Giving credit where it is due
Writers come in all varieties. Playwright. Diarist. Journalist. Blogger. Novelist. Screenwriter. Ghost writer. Satirist. Poet. Memoirist. Historian. Just to name a few.
Writing is hard work. You reach inside yourself to write things that will lead culture, reinvent art, provide society with insights about the world. And what has writing done to repay writers? Not much. The world hasn’t always been kind to writers. History is full of stories of low-paid, struggling-but-brilliant writers taken advantage by unscrupulous publishers or others who try and take horn in and take credit for someone else’s blood and sweat that was poured onto the page.
When it comes to movies, writers take another beating. When a movie is released and it becomes popular, is it the writer that gets the recognition?
Nope! The fame and glory falls at the feet of the actors. Actors often get all the credit for delivering dialogue in film. Humphrey Bogart, for example,
is linked forever to the words, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." But he didn’t think up that line. He was spouting the dialogue written into the script by writers Julius Epstein, twin brother Philip Epstein (both pictured at right) and Howard Koch.(The trio won the 1943 Oscar for best screenplay for their efforts but they are not as well known as Bogie or Ingrid Bergman for their part.)
I’m
not saying that writers are better than actors. I’m saying that they have a mutually symbiotic relationship where one supports the existence of the other. I just wish the glory, fame - and paychecks - of the two parties were more evenly distributed.
Therefore, I want to give credit where credit is due for the film quotes I’ve compiled and edited for
Filmosophy: Advice from the Stars. I may write the blog entries, like this one, but the dialogue, the "filmosophical" jewels that are offered here in memes to educate and illuminate those willing to take the time to notice them, is written by often nameless, faceless writers.
Writers write. Writers make up the story or base it on actual facts. Writers breathe life into the characters. Writers move the action forward until its eventual resolution. Whether the words came from the wellspring of a novelist who also wrote the screenplay, a story that was turned into a script, or an idea that became a screenplay, a writer scribbled the words that were performed by actors and recorded on film for our amusement.
So, it is for the writers that each quote on this
Filmosophy blog is cited. Along with the film title, year of release and the character who said it, the writer(s) who put the words down on paper is credited.To the writer, we salute you!
Enjoy daily Advice from the Stars
Filmosophy is a compilation of carefully collected lessons in life and eternal truths. Told to us via
the medium of film, we've artfully appointed them as memes and made them available here for you to enjoy. If you like what you see in this weekly newsletter, tell your friends to subscribe to FilmosophyAdvice@gmail.com. They'll receive e-Advice from the Stars delivered to their inbox every Wednesday to help them make it through their week. You can also visit us on Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr or our website at www.filmosophy.us.
Tell us your story! Have you received good Advice from a Star? What difference did it make in your life? When life gets you down, what films do you watch to pick yourself up again? What film restores your calmness and composure, validates your belief system or gives you the inspiration to go on another day? We'd love to hear your suggestions, at FilmosophyAdvice@gmail.com, and share them with other filmosophers.
