Best Screenplay 1950

1927/28 through 1997
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What were the best original and adapted screenplays of 1950?

Adam's Rib (Ruth Gordon, Garson Kanin)
2
6%
Caged (Virgnia Kellogg, Bernard C. Schoenfeld)
1
3%
The Men (Carl Foreman)
0
No votes
No Way Out (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Lesser Samuels)
0
No votes
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, D.M. Marshman, Jr.)
14
40%
All About Eve (Jospeh L. Mankiewicz)
16
46%
The Asphalt Jungle (Ben Maddow, John Huston)
2
6%
Born Yesterday (Albert Mannheimer)
0
No votes
Broken Arrow (Albert Maltz)
0
No votes
Father of the Bride (Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett)
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 35

Heksagon
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by Heksagon »

I can only vote in Adapted, and it's an easy choice with All About Eve, one of my personal favorites.

It is similarly easy to say that the runner-up would be the splendid The Asphalt Jungle. Born Yesterday and Father of the Bride are both entertaining comedies, but echoing others in here, I agree they severely lack depth.

Broken Arrow was one of the first films to portray Indians positively and it's easy to see that its message of reconciliation and peaceful dialogue had a lot of appeal during the political climate of the era. Unfortunately, the film has aged terribly, and while I wouldn't call it a bad movie, it feels like anything but innovative these days.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by The Original BJ »

On the original side, The Third Man is a truly glaring omission. Given its other nominations, you'd think it would have placed over the token screenplay-only nominees in this category -- and in quality terms, it's vastly superior to all but one of the actual nominees.

The Men is an earnest piece of work that doesn't tip into the grossly sentimental -- it feels like a pretty honest depiction of postwar life for those who returned physically (and mentally) damaged. But it just doesn't have much invention in the plot or dialogue department to really excite me.

I guess Caged gets by on the "it's not boring" principle, though that's obviously a negative virtue -- the whole thing feels like it's just on the verge of tipping into the ludicrous at all times. (Some would no doubt say it starts there.) I found it interesting enough as a time capsule piece -- you can see the clear through-line from the archetypes presented here to the more fully human characters we see today on Orange is the New Black -- but the script genuinely feels all over the place.

I'm with Mister Tee in finding Tracy & Hepburn an appealing pairing without ever really being wowed by any of their movies together. I think Adam's Rib is funny enough -- it's got a decently amusing premise, and some witty dialogue -- but I wouldn't call it a laugh riot and ultimately it doesn't amount to much more than a flimsy diversion.

No Way Out shares the limitations of many films about racial prejudice from this era, mainly the fact that Widmark's character is a sniveling racist and Poitier's must act close to saintly in order for the film to get its point across. That said, I found that the narrative went in some interesting directions, and the other white characters presented a decently compelling range of attitudes toward Poitier's character that makes the film feel less heavy-handed than it might have. Of course, it's pretty clearly the second tier Mankiewicz effort this year.

And Sunset Boulevard has to be a candidate for greatest screenplay ever, so it's my landslide choice here. The dialogue is flat brilliant, from the lines which have entered into legend ("I AM big..." and "I'm ready for my closeup now") to the less quoted ones that nonetheless pierce with Wilder's trademark cynicism (Norma: "She read De Mille's horoscope, she read mine!" / Joe: "Did she read the script?") Norma and Joe are two beautifully crafted protagonists, but the supporting players -- the once-great filmmaker whose own career fade leads him to a life propping up another long-faded star, the wide-eyed script editor who's simultaneously more naive and more knowing about the industry than anyone else in the movie -- are richly drawn as well, and parallel the leads in fascinating ways. And the narrative is full of great details, from the opening narration from a dead man (copied by countless films in the decades since), to the hilariously perverse monkey funeral, to Norma's haunting final walk down the stairs. This is as close to perfect a piece of screenwriting as Hollywood has ever produced, and a thoroughly deserving winner.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by The Original BJ »

This year provides about as easy a pair of votes as ever in this game.

