Is there value in watching and analyzing older movies?

GF made a comment in this Audio Interview post with screenwriter Leigh Brackett. I thought GF’s ruminations were worthy of promoting to the front page:

Saving this for a listen this evening, but thanks for turning up an unexpected treat on one of my favourite screenwriters.

Does anyone on here still read many older scripts and find them of value? Or even just fun? I remember the first time I read Citizen Kane (in Pauline Kael’s book) and being thrilled by it, but I was also shocked recently when Carson over at Scriptshadow mentioned in his review of Best Actress that he’d never seen a Joan Crawford or Bette Davis movie. Is the general view that these films and scripts are of no practical use to a working or budding screenwriter in 2010? Does the modern canon start around Die Hard with even Chinatown seen as a bit of an oldie now? Just wondering.

Okay, let me just say upfront: I do not think that you must watch ‘old’ movies to be a successful screenwriter. But why wouldn’t you want to avail yourself of the grand history of cinema? Sure silent films may be hard for you to watch. Black and white movies not your thing. “Old’ movies have long scenes, tons of dialogue, staged feel, yes, yes, yes. But we’re also talking about some of the most riveting stories of all time. Consider the WGA 101 List, representing what the Guild voted as the top screenplays ever written:

1. CASABLANCA
Screenplay by Julius J. & Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. Based on the play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 2. THE GODFATHER
Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola. Based on the novel by Mario Puzo
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 3. CHINATOWN
Written by Robert Towne
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 4. CITIZEN KANE
Written by Herman Mankiewicz and Orson Welles
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 5. ALL ABOUT EVE
Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Based on “The Wisdom of Eve,” a short story and radio play by Mary Orr
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 6. ANNIE HALL
Written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 7. SUNSET BLVD.
Written by Charles Brackett & Billy Wilder and D.M. Marshman, Jr.
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 8. NETWORK
Written by Paddy Chayefsky
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 9. SOME LIKE IT HOT
Screenplay by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond. Based on “Fanfare of Love,” a German film written by Robert Thoeren and M. Logan
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 10. THE GODFATHER II
Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo. Based on Mario Puzo’s novel “The Godfather”
FACTS ABOUT THE FILM 11. BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
Written by William Goldman 12. DR. STRANGELOVE
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Peter George and Terry Southern. Based on novel “Red Alert” by Peter George 13. THE GRADUATE
Screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry. Based on the novel by Charles Webb 14. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
Screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. Based on the life and writings of Col. T.E. Lawrence 15. THE APARTMENT
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond 16. PULP FICTION
Written by Quentin Tarantino. Stories by Quentin Tarantino & Roger Avary 17. TOOTSIE
Screenplay by Larry Gelbart and Murray Schisgal. Story by Don McGuire and Larry Gelbart 18. ON THE WATERFRONT
Screen Story and Screenplay by Budd Schulberg. Based on “Crime on the Waterfront” articles by Malcolm Johnson 19. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Screenplay by Horton Foote. Based on the novel by Harper Lee 20. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
Screenplay by Frances Goodrich & Albert Hackett & Frank Capra. Based on short story “The Greatest Gift” by Philip Van Doren Stern. Contributions to screenplay Michael Wilson and Jo Swerling 21. NORTH BY NORTHWEST
Written by Ernest Lehman 22. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION
Screenplay by Frank Darabont. Based on the short story “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” by Stephen King 23. GONE WITH THE WIND
Screenplay by Sidney Howard. Based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell 24. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman. Story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth 25. THE WIZARD OF OZ
Screenplay by Noel Langley and Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf Adaptation by Noel Langley. Based on the novel by L. Frank Baum 26. DOUBLE INDEMNITY
Screenplay by Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler. Based on the novel by James M. Cain 27. GROUNDHOG DAY
Screenplay by Danny Rubin and Harold Ramis. Story by Danny Rubin 28. SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
Written by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard 29. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS
Written by Preston Sturges 30. UNFORGIVEN
Written by David Webb Peoples 31. HIS GIRL FRIDAY
Screenplay by Charles Lederer. Based on the play “The Front Page” by Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur 32. FARGO
Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen 33. THE THIRD MAN
Screenplay by Graham Greene. Story by Graham Greene. Based on the short story by Graham Greene 34. THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS
Screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman. From a novelette by Ernest Lehman 35. THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Written by Christopher McQuarrie 36. MIDNIGHT COWBOY
Screenplay by Waldo Salt. Based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy 37. THE PHILADELPHIA STORY
Screenplay by Donald Ogden Stewart. Based on the play by Philip Barry 38. AMERICAN BEAUTY
Written by Alan Ball 39. THE STING
Written by David S. Ward 40. WHEN HARRY MET SALLY
Written by Nora Ephron 41. GOODFELLAS
Screenplay by Nicholas Pileggi & Martin Scorsese. Based on book “Wise Guy” by Nicholas Pileggi 42. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan. Story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman 43. TAXI DRIVER
Written by Paul Schrader 44. THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
