Page One: “M*A*S*H” (1970)

Screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr., based on a novel by Richard Hooker

A trailer for the movie:

Legend has it that 20th Century Fox hated the movie and tried to bury it. Somehow a print ended up in San Francisco for a film festival. The audience went crazy for it. Based on that, the studio agreed to release the film. The rest, as they say, is history.

Page One is a daily Go Into The Story series featuring the first page of notable movie scripts from the classic era to contemporary times. Comparing them is an excellent way to study a variety of writing styles and see how professional writers start a story.

For more Page One posts, go here.

You may follow the daily conversation on Twitter as I cross-post there: @GoIntoTheStory.