from Royal Books, Inc.

New York: Pantheon, 1963. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for the disturbing 1966 neo-noir film directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Rock Hudson. Near Fine in a Near Fine, price-clipped dust jacket. Faint offsetting on the endpapers. Slightest hint of wear at the corners and ends of the jacket spine panel. A lovely copy.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1943. Draft script for the 1945 film. Copy belonging to an unknown crew member, with their holograph annotations in pencil on several pages. Based on the 1890 novel by Oscar Wilde, about a man whose portrait magically takes on the ability to absorb the sins of his debauched life while he remains… Read more

New York: Random House, 1940. First Edition. First Edition. The uncommon play source for the 1941 film noir directed by Charles Vidor and starring Ida Lupino and Evelyn Keyes. Preceded by an English actor's edition in wrappers, this being the first trade edition and only edition in hardcover. Near Fine in a lightly rubbed, about Near Fine… Read more

New York: Carrick and Evans, 1938. First Edition. First Edition. SIGNED by the author on the title page. A.I. Bezzerides' important first book, leading to a film and an extremely successful and consistently impressive screenwriting career in the American film studios. Basis for the superb 1940 Raoul Walsh film "They Drive By Night," starring George Raft and… Read more

London: Victor Gollancz, 1932. First UK Edition and true first. Basis for Alfred Hitchcock's 1941 classic film noir "Suspicion," starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Near Fine in a Very Good plus dust jacket. Book has a tiny, nearly imperceptible tear at the front hinge. Jacket is slightly sunned at the spine, with only a few nicks and… Read more

New York: William Morrow, 1945. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for the 1947 film noir directed by Peter Godfrey and starring Erroll Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck, and Geraldine Brooks. Very Good plus in an Very Good or better dust jacket. Spine ends lightly bumped, with faint soil on the board edges. Jacket has a short closed tear on… Read more

N.p.: N.p., 1930. Vintage portrait photograph of Mary Astor, circa 1930s, with Astor's inscription, "Cordially / Mary Astor," printed from the negative. Best known for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the 1941 film noir "The Maltese Falcon," directed by John Huston and co-starring Humphrey Bogart, Astor's career spanned five decades and starred in more than 100 movies.… Read more

London: Thornton and Butterworth, 1925. First UK Edition, preceding all others. Published seven years later in the United States as "Rage in Heaven," and basis for the 1941 film noir of that name, directed by W.S. Van Dyke, written by Christopher Isherwood, and starring Robert Montgomery, Ingrid Bergman, and George Sanders. Near Fine in a bright, about… Read more

New York: Random House, 1942. First Edition. Two volumes: the Advance Copy and the First Edition. An absolutely impeccable copy, accompanied by an equally fine copy of the wrappered Advance Copy. Maritta Wolff's follow-up to "Whistle Stop," basis for the 1942 film noir "The Man I Love," directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Robert Alda and Ida Lupino.… Read more

New York: Random House, 1941. First Edition. Two volumes: the Advance Copy and the First Edition. An absolutely impeccable copy, accompanied by an equally fine copy of the wrappered Advance Copy. Accompanying the Advance Copy is a typed letter signed on Random House letterhead, from editor Harry E. Maule, introducing the book, in the original mailing envelope. … Read more

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941. First American Edition. A very nice copy of an extremely scarce title in jacket, basis for the 1945 film noir "The Spiral Staircase," directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Dorothy McGuire, George Brent, and Ethel Barrymore. Near Fine in a Very Good plus example of the scarce dust jacket. Jacket is… Read more

New York: Crown Publishers, 1950. First Edition. First Edition. SIGNED by authors Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer on the front endpaper. Basis for the 1957 film noir directed by Sidney Salkow. Very Good plus in a Very Good plus dust jacket. Page edges lightly foxed, with faint offsetting on the endpapers. Jacket is lightly rubbed,… Read more

New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1950. First Edition. First Edition. Play that is the basis for the 1952 film noir "Beware, My Lovely," starring Robert Ryan and Ida Lupino. Rare. Fine and unread in an about Fine dust jacket. A superb copy. The Dark Page II: 1959-1965, p. 42.

New York: Random House, 1954. First Edition. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author on the front endpaper: "For Jerry Farrell / The #2 'boy' of Manero's / Best, as ever / Bob Sylvester." Basis for the 1957 film noir, the only film in the cycle to be shot on location in Cuba, directed by Richard Wilson, written… Read more

New York: Samuel French, 1930. First Edition. First Edition, wrappered variant. INSCRIBED by the author on the title page: "To Audrey and Bill / Happy we are together / John Wexley / 2/14/46." Name stamp of one of the inscribees, Audrey Wood of Westport, Connecticut, on the front endpaper. Basis for the 1959 film noir starring Mickey… Read more

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939. First Edition. First Edition. A beautiful copy of the author's most famous book, basis for the 1944 film noir written for the screen by Frank Gruber and starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Zachary Scott. Very Good or better in a Fine dust jacket. Slight spine lean, with spine cloth lightly faded and… Read more

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1934. First Edition. First Edition. The author's seminal first novel, a cornerstone of hard-boiled fiction that was filmed twice: first in 1946 with John Garfield and Lana Turner, and more nihilistically, with a David Mamet screenplay, in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. James M. Cain's initial title for the book… Read more

New York: Murray and Gee, 1948. First Edition. Two volumes, both First Edition. One copy is jacket Variant A, with an illustrated front panel, and one copy is jacket Variant B, with a simple teardrop design on the front panel, issued in conjunction with the sale of the film rights. Rare. Basis for the 1948 film noir directed… Read more

New York: Samuel French, 1928. First Edition. First Edition. Play that is the basis for the 1951 film noir directed by John Cromwell and starring Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, and Robert Ryan. Near Fine in a Fair to Good example of the rare dust jacket. Small owner name on the front endpaper. Jacket has a two-inch loss at… Read more

London: William Heinemann, 1927. First Edition. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author on the front endpaper: "G. Murray Brownwell / with kind thoughts of the writer / Marie Belloc Lowndes." Inscription has offset slightly onto the front pastedown, and is very slightly blurred in a couple of spots (though not to a disagreeable extent). Basis for the… Read more