“In speaking of the necessity for writing in emotional terms, I do not mean that the characters must at all times be either in a rage, or in fear, or in horror, or passionately in love, or under some strong stress. The lighter shades of emotion often are preferable. Emotion is susceptible of many gradations and colors, and very infrequently needs to be expressed by violent gestures and wild outbursts of speech. As a matter of fact, unless the characterization demands such action, far better effects are secured by a more subtle, a more retrained expression. Restraint may give power to a story or to acting. In A Star is Born (1936) the rise of one motion-picture star and the fall of another was presented with such admirable restraint that it became a poignant picturization of human life such as never achieved by the usual story of stage or studio life tinseled and sensational scenes.”
Screenwriter Frances Marion (Stella Dallas)
How to Write and Sell Film Stories (1937)
Page 156
Frances Marion on Emotion (Part 3)
March 20, 2019 by Scott W. Smith