Screenwriter of the Month: Sidney Howard

Sidney Howard.
Picture found here.

A Short Biography:

Sidney Howard was born in Oakland, California, the son of Helen Louise (née Coe) and John Lawrence Howard. He graduated from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1915 and went on to Harvard University to study the art of playwriting under George Pierce Baker in his "47 workshop." Along with other students of Harvard professor A. Piatt Andrew, Sidney Howard volunteered with Andrew's American Field Service, serving in France and the Balkans during World War I. After the War, Howard, competent at foreign languages, translated a number of literary works from French, Spanish, Hungarian and German.

In 1921, Howard had his first Broadway production, with a neo-romantic verse drama, Swords, which failed to win approval from either audiences or critics. It was with his realistic romance, They Knew What They Wanted in 1924 that Howard found recognition. The story of a middle-aged Italian vineyard owner who woos a young woman by mail with a false snapshot of himself, married her, and then forgives her when she becomes pregnant by one of his farm hands, it was praised for its non-judgmental and unmelodramatic view of adultery, and its warm-hearted, tolerant view of all its characters. The play won the 1925 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was thrice adapted into film (1928, 1930, and 1940) and later became the Broadway musical, The Most Happy Fella. Lucky Sam McCarver, a coolly observed, unsentimental account of the marriage of a New York speakeasy owner on his way up in the world with a self-destructive socialite on her way down, failed to attract audiences but won the admiration of some reviewers. The Silver Cord, a drama about a mother who is pathologically close to her sons and works to undermine their romances, was one of the most successful plays of the 1926-27 Broadway season.

Picture found here.

A prolific writer, and a founding member of the Playwrights' Company, he wrote or created more than seventy plays; he also directed and produced a number of works. In 1922 he married actress Clare Eames (1896–1930) who had played the female lead in Swords. She later starred in Howard's Lucky Sam McCarver (1925), and Ned McCobb's Daughter (1926) on Broadway, and The Silver Cord in London (1927). Clare Eames was the niece of opera singer Emma Eames on her father's side, and of the inventor Hiram Percy Maxim on her mother's side, and a granddaughter of former Maryland governor, William Thomas Hamilton. Howard and Eames had a daughter, Jennifer Howard. They separated in 1927, and Howard's anger and frustration at the disintegration of his marriage is reflected in his bitter satire of modern matrimony, Half Gods (1929). Following the unexpected death of Eames in 1930, Sidney Howard married Leopoldine (Polly) Damrosch, daughter of the conductor Walter Johannes Damrosch in 1931, with whom he had three children.

A particular admirer of the understated realism of French playwright Charles Vildrac, Howard adapted two of his plays into English, under the titles, S. S. Tenacity (1929) and Michael Auclair (1932). One of his greatest successes on Broadway was an adaptation of a French comedy by Rene Fauchois, The Late Christopher Bean. Yellow Jack, an historical drama about the war against yellow fever, was praised for its high purpose and innovative staging when it premiered in 1934.

Picture found here.

Hired by Samuel Goldwyn, Howard worked in Hollywood, writing several successful screenplays. In 1932, Howard was nominated for an Academy Award for his adaptation of the Sinclair Lewis novel Arrowsmith, and again in 1936 for Dodsworth, which he had adapted for the stage in 1934.

Howard wrote the stage adaption of Humphrey Cobb's novel Paths of Glory which played on Broadway in 1935. The play was a flop because of its harsh anti-war scenes that alienated the audience, as a World War I veteran Howard wanted to show the horrors of war. Convinced that the novel should be filmed, Howard wrote, “It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture.” The film version of the novel directed by Stanley Kubrick did not appear until 1957. Howard's screenplay for Gone with the Wind echoed, perhaps, Paths of Glory, with an unflinching look at the horrors of war.

Posthumously, he won the 1939 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for Gone with the Wind (he was the only one honored, despite the fact that his script was revised by several other writers). This was the first time a posthumous nominee for any Oscar won the award.

Picture found here.

