R.I.P. ERNEST

Wow. I had a pretty great weekend, and I meant to write about it today (since it was full of movies among other things …) but I didn’t get around to it. Instead, I find myself tonight saddened by the news from Hollywood that one of the greatest writers/screenwriters in history passed away on Saturday. The films credited (at least in part) to Ernest Lehman can hardly be faulted for their scripts (whether original or adaptations, the latter often being harder), and many rank among the greatest of all time: Sabrina, The King and I, Somebody Up There Likes Me, North By Northwest, West Side Story, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Sound of Music, and his triumphal masterpiece Sweet Smell of Success (one of the greatest screenplays in history, co-written with Clifford Odets but based on Lehman’s own novel), are just a few.

Lehmann was 89 when he died of an apparent heart attack this weekend. His contribution to the history of film and screenwriting can’t be overestimated. He only attempted directing one film: an adaptation of Philip Roth’s seminal work Portnoy’s Complaint. Unfortunately, his talents with the language of cinema on screen were not as good as his brilliance with words written on the page, and Portnoy’s Complaint is anything but a masterpiece. Still the majority of his resume is brilliant, and my wish-list for TCM’s inevitable evening honoring Lehman (probably in the next week or so), it would include the cream of Lehman’s crop: the biting dialogue of Sweet Smell and the taut suspense of North by Northwest along with a study in contrasts between the romantic comedy of Sabrina and the dysfunctional marriage of Virginia Woolf and two of the biggest movie musicals of all time in Sound of Music and West Side Story. Now that would be worth staying up all night for. Lehman was nominated for the Best Screenplay Oscar five times without winning, but was presented with an Honorary Award in 2001.

Lehman hasn’t had a screenwriting credit in over a quarter of a century, but his greatest works will thankfully always be with us, and his presence will be missed.

UPDATED: Coincidentally, since TCM is celebrating the great Audrey Hepburn as its “Star of the Month” every Wednesday in July, they happen to be showing Sabrina tomorrow night at 10:15 PM. Please don’t mix this up with the underwhelming remake made in 1995 with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear directed by Sydney Pollack. All you have to do is compare that lineup to one including Humphrey Bogart, Hepburn and William Holden with Billy Wilder at the helm, and it should be completely understandable why the original is a classic and one of the greatest romantic comedies of all time. Make sure to catch-it!