Read a Script

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award honors outstanding achievement in film writing. Expect the winners to win the Academy Award (for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay). WGA had a different criteria during the studio days, as the members were aware that it was the Golden Age in Hollywood.

Here's how it goes:

Best Written Western: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) by John Huston. B Traven had adventurous souls in mind when he wrote this book, but John Huston saw it differently. He penned a tale of greed, which could be a double-edged sword. Some would turn a blind eye if the outcome benefited them. This was human nature, which Huston revealed in a nonchalant manner.

Best Written Film Concerning Problems with the American Scene: All the King's Men (1949) by Robert Rossen. Robert Penn Warren's novel was a thinly-disguised biography of Huey Long. The 40th Governor of Louisiana provided free textbooks for schoolchildren and health care for the poor, but his (well-off) opponents saw a threat to their interests. (He was assassinated in 1935.) Rossen's adaptation of Warren's book examined the life of Willie Stark, an idealist-cum-politician. Jack Burden, a journalist who followed Stark throughout his political career, admired him. He even stuck by him after his disillusionment. Rossen could be forgiven for moments of melodrama, as he revealed a thin line separating good and evil. Alas, the line was blurred nowadays. Could the Americans be blamed for the politicians in public office? Or they rather not get out of their comfort zone? Rossen's film would provide hints.

Best Written Musical: Annie Get Your Gun (1951) by George Sidney. Annie Oakley was one of the best exhibition sharpshooters in America, but the West was a man's world. Sidney thought of the battle of the sexes, with Betty Hutton pitted against Howard Keel. It was one hilarious scene after another, and Irving Berlin's music made it a memorable experience. Anything that Frank Butler (Keel) could do, Annie Oakley (Hutton) could do better.

Best Written Drama: 12 Angry Men (1957) by Sidney Lumet. A teenage boy allegedly stabbed his father to death, and it was up to the jury to decide if he was guilty or not. Reginald Rose's script was less about the case and more about the jurors. He presented twelve men with a wide range of personalities, which resulted to heated arguments and conflicted feelings. It would be a stretch to call them a representation of American society, but Rose and Mamet revealed flaws and prejudices for viewers to understand. They wouldn't be the same afterwards.

Best Written Comedy: The Apartment (1960) by Billy Wilder. This was Wilder during his vulnerable moment, and his fans would love him more. A lackey at an insurance company and an elevator operator were feeling the blues. And Christmas was approaching. The Austrian-born filmmaker had been known for his cynicism, which he concealed with humor. Anyone could be a sentimental fool at one time or another, though. There was no need to be ashamed of it, which this unlikely couple would show.