n the book Conversations With Wilder, Hollywood’s legendary writer / director spoke candidly with young turk Cameron Crowe about his lengthy career. As a contract writer at Paramount Studios, Wilder had grown disenchanted with the way his scripts were directed. He became a director as a means to an end. The decision coincided with a moment in the studio system when talented screenwriters were  being given the keys to the kingdom, or the toybox, at least. Wilder credits another emigre, director turned Paramount Studio head Ernst Lubitsch (Ninotchka, The Shop Around The Corner) as his mentor. Wilder’s scripts show remarkable range, from film noir, to thriller, drama to screwball comedy, always with deft characterisation at their centre.

 Amongst the pearls of wisdom  Wilder imparted to Crowe were his ten screenwriting tips to keep an audience engaged. Remember the old adage: “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage!” Here are Wilder’s words to the wise, together with the man and some of his stars in action.

Hollywood screenwriting school? Or Wilder's classic, The Apartment?

 1. The audience is fickle.

 2. Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.

3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.

On location with Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe on Some Like It Hot

4. Know where you’re going.

5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.

6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is the first act.

William Holden, diggin' tunnels in Stalag 17

7. A tip from (Ernst) Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.

8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience sees. Add to what they’re seeing. (Although in the case of Sunset Boulevard, the narration both describes and  adds to the scene.) 

9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.

Wilder and Monroe goof for the publicists on The Seven year itch

10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then – that’s it. Don’t hang around.

Wilder and frequent leading man, Jack Lemmon

And if you doubt what the man says, I challenge you to come up with a dud movie from the maestro. Mind you, he was his own worst critic, even to the end!