Page One: “Some Like It Hot” (1959)

Screenplay by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond, suggested by a story by Robert Thoeren and Michael Logan

The movie version of the opening:

Wilder’s scripts almost always featured a trend we see in contemporary screenplays: use paragraphs of scene description to suggest individual camera shots. Read Page One above and put on your director’s hat. You can “see” each shot as detailed in each paragraph.

You may download the screenplay 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.

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