Page One: “Rio Bravo” (1959)

Screenplay by Jules Furthman and Leigh Brackett, short story by B.H. McCampbell

A trailer for the movie:

Periodic reminder: Screenplay format constantly evolves. The style in Rio Bravo reflects a time when there was no such thing as a writer’s draft / spec script. This is a shooting script / production draft which — back in the day — may have included specific camera shots. The custom nowadays is to avoid directing jargon.

Also, note how long the paragraphs of scene description are in the Rio Bravo script. Again, not the convention in contemporary scripts which look more like this:

Which is to say — AGAIN! — there are no screenwriting rules! There are conventions, even expectations. But our job as the writer is to put onto the page the most entertaining and readable version of our story.

You may read the screenplay for Rio Bravo here.

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY!

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.

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