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The purpose of this article is to justify the study of film as art even within a broader approach of cinema as document. The prevailing indifference to aesthetics in the context of history or “civilization” courses is considered to be detrimental to the reliability of the movies as mirrors of opinion or pictures of the past. Three examples (from The Public Enemy, Gold Diggers of 1933 and Imitation of Life) testify to the need to regard movies, including those made in Hollywood, as genuine creative works, with full consideration of their detail and whole. Otherwise, they will only offer worthless, possibly deceptive, images of the time when they were released.