The Best Screenplay EVER!
Filed under: Classics, Comedy, Drama, Foreign Language, Fandom, Newsstand, Lists, Cinematical Indie
According to the Writers Guild of America, the best
screenplay ever written is Casablanca.
And that really is ever -- the introduction to their list of the best 101 (a PDF of the list is here) indicates that the
balloting was open to films made in any language, in any country. (And yet only six of the 100 best screenplays of all
time aren't American? And Children
of Paradise isn't one of them? Yeah, I buy that.) Also near the top of the list are such usual suspects as
Chinatown, Some Like it Hot, and All About Eve which, despite the hype, continues to stun me with its
sharpness every time I see it.The fun of lists like this, though, are the surprises -- and the getting angry when your favorites are neglected. Going through the top 101, I was pleasantly surprised to see that actual screenwriters respect screenplays I love, like those for The Wild Bunch (#99), Grand Illusion (#85 is way too low, but at least it's on there), Broadcast News (#51), and All the President's Men (#53), the last of which strikes me as very nearly perfect. But by the same token, I was pretty stunned that Forrest Gump (#89) made the list, along with Jaws (#63), the former simply because I think it's a cloying, awful movie, and the latter because, though it's one of my favorites, there are a couple of scenes that have always struck me as awkwardly written, and there a tendency in the screenplay to cheaply create a depth by hinting at conflicts and emotions that are never actually proved to exist. On the neglected pile I'd throw virtually all the wonderful foreign films that, as usual, have been ignored, from La Dolce vita and the previously-mentioned Children of Paradise to The Rules of the Game, and the spare-but-wonderful Le samouraï.
So, here's something to think about on a lazy, rainy weekend: screenplays. What pisses you off about the list? What favorites are missing? And what did the WGA get exactly right?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-08-2006 @ 8:07PM
Peter Nellhaus said...
I wrote about this list on my own blog. I agree with Martha about the list overlooking too many better foreign language films. Also some classic films should have been included. I have to question a list that includes Sylvester Stallone but not Dudley Nichols. Nichols wrote "Stagecoach" and other films for John Ford, as well as writing for Jean Renoir and Fritz Lang.
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4-09-2006 @ 12:55AM
Dan said...
I blogged about it as well (all the cool kids are doing it!). There are some absences that are just bizarre -- Bonnie and Clyde? MASH? The Manchurian Candidate? Anything by Ernst Lubitsch? Big? Anything Disney? Ghostbusters?
And what about all of those Kurosawa films that the writers all love to rip off? Are they too ashamed to admit those influences?
But, for all that, it's tough to argue with the Top 20...
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4-09-2006 @ 1:22AM
D. B. Light said...
I haven't blogged this yet, but will eventually [I just got around to reviewing Capote last week, so that gives you some idea of the time lag]. Just off the top of my head, though, it seems that the guildies gave far too much weight to films that have catchy, quotable lines. Casablanca is not a brilliantly structured film, but it sure is quotable. Godfather [OK, it's brilliant] is nearly as quotable. But quotable lines do not a great screenplay make. Casablanca might fit somewhere in the top 100, but please, not number one.
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4-12-2006 @ 8:10PM
PEPPA said...
For me, it's "The Godfather" One and Two. The third one, however, was God awful ! :0((
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4-12-2006 @ 9:14PM
Peter Sierra said...
C'mon! This list has little to do with quality screenwriting and more to do with memorable and sometimes genre-breaking films. Anyone who reads the screenplay to "JAWS" minus the audio-visual will be in for a big disappointment. That is not to say that such a screenplay doesn't require "vision", but that is something different than quality dialogue-driven screenwriting with a good storyline. In MY book, any top 100 screenplays list better have "Tombstone" near the top.
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4-12-2006 @ 9:14PM
Jim said...
Any film by Lina Wertmuller, but your right, Casablanca is there where it belongs and right behind is "Treasure of The Sierra Madre".
J. Senetto
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4-12-2006 @ 9:42PM
Frank Breault said...
Of these 101 films, 45 were based on someone else's writings. 58 were based on previously published material. I hate to sound cynical, but writing a movie cannot be very difficult when it's essentially already written.
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4-12-2006 @ 9:44PM
Frank said...
