18 Scripts Wannabe Screenwriters Should Read Right Now

3. Casablanca (1942)

The Script: "Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications." - IMDb What You'll Learn: A list like this wouldn't be complete with mention of Casablanca, a screenplay firing on so many cylinders that it's near impossible to know where to start. At its most basically brilliant level, then, Casablanca works because it puts several characters, each with their own definitive, conflicting viewpoints, in a place and watches them go at it as they try to reason, bribe, convince and trick one another. The lessons you can learn from the conversations that take place here are endless, as all of the characters have so much to lose. Flawed characters are always better. You can read Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, and Casey Robinson's script for Casablanca here.