History of Improv in Cinema

I think that someone should write an article about the history of improv in cinema. Not me, necessarily. I'd just like to read it. Or, you know, skim it.

All right, I'll write just a little.

Improv in movies is theoretically the enemy of screenwriters. Actors straying from the written words during takes: embellishing, riffing, rewriting entirely. Sometimes actors (or their people) like to wrest even more from the screenwriter(s) by publicly taking credit for whatever excellent, quotable line they improved in a particular scene. (I came up with the idea to say "Fuck you!" right on the spot. It totally wasn't in the script.)

But that's small-scale improv. Judd Apatow has built an empire out of assembling casts that can riff really well on the spot.

Then there's the larger-scale improv where it's more of the meat of the body.

Wiki excerpt:

The director Mike Leigh uses lengthy improvisations developed over a period of weeks to build characters and story lines for his films. He starts with some sketch ideas of how he thinks things might develop but does not reveal all his intentions with the cast who discover their fate and act out their responses as their destinies are gradually revealed, including significant aspects of their lives which will not subsequently be shown onscreen. The final filming draws on dialogue and actions that have been recorded during the improvisation period.

The old school method of incorporating improv into film is by conducting improvisations with actors during a rehearsal period and putting that material into a shooting script. Saves time and film during the production.

But these days, shooting digitally has significantly cut down on the basic cost of "film". Filmmakers are freer to burn more raw footage which enables them to shoot more "live improv". I think this is one of the reasons we're seeing more improv heavy films in recent years. Indie film CYRUS has been getting some great notices and it's largely improv.

(I did not much care for the Duplass brothers' mumblecore deconstruction of the slasher in BAGHEAD but I'm interested in what they do.)

In television, of course, you've got CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. That show is entirely improvised and yet very sharply plotted. Larry David writes a very detailed outline which maps out what needs to get said and done in each scene. When they're shooting, the actors can say whatever they want as long as they hit upon their key plot points.

Obviously, comedy improv has deep roots in awful live theater. The theoretical charm is seeing something remarkably spontaneous and surprising—comic performers being inventive with some very challenging, incongruous "prompts" from the audience. More often than not, it's resembles watching people committing suicide.

Okay, I don't want to write this article. If someone else could do it, please chronicle the history of improv in drama, from live theater to radio/tv/film. The different ways it's been used in comedy and drama. And there should be a section that talks about how technology has affected the implementation of improv over the years. There might even be enough information for a book. (Maybe someone's already written it...?)