Eight Decades of Oscar Winning Screenplays

Ten years ago, when Oscar turned seventy years old, I was working at a video store, and was tasked to set up a display called “70 years of Oscar.” It featured every single film that had won best picture. It was a fun project, and I watched a bunch of those movies, earning myself a bit of an education in Academy Award winning films.

Tomorrow, the Oscars turn eighty years old. That means a lot of screenwriters have walked away with the golden statue. If you’re a screenwriter, or even remotely interested in screenwriting, watching the films that have won an Oscar in a writing category, and reading the screenplays would be beneficial. Watching these films and reading the screenplays is a study in screenwriting mastery. It’s also a good idea to read the books on which the adapted screenplays are based. I reviewed all the winners over the past eighty years and put together a list showcasing my favorite screenplays from each decade.

The 1920s - 1930s

The very first Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929. Ten years later, Gone with the Wind screenplay writer Sidney Howard took home the award for best screenplay. I’m glad this one is first on the list because it is one of my all time favorite movies and books. When I was growing up, there were two movies that you watched whenever they were on: Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind is also one of the few movies that’s just as good as the book, although it deviates from it quite a bit.

The 1940s

I had to watch Citizen Kane for a film studies class I took back in college, and I loved it. This is one of the earliest well known movies to explore the brain twister plot. As Charles Foster Kane dies, he utters one last word: “Rosebud.” This film tells the story of a reporter who embarks on a quest to find out what “Rosebud” meant to Kane. The ending is unforgettable. It’s no wonder this film won best screenplay in 1941. There has been much speculation that this film portrays the life of William Hearst. Citizen Kane was Orson Welles’ directorial debut. He co-wrote the film with Herman J. Mankiewicz, and he also starred in it.

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The 1950s

There’s that famous scene, right on the cover of the DVD packaging. If you ever see footage showing a man and woman rolling around in a suggestive way on the shore, being lapped by the waves (and each other), you’re either seeing a scene from the movie From Here to Eternity. This scene has been copied in films, videos, and commercials. Even if you’ve never heard of the movie, you’ll probaby recognize that one snippet of the film. Daniel Taradash took home the Oscar for best screenplay in 1953.

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The 1960s

It amazes me that just forty years ago, a movie depicting an interracial marriage caused such a fuss. But interracial marriage actually used to be illegal in the United States. In fact, it was still illegal in 17 (southern) states until the same year this film came out, just as the civil rights movement was drawing to a close in those parts. With a stellar cast and a controversial topic, this film is a must see, for its historical relevance, a great yet simple story, and incredible acting. Screenwriter William Rose won the golden statue for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner in 1967.

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The 1970s

Often, when a screenplay is adapted from a book, the filmmakers destroy the integrity of the original story, but Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman didn’t do that to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Then again, how can you go wrong when you’ve got Jack Nicholson in the lead role? This one took home the Academy Award for best screenplay adapted from other material in 1975. I read the book first, as a senior in high school, and was impressed with how well all the actors brought the characters to life on the screen. In fact, this may be one of the most perfect representations of a piece of literature translated to the big screen. I’m a huge fan. But then again, I have a penchant for stories set in psychological institutions. Read the book, watch the movie, and question your sanity!

Note: I think it’s sheer travesty that George Lucas didn’t win for Star Wars.

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The 1980s

It’s difficult for me to choose a favorite screenplay from the 80s, because this marks an era in which I have seen almost all the winning films. In fact, I remember seeing some of these screenwriters accept their awards on TV during the televised ceremony. Plus, this is my favorite decade for movies and music. I decided to choose Moonstruck, because it’s refreshing to see the Academy award a screenplay that’s a little more lighthearted. Historically, comedies and science fiction or fantasy films don’t get a whole lot of love from Oscar. But in 1987, John Patrick Shanley proved it could be done with this quirky love story.

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The 1990s

I think the 90s produced even better films than the 80s. This was by far the hardest choice, which is why we have a tie. Pulp Fiction was immediately heralded as a cult classic, both for its screenplay by Quentin Tarantino and for the innovative way that it was directed and produced. This movie enjoyed a killer cast and some original stories woven together in a way that was both entertaining and at the time, somewhat shocking. Tarantino took home the golden statue in 1994.

Another killer film from the 90s that simply must be mentioned is The Usual Suspects. I will never forget the first time I saw this movie. As the final credits started to scroll, I said, “Wow, who wrote that?” The answer is Christopher McQuarrie, and he got gold for his screenplay in 1995. If you don’t know who Keyser Söze is, then you absolutely must watch this film. But be forewarned, it’s one of those movies that loses almost all its impact if anyone tells you about the ending.

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The Last Eight Years

I have to honest here. I don’t think the past eight years have been Hollywood’s best. The difficulty in choosing a film from the 2000s is that I didn’t feel any of them were up to the standards of previous decades. I chose Crash because the screenplay is brilliant in showing that we don’t always know ourselves as well as we think we do. Although this film takes a hard look at attitudes about race in America, the deeper implications represent the way individuals experience conflict between how they feel and how they conduct themselves in society. It won the Oscar in 2005 for original screenplay by Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, and story by Paul Haggis.

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Honorable Mention

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own personal favorite. People have literally laughed in my face when I’ve said that The Breakfast Club is my favorite movie of all time, but consider this: John Hughes wrote the screenplay in just two days. The film boasts a cast of just seven actors, plus a just a couple of very minor roles and cameos during the opening sequence. The whole movie takes place in just eight hours inside one high school, and was filmed entirely in sequence. Plus, this movie will be relevant as long as there are cliques in high schools and class divisions in society. I watched this movie so many times when I was fourteen years old, that I could literally recite every single line from memory. That’s love.

Links

To check out Oscar awards, nominees, and winners, past and present, visit awardsdatabase.oscars.org.

To purchase television and motion picture scripts, visit www.simplyscripts.com.

What are some of your favorite movies? Do you differentiate from movies that originated with excellent scripts and movies that were carried out well? Have you ever seen a movie and thought that was a great screenplay, but the director and producer really botched it?

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