Four More Screenplays

"Henderson has a fine feel for the emotional implications of the slightest changes in the story lines or the scripts, and consequently, one has great confidence in the significances he attributes to the various stages of each film."--William Nestrick, University of California, Berkeley "Henderson has a fine feel for the emotional implications of the slightest changes in the story lines or the scripts, and consequently, one has great confidence in the significances he attributes to the various stages of each film."--William Nestrick, University of California, Berkeley

Preston Sturges (1898-1959) was a member of Hollywood's gifted royalty, producing a remarkable number of films. In this third volume of scripts by one of Hollywood's wisest and wittiest filmmakers, the focus is on screenplays written but not directed by Sturges. This volume will be the perfect accompaniment to the re-release of Sturges films on home video. 8 illustrations.

Five comic masterpieces by Preston Sturges, who has been called "Hollywood's greatest writer-director, with emphasis on the former." The scripts are drawn from the great period between 1939 and 1944, which Andrew Sarris called "one of the most brilliant and most bizarre bursts of creation in the history of cinema."

Yes, you can write a great screenplay. Let Syd Field show you how. “I based Like Water for Chocolate on what I learned in Syd's books. Before, I always felt structure imprisoned me, but what I learned was structure really freed me to focus on the story.”—Laura Esquivel Technology is transforming the art and craft of screenwriting. How does the writer find new ways to tell a story with pictures, to create a truly outstanding film? Syd Field shows what works, why, and how in four extraordinary films: Thelma & Louise, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Silence of the Lambs, and Dances with Wolves. Learn how: Callie Khouri, in her first movie script, Thelma & Louise, rewrote the rules for good road movies and played against type to create a new American classic. James Cameron, writer/director of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, created a sequel integrating spectacular special effects and a story line that transformed the Terminator, the quintessential killing machine, into a sympathetic character. This is how an action film is written. Ted Tally adapted Thomas Harris's chilling 350-page novel, The Silence of the Lambs, into a riveting 120-page script—a lesson in the art and craft of adapting novels into film. Michael Blake, author of Dances with Wolves, achieved every writer's dream as he translated his novel into an uncompromising film. Learn how he used transformation as a spiritual dynamic in this work of mythic sweep. Informative and utterly engrossing, Four Screenplays belongs in every writer's library, next to Syn Field's highly acclaimed companion volumes, Screenplay, The Screenwriter's Workbook, and Selling a Screenplay. “If I were writing screenplays . . . I would carry Syd Field around in my back pocket wherever I went.”—Steven Bochco, writer/producer/director, L.A. Law, Hill Street Blues

Providing examples from well-known movies, Field explains the structural and stylistic elements as well as writing techniques basic to the creation of a successful film script.

Covers story concept, character development, theme, structure, and scenes, analyzes a sample screenplay, and tells how to submit a manuscript, select an agent, and market oneself.

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

Introduction: the way Hollywood told it -- The frenzy of five fat years; Interlude: Spring 1940: lessons from our town

When Tennessee Williams died in the winter of 1983 he left among his voluminous papers the texts of four screenplays none of which had been made into or was even being considered for a film at that time.