From Idea to Script to Sale
Movies from the Heart—It’s Love I’m After
Sometimes the best romantic film is also a comedic film. Thus the term romantic comedy. One of the finest early examples of this is a film I bet you’ve never seen—It’s Love I’m After [1937] by Casey Robinson.
The film, like many in its day, was based on a short story—this one was Gentlemen After Midnight by Maurice Hanline. It was based on a short story because the studios needed material. Remember, in the 30s television didn’t exist—wasn’t even a dream—and everyone went to the movies all the time for their entertainment. So the studios churned out films so fast it would make your head spin. Most studios produced a film A WEEK. When you think about modern day filmmaking where films take months to make, the idea that a film could be completed in one week seems astounding. But that was filmmaking in the 30s and 40s.
It's really amazing to look at this film [which you can rent on Amazon as of this writing] and realize it was produced so very quickly.
Why is this film worth watching? Well, take a look at the trailer.
Don’t you just want to run right out and see it? What I love about the trailer—and the film—is that it takes our expectations for a romantic comedy and constantly kind of slaps us in the face with them.
It’s set in the world of the theatre and you have a dashing idol, Basil, who’s in a relationship with his leading lady, Joyce—in fact, they’ve said they were going to marry 11 times but have always fought about something and the marriage plans have fallen through. Their fights have often even extended to their stage performances. They can be in the middle of a play and through clenched teeth be arguing with one another in-between saying the lines in the play!
But this time, the 12th time, they’re really going to get married, Basil is determined to make it work. But one thing might get in the way. A young woman flirts with him one evening, and he thinks maybe he’ll have one last fling, but decides against it. He then tells Joyce he’s committed—that nothing’s going to stop him from marrying her this time… he only has eyes for her.
Then a friend asks him for a small favor. The friend’s fiancée, Marcia, has fallen in love with Basil and the friend asks Basil to convince her that he’s wrong for her. So Basil decides this is the way to wipe the slate clean and prove his love for Joyce. So he totally plays the cad with Marcia—sure that his loutish behavior will make her fall out of love with him.
As you can imagine, hilarity ensues. But the thing I love most about this script is the dialogue. Look at that coming attraction clip again and study the dialogue. It’s a textbook example of how to use surprise and clever back-and-forth conversations to make your dialogue sparkle. As you write your own romantic film, think about how your dialogue can rise to that level.
Next week we look at a true classic, Jezebel.
Copyright © Diane Lake
05Nov23
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Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com