Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures In The Screen Trade (2001) - Plot & Excerpts
I'll start this off by saying I love movies penned by William Goldman.I'll also say that, for my money, the novel of The Princess Bride is funnier than the movie.So with those two things in mind, join me as I walk through the economically depressed streets of San Pedro, CA. I'm there with a friend, killing time while we wait for the Lovecraft Festival to start up and next door to the (soon-to-be) crowded Whale and Ale Pub is a little bookshop that's just about to close down. Our presence convinces the owner to keep it open just a few minutes longer as we peruse the few shelves of books. I look around and see a few things that intrigue me ... but nothing that fascinates me until I come across this book. In hardcover. For $4. I don't feel the need right now, so my friends and I thank the man and head over for a slap-dashed dinner and Lovecraftian horror.Still there's this book in the back of my mind.I glanced inside the cover. I knew that there would be interesting tidbits about the writing of The Princess Bride , both the movies and the book. Also discussed is one of my favorite horror films of all time, "Misery." And there's that quality I associate with the name (yes, even "The Stepford Wives" I liked). The next day, my friends and I wander the streets again, and I notice just how economically depressed the city is. There are almost as many storefronts closed as there are open (if anything, the former might outnumber the latter), and those that are open and busy are of the "thrift" variety. The rest are just open. Even Art Galleries with chimes on the door have no one working ... not even a security guard as my friends and I enter. So I return to the little independent bookstore just to purchase this book that has sown seeds in my head. And I'm glad I did.Broken up into four parts, Which Lie Did I Tell is the sequel to Adventures in Screenwriting, a book I did not know existed and have not read. It begins right where the last one ended ... right as Goldman begins a dry spell in Hollywoodland. This is a time when no screenplay he writes gets greenlit and those are the few times he's able to write anything. This first part discusses the dry spell and the (major) movies that followed: "The Princess Bride", "Misery", "The Year Of The Comet", "Maverick", "The Ghost and the Darkness" and "Absolute Power". This section is full of backdoor Hollywood "how did it get made" stories ... the type of thing I LOVE reading. Goldman is amazing at this type of thing.The second part is an analysis of six scenes (well, seven, but six movies). This part is all about the writing of these scenes, why they work and - sometimes - why they were written. This section spoke to the (aspiring? dying?) writer in me; craft discussed all over the place, what does it mean to write, how is structure affected by the scenes we write (or don't write) ... a writer's dream. The third part is a selection of story ideas. So we've gone from credentials (Part 1) to analysis (Part 2) to formulation and possible concept creation. In Part 3, he also discusses limitations. Why doesn't William Goldman just write the screenplays discussed in this section? Well, cause they aren't his bag, baby. He can be inspired by them, but he can also see the difficulties inherent in bringing some of these to the screen (ageism in Hollywood, too much repetition with too little variation, etc.). Still, he doesn't think they are impossible to bring to the screen ... just not things he is willing to attempt. Again, we get a smattering of craft and backdoor Hollywood gossip intermixed with the interesting concept of "when inspiration strikes and what's left is silver".The book ends with an exercise of sorts for the fourth part. A screenplay (first draft) written exclusively for the book called "The Big A." First off, it's incomplete with a great deal of the screenplay written as notes and such (and with William Goldman being a bit more of a seller than storyteller ... with reason). Second off, it's a rather poor screenplay. The exercise is, what would make it better? What is worth keeping and what should be excised? Where did you get excited and visualize the imagery and where did you throw the book across the room with boredom. As a way to further help his readers (and this book is geared towards the aspiring Screenplay Writer, completely), he sent this script to five screenplay writers for them to tear apart. The five are (in order of presentation): Peter and Bobby Farrelly (this book was printed right after the success of "There's Something About Mary" when the two were lauded as amazing comedy writers ... something they haven't quite lived up to since), Scott Frank ("Get Shorty", "Out of Sight" and "Minority Report"), Tony Gilroy ("The Cutting Edge" and "Dolores Claiborne" which is, btw, almost as good as "Misery"), Callie Khouri ("Thelma and Louise") and John Patrick Shanley ("Moonstruck"). What they have to say about the draft is just as interesting as everything that came before.So I'm glad I returned to the little bookshop. I'm glad I picked up this book. I'm really glad I read it. And even if I'm not the intended audience (Screenplay Writer), this has changed the way I watch movies and been an engrossing read. Worth seeking out, especially if you like Goldman's flicks.
