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Post by Salzmank on Sept 13, 2017 4:44:28 GMT
It's late where I am, but I've been meaning to look for some time at Hollywood screenwriters, and I'd like to start it before I forget. I tend to look at films, especially "Golden Age" films but truly up to the '70s, from an auteurist perspective, more or less, which leaves the poor neglected screenwriter in a pickle. ( spiderwort and I were discussing this topic on the board-that-cannot-be-named.) Ben Hecht is probably the best known, but I've been thinking of some others: George MacDonald Fraser, whom wmcclain and I were discussing on another thread, determined the direction of the films he wrote more than those films' directors, I feel, as did Preston Sturges before he became a director. Certainly Paddy Chayefsky. (Sarris wrote that Marty, The Americanization of Emily, etc., are all "written rather than directed.") Richard Corliss wrote a superb book on the subject, Talking Pictures--a writer-centered response to Sarris's The American Cinema--which I advise reading, but whereas Corliss is interested in rating and analyzing, I'd just like to herald some screenwriters who did excellent work but aren't well-known as screenwriters (e.g., Fraser again, or--to beat a dead horse--Sondheim and Perkins for The Last of Sheila, which will probably now forever be associated with me at this forum), especially nowadays. We all can do some rating and analyzing, too, of course.  |
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Post by wmcclain on Sept 13, 2017 12:30:32 GMT
That's one of William Goldman's peeves: the auteur director gets credit for everything. What about the writers and photographers and... When thinking of names I sometimes blur the distinction between the novelist and the screenwriter. Sometimes it's the same person but very often not. The IMDB does the same thing with a general category for "Writer"; see Elmore Leonard, where you have to look at each title line to see "based on a novel by" or "screenplay". (BTW: Jackie Brown is the only Tarantino film I enjoy and I credit Leonard for that). |
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Post by wmcclain on Sept 13, 2017 12:38:07 GMT
I'm always charmed by the case of Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter, originally Salvatore Albert Lombino), who wrote a variety of things, including the long running 87th Precinct police procedurals, used both for TV and film. He claimed to have invented the "squadroom as character" motif, but I think that's not quite right, see Detective Story (1951). In the 80s he joked that Hill Street Blues owned him royalties and his characters would marvel about how eerily the TV shows mirrored their own lives.
Anyway, he also did the screenplay for The Birds (1963), and Brooks' Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Kurosawa's High and Low (1963) were adapted from his novels.
That covers some ground.
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Post by taylorfirst1 on Sept 13, 2017 15:21:59 GMT
OT. I see you have changed your avatar to the incredible Errol Flynn. What a great star he was!
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 13, 2017 15:40:40 GMT
That's one of William Goldman's peeves: the auteur director gets credit for everything. What about the writers and photographers and... When thinking of names I sometimes blur the distinction between the novelist and the screenwriter. Sometimes it's the same person but very often not. The IMDB does the same thing with a general category for "Writer"; see Elmore Leonard, where you have to look at each title line to see "based on a novel by" or "screenplay". (BTW: Jackie Brown is the only Tarantino film I enjoy and I credit Leonard for that). Dear God, how could I forget Goldman? One of our greatest screenwriters. As for his pet peeve: I'll try to delve into this subject when I have more time, but--while I sympathize--in general, especially in movies made before the modern era, I tend to see the director (working within studio constraints, naturally) as the final decider and shaper of a film. (Even Goldman has commented on this fact himself in several of his hilarious Hollywood books; the writer exists in a director's world.) With that said, I agree (1) that that's only a general tendency (we make this ridiculous mistake of assuming that all directors are auteurs, when many modern directors are anything but) and (2) that writers, cinematographers, editors, and the rest all certainly deserve their due. Which is the raison d'être for this thread, in fact! |
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 13, 2017 15:51:00 GMT
I'm always charmed by the case of Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter, originally Salvatore Albert Lombino), who wrote a variety of things, including the long running 87th Precinct police procedurals, used both for TV and film. He claimed to have invented the "squadroom as character" motif, but I think that's not quite right, see Detective Story (1951). In the 80s he joked that Hill Street Blues owned him royalties and his characters would marvel about how eerily the TV shows mirrored their own lives. Anyway, he also did the screenplay for The Birds (1963), and Brooks' Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Kurosawa's High and Low (1963) were adapted from his novels. That covers some ground. McBain (the name under which I first knew him) is an impressive talent, certainly. His police-procedurals are very good, very well-written, emotionally mature, and often moving. The story behind the screenplay for The Birds is a bit of a mess--the story behind Marnie's screenplay, also involving McBain, even more so. The Birds is certainly the best screenplay he ever wrote, though. In terms of writers who wrote for Hitchcock, I find Ernest Lehman was one of the best; North by Northwest has one of the greatest scripts I know, and Lehman's other work is often excellent. (For example, if I'm remembering correctly, he also wrote the novella on which Sweet Smell of Success is based and the movie's first draft.) |
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 13, 2017 15:52:36 GMT
OT. I see you have changed your avatar to the incredible Errol Flynn. What a great star he was! Yeah... I've been thinking about changing avatars for a while, so I went with a picture that reflected my love of adventures and swashbucklers. I intended something from Captain Blood, which is one of my favorite movies, but this shot from The Sea Hawk works better, methinks. |
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Post by bravomailer on Sept 13, 2017 16:20:39 GMT
Folks here might like the Coen Brothers' looks at Hollywood writers in Barton Fink and Hail, Caesar! The former has characters based on Clifford Odets and William Faulkner. In the latter, a group of communist writers kidnaps a movie star played by George Clooney.  |
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Post by teleadm on Sept 13, 2017 18:21:10 GMT
I noticed some time ago that the pair Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, screenwriters of White Heat 1949, is the same couple who stands as the creators of the TV-series Charlie's Angels 1976 and forward. That they could write such a classic gangster movie, also could create such Spelling trash, I find it strange since they are on such differnt levels. Just a little thing I noticed once...
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 13, 2017 18:28:27 GMT
I noticed some time ago that the pair Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, screenwriters of White Heat 1949, is the same couple who stands as the creators of the TV-series Charlie's Angels 1976 and forward. That they could write such a classic gangster movie, also could create such Spelling trash, I find it strange since they are on such differnt levels. Just a little thing I noticed once... Amusing! That I certainly did not know. It has always been my main problem with a writer-centered view of film; scripts tend to be radically different from each other, both in story and quality, and it's difficult to find any kind of consistent ethos in many screenwriters' work. With directors, who in many cases work around the script, there are remarkable qualities which come to the forefront exactly because they didn't write the script. Intentional artistry--as much as I detest that second word!--that develops from that ever-mysterious quality, mise-en-scène: the combination of story and meaning in the director. (Heck, now I'm mystagogizing--if that's a word.) In other words, the script is the battle-plan, the director the general who executes it. |
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Post by kijii on Sept 13, 2017 18:57:43 GMT
I'm always charmed by the case of Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter, originally Salvatore Albert Lombino), who wrote a variety of things, including the long running 87th Precinct police procedurals, used both for TV and film. He claimed to have invented the "squadroom as character" motif, but I think that's not quite right, see Detective Story (1951). In the 80s he joked that Hill Street Blues owned him royalties and his characters would marvel about how eerily the TV shows mirrored their own lives. Anyway, he also did the screenplay for The Birds (1963), and Brooks' Blackboard Jungle (1955) and Kurosawa's High and Low (1963) were adapted from his novels. That covers some ground. Often original authors of--stories, plays, and novels--don't write their own screenplays. They leave that up to screenwriters. I just happen to have a list of about 150 writers who wrote both the source material AND the screenplay. In other words, they wrote some of their screenplay "from scratch." (from beginning to end). This is more common now than in the past... with some great newer writers. I think Preston Sturges is a pioneer, in that respect: He wrote (the original story) for almost every film that he directed, plus a few more. For the most prolific author who wrote (from story to screenplay), one need look no further than Woody Allen, with 50+ ---and counting. |
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Post by Richard Kimble on Sept 13, 2017 20:03:15 GMT
The story behind the screenplay for The Birds is a bit of a mess--the story behind Marnie's screenplay, also involving McBain, even more so. The Birds is certainly the best screenplay he ever wrote, though. In terms of writers who wrote for Hitchcock, I find Ernest Lehman was one of the best; North by Northwest has one of the greatest scripts I know, and Lehman's other work is often excellent. (For example, if I'm remembering correctly, he also wrote the novella on which Sweet Smell of Success is based and the movie's first draft.) I believe John Michael Hayes wrote four scripts for AH, and after they had a falling out (AH wanted him to work on the Wrong Man script for free) Hitch was never quite able to replace him. Hayes had a gift for repartee, which you can hear not only in Rear Window but also in something as tawdry as The Carpetbaggers. Even in the TV movie of Nevada Smith with Lorne Greene and Adam West, pilot for a series that didn't sell, there are several amusing exchanges that would be considered classics if they were in a better-known film. |
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on Sept 13, 2017 20:06:56 GMT
Keep in mind with Woody Allen he has a blank check to do what he wants and always has. Even marrying his daughter didnt cause a hiccup (funny how his studio patrons knew that the scandal wouldnt effect his box office--or they simply didnt care about it--he would get movies made even if the cinemas were empty).
