THE SCREEN WRITER

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] whether it was on the Bears simple stages of Shakespeare's time or here one of our own highly complicated modern sound stages the thing that motivates all these people the actors the directors and their assistants camera crews sound cruise experts and technicians is a piece of paper with work done it the play the story the scenario the script whatever you want to call it without it machines stand idle and the stage is empty waiting for the spark the translation of an idea are the pages of paper therefore once again set them in motion of all the tasks to go toward making a motion picture that of the screenwriter is the most fundamental the most basic and the lonely this author is making a plots and characters exist where nothing existed before or taking a subject written for one medium and translating it into a very different one so that using the blue friend of his script and the words of action that he and he alone has created his fellow artists and craftsmen the technicians the directors the actors and build for you the finished product of comedy sorry to dash in on you like this but we did not I don't doubt a mrs. King when I practiced my yoga I'm completely out of this world I neither see nor hear a thing I take it back mr. ready yeah and the sooner you come down the sooner we clear a minute mr. King now look here you are more melodrama [Music] in action come on get up which fill the screen of this and thousands of other theaters every day in the year while no screenwriter feels that he is Shakespeare all screenwriters try to maintain high literary standards within the framework of an industry committed to keeping pictures in those thousands of theaters and always the need is for stories and more stories to that end the studio yearly examines hundreds of thousands of books plays short stories and manuscripts in search of material suited for the screen the flood of this material is so great but the studio's rely on the services of a middleman the agent to make the first elimination of material not adaptable for screen use practically all stories are submitted to this established channel to the story editor like the age and he will call them to suit his own Studios needs and take what is left of his collection will be sent to his readers Miley Train story analysts who make a brief attention-getting synopsis and a recommendation which can be sent to one of the Studios producers if he asked the studio to buy it for him his first function will be to choose a writer whose talents and experience make him enthusiastic about the story the writer may not like the material and turn it down for producers and writers alike know that mutual enthusiasm is vital to their work if they agree these men will argue and discussed at great length before the writer begins his work sometimes it's an idea sometimes a novel time to the play the screenwriter must turn it from print into sentiment he must eliminate in terms of the production code he must condense and highlight he must make you want to see the picture the screenwriter does not necessarily stop his job when a script is finished producers directors even actors consult him on meanings and shadings of line client one way may have a totally different meaning from the same line read another way only the man who created the line knows exactly what he intended and more and more the writer is consulted and access part of the great team that finally brings the words on paper to life these screenwriters you see are authors of wide experience some were novelist playwright newspaperman some had their training directly for the screen their names are world famous or unknown but they are all trained professionals so important is he that executives of studios have asked writers to assume other duties and today we find many writers directing their own scripts for instance last weekend directed by the screenwriter [Music] family honeymoon directed by the screenwriter madre directed by the screen every girl should be married directed by the screenwriter you should get the head of the table letter to three wives directed by the screenwriter know your mom we're gonna get married thank you [Applause] and many screenwriters produce their own scripts for instance Key Largo produced by a screenwriter dick that's all no lights just a baby spot I will not let Hanson said they play the intro in the dark spot would come on The Great Gatsby produced by the screenwriter the kids like Jimmy maybe after I do my time is done [Music] yellow sky produced by the screenwriter [Music] I paid for it [Music] and all three riders are proud of the fact is from their ranks have risen the production head of 20th century Bach the production had at metro-goldwyn-mayer the president of the Motion Picture Academy all the three writer believe in the dignity and importance of screenwriting he prefers not to adapt but to create directly for the street and some of these original creations have made some of the best and most exciting pictures of the last year The Bachelor and the bobby-soxer [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh you don't believe what starts with a typewriter and a piece of paper goes out over all the world for film is the one medium which hurdles all barriers of language but whether they are motion pictures dreams in Egypt or Korea Belgium or Canada what millions of people see at its beginnings in a lonely room in the mind of a writer [Music] [Applause]