All the best lines : an informal history of the movies

869 Pages·2013·15.32 MB·English

by  George Tiffin

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About this Book
About the Author
Table of Contents

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For my parents, who taught me
to look as well as to listen.
Frank Capra, whose winning streak as a director of warm-hearted comedies
earned him six Oscars.
CON�EN��
Cover
Welcome Page
Dedication
Essays and Features
Introduction
Author’s Note
Thanks
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MEMO��E�
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EN��NG�
Titles
Cast
Crew
Picture captions and credits
Text Credits
About this Book
About the Author
An Invitation from the Publisher
Copyright
E���Y� �N� �E����E�
NOIR FILM
THE NEW WAVE
IN THE BEGINNING
NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHING
‘DON’T NEVER LET NOBODY MAKE A MOVIE OF
YOUR LIFE’S STORY’
ALMOST...
‘I AM BIG. IT’S THE PICTURES THAT GOT
SMALL’
INCLUDE ME OUT
THE SHAKESPEARE OF HOLLYWOOD
‘I JUST WANT TO BE WONDERFUL’
ROUND UP THE USUAL SUSPECTS
AUTHOR, AUTHOR
BE FUNNY OR THEY’LL KILL YOU
IT’S ALL THERE ON THE PAGE
STARRING
‘WHEN WOMEN GO WRONG, MEN GO RIGHT AFTER
THEM’
A FONT FOR SCHMUCKS
CHEESE
‘DON’T QUIT. MAKE THEM FIRE YOU’
‘STICKS NIX HICK PIX’
BEND OVER
‘EXCESSIVE OR LUSTFUL KISSING’
KEEPING THE BRITISH END UP
AS SOON AS I GET THE REWRITE
A BODY IN THE COACH
‘YOU AIN’T HEARD NOTHIN’ YET!’
‘WHO IS KEYSER SÖZE?’
YOUR ONLY COMPETITION IS IDIOTS
A WORD TO THE WISE
‘IF MY FILMS DON’T SHOW A PROFIT, I KNOW
I’M DOING SOMETHING RIGHT’
SCRIPT DOCTORS
‘IT’S NOT ABOUT VIETNAM. IT IS VIETNAM’
FADE IN...
‘MY GOD, THE HERO IS A BEE!’
I SHALL NOT RETURN
‘SLUG IN A DITCH!’
THUMBS DOWN
THE MAN WHO SNEEZED IN LINCOLN’S NOSE
A PRODUCER’S HEART
‘YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER’
BY THE WAY, THE PRODUCER THINKS IT’S A
GREAT IDEA
THE GREATEST STORY EVER SOLD
WHERE’S ALFRED?
‘SHUT UP AND DEAL’
INCITING INCIDENTS AND PINCH POINTS
‘A DELICATE MATTER’
‘THE REST IS SILENCE’
‘TEARS IN RAIN’
TINSELTOWN
�nt��d�cti�n
Cinema: spectacle, stars and spotlights.
And, somewhere in the distant
background, the clatter of a typewriter.
This book celebrates the shimmer of the
silver screen but really pays tribute to
the men and women who dreamed up its
stories: the screenwriters.
Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and
writes a picture. They think the actors make
it up as they go along.
�c�eenw�ite� ��e Gilli� (�illia� H�lden)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
A script has to make sense, and life doesn’t.
�c�eenw�ite� Ha��y �awe� (H��ph�ey B��a�t)
The Barefoot Contessa (1954)
In the beginning — the early 1890s —
moving pictures were such a novelty that
crowds would flock just to see footage
of a train pulling into a station, a
circus performer or a man sneezing.
Before long, directors like D. W.
Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein had found
ways to shape silent scenes into epic