Happy Tuesday, dear readers! Each week, we’ll rank the top 10 films in a specific category. While we aim to tie these lists to big releases, that won’t always be the case. Our goal? For you to enjoy, share your own lists, and join in on a lively, friendly debate. This is an interactive space to build community here at The Contending.
No fancy intros, no long essays – just a category and a list. Sound good?
What makes a truly great screenplay?
Is it unforgettable dialogue? Characters so richly drawn that they feel like people we’ve known our entire lives? An ingenious plot that keeps us guessing until the final scene? How about all the above? Why can’t we have it all?!
I’ve always believed that the best screenplays make the difficult look effortless. Every character feels essential and is fully developed, every scene serves a purpose, and the story unfolds in a way that feels both surprising and inevitable. Sometimes the brilliance is in the structure, and others it might be in a single line of dialogue.
When I first considered this week’s theme, I thought I’d tackle the ten greatest screenplays of all time. Then I started making the list and quickly realized that combining original and adapted screenplays into one ranking was a pretty ridiculous undertaking. There are simply too many extraordinary examples to do either category justice. So, I’m splitting them up: this week, we’ll celebrate original screenplays, and next week (or soon after), we’ll turn our attention to adaptations.
Dialogue, structure, character arcs, and thematic depth all matter, but I’m also placing particular emphasis on originality. The greatest screenplays don’t necessarily need to reinvent storytelling, but they should offer something distinctive in the way they approach their subjects.
Even with adaptations out of the picture, narrowing more than a century of cinema down to ten selections is no easy task.
But that’s the discipline.
Here are the ten greatest original screenplays of all time.
10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) – written by William Goldman
9. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – written by Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry, and Pierre Bismuth
8. The Apartment (1960) – written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond
7. Pulp Fiction (1994) – written by Quentin Tarantino; stories by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
6. Taxi Driver (1976) – written by Paul Schrader
5. Annie Hall (1977) – written by Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman
4. Sunset Boulevard (1950) – written by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman, Jr.
3. Network (1976) – written by Paddy Chayefsky
2. Citizen Kane (1941) – written by Herman Mankiewicz, Roger Q. Denny, and Orson Welles
1. Chinatown (1974) – written by Robert Towne
