Wish the majority of these worthless producers and studio execs, as well as script readers, secretaries, etc. -- anyone who thinks they know what a good screenplay is, let alone a good movie is -- would read these 7 parts of the Wilder / Diamond interview. And then, get the hell out of the business. Why it is, that certain people in positions of yes and no to the screenwriter, are given such power, without any true knowledge of what makes a good script good, is beyond me. This has got to be, along with too much money given up front to stars and producers, as well as too much given on gross, one of the biggest reasons behind the continual sinking of the Hollywood studio system. With astro budgets hovering around 200 mill to 300 mil a big budget pciture; the studios can brag all they want about their recent b.o. successes...but the reality is, is that none of them would be able to stand a close scrutiny of their accounting books to begin with. If Wilder was alive today...as of November 27 2011, he would just be laughing non stop at what has been done to the Hollywood he used work in, and brought so much to the table -- successful movies which have stood the test of time because their stories -- written by writers -- came first and were the reason why the actors and directors, etc., also became famous.

Mark, you get little argument from me. Of course, Wilder was pretty much a malcontent in his own era, too, so wouldn't surprise me to see him much addled by today's movie business. There's a great quote I found in an interview with James L. Brooks who I think falls in a line of writer-directors of a similar ilk [Wilder - Brooks - Crowe - J. Reitman]: "To me, every script should begin with 'Fade in: Tax-incentive state.' That's what's happened." So true. As Charlton Heston said, "The problem with movies as art is that they're commerce." And in terms of Hollywood, they are really about commerce nowadays. Thanks for your comments. What's your favorite Wilder movie?