The Adapted lineup is mostly solid, though. I would rank In a Lonely Place the strongest of the excluded efforts, with Kind Hearts and Coronets also very worthy as well.

As others have said, Broken Arrow surely must have seemed more notable in its day simply for offering a more humanized portrait of Native Americans than Hollywood cinema had allowed up to that point. Seen today, when such sensitivity feels like it should be a given, the actual story just doesn't feel terribly exciting. It's the one nominee here that really feels like it just doesn't hold up as a writing candidate.

Born Yesterday definitely has its laughs, and Holliday's Billie Dawn has a sweetness to her that makes the material pretty endearing all these years later. But, of course, it has the filmed play issue that prevents me from choosing many stage adaptations for screenplay prizes, and is ultimately rather lightweight.

Father of the Bride isn't really any great shakes in the plot department -- its narrative is actually on the thin side. But Spencer Tracy's voiceover provides a pretty wonderful showcase for some amusing and insightful writing, and buoys the movie along in a perfectly amiable manner. It's another rather lightweight movie, but a totally enjoyable one.

The Asphalt Jungle isn't really a groundbreaking crime drama, but it's still a very solid entry in that genre, with a strong narrative (centered around one of the best heist sequences put to film), a stable full of compelling characters, and a lot of smart, cynical dialogue ("Crime is only a left-handed form of human endeavor" is the kind of line no one would say in real life, but you love to hear in the movies.) Certainly a strong nominee.

But this category is all about All About Eve. A couple weeks ago on John August & Craig Mazin's Scriptnotes podcast (which has more appeal to industry insiders than cineastes, though Sabin, I believe you're also a listener?) they discussed the movie as mostly an impressive relic, arguing that what Eve accomplished has been topped by many films perfecting that same template to a greater degree over the years. I couldn't disagree more -- I think few films, from 1950 or since, have shown the level of dazzling wit this one does with virtually every line. Look at how many pieces of dialogue have entered the vernacular -- "Fasten your seatbelts," of course, but also "Everything but the bloodhounds snapping at her rear end," "You can always put that award where your heart ought to be," "A milkshake," "He's thirty-two, he looked it five years ago, he'll look it twenty years from now," and on and on. That the script is also is bursting with complex characters...that it also feels so freshly plotted despite inspiring countless imitators over the last half-century...that it remains a powerful piece of drama as it is a witty piece of comedy...just makes it easier to choose. Best Adapted Screenplay of this -- and almost any other -- year.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by Big Magilla »

Mister Tee wrote:As usual, I can’t be sure of release dates, and I certainly have no way of telling what constitutes adapted and original under this “it’s adapted if one person came up with the story while another wrote the dialogue” system (which sounds vaguely like the goofus definition Ryan Gosling offered in his Oscar night patter with Crowe). However…some scripts I think merited consideration above some of the nominees: The Third Man – which is, yes, brilliantly directed, but also splendidly plotted, and filled with sharp dialogue, from Trevor Howard’s crisp intro voiceover through the famous cuckoo clock speech; two of the rare Alec Guinness vehicles that DIDN’T get writers’ citations, Last Holiday and Kind Hearts and Coronets (the second of which of course recently spawned a Tony-winning musical); the adaptation of Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy; Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place (which has separate writers for story/adaptation/screenplay, whatever THAT means); and the Lady Vanishes-like So Long at the Fair.
Good choices all, but So Long at the Fair was 1951 in the U.S.

The Third Man is an original screenplay. Graham Greene later adapted his screenplay into a novella which was released at the same time but the screenplay came first. Last Holiday is also an original. The Winslow Boy and Kind Hearts and Coronets were adaptations.

