Classic 70s Movie: “Midnight Express”
September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Liz Warner.
Movie Title: Midnight Express
Year: 1978
Writer: Oliver Stone (adaptation of book by Billy Hayes)
Lead Actors: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, Peter Jeffrey, John Hurt
Director: Alan Parker
IMDB Plot Summary: The “true” story of Billy Hayes, an American college student who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. (quotation mine.)
Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: The plot line alone makes this a quintessentially ’70s flick! This multiple Academy Award winning film put a spotlight on Oliver Stone, who won Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: An action scene — where Billy has a harrowing breakdown and becomes brutal himself. (N.B., not an accurate portrayal of events.) You can see it here.
A very close second is also an action scene, untrue, but chilling [here].
My Favorite Dialogue In The Movie:
Billy Hayes (writing to girlfriend) “Dear Susan: Poor Jimmy was caught and beaten so badly he got a severe hernia, and lost a testicle. He’s been in the sanitarium for months. In comparison, my problems seem very small.”
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: This film is controversial for two reasons. First, it was billed as “A True Story of Triumph” when at least four of the major plot points were not based on fact, according to accounts by Hayes himself, both before and after the film was made. The sequences, written by Stone, all heighten the drama significantly and add intrigue to the story, so it’s easy to see why he would add them. I think it’s interesting to consider whether and to what extent it is within the writer’s prerogative to take such broad dramatic liberties when the film is dubbed “a true story.” Of course such marketing decisions would be an executive’s call, not a writer’s, but it’s worthy of thought just how much leeway a writer might be given in an adaptation assignment.
Second, this movie was considered controversial due to a one-dimensional portrayal of Turks as barbarians. Stone apologized for this in 2004.
The movie was filmed in Malta, not Istanbul.
Thanks, Liz! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 70s Movies.
Thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies we should all watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!
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