Harwood is dryly optimistic that agreement will be reached ("I think the Writers Guild are having their balls squeezed") but far more certain that any settlement will make no difference to writers' income.

"I've had a piece of every picture I've ever written. I've never had a penny. David Lean said to me at a party just after The Dresser, 'Do you want to make money out of movies?' I said, 'I'd love to.'

He said, 'Go into the film studio; go and find the office where they're counting the money; you'll see men in suits on their knees stuffing money into sacks. The money they can't get in, grab, because that's all you're going to get.'

"It's the game. There is nothing you can do about it."

Harwood & Date at Oscar Party

for

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly