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5 Greatest Screenwriters of All Time? by Guest Blogger Danny Munso - Creative Screenwriting Magazine

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

This is certainly a difficult question to answer because of the sheer number of choices and the vagueness of the criteria. Everyone who you ask will give you different answers, and I thought long and hard before narrowing my list down to these five (actually six) individuals.

Any great screenwriter list must start with Woody Allen, who remains prolific to this very date. His work in the seventies remains seminal with films like Annie Hall and Manhattan deftly blending comedy and drama into one tight package. His work since then has been more hit-and-miss, but has always included strong movies like Deconstructing Harry, Match Point, this year’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and the crown jewel of his screenplays: 1985’s Hannah and Her Sisters. It may be hard to remember now, but Allen’s work was and still is revolutionary.

One of the founding fathers of Allen’s best work was the great Billy Wilder, who will go down as one of the great directors of all-time, but should not be ignored for his writing capabilities. He had a hand in penning almost all of his classic oeuvre: Sunset Blvd., Some Like It Hot, Double Indemnity, The Apartment – do I need to continue?

It may be cliché, but I would add Quentin Tarantino to the list as well, if only for his rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and use of non-linear structure in his writing. His script for the upcoming Inglorious Bastards is some of his best work, and maybe the misstep of Death Proof is truly behind him. The Coen Brothers – Joel and Ethan – have proven to be masters of finding comedy is the darkest of places and with last year’s No Country For Old Men, finally proved that they could also make a deadly serious film.

Finally, no list of great screenwriters is complete with William Goldman, probably the only individual who almost everyone can agree should be included here. His adaptation of All the President’s Men is legendary, but it’s the feel-good buddy story Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and the timeless charms of The Princess Bride that will be his legacy. He is simply the best.

They are too green to be included, but I wouldn’t be surprised if two individuals who are doing their best work right now find a way to be mentioned in this space a decade down the line: Peter Morgan and Christopher Nolan.

I also would like to make special mention of two television writing duos, who revolutionized the medium in their own times. Larry David & Jerry Seinfeld helped turn “nothing” into entertainment, and Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant who’s work on The Office inspired countless copycats – both on the big screen as well as the small.

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