In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

60 3 THE AUTHOR AT THE DREAM FACTORY The Screenwriter and the Movies Behind the Screen Hollywoodhasalwayshadahate-haterelationshipwiththewriter. —DessonThomas,inBoon,ScriptCulture It comes as no surprise that when the figure of the author is represented in movies, it is often the screenwriter portrayed. Here, of course, we have a far more direct invocation of the film auteur than in works about the novelist. Almost always, the scenarist is male—and either a cad, a neurotic, a misfit, a miscreant, or a womanizer (and sometimes all five) who is generally cynical about his profession. Before examining such fictional protagonists, however, it would be well to say a few words about the historical position of the screenwriter in Hollywood. As soon as the movies shifted from the “cinema of attractions” to storytelling, literature played a central role in filmmaking. Often, producers in need of material turned to established sources—be they biblical (From the Manger to the Cross [1912]) or classical (A Midsummer Night’s Dream [1909]). When a film was to be set in the contemporary era, narratives were sometimes “ripped from the headlines .” The first screenplays were mere scene lists. Kevin Alexander Boon credits some of the earliest such texts to Georges Méliès (for Trip to the Moon [1902]) and Edwin Porter (for The Great Train Robbery [1903]).1 In 1904, the first screenplay was copyrighted (listed as a “dramatic composition”): Frank J. Marion’s The Suburbanite.2 Thus, as Boon comments, “the origin of the screenplay proper is primarily a legal issue.” As the “scenario” (as it was called) developed through the 1910s, it came to have four requisite sections: synopsis, cast of characters, scene plot (a list of sequences taking place at each location), and continuity (story elements arranged in cinematic form).3 The final segment most resembles the modern screenplay. By the mid-1920s, the screenplay had become “a literary form in its own right.”4 The Author at the Dream Factory 61 Of course, traditionally, New York City had been the mecca for writers, and the 1920s was a period of “unparalleled prosperity in the literary marketplace.”5 But more and more, Hollywood required original stories as the rate of film production grew and demands on film quality escalated. Responding to this need, many East Coast authors left for points west—novelists, playwrights, and newspaper journalists . Sometimes writers could participate in the industry from afar when their literary works were adapted for the screen. While their contributions were noted, they were not necessarily intimately involved in the process. Soon “story departments” were formed at many Hollywood studios and the role of “scenarist” became a career; appropriately, onscreen film credits began to take cognizance of this job. If a writer were not the author of a script, she might, instead, be employed to compose intertitles—a distinct skill of its own. Some producers prided themselves on attracting prestigious talent. Samuel Goldwyn, for instance, created the Eminent Authors program in 1919 and hired renowned scribes such as Mary Roberts Rinehart, Elinor Glyn, Elmer Rice, and Rex Beach. Such artists were given a percentage of box office receipts as well as a regular salary . While the program had successes, it also had failures, and it was disbanded in 1923. Some of its writers had long given up on the program. As Glyn notes: “No one wanted our advice or assistance, nor did they intend to take it. All they required was the use of our names to act as shields against the critics.”6 While most screenwriters in the silent era were male, some women (aside from Glyn and Rinehart) assumed this position, for instance Jean Gauntier, June Mathis, and Jeanie Macpherson. With the coming of sound, film drama became more urbane and there was a greater call for sophisticated screenwriters (frequently culled from the theatrical world). Furthermore, the Depression, which followed on the heels of the introduction of sound, hit the New York publishing world hard. Thus, many East Coast authors (including Ben Hecht, Lawrence Stallings, Clifford Odets, Herman Mankiewicz, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Nathanael West) went to California. While most were male, some East Coast women also made the change: Sonya Levien, Lillian Hellman, and Dorothy Parker. Fueling this exit was the added fear that the “talking picture” might kill stage drama. For many, however, Hollywood remained the “Great Destroyer,” with F. Scott Fitzgerald (who first arrived there in 1927) viewed as its most notorious casualty. As S. J. Perelman once commented: “The mere mention...

Share