One of my favorite Westerns of all time is “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” written by William Goldman. It was directed by George Roy Hill, who made the controversial decision to film the LONG chase scene (“Who ARE those guys?”). His advisers told him it was a huge mistake because Western audiences were used to quick, action-packed chases that ended in a hail of bullets. Hill stuck to his guns (so to speak) and the scene is iconic. That’s outstanding storytelling.
Did you know that William Goldman, who wrote “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” also wrote “The Princess Bride?” Same guy. It was a magnificent, goofy “fractured fairytale romance,” directed by Rob Reiner. The fairytale is encompassed within a story about a grandpa (the brilliant Peter Falk) who is entertaining his grandson, Billy (played by Fred Savage, equally brilliant in his role) who has to stay home from school because he’s sick. Billy is excited about the swashbuckling adventure story his grandpa tells him but less enthusiastic about the romantic/yucky parts. By the end of the story, however, he is captivated and even tolerates “the kiss” (“Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.”) At the end of the movie, he tells his grandpa it would “probably be okay” if he came back the next day and told him another story, even if there was kissing in it. Grandpa grins mischievously and says, “As you wish,” which is my favorite of all the memorable lines from the movie. That’s outstanding storytelling
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