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OT: Screenwriter William Goldman Passes Away (Psycho Was His Favorite Hitchcock)

posted 6 years ago by ecarle (14979)
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I think I've quoted screenwriter William Goldman more around here than any writers other than Psycho screenwriter Joe Stefano and some other Hitchcock writers.

Goldman was one of the first "star screenwriters." He got a record $400,000 for the original screenplay of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (in 1968 dollars) and soon every male superstar in Hollywood was chasing that script(we know who caught it, don't we?)

Butch won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar and later, Goldman's screenplay for "All the President's Men" won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Just those two Oscars, but a nice pair: original and adapted, fanciful and serious. And , when you think about it, buddy movies in each case: Redford-Newman, Redford-Hoffman.

Goldman wrote other scripts. Perhaps his biggest outside of the two Oscar winners was "Marathon Man," a screenplay based on his own book, both of which had a lot of Hitchcock in it(in the novel, Goldman actually references the Psycho shower scene in setting up his famous dental drill torture scene --the Hoffman character THINKS about the shower scene while trapped in a dentist's chair)

In 1976, the year of Hitchcock's modest swan song, Family Plot, Marathon Man got much bigger stars in it -- Hoffman, Olivier, Roy Scheider(fresh off of Jaws and having turned down Family Plot)...and even William Devane FROM Family Plot(here demoted to second-lead villain.)

In 1978, the movie "Magic" was made from Goldman's own novel and screenplay. Psycho, again -- murders at an isolated EAST COAST(upstate New York) motel, committed by a ventriloquist's dummy -- or is it all in the ventriloquist's mind? (The ventriloquist was played by Anthony Hopkins 13 years before Hannibal Lecter made him famous.) Not as good as Psycho, alas.

In Goldman's seminal book on screenwriting and movies "Adventures in the Screen Trade," William Goldman extols Psycho as his favorite Hitchcock movie...except for that "horrible " (his words) psychiatrist scene at the end. I LIKE that scene, but Goldman is one of the more famous guys who spent a page or so just ripping it to pieces (and he was a screenwriter so he had expertise, yes?)

Oh, well. Everybody's entitled to an opinion. Goldman wrote BAD opinions in a magazine about LA Confidential and Saving Private Ryan...and soon disappeared from that magazine.

But back to "Adventures in the Screen Trade." When he wrote it, Goldman had those two Oscars and plenty o' money and felt that he could really tell some tales. Like how Dustin Hoffman was a massive jerk to Oliver and Scheider on the Marathon Man shoot. Like how once he became a superstar, Redford dithered and rejected roles that "his fans would not like him in."

Goldman also heaped praise on two superstars -- Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood -- who he found gracious and professional.

Goldman wrote other Hollywood insider books but "Screen Trade" is the biggie, and I recommend it. It has the famous phrase about Hollywood "Nobody knows anything" -- which I think applies to political election outcomes, too. But it has lots of nifty ideas that may have been Goldman's alone, but they are interesting. One I liked: Bogart was willing to let his supporting actors get good lines to say, but "some modern stars" would TAKE AWAY good lines from the support and have them given to them. Like I say, interesting.

Goldman also had a strong opinion about Hitchcock and the auteur theory.

He wrote that the auteur theory ruined Hitchcock. He said that Hitchcock had that incredible roll from Strangers on a Train through Psycho BEFORE the auteurists got to him, and after?:

Let's quote Goldman: "The Birds had some good shock effects. Period. And then it got really bad -- Marnie, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy, Family Plot. Awful, awful films."

Well I don't agree (Not about The Birds, and I think Frenzy goes on the masterpiece list, Marnie near there. Family Plot is great stylish fun despite signs of old age, and Torn Curtain and Topaz have very intelligent scenes and great set-pieces (Gromek dies; Juanita de Cordoba dies.)

Still, Goldman was an opinionated guy, and just to READ those remarks on Hitchcock(and Psycho) were enough to stimulate a Hitchcock fans thought processes.

