Up Jumped a Swagman

92 mimeographed pp., with 10 pp. of another version bound in at rear with remnants of others, the whole bound in tan stiff paper wrappers secured with three split pins to left edge. Paper title label to top right of front wrapper Wrappers a little marked and worn, but a very well preserved copy. A COMPREHENSIVE ARCHIVE RELATING TO THE MAKING OF UP JUMPED A SWAGMAN (1965), INCLUDING DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER MILES'S WORKING SCRIPT, HEAVILY ANNOTATED AND WITH HAND-DRAWN SHOT LISTS AND DIAGRAMS THROUGHOUT. Up Jumped A Swagman was a vehicle for the 60s Australian singing sensation Frank Ifield, who by 1965 had had four number-one singles in the UK. The film co-starred Suzy Kendall, Annette Andre and Richard Wattis, and looked to emulate the success of other hip and zany teen pics of the time like Expresso Bongo (1959) and Summer Holiday (1963). While bright and breezy enough the film is hamstrung by Ifield's limited acting ability, as well as a budget which clearly didn't stretch to filming much of Swinging London.On the upside there's an extended riff on the heist sequence of Rififi (1955) and a neat shot composed in homage to Last Year at Marienbad (1961), although these references were almost certainly lost on Swagman's target audience. The film was directed by Christopher Miles, only twenty-five years old at the time and with just three short films to his credit. (Miles and Ifield were represented by the same agent, Leslie Grade.) Miles' career began in 1963 with the Oscar-nominated short film The Six-Sided Triangle, starring Sarah Miles, Christopher's sister. He went on to direct D.H. Lawrence's The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), Jean Genet's The Maids (1974) and the D.H. Lawrence biopic Priest of Love (1981), an early screen success for Ian McKellen. Miles' working copy of the shooting script has his ownership signature to the front wrapper, and 'REVISED SCRIPT' with the date 12 February 1965 to both the title page and the title label to the front wrapper (many pages, bound in later, carry a revision date of '7/4/65'). The script is extensively annotated and revised, and many of the blank versos are covered with Miles's shot lists for the more elaborate scenes, and often accompanied by diagrams. Bound in at the rear are pages from an earlier draft, also used by Miles for notes and diagrams. The accompanying paper archive comprises: i) 28pp. mimeographed breakdown. Director's copy, with Miles' ownership signature to front wrapper, 'Copy No. 2' to title label, cast and unit lists with a few hand-written corrections bound in at rear; ii) 7pp. casting folder, printed audition lists heavily annotated by Miles. ('ANNETTE ANDRE: Charming and a little demure.' 'DUDLEY SUTTON: Didn't come.'); iii) Small quantity of correspondence and associated material in a yellow folder, including song and lyric lists for pre-record; set plan and cross plot; supporting cast lists and breakdowns, and screen test itineraries. Also present is a copy of a letter from Leslie Grade, Ifield's agent, to producer Andrew Mitchell asking for the deletion of scenes set in a strip club, and reminding him of the importance of a 'U' certificate for the film (Grade got his way); iv) Small collection of 10 x 8 b&w set photographs -- including one of the scene referencing Last Year at Marienbad (1961), inscribed by Miles to reverse: '"Up Jumped a Swagman" or "This Year at Marylebone!" Frank Ifield and Annette André forground [sic].' v) Original quad poster, in fine condition.…