"Delta Blues Symposium X: The 1950s" will begin with a three-evening film series at the Arkansas State University Museum, Room 157, on March 22-24. Each film will start at 7 p.m.

The film for Monday, March 22 will be “A Face in the Crowd” (1957), Elia Kazan's exploration of pop culture, starring Andy Griffith. With the help of radio producer Patricia Neal, Griffith’s Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes achieves national fame as a folksy TV idol who exploits his power over the masses. The film includes startling, near-documentary sequences shot on location in Piggott, Ark., and also stars Walter Matthau and Lee Remick.

On Tuesday evening, March 23, viewers will see Jim Jarmusch’s “Mystery Train” (1990), which takes its name from the 1950s hit song recorded by Elvis Presley and others. “Mystery Train” presents stories of wandering tourists and lost souls unknown to each other while drifting through Memphis.

The final film in the series, on Tuesday, March 24, is "Lalee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton." Nominated for a 2001 Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, the film follows three generations of African Americans from the Mississippi Delta as they live with extreme poverty and illiteracy.

Delta Blues Symposium X is sponsored by the Department of English and Philosophy with help from the Department of Music, Department of Theatre, Department of Political Science, Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program, Office of the President, and Museum.

For further information on this panel and other Delta Blues Symposium activities, contact the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University at 870-972-3043. A full schedule of Symposium activities is available at http://www.clt.astate.edu/blues.