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Decent Quality Since 1847

Today's Huffery:  The Greatest Screenplay Never Made

1/16/2013

18 Comments

 
Not long ago at a Writers Guild of America event, a reporter friend came up to me. "I'm doing an article on the best screenplays that have never been made into movies," he said. "If you had to name one, what would it be?"

Without hesitating, I answered, Harrow Alley.

He scrunched his face. "I've never heard of it." And started to walk off. Just then, another screenwriter passed by, one with gravitas (and awards) to his name, a former president of the Guild. The reporter asked the same question.

Without hesitating, the gravitas writer answered, "Harrow Alley."

Now, the reporter took out his notepad. "Oh, I see," I chided. "Him you believe."

Every once in a while, some publication does an article like this. The Los Angeles Times once referred to Harrow Alley as perhaps the finest unproduced movie script ever. The Writers Guild Newsletter described it as, "A masterpiece...The most famous unproduced script in the country." In 1991, American Film magazine called Harrow Alley one of the best screenplays ever written. In July, 1999, Premieremagazine referred to it as "Arguably one of the most famous unproduced scripts of all time."

Harrow Alley is a stunning screenplay. Brilliantly crafted, dramatic, funny, heartbreaking, romantic and inspiring. It was written in the early 1960s by Walter Brown Newman, one of the great, unknown screenwriters. (Of course, most screenwriters are unknown, foolishly.) Newman's many credentials, however, include such classics as The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven and Cat Ballou. So, you see, it's got a pretty good pedigree. (Newman took his name off of The Great Escape. He was a crusty sort.)

So, why in the world has it never been made, I hear you cry?? Ah, therein lies a tale. And further tales.

Harrow Alley tells a hard story. It takes place during the Black Plague of the 14th century. The screenplay intricately weaves a breathtaking saga of how, during the worst time in the history of mankind, when the world was literally dying and no one knew how to stop it, or if it could be stopped, man will kick and fight and scratch and struggle to survive because man has a will to survive. At its center of many riveting characters are two totally opposite men, vibrant personalities whose lives intertwine and then set-off in utterly surprising ways.

When it was written, 50 years ago, most people were scared by the script, missing its rich optimism, and seeing only the rampant death, with the death-knell bell ringing unrelentingly throughout the story whenever yet another person died. It was an uncomfortable script for people to read back in 1960s, in the midst of hippies, the peace movement, drugs and the Love Generation, in the midst of Vietnam. People didn't want to deal with a movie about a plague wiping out mankind.

In William Froug's great book, The Screenwriter Looks at the Screenwriter, Newman says that one studio story editor told him, "What the hell made you write this? Boy, I read it on a rainy Sunday and damn near committed suicide." The wife of a studio head sent an incensed note to Newman, telling him he was crazy.

The thing is, for all the horror of the Plague, the script is actually intensely hopeful and uplifting. It's filled with a glorious love story, a stunning act of heroism, humor, and characters who find profound personal depth. As Newman notes, "I was simply writing about how do we live under such conditions." And after looking at it years later, "I was glad to see, in rereading, that I was saying such a great big yes to living because I had no idea I felt that way."

Finally, a legendary director was anxious to make the film -- John Huston, whose many classics included The Maltese Falcon and The African Queen. Unfortunately, at the time he'd had a series of flops and couldn't get financing.

Next, a variety of top actors got interested. Among them, Charlton Heston. Even Peter Sellers was interested. The Royal Shakespeare Company inquired about adapting it for the stage. But nothing came of it.

And then George C. Scott enters the story.

The acclaimed actor loved Harrow Alley so much that he bought it outright. Several years passed, however, until he announced he wanted to make it. And therein lies another tale.

He wanted to direct. Scott was highly admired as an actor (soon to win his Oscar for Patton). But he hadn't yet directed a movie. And so studios were hesitant -- and again the project languished for years. Eventually, Scott was willing to let someone else direct and himself produce it. And yet another tale.

