MovieChat Forums > Thief (1981) Discussion > Who Really Wrote The Screenplay?

Who Really Wrote The Screenplay?

posted 19 years ago by booklist
11 replies | jump to latest

It's an absolute given that the story in Thief doesn't match the script in Frank Hohimer's The Home Invaders. They're totally different. They are not even close. So how did Mike Mann get his hands on the original script, which was actually written in prison by a man who slammed out the story on a ten dollar Smith & Corona in a single day?

There is no record of an author for the original script other than Michael Mann's own claim that he wrote it himself. If that's true then why pay credits to a cheap, unknown author who hasn't written anything since. In fact where is he?

So who really did write the story? Are there hidden "signature phrases" and locations woven into the fabric of the screenplay that Mann never even bothered to change, and indisputedly prove that someone else wrote it? Forensic liguists know that the person who wrote the script for Thief was NOT the same same person who wrote The Home Invaders, and neither did Michael Mann.

[–] JB Martin 19 years ago

The writing credits of Thief read:

Based on the novel The Home Invaders by Frank Hohimer
Screen Story and Screenplay by Michael Mann

A "screen story by" credit basically means that the screenwriter (Mann) took liberties with the source material (Hohimer's novel) to create a substantially different story. Thus, the changes from the novel make sense...

So, yes, Mann did write the screenplay to Thief. You can read a final draft dated March 6, 1980 here:

http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/thief.pdf

[–] soprismb 18 years ago

Just so you know:

The "Captain Morphus" story was a letter sent to Michael Mann from an inmate in prison. Supposedly it is almost word for word what happened to said real inmate.

Every good storyteller, I believe, gets his material from somewhere else...after all, we all have moments that we hear and then repeat in public, that is basic communication. Mann is a very good listener.

Mann owes a large amount of his story to the likes of John Santucci (Urizzi) who was a thief himself and even more to Chuck Adamson (the big sergeant in the "trimming" scene).

Mann I think learned the technical aspects of safecracking (oxy lance etc.) in "Home Invaders" but he really created the dynamic of the working man against organized crime.

It's fantastic...notice also that Frank never uses any contractions in his dialogue--not a single "can't" or "I'll". I, always this was a mistake as he is a character about and above all things--time and therefore he'd be edgy and quick witted. But as Mann explains, he speaks very pronounced under the rationale that if he says it once, correctly, firmly and calm, he will not have to repeat himself.

Mann is a genius.

[–] DeanSpeir 17 years ago

notice also that Frank never uses any contractions in his dialogue--not a single "can't" or "I'll".

I will bet that if you watch it again, with the captions on, you can find several instances of Frank using contractions… at least one of which I've come to believe is intentional given the mental state he's in while dealing with the state bureaucracy.

Don't know whether Mann is a genius or not, but he's a helluva film-maker who rarely disappoints! (Band of the Hand and The Keep to the contrary.)

[–] soprismb 17 years ago

Okay..yes, he uses one or two...but in pressure situations he speaks clearly. This is by design. If you don't believe me listen to Mann comment on it.

[–] Dlp07 17 years ago

Hadn't noticed that, that's really quite interesting. Actually thinking about it, De Niro can't use many contractions in Heat either. I knew there was some dispute over who wrote the book but had no idea anyone had claimed Mann didn't really write the screenplay. Personally, I think he seems to like too much of a nice guy to claim credit for somebody else's work- Collateral definitely seems to have been re- written a lot by Mann but only the original writer is credited. I suppose coming up with original stories is Mann's single great weakness- all of his films are based on either true stories, novels or some other pre-existing material. But when he writes- and crucially, brings these stories to life- so well you can't really complain.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] soprismb 17 years ago

You betcha. Funny the comment on Mann seeming like such a nice guy to steal someone else's work. I get that impression also but when you consider: He went through two composors in Last/Mohicans and had a lawsuit with Friedkin over Live and Die in L.A., I'm betting he can at times be difficult. I know that he pissed the costume department in "Thief" off when he practically tilted earth on it's axis looking for the right type of shirt for Belushi to wear. As it turns out, it was just that hawaiian shirt when they are casing the Bank of California building from the roof.

He's still my favorite director and I've never seen subpar work from him, but I bet green money that like all genius', he's a stickler for detail bordering on a pain in the arse.

Anybody know where to get a copy of Home Invaders?

[–] Hab_Anagharek 17 years ago

Lawsuit with Friedkin? Utter bollocks.

[–] zurichpoet 12 years ago

Mann would be like that; the music is that good!

[–] Jefbecco-1 11 years ago

Very strange posting. And possibly a very strange poster. Two posts in 2005 and nothing since. Weird.

[–] meguroutsubo 8 years ago

You posted in 2005, so this might be a waste of time; but I'm bored, so here goes.

It's an absolute given that the story in Thief doesn't match the script in Frank Hohimer's The Home Invaders. They're totally different. They are not even close.

I can think of a few other movies where the movie departs radically from the book: off the top of my head, From Here To Eternity and Breakfast at Tiffany's take some tremendous liberties.

When in doubt, I think of this: Hollywood is really after a hot TITLE, not the actual exact story. If the title is fairly famous, they will make a judgement call on how much they can change.

It's safe to say that they could not have changed Gone With The Wind without there being an uproar; but I don't think the novel of From Here To Eternity is that popular with the housewives of America. Do they realize how much of the first 400 pages is dedicated to the persecution of gay men in Hawaii at the hands of the FBI? Probably not. So that was deleted from the film, which plays an awful lot like a Harlequin romance.

I have never heard of the novel, so it stands to reason that Mann could've made tons of changes to it without fear of a public backlash.