I have just always ASSUMED that everyone knew that the screenplay to "All About Eve" was the greatest ever written and filmed! Now THAT was dialogue!
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4-12-2006 @ 10:20PM
Janna said...
And what about one of the best foreign films of all time..for me at least. Jean de Florette, with it's sequel Manon of the Spring.
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4-12-2006 @ 10:32PM
Eva said...
I think Pulp Fiction was the best screenplay =D
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4-12-2006 @ 10:39PM
Ron said...
Screenplays are not easily written, as someone has suggested...especially if you authored the original novel and stay true to the original work.
There are sweat and tears, lots of tears, when a writer has to drop seventy-five percent of a four hundred page novel to conform to the one hundred and twenty page screenplay. It requires skill, dedication and loyalty to the original work to come close to the novel's message.
It's pure gravy when you can create phases, sentences and even one word quotes that resonate from your work.
Whomever thinks writing a screenplay is easy, hasn't tested their own melt.
The best screenplay ever written hasn't been penned, which gives us all a level playing field. Ron-Memphis
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4-12-2006 @ 10:54PM
Katherine said...
I've always thought "The Untouchables" is a workshop in screenwriting. (And costuming, direction, and gorgeous, period set decoration.) The writing covers so much ground in such a short time, but doesn't leave the viewer asking, "Huh? Where did that come from?"
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4-12-2006 @ 11:19PM
Andy LaTerra said...
As an aspiring writer in the autumn of his years, and someone who is free to write for the first time in many years, I would like to know how I would go about viewing screenplays in their untouched original form. I am seriously disabled and attending a class of some kind would be difficult at best. Is there a web-site or possibly a store that sells such material? I would like to try my hand at this difficult but very rewarding artform. AND I agree with your comments where they are in line with my experiences. My all time favorite is,"One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest."
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4-12-2006 @ 11:54PM
Danni said...
Although many of these movies are fairly arguable either way, I'm glad to see that Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is on this list. It is truly one of the most genuine, artistic films I've ever seen...one that provokes thought rather than numbs it.
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4-13-2006 @ 12:07AM
John said...
I'm very disappointed that Josef Conrad didn't get a 'based on' credit for Heart of Darkness, the source for Apocolypse now. Great, great book.
-J
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4-13-2006 @ 12:12AM
Mike said...
I am a screenwriter (I've written 13 screenplays, had one produced last year which is making it's way in European film festivals). I've never been a great Casablanca fan. Some wonderful memorable lines but "best screenplay," not for me. Some wonderful films that were excellent include academy award winner, Marty. 12 Angry Men (the original) and a film that had one of the greatest casts ever assembled: Judgment at Nuremberg. And, for those of you who wrote how difficult it is to write a screenplay you are correct. To keep a story moving forward and develop characters that are thought provoking, exciting and relatable is a difficult task.
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4-13-2006 @ 12:39AM
Joe White said...
You've gotta be kidding.....'The Wild Bunch" 99? Come'on now, that was dynamic, memorable, and set the tone for all others to follow. Sure was glad to see "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" right after "Casablanca" though. That has to be the all time tale of greed and the human condition.
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4-13-2006 @ 1:34AM
Garrett said...
Casablanca is definitely the best screenplay ever written. Great one-liners and such flow. It deserves this honor.
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4-13-2006 @ 1:38AM
Chang said...
The Princess Bride, that ought to make my mom happy that it made it. I'm glad The Graduate was one there and The Godfather. But they have included a lot more foreign films. To Live, Raise the Red Latterne, Farewell My Concubine-any one of those. I liked Casablanca but I'm not sure about it being number one. I don't agree with some of the films on there but I agree that th best script hasn't been written yet
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4-13-2006 @ 2:20AM
dave said...
OK, as far as best screenplays go let's look at a story that wasn't told one way...but 3 ways. Run Lola Run is a very unique film in that there was little to no dialogue. After watching the second series you were waiting to see what she was going to do different next. Sliding doors didn't have half of the impact that Run Lola Run did. It's a life lesson that those who watch it will realize that whatever you do will now will forecast the future. Don't live for today, but whatever you do today will affect tomorrow. Put forth the effort to accomplish your goals. Powerful movie. Sorry, I don't know much about screenplays, but I know what is good.
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