In a situation where I would be caught teaching a film and literature course, I would choose to teach the following book-film combinations: Henry James's 1898 The Turn of the Screw and Jack Clayton's 1961 The Innocents, George Bernard Shaw's 1913 Pygmalion, Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard's 1938 Pygmalion and George Cukor's 1964 My Fair Lady, Henrik Ibsen's 1879 A Doll's House, with the two 1973 movies directed by Joseph Losey and Patrick Garland, and Tennessee Williams' 1947 A Streetcar Named Desire, plus Elia Kazan's 1951 movie version. I would not teach Emily Brontë's 1847 Wuthering Heights, William Wyler's 1938 Wuthering Heights and Luis Buñuel's 1954 Los Abismos de Pasion, Henry James's 1880 Washington Square, or William Wyler's 1949 The Heiress. The four I would choose not to teach because they started really slow. It was hard for me to get into the books and films, which I normally enjoy. Plus I would like to spend more time discussing the novels and differences between the films and books. The book-film combinations I would choose to show, or assign I chose because they were the most interesting and kept me involved, which is difficult to do being I do not enjoy reading regularly.
If I had to make an agenda I would definitely choose to show The Innocents around Halloween, read the book the week before and the show the film. That film actually scared me a bit. The characters did a wonderful job, especially the children, Miles and Flora (Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin, who were so believable. I would show A Streetcar Named Desire last; I felt this movie was more my style, up to date, easy to get into and a lot of students know of Marlon Brando, who played Stanley Kowlaski, so it would be a good way to end the semester. I also got a pretty good kick out of My Fair Lady. The actress, Audrey Hepburn, who played the project for Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), did an amazing job and was very funny. This one would be a good one to start with since it is entertaining and almost everyone has read Pygmalion before in high school, so it would be a fresh way to start the class.
The assignments you has us do were very fitting, not difficult, and enjoyable. I would also have some sort of assignment similar due every week as well.
As my final exam in my course I would have students write a paper (essay) on the differences between one of the works and one of the films. This would not only open my eyes to new ideas to teach, but also assure me that the students have read, know and understand the material.
I would also maybe try to replace the two book-film combinations. I would choose more up-to-date book-film combinations. I know this class is designed probably for early movies in comparison to how films are now, but one or two updated books and films would capture the students' attention again. Showing these half-way through the semester would get us back on track.
All in all the class was enjoyable and I would not change much of the agenda. On the whole, the movies were entertaining, and the books were easy to read and get into.