Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting

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And then of course, while you are stewing, he kills it. He writes the scenes that work, that play well and are the most logical next steps in the movie. It may not be Oscar-bait, but it’s a film you’ll like AND YOU WILL KNOW WHY ITS WRITTEN THAT WAY. Oscar winner William Goldman, who wrote such classic films as HARPER, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID, MARATHON MAN and ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN shares his unique, often difficult, experiences working with top directors, producers and stars like Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. William Goldman, the screenwriter of two of my favorite movies (and in my opinion, two of the best movies of all time)--"Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and "The Princess Bride"--offers an witty, insightful, acerbic and neurotic look at the world of writing in Hollywood. I haven't read this book's predecessor, "Adventures in the Screen Trade," but I have no doubt it was equally enjoyable and eye-opening. It get really interesting when the people he’s sent the script too start commenting on it. Right away they have great suggestion that make the film even better.

There is no ‘right’ answer except the one that you feel makes it ‘play’. Makes it ‘work’ as a movie! “(I am smiling as I wrote that last sentence because you probably think I know how [the scene should go from here]. And the truth is: not a clue.)”

Customer reviews

Part One: Hollywood Realities—Goldman's scathing take on the stars, studio executives, directors, agents, and producers of Hollywood. In two books now, Goldman has claimed that GUNGA DIN is the greatest movie ever made and "only an idiot (or critic) would argue that point." Yet he never explains what's so great about it, nor does he ever discuss the screenplay for GUNGA DIN. I recently watched GUNGA DIN, and hated it...leaving me completely baffled by Goldman's remarks.

This is definitely one of them. Fascinating stories about ups, downs, hits and flops, and how it affected him as a person. The book is divided into three parts. "Part One: Hollywood Realities" is a collection of essays on various subjects ranging from movie stars and studio executives to his thoughts on how to begin and end a screenplay and how to write for a movie star. The criticisms of his script certainly appear honest! “I know why he fell in love with her. The same reason all men fall in love with women: she’s beautiful.” You may even consider it predictable, but that’s a subjective view that you can only have AFTER READING THE SCRIPT. And you can always rewrite it to change it. Bottom line: Goldman knows his way around a screenplay, and this book is his behind-the-scenes look at his experience of the movie-making process.

Customer Reviews

This was my final read of 2021, and it made for a satisfying conclusion to the year. I think I like it better than Goldman's first memoir/tell-all/screenwriting manual Adventures in the Screen Trade; the nearly twenty years elapsed between the two books means Goldman is more mature here, with more experience (naturally) and a better understanding of himself and his craft. I would have liked a LOT more about The Princess Bride, though what's here is excellent, and I really appreciated his ability to size up his failures as well as his successes with honesty and clarity. This is a wonderful book about an incredible life in the real world of make belief. Highly recommended! It all just seemed forced and he sounded really full of himself. A great example of that is how he's harder on himself than his critics, but he's also a better writer than almost anyone. Ha ha ha...such modesty.

William Goldman had published five novels and had three plays produced on Broadway before he began to write screenplays. Several of his novels he later used as the foundation for his screenplays. Dolores Claiborne (1995; consultant), The Chamber (1996) - based on the novel by John Grisham, Extreme Measures (1996; consultant), The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), Good Will Hunting (1997; consultant), Absolute Power (1997), The General's Daughter (1999), Hearts in Atlantis (2001), Dreamcatcher (2003), Wild Card (2014) - based on his novel. In the 1980s he wrote a series of memoirs looking at his professional life on Broadway and in Hollywood (in one of these he famously remarked that "Nobody knows anything"). He then returned to writing novels. He then adapted his novel The Princess Bride to the screen, which marked his re-entry into screenwriting.

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I don't think I have much to say that hasn't been said repeatedly below but yes, this is an excellent behind-the-scenes look at the craft of screenwriting and yes, it's kind of crazy how well it holds up 30 years after it was written. I live in Los Angeles, in the heart of the filmmaking industry, and it seems all I ever hear about is how that industry is going down the toilet. Well, in this book Goldman also laments how the industry is going down the toilet, how they are making fewer and fewer movies, and so on... It would seem that Hollywood can always find something to worry about on the business side, no matter what era it's in. Perhaps any industry can. Whether you're interested in specific films, an insider's look at Hollywood, or simply care about engagingly told anecdotes, you'll find something interesting here. I particularly recommend it for new writers--not just of screenplays, but any type of writing--who may need encouragement or just a sense of fellow-feeling, because Goldman failed at his college writing classes and sent out hundreds of queries before selling his first novel and felt about as much of a failure as it's possible to be. While I wouldn't want to take his path, his experience reveals the commonalities all writers share. If survival in the Hollywood film industry is possible, then there is no better "survival guide" than this book, because Goldman tells it like it is. He pulls no punches.

There are a lot of dreadful jokes about movie funerals, the most famous, I guess, dealing with Harry Cohn, the head of Columbia and perhaps the leading ogre of his era. At the services, someone expressed surprise at the number of people present, to which the reply came, ‘Give the public what they want, and they’ll turn out.’ There is also an expanded edition of the book, which includes the full screenplay of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, plus Goldman's analysis of the screenplay's strengths and weaknesses, as "Part Three", and moves the "Da Vinci" section to "Part Four". In this sequel to screenwriter William Goldman's first memoir, "Adventures In The Screen Trade", basically carrying his memoirs forward to the time period 1980-2000, Goldman captures the appeal and basic readability and charm of volume one. I think it's marginally inferior to its first book, but it's still very good. There is one crucial rule that must be followed in all creative meetings: Never speak first. At least at the start, your job is to shut up.” Originally to be called The Big Campfire, the inspiration for the title came when Goldman was in the office of a Hollywood producer who was talking on the phone to one of his associates. Suddenly he cupped his hands over the receiver, snapped his fingers and said "Bill, Bill! Which lie did I tell?"If you haven't, I highly recommend "Adventures In The Screen Trade" as a book with very similar structure that was honestly better than this one. The breakdown in "Butch Cassidy and Sundance" from that book alone... If the beginning of the book is like a casual conversation over a cup of coffee, the final third of the book is like he turned to you and said, ‘You know what? I like you. Drop by my office tomorrow, and I’ll show you how the work gets done.’ A delightful hodgepodge of Hollywood miscellany from the famed screenwriter William Goldman, who wrote Harper, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, Marathon Man, A Bridge Too Far, and many other great movies. This book was originally published in 1983. A glorious tour of the sausage factory with a guy who breeds champion hogs. That's the image that came to mind as I finished this funny, authentic look at the movie business by a celebrated screenwriter (and novelist). Bill Goldman is painfully frank about his struggles, his weaknesses, and the seamy underbelly of the business that has paid his bills for decades. Writing in the wake of the "Heaven's Gate" disaster which shook the confidence of almost everyone in Hollywood (1982), Goldman still manages to end the book on an upbeat and hopeful note. And it turns out he was mostly right about the future.