Casablanca Script. What script?!

[Thomas_E_SP]

OK, you know how Robert Mckee's always saying that Casablanca is the best script ever written ( there's even a joke about it in Adaptation ) ?
Well, listen to what drew's script-o-rama's screenplay for Casablanca starts with:
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Casablanca

When production began the script was only half completed, near the end of the production the script was literally being written the night before, and in the final days of filming, the dialogue for some scenes was written while shooting was actually in progress and then rushed to the set. Dialogue for the final seconds of the film was even added well after production had been completed.

It is therefore accurate to say that no complete production script for Casablanca exists. The script that follows is therefore a synthesis of extant versions of the shooting script, the continuity script, and a close analysis of the finished film.
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Don't know what to say...

 

[Zig_Zigman]

Sometimes, in the speed of necessity, you get lucky.

 

[Policar]

McKee also writes that a good script is never "written over the weekend" but instead over the course of six months to a year.

He also goes on about how great the ending to Chinatown is and praises that aspect of the script particularly, though Towne wanted an upbeat ending and Polanski was the only reason the ending was what it was.

Anyhow, I'm reading his book and I love it, all the same. His ideas are nothing new, but he explains things so clearly.

 

[Thomas_E_SP]

Right, I've read and re-read his book. And I believe it stands out as one of the very best books about screenwriting/ movies out there, and it's fun to read. And Casablanca is indeed a "good story well told". And Chinatown is a masterpiece of its genre.

I just found it curious.

By the way, does anyone know if he has published something new ( I'd love to read his take on some of the latest movies )?

 

[Jim Brennan]

Casablanca is a rare example of a soup with many chefs that still tastes good. Based on a play (Everybody Comes to Rick's), a number of screenwriters threw in their efforts to get the movie finished. The Epsteins finished their version only days before principal photography began, and Howard Koch was still working on his draft weeks after shooting started. All of them, and by some accounts others as well, continued revisions through out the shooting. One of the major concerns was the ending: There were fears that the censors would not allow release if Ilsa and Rick wound up together, since Ilsa was still married to Victor.

As much as this script is lauded, it was passed around holywood in the 80's under it's original title. Many readers said it wasn't very good. Quite a number didn't even recognize it. Can you imagine?