Best Screenplays

I recall a book series called Best Screenplays, following after the John Gassner Best Plays series. As far as I know, it never caught on. Perhaps because plays are considered works of art while screenplays are merely "blueprints" for movies. People are fascinated by great buildings, not blueprints.

There's something to this. A screenplay, for better or worse, is shot just once--if a play had only one performance, the particular production would grow in importance. Furthermore, film is such a visual medium, the technical side is hard to ignore. (King Lear is a great play. A film of a performance of King Lear is not a great film.)

Wait, it gets even worse. In the silent era they didn't even have screenplays, they had scenarios. Sometimes not even that--the great clowns often worked day to day with basic plots. In the studio era, with rare exceptions, writers were "schmucks with Underwoods" whose work would regularly be superseded by whoever or whatever the producer felt was necessary. More recently, directors bring in their own people for script surgery, not to mention stars who feel free to change things any time. Then, this being film, we get test screenings and editors who chop up what's left of the script. (I don't think I can put Annie Hall on my top screenplay list, for instance. It's one of my favorite films, but it seems to have been discovered in the editing room.)

And what about adaptations? You may think A Streetcar Named Desire and Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? are great films, but that's because their screenplays pretty much leave their sources untouched. And even a film based on a novel or short story--how can that be compared to an original screenplay?

So, overall, rating screenplays is a game for chumps. Movies are such a collaborative art, it's already a bit much to compare directors, so why even bother with the screenwriter? (Richard Corliss tried in his book Talking Pictures, and no one took up his invitation.)

So with those caveats, let me talk about my favorite screenplays, as opposed to the often safe choices of the Writers Guild.

How to judge? I've read countless screenplays by both unknowns and high-paid screenwriters. Should I judge the script by how well it reads--someone like Shane Black can make the action sound very exciting--or by how it plays (which I can't know half the time since, even when a screenplay is shot, it's rarely as is)? Should I work backwards with something like Eraserhead and just assume I'd like the screenplay because I like the film?

And even then, what makes a screenplay great? Intricate plotting? Fascinating characters? Snappy dialogue? Certainly not beautiful images.

Is a well-plotted script like Ruthless People superior to an episodic one like Animal House or one full of set pieces like There's Something About Mary? How do you even judge a screenplay like Ghostbusters when you find out Bill Murray came up with most of the best lines on the set?

Well, I don't have time to go over thousands of films and their screenplays (bet you were afraid I did), but let me discuss (very quickly) about 25 or so, with the understanding most of them would make my top hundred. I'm pretty much sticking to Hollywood, as the WGA does. I'm certainly not competent to judge scripts not written in English.

The Shop Around The Corner. A little note first. It's by Samson Raphaelson, but...he wrote it in close consultation with director Ernst Lubitsch. There are rumors other hands (Ben Hecht) worked on it. It's also based on an Hungarian play, though it's supposedly completely different. Many screenplays have mulitple parents and are of uncertain origin. I'm going to ignore this problem and usually just discuss the title.

Anyway, The Shop Around The Corner is probably #1 on my list. It's perfection. (Trouble In Paradise, by the same writer/director duo, is also perfect, if a little more brittle. That would also make my list, but I'm trying to limit my discussion to one script per author.) Exquisite dialogue. Wonderfully drawn characters. A delightful comedy that has powerful drama as well. Endlessly watchable.

Hail The Conquering Hero. Preston Sturges may be the best screenwriter of all. His plots (usually) move well, his dialogue is brilliant without seemng to strain, and even his smallest characters get great lines. Hero is probably his best work, since it has a headlong momentum that's almost never been matched. It makes my top ten, but I could almost as easily pick The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels and a few others.

Pulp Fiction. When movies didn't compete with TV, they weren't afraid to have people talk. Now if you have more than a page or so of dialogue in one setting, everyone gets worried. This may be why so many of my favorite screenplays (as opposed to movies) are "old" films. But there are more recent works that I love. Pulp Fiction, another top ten choice, is dazzling. It's not afraid to have page after page of talk because that's the film's secret weapon--it moves the plot forward, deepens the characters and makes us laugh all at once. And the plots (which wrap around each other) all unfold in unexpected yet satisfying ways--amazing in an era when you know exactly what's going to happen in most films after the first ten minutes.

