Autograph Letter, signed, to Herbert Brenon by Wren, Percival Christopher - 1926

Bournemouth, 1926. Six pages, on rectos and versos of three quarto sheets of club stationery. Old folds from mailing, a few old, light spots to third leaf (in no fashion affecting text), but otherwise very good. Enclosed in folding cloth case, with typed transcript. From the James S. Copley collection. Six pages, on rectos and versos of three quarto sheets of club stationery. To the Director of the Film Adaptation of Beau Geste. A splendid letter, perhaps the best imaginable in its context, from Wren to the director and co-writer of the 1926 film adaptation of his 1924 novel about British soldiers serving in the French Foreign Legion, starring Ronald Colman, Neil Hamilton, Ralph Forbes, Noah Beery and Norman Trevor. Writing three months after the film premiered in New York, Wren apologizes for his silence: "...you have probably decided that I am a myth or a fool or a fish or a most unappreciative & ungrateful hound.  In point of fact, I have been a corpse, more or less, & it was not until this week that I have been able to see 'Beau Geste,' - & I had determined not to trouble you with a letter until I had seen it.  Well -  it is the finest film I have ever seen in my life, & you are the greatest, most artistic, cleverest & most indomitable producer the world has yet seen.  This sounds crude & fulsome flattery. It is nevertheless my honest opinion, & from some points of view, there is nobody who is better qualified to hold an opinion on the subject ... It was an astounding thing to me, incredible & awe-inspiring, to see those people looking & behaving & speaking almost exactly as they did in life - & in almost identical surroundings." He continues on, at considerable length, praising the film, the cast, and particularly the noting that "No small part of the glory and greatness of this film is the noble way in which American owners, American knowledge, American advantages, American money - have cooperated in making a British story, with British heroes, with British glorification, and a complete submergence of American pride or self-praise & credit." Wren's praise for the film continues further, responding to the news that Brenon is considering an adaptation of the sequel, asking if Ronald Colman will be in the cast, and updating Brenon on his progress on the third volume of the trilogy. Toward bringing a conclusion to his letter, Wren observes: "I must not occupy your time further - but would like to add that I am as appreciative & grateful as it is possible to be, & that I realize that it was a very great day in my life when you read 'Beau Geste' & decided to film it ...."  Ca. 750 words. Signed "P.C. Wren," and accompanied by a 9.5 x 7 cm cabinet portrait photograph of Wren in uniform, signed by him on the image, and inscribed on the verso: "A snap-shot of Herbert Brenon's most grateful admirer among all the millions who admire him. P.C. Wren." It would be difficult to imagine a more desirable letter relating to the transfer of Wren's novel to the screen, an undertaking for which Brenon won the Photoplay Awards 1926 Medal of Honor.