The Word Cloud

First up; I watched last week's choice Holiday and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Original it is not (and it's plotline has become more cliché through years of imitation). Plausible? Don't even wish. And  despite attempts to move it beyond its stage origins it still feels very stage-bound. But its wit is sparkling and the acting of Grant and Hepburn is first rate. I would be happy to recommend it to a friend.

            Moving on... My rule of thumb for writing these blogs is; if in doubt, look for a Hitchcock film. The man made over 50 and they are used as filler by TV schedulers so often that you can start to become almost blasé about the brilliance of the films. That said, To Catch a Thief (Thursday 5.15pm Film4) is not up there with Hitchcock's best. It's a fun film, a light-hearted romp, as charming as its star, the irreplaceable Cary Grant (as bankable a leading man in 1955 as he had been for Holiday in 1938), but without the edge that characterises Hitchcock's best.

            John Michael Hayes is considered by many the quintessential Hitchcock writer, working with the director on 4 occasions, most notably on the superb Rear Window. But here's an interesting question; if a writer has considerable success when he works with one director and precious little with others, should we give the lion's share of the credit to the director?

            In the case of Hitchcock it's very easy to give all the credit (or at least most) to the director; Hitchcock always co-wrote his films anyway (though seldom took credit). But it's not like Hitch was infallible, he had plenty of failures. And I may be misguiding you a little to the rest of the career of Hayes; he also wrote The Carpetbaggers and Peyton Place (both slightly trashy but very successful) and the Steve McQueen vehicle Nevada Smith (a name which inspired that of Indiana Jones). But it was with Hitchcock that Hayes had his greatest successes and post-Hitchcock he struggled with the system.

            Perhaps it is simply the case that a great director knows how to use a great writer; knows when to step in and when to give them freedom. Hitchcock scripts were developed over long meetings and it shows in the clockwork precision of something like Rear Window, few directors took such pains (few directors were allowed such time). And, while I don't know enough about Hayes' other films to know whether it happened to him, it is certainly not uncommon for the a great script to be re-written into a thoroughly mediocre one as everyone from director to stars to producers insist on crowbarring in their ideas. A great director recognises that screenwriting is a craft; it might look easy, it isn't. It takes a lot to produce a well-balanced and structured script, and very little to ruin it.