I was pleased to be invited to make the Introductory Remarks before a screening of 1939’s Stagecoach, written by Dudley Nichols precisely for the opportunity to highlight the importance of screenwriting.
While director John Ford is often the focus of discussions about the film, it is the work Nichols did in adapting a terse short story by Ernest Haycox that makes the film stand out. Nichols expanded the backgrounds of and connections between all of the characters, thus creating a strong ensemble structure that many films have followed ever since.
Learn more in my short lecture.