This week we are talking about one of my favorite of templates – classic movies!
Classic Movies
If you want to create entertainment – books, movies, TV, & comics, you need to be well-versed in movie history. The stories that we are creating today build on what came before. The people you will work for and with — the executives, producers, and writers — will often reference other movies, and you need to know what they are talking about. Even more important, for your writing to really shine, you need movies in your template toolbox.
Many people don’t like to hear that they need to watch older films. They don’t want to watch actors they have never heard of in stories that feel old-fashioned. And if a film is in black and white, forget it. But these movies are considered classics for a reason; they’re good!
Years ago, a friend of mine got her big break and sold a freelance pitch to a TV show. In her first meeting, the showrunner kept talking about how her episode was a version of The Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957). She had no idea what he was talking about and had to fake it. Trust me, old movie templates come up in every story meeting.
Classic movies’ influence is everywhere. Chicken Run (2000) is The Great Escape (1963) with poultry; instead of Allied soldiers escaping a Nazi POW camp, chickens escape a farm. Heartwarming comedy Dave (1993) is The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). Three Amigos (1986) was inspired by The Magnificent Seven (1960).
Classic movie templates work for TV too In Nashville (2012-16), the rivalry between country singers Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere was clearly inspired by the competition between Bette Davis and Ann Baxter – both portraying actresses – in All About Eve (1950). Rich, bantering husband and wife detectives Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man movies (1934 – 47) were updated to Jonathan and Jennifer Hart in Hart to Hart (1979 – 84).
Sometimes writers use templates but use them in a different genre. For example, the action movie Twister (1996) borrowed the dynamic between Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton from the romantic comedy His Girl Friday (1940). In both films, a divorcing couple is forced to work together and rediscovers their love. When someone accused writers Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin of stealing his idea, their successful defense was that they had actually been inspired by His Girl Friday instead!
Start your old movie binge: The American Film Institute has lists of classic movies by genre.
Read next Templates Part 4: How to Use Templates to Level Up Your Writing
In Case You Missed It
Templates: the Secret Writers Block Buster:
Templates Part 1: Fairy Tales, Myths, & Legends
Templates Part 2: Classic Literature
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