A lover of the quiet rural life, Sidney Howard died in Tyringham, Massachusetts while working on his 700-acre (2.8 km2) hobby farm. Howard was crushed to death in a garage by his two and one half ton tractor. He had turned the ignition switch on and was cranking the engine to start it when it lurched forward, pinning him against the wall of the garage. Apparently an employee had left the transmission in high gear.

He is buried in the Tyringham Cemetery.

Howard left behind a number of unproduced works. Lute Song, an adaptation of an old Chinese play co-written with Will Irwin, premiered on Broadway in 1946. A lighthearted reworking of the Faust legend, Madam, Will You Walk?, closed out of town when produced by the Playwrights Company in 1939, but was more warmly received as the first production of the Phoenix Theatre in 1953.

His Best Known & Awarded Movies:

"A Lady to Love"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "A Lady to Love" (1930) - Based upon Howard's play, They Knew What They Wanted, "A Lady to Love" is about a "middle-aged Napa Valley grape-grower Tony (Edward G. Robinson) posts a marriage proposal to San Francisco waitress Lena (Vilma Banky) enclosing a photo of his handsome younger brother Buck (Robert Ames). When she gets there she overlooks his duplicity and marries him. Then she falls in love with Buck." Written by Ed Stephan (Source here.)

"Arrowsmith"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Arrowsmith" (1931) - Starring Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes, and "based on a Sinclair Lewis novel Martin Arrowsmith. A medical researcher is sent to a plague outbreak, where he has to decide priorities for the use of a vaccine." Written by Anonymous (Source here.)

- Nominated for a 1932 Oscar for 

"Best Writing, Adaptation"

"The Silver Cord"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "The Silver Cord" (1933) - Based on Howard's play of the same name, "The Silver Cord" is about "a domineering matriarch (Irene Dunne) is less than happy when her son (Joel McCrea) brings home his new bride (Laura Hope Crews). She immediately sets to work at sabotaging their marriage as well as the engagement of her younger and weaker son (Eric Linden)." Written by Daniel Bubbeo (Source here.)

"Dodsworth"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Dodsworth" (1936) - Based on a Sinclair Lewis novel, it's about "[the] bittersweet tale of the increasing estrangement of a retired automobile tycoon (Walter Huston) and his wife (Ruth Chatterton). Increasingly obsessed with maintaining an appearance of youth, she falls in with a crowd of frivolous socialites during their 'second honeymoon' European vacation. He, in turn, meets a woman (Mary Astor) who is everything she is not; self-assured, self-confident, and able to take care of herself." Written by Sonya Roberts (Source here.)

- Nominated for an Oscar in 1937 for 

"Best Writing, Screenplay"

"Raffles" movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Raffles" (1939) - "Man about town and First Class cricketer A.J. Raffles (David Niven) keeps himself solvent with daring robberies. Meeting Gwen (Olivia de Havilland) from his schooldays and falling in love all over again, he spends the weekend with her parents, Lord and Lady Melrose. A necklace presents an irresistible temptation, but also in attendance is Scotland Yard's finest, finally on the trail." Written by Jeremy Perkins (Source here.)

"Gone with the Wind"
movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "Gone With the Wind" (1939) - "This tale of the Old South from the start of the Civil War through to the period of reconstruction focuses on the beautiful Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh). Before the start of the war life at the O'Hara plantation, Tara, could only be described as genteel. As for the young Scarlett, she is without doubt the most beautiful girl in the area and is always the belle of the ball. She is very much looking forward to a barbecue at the nearby Wilkes plantation as she will get to see the man she loves, Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). She is more than a little dismayed when she hears that he is to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland) and in a fit of anger, she decides to marry Melanie's brother. War is soon declared and as always seems to be the case, men march off to battle thinking that it will only last a few weeks. Now living in Atlanta, Scarlett sees the ravages that war brings. She also becomes re-acquainted with Rhett Butler (Clark Gable), whom she had first met at the Wilkes barbecue. Now a widow, she still pines for the married Ashley and dreams of his return. With the war lost however, she returns to Tara and faces the hardship of keeping her family together and Tara from being sold at auction to collect the taxes. She has becomes hardened and bitter and will do anything, including marrying her sister's beau, to ensure she will never again be poor and hungry. After becoming a widow for the second time, she finally marries the dashing Rhett but they soon find themselves working at cross-purposes, their relationship seemingly doomed from the outset." Written by garykmcd (Source here.) Also stars Hattie McDaniel who was the first African American to be nominated for an Oscar in 1940 for "Best Actress in a Supporting Role" and the first to win for her role as Mammy.

