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Gosford Park: The Shooting Script
"Set in a magnificent country estate in 1932 Britain, Gosford Park is part comedy of manners and part mystery. The film is a moving portrait of events that bridge generations, class, sex, tragic personal histories - and culminate in a murder. Ultimately revealing the intricate relations of the above- and below-stairs worlds with great clarity, Gosford Park illuminates a society and way of life quickly coming to an end." In the acclaimed Newmarket Shooting Script Series format, the book contains a facsimile of the script with an introduction by director Robert Altman, an afterword by screenwriter Julian Fellowes, stills from the film, and full cast and crew credits.
180 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2002
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About the author
Julian Fellowes
62 books1,519 followersJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes (Baron Fellowes of West Stafford), DL. English actor, novelist, screenwriter, and director.
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
Fellowes is the youngest son of Peregrine Fellowes (a diplomat and Arabist who campaigned to have Haile Selassie restored to his throne during World War II). Julian inherited the title of Lord of the Manor of Tattershall from his father, making him the fourth Fellowes to hold it. He was educated at Ampleforth College, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
He played the part of Lord Kilwillie in the television series 'Monarch of the Glen.' Other notable acting roles included the part of Claud Seabrook in the acclaimed 1996 BBC drama serial 'Our Friends in the North.' He has twice notably portrayed George IV as the Prince Regent in the 1982 television version of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' and the 1996 adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's novel 'Sharpe's Regiment.'
He wrote the screenplay for 'Gosford Park,' directed by Robert Altman, for which he won an Oscar for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen in 2002.
His novel 'Snobs' was published in 2004. It focused on the social nuances of the upper class. Fellowes has described himself as coming from the "rock bottom end of the top", and drew on his knowledge of Society to paint a detailed portrait of the behaviour and snobbery of the upper class. 'Snobs' was a Sunday Times Best Seller and has now been published in many countries.
In the 1970s he also wrote romantic novels, using the names Rebecca Greville and Alexander Morant.
He launched a new series on BBC One in 2004, 'Julian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder,' which he wrote and also introduced on screen.
He also penned the script to the current West End musical 'Mary Poppins,' produced by Cameron Mackintosh and Disney, which opened on Broadway in December 2006.
In late 2005 Fellowes made his directorial debut with the film 'Separate Lies.'
He is the presenter of 'Never Mind the Full Stops,' a panel-based gameshow transmitted on BBC Four from mid-2006.
On 28 April 1990, he married Emma Joy Kitchener (a Lady-in-Waiting to Princess Michael of Kent, and great-great-niece of the 1st Earl Kitchener) and assumed the name Kitchener-Fellowes by deed enrolled with the College of Arms in 1998.
{Wikipedia}
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 29, 2022
I've seen this movie twice and I'm embarrassed to say that I completely missed one of the subplots. Loved this script and how the story sails along over a river of witty dialogue.
June 13, 2019
If you were intrigued by this film but couldn't follow all of the complicated sub-plots and nuances of action, this shooting script is helpful. Pretty much all of the movie is in this script, but some of the script ended up on the cutting-room floor. Even so, the deleted scenes fill in some of the blanks. Recommendation: watch the movie, read the script, then watch the movie again. The acting, especially by the women, is complex and strong. They appear to be less powerful than the men, so have to communicate by eye, gesture, body language, and innuendo. The men, however, whose appetites are base and simple, are so wrapped up in themselves that they miss that they are the ones in the back seats and that it is the women who are driving.
June 27, 2010
The book was just okay . . . this is one of those situations where the movie was able to bring to life what the written page failed to produce.
February 12, 2017
For anyone interested in the mechanics of dialogue in a screenplay, this is the read for you.
January 26, 2021
This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite films, and was the very one which spurned my love of the period piece. There are so many layers, so many interesting subplots, so many wonderful characters and sets, that there's every single reason for a re-watch to see what you've missed - and trust me, there have been several re-watches for me.
I actually had the film on and read along with the shooting script, and it was an awesome experience to see the changes made, as well as receive further insights on characters and events that couldn't fit into the final product.
A criminally underrated story.
I actually had the film on and read along with the shooting script, and it was an awesome experience to see the changes made, as well as receive further insights on characters and events that couldn't fit into the final product.
A criminally underrated story.
August 21, 2018
This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite movies, and I was SO excited to get my hands on the shooting script. The dialogue that Fellowes has created is full of upstairs/downstairs hilarity, and feels so natural and flows so well, that it is not hard to imagine that this was a phenomenal piece of film.
Honestly, everyone should see Gosford Park.
Honestly, everyone should see Gosford Park.
January 22, 2026
utterly fascinating!
April 9, 2016
I saw the movie, and I think it is a film worth seeing several times. I'm also a fan of Downton Abbey and have bought and read the first three scripts of that series. (I enjoyed particularly the comments he made about his family, particularly his Edwardian great-aunts, and how things were still "done" and "not done" in stately homes during the interwar period.) I had hoped that Mr. Fellowes would have done something of the same in the shooting script of Gosford Park. He didn't, but that was my only disappointment.
In my opinion Gosford Park is an amalgam of an Agatha Christie mystery novel, an episode of "Upstairs / Downstairs", and a Jeeves novel by P. G. Wodehouse. Perhaps it was Stephen Fry [Jeeves & Wooster] as the inspector that makes me think of the latter, but the film was set at the time and in the place Bertie Wooster and his valet would have known well - the English country house of the early 1930's. All fun for me, a fan of all three parts of the amalgam.
The script is worth the read, but watching the movie is better.
In my opinion Gosford Park is an amalgam of an Agatha Christie mystery novel, an episode of "Upstairs / Downstairs", and a Jeeves novel by P. G. Wodehouse. Perhaps it was Stephen Fry [Jeeves & Wooster] as the inspector that makes me think of the latter, but the film was set at the time and in the place Bertie Wooster and his valet would have known well - the English country house of the early 1930's. All fun for me, a fan of all three parts of the amalgam.
The script is worth the read, but watching the movie is better.
December 31, 2010
Published by Newmarket Press in 2002, Gosford Park: The Shooting Script is just one title in the Newmarket Shooting Script Series. However, the series title is misleading. Readers picking up one of these volumes and expecting to find a popcorn version of The Waste Land: A Facsimile and Transcript of the Original Drafts Including the Annotations of Ezra Pound will be disappointed.
I reviewed this book for both Green Man Review and The Sleeping Hedgehog. My full review can be read here
I reviewed this book for both Green Man Review and The Sleeping Hedgehog. My full review can be read here
November 4, 2016
145. Gosford Park: the shooting script by Julian Fellowes and Robert Altman
This shooting script was excellent, but I did have to go back to the page of Cast of Characters to check on who was who. Theoretically, it is a murder mystery from an Upstairs Downstairs point of view, and how the two are interconnected. I really enjoyed how the police inspector who has come to investigate the murder is considered a “tradesman” who should use the servants entrance. I’m not sure if I liked the insertion of a real person, Ivor Novello, but this was done to show how disconnected the upper classes were from the popular culture of the day. There are a few surprises along the way, and they are all handled well. The downstairs do come off better than the upstairs people even with their own secrets and scandals, some of which involve the upstairs clan. The secret connection between the cook and the housekeeper almost blew me away.
This shooting script was excellent, but I did have to go back to the page of Cast of Characters to check on who was who. Theoretically, it is a murder mystery from an Upstairs Downstairs point of view, and how the two are interconnected. I really enjoyed how the police inspector who has come to investigate the murder is considered a “tradesman” who should use the servants entrance. I’m not sure if I liked the insertion of a real person, Ivor Novello, but this was done to show how disconnected the upper classes were from the popular culture of the day. There are a few surprises along the way, and they are all handled well. The downstairs do come off better than the upstairs people even with their own secrets and scandals, some of which involve the upstairs clan. The secret connection between the cook and the housekeeper almost blew me away.
December 14, 2015
I really liked this story. The characters were really entertaining. I liked all of the hierarchy rivalry between the characters.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews