Bombshells to Blasters, An Auction You Can't Refuse Pt. 1

First Time To Auction

Random House, 1952-1953. Cloth and board bound 149-page hardcover copy of The Seven Year Itch stage play. The 5.5 x 8.25 in. edition features a cover image from the play with Tom Ewell as "Richard Sherman" and Vanessa Brown as "The Girl," which Monroe would play in the film adaptation. Cover and spine embossed with title. Interior end page marked with "Chas. K. Feldman Group Productions" ink stamp. This is the actual agency copy of the play that would be adapted by author Axelrod and writer/director Billy Wilder into one of Marilyn Monroe's landmark vehicles. The copy is heavily annotated and processed for pre-production, including a 4 x 6 in. typed list of affected pages set between endpaper and title page. The content has been marked and annotated in pencil designating script notes, questions, and suggested omissions of words or content that might flag the censors. The play is marked specifically with Marilyn's interests and image in mind. Page 26, where the stage directions read, in part: "...majestically open flooding the room with "˜dream light'. He moves toward the door, almost dancing. In this particular flight of fancy, he is very suave, very Noel Coward." And the reader has written "Noel Coward scene." Also, on page 41, in an exchange between "Richard" and "The Girl," in part: "THE GIRL: I knew it! I could tell. You look married. RICHARD: I do? THE GIRL: Mmm! It's funny. Back home practically nobody was married. And in New York everybody is, men I mean." Here the note is, in full: "Question of script being funnier by concealing marriage but still could get us into this." Also on page 34, the word "Rapist" is flagged, assumed for concern over censorship. Much of the contents have been marked, dog-eared, and processed in some fashion. Charles Feldman was a powerful agent and producer. He founded Charles K. Feldman Productions in 1945 and went on to produce Orson Welles' Macbeth . When his company produced A Streetcar Named Desire in 1951, Feldman fought to protect that film from censorship. He produced The Seven Year Itch in 1955 for his client Marilyn Monroe while he was her agent from 1951-1955. From a time when the genesis of any film production began with the honored literature that inspired it, there may be no item that serves as more of "The Big Bang" for the creation of a classic Hollywood motion picture. Annotation assumed in Feldman's hand, and with consultation on Monroe, whose reputation for personal involvement with her projects is legendary. Exhibiting production use and handling. With tight spine and content marked, dog-eared, and with some staining from tipped-in paper. In general vintage very good condition.