Round 9: Tossup 4

This author’s copyright lawsuit against Universal Pictures established the legal concept of scènes à faire (“sen ah fair”) in cases involving genre fiction. In a film based on a novel by this author, John Garfield’s character remarks “with my brain and your looks, we could go places.” In a 1945 adaptation of a novel by this author, a woman says “alligators have the right idea; they eat their young” while discussing her friend’s brat daughter. Pauline Kael used the phrase “heavy breathing” to describe Joan Crawford’s Oscar-winning acting as a creation of this author. He isn’t a director, but this author was the main influence on (*) The Man Who Wasn’t There, the Coens’ only black-and-white film. Barbara Stanwyck wore an intentionally poor-fitting blonde wig as Phyllis Dietrichson, a housewife created by this (10[1])author who seduces an insurance salesman. For 10 points, name this author of the novels adapted into the noir films (10[1])Mildred Pierce, Double Indemnity, and The Postman Always Rings Twice. ■END■ (10[1])

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