The Laurel & Hardy Movie Scripts: 20 Original Short Subject Screenplays (1926 - 1934)


Book Description

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy improvised many of the scenes for their classic comedies while the cameras were rolling, which meant that some excellent material in their scripts was lost - until now. Twenty complete, original screenplays for their short subjects are presented here for the the very first time. They include a treasure trove of unused but hilarious comedy routines. Among them is the entire script for a proposed 1926 comedy, never filmed, which would have been the comedians' first film as a team. The scripts are illustrated with 150 rare photos; many of them vividly depict the process of making the films. Introductions for each entry detail the fascinating differences between the scripts and the movies made from them. Full cast and credit information is also included. This collection of fabulous rarities is essential for any admirer of Stan and Ollie.




Laurel and Hardy


Book Description




Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy


Book Description

A biography of Laurel and Hardy describes their original teaming in the 1927 short, "Duck Soup, " their considerable innovations, and their ongoing influence.




Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect


Book Description

The only screenwriting book that includes a DVD that contains performances of the short films and screenplays that are featured in the book! The beauty and power of any story lies in its ability to connect to the reader, listener, or observer. Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect is the first screenwriting guide to introduce connection as an essential, although essentially overlooked, aspect of creating stories for the screen and of the screenwriting process itself. Written with clarity and humor, this book teaches the craft of writing short screenplays by guiding the student through carefully focused writing exercises of increasing length and complexity. Eight award-winning student screenplays are included for illustration and inspiration. The text is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on preparing to write by means of exercises designed to help students think more deeply about the screenwriter's purposes; their own unique vision, material and process; and finally about what screenplays are at their simplest and most profound level--a pattern of human change, created from specific moments of change--discoveries and decisions. Part two teaches students how to craft an effective pattern of human change. It guides them through the writing and re-writing of "Five (Not So Easy) Pieces"--five short screenplays of increasing length and complexity--focusing on a specific principle of dramatic technique: The Discovery, The Decision, The Boxing Match, The Improbable Connection, and The Long Short Screenplay. Part Three presents the five screenplays used throughout the book to illustrate the dramatic principles that have been discussed, and includes interviews with the screenwriters, a look at where they are now and what they are doing, and brief discussion of how each film evolved.




Six Screenplays


Book Description

Screenwriter Robert Riskin (1897-1955) was a towering figure even among the giants of Hollywood's Golden Age. Known for his unique blend of humor and romance, wisecracking and idealism, Riskin teamed with director Frank Capra to produce some of his most memorable films. Pat McGilligan has collected six of the best Riskin scripts: Platinum Blonde (1931), American Madness (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Lost Horizon (1937), and Meet John Doe (1941). All of them were directed by Capra, and although Capra's work has been amply chronicled and celebrated, Riskin's share in the collaboration has been overlooked since his death. McGilligan provides the "backstory" for the forgotten half of the team, indispensable counterpoint to the director's self-mythologizing autobiography--and incidentally the missing link in any study of Capra's career. Riskin's own career, although interrupted by patriotic duty and cut short by personal tragedy, produced as consistent, entertaining, thoughtful, and enduring a body of work as any Hollywood writer's. Those who know and love these vintage films will treasure these scripts. McGilligan's introduction offers new information and insights for fans, scholars, and general readers.




Faust / Red


Book Description

FAUST Jude Rawlins follows in the cinematic tradition of Fellini, Jodorowsky, Ken Russell, Derek Jarman, and Sally Potter, with one of the most acerbic literary deviations ever attempted, re-imagining Faust's little known sequel as an irreverent Medieval poetic heresy. Faust, now female, returns to the wilderness to seek Mephistopheles' help to find his lost love Margret. But when they find her, grief has made her a shadow of her former self. After ending her suffering, Faust and Mephisto travel to London, where the goddess Venus plunges them into a world of vice and debauchery, which ends in tragedy for one of them and sexual awakening for the other. Or does it? Perhaps it doesn't. Or doesn't it? RED Red is Jude Rawlins' long-gestating tribute to English artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman. The experimental film was made during the Covid-19 lockdown and consists of a complex soundtrack of music and sounds interwoven with stream-of-consciousness dialogue, set against a blank red screen. Jude describes the film is a kind of "spiritual sequel" to Derek Jarman's 1993 film Blue, a deeply immersive emotional journey. Blue was made when Jarman was terminally ill with Aids. "We all knew he didn't have long left," remembers Rawlins, "and in one conversation I tried ham-fistedly to lighten the mood by saying that he shouldn't die, he should live and make a sequel to Blue. Which he turned around on me and said that I should do it, and that as Blue was essentially a film about the pain of dying, any sequel should be called Red and be a film about the pain of living. Almost thirty years on, and I have come to understand that concept very well."




The Film Book


Book Description

Story of cinema -- How movies are made -- Movie genres -- World cinema -- A-Z directors -- Must-see movies.




Shooting Columbo


Book Description

Columbo was arguably the most popular and most unique television mystery series ever -even though, within two minutes of the titles, the audience already knew the murderer's identity. The show captivated tens of millions of viewers for 69 adventures produced over 35 years. Yet if star Peter Falk had gotten his way, it would have run far longer.Columbo was never formally canceled, just subtly killed off. Twice. Who was to blame? The temperamental lead who would rather work in movies? The budget-conscious studio, exhausted with the star's demands? Or was it the meddling television studios, searching for a younger, hipper replacement?Discover the solution in "Shooting Columbo: The Lives and Deaths of TV's Rumpled Detective." Author David Koenig takes you behind the scenes to witness the creation and making of every case, from the pilot "Prescription: Murder" (and its earlier incarnations on "The Chevy Mystery Show" and on stage) to the final special, "Columbo Likes the Nightlife."You'll discover the origins of the Lieutenant's unseen wife, the lethargic Dog, the wrinkled raincoat, the wheezing 1959 Peugeot, and "Just one more thing...." The narrative draws on scores of exclusive interviews with the show's writers, producers, directors and other creative personnel, as well as previously unpublished studio records, including scripts, memos, production reports, casting sheets, and business diaries. They will transport you to the harried story conferences, the heated confrontations, and take... after take... after take... of filming. The "shooting" of Columbo was filled with backstage intrigue and larger-than-life personalities who, through it all, created unforgettable classic television.




A Short History of Film, Third Edition


Book Description

With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.




John Huston


Book Description

Years after his death, American filmmaker John Huston (1906-1987) remains an enigmatic and compelling figure. This wide-ranging collection of new essays encompasses a variety of topics relating to Huston's lifestyle, political activities and cinematic legacy. Fresh analyses of such films as Key Largo, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, The Misfits and Prizzi's Honor are included along with insightful studies of Huston's oft-overlooked literary adaptations In This Our Life, Moby Dick and A Walk With Love and Death. Also evaluated are Huston's controversial World War II documentary Let There Be Light, and two a clef portraits of the "real" Huston in the films The Way We Were and White Hunter, Black Heart. Bookending these essays are revealing interviews with John's actress daughter Angelica Huston and film producer Wieland Schultz-Keil.




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