i cannot totally agree for one reason: there is a huge difference between a screen credit and what actually is. so many persons didn’t get credit for their work, or got credit without doing anything. check out the story behing the writing credits of Tootsie, it’s unbelievable!
in the case of The Good, the bad, and the Ugly, Age and Scarpelli have a credit and yet, they didn’t do anything on the film. Vincenzoni wrote the story. he didn’t want to write the script. Leone started to work with Age and Scarpelli but was unhappy with the 30 first pages they wrote. so he had vincenzoni come in, and start it again, from the scratch… ALONE. if you ever have the chance to read his script, you will see that the final duel in the cemetary (for example) is very short. the description of the action takes a few lines and that’s it. vincenzoni wrote alone, but the scene is a masterpiece thanks to Leone directing.
Regarding Scorsese, even if he hardly took writing credits (on mean streets, then Good fellas, and i don’t know if he ever took one afterwards), he is deeply involved in the writing process. Taxi Driver being an exception. On Alice doesn’t live here anymore, he improvised a lot with the actors, those improv were included in the script, by the writer (even if he was unhappy with it), but at Scorsese’s request… same thing with the ending of the film: this is the ending Scorsese wanted not the writer… The writer even complained : he wanted Alice to be a “writer” and an “actress picture”, it ended up being a “director picture”! In after hours, Scorsese had the script rewrote, under his directions, etc…
The best example is Howard Hawks. He never took a writing credit. Yet, compare the original adaptation of The Front Page with His girl Friday. There is no comparison. Ben Hecht rewrote his play following Hawk’s directions…
a good director is always involved one or another in the writing process…
Sidney Lumet is a great exception. His background is theater. to him, the final decision goes to the writer. the writer is boss and his job is to put the writer’s story and intentions on the screens. if they ever disagree on smg, he’ll go with the writer decision. again, he’s quite an exception.
