In the 50s Chayefsky was the Man - the person who took a medium that wasn't highly regarded, with quiz shows and what-not, and showed what you could do with it, the first acknowledged great writer of television (though Rod Serling and company soon followed). Its ironic looking back that he only considered television a way of making money before he returned to theatre - just goes to show you never know when you find your medium. Chayefsky's inclination towards small stories and working class characters perfectly suited the small screen, as did his flair for dialogue and construction.
"The Holiday Song" is the play that launched him, apparently became something of a sensation in 1952. I'm surprised so Jewish a work made such an impact - but then I suppose in 1952 television wasn't as widely available as it became, and in the US at the time if you took New York you had a big impact. (Or maybe there had been so much crud on, it was great to see something that was fresh and new with quality.)
As an added bonus there is an essay on writing the script, which includes Chayefsky's thought process, how he went about construction the story, problems of adaptations, his thoughts on writing for television, and drama, etc. This alone is worth reading.
"Printer's Measure" is a bit more familiar seeming, though as Chayefsky himself points out it is structurally very sound - a printer mourns the passing of his trade, and there is a battle over the future of a young apprentice. Its well done, though feels as though you've seen it before - the passing of the old days, even the destruction of the new machine. The most effective moment was the scene where the young man's mother tells him he must work so his sister can go to college because its important that women go to college not just get married - something so feminist took me aback (especially as it was the 50s and Hollywood movies of the time are all about shoving women into the kitchen). Again its accompanied by another essay which includes some great concepts
"The Big Deal" is a third tale about an older man in crisis (Chayefsky was only around 30 when he wrote this but obviously he had a great feeling for the generation above him) - a former real estate developer who went broke but who won't accept it and keeps thinking he's in the game. I kept thinking of Alan Bond. Perhaps could have done with a bit more humour. It is still effective. Chayefsky expresses dissatisfaction with the piece in an accompanying essay - says it was "too powerful" for television, which is an interesting concept (not without truth - television's strength is dealing in depth with the everyday, which is why Chayefsky was so good at it - maybe that's the problem people have with shows like Rome and Deadwood, they're too intense)
"Marty" is for my mind the most powerful of the scripts. I am trying not to be too wise after the event but it is easy in hindsight to see why it made a popular film - it's a simple love story, with a genuinely heart warming ending. Some of it is so beautiful - notably the scene where the "dog" girl is left behind and Marty asks her to dance. What a chord. The subplots aren't really gone into in much detail esp. the bit about mom being opposed - meaning this was ideal for expansion. A real classic.
"The Mother" is about a 60-something woman determined to keep working, despite her inexperience and the opposition from her smother-with-love daughter. What drove Chayefsky to such feeling for the stories of the older generation? A powerful tale with the mother-daughter dynamic very interesting and a vital topic - to wit, the importance of dignity. This play is accompanied by a piece where Chayefsky talks about the latent homos*xuality of many men, quoting Kinsey - for all this tales of middle aged men finding love with younger women he was a forward thinking person, old Paddy.
"The Bachelor Party" - when turned into a film by HHL in 1957 this piece didn't take the public's fancy, and I think you can tell why from reading it: there is no real story. Man is dissatisfied with life and wife, goes to bachelor party, realises everything's OK. Even Chayefsky admits it wasn't strong on story (his essay for this piece is a loving tribute to actor Eddie Albert and director Delbert Mann, whom he said pushed this piece over the line). The real story I guess is when the groom drunkenly dumps his bride. Could have done maybe with a bit more humour.
Chayefsky's basic rules of drama
Main one - a drama can have only one story. It can have only one leading character.
All other stories and all other characters are used in the script only as they facilitate the main story.
- dramatic construction is a search for reasons (justifying moment of crisis) e.g. given the second act curtain incident, find reasons why characters involved in incident act as they do
- each reason dramatised by one scene and scenes must be laid out as they grow into crisis May start with character or setting
- then go to dramatic significance
- then figure out moment of crisis
- then work back
All you need for good drama is
- good character
- good emotional relationship
- good crisis in that relationship
A standard Chayefsky technique was to always show the motivation for the antagonist by a scene illustrating what the antagonist fears, e.g. "Marty" show why Marty's mother is opposed to him dating by having a scene where mum chats to a woman who was abandoned by her son.
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