Best Screenplay 1957

[The Original BJ]

I find the Original Screenplay candidates a pretty grisly lot, luckily redeemed by one very strong nominee.

I'm not sure which of the field is the worst, but the one that probably disappointed me most vis a vis expectations is Funny Face. I think by the time I got to it, I had just seen way too many Gershwin jukebox musicals, on both screen and stage, and I thought the whole thing just came off like a poor man's American in Paris. And I agree its treatment of the counterculture is pretty groan-worthy -- Audrey wants to meet the beat leader to talk ideas, but he just wants her for SEX! Despite liking a lot of people involved in it, I found it rather tedious.

Designing Woman is a pretty lousy winner, and time has only made the movie seem more dated. In fact, viewed today, its premise essentially amounts to: Peck marries Bacall on vacation, then gets home and finds out SHE has a JOB! I thought the story went virtually nowhere, found the laughs few and far between, and thought the ending -- in which the choreographer takes out the mob by high-kicking his way into their faces! -- was completely ridiculous. I didn't even think the Minnelli touch really redeemed it in any way.

Mister Tee hits the major problem with Man of a Thousand Faces right on the head. The Old Hollywood scenes -- which depict what made Chaney such a notable early screen star -- are watchable enough in a cheesy showbiz biopic sort of way. But why oh why do these comprise so little of the movie? Instead, the bulk of the narrative focuses on pretty mundane marital/familial conflict between Chaney and his wife, and later his son, and I thought all of this played as exceedingly generic. As with so many lame biographies, I'd have to say that just because someone was a notable person, doesn't mean they led an interesting life.

In this context, The Tin Star isn't such a terrible nominee -- it's more watchable than most of the slate, and doesn't actively insult the viewer's intelligence. But I don't find it any notable piece of screenwriting either -- the narrative comes across as pretty standard western fare to me, and the dialogue doesn't have any unique spark to it. One of the limitations of the auteur theory can be that certain films get elevated for having notable directors at the helm -- and I do think Anthony Mann makes the film look and feel more special than it might have -- but we're judging scripts here, and I don't think this is any more than an average piece of screenwriting.

However, Americans can be very predictable too, and I cast my vote for I Vitelloni without any hesitation. Although the movie is less Felliniesque than pretty much everything the director made after it, you can still pretty clearly see those elements starting to congeal, superficially during the carnival sequence, and subtextually in its story of young men coming of age in small-town Italy. (In many ways, the film plays like a more neo-realist cousin to Amarcord.) It's full of great character details, a lot of brash humor, and moments of great emotional poignancy. And even though its storyline feels loose and episodic at times, it's deceptively well-structured, so that little details (like Moraldo being the last one longingly watching Fausto's honeymoon train, or even the way Moraldo pricks up his ears when he hears a train whistle), help set up the film's conclusion. This is a very fine film about the ways in which the dreams of childhood give way to the realities of adulthood, and my clear choice as Best Original Screenplay.

[ITALIANO]

I must admit that I was relieved when I checked this year's Original slate and I realized that, for once, I wouldn't have to vote for an Italian movie (I was really becoming too predictable). Ok, the reason is that I can't vote at all - I saw Tin Star when I was a child, and I dont remember anything about it. Designing Woman, the winner, isn't a bad comedy, and Vincente Minnelli's touch is there and one can feel it. But let's face it - even in the 50s - there were better, and better written, American comedies which were never even nominated. It's still, I think, more deserving than Funny Face - though maybe not more deserving than Man of a Thousand Faces, which I loved when I saw it decades ago - yes, I have now reached an age where I saw movies "decades ago" - but should see again. James Cagney was great in it, this I'm quite sure of. There IS a great script here, and it's a bitter, affecting portrayal of wasted Italian young lives... but I won't be predictable and will stop here...

In Adapted, 12 Angry Men is objectively a VERY well written movie. But while I never saw the teleplay it is based on, it's quite possible that not many changes were made for the film version. It's a pity that I can't vote for it just for this reason, because I really think that it's a very good piece of writing, better than even Bridge on the River Kwai - which I ended up voting for.

[Mister Tee]

IMDB has a weirdly ambiguous credit on A Face in the Crowd, with Schulberg indicated as sole writer and “(story)” after his name – not “story and screenplay”, or “based on story by”. So I, like Magilla, thought of it as an original. There’s also ambiguity around Sweet Smell of Success, which, I know, credits Lehman with a "novella", but, as far as I know, that novella was written as part of the development of the film, which would make it akin to Segal's Love Story, an “original” by AMPAS ruling. It’s all moot, of course, since neither film was listed anywhere, which is ridiculous, as both – along with Paths of Glory -- deserve notice over many actual nominees.

In this, the first year of two screenplay categories, voters set the tone for what was to follow in the next decade or two: adaptation was stocked with best picture nominees, while original populated itself with lightweight entertainments and one or two genuinely impressive foreign-language entries, which almost inevitably lost.

