What do you think?
Rate this book
What Price Hollywood?
The complete and final screen play for the RKO film.
Paperback
First published October 1, 1984
5 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 11, 2020
The original "A Star is Born" produced in 1932 at RKO. Later the source material (without credit) for four remakes, including director Cukor's own famous 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason.
A Hollywood story: waitress Mary Evans dreams of becoming a movie star, is assisted by famous director Max Carey but their paths take different directions as she reaches for the stars as his career plummets due to alcoholism. In the later version of this story, characters and plot vary a little.
The writing credits on this film are quite confusing.
The original story was by Adela Rogers St. John.
Adaptation by Gene Fowler and Rowland Brown.
Screenplay by Jane Murfin and Ben Markson.
An investigation by the Writers Branch of the Academy judged that Jane Murfin deserved co-credit for the story but in the end, only Adela Rogers St. John was nominated for the Best Original Story Academy Award, 1931-1932. The Branch also judged that Robert Presnell should have received a credit for co-writing the adaptation. (Age old Hollywood story in more ways than one!)
Directed by George Cukor. Produced by David O. Selznick.
Starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton and Gregory Ratoff.
It is believed that Clara Bow was to play Mary in her proposed comeback film. William A. Seiter was also listed as director and actors mentioned to play opposite Constance Bennett: Joel McCrea and Bruce Cabot. Apparently the Lowell Sherman character was modelled on Sherman himself, a known alcoholic and also the silent film director Marshall Neilan, who too suffered from alcoholism. Sherman, himself a director ("Morning Glory"/"She Done Him Wrong" etc.) was John Barrymore's brother-in-law who was also an inspiration for the character.
Wow! Lot of bizarre background material. Just read the script/see the film - well worth the effort to see how this original story turned into so many revamps. This is a good film although my personal favourite "A Star is Born" is the 1937 one starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March and also produced by David O. Selznick but for his own company - with no credit given to the original. The RKO legal department suggested the studio file a plagiarism suit against Selznick International Pictures but it appears that may never have been followed through.
85 pages plus 16 pages of film stills.
A Hollywood story: waitress Mary Evans dreams of becoming a movie star, is assisted by famous director Max Carey but their paths take different directions as she reaches for the stars as his career plummets due to alcoholism. In the later version of this story, characters and plot vary a little.
The writing credits on this film are quite confusing.
The original story was by Adela Rogers St. John.
Adaptation by Gene Fowler and Rowland Brown.
Screenplay by Jane Murfin and Ben Markson.
An investigation by the Writers Branch of the Academy judged that Jane Murfin deserved co-credit for the story but in the end, only Adela Rogers St. John was nominated for the Best Original Story Academy Award, 1931-1932. The Branch also judged that Robert Presnell should have received a credit for co-writing the adaptation. (Age old Hollywood story in more ways than one!)
Directed by George Cukor. Produced by David O. Selznick.
Starring Constance Bennett, Lowell Sherman, Neil Hamilton and Gregory Ratoff.
It is believed that Clara Bow was to play Mary in her proposed comeback film. William A. Seiter was also listed as director and actors mentioned to play opposite Constance Bennett: Joel McCrea and Bruce Cabot. Apparently the Lowell Sherman character was modelled on Sherman himself, a known alcoholic and also the silent film director Marshall Neilan, who too suffered from alcoholism. Sherman, himself a director ("Morning Glory"/"She Done Him Wrong" etc.) was John Barrymore's brother-in-law who was also an inspiration for the character.
Wow! Lot of bizarre background material. Just read the script/see the film - well worth the effort to see how this original story turned into so many revamps. This is a good film although my personal favourite "A Star is Born" is the 1937 one starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March and also produced by David O. Selznick but for his own company - with no credit given to the original. The RKO legal department suggested the studio file a plagiarism suit against Selznick International Pictures but it appears that may never have been followed through.
85 pages plus 16 pages of film stills.
April 22, 2020
I was interested in reading the screenplay after watching the film, which deserves to be more than a footnote to A Star is Born. Widely considered the first film to try and depict the reality of Hollywood, What Price Hollywood charts the rise of a young actress and the descent of the director who discovers her.
The film is tighter than the screenplay, and I’m glad I read the screenplay to see the transformation from page to screen. Recommended.
The film is tighter than the screenplay, and I’m glad I read the screenplay to see the transformation from page to screen. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews