50 Essential Scripts to Download and Study If You Want to Be a Screenwriter
I've curated an epic tour through 75 years of screenplays - across a range of genres - that helped me become a well-rounded professional screenwriter (and could help you do the same)
I’ve curated a lot of feature screenplay collections here at 5AM StoryTalk, in my endless quest to help you on your own creative journeys. While these curations are obviously subjective, what I’ve never done is provide a wholly autobiographical collection of scripts that moved me, inspired me, and taught me the most about what goes into a great film story. Well, today, that changes.
Today I’m sharing with you a collection of 50 feature screenplays that I have studied at length, learned loads from, and, like all great screenwriters, stole — er, I mean borrowed — a lot from. Here were the criteria to make the cut:
The list had to present a broad summary of screenwriting from the past 75 years, meaning several scripts from each decade. The reason for this specific date range is that “Hollywood storytelling” really found its most enduring form in the 1940s - with maybe no better example than the script for Casablanca. What I mean is, Hollywood figured out what a Hollywood film is in the 40s.
Every genre had to be represented, dialogue types had to be demonstrated, and structural diversity had to be prioritized. If you’re under the impression that you should only study the genre you’re most interested in writing in, then you’re doing it wrong. Very wrong.
I couldn’t repeat a single screenwriter. This rule’s arbitrary, but part of the reason for this choice is I wanted you to be introduced to as many different screenwriters as possible. What this means is, I didn’t include Lawrence Kasdan’s brilliant script for Raiders of the Lost Ark, even though I’ve studied that script more than almost any other. I went with his script for The Big Chill instead, which he co-wrote with Barbara Benedek; it provides a powerful lesson in character-driven ensemble drama writing, whereas other scripts in this list will teach you the same lessons the Raiders script would.
Lastly, I couldn’t omit any scripts that I might be the only person in the world who thinks are masterpieces you can learn a ton from. If they helped make me who I am or just a better writer/storyteller for whatever reason, I would tell you about them. Consequently, you’ll find Conan the Barbarian, The Thing, and The Rocketeer here.
All of these screenplays tend to vanish, as all things do on the Internet. Download ASAP for your personal study. And if you want more resources like this one, be sure to check out my other script curations:
Resource: Hundreds of Screenplays All in One Place
Every six to eight weeks for the past couple of years, I’ve shared a personally curated screenplay collection for you to download and study. Today, I’m sharing all of them with you in one place!
Enjoy the reads!
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)
by Charles Lederer
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
by Herman J. Mankiewicz
CASABLANCA (1942)
by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946)
by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, and Frank Capra with additional scenes by Jo Swerling
You can read some of my thoughts about why It’s a Wonderful Life is such an enduring film here.
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
by Reginald Rose
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
by Ernest Lehman
THE APARTMENT (1960)
by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (1962)
by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson
This is my favorite film of all time. Study every aspect of it.
