It has always bothered me that Christopher Fry did not get more credit for
the work and writing he did on BEN HUR. [The studio] brought Fry in (after
Gore Vidal) to work on making the language more appropriate to the times. As
you know, the Writers Guild gave Karl Tunborg the full screenplay credit for
BEN HUR. What attention do you think other writers who work on a film should
get?
–Gail
BEN HUR came out in 1959. It would be comforting to think that in the 40+
years since then, the process of determining who should get credit for writing
a screenplay would have been perfected. Unfortunately, it’s just as controversial
as ever.
Screen credits are a huge, sticky mess that pits writers against writers.
In fact, there is currently a major debate within the WGA about a proposed
redraft of the Screen Credits Manual, the guidebook used by every arbitration
panel. If you’re curious, you can read more about the issue in "A Credit
Forum" at the WGA website.
In particular, one of these changes would have probably benefited a rewriter
like Christopher Fry, since it addresses how much "story" credit
a screenwriter gets when incorporating elements from a novel (like BEN HUR).
I’ve been through several arbitrations, one of which got ugly. I’ve also rewritten
scripts for which I haven’t sought credit. In both cases, I truly believe there
needs to be some sort of "Additional Writing" credit to acknowledge
writers who have contributed to the script. It’s frustrating that a screenwriter
can spend six months working on a film without having his name in the final
credit scroll, while the caterer’s assistant is there for the world to see.