- Won the 1940 Oscar for "Best Writing, Screenplay". 

Though four others had helped write the screenplay 

(Oliver H.P. Garrett, Ben Hecht, Jo Swerling, 

and John Van Druten), Howard was the only one to receive it. 

He's also the first person to be posthumously 

nominated and awarded for an Oscar. 

"They Knew What They
Wanted" movie poster.
Picture found here.

- "They Knew What They Wanted" (1940) - Screenplay written by Robert Ardrey and based upon Howard's Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name. "Tony (Charles Laughton), a successful but illiterate middle-aged grape farmer, sends the photograph of his handsome young foreman, Joe (William Gargan), instead of his own, hoping to woo and marry Amy (Carole Lombard), a waitress in a San Francisco restaurant. Through a series of letters, the two become close and Tony invites his 'future wife' to visit. When the beautiful, young Amy arrives at Tony's Napa, California ranch she falls for the wrong man thinking that Joe (William Gargan) is the wealthy Tony. When Tony tries to win her over in broken English, she is at first furious and then charmed. But Tony breaks his legs while showing off to impress Amy, and -- left alone to care for a cripple -- she reluctantly succumbs to Joe's charms and becomes pregnant. Although Tony discovers that he has been cuckolded and that Joe has run off, his anger turns to genuine love and he offers to take Amy back unconditionally for the sake of the child and his own true feelings for Amy." Written by E. Summer (Source here.)

Sources:
- #1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Howard

"The Phantom of the Opera" at the Royal Albert Hall Review

"The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall" movie poster.

"In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera arrived on the West End stage at Her Majesty's Theatre. Fast forward 25 years and Phantom has achieved global success, millions of viewers, a film adaptation in 2004 and a musical sequel. Now viewers have the chance to experience this phenomenal show right from their own screens. Filmed at the Royal Albert Hall, this stunning performance brings the show to a bigger stage and celebrates its role as one of the biggest shows in theatre history, with speeches, performances and appearances by the original cast and some of the show's most notable Phantoms, including Anthony Warlow, Peter Joback, John Owen-Jones, Colm Wilkinson, and Michael Crawford. Starring Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess, Phantom tells the story of a deformed musical genius who lives in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House. Shunned by society, the Phantom seeks revenge in cruel and often violent acts. The Phantom is in love with chorus girl Christine Daaé and has been secretly training her to replace La Carlotta as the opera's reigning diva. However, when Christine is thrust into the spotlight, she is also reunited with childhood friend Raoul. Passion, obsession and chaos ensue as Christine finds herself torn between her love for Raoul and her strange pull towards the mysterious and dangerous Phantom." Written by LadyN1 (Link below.)

"The Phantom of the Opera
at the Royal Albert Hall" dvd cover.

Sierra Boggess as Christine.

That was a beautifully orchestrated version of the musical. I loved the clothes as well. It definitely reminded me of the first time I saw this on Broadway nearly seven years ago now. It was awesome. I loved the sets and everything. The Phantom I saw in real life, Howard McGillin (site here), is probably still my favorite, but this one, Ramin Karimloo, was great as well, though I thought a bit young for the role, but he had a beautiful voice.

Raoul, played by Hadley Fraser, was handsome as well and was very spirited onstage (he should update his IMDB profile - hint hint). Christine, played by Sierra Boggess, was also beautiful and I thought a better actress than Sarah Brightman.

