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Adventures in the Screen Trade Kindle Edition
No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the bestselling author of The Princess Bride, Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films . . . .into the plush offices of Hollywood producers . . ..into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and into his own professional experiences and creative thought processes in the crafting of screenplays. You get a firsthand look at why and how films get made and what elements make a good screenplay. Says columnist Liz Smith, "You'll be fascinated.."
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherGrand Central Publishing
- Publication dateJune 5, 2012
- File size4410 KB
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About the Author
William Goldman is an Academy Award-winning author of screenplays, plays, memoirs, and novels. His first novel, The Temple of Gold (1957), was followed by the script for the Broadway army comedy Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961). He went on to write the screenplays for many acclaimed films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the Presidents Men (1976), for which he won two Academy Awards. He adapted his own novels for the hit movies Marathon Man (1976) and The Princess Bride (1987).
Product details
- ASIN : B007Z7UDF8
- Publisher : Grand Central Publishing; 1st edition (June 5, 2012)
- Publication date : June 5, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 4410 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 438 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #175,334 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
William Goldman (b. 1931) is an Academy Award–winning author of screenplays, plays, memoirs, and novels. His first novel, The Temple of Gold (1957), was followed by the script for the Broadway army comedy Blood, Sweat and Stanley Poole (1961). He went on to write the screenplays for many acclaimed films, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President’s Men (1976), for which he won two Academy Awards. He adapted his own novels for the hit movies Marathon Man (1976) and The Princess Bride (1987).
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I wanted a WG book because I was watching the Directors Cut of North by Northwest, and Earnest Lehman, the screenwriter was one of the commentators. He said that Mr. Goldman put the script for the crop duster scene in his book The Adventure (sorry, I've forgotten the title). I found no such thing, but WG did write a lot about the scene.
What impressed me so much about Earnie (as another commentator called him) and, now, William Goldman, too, is that they're such sweethearts. Such truly kind and caring (about the whole human race) people. Yes, they're funny, but they're not only funny because they like being funny but also because they care, and they're smart enough to know that one of the most effective ways to scare people into being nicer, is to hit them in the funny bone.
I loved Willie's book, especially the tender, funny, frank story Da Vinci, about a young boy, his barber father, and the stranger who comes into their lives and challenges the young boy's sense of loyalty and his own true identity.
Of course it's an interesting view into what it takes to be a screen-writer and/or a creative person in general, but it's also a profoundly sweet book from a man who speaks from the heart.
This work is fascinating, but it's only about a third writing manual. It's really three books: 1) a witty and insightful skewering of Hollywood, 2) personal stories from the trenches about each of Goldman's pre 1982 films, 3) the Butch Cassidy screenplay, discussions of its strengths and weaknesses, and an adaption of a short story into a screenplay.
The skewering is caustic, hilarious, and even thirty years later, dead on. Goldman is famous for his "nobody knows anything" quote and how true it seems. His discussions of studio executives, agents, stars, and the intertwined nightmare of power is insightful bordering on clairvoyant. Most of the trends that he sees in motion in 1982 have continued and accelerated to bring us to the moderately dismal state of contemporary filmmaking (there are exceptions of course). Think both Entourage and the brilliant "The Day the Movies Died" GC article. Also, having worked with/for Universal, Sony, and Fox... well it was just all too funny and familiar.
The personal section terrified me. I hope to see Untimed make the leap to film, as it will make a great one, and it's made vividly clear in Adventures that even a major screenwriter like Goldman is but a candle in the wind before the studio gale. This is made all the more peculiar by the fact that the screenplay is the single most important ingredient that goes into a movie. Film is a highly collaborative and commercial medium, but you really can't make a good movie out of a bad script (unless you rewrite it to be a good script). You can however, make a lousy film out of a great script, or a hit film out of a bad one (Transformers anyone?).
Part three isn't a good introduction to either writing screenplays or writing, but I sure did find it useful. Goldman hammers home many of the oft-repeated (but for a reason) messages of screenwriting, particularly his emphasis on structure. He's a wonderful storyteller and his adaption example is so ridiculous, that it's impressive to watch how he makes such a trite concept almost work.
If any of these topics fascinate you, give Adventures a read. Besides, Goldman's such a good writer, he could make cereal-box copy a bestseller.
Andy Gavin, author of Untimed and The Darkening Dream
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in Mexico on May 24, 2021
I'm not a writer of any kind but the creative process intrigues and that's the reason I bought the book.
I think it makes us understand movies and the narrative choices.
The author has some strong opinions that might ruffle some feathers.