To his credit, George C. Scott adored Harrow Alley so much that he insisted not one word be changed. This is unheard of in Hollywood, and monumentally admirable. But even there, that turned into another major problem: the screenplay is very long, equal to a three-hour movie. It never lags, and remains riveting... but it's still three hours. Moreover, before they get involved, most directors want their imprint and insist on changing screenplays. (Not always for the better, of course.) But Scott would always say, "No." Not one word could be changed. Even when Walter Newman himself offered to trim his own script, in an effort to finally move the project along, Scott refused. And so Harrow Alley languished even more.

Eventually, George C. Scott passed away, but people remain interested in making Harrow Alley" However, in Scott's will, there's still a condition that the script cannot be changed, and that's served to be yet another hurdle, though not necessarily an insurmountable one. In fact, new producers got involved not long ago.

And so, though Harrow Alley is still the greatest screenplay never made, there is hope that will change. After all, what terrified people 35 years ago, is commonplace today. The world deals with the plague of AIDS daily. Nuclear devastation is an ever-present threat. We live with the threat of terrorism. Furthermore, there have even now been popular movies about worldwide plagues, like Outbreak ($190 million) and Contagion ($135 million) that prove the world will flock to such stories.

To be sure, Harrow Alley has an uncomfortable theme. But to be sure, as well, it has an enthralling optimism about mankind's will to live, lyrical majesty and vibrant characters -- and two, truly epic lead roles -- that soar like you can't believe. And audiences are long-since ready for it now.

The only remaining question is if a studio is ready to step up and finally make Harrow Alley.

18 Comments
Shelly Goldstein
1/16/2013 05:34:08 am

Great article. I'd never heard of the script.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
1/16/2013 05:57:43 am

It's the kind of screenplay one reads in awe. The scope, the sweep of language, the humor, the tragedy and romance, the despair and profound hope. But mainly, it's just freaking rich as literature. What I left out of the article is that I'm aware of a respectable producer who got the rights and has been trying to get it made the last few years. What the issue is still getting in the way, I have no idea, but hope springs eternal.

Reply
rick burke link
6/9/2015 04:38:51 am

Can you send me harrow alley pdf thanks

Robert Elisberg
6/9/2015 05:00:17 am

Rick, thanks for your note. Unfortunately, I don't have a PDF file of the script to send. Hopefully one of the other people you asked will have one.

buzz link
1/16/2013 07:15:08 am

I read it years ago (late 70s/early 80s). It has not been over hyped. Hopefully somebody will produce it as it should be done; otherwise when copyright runs out sometime next century it'll be on the 22nd century equivalent of YouTube in the 22nd century equivalent of Legos...

Reply
Robert Elisberg
1/16/2013 07:23:03 am

Good point. You've just given me a good reason to stick around until the next century.

As if I really needed one...

Reply
Josh Newman
2/15/2013 07:19:51 am

A very small correction, for what it's worth ... Harrow Alley was written over a couple of years in the early 1960s, not in 1970. I think George C. Scott finally was able to buy it around 1970, and maybe that's the source of the confusion.

I have an insider's view, because Walter Newman was my father -- although offsetting that, I was young enough that I wasn't paying much attention for this whole period of time.

In the Bill Froug interview you mentioned, my father said that he'd written the screenplay in six weeks or so. It's certainly possible that he wrote his final draft in six weeks -- but in fact from start to finish the screenplay took him something like two years. He wasn't working on anything else, and so wasn't drawing a paycheck. From talking with my mother many years later about this, I think that was a very hard time for my folks financially, and I imagine his speaking of it in the interview (which was also much later on) as a six-week commitment served to gloss over some of the hardships. Or maybe it just made him happier to remember it that way.

I believe George C. Scott's estate sold the screenplay several years ago (although I'm not completely sure of its current ownership), and his determination to keep it as it was originally written may not have been part of the deal; I heard that it was being rewritten. (This was several years ago as well, and I haven't heard anything about it since. I'd love to see it made, of course.

