Raymond Chandler Cameo Double Indemnity

I'm a big Raymond Chandler fan, so I found the discovery that Raymond Chandler had a cameo in Double Indemnity to be very fun, indeed. 60 years after its release, a French cinema historian and two US crime-writers simultaneously happened on the same bizarre discovery. Mark Coggins, tipped off by mystery author, John Billheimer, posted the news on his blog. Around the same time, French journalist Olivier Eyquem wrote on his blog (in French) about the same discovery.

Cameos are usually reserved for actors, but we all know Alfred Hitchcock had cameos in all his films. Graham Greene, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut and Hunter Thompson all appeared in cameos on the big screen, but they were recognized at the time.

So here is Raymond Chandler 16 minutes into the movie, sitting outside an office as Fred MacMurray walks past. Chandler is reading a paperback. What he's reading is not decipherable, but I can only imagine its one of his own novels.

Perhaps you saw this on other posts, but in case you didn't, here's the link to the Guardian article.

Later 7/15: Here's a link to Carolyn Kellogg's article in the LA. Times Jacket Copy Blog.