Also, Goldman worked on a lot of movies , so he had a lot of "real stories." Like how the private eye movie Harper improved with a scene added to the start of Newman waking up alone sleeping in his office and making coffee from old grounds. Like how Eastwood convinced Goldman to convert a minor character who gets killed early in the book "Absolute Power" into the star of the show("Simple," said Eastwood, "Don't kill him.")

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

Goldman noted how movie stars go crazy because they fall off the Top Ten list within Ten Years(if they aren't Wayne or Eastwood.) He proved it by printing up 20 years of Top Ten Actor lists. Goldman compared the summer movies of 1962 to the summer movies of 1982 and noted that in 20 years, the movies had gone to comic book level (oh, he ain't seen nothing yet!)

Goldman noted how when he adapted A Bridge Too Far for an all-star cast in 1977, even with stars like Connery, Caan, Caine, Gould, Hackman, O'Neal et all...one of TWO stars HAD to be cast in the movie (for a ten minute scene) to get financing. Robert Redford or Steve McQueen. Both stars considered it, Redford took it.

Etc.

I'll put in plugs for three Goldman scripts here that I love:

Harper. Newman perhaps mugs too much as 60's private eye Harper, but the script is tough(from Ross MacDonald, very popular at the time), the cast is great(Janet Leigh as Newman's ex-wife), and the movie is very 1966.

I love this exchange:

Cop: I can get ugly about this, Harper!
Newman: You already ARE ugly!

The Hot Rock. A 1972 buddy movie, with Redford and George Segal(one of my favorites) as a modern day Butch and Sundance trying to steal a diamond -- FOUR SEPARATE TIMES(it keeps getting away from them and moves to a new location -- museum, prison, police station, bank.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

Misery. From 1990. Stephen King's novel about a novelist(James Caan), crippled and held prisoner in an isolated cabin by his Number One Fan(Kathy Bates.) Goldman made a brilliant couple of changes to make the movie work better: rather than staying stuck in the cabin for the whole movie, Goldman gave us a crusty sheriff(Richard Farnsworth) cross-cut in as he hunted for the missing Caan. The sheriff had been a one-scene young cop in the book, that cop was gorily killed by the Bates character. Farnsworth's character is killed quicker ..but he's so nice(with such a nice wife at home) that the impact is still very powerful. (Narrative-wise, Farnsworth is another descendant of Arbogast, killed while investigating.)

Goldman in one of his inside Hollywood books noted that about 20 actors turned down the cripple role in Misery before James Caan took it. Guys from Redford down to Willliam Hurt. Richard Dreyfuss, who turned down director Rob Reiner's "When Harry Met Sally" told Reiner: "Whatever your next movie is, I'll do it." He got the script for Misery. "I can't do it."

Goldman noted that Warren Beatty dithered over taking the role for months("I think he is still deciding now" wrote Goldman 10 years after Misery's release) but recommended one key change: don't cut off the writer's feet. Just hobble him. (Still a rough scene to watch.)

The issue, btw, seemed to be that no major Hollywood male star wanted to take such an "impotent" role. Caan needed work, had a drugs reputation, said "I will pee in a cup for you," did...got the role...and was great(such a physical man so crippled was tough to watch.)

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

One reason I really liked William Goldman:

His opposite number, an absolutely awful screenwriter named Joe Esterhasz(Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Sliver, Jade) once sent Goldman a drink at a Hollywood bar...and Goldman refused it.

Esterhasz(sp?) wrote up this incident to self-deprecate, but spent much of one entire "inside Hollywood book" (The Devil's Guide to Hollywood) ripping up each and every Goldman statement in Adventures in the Screen Trade.

Esterhasz said that while he envied Goldman his two Oscars, he, Esterhazs was rich and scored a lot of chicks. So there.

Truth be told, Esterhazs wrote one pretty good script for a movie called Jagged Edge in the 80's, but proceeded to re-write that script as Basic Instinct, Sliver(ruining Ira Levin's novel), and Jade. Showgirls was a one-off: the most unerotic X-rated movie ever made(well, NC-17.)

