TEAM WRITING

The emphasis of the letter entitled “Screenwriting for Real Money” on the new breed of writers being raiders of a lost art was a point well-taken (Calendar Letters, March 1). But it wasn’t scathing enough!

It’s not only the writing partnership we never hear from again who deserve scorn, but those we unfortunately do . The distinct lack of any solo talents around today is bad enough, but I dare anyone to mentally or physically survive a writing team film festival that includes the works of Kouf & Greenwalt (“Class,” “Up the Creek,” “American Dreamer,” “Secret Admirer”), Zacharias & Buhai (“Revenge of the Nerds,” “Last Resort,” “Whoopee Boys”), Israel & Proft (“Bachelor Party,” “Moving Violations”), Hamill & Hamill (“Turk 182,” “Critical Condition”), and especially Katz & Huyck (“French Postcards,” “Best Defense,” “Howard the Duck”). Even those lucky stiffs Cash & Epps can hardly be said to have reached the apex of the art (“Top Gun,” “Legal Eagles”).

There are plenty of others, too numerous to mention, but by this mark shall ye know them: & (if the and is spelled out, it signals writers who rewrote each other, not a true team).

In Outtakes March 1 Pat H. Broeske ridiculed the script of “Batteries Not Included.” Wanna know why? It’s by Maddock & Wilson and Barwood & Robbins!

Hecht & MacArthur (“Gunga Din,” “The Front Page”) are turning in their graves.

MAX SAND

Hollywood