Also, if you ever want some backup you can always just email me or ask me here about a specific aspect, as it sometimes is useful for your paper's arguments to have an "authority" or whatever backing you up (in a "personal communication" in the end notes no less! :p ). Also, be sure to read Dale Pollock's bio, it touches upon this. I quote an article at length in the section in SHOSW on this topic, which I would strongly encourage you to read for a then-contemporary analysis of the film (and one generally critical too, which is hard to find today).

Of course, reasons such as the ones being made by myself and others I reference is mainly limited to the era of its original release. Obviously the films continued to endure, but there are different contexts for the films as time has gone on, and so the elements that have made it endure have changed over time. I guess the main thing to keep in mind is that the films don't exist in a vaccuum. It's a lofty undertaking for an English thesis because you have to know a bit about film history, American social history, and the movie business itself.