Extension Course: Psychoanalytic Themes in Six Classic Hollywood Films III

Instructor

Thomas Wolman, M.D.

January 9 – February 27, 2023
Mondays, 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.

No class: 1/16, 2/20

Pay Fee $180

No CME or CE credits offered.

Course Description

This year we will explore six classic Film Noirs. They are: The Killers (1946), Body and Soul (1947), Gun Crazy (1949), The Hitchhiker (1953), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), and The Naked Kiss (1964). As a rule, these films highlight the “dark” side of human nature -a field that includes the full range of psychosexual crosscurrents.  Withing this broad category, I have chosen films that highlight a fatalistic world view, the rich symbolism of the “femme fatale” and the association of sexual obsession with murder, characteristic of the genre. Fatalism forms the backdrop of The Killers (1946) and Body and Soul (1947).  Although women are often relegated to object status in these films, there are exceptions. The great Ida lupino, for example, made film noirs from a woman’s point of view. Her film -The Hitchhiker -and others such as Gun Crazy pose a critique of male psychology. Kiss me Deadly (1955) directed by Robert Aldrich, goes furthest in this direction in its depiction of Mike Hammer -the epitome of old school machismo-dominated by three women.

It is expected that registrants watch each of these films on their own time prior to the class discussion.

Thomas Wolman, M.D. was born and raised in in New York City. He moved back here recently after having lived in Philadelphia for 45 years. He attended Johns Hopkins University and the Pennsylvania State University Medical College. Subsequently he trained at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, where he taught in both the psychoanalytic and psychotherapy training programs. He has taught at Jefferson Medical College, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and most recently, the psychiatry residency at Temple University School of Medicine. He has written on Winnicott, Mahler, Kohut and Lacan, as well as on contemporary film and literary themes. He is married with two adult children and three grandchildren.