Richard Matheson.
He did novels, tv, film but his reputation is well known.
He was generally best remembered for horror I think, but he could do some good comedy too. I should check out his Jaws 3 script if its available.
Stirling Silliphant had a varied genre career.
An obscure writer that intrigues me is Jay Simms--he did the Killer Shrews and Panic in Year Zero.
The former was a template for people trapped in a house under threat-while the latter took a different spin on nuclear war stories.
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Post by Richard Kimble on Sept 13, 2017 20:19:17 GMT
I noticed some time ago that the pair Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, screenwriters of White Heat 1949, is the same couple who stands as the creators of the TV-series Charlie's Angels 1976 and forward. That they could write such a classic gangster movie, also could create such Spelling trash, I find it strange since they are on such differnt levels. Just a little thing I noticed once... G&R also wrote an excellent but unsold pilot in 1959. The Fat Man was nominally based on the successful radio show (filmed on 1951 with the radio show's star, J. Scott Smart -- now that's an actor name), but was essentially an uncredited reworking of Nero Wolfe. Joseph ( Big Combo, Gun Crazy) Lewis directs with a few noir touches. Robert Middleton enjoys himself as the rotund detective, realizing he may never play another lead again.   |
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Post by manfromplanetx on Sept 14, 2017 0:04:43 GMT
Philip Yordan, was credited as screenwriter on dozens of notable Hollywood movies, he apparently was a superb deal-maker, hustler, and entrepreneur, the truth may never be completely known but there is much ambiguity more to Philip Yordan's screen credits than meets the eye. Behind his name were often those of blacklisted writers unable to work during the McCarthy era. Only in the recent past, in 1996,a panel from the Writers Guild of America restored the screen writing credit titles for 82 films which acknowledged the true author of each film. . In this revised updated version of Hollywood history , Yordan has had to share the credit with, or give way completely his claim to, a number of other screen writers. It is known, for example, that Yordan acted as a front for Ben Maddow on at least five films, including God's Little Acre (1958). Maddow also claimed to have written Johnny Guitar (1954), though Yordan insisted that the final version was his. Screenwriters Bernard Gordon & Ben Barzman are among the blacklisted writers who toiled in obscurity, prevented from taking screen credits which were attributed to Yordan. This aspect affected Maddow's career in a big way, not being able to write under his own name caused depression to such a degree that he began seeing a psychoanalyst. To see his words and ideas on the screen, yet not be able to claim them as his own, would lead to a case of writer’s block, a condition from which it would take him a number of years to recover. In Maddow’s estimation, Yordan was nothing short of a con-man, incapable of writing anything, a writer who had employed others, blacklisted or not, though obviously blacklisted writers were cheaper, to do his writing for him. But in Hollywood, Yordan’s approach was not unusual. Well-known writers would often have a stable of underlings working for them, Ben Hecht employed a staff to write in his style , with the famed writer adding his personal touch to authenticate the scripts. 
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Post by Richard Kimble on Sept 14, 2017 0:21:12 GMT
I've read claims that Yordan was almost functionally illiterate. This view of his career makes him out to be similar to Jerry Wald, who got some credits on WB scripts in the late '30s but allegedly employed ghostwriters. Wald was the inspiration for the character of fast-talking wheeler-dealer Sammy Glick (who becomes successful as a writer by pulling the ghostwriter trick) in Budd Schulberg's novel What Makes Sammy Run?
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 15, 2017 16:54:19 GMT
I'm going to have to run (again), but I'd like to note that I'd forgotten another fine talent from the ranks of Hollywood screenwriters--Dudley Nichols.
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Post by teleadm on Sept 15, 2017 17:33:03 GMT
I'm going to have to run (again), but I'd like to note that I'd forgotten another fine talent from the ranks of Hollywood screenwriters-- Dudley Nichols. First artist to refuse the Oscar when he won Best Screenplay for The Informer (1935) |
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Post by petrolino on Sept 16, 2017 12:21:42 GMT
For those interested, I've heard this is an interesting book written about screenwriter Robert Riskin, though I've not read it myself : 'In Capra's Shadow : The Life And Career Of Screenwriter Robert Riskin' by Ian Scott.
Screenwriter Borden Chase was so popular he had a cocktail named after him.
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Post by Salzmank on Sept 18, 2017 15:48:27 GMT
spiderwort Apologies about the confusion on the "well-known" issue. I suppose I'd like to make this thread about all screenwriters, including the not very well-known ones. Hope that makes some more sense.
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