Page One: “Norma Rae” (1979)

Screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr.

The movie version of the opening.

For the movie’s title sequence, they edited together images of the factory where Norma Rae works and photographs from her past, everything tied together by the soundtrack song which plays during the opening and closing credits It Goes Like It Goes. Here are the lyrics:

Ain’t no miracle bein’ born
People doin’ it everyday
Ain’t no miracle growin’ old
People just roll that way

So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what’s good gets a little bit better
And maybe what’s bad gets gone

Bless the child of the workin’ man
She knows too soon who she is
And bless the hands of a workin’ man
He knows his soul is his

So it goes like it goes and the river flows
And time it rolls right on
And maybe what’s good gets a little bit better
And maybe what’s bad gets gone

Yeh it goes like it goes like the river flows
And time keeps rollin’ on
And maybe what’s good gets a little bit better
And maybe what’s bad gets gone

The script sets the sequence into motion with the concept of tracking Norma Rae’s progression through life. Interestingly, do not show her being at all a rebel, rather the images are of a demure, domesticated mother and housewife from that era. Reverse engineering that decision: Don’t start the Protagonist so far down the path of her transformation, rather let her begin her journey as far away from where she ends up (psychologically) as possible.

Download the script here.

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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.

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