Two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter Goldman follows up his irreverent, gossipy and indispensable screenwriting bible, "Adventures in the Screen Trade" (1983), with this equally wise, tart and very funny account of the filmmaking process. He begins with the surprising admission that he was a "leper" in Hollywood between 1980 and 1985: after MAGIC (1978), he was unable to get any screenplays produced until THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987). (Moviegoers' loss was readers' gain: during those years he wrote six novels.) Wildly opinionated ("VERTIGO--for me, the most overrated movie of all time") but astute, Goldman is a 35-year industry veteran with lots of tales and a knack for spinning them. He knows how to captivate his audience, peppering his philosophical advice with star-studded anecdotes. Whether he's detailing why virtually every leading actor turned down the lead in MISERY before James Caan offered to be drug-tested to get the part, or how Michael Douglas was the perfect producer but the wrong actor for THE GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, Goldman offers keen observations in a chatty style. In the last section of the book, he gamely offers readers a rough first draft of an original screenplay. Even more bravely, he includes instructive, intuitive and sometimes scathing critiques by fellow screenwriters, including Peter and Bobby Farrelly (There's Something About Mary), Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise) and John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck). Movie buffs of all stripes, even those with no interest in writing for the screen, will enjoy this sublimely entertaining adventure.
What do You think about Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures In The Screen Trade (2001)?
I spent only a month studying screenwriting in Hollywood, CA, but I'll tell ya - this book is SPOT ON. A must-read for anyone interested in show *business.* Most tellingly, his description of the arrogance of actors is, unfortunately, quite true. (I'm a theatre director, and while's it not half as bad in live theatre, there's still an element of diva/o in the lowest chorus member!) Even if you have no interest in the inner workings of screenwriting, do pick up this book merely for the joy of Goldman's humorous look on life!
—Emily Snyder
I'm a great admirer of William Goldman's imagination and skill. After all, what bad can you say about the man who wrote "The Princess Bride," "Marathon Man" and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?" Still, as many good anecdotes as this had and as good a writer as he is, this book is sort of an uncomfortable mishmash between autobiography and a how-to book for aspiring screenwriters. It could be of more interest to anyone interested in the writing craft, but for a general audience, less compelling.
—Mark
William Goldman's (his name might sound familiar because he's the author of the book The Princess Bride, and the film's screenplay) follow-up to Adventures in the Screentrade, Which Lie Did I Tell, covers his works post-1982 such as The Princess Bride, Misery and The Ghost and the Darkness. While 'Adventures' is about the happy accidents and why no one really knows anything about how to make movie magic, 'Lie' is a great book about making choices and where to go from there. I can apply his stories to most things about writing that I've read since. Other things, too. Best of all, it's written as no-nonsense conversational style and the best teacher you've ever had voice. It's probably the most personal thing I've ever read about the loneliness of sitting down by yourself and putting something down on blank paper (or screen, whatever). It's not alone when you've got all this that came before you to look back on.('Adventure' pissed off tons of big movie people and pretty much fizzled out his career. Goldman went from writing the big ones like All the President's Men and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to not much of anything. That he wrote this second book anyway is pretty cool in my book. The man genuinely loves storytelling. [Of course he does, he wrote The Princess Bride.])Time has passed and my memory blurs some of the two books together. The 'Butch Cassidy' parts were from the first book, The Princess Bride novel for 'Adventures' and the screenplay for 'Lie', A Bridge Too Far for 'Screentrade' (I've never seen the movie)... I've already reviewed 'Adventures' so I'll just include the rest of my thoughts for this book. (These are not well known books on gr, I've gathered.) How Goldman came up with the ideas for scripts from real events such as Butch Cassidy, the homosexual maneating lions from The Ghost and the Darkness (Michael Douglas would probably be one of the people pissed off by Goldman's book. Boy, does he ever come across as a douche bag), and set down to adapting them for the screen made me think about other stories based on real events, the choices the authors make, relying or not on just what actually happened, finding what was interesting about it in the first place (the Tsavo lions, for example. That wasn't natural, happens every day lion behavior). Choosing which aspect to focus on a story out of a big picture like with the 'Bridge' screenplay. These are all things that anyone wishing to write a story should take into account. Goldman doesn't write a how-to guide but gives you something you can use. He uses his own experiences as examples, and teaches by the benefit of experience. Goldman is a bona fide raconteur, so his stories are amusing and readable, no matter the interest in finding producers, or the money behind the scenes falling apart. [I gotta wonder when Hollywood is going to run out of inspirational true-to-life sports stories. When they do, Mark Wahlberg's career is over.]The account of the death of his friend Andre the Giant (Fezzick from 'Princess' film) was very sad. That Goldman deeply loved the man I have no doubt. (Sniffles. I'm not crying!) I read a gr friends review on 'Princess' that said that Goldman could come off as full of himself, but I have to disagree on that. His comments about his wife in the additional 'Princess' texts came off as the distantly personal jokes a comedian would make about people they know (one could also consider that the two are not married any longer), but when it comes to stories Goldman is all heart. That's why his examples are not your average "don't do this or that" but relatable 'cause I recognized why I loved the good stuff to begin with.(I didn't realize that playwright James Goldman [writer of The Lion in Winter] was his brother until reading his screenwriting books. Amazing.)
—Mariel
