[Original Studio Publicity Pressbook for:] MEN AGAINST THE SKY

[Los Angeles]: RKO Radio Pictures, 1940. 11,[2]pp. Folio. Pictorial self-wrappers. Heavily illustrated throughout. Horizontal fold (with a bit of wear to upper wrapper along fold), some minor dust marking, pencil booking date erased from white area of upper wrapper, otherwise an unusually good, visually striking example. A vintage campaign pressbook for the 1940 RKO production based on an original script by Nathanael West, produced by Howard Benedict, directed by Leslie Goodwins, and starring Richard Dix, Wendy Barrie, Kent Taylor, et al. West is given prominent full credit for the screenplay on the pressbook and the publicity paper for the film -- status he by no means enjoyed for all of the films he scripted. The upper wrapper is a variant on the poster art for the film, with images of the lead players filling the bottom half of the sheet; the upper portion is filled with a spectacular image of a man wing-walking and making a leap to another plane, with the title emblazoned diagonally just below. A great example of a classic-style American film pressbook, with images of all the paper, a synopsis, and substantial text. WHITE, p.42 (ref).