That's Carol Reed, not Trevor Howard, doing the opening narration on the British release version which was replaced by Joseph Cotten's shortened narration on the American release version by producer David O. Selznick and not known to Oscar voters at the time. Welles' line about the cuckoo clock was improvised by the actor, taken from an 1885 lecture by the painter Whistler.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by Mister Tee »

As usual, I can’t be sure of release dates, and I certainly have no way of telling what constitutes adapted and original under this “it’s adapted if one person came up with the story while another wrote the dialogue” system (which sounds vaguely like the goofus definition Ryan Gosling offered in his Oscar night patter with Crowe). However…some scripts I think merited consideration above some of the nominees: The Third Man – which is, yes, brilliantly directed, but also splendidly plotted, and filled with sharp dialogue, from Trevor Howard’s crisp intro voiceover through the famous cuckoo clock speech; two of the rare Alec Guinness vehicles that DIDN’T get writers’ citations, Last Holiday and Kind Hearts and Coronets (the second of which of course recently spawned a Tony-winning musical); the adaptation of Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy; Nicholas Ray’s In a Lonely Place (which has separate writers for story/adaptation/screenplay, whatever THAT means); and the Lady Vanishes-like So Long at the Fair.

Of the actual nominees, to start with adapted:

Broken Arrow presumably got a ton of credit in its day simply for taking a mildly revisionist stance on what till then in American film had been wholesale endorsement of the Native American slaughter. It’s not a bad movie or anything, but, like many films that got credit for similar reexamination of issues, it looks more and more wan the further you get from the time when the early absurd position was widely held.

Born Yesterday has its fun elements, largely provided by Holliday. But it was never very deep, and it loses a lot of its snap as Holliday becomes “smarter” – the embarrassing fact is, Billie as dumb broad is a lot more entertaining than the improved version. Also, the film feels a bit tired…like a play that’s been running so long that the actors are by now just running through the motions.

I have a great deal more affection for Father of the Bride, even though I couldn’t defend it as any kind of great comedy. It may come down to how much you enjoy Spencer Tracy in wry/exasperated mode, as the movie offers him pretty much a 90-minute showcase for it. I’ve see the movie MANY times over the years, and I still enjoy watching much of it, so, though I wouldn’t dream of voting for it, I have no issue with its nomination.

It’s pained me, both here and under director, to have to pass over The Asphalt Jungle, because I like the movie to a very great degree, and would love to be able to note it somewhere. It’s the cream of the heist genre – only Rififi offers any real competition – and it’s peopled with wonderful characters and crackerjack dialogue. I heartily endorse/recommend the film. But it picked the wrong year in which to appear. (Put it in 1952 and I’ll vote for it across the board.)

Of course I can’t not vote for All About Eve here, for its conceptually inspired structure, its panoply of strong characters, and enough quotable lines for half a dozen movies – some hilarious, others biting, and yet others with the sting of insight. A great screenplay all around -- and, based on the excerpts I’ve read from the source material, a good amount of it (especially the great level of wit) is Mankiewicz’s contribution. He ended up with a shelf-ful of Oscars, some of which I’m not convinced he deserved. But this one was no contest.

I don’t have much enthusiasm for most of the original slate.

I’m pretty surprised to see a vote going to Caged, since it’s a movie – indeed, a genre -- I can’t take remotely seriously. The movie doesn’t descend to parody level, the way many of its imitators did, but it’s nothing to consider for a writing award.

The Men is perfectly nice – and demonstrated that Brando could play “normal”, not just the outsized rebels his early roles called for. Like much of Fred Zinnemann’s work, the film is craftsmanlike and intelligent, and feels genuine. But it doesn’t have much narrative spark; it’s a sensitive movie on a delicate issue, with all the limitations that description suggests.

I don’t know that I ever truly loved any of the Tracey/Hepburn movies – I enjoyed some of their interplay, but never thought the stories offered much more than vehicles for the pair. Adam’s Rib is kind of medium range among their films – Judy Holliday and Tom Ewell provide some fun along the way (on the other hand, David Wayne is pretty insufferable throughout). But the whole thing’s just a trifle.

At a certain point early in No Way Out, I found myself thinking, Oh, maybe Sidney Poitier’s race won’t play a role in the film…followed immediately by, No, dummkopf, this is 1950; the only reason to cast Sidney is because they need the doctor to be black. And, to make the plot work, they’d then need Widmark to be a stone racist. Which gets back to what I said under Broken Arrow: this film is probably one of the better of the early racial dramas, but it still deals with the issue in what are (by contemporary standards) pretty primitive terms, so it doesn’t have much sting 60 years on.

