"Most movies, even the good ones, are based upon the extraordinary incident and the exceptional character. In writing the stage play, it is necessary to contrive exciting moments of theater. Marty and The Mother are bundled together in one discussion because each represents in its own way the sort of material that does best on television. They both deal with the world of the mundane, the ordinary, and the untheatrical. The main characters are typical, rather than exceptional; the situations are easily identifiable by the audience; and the relationships are as common as people. The essence of these two shows lies in their literal reality. I tried to write the dialogue as if it had been wire-tapped. I tried to envision the scenes as if a camera had been focused upon the unsuspecting characters and had caught them in an untouched moment of life."
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Academy Award winnersNovelists from the United StatesScreenwriters from the United StatesPeople from New York CityPlaywrights from the United States
Original Language: English
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Paddy Chayevsky's discussion of Marty (also discussing The Mother (1954)), titled Two Choices of Material (p.173-179, at p.173)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paddy_Chayefsky
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Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (29 January 1923 – 1 August 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
31 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Paddy Chayefsky →
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