Status Updates From Adventures in the Screen Trade

This chapter about All the President’s Men has probably been my favorite part of the book so far. This has gotta be one of Goldman’s 3 most iconic films, and he literally won an Oscar for it. But the process of writing the script was so miserable for him (due to problems with Redford, Pakula, and Bernstein, and even an embarrassing encounter with Walter Cronkite) that he wished he had never done the movie.

I’m up to the part where Goldman tells stories from his experiences with the films he was involved with. This book has been so inspiring for me that I actually stopped in the middle of this chapter, and wrote down the outline for the opening scene of a script I wanna write. Here he tells another glowing story about Paul Newman, as well as a cool story about a time he met Jack Warner, one of THE Warner Brothers!

This section was very pessimistic, as Goldman talks about the films of Spielberg and Lucas, and how he thinks they’re bad for movies. He makes his first incorrect prediction by claiming, with certainty, that E.T. will win Best Picture (he doesn’t mention Gandhi at all). I do agree with some of his points, as spectacle really took over the industry, but I think he’s unfair to the artistry of Spielberg.

I have absolutely adored every single word of this book so far. It never feels like Goldman is giving a lecture or presenting a bunch of precious information. Instead it just feels like he’s a friend, telling a story about all of the pieces that go into telling a story. I recently learned that he wrote a follow up book many years later, so of course I bought it right away and it’s currently sitting in my room.

I read a couple of chapters about things like Agents and Meetings, but this last one was about the auteur theory. Goldman really hates the auteur theory, and thinks it’s ridiculous to claim that the director is the author of a movie, which is understandable coming from him and he makes some great points. He also says that he thinks it ruined the end of Hitchcock’s career, cause he bought into what people claimed.

This chapter was all about producers, and the role they play in getting a movie made. Goldman tells a fun story about the pre-production process for The Verdict (then still unreleased), and how it jumped between a number of different directors, writers, and stars before ultimately landing on Sidney Lumet, David Mamet, and Paul Newman. He also predicts that movies will just get more expensive. He was very right!

In this chapter, Goldman talks about studio executives, and how none of them have any idea what they’re doing nor do they have any idea which projects will turn out successful. Some things never change I guess. He also talks about how basically all of the execs are ex-agents, so they don’t have any passion for film or creativity, which is the cause of so many Hollywood problems. This is still very true today.

This is so good. First chapter was all about movie stars, what makes a star and how they affect the filmmaking process. Goldman has so many great stories to tell, and it’s interesting to see who were considered the biggest stars back in the early 80s when this was written. He also talks about how he expects the then upcoming Rocky III to make more money than the original. He was right!