Search Results: Authors starting with W from Royal Books, Inc.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1972. Collection of seven black and white studio still photographs from the 1972 film. Loosely based on the 1950 film "The Asphalt Jungle," which was in turn based on W. R. Burnett's 1949 novel. A former inmate decides to gather a gang of criminals to execute a diamond heist, in the hopes of using the profits to start a community bank for black-owned businesses. Set in Los Angeles and San Quentin. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine. Lee, The Heist Film. Parish and Hill 66. Spicer US Neo-Noir. Howard, Blaxploitation Cinema, p. 69, 119-121.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1972. Complete set of eight vintage color studio still photographs from the 1972 film. Four photos shown, please inquire to see the others. Loosely based on the 1950 film "The Asphalt Jungle," which was in turn based on W. R. Burnett's 1949 novel. A former inmate decides to gather a gang of criminals to execute a diamond heist, in the hopes of using the profits to start a community bank for black-owned businesses. Set in Los Angeles and San Quentin. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine. Lee, The Heist Film. Parish and Hill 66. Spicer US Neo-Noir. Howard, Blaxploitation Cinema, p. 69, 119-121.

Hollywood: Paramount Pictures, 1933. Second Script for the 1933 film. Rubber-stamped on the front wrapper, "FILE COPY / RETURN TO SCRIPT DEPT. / PARAMOUNT STUDIO - HOLLYWOOD," and "1837 / MASTER FILE." The film's original title, "Don't Call Me Madam," is present on the front wrapper, crossed through, with the new title "Tillie and Gus" written in manuscript ink above it. Based on a short story entitled "Don't Call Me Madame," by Rupert Hughes, about Tillie and Gus Winterbottom (Alisone Skipworth and W. C. Fields) and their tribulations involving a deceased family member's inheritance. Even with the ensuing events, including a riverboat race and a baby-toting bathtub that floats downstream reminiscent of Moses in a basket, the film is remembered as one of Fields' "sleepers," one less punchy than others. "Tillie and Gus" was one of three pairings of Skipworth and Fields, the others being "Six of a Kind" (1934) and "If I Had a Million" (1932). Tall, side stapled salmon self wrappers, noted as SECOND… Read More

Hollywood: Paramount Pictures, 1937. Final script for the 1938 film. The S.S. Gigantic, an expensive, "radio-powered" ocean liner prepares to race its rival, the ocean liner S.S. Colossal, across the Atlantic, from New York to Cherbourg, in two and a half days. Sabotage and romantic hijinks ensue on both sides. Bob Hope's first feature film appearance. Self wrappers. Title page present, dated September 11, 1937, noted as FINAL WHITE SCRIPT, stamped FILE COPY and MASTER FILE, noted as production No. 1157. 145 leaves, with last page of text numbered D-54. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with blue revision pages throughout, dated 10-15-37. Pages Very Good plus, with the title page and last three leaves separated from the binding, side stitched with two staples.

Universal City: Universal Pictures, 1940. Two vintage reference photographs from the set of the 1940 film. One with a printed mimeo snipe affixed to the verso. Egbert Souse, a slovenly drunk, finds himself in several different positions of employment through sheer luck and happenstance. After being hired on the spot to replace a film crew's no-show movie director, Souse unintentionally thwarts a bank robbery and is immediately offered a job as a security guard. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, lightly creased on the edges.

Universal City, CA: Universal Pictures, 1938. Draft script for the 1939 film. Director George Marshall's working copy, with his profuse substantive annotations throughout. Ne'er-do-well circus owner Larsen E. Whipsnade (W.C. Fields) struggles to keep his performers and carnival business just a few steps ahead of the law in order to avoid foreclosure. Meanwhile, Whipsnade's co-ed daughter Vicky attempts to navigate her equally confounding romantic entanglements in light of her father's financial trouble. Also starring Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy as fictitious versions of themselves, likely in an attempt to drawn attention to the duo's famous "radio feud" with Fields. Light blue titled wrappers, noted as REVISED SCRIPT on the front wrapper. Title page integral with the first page of text, dated 10/31/38, noted as REVISED SCRIPT. 139 leaves, with last page of text numbered 164. Typescript on onionskin stock, with light green, pink, and gray revision pages throughout. Pages Near Fine, front… Read More

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1937. Two vintage studio still photographs from the 1937 film. Based on George Gershwin and Sigmund Romberg's 1928 musical of the same name. A young princess and a West Point cadet fall in love. Although the play on which the film is based was also a musical, an entirely new score was written for the film. Gershwin was originally suppose to compose the score for the film as well, but Cole Porter eventually completed the task. Shot on location in California and New York. 8 x 10 inches. Near Fine.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1928. Archive of 94 vintage, double weight photographs from the 1928 film. Inspired by the 1919 nonfiction travel book by Frederick O'Brien, and retaining much of that work's anti-imperialist themes, about an alcoholic doctor who is set adrift by white traders after objecting to their treatment of the Polynesian workers, only to wash ashore on an island where the natives have never seen a white man. MGM's first film with a fully prerecorded soundtrack, comprised of music and sound effects, including, most notably, the first time the company's mascot Leo the Lion roared at the film's start, although the film doesn't quite classify as a talkie, as only the single whispered word "hello" appears in the soundtrack. Winner of an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Set on a Polynesian Island, shot on location in Tahiti, at the time an ambitious endeavor to shoot a Hollywood film on location among native islanders, using many of them as extras in the… Read More