Scene from "The Phantom of the Opera
at the Royal Albert Hall".

This should definitely appeal to those who didn't like the movie version of this popular musical. While I liked the movie version, many others didn't, most say because they thought the actors in it weren't good enough singers to have participated. There were little bits in it that made it more like the movie version rather than the original onstage musical, but they were practically unnoticeable unless you're obsessed like I once was.

I really appreciated how the makeup artists tried really hard not to make the makeup look overmuch as it usually is in a play. That would've been ghastly.

(L to R) Hadley Fraser, Ramin Kaminloo,
and Sierra Boggess.

The only thing I would say that I didn't like about the production was how technologically advanced they tried to make it. There were LED screens for the backdrops and it was interesting to look at from far away and surely easier for the stage crew as they didn't have to load heavy set pieces onstage. But when you got up real close it became pixelated and really freaking ugly, whereas a real set would probably have only looked cheap up close rather than nonexistent. So that's where I would say I preferred a real set to an LED screen if I was watching a musical or stage play on screen, but if I had been there I don't know if it would have bothered me as much. It probably looked cool.

The libretto is available here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/25668194/Phantom-of-the-Opera-Script-Libretto.

Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077886/fullcredits#cast, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077886/plotsummary, and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077886/.

Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom.

"Another Earth" Movie Review

"Another Earth" movie poster.

"On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student (Brit Marling) and an accomplished composer (William Mapother) cross paths in a tragic accident." (Link below.)

This was certainly a very interesting film. I would never have been able to come up with something like that. Another whole planet with my exact likeness on it, perhaps with a completely different life than mine.... almost too much for me to understand. Very exciting that Brit Marling, who starred in it and did a great job, also cowrote it with the director, Mike Cahill.

I thought it was beautifully filmed and the music was wonderful. There is even a scene where an actor plays a saw (the kind you use to cut wood) like an instrument which I have never seen before nor heard before.

I would've liked to have seen more science geek stuff like tides and gravity effected by the proximity of the earth being so close to another earth but that wasn't really the story here and I can understand why they would want to skip that.

"Another Earth" movie poster featuring Brit Marling.

I don't want to talk about the ending except to say that it is bittersweet and surprising. I very much enjoyed watching this film and hope there is more like it.

Favorite Lines:

Richard Berendzen: In the grand history of the cosmos, more than thirteen thousand million years old, our Earth is replicated elsewhere. But maybe there is another way of seeing this world. If any small variation arises-they look this way, you look that way-suddenly maybe everything changes and now you begin to wonder, what else is different? Well, one might say that you have an exact mirror image that is suddenly shattered and there's a new reality. And therein lies the opportunity and the mystery. What else? What new? What now?

Rhoda Williams: When early explorers first set out West across the Atlantic, most people thought the world was flat. Most people thought if you sailed far enough West, you would drop off a plane into nothing. Those vessels sailing out into the unknown, they weren't carrying noblemen or aristocrats, artists or merchants. They were crewed by people living on the edge of life: the madmen, orphans, ex-convicts, outcasts like myself. As a felon, I'm an unlikely candidate for most things. But perhaps not for this. Perhaps I am the most likely.

Beautiful image from the movie "Another Earth".

Rhoda Williams: You know that story of the Russian cosmonaut? So, the cosmonaut, He's the first man ever to go into space. Right? The Russians beat the Americans. So he goes up in this big spaceship, but the only habitable part of it's very small. So the cosmonaut's in there, and he's got this portal window, and he's looking out of it, and he sees the curvature of the Earth for the first time. I mean, the first man to ever look at the planet he's from. And he's lost in that moment. And all of a sudden this strange ticking... Begins coming out of the dashboard. Rips out the control panel, right? Takes out his tools. Trying to find the sound, trying to stop the sound. But he can't find it. He can't stop it. It keeps going. Few hours into this, begins to feel like torture. A few days go by with this sound, and he knows that this small sound... will break him. He'll lose his mind. What's he gonna do? He's up in space, alone, in a space closet. He's got 25 days left to go... with this sound. So the cosmonaut decides... the only way to save his sanity... is to fall in love with this sound. So he closes his eyes... and he goes into his imagination, and then he opens them. He doesn't hear ticking anymore. He hears music. And he spends the rest of the voyage sailing through space in total bliss... and peace.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/.

