The screen writer (Apr-Oct 1948)

Leonard Spigelgass (Continued from Page 11) a number that had broken even, and four miserable, dire failures. Over the years, he'd worked hard, given money's worth, accommodated himself to studio needs, been, in general, a good boy. Nobody could say he wasn't a part of the industry on record, performance, and tenure of office. Yet nobody asked him what was wrong with the picture business. Nobody ever said, "Mr. Clews, you've written a bunch of scripts. You're an old hand at plots and dialogue, and conferences. Anything bothering you, bud? Got any suggestions?" He wondered what he'd say to that, and, in free association, the face of Mr. Brady came to him, and then, in quick succession, the face of Mr. Cafferty, and the face of Mr. Gort, who, at that very moment, was on Stage 14 directing Miss Lind in a scene from his last script, and, of course, the face of Miss Lind. And there followed a lot of faces that weren't Mr. Brady's, Mr. Cafferty's, Mr. Gort's, or Miss Lind's, but who, in his life, had occupied identical relationships. And the faces were full of talk! talk! talk! yat-a-tat-yat-a-tatyat-a-tat. And they blurred and became indistinct, and a great moment of clarity came over Mr. Clews. He could save the industry fortunes. He could get up now and go to the Big Producer Lunch, and say, "Gentlemen, I've got a way to shave script costs, and prevent them from piling upon shelves. It's so simple, gentlemen, a kind of magic. Just," and he would smile, as he said this, to show that his heart was full, not of personal rancor, but good will, "just tell the writer who his boss is." TTE could go on. He could point to -*• -*-what he was doing now. He and Mr. Brady had come to a meeting of minds, and would do a script. Then it would go to Mr. Cafferty who would hate it, and demand changes. Then he would go to Mr. Gort (if not Gort, another Gort) who would disagree with Brady, and Cafferty, and demand other changes. Then, freshly mimeographed and polished, it would go to Miss Lind, who would demand more changes. Why didn't it go to Miss Lind in the first place? Weeks, months, saved. Or to Mr. Gort, in the first place? Or, Mr. Cafferty in the first place? How simple. How beautifully, wonderfully simple. Decide who the boss is. Put the writer with him. A fresh enthusiastic writer, working with a fresh enthusiastic boss, firmly, decisively, perhaps even with inspiration. Dear, dear, God, what money saved, what crispness retained, what joy-in-work revised! A/TR. CLEWS smiled to himself, "^v-*-and almost decided to get up from the couch. But, in an instant, he let his head fall back on the pillow. What business was it of his? Mr. Brady, Mr. Cafferty, and Miss Lind, and NewT York, were all smarter than he. They knew what they were doing. If they wanted a script to take six months to write, when it could be done in three, surely that was their affair. What did he know about it, after all? He was only the writer. He tasted the curry ravioli in his mouth, and felt the warmth of the August afternoon, and thought he would write a piece about it for The Screen Writer, and decided not to, and dozed. Hugh MacMullan {Continued from Page 13) fying films. But we find we can better achieve our purpose if we rely on ourselves, looking inward to see what our needs are, rather than in hopefully opening our morning packages. This is not as it should be — it is not the wray we would like it — and it certainly ignores the freelance writer who, from the top of Laurel Canyon, hopes to see his work eventually projected on a screen. HUGH MacMULLAK, currently story editor for National Pictures and lecturer in Theatre Arts {Motion P'ctures) at U.C.L.A. As Lt. Cmdr., USNR, writer director and producer of many Navy films. Formerly dialogue director Warner Bros., and assistant to Jacob IVilk. ^.* v° ^ $J* CRestview 6-5108 Typing or Mimeographing Scripts WRIGHT-O Est. 1921 6233 HOLLYWOOD BLVD. HEmpstead 1131 * For Your Book Wants . . . WEPPLOS BOOK MARKET In the Farmers Market (3rd & Fairfax) We have a complete stock of new, used, art and children's books Phone us your wants — WH 1813 Open 9:00 thru 6:00 -daily except Sunday A contentious man will never lack words. — John Jewel Your own reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you are answerable for, not the rightness, but the uprightness of your decision. — Thomas Jefferson The Moore Company 7057-59 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood 28, California . . . Since 1921 . . . Hollywood's Leading Dry Cleaning Stylists , P 1 CK W ICK BOO KSHOP TxW the biz bookshop of Hollywood C743 Hollywood Blvd. HOIIywood 8191 Evenings till 10 The Screen Writer, September, 1948 :o