It's hard to pick the worst of the originals, but I settle finally on Man of a Thousand Faces. Bad enough it falls into the category of "true story, but not based on a book, so we'll pretend it's original"; the problem beyond that is, it's not even an interesting true story. Most of the showbiz biopics of the era stuck to people who died early of some exotic disease, or struggled with some kind of substance abuse; the fact that Chaney had deaf parents and died from lung cancer feels like second-tier tragedy for this genre. Also, while it’s been a while since I saw this, my recollection is that, by the end of the film, Chaney came across as kind of a shit, and the last half hour was kind of depressing without any special insight.

Funny Face is a decent enough minor musical – any movie featuring Gershwin and Kay Thompson isn't totally without virtue. But the hopelessly square view of existentialism and the beats – roughly, "we don't understand it, so we'll act like it's just stupid and phoney" – makes much of it a musty artifact.

Designing Woman is another of those fluffy comedies singled out by screenwriters that make one wonder, did people really find this all that funny back then? I don't dislike the film on the Day/Hudson level, but it's utterly undistinguished.

In this company, The Tin Star comes off looking halfway decent. As I've long acknowledged, Westerns aren't my thing, and this one doesn't re-invent the wheel in any way, but it's a respectable narrative that isn't painful to sit through.

But all the rest pale when stacked up next to I Vitteloni, a wonderfully observant serio-comedy about young men getting to adulthood by age but mostly without maturity. This is an anomalous film in Fellini's oeuvre: there's no visual flamboyance or circus flair. The film more resembles a cross between Rossellini of the late 40s and the Germi-ish comedies of the 60s. The characters are all vivid and credible, and the film strikes a wonderfully rueful tone about life's inevitable compromises. Easily the best of this group.

BJ stole my thunder by highlighting my first reaction to the adapted slate: of all the best picture nominees, how in god's name could Witness for the Prosecution be the one deleted? I'd rather watch it multiple times than, certainly, Sayonara or Peyton Place ever again. It's got a twist so startling it was The Usual Suspects of its day, but, even once you know the trick, the crackling dialogue and actorly interplay make it a pleasure to watch again (I first saw it literally 50 years ago, but I've sat through it again frequently over the years). Maybe there's some "but it was already a play" angst, but, as I understand it, the Lanchester character was created for the film, so even that doesn't fly. In any event, it should be here, along with the aforementioned Paths of Glory, and, if it's not original, Sweet Smell of Success.

I'm with BJ on Peyton Place. For me, it's one of the best picture nominees of the 50s I find most excruciating –and the others (The Robe, Three Coins in a Fountain, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing) were at least omitted by the writers. Even though my childhood took place in the 50s, even I can't quite transport myself back to the mind-set where stuff like this was considered scandalous. It’s a pretty long movie, with no thematic resonance; I’m surprised the writers were taken in by such a soap opera.

Sayonara isn't quite bad enough to fall into that "awful nominees of the 50s" slot, but it’s no kiss for Christmas, either. The film is obviously well-intentioned – Michener was if nothing else racially progressive – but in the end Japan is given the “inscrutable East” treatment common to Hollwood films of the time, and the story often resorts to melodrama. I wouldn’t scream if I had to watch this again, but I wouldn’t celebrate, either.

Heaven Knows Mr. Allison has John Huston at the helm, two wonderful actors, and it’s not an unpleasant two hours. But I could never escape the nagging feeling this was the bus-and-truck version of The African Queen – roughneck and prim virgin team up to survive nature and wartime. I can’t believe Huston wasn’t aware he was repeating himself.

12 Angry Men has endured rather remarkably in the culture – even inspiring the wonderful Amy Schumer episode this season. Not many crackerjack-constructed, well-made plays hold up as well. Nonetheless, I'm a bit surprised it's actually winning this poll, because, though I find it enjoyable, it's always seemed to me a fairly minor piece – something that came from TV and felt like it belonged there. It’s hermetically-sealed quality both distinguishes and limits it.

I just think Bridge on the River Kwai is easily the far stronger film -- maybe the strongest bordering-on-epic film made in the entire period – and its screenplay is emphatically part of its quality. Most Hollywood films dealing with WWII had been unmistakably heroic, but this one challenged that notion –the Guinness character’s quest to build the bridge, and Jack Hawkins’ ruthlessness to destroy it, both seemed to derive from a willful blindness that bordered on madness. That’s pretty heady stuff for what might have just been an adventure film. And, simply on a plot level, the film works beautifully – Holden’s escape and journey back to the camp providing a structure around which the Guinness/Hayakawa conflict can play out. My hands-down choice in the category. (And, can we take Pierre Boulle’s name off the poll? I realize, the actual Oscar had his name on it, but I think it’s well established that the man didn’t speak a word of English, that his contribution to the film ended when his book went to print, and Wilson/Foreman are responsible for every bit of the screenplay.)

[Kellens101]

Ugh! Why did they ignore Witness, Paths of Glory, Sweet Smell of Success and A Face in the Crowd for....Peyton Place and Sayonara???!!!! Those Academy members sure knew how to get things wrong most of the time!

