Citizen
Gregg:
A Retrospective on Gregg Toland (1904-1948) and His Career
Sponsors:
Eastern
MediaCom
“Citizen
Gregg,” a symposium and community festival marking the centennial of the birth
of Gregg Toland (1904-1948), will feature humanities scholars engaged in new
research on the life and work of the Charleston, Illinois native often
described as the most innovative and influential cameraman of the sound-film
era. Toland revolutionized visual popular culture during the interwar years
with films including Les Miserables, Wuthering Heights, for which
he won an Oscar, The Grapes of Wrath, and Citizen Kane. Symposium
speakers will present research that places Toland’s rural Progressive-era
origins and family connections into socio-political and historical context, and
offers new insight into his commitment to experimental cinematography.
Gregg Toland
was born in
The
symposium will begin with 1) background information about the Toland and Turman
families, their involvement with major social and cultural changes in the rural
Midwest during the nineteenth century including migration from the upland
South, family disunion during the Civil War, the growth of agribusiness, and
the arrival of the railroad which affected labor and living patterns thereafter
(Robert D. Sampson and Charles Titus).
It will continue 2) with new information on Gregg Toland’s rural
origins, his migration to California, sustained connections to family despite
divorce and tragic deaths, and commitment to innovative cinematography (Joy
Pratte and Debra A. Reid). It will 3) situate Toland in the evolution of movie
making during the 1920s as he began filming, experimenting with lighting, and
selectively adopting technological change through World War II in order to
suggest the connections between popular culture and politics and Toland’s
choices as a cinematographer and director (Lynnea Magnuson). Then, the
symposium will 4) feature Robert Carringer, author of the classic study of
Toland and his role in The Making of Citizen Kane, will survey Toland’s
other cinematographic contributions (Joseph K. Heumann), and 5) offer new
interpretations of Toland and the influence of his films (Tony Williams; Nancy
V. Workman; and Christopher Weedman). The symposium will conclude with 6) a
showing of The Grapes of Wrath so attendees can learn from a film
studies specialist the techniques involved in film analysis and the
characteristics that put a Toland “fingerprint” on a film (Joseph K. Heumann).
Citizen
Gregg:
The Symposium is Free and Open to the Public
Jim Johnson, Dean, College of Arts & Humanities
Roscoe Dan Cougill, Mayor,
Robert D. Sampson
College of
Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences,
People and Their Work During an Era of Change:
Charles Titus
Department of
History, Eastern
The
Toland and Turman Families in
Joy Pratte
Debra A. Reid
Department of History, Eastern
Popular Culture
& Politics During the 1930s and WWII – Kane Click,
Moderator
Lynnea Magnuson
Department
of History, Eastern
Noon–1:00 pm. Lunch
Break (On your own)
Robert L. Carringer (author of The Making of Citizen Kane)
University
of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana
Introduction:
Ann Boswell, Department of English, Eastern
Joseph K. Heumann
Department of Communication Studies,
Eastern
Welles,
Toland, Aldrich, and Baroque Expressionism
Tony Williams, Film Studies/Department of English, Southern
These
Three: Toland’s Gaze among Hellman’s Schoolgirls
Christopher Weedman, Department of English, Eastern
The
Best Years of Our Lives
Nancy V, Workman, Department of English,
Sponsored
by the
With an introduction by Joseph K. Heumann
Gregg Toland Day ~~ Saturday, September 25
For details on the festival
see greggtolandday.com
Events scheduled include walking
tours, 1930s-1940s music, Toland films,
and film-related children’s activities.
The exhibit “Citizen Gregg:
will be on display at the Dudley
House, Coles County Historical Society
895 7th Street,
with funding from the
Ann Boswell, Department of English,
Robin Murray, Department of English,
Eastern
Gregg Toland and The Outlaw: Camp in Deep Focus
Toland Double Bill
Tony Williams, head, Film Studies, SIU Carbondale
Chuck Koplinski, movie critic, The Hub and Illinois Times
Citizen Kane
or
Citizen Kane
or
Films shown at the historic
northeast off
the