Reports tomorrow; no class on April 20; presentation signup

We have several reports for tomorrow:
Brie Geffre Historical: the historical Bonnie and Clyde
Megan McKenna Martin Scorsese
Lauren Chavez Special effects
Oliver Ryder Comparison: The Godfather, American Gangster or another

If you are giving a report and want to use PowerPoint, please email me your presentation by 9 p.m. tonight.

Also, the English Department Awards Ceremony will be held on April 20 from 3-5 p.m., so there will be no class on that day (Tuesday). Instead, you're welcome to come to the Awards Ceremony in the Bundy Reading Room.

The signup page for the end-of-term presentations is here: http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/signupform.htm

Raymond Chandler in Double Indemnity

For those who are interested: this site (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/jun/05/raymond-chandler-double-indemnity-cameo) has a picture of Raymond Chandler as he appears in the film Double Indemnity:

Now, however, more than 60 years after its release, a French cinema historian and two US crime-writers almost simultaneously happened on the same bizarre discovery - that Raymond Chandler, uncredited and previously unnoticed, has a tiny cameo in Double Indemnity. . . . [T]here he is, 16 minutes into the movie, sitting outside an office as Fred MacMurray walks past. Chandler glances up at MacMurray from a paperback he is reading, in hindsight a rather obvious clue about the true identity of this extra. Sadly, it is impossible to determine what the book is as the film briskly moves on and Chandler vanishes.

Noir and Hardboiled Fiction

The PowerPoint overview on hardboiled fiction is available here.

Reports on Tuesday

In addition to discussing Chapter 10 in Belton, we have a number of reports being presented on Tuesday, March 9  (http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/engl339/reports.htm).

If you are presenting on that day, remember to bring enough "fact sheets" for the people in the class (35 students + 1 instructor); also, if you're using PowerPoint, you need to email me your presentation no later than tomorrow night, 3/8, by 9 p.m. so that I can load it onto my computer.  You can also use your own computer, if you'd rather. If you're not using PowerPoint, please let me know that, too, so that I can group the presentations accordingly.

Lecture on screwball comedy

 The slides from yesterday's lecture on screwball comedy are available here.

Also, if you're interested in seeing more of Bringing Up Baby, it's available (in parts) on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErX2P1UI2vc .

Reading for tomorrow

Your assigned reading for tomorrow is Chapter 8 in Belton.  However, because the movie we'll see on Wednesday is a movie about the process of making movies, I will also be talking about the star system and the studio system (Chapters 4 and 5). If you have a chance to read these as well as Chapter 8, please do so, although I am not making this a mandatory assignment because of the late notice.

Although most of you already bring your book to class, please be sure to bring your copy of Belton to class tomorrow. We'll be working in groups for part of the class, and you'll need your book.