Credits

The Writers Guild of America has revised its official records and awarded screen-writing credits to three writers who were denied them during the blacklist era.The guild is awarding credit to Michael Wilson for "Friendly Persuasion," to Abraham Polonsky for "Odds Against Tomorrow" and to Bernard Gordon for "Day of the Triffids."The new credits are part of the guild's continuing effort to correct the official records of writers who were blacklisted during the late 1940s through the early 1960s.

Among the rushing marks Ray Rice set Sunday in the Ravens' 24-10 win against the Indianapolis Colts, Rice joined Jamal Lewis as the only tailbacks in franchise history to record three consecutive seasons of 1,000 rushing yards, For Rice, who now has 1,029 yards this season, reaching that achievement is something that he will treasure. “It means a lot to me,” Rice said. “Anytime I do something, I give my credit to the offensive line. But to do three straight [1,000-yard rushing seasons]

If money is the driving force in Hollywood, credits on a movie screen are a close runner-up. The placement and size of a credit can be the subject of intense warfare that's really all about ego, posturing, vulnerability and a hunger for recognition. Which are what Hollywood is all about, too.The issue of credits has now taken a new turn. Two groups especially hungry for recognition, producers and writers, are engaged in a sharp, public dispute over a recent agreement that the producers say reduces their prestige.

Amy Schumer can tell a story. Knowing how to craft a short narrative and make it pay off with a laugh has, after all, helped make her one of the hottest comedians on TV and the concert circuit these days. So, let the star of Comedy Central's “Inside Amy Schumer” explain how it came to be that she finished her work for a bachelor's degree in theater at Towson University in 2003 but didn't receive her diploma until 2007 - in the lobby of Baltimore's Lyric Opera House. “I say I graduated in 2003 from Towson, but that's not actually true,” the 31-year-old New-York-born performer says in a recent interview.

A movie's end credits offer all sorts of wonderful opportunities: to sit quietly and think about what you've just seen, to read the names of those men and women responsible for it, to catch the name of that very cool song that was playing in the background about halfway through the film. Apparently the geniuses who program our TV stations disagree, however. To them, a movie's credits are something to be raced through as quickly as possible, something to be shoved to the side so we can see a teaser for what is coming on next, a chance to maybe earn a few more bucks in advertising dollars.

Inmates in Maryland's prison system are sometimes set free months early or, in other cases, weeks late because of errors in calculating time off for good behavior and other such credits, according to a legislative audit released yesterday. The audit of 65 inmates at two prisons who were released in 2003 showed that one-third of them got out on the incorrect date. One prisoner was released more than three months early, while another remained behind bars three weeks after he became eligible for release, according to the report.

After several months of debate, the Baltimore County school board last night adopted high school graduation requirements that exceed state standards in social studies and physical education but are lower than current county requirements.The vote was 5-3.The majority was concerned that students would not get all the lessons they need to become good citizens if the social studies requirement was lowered. They also felt that students would not get enough exercise and would not get in the habit of healthy exercise with a lowered physical education requirement.

The Carroll County Board of Education proposed yesterday increasing graduation requirements and granting high school credit for high school courses offered in middle school. Board members and administrators say both measures would raise the bar in secondary schools and increase the likelihood that students would take challenging courses up to graduation, rather than slacking off in the final semester of their senior year. The board hopes to receive comments and input from parents, students and teachers before voting on the proposals at its meeting Sept.

Lucy Powell has the least glamorous job in the film business. Her work is so poorly received, most moviegoers walk out before it begins."We agonize over the details," said Ms. Powell, whose company, Pacific Title, makes the credits at the ends of many films. "And we know that no one's going to stay for them."Yet Ms. Powell is able to laugh because in the last 10 years Pacific Title has nearly doubled its staff. End credits, it seems, have been getting longer -- and weirder. "Some of them even baffle me," she said.

An occasional feature in which Sun writers and critics sound off about the movies. It used to be that saving the credits for last was a sure sign the film you were about to watch was something special, something of epic scale, maybe even something entirely new. The Star Wars films saved their credits for the end. So did Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, the three Lord of the Ringsmovies. It was the cinematic equivalent of taking a proud bow after the last act, of calling the director up onstage for the final curtain call.