Veteran writers turn out for WGA rally

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The scribes who penned "Diamonds Are Forever," "The Big Valley" and "The Danny Thomas Hour" took part in a rally supporting striking Hollywood writers Friday.

The veteran screen and TV writers joined more than 200 Writers Guild of America members at Sony Pictures in the pouring rain, the WGA said in a statement posted on its Web site.

"This strike feels (as strong as) 1960 when we won pension and health benefits," said screenwriter Christopher Knopf, who served as WGA president from 1965 to1967. "The Internet is a brand new area that we just have to get."

Knopf was joined on the picket line by Tom Mankiewicz, who wrote several early James Bond movies, and Norman Borisoff, a WGA member since 1947.

"The writers have never gotten a single thing without a strike or the threat of a strike," Borisoff said.

"I've never seen the guild with a more properly militant leadership," said Mankiewicz. "If we do this right this time, we won't have to do it again."

The WGA has been on strike since Nov. 5. Talks between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are set to resume Tuesday.