  We examine the T=0 phase diagram of a thin ferromagnetic film with a strong
out-of-plane anisotropy in the vicinity of the reorientation phase transition
(with Co on Pt as an example). The phase diagram in the anisotropy-applied
field plane is universal in the limit where the film thickness is the shortest
length scale. It contains uniform fully magnetized and canted phases, as well
as periodically nonuniform states: a weakly modulated spin-density wave and
strongly modulated stripes. We determine the boundaries of metastability of
these phases and point out the existence of a critical point at which the
difference between the SDW and stripes vanishes. Out-of-plane magnetization
curves exhibit a variety of hysteresis loops caused by the coexistence of one
or more phases. Additionally, we study the effect of a system edge on the
orientation of stripes. We compare our results with recent experiments.