"Gone With the Wind" Movie Review

"Gone With The Wind" movie poster.

"American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction." (Link below.)

I have finally watched all 4 hours of this classic and it is so much more than the above description would have you believe. It is a long, but the people who made it were kind - they put in a long intermission. It doesn't feel like a long movie at all, it is so enticing and well-done. 

What can I say about it that hasn't already been said? The costumes are beautiful and the casting was done brilliantly. They are stories about how it was made and such that have become the stuff of legend in the movie industry. Some people don't like the character of Scarlett O'Hara, but she would be perfect to rule in today's world. In fact, all of the main female characters in this movie are very strong, powerful, and intelligent. Another reason for me to like this movie.

It is an American classic, I would rank it right up there with "Titanic" as far as romance and tragic history is involved, and it's as good as they come. I would say other movies to compare it to, but I have, unfortunately, not seen that many of the best of the old films. It stars Vivien Leigh (who isn't actually an American, but we have claimed her so too late for the British) and Clark Gable, who has huge ears but is gorgeous, handsome and tall and therefore perfect to play a rogue. Olivia de Havilland (she also starred in "Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn) and Leslie Howard, who was a huge star at the time of this movie's release, but has become known mostly for his role as Ashley Wilkes. 

I would love to watch this on a larger screen one day. The cinematography deserves that.

I'm slightly intrigued by the supposed sequel not written by the original author, but requested by the author's family, which is titled "Scarlett" but from what I have heard of it, it isn't looking good.

Vivien Leigh.

Now I just have to read the book by Margaret Mitchell.

Favorite Lines:

Scarlett: As God is my witness, as God is my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again. No, nor any of my folk. If I have to lie, steal, cheat or kill. As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again. 

Rhett Butler: Did you ever think of marrying just for fun? 

Scarlett: Marriage, fun? Fiddle-dee-dee. Fun for men you mean. 

Mammy: Oh now, Miss Scarlett, you come on and eat jess a little, honey! 

Scarlett: No! I'm going to have a good time today, and do my eating at the barbeque. 

Mammy: If you don't care what folks says about dis family I does! I is told ya and told ya that you can always tell a lady by the way she eat in front of folks like a bird. And I ain't aimin' for you to go to Mr. John Wilkenson's and eat like a field hand and gobble like a hog! 

Scarlett: Fiddle-dee-dee! Ashley told me he likes to see a girl with a healthy appetite! 

Mammy: What gentlemen says and what they thinks is two different things, and I ain't noticed Mr. Ashley askin' for to marry you. 

Scarlett: [Turns around slowly to face Mammy then throws her umbrella and stuffs food into her mouth] 

Mammy: Now don't eat too fast. Ain't no need for it come right back up again! 

Scarlett: [With her mouth full] Why does a girl have to be so silly to catch a husband?

Clark Gable (L) and Vivien Leigh.

Rhett Butler: No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how. 

Scarlett: [pleads with Rhett as he is about to leave to join the Confederate Army] Oh, Rhett! Please, don't go! You can't leave me! Please! I'll never forgive you! 

Rhett Butler: I'm not asking you to forgive me. I'll never understand or forgive myself. And if a bullet gets me, so help me, I'll laugh at myself for being an idiot. There's one thing I do know... and that is that I love you, Scarlett. In spite of you and me and the whole silly world going to pieces around us, I love you. Because we're alike. Bad lots, both of us. Selfish and shrewd. But able to look things in the eyes as we call them by their right names. 

Scarlett: [struggles] Don't hold me like that! 

Rhett Butler: [holds her tighter] Scarlett! Look at me! I've loved you more than I've ever loved any woman and I've waited for you longer than I've ever waited for any woman. 

[kisses her forhead] 

Scarlett: [turns her face away] Let me alone! 

Rhett Butler: [forces her to look him in the eyes] Here's a soldier of the South who loves you, Scarlett. Wants to feel your arms around him, wants to carry the memory of your kisses into battle with him. Never mind about loving me, you're a woman sending a soldier to his death with a beautiful memory. Scarlett! Kiss me! Kiss me... once... 

[he kisses her]

Clark Gable (L) and Vivien Leigh.

Rhett Butler: You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail. 

Scarlett: But you are a blockade runner. 

Rhett Butler: For profit, and profit only. 

Scarlett: Are you tryin' to tell me you don't believe in the cause? 

Rhett Butler: I believe in Rhett Butler, he's the only cause I know.

Rhett Butler: And those pantalettes, I don't know a woman in Paris who wears pantalettes. 

Scarlett: Oh Rhett, what do they - you shouldn't talk about such things. 

Rhett Butler: You little hypocrite. You don't mind my knowing about them, just my talking about it. 

Scarlett: But really Rhett, I can't go on accepting these gifts although you are AWFULLY kind. 

Rhett Butler: I'm not kind, I'm just tempting you. 

Scarlett: Well if you think I'll marry you just to pay for the bonnet I won't. 

Rhett Butler: Don't flatter yourself. I'm not a marrying man. 

Vivien Leigh.

Scarlett: Ooh, if I just wasn't a lady, WHAT wouldn't I tell that varmint. 

Scarlett: Cathleen, who's that? 

Cathleen Calvert: Who? 

Scarlett: That man looking at us and smiling. The nasty, dark one. 

Cathleen Calvert: My dear, don't you know? That's Rhett Butler. He's from Charleston. He has the most terrible reputation. 

Scarlett: He looks as if... as if he knows what I look like without my shimmy.

Rene Picard: Twenty dollars. Twenty dollars for Miss Maybelle Merriwether. 

Tony Fontaine: Twenty five dollars for Miss Fanny Elsing. 

Dr. Meade: Only twenty five dollars to give? 

Rhett Butler: One hundred and fifty dollars in gold. 

Dr. Meade: For what lady, sir? 

Rhett Butler: For Mrs. Charles Hamilton. 

Dr. Meade: For whom, sir? 

Rhett Butler: Mrs. Charles Hamilton. 

Dr. Meade: Mrs. Hamilton is in mourning, Captain Butler. But I'm sure any of our Atlanta belles would be proud to... 

Rhett Butler: Dr. Meade, I said Mrs. Charles Hamilton. 

Dr. Meade: She will not consider it, sir. 

Scarlett: Oh, yes, I will. 

Title card: There was a land of Cavaliers and Cotton Fields called the Old South... Here in this pretty world Gallantry took its last bow... Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and of Slave... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind... 

Vivien Leigh.

Rhett Butler: So, you see I shall have to marry you. 

Scarlett: I've never heard of such bad taste. 

Rhett Butler: Would you be more convinced if I fell to my knees? 

Scarlett: Turn me loose, you varmint, and get out of here! 

Rhett Butler: Forgive me for startling you with the impetuosity of my sentiments, my dear Scarlett. I mean, my dear Mrs. Kennedy. But it cannot have escaped your notice that for some time past the friendship I have felt for you has ripened into a deeper feeling. A feeling more beautiful, more pure, more sacred. Dare I name it? Can it be love? 

Scarlett: Get up off your knees! I don't like your common jokes! 

Rhett Butler: This is an honorable proposal of marriage made at what I consider a most opportune moment. I can't go all my life waiting to catch you between husbands. 

Scarlett: You're coarse, and you're conceited. And I think this conversation has gone far enough.

Scarlett: Rhett, Rhett... Rhett, if you go, where shall I go? What shall I do? 

Rhett Butler: Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

Scarlett: Tara! Home. I'll go home. And I'll think of some way to get him back. After all... tomorrow is another day.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/.