I very much appreciate Susan Crutchfield's suggestion of _Psycho_ as a text that's a good compromise between classical and contemporary, us and the students. Do other people have experiences of this middle ground? My own experience is that when students see _Citizen Kane_, most have the reaction "so what?" They literally ask me "Why is this film such a big deal?" _Vertigo_ can also be a letdown. A recent group of very well-educated undergraduates at an elite liberal arts college found it impossible to identify with Scotty because he is so clearly a misogynist. All the psychoanalytic arguments in the world couldn't convince them: they didn't "go there." On the other hand, a colleague suggested using _Edward Scissorhands_ to teach and analyze mise-en-scene, and that worked wonderfully. Sincerely, Edward R. O'Neill ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.tcf.ua.edu/ScreenSite