North By Northwest. Hitchcock felt his work was done once the script was finished--shooting was basically to make sure the script wasn't messed with. But Hitch still needed writers to get that vision down on the page, and he never had anyone do it better than Ernest Lehman. It's an elaboration of the "chase" films he'd been making from the start, but what an elaboration. It goes from set piece to set piece, never flagging. Some may complain it doesn't have the psychological depth of, say, Rear Window or Vertigo, but I don't care (maybe I'm the one lacking psychological depth)--when something is done this superbly, you just sit and watch in wonder. Another top ten.

Insert Billy Wilder film here. My favorite is Some Like It Hot, but is it his best screenplay? All I know is there should be at least one in the top ten, and several in the top hundred. No one understood better the point of a screenplay is to grab the audience and not let go. That he was also one of the best dialogue writers in town sure helped. If he has a problem, he tends to overwrite--sometimes you're too aware of his presence. But he's so damn good, you don't mind. (On the other hand, other "writerly" screenwriters, like Joseph L. Mankiewicz or Paddy Chayefsky, are so literary their stuff sometimes rubs me the wrong way.) My favorite Wilder scripts (and remember he had great collaborators, too) are Midnight, Ball Of Fire, The Major And The Minor, Five Graves To Cairo, Double Indemnity, Ace In The Hole, Stalag 17 and Some like It Hot. I know I left out some great stuff, but I can't include everything.

This is turning into a book, so I'll keep it short from here on in.

The Hustler and The Sweet Smell Of Success. While the stories are only so-so (Success has a third act that doesn't work), they both succeed for three reasons: introduction to a fascinating and dark milieu, cool characters and the most quotable dialogue ever.

Back To The Future and The Sting. Amazing and intricate story construction, even if the characters have to be kept simple to make things work out.

Singin' In The Rain. Scripts for musicals are usually idiotic, knowing the numbers will save them. Comden and Green were handed a bunch of old songs and came up with a great story that's more than just a string of song cues. (Their Bandwagon isn't bad either.)

Die Hard. Action should be fun and stylish, not merely violent. This film was the template, alas, for a bunch of inferior copies.

It Happened One Night. It's hard to separate Robert Riskin from Frank Capra, but no matter what the director brought to the film, he couldn't have done it without a solid script. It virtually invented screwball and, for laughs and warmth, was never topped (except maybe in My Man Godfrey).

Duck Soup. Is this even a script or just of a bunch of funny guys at Paramount tossing gags around. Who cares?

Moonstruck. Finally, a film about people. (A lot of my favorite films are about people, honest.) Real people with just a little exaggeration.

The Godfather. A rare epic story that's as good as people say.

Toy Story. Pixar's secret is in the story, and I still don't think they've topped this one.

The Philadelphia Story. Most of what's good comes from the play, but still an excellent and rare example of drawing room comedy being properly adapted for film.

Tootsie: A lot of hands on this screenplay, but it all comes together.

Lost In America. There's an early feint toward a story, but it never materalizes. But story isn't everything. Just giving Albert Brooks an opportunity to rant is enough for me.

Memento. Almost too clever for its own good, but I admire the Swiss watch mechanics. (A watch that runs backwards.)

The Big Sleep. The best in detective dialogue ever. So good, you don't really care the story is impossible to follow.

Heathers and Being John Malkvoch. Both scripts made brilliant films, yet both are examples of a third act rewritten to make the film more palatable. As is so often true, the orginal scripts are better. (For two acts Adaptation is also great, but they DID keep the third act and it didn't work.)

Casablanca. I don't need Robert McKee to teach me it's great.

Star Wars. It doesn't have to be about great dialogue.

It's A Wonderful Life. As sentimental as you can get without being annoying. Has scope and is surprisingly dark in places.

Well, that's it for now. Please send in your own faves, as well as what's wrong with mine. I seem to have a preference for comedy. Sorry, but it's the genre I understand (and appreciate) best. Also, I seem to prefer mechanics and dialogue over art. Sorry again, but as they say, if you want to send a message, have someone reopen Western Union.