CIFF Student Classics Film Series: “They Were Expendable”

The Coronado Island Film Festival’s (CIFF) Student Classic Film Study Program is open to any upper-middle and high school students attending public, charter, or parochial schools, as well as those who are homeschooled. All students are welcome to attend and join the post-screening moderated discussion.

2025 is the 80th Anniversary of the end of WWII, the most consequential global conflict of arms in human history. To honor this historic anniversary, the 2025 CIFF Student Classic Film Series will present a slate of Hollywood film classics made during and/or about WWII. Screenings will be sequenced to follow the timeline of the war, creating a four-month cinematic history lesson.

March 16: They Were Expendable (John Ford, 1945, 2hr 15min)

After a demonstration of new PT boats, Navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. “Rusty” Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.

PLEASE NOTE: adults without a student will not be allowed to attend. This program is not open to all ages. This is to protect the minors in attendance, as well as preserve the purpose, integrity and intent of the program, which is to foster a conversation with teens as part of CIFF’s curriculum-based educational program for youth. Reservations are requested and can be made here: https://coronadofilmfest.com/elementor-1331/

Two purposes will guide the program:

1) To develop in young people the discernment necessary to understand dramatic film narratives. Because movies employ so many senses, classic films are among the most powerful genres of visual storytelling. The program will introduce young people to classic movies made by recognized masters of the film medium.

2) To challenge young people to analyze dramatic film narratives and hone critical-thinking skills. Every dramatic narrative is, in its essence, a story of redemption. Great stories incorporate an introduction, a protagonist, an antagonist, and some form of conflict. Great stories conclude when these conflicts are resolved. This general narrative model is followed, in various forms, in nearly every classic film made during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

EDUCATIONAL GUIDES/EXPANDED STUDY

A special program will be made available for homeschoolers or independent study students to document program completion as a drama and/or film appreciation elective.

The discussion guides are drawn from Dr. Onalee McGraw, founder of the Educational Guidance Institute (EGI) and a former educator. She has been featured on Turner Classic Movies, and her classic film study guides have been used successfully with audiences of young people around the nation from widely diverse demographic backgrounds and cultural experiences.

If you would like more information on bringing a group or class and utilize the guided curriculum please contact Jon Mosier for more information:  [email protected].

This launch of the program was made possible with seed funding from a City of Coronado community grant.

About Jon Mosier, Program Director: Jon is a longtime devotee of classic Hollywood films. He developed the Student Classics Film Program as a fellowship Capstone Project in collaboration with Dr. Onalee McGraw at the Educational Guidance Institute. As Jon puts it, “The program is purposefully designed to engage the hearts and minds of young people, enrich their cultural literacy and strengthen their understanding of film as art.“