The best screenplay ever? It’s Casablanca, say the professionals at the Writers Guild, who’ve just released their list of the 101 best screenplays ever written. (It’s available here as a .pdf file.) Also in the top five: The Godfather, Chinatown, Citizen Kane, and All About Eve.
The biases of the list seem inherent; the movies cited are very masculine (where’s something like Heathers or Clueless? And why are only six women writers represented?), very dialogue-driven (though I do think Pulp Fiction, pictured, should be higher on the list than #16), very American (only six films made abroad are on the list) and very recent (there are 39 films since 1980 and only 30 made before 1960).
Help the Guild out by telling them what they missed. Which screenplay really "spoke to you"?
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CLUELESS?!?!?! On the best screenplay list?!?!?
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!……….*breathe*…..BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thanks I needed a good laugh.
Where the F is Ikiru????????
The movies are very masculine because, like it or not, that’s the way most of our greatest films are.
Think of your top 10 movies of all time and I’d say just about everyone’s is going to 3/4’s, if not all, masculine type movies.
I’ve always thought screenplays that were original, and had an impact on movies over the next few years were always “the best.” Having said that, I’m all about “Se7en.”
Kudos to Charlie Kaufman on getting on the list numerous times!
Anyone else feel like Woody Allen is way overrated? And “Do the Right Thing” is so high on the list? That was much better than some of these other movies. And “Star Wars” is on the list for a screenplay? Don’t get me wrong, I am a geek and all, but the dialogue is a bit wooden…
I agree, “Heathers” should be on there (not just because of my name or anything)…maybe not “Clueless” even though I am a fan but what about something like “Magnolia” which was rich in it’s stories and content or “Reservoir Dogs”. Can a cartoon get into the list? If so, what about “The Incredibles?” God, I could go on forever…
It’s like that just picked 101 of the most popular movies of the past 50 years, along with some underrated classics, and then arbitrarily placed them on the list. The complex”Hannah and Her Sisters” is in the 90s, while the simpler “Annie Hall,” a film shot with a screenplay much different than the movie we ended up with, is in the top ten.
Goes to show all these lists are crap.
I agree that Magnolia should be up there, and where’s the Emma Thompson love? Her Oscar winning work adapting Sense & Sensibility is truly amazing – it’s not easy to make Jane Austen flow so well on screen. In the same category, I think 1999’s Mansfield Park is an amazing piece of adaptation, considering the book is dry, tediious and has a spineless heroine at its center, but the film is stylish, witty and engaging.
On the indie front, one of my favorite screenplays is for Roger Dodger, which is a real dialogue-based film with some really memorable lines and characters. I would also have loved to have seen something by German director Tom Tykwer, such as Run Lola Run or The Princess and the Warrior (both of which he wrote, too). Or Head On by Faith Akin or Goodbye Lenin, as well.
I would have loved some more adaptation love, really. Bridget Jones’s Diary, About a Boy and The Joy Luck Club are some of my favorites, especially since in the case of the latter two, I prefer the movies! David Hare’s work on The Hours is also commendable (esp. since it’s just like his play/movie Plenty, and better than the book IMHO), and Lee Hall’s work on Billy Elliot is similarly notable.
How about Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker’s Airplane? Or Steven Gaghan’s Traffic?
I think Susannah Grant’s screenplay for Erin Brockovich deserves as much credit as Julia Roberts for the success of that film.
Also, I’d guess that a lot of the in The Birdcage was improvised, but Elaine May’s screenplay was a big part of that movie’s brilliance. The dialouge is hilarious.
What? No “Snakes on a Plane”?!?
Good call about Sense and Sensibility! Emma Thompson’s script was fantastic! It was tight, snappy, it moved well, it had so much depth… she even improved upon the novel! Definitely the most glaring omission from this list.
And I would also put Bridget Jones’ Diary up there as well, along with Amelie and LOTR: Return of the King. And sorry “The Other Kyle”, but I think tight, clever, hilarious movies like “Clueless”, “Airplane”, and “Young Frankenstein” most definitely deserve to be there.
And why aren’t “Amadeus” and “The Princess Bride” higher on the list?? Surely both of those movie are better than “American Beauty”…
My Top Ten Choices Choices:
10. “Thirteen Monkeys” – A gritty look into the mind and the possibility of time travel. Succeeded for me where list-making “Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” failed in creating the melding worlds of the mind as seen by the main character.
9. “Clueless” is a nice surprise, but I think Emma Thompson’s more direct approach to Jane Austen should be recognized for “Sense and Sensability”.
So for me, they both are tied.
8. “The Godfather” 1 & 2 tied together because to me, like “Lord of the Rings,” it’s all one story.
7. “Schindler’s List” – as powerful as the final product itself.
6. “Lord of the Rings” – all three films because it survived the scorn it COULD HAVE received if it failed in translating Tolkein’s beautiful words.
5. “Kill Bill” both volumes – while “Pulp Fiction” made the list because it’s been around longer than The Bride’s mission, I choose this one because it expanded beautifully on the writing concepts for “Pulp Fiction”. The only difference is, with “Kill Bill,” we actually are given characters that we love (even when we were hating them) and dialogue as epic as any movie genre they were playing homage to.
I feel my remaining top choices speak for themeselves.
4. “Casablanca”
3. “To Kill a Mockingbird”
2. “All About Eve”
1.”American Beauty” – okay, ecxept for this one. I chose this one because Alan Ball is a genius. Taking the distorted ideal that is The American Dream and ripping it to shreds, he makes the perfect family that we all aspire to be, but know we shouldn’t. The first script I’ve ever read and still a favorite. I read this before actually seeing the movie and it was a monumental moment for me that told me I wanted to be a screenwriter.
Laura-
Sure Airplane and Young Frankenstein were genius. Comedies are tough to categorize in a “best of” list. But I’ll give you those.
But Clueless? Really?
Come on PopWatchers, you’re better than this.
I’ve always loved Ron Shelton’s screenplay for “Bull Durham.” And where is Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s “A Room With A View”?
Where is Sofia’s Lost in Translation? It is simple, elegant, and shockingly real. Nice to see Eternal Sunshine… in the top 30. Also, clueless was one of the best screenplays of the 90’s. They don’t all have to be “oscar-winners”!
Good Will Hunting.
As Good As It Gets and Erin Brockovich demonstrate how structure, story and emotion can come together to make strong films.
Hands down, bar none, Pulp Fiction is the best screenplay every written. Godfather the second best, but even then it can’t touch Pulp Fiction.
Very recent? 30 before 1960 means that its about 8 or 9 movies per decade before 1960, 31 through the 60’s which would be about 15 movies a decade, and then after 1980 that would mean about 12 per decade, so i would think that all the movies are very spread out.
Magnolia…Boogie Nights…PT Anderson deserves his due
1.Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
2.The Matrix.
3.Crash.
4.She Hate Me
I think you mean Twelve Monkeys — yeah, that would be a nice one to put on the list. I was happy to see Eternal, It’s A Wonderful Life, and The Lion in Winter on there. Here’s a question: best written television shows ever?
I agree with dmac. P.T. Anderson should have been on there for Magnolia. I think he is the best writer working today.
Seeing a John Hughes script would of been quite nice. As for foreign films, what about Spirited Away?
I don’t have an argument about any of the other screenplays cited, but I absolutely admire what Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale did with “Back to the Future.” It’s an airtight storyline that put some new wrinkles in the time-travel genre.
Plus ya gotta love the concept of a DeLorean as a time machine!!!!
Actually, I thought the Writer’s Guild choices were pitch-perfect. I was glad to see 3 great Woody Allen Movies (Annie Hall, Manhatten, and Hannah and Her Sisters), made the list, and so did three excellent Charlie Kaufman films (ESOTSM, Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation). Something about Adaptation being the last Kaufman film on the list is wrong. It should at least outrank Being John Malokovich.
Ah, I’m such a dork…
CORRECTION for my list:
“Twelve Monkeys”….sorry, I was watching “Thirteen Ghosts” as I was writing my list out….brain meld. LOL.
Preston Sturges can’t crack the top 25? Not a serious list. . . .
I’m SO glad to see The Usual Suspects make the list, as well as Eternal Sunshine. Although I think that Grosse Pointe Blank should have made the list. Granted, it’s not what critics usually go for, but I thought it was such a clever and funny movie. I also think that Shawshank Redemption should have been higher up on the list, due to it being adapted from a short story.