I'm glad to know that it made so strong an impression on you. It certainly did on me.


Kind regards,
-- Josh Newman

Reply
Jodene Goldenring Fine
11/23/2014 03:32:14 am

I'm coming late to this discussion, but I cannot refrain from commenting that Harrow Alley is among the best works that ever I have read. I still have a copy, I believe, quite kindly given to me by Josh, author of the post to which I am responding. I have lovingly carted the screenplay across the country from California, to Wyoming, to Texas, to Michigan. It is among my most valued possessions. Jodene

Reply
Robert Elisberg
11/23/2014 04:06:03 am

Jodene, thanks for your note. Clearly I agree how wonderful the screenplay is. As for coming late to the discussion -- I guess that's some of the "charm" of discussing "Harrow Alley." Everyone is coming to the discussion far too late...

rick burke link
6/9/2015 04:41:08 am

Josh can you send me harrow alley pdf: l cant find it : thanks at [email protected]

Reply
Robert Elisberg
2/15/2013 04:10:59 pm

Josh,

Thanks so much for your comments and filling in some of the holes about your father's screenplay. I've fixed the one error you commented on about the date it was written.

As far as my own experience goes, "Harrow Alley" has made a strong impression on *most* people who have read it. Unfortunately, the people who have the ability say, "Yes, let's make it," haven't had the sense to do so -- yet. But for a screenplay to carry on its life for 50 years speaks volumes of its quality, and the realistic hope that at some point it will get made.

Reply
Outlook setting link
7/10/2013 04:36:11 pm

Thank you for writing about Writers Guild of America event and the article that you wrote about this topic gives me more about it. The screen play is very interesting to read and the words of Harrow Alley is very nice.

Reply
Robert Elisberg
7/10/2013 11:55:12 pm

You're most welcome.

Reply
Curious Filmlover
3/10/2014 04:25:50 am

Are you aware of any opportunity for non-insiders to read Harrow Alley...? I can't find any record of it being pushed, but perhaps it's appeared on a journal of some kind...?

Reply
Robert Elisberg
3/10/2014 05:45:10 am

Dear "Curious" -- Thanks for your note, but alas not. I don't know of any place it exists. My only suggestion is that some film schools might have it. UCLA has a particularly strong film library, but they might not be convenient for you. The Motion Picture Academy Library does, too, but it's hard to get access to that, though not impossible.

Reply
Kevan R. Craft
10/8/2014 11:28:41 am

I have a copy as a scanned PDF.. Emma Thompson the actress and producer currently owns the rights to Harrow Alley and she has rewritten the script and I have her draft of the script also in PDF format..

If Mr. Elsberg contacts me I will gladly make both available.. I have been contacted by Mr Newman's nephew about the script and I did send him a copy a few years ago..

BTW, if I had the opportunity of making Harrow Alley into a movie I wouldn't change a word on the page either, its one of the best screenplays I've ever read next to Touch Of Evil by Orson Welles and the unproduced script The Ends Of The Earth by Chris Terrio..

Reply
rick burke link
6/9/2015 04:43:46 am

Kevan can you send me harrow alley pdf for my freat curiosity thanks rick

Reply
Robert Elisberg
10/9/2014 12:45:48 am

Kevan, thanks for your note. I'd heard that Emma Thompson was involved, though wasn't aware that she actually had the rights. I'm glad you've been in touch with the Newman family. His son Josh, as you no doubt have seen here, has corresponded with this site. "Rewriting" is a tricky word -- it can mean trimming down the length, but keeping the original work largely in tact -- or it mean adding characters and plot points, rearranging everything. Walter Newman himself wrote a trimmed-down version which he offered to George C. Scott to help move the project along, but Scott turned it down. I suspect that version would have been solid. I'm hopeful her changes have been trimming, though I'm also curious how she got past my understanding that Scott's will doesn't permit changes. It that *is* the case. I'm interested in what's been changed, but haven't decided yet if I have it in me to read such a thing...

Reply



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    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.

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