Yesterday I mentioned that one of the 100 plus writing credits for screenwriter Jules Furthman (1888—1966) was To Have and Have Not. There were a few hands in that pot; The novel was written by Ernest Hemingway, Howard Hawk directed the movie that starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and novelist William Faulkner is credited alongside Furthman on the screenplay, and IMDB lists Cleve F. Adams and Whitman Chambers as doing uncredited work on the script. But regardless of who gets the credit, the following scene from that movie goes down as one of Hollywood’s greatest:
AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes has Bacall’s line, “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow,” as #34. Right after, “I’ll have what she’s having” (from When Harry Met Sally) and right before the line in JAWS, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Kickstarter Update: Later tonight is the end of my Kickstarter campaign to attempt to raise money to get Screenwriting from Iowa turned into a book with your help. Your help is appreciated, and I’m not saying the goal can’t be met, but I am already working on my post for tomorrow called, “Spectacular Failures.” If you’d like to participate in the greatest comeback victory since the Dillon Panthers won the state title in the first season of Friday Night Lights click here.
Hi my name is Sade Greene and I am an aspiring dramatic writer. I just wanted to comment on the fact that although I really like your blog I must say that I disagree with the comment that Steve made about focusing on the possible negative aspects of becoming a screenwriter. I feel that thinking this way only leads to a self defeating attitude and giving in to an already morally ailing culture fixated on amassing fortunes and accumulating material objects. Any career that is worthwhile comes with a great deal of hard work whether it is being a doctor, lawyer or engineer. Careers considered very lucrative and “easier” to break into such as becoming a financial analyst requires that you have a natural ability for numbers and equations and the connections to gain a position at a prestigious firm such as Goldman Sachs. I know a person who has their own engineering business and while they are very financially stable they are not millionaires. It is very difficult, especially now in our American society to attain that level or wealth whether or not you choose to be a screenwriter. The main focus should be on planning smart when navigating through your career path. The figures you mentioned for selling your screenplay could very well be used to invest or set aside to start your own company. I for one want screenwriting to an aspect of my career aspirations in the film industry. While practicing writing dialogue and spec scripts, I am planning on going back to graduate school to get an MFA and MBA. I hear that Tisch NYU has a dual MFA/MBA program but I do not mind taking them one at a time if I am not accepted into this program. I would like to focus on the distribution aspect of the film industry and concentrate on having a career in that while I write spec scripts since I have always had a busy schedule and managed to write because writing is something that I love to do. I apologize if this response has a defiant twinge to it but I will not allow myself to buy into negative thinking. Just as will Smith said, “I will keep running on this treadmill and the only way I will get off this treadmill before the next person is if I die and they have to drag me off.”