I once stumbled onto a movie called "Betrayed" on TV and found the dialogue so atrocious(even in the capable hands of Debra Winger) that I checked the writer: Joe Esterhasz. And it was Jagged Edge again.

The sex in Basic Instinct is pretty good, and the plot has Psycho influences(Esterhas said that when he saw Psycho in 1960 he found it the most exciting movie he ever saw in his life), but the script is pretty terrible. No matter -- Joe said it was the highest grosser of 1992. That's why he's rich. And retired in Ohio, chased out of Hollywood.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

But back to his arch nemesis, William Goldman:

Opinionated, yes he was. And not "solid gold" -- there are some stinkers on Goldman's resume. But for "making the screenwriter a superstar," Goldman is to be commended. As well for those good movies he wrote. ("I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals," "You just keep thinking, Butch. That's what you're good at.")

And definitely for all the insights of "Adventures in the Screen Trade."

William Goldman, RIP.

PS. Goldman had a one word analysis of the script of Pillow Talk beating the script of North by Northwest for the Oscar: "Barf." Well, I like Pillow Talk, but yeah, it should have been NXNW.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

Oh, hey, wait a minute:

William Goldman ALSO wrote the book and screenplay for a little number called "The Princess Bride."

"My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father...prepare to die!"

As you wish.

[–] swanstep (2715) 6 years ago

William Goldman ALSO wrote the book and screenplay for a little number called "The Princess Bride."

That's the credit that's getting the most play in TV reports. Princess Bride wasn't a mega-hit on release but it's become a super-quotable, family staple ever since - easily on a par with the biggest '80s mega-hits like Ghostbusters and Back To The Future. It now towers over Butch and Sundance and All The President's Men in popular imagination.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

William Goldman ALSO wrote the book and screenplay for a little number called "The Princess Bride."
---

That's the credit that's getting the most play in TV reports. Princess Bride wasn't a mega-hit on release but it's become a super-quotable, family staple ever since - easily on a par with the biggest '80s mega-hits like Ghostbusters and Back To The Future. It now towers over Butch and Sundance and All The President's Men in popular imagination.

---

You know, what's funny is that -- because I didn't look up Goldman's imdb credits and worked "from memory" on the two Oscar movies and "my favorites" of Goldman's...The Princess Bride at first slipped my mind.

That's why I added it in as a last post.

And of course that IS the movie everybody remembers, particularly the children of the 80s grown older today(though the movie had wit for adults.)

I can't say that I personally hold The Princess Bride in higher esteem than Butch or President's Men or even Marathon Man(very flawed at the end, but a great thriller getting there.) Or Harper. But I get it -- The Princess Bride is now Goldman's legacy -- or at the top of the list.

[–] ecarle (14979) 6 years ago

A little more "Psycho" crossover on William Goldman:

In some of his books, Goldman shares screenwriting tips as well as insider gossip.

One of his tips: "Always start your scene as late in the scene as possible." Goldman was saying, get rid of too much "set up," get to the gist of the scene, keep it tight, etc.

Which is probably what drove him nuts about the psychiatrist scene in Psycho. Except: I've always found the "flow" of the scene to require ALL of the dialogue. The shrink(sorry, short cut there, no offense) has to move from telling Sam and Lila that Marion is dead(the private investigator too) to discussing Norman's past, to discussing how/why Norman killed Marion, to describing how his psychosis "works" to , discussing Norman's future(He'll be mother..."probably for all time.")

But when Van Sant remade Psycho in 1998, he followed Goldman's rule("Start as late in the scene as possible") with the scene where Sam and Lila visit Sheriff Chambers in the middle of the night.

In the Hitchocck original, Sam introduces Lila to the Chamberses, and talks about Arbogast helping, sets things up. In the Van Sant, all of that is cut off and we jump to the sheriff asking questions. Starting as late in the scene as possible. I guess it works better. Though seeing Sam "acclimate" the sheriff to Lila and the facts feels more "real."