Oscar-winners Neal and Holm visit film class

Hollywood legends Patricia Neal (left) and Celeste Holm participated in a Film Studies class Sept. 6 taught by Sam Girgus, professor of English. Neal won an Oscar for her performance in "Hud," and Holm won an Oscar for her performance in "Gentleman's Agreement."

Photo by Daniel Dubios

by Jessica Howard
Two Academy Award winners and a popular film critic/author candidly fielded students’ questions during a visit to campus Sept. 6. Patricia Neal, who held roles in celebrated films including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Fountainhead and Hud, for which she won an Oscar; and Celeste Holm from classics All About Eve and Gentleman’s Agreement sat in on the “America on Film” class taught by Professor of English Sam B. Girgus.

The actors discussed co-starring with Hollywood standouts such as Paul Newman and Andy Griffith, and even commented on the gratuitous use of sex in violence in today’s films.

“Everything was implied and much more interesting than being overt,” said Holm on the use of sexual innuendos in films made in the 1940s-1960s. Holm won an Oscar for her performance in Gentleman’s Agreement.

“I’m afraid our culture doesn’t know how to listen anymore,” commented film critic Foster Hirsch, who also attended the class. Hirsch is a professor from Brooklyn College and author of A Method to Their Madness: The History of the Actor’s Studio.

Neal, Holm and the students watched clips from each of the actor’s films.

“It’s invaluable for the students to get this historical perspective and to be able to engage with people so intimately involved as actors in the making of great film art,” said Girgus. “They provided detailed nuances about performances and filmmaking that simply cannot be overvalued.”

The trio were in town for two special weekend screenings — each featuring Neal or Holm — sponsored by the Vital Impulses series through the Frist Center for Visual Arts and the Belcourt Theatre.

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