estimated that one quarter of US films have been Westerns. However, today most American Westerns are made in Italy and are called '"spaghetti Westerns".

Musicals. The musicals of the late 1920s and the early 1930s consisted of a series of "numbers" by established stars of Broad-way, vaudeville and radio. Later manifestations of the form were the biographical musicals, often highly fictionalized, about great composers, musicians, singers, providing an opportunity to string together some of their most popular hits. The transferring of musicals intact from the Broad-way stage became almost automatic beginning in the 1950s.

Gangster films. While the Western deals with a mythical American past and the musical with a fantasy land, the gangster film is closely tied to a real facet of American life. In earlier films, the gangster had risen to the top to enjoy wealth, power, beautiful women, expensive homes and large cars, but before the end of the film he was bound to be caught by law-enforcement officers, overthrown by fellow gang members or killed. Such punishment was considered obligatory. By 1971, however, "The Godfather" showed how far the genre has evolved: Marion Brando, in the title role, dies of old age. The gangster was another businessman.

War films. They have evolved into a major American genre, since wars have occupied so much of contemporary American history. The Second World War has been the subject of the greatest number of American films in this genre.

Horror films (thrillers). In the 1920s the creation of a monster who gets out of control or is coming to life from non-human beings who survive by killing the living provided the basic story lines of countless horror films. These films also have dealt with supernatural forces that manifest themselves as an unseen power rather than in individual form. A third major kind of horror films deals with people who are insane or in the grip of psychological powers beyond their control.

Horror films as a genre is associated with the name of Alfred Hitchcock. Like Walt Disney with animated cartoons, Alfred Hitchcock was thought not just to have invented a film genre but to have patented it (hence "Hitch", another name for a horror film).

Detective and spy films. These include first of all the James Bond series. Hitchcock's films of this genre feature ordinary people who accidentally become involved with spies or other evil doers.

Science fiction. After the Second World War science-fiction films increasingly suggested that the dangers of the future stemmed from what human beings were doing in the present.

Task 36. Read the information about the greatest American film companies. Think of the films they produced.

Columbia Pictures (also Columbia) – an American film company which produces films for cinema and television.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) — a film company based in Hollywood which has made many famous films and animated cartoons.

Paramount - a film company in Hollywood.

20th Century-Fox - an American film company.

United Artists - a film company (studio) in Hollywood.

Universal - a film company (studio) in Hollywood.

Warner Bros (Brothers) - an American film company.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney was an American artist and film producer, who was famous for his animated cartoons. He was born on December 5, 1901 in Chicago, his father being Irish Canadian, his mother of German-American origin. In his early childhood he revealed a talent for drawing and an interest in photography. At his teens he began an art course, but World War I broke out and he drove for the Red Cross in Europe. When he got back to America he met artist Ub Iwerks, and they went into business together.

In 1923 he left with his brother for Hollywood. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks made a series of short cartoons but lost all their money, and for some years struggled against poverty. Luckily, Walt’s brother Roy gave him money to start up again. The first talking picture came out in 1927 and Disney realized that sound held the key to the future of films. He developed many techniques in producing cartoons.

Walt Disney took the biggest risk of his career and spent a fortune on a full-length cartoon. Finally, the first full-length cartoon feature film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was brought out in 1935, which the public paid millions of dollars to see. The songs to the cartoon were written by Frank Churchill. After the Second World War Disney turned his attention to real life - nature studies and non-cartoon films with living actors.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Walt Disney began developing the family-entertainment parks, Disneyland and Disney World. The first Disneyland was opened in southern California in 1955.

Task 37. Read the dialogue. Discuss Jane’s and Robert’s impressions of the play.

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