We'll never know

In an alternate universe, would the unproduced screenplay Edward Ford by Lem Dobbs be a classic? (Ice Box Talk)

The screenplay has three main sections, the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s – following Edward’s life from his arrival in Los Angeles in the 1960s (the tail-end of the old Studio System), to the moment in the 1980s (which would have been the future if we believe that '79 date) when a film is made about him. Edward loves movies, but he isn’t a cinephile, uninterested in theories, directors or even whether a film is any good or not. Mostly he’s fixated on actors. Not even the stars. Rather he worships the dependable two or three-line bit-guys and gals who fill out the edges of the frame in countless Westerns, thrillers, musicals and comedies (but mostly Westerns). And they have to be American Studio pictures, because he also loves the Studios. Edward sits in the cinema with a notebook and writes down the names of all the actors in order of their appearance, and a special mark if they get “bumped off”, then transfers this data to a filecard system.