My evaluation of Sunset Boulevard might be seen as a response to CalWilliam’s comment, but, I should say, it’s a conclusion I'd come to over the past weeks, as I knew this slate was coming up. In my view, Sunset Boulevard is, if anything, a bit underrated – I see it as one of the truly great original screenplays in the century of cinema, excelling at all the elements by which I, at least, judge a script. Contra CalWilliam, I think it has an extremely powerful central concept: placing the grandly romantic but outdated silent era alongside the business-like, dull-by-comparison present day Hollywood (at a time when that silent era was less than a quarter century in the past), and personifying that contrast with two very strongly drawn central characters (each of whom is shown in harsh light but also viewed with a clear-eyed sympathy). The film is beautifully structured (something for which Wilder & Brackett don’t get enough credit) – the pursuit by the repo men to get Holden inside Swanson’s world; the layered machinations that bring Holden & Swanson to the Paramount lot, where he runs into Nancy Olson and she has her last great moment as beloved star. And the dialogue is superb throughout – from the legendary “I AM big, it’s the pictures that got small”, to a throwaway line like “So…this is where you came in”. Such achievement in any one of these areas might be enough to merit consideration for script-writing honors. To have reached such a peak in all at the same time makes Sunset Boulevard one of the greatest Hollywood films, and a no-doubt choice for this category.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by Big Magilla »

In Original there really isn't a slug among the nominees.

Caged was not the first women in prison movie, but to today's audiences it may as well be their great-grandmother's women's prison movie as the genre has gotten a lot tougher in 66 years.

No Way Out was Sidney Poitier's film debut. The still potent racial drama was Joe Mankiewicz's third acclaimed film in two years somewhat unfairly stands in the shadow of his back-to-back Oscar winners, A Letter to Three Wives and All About Eve.

Adam's Rib has some great comic moments and some great scenes but a lot of it seems like material for a TV situation comedy which is what it became in later years.

The Men was Marlon Brando's film debut. It probably seems old news to a lot of today's audience, but its focus on the problems of World War II paraplegic veterans was something new and raw to film then.

Sunset Boulevard, though, was and remains a one-of-a-kind movie that will never be duplicated. Cynicism's finest hour gets my vote.

In Adapted there is really only one choice.

Yes, Broken Arrow was a landmark film in its sympathetic portrayal of native Americans, but much of it is typical western fodder as well.

Born Yesterday and Father of the Bride are amusing enough, but lack substance.

The Asphalt Jungle remains a fine heist melodrama but nothing this year or in any other year for that matter reaches the dizzy heights of All About Eve at its sharpest. Would that we could all toss off one-liners as quickly and as adeptly as the characters in this film do.
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Re: Best Screenplay 1950

Post by CalWilliam »

Sunset Boulevard may be revered, but I honestly prefer Brando's vehicle and Gordon and Kanin's wit. Wilder's approach is of course iconic, intelligent and forerunner, but I think it's a bit overrated insofar it feels banal and superficial at times, adding to that the lack of empathy for all those characters, which are more serviceable to the film's plot than standing for some real human ordeal. I never knew where the big subtext was or what's the whole point of it. I may be wrong, but I think the film is just about what we are seeing, which is not that exhilarating. I'd like someone to elaborate more on the presumed greatness of this screenplay, because sometimes it's not easy to convey my impressions in a language other than my own. I voted for Adam's Rib, still today a very refreshing look on those (still problematic) built notions of genres.

In Adapted it's easy. Though The Asphalt Jungle would be a worthy winner, it's all about All About Eve, arguably a kind of counterpoint to Sunset Boulevard on many of the same subjects, but definitely more engaging, with sense of humor, a wonderfully structured plot full of long, elaborate scenes, and most importantly, with great, colourful characters we really care for.
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Best Screenplay 1950

Post by Big Magilla »

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