Book review – “Mad as Hell: The Life and Work of Paddy Chayefsky” by Shaun Considine

Excellent bio on one of the few screenwriters who deserve on: Chayefsky, superstar on the small screen (he really was, TV writers got all the publicity at that time), who became a popular playwright in the late 50s and early 60s before falling out of favour, then coming back as a screenwriter-producer in the 70s. Considine’s work benefits from the extensive Chayefsky papers available as well as co-operation from Chayefsky’s son (with whom he had a difficult relationship). It uses as its central theme there were two Chayefskys: calm “Sidney” and the outrageous “Paddy”.

It’s no wonder Chayefsky was a hero to so many writers (Joe Eszterhas for one) – he was extremely talented, worked hard, fought lots of battles, was smart, earned the devotion of other writers, conquered three mediums (he also published a novel, an early draft of Altered States), had a long career, served in the war and received a purple heart, had an affair with Kim Novak, became powerful enough to sack directors from his films (Michael Ritchie from Hospital and Arthur Penn from Altered States), won three Oscars, had manic depression, told Clive Barnes to not review his new play. It seems he could be a bit of a handful at times (rampaging ego, etc) but the good clearly outweighed the bad.

Many memorable segments: his bromance with Bob Fosse and Herb Gardner (Fosse danced a little tap dance at Chayefsky’s funeral), the tale of Chayefksy’s tortured marriage (have a theory: sometimes writers prefer unhappy marriages, it gives them material). I think Chayefksy had issues when it came to sex – the Novak affair seems to have been the exception rather than the rule and sex is often dysfunctional in his screenplays.

There are detailed accounts of the production of all of Chayefsky’s major works, including all his plays and major screenplays. I was surprised Chayefsky wrote so many unfilmed pilots for television – what a waste. Also can’t help wishing that Sidney Lumet directed Altered States and that they’d made a film of The Hannukak Conspiracy. But a marvellous life and career.