Top 10 William Goldman Films

Tribute To A Hollywood Writing Legend

♦ We got the very sad news yesterday that legendary screenwriter William Goldman died and here’s a reminder of 10 of his classic films…

2. The Stepford Wives (1975)
A dark satire of American suburban living, Goldman displayed his versatility as a writer with some genuinely unsettling moments…

3. All The President’s Men (1976)
A brilliantly written account of how reporters Woodward and Bernstein brought down Richard Nixon’s government and the Watergate affair. Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are magnetic and the rest of the cast are no less impressive…

4. Marathon Man (1976)
Based on Goldmans’s own book, Hoffman again this time as a student caught up in a conspiracy that goes back to the Second World War and the Nazis. Laurence Olivier plays a fantastic villain and you will never look at dentists the same way again…

5. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
A huge ensemble cast that gathered massive stars like Dirk Bogarde, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Ryan O’Neal, Gene Hackman and Edward Fox, this epic war movie showed that Goldman could deal with scale as well as drama…

6. Magic (1978)
A genuinely creepy horror tale with an exceptional performance by Anthony Hopkins, Goldman displayed his flair for horror and suspense as a screenwriter…

7. The Princess Bride (1987)
Another adaptation of one of his own books, this is a brilliantly clever subversion of the fairy tale genre with some memorable lines from many of its characters and brilliant performances from the likes of Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright and Cary Elwes…

8. Misery (1990)
Goldman brought Stephen King’s tale of a writer trapped in the house of his most obsessive fan, adding panache and dark humour to a compelling story. There is also brilliant chemistry between James Caan and Kathy Bates here, helped by Goldman’s script…

9. Chaplin (1992)
This biopic of one of early Hollywood’s greatest figures saw Goldman team up with director Richard Attenborough again and he brought his story to life with panache and verve, helped by a very sympathetic performance from Robert Downey Jr in the title role…

10. Absolute Power (1997)
Clint Eastwood is a burglar who witnesses the president, played by Gene Hackman, doing something horrendous. Goldman manages to lift what could be a very meat and potatoes thriller into something very taut and exciting. Eastwood is brilliant and Hackman is suitably oleaginous as the president.

Goldman has left a huge legacy and his loss is a huge one.