Graduate Thesis Project Research

In 1926 the tragic and untimely death of a silent screen actor caused female moviegoers to riot in the streets and in some cases to commit suicide.

Composer Gustav Mahler's (Robert Powell) life, told in a series of flashbacks as he and his wife (Georgina Hale) discuss their failing marriage during a train journey.

Piano teacher Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky struggles against his latent homosexuality by getting married. Unfortunately he chooses nymphomaniac Antonina Milyukova, a depressed former student whom he cannot satisfy.

Composer and pianist Franz Liszt (Roger Daltrey) attempts to overcome his hedonistic life-style while repeatedly being drawn back into it by the many women in his life and fellow composer Richard Wagner (Paul Nicholas).

An elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.

Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.

The life of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova, from childhood to death: his spiritual journey, artistic endeavors, and inner conflicts within the cultural and historical context of Armenia. Hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.

A retelling of the life of the celebrated 17th-century painter through his brilliant, nearly blasphemous paintings and his flirtations with the underworld.

The retelling of France's iconic but ill-fated queen, Marie Antoinette. From her betrothal and marriage to Louis XVI at 14 to her reign as queen at 19 and to the end of her reign as queen, and ultimately the fall of Versailles.

The troubled life and career of jazz musician Charlie Parker.

Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.

Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define her husband's historic legacy.

Biography of British painter Francis Bacon focuses on his relationship with his lover, George Dyer, a former small time crook.

A biography of Italian violinist Niccolò Paganini.

The World War II phase of the career of controversial American general George S. Patton.

In the 1970s, Patricia Hearst is abducted by American revolutionaries, but eventually joins their cause instead.

In 1933 Texas, a schoolteacher and aspiring writer meets a pulp fiction writer, and a relationship soon develops between the two, but it is doomed by his slavishly devotion to his ailing mother and insistence on his freedom.

An unconventional retelling of the life of William Walker, a 19th century American mercenary leader who became the president of Nicaragua.

The adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.

An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated people prepare for a political convention.

The day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.

A day in the life of Austin, Texas as the camera roams from place to place and provides a brief look at the overeducated, the social misfits, the outcasts and the oddballs.

The lives of three young men, a German and two Americans, during WWII.

The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York City is portrayed, while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on the family crime syndicate.