The well-made screenplay: a study of the screenwriting of British stage playwrights, 1930-1956, with special reference to the work of R.C. Sherriff

Cottis, Crispus David (2020) The well-made screenplay: a study of the screenwriting of British stage playwrights, 1930-1956, with special reference to the work of R.C. Sherriff. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.

Abstract

This thesis examines the screenwriting of British stage playwrights between 1930 and 1956, with special reference to the screen career of R.C. Sherriff. It considers the process by which the techniques and forms associated with the well-made play became part of the vocabulary of the British cinema and argues that, contrary to the negative view of theatrical influence that scholars sometimes postulate, the skilful application of stage techniques was an important factor in the ‘golden age’ of the national cinema during and after the Second World War. The thesis considers the work of working playwright/screenwriters, with a particular focus on that of high-profile writers such as Bernard Shaw, Noël Coward, and Terence Rattigan, whose stage reputation was part of the publicity for their film work. The second part of the thesis is taken up with a detailed case study of the screen work of R.C. Sherriff, drawing on Sherriff’s own extensive archive at the Surrey History Centre. This section uses the existence of Sherriff’s multiple drafts, correspondence, and press cuttings to examine his working practices, and the extent to which the aesthetic of the well-made play made up an important part of his screenwriting technique.

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