About the 101 Greatest Screenplays List
The Godfather, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Chinatown, Schindler’s List – the greatest films of all time have one thing in common: each began as the vision of a writer. Long before the parts were cast and the cameras rolled, a writer gazed upon a blank page and set in motion a classic story. For the first time ever, the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) are celebrating the best screenwriters and their timeless works with the release of the 101 Greatest Screenplays list.
101 Greatest Screenplays compiles the finest achievements in film writing, as voted upon by professional film and television writers. In the summer of 2005, ballots were sent out asking Writers Guild members to list up to ten of their favorite produced screenplays. Any film, past or present, English-language or otherwise, was eligible. The resulting list is like a travelogue of the greatest films of the century, with all decades from the 1930s on represented among the rankings.
Like a composer of a classic symphony or an author of a beloved novel, the most memorable and moving pictures would not exist without their principal architect: the screenwriter. Too often classic films are linked only to their stars or directors, overlooking the original artists who first put pen to paper – or more recently keyboard to laptop – to create the kind of enduring works that have entertained and inspired generations of movie-going audiences around the globe. 101 Greatest Screenplays will finally set the record straight by celebrating the best in film writing and bringing recognition to the wizards behind the curtain: the men and women who wrote the greatest films of all time.