Reading screenplays - the highs

Logan's Run was pretty good. It took a moment to figure out where I was, because at first I read Logan's Run and thought Silent Running. Then, realizing that instead of plants there is a girl, I was thinking maybe Deadlock, but no, this was it's own thing. Having a lot of titles and synopses in your head is okay, but being able to string them together appropriately is nice.

For the most part, reading the screenplays for movies I had seen was good, but it was not significantly better than reading the screenplays for unseen movies. Knowing the story in advance made watching it unfold different, but not less interesting. I don't know if this is a general rule or a personality trait, because I'm not usually spoiler-averse anyway. Really, the main rule of how much I enjoyed the reading seems to be simply how well-written the script was, as a combination of the tale and the telling.

Based on that, I found Ordinary People really moving. Reading Airplane! was fun, and it is interesting to remember that someone actually has to go through and imagine all of those gags happening, and write them out, just like you would with serious action. I loved the Mystery Men movie, but I didn't love the draft I read; the character and plot changes that they made were good ones, and a lot of that was giving it more heart.

The best one was a movie I had never even heard of: Call Northside 777. It came up as the script of the day on one site, but only part 1.

I thought that was odd - it didn't seem to be an unusually long movie - but it was like that on both sites, so probably a result of how it got scanned in. Kind of curious, I started reading, and found this title card for when the opening credits fade:

"The events and characters depicted in this photoplay are not fictional, and any similarity with actual persons, either living or dead, is intentional."

That was a little different. Looking it up, I saw that it was based on a real case, with real people in jail for a murder they did not commit. The title refers to an ad placed by the mother of one of the convicted men, who has been working continually and adding to a fund to offer a reward for information on the murder. A newspaper editor sees the ad, sends a reporter after it, and that's how the film starts.

In the movie itself you do see the son released, but the other man is still in jail. That made the ending a little melodramatic:

NARRATOR'S VOICE

"But Tomek Zaleska is still in prison. As recently as March 15, 1947, his application for pardon was denied. Yet, he was convicted in the same trial, and on the same testimony which sent Frank Wiecek to prison. Is he guilty? Or should he, like Frank Wiecek, be adjudged innocent? Only he knows - he and perhaps, WANDA SKUTNIK!"

This movie was made not just to be entertaining, but to get him released. That happened in 1950, after being convicted in December 1932.

The case was interesting because of that, and also because of how relevant it still is. You still have suspects in Chicago being taken to multiple locations without documentation. Many aspects of the criminal justice system are similar, though I think the single eyewitness might be easier to refute today.

In addition, it was a great read for little touches that felt real. As they describe the reporter being called to his editor, I felt the reality of the newspaper offices - that this was written by someone familiar with that setting, and fond of it. I felt it more there than with All the President's Men.

It's also worth noting that I saw early that the reporter was played by Jimmy Stewart, and I could then hear everything in his voice. That enriched it, but it was already a really good script.

The draft I read was by Jay Dratler, and he appears to have worked more in television after this. I haven't seen a lot of his work, but I would try it, based on this alone. I'd read more of his work for sure.

And there probably will be more occasional screen reading going forward. One daily is onerous, but it was a good correction for having gone a long time without reading any.