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1928. Archive of material from the 1928 film. From the estate of actor Monte Blue, who starred in the film. Included in the archive are a carbon typescript draft script, here under the working title "Southern Skies," four vintage photographs, each with a mimeo snipe on the verso, one with a press stamp as well, and a later, 1921 edition of the 1919 travel book by Frederick O'Brien which served as the source material for the film, signed and dated by Blue, with his bookplate on the front pastedown. MGM's first film with a fully prerecorded soundtrack, comprised of music and sound effects, including, most notably, the first time the company's mascot Leo the Lion roared at the film's start, White Shadows in the South Seas doesn't quite classify as a "talkie," as only the single whispered word "hello" appears in the soundtrack. Winner of an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Set on a Polynesian Island, shot on location in Tahiti, at the time an… Read More

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1937. Vintage photographs of director W.S. Van Dyke instructing a bleacher full of young women, including stars Eleanor Powell and Ilona Massey, on the set of the 1937 musical film. With a mimeo snipe on the verso. Based on the 1928 Broadway musical, about a West Point cadet who falls for a Vasser student who just happens to be a princess in disguise, with most of the original songs by George and Ira Gershwin replaced with new material by Cole Porter, including the classic "In the Still of the Night." 10 x 8 inches. About Near Fine. Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical.

N.p.: N.p., 1929. Vintage reference photograph of Ramón Novarro and Renée Adorée from the 1929 part-silent, part-talking film. Mimeo snipe on the verso. A woman from a small South Pacific island falls in love with a mixed-race man who owns a plantation, but their romance is disparaged by her highly religious guardian. Shot on location in Tahiti. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, lightly toned.

London: Camera Press, 1950. Vintage borderless photograph of author W. Somerset Maugham at his residence at the villa La Mauresque at Cap Ferrat on the French Riviera, circa 1950. Mimeo snipe and provenance stamps on the verso, struck "Parimages" in manuscript ink. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus.

London: J. Arthur Rank, 1951. Four vintage borderless publicity photographs of writer W. Somerset Maugham, showing Maugham sitting on his garden verandah at his home on the French Riviera, taken to publicize the 1951 film. All four with the stamps of J. Arthur Rank Organization on the verso, and one with a printed mimeo snipe. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. A three-episode anthology film based on several short story collections written by Maugham in 1940 and 1947, directed by Pat Jackson, Harold French, and Anthony Pelissier, with each episode introduced by Maugham himself. The final film in Rank's Maugham trilogy, preceded by "Quartet" (1948) and "Trio" (1950). 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

London: Gainsborough Pictures, 1948. Vintage reference photograph from the 1948 British film, showing actress Mai Zetterling. With a printed mimeo snipe affixed to the verso, along with the stamps of Movie Life and J. Arthur Rank, a stamp specific to the film's UK release, and the stamp of still photographer Lawrence Turner. A British anthology film based on several stories by W. Somerset Maugham, including "The Colonel's Lady," "The Kite," and "The Facts of Life." Zetterling appears in "The Facts of Life" as a beautiful, mysterious woman who seduces a wealthy young tennis player. 7.5 x 9.75 inches. Near Fine.

N.p.: Fine Arts Films, 1960. Vintage studio still photograph from the US re-release of the 1948 British film, showing actors Jack Watling and Mai Zetterling. A British anthology film based on several stories by W. Somerset Maugham, including "The Colonel's Lady," "The Kite," and "The Facts of Life." Zetterling and Watling appear in "The Facts of Life," a segment following a beautiful, mysterious woman who seduces a wealthy young tennis player. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

N.p.: N.p., 1964. Vintage reference photograph from the 1964 film, showing actress Kim Novak nude and on a bed. The third of three feature films based on W. Somerset Maugham's classic 1915 novel, following the 1934 film starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis, and the 1946 film starring Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker. Set in London. 10 x 8 inches. About Near Fine, with pinholes on the corners and edges.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM] / Seven Arts, 1964. Collection of 13 studio photographs from the 1964 film. The third of three feature films adapted from W. Somerset Maugham's classic 1915 novel, starring Kim Novak and Laurence Harvey, following the 1934 film starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis, and the 1946 film starring Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker. Set in London and filmed by MGM British Studios at Ardmore Studios in County Wicklow, Ireland. 10 x 8 inches (25 x 20). Near Fine.

London: National Film Archive, 1934. Two vintage reference photographs from the 1934 film, one showing actors Bette Davis and Leslie Howard, the other showing director John Cromwell and a camera crew capturing a scene with Kay Johnson and Howard. Both with the stamp of National Film Archive on the verso. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. Based on the 1915 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. A sensitive, clubfooted young man falls in love with a mercurial tearoom waitress. A breakout role for actress Bette Davis, and the first of three adaptations of Maugham's novel, followed by one in 1946 and one in 1964. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1964. Vintage studio still photograph from the 1964 film. The third of three feature films based on W. Somerset Maugham's classic 1915 novel, following the 1934 film starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis, and the 1946 film starring Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker. A waitress and a medical student engage in a tumultuous, years long romance. Set in London. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1947. Original Pressbook for the 1947 film noir. A little-seen noir with an interesting history. Based on the 1940 film, "The Letter," which is in turn an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's 1926 short story of the same title (first collected in "The Casuarina Tree"). Written for the screen by David Goodis and James Gunn. The film infamously failed to give credit to Maugham's story, though the fact that it was so studiously reworked probably has much to do with the author's lack of interest in making a legal matter of it. Ann Sheridan plays a woman in distress accused of lying about her connection with a murdered man, is eventually acquitted in court. Her character presents a unique picture of the noir female, being neither afraid for her sanity or her life, and yet a victim of postwar instability and infidelity in the context of being a military wife (Silver, et al). 16 pages, saddle stapled, folded once, 11 x 17 inches. Very Good plus, with slight separation at… Read More