[Big Magilla]

You're right. Oddly, I couldn't find anything under Schulberg on IMDb. or Wikipedia to indicate this but then I googled Arkansas Traveler and it brought up the Wikipedia entry on A Face in the Crowd which referenced the source material.

[The Original BJ]

Budd Schulberg wrote the story (or treatment) and screenplay for A Face in the Crowd which was an original work. It was not a screenplay based on a previously published story which would make it an adaptation.

I don't necessarily know the particulars of eligibility in 1957, but I'm looking at a biography of Schulberg that says the film is based on his short story called "Your Arkansas Traveler," published in his 1953 collection of short stories, Some Faces in the Crowd.

[Precious Doll]

Original: A reasonably good line up but nothing worthy voting here.
Adapted: Peyton Place just ahead of 12 Angry Men.

Omissions: Paths of Glory, Sweet Smell of Success, 3:10 to Yuma, The Strange One, A Face in the Crowd, and of course Witness for the Prosecution.

[Big Magilla]

I don't know how I could forget Witness for the Prosecution, but had it been in the mix it would be an easy choice. Billy Wilder and company expounded on Agatha Christie's play, adding most of the humor including Elsa Lanchester's entire part.

Budd Schulberg wrote the story (or treatment) and screenplay for A Face in the Crowd which was an original work. It was not a screenplay based on a previously published story which would make it an adaptation.

[The Original BJ]

On the Adapted side, the writers ignored a lot of candidates you'd think they'd have liked. Of the Best Picture nominees, it's strange that Witness for the Prosecution was the only one omitted here -- not only is it one of the better Best Picture nominees, but Wilder opens up the play in interesting enough ways to help me overcome my usual misgivings about recognizing stage transfers. And then there were some films Oscar passed on entirely -- Sweet Smell of Success, Paths of Glory, A Face in the Crowd (isn't it adapted from a short story?) -- that it seems like at least the writers might have nominated.

Peyton Place is truly a dreadful writing nominee. My tolerance for '50's melodrama is higher than some -- I'm not opposed to heightened levels of emotion in storytelling on principle -- but Peyton Place is just so ridiculous, a pile-up of soapy "scandalous" plot developments that are just impossible to take seriously in virtually any way. It's not even very much fun as a goof.

Sayonara is definitely better -- the romantic melodrama there doesn't tip into the laughable the way Peyton Place's does. But it's also pretty tame interracial romance fare, touting its big issue on its sleeve but not really delving into the complexities of it too deeply. It's also really LONG, and paced pretty sluggishly, so despite a handful of genuinely moving moments, it's hard to get too excited about it.

I found Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison respectable enough; I could easily imagine a much sillier version of this story, and I think the John Huston of it all likely prevented it from tipping too much in that direction. But it's still a really thin plot line at heart, essentially not much more than a straightforward adventure tale. If a Deborah Kerr romance was to be cited for writing, An Affair to Remember seems a far stronger candidate.

I think 12 Angry Men is a terrifically gripping play, and this is a very successful, well-acted film version of it. But I'm surprised it's gotten so many votes here. Isn't this pretty much the quintessential case of taking a one-room stage play and filming it? I'm not debating the underlying quality of the material -- it's a very compelling legal drama about the ways in which people allow prejudice to blind them to facts -- but as screenwriting it feels like it only barely even counts.

Luckily, there is one nominee that I'm perfectly happy to select as the winner. The Bridge on the River Kwai isn't necessarily the kind of movie that I'd usually vote for under screenplay, but the fact that it's surprisingly literate for an epic makes it the obvious choice nonetheless. The script moves along quite briskly, keeping its numerous story threads suspenseful throughout, and finding unusual insight along the way -- Guinness's character in particular, is quite complex, possessing an almost pathological desire to accomplish anything before he dies that he's willing to overcome misgivings about building a bridge to help the enemy. This is pretty psychologically compelling stuff, for a genre that often relies solely on spectacle. And the ending is really a triumph -- surprising, cynical, and open to plenty of interpretation about why the characters make the decisions they do. This year, the Academy made the right call.

[Big Magilla]

Original

The year's two best original screenplays IMO were A Face in the Crowd and Edge of the City, both of which were ignored.

Of the actual nominees Fellini's I Vitelloni and Dudley Nichols' The Tin Star were the best.

Man of a Thousand Faces was a good but standard biography. Funny Face was a clever comedy in support of Gershwin's music. The winner, Designing Woman was Tracy-Hepburn lite with substitutes Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall. My vote goes to The Tin Star.

Adapted

I'd replace the lukewarm Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison and the meandering Sayonara with Fear Strikes Out and The Incredible Shrinking Man.

Peyton Place may not have been an example of great writing but it succeeded in doing what it was supposed to do - clean up a notoriously salacious bestseller enough to get by the Hays office without destroying too much of what was on the page.

Twelve Angry Men wasn't so much an adaptation as an expansion by Reginald Rose of his successful teleplay.

My vote goes to the Oscar winner, The Bridge on the River Kwai.

[Kellens101]

What were the best screenplays of 1957?