Backstory 4

by McGilligan, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780520245181
• ISBN10: 0520245180
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-01-24
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Continuing Patrick McGilligan's highly acclaimed series on Hollywood screenwriters, these engrossing, informative, provocative interviews give wonderfully detailed and personal stories from veteran screenwriters of the seventies and eighties focusing on their craft, their lives, and their profession. "Backstory 4 "is a riveting insider's look at how movies get made; a rich perspective on many of the great movies, directors, and actors of the seventies and eighties; and an articulate, forthright commentary on the art and the business of screenwriting. The screenwriters interviewed for this volume include well-known Oscar winners as well as cult filmmakers, important writers who were also distinguished directors, and key practitioners of every commercial genre. These writers have worked with Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Peter Bogdanovich, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Robert Altman, Clint Eastwood, and other film giants of the so-called New Hollywood. The stories of their collaborations--some divine, some disastrous--provide some of the most fascinating material in this volume. They also discuss topics including how they got started writing screenplays, their working routines, their professional relationships, their influences, and the work of other major writers and directors. "Backstory 4 "features interviews with Robert Benton, Larry Cohen, Blake Edwards, Walter Hill, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Lawrence Kasdan, Elmore Leonard, Paul Mazursky, Nancy Meyers, John Milius, Frederic Raphael, Alvin Sargent, and Donald E. Westlake.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(10)
The New Traditionalist
Robert Benton
Interview by Christian Keathley	11	(26)
Manic Energy
Larry Cohen
Interview by Patrick McGilligan	37	(46)
Jumping Around
Blake Edwards
Interview by Bill Krohn	83	(19)
Last Man Standing
Walter Hill
Interview by Patrick McGilligan	102	(29)
Out of India
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Interview by Vincent LoBrutto	131	(29)
A Humanist in Hollywood
Lawrence Kasdan
Interview by Graham Fuller	160	(35)
The Hot Kid
Elmore Leonard
Interview by Patrick McGilligan	195	(27)
A Map of the Heart
Paul Mazursky
Interview by Nat Segaloff	222	(40)
Late Bloomer
Nancy Meyers
Interview by Fred Topel	262	(12)
The Good Fights
John Milius
Interview by Nat Segaloff	274	(43)
Renaissance Man
Frederic Raphael
Interview by John Baxter	317	(27)
Pursuit and Destination
Alvin Sargent
Interview by Patrick McGilligan	344	(23)
The Worst Happens
Donald E. Westlake
Interview by Patrick McGilligan	367	(22)
Bibliographic Notes	389	(8)
About the Contributors	397	(2)
General Index	399	(16)
Index of Films, Plays, and Books	415