Screenplay by Robert E. Sherwood. Based on novel “Glory For Me” by MacKinley Kantor 45. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST
Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. Based on the novel by Ken Kesey 46. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
Screenplay by John Huston. Based on the novel by B. Traven 47. THE MALTESE FALCON
Screenplay by John Huston. Based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett 48. THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
Screenplay by Carl Foreman and Michael Wilson. Based on the novel by Pierre Boulle 49. SCHINDLER’S LIST
Screenplay by Steven Zaillian. Based on the novel by Thomas Keneally 50. THE SIXTH SENSE
Written by M. Night Shyamalan 51. BROADCAST NEWS
Written by James L. Brooks 52. THE LADY EVE
Screenplay by Preston Sturges. Story by Monckton Hoffe 53. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN
Screenplay by William Goldman. Based on the book by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward 54. MANHATTAN
Written by Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman 55. APOCALYPSE NOW
Written by John Milius and Francis Coppola. Narration by Michael Herr 56. BACK TO THE FUTURE
Written by Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale 57. CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
Written by Woody Allen 58. ORDINARY PEOPLE
Screenplay by Alvin Sargent. Based on the novel by Judith Guest 59. IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT
Screenplay by Robert Riskin. Based on the story “Night Bus” by Samuel Hopkins Adams 60. L.A. CONFIDENTIAL
Screenplay by Brian Helgeland & Curtis Hanson. Based on the novel by James Ellroy 61. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Screenplay by Ted Tally. Based on the novel by Thomas Harris 62. MOONSTRUCK
Written by John Patrick Shanley 63. JAWS
Screenplay by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Based on the novel by Peter Benchley 64. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT
Screenplay by James L. Brooks. Based on the novel by Larry McMurtry 65. SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
Screen Story and Screenplay by Betty Comden & Adolph Green. Based on the song by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown 66. JERRY MAGUIRE
Written by Cameron Crowe 67. E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
Written by Melissa Mathison 68. STAR WARS
Written by George Lucas 69. DOG DAY AFTERNOON
Screenplay by Frank Pierson. Based on a magazine article by P.F. Kluge and Thomas Moore 70. THE AFRICAN QUEEN
Screenplay by James Agee and John Huston. Based on the novel by C.S. Forester 71. THE LION IN WINTER
Screenplay by James Goldman. Based on the play by James Goldman 72. THELMA & LOUISE
Written by Callie Khouri 73. AMADEUS
Screenplay by Peter Shaffer. Based on his play 74. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH
Written by Charlie Kaufman 75. HIGH NOON
Screenplay by Carl Foreman. Based on short story “The Tin Star” by John W. Cunningham 76. RAGING BULL
Screenplay by Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin. Based on the book by Jake La Motta with Joseph Carter and Peter Savage 77. ADAPTATION
Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman. Based on the book “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean 78. ROCKY
Written by Sylvester Stallone 79. THE PRODUCERS
Written by Mel Brooks 80. WITNESS
Screenplay by Earl W. Wallace & William Kelley. Story by William Kelley and Pamela Wallace & Earl W. Wallace 81. BEING THERE
Screenplay by Jerzy Kosinski. Inspired by the novel by Jerzy Kosinski 82. COOL HAND LUKE
Screenplay by Donn Pearce and Frank Pierson. Based on the novel by Donn Pearce 83. REAR WINDOW
Screenplay by John Michael Hayes. Based on the short story by Cornell Woolrich 84. THE PRINCESS BRIDE
Screenplay by William Goldman. Based on his novel 85. LA GRANDE ILLUSION
Written by Jean Renoir and Charles Spaak 86. HAROLD & MAUDE
Written by Colin Higgins 87. 8 1/2
Screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Ennio Flaiano, Brunello Rond. Story by Fellini, Flaiano 88. FIELD OF DREAMS
Screenplay by Phil Alden Robinson. Based on the book by W.P. Kinsella 89. FORREST GUMP
Screenplay by Eric Roth. Based on the novel by Winston Groom 90. SIDEWAYS
Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor. Based on the novel by Rex Pickett 91. THE VERDICT
Screenplay by David Mamet. Based on the novel by Barry Reed 92. PSYCHO
Screenplay by Joseph Stefano. Based on the novel by Robert Bloch 93. DO THE RIGHT THING
Written by Spike Lee 94. PATTON
Screen Story and Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North. Based on “A Soldier’s Story” by Omar H. Bradley and “Patton: Ordeal and Triumph” by Ladislas Farago 95. HANNAH AND HER SISTERS
Written by Woody Allen 96. THE HUSTLER
Screenplay by Sidney Carroll & Robert Rossen. Based on the novel by Walter Tevis 97. THE SEARCHERS
Screenplay by Frank S. Nugent. Based on the novel by Alan Le May 98. THE GRAPES OF WRATH
Screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. Based on the novel by John Steinbeck 99. THE WILD BUNCH
Screenplay by Walon Green and Sam Peckinpah. Story by Walon Green and Roy Sickner 100. MEMENTO
Screenplay by Christopher Nolan. Based on the short story “Memento Mori” by Jonathan Nolan 101. NOTORIOUS
Written by Ben Hecht
Let’s say those movies total about 240 hours of screen time, the equivalent of 10 days. Imagine what type of ‘education’ each of us would receive if we devoted a mere 10 days of our lives watching all of these movies. How much more we’d understand about story structure, pacing, scene-writing, transitions, theme, rising and falling action, and on and on and on.

Plus our minds would be filled with some of the greatest visual images and well-crafted dialogue of all time, fantastic reference points to inspire our own writing.

What do you think? What value, if any, is there in watching and analyzing older movies?

And if you’re a fan of old films and wanted to give young writers a core group of those movies to watch, what would be on your essential list?

Finally per GF’s comment about Joan Crawford or Bette Davis, which actors from the 30s-70s do you think any young aspiring screenwriter should be exposed to? Which directors? And, of course, which screenwriters?

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