ORIGINAL READER'S REPORT FOR ULYSSES
Published by Associated British Productions Limited, London, 1963
- Used
Seller: Tom W. Ayling, Wallingford, United KingdomTom W. Ayling
AbeBooks seller since May 12, 2025
Condition: Used
£ 950.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Elstree's Studios' intriguing original reader's report for Ulysses. 5pp. Typed on rectos only. Reader's delivery stamp to first page dated 19th March 1963. Elstree Studios' original reader's report for Ulysses, based on Jack Cardiff's long-awaited but ultimately fruitless attempt to film Joyce's novel. He acquired the rights in 1962, but ceded them to Joseph Strick in 1964, whose 1967 film was made from a different screenplay. The report gives a synopsis of the plot, then delivers their view: "The authors have made a valiant and praiseworthy attempt to evolve a film script out of a great sprawling literary masterpiece of our time. They have been forced to leave out as much as they have put in, such is the length, complexity and all-embracing nature of the original. The result is that the screenplay is more like an index to the book than a complete transference of the whole vast work into terms of cinema. Thus, for example, lengthy discussions on the nature of Art, in the book appear here only in a sentence or two; the birth of the child, symbolised at great length in the book by passages of literary styles from ancient to modern, flashes by in a few seconds; and, of course, the Nighttown brothel sequence has had to be severely censored. Even so, the Censor, I imagine, would take objection to several portions of the script on the grounds of obscenity or blasphemy. "There seems to be a James Joyce revival just now (witness the phenomenal success of the play Stephen D) but I doubt if it goes wide enough or deep enough to make a film of Ulysses a viable commercial risk. As I see it, to make the story acceptable to mass audiences, further compromises would have to be made I can't, for example, see working-class audiences coping with the many interior monologues, which often proceed side by side with the actual speech. Nor, from the point of view of a normal cinemagoer, is there much in the way of a central story line. The screenplay as a whole suggests episodes strung together somewhat haphazardly more than a complete work. "But, of course, every compromise made to win the favour of the groundlings will annoy the literati for whom James Joyce is a Bible. So that, as it seems to me, this screenplay must fall between two stools. It would be wiser, then, either to make no concessions at all (in which case we would be lucky if the finished article earned its keep at the Box Office) or to retailor the present screenplay into something more normally understandable and acceptable." Film production companies have been basing themselves at Elstree since 1914, and in most cases, their archives have been dispersed, lost or destroyed. This unique and hitherto unknown document from surviving ABPC reader reports has not been seen since its composition seventy years ago and has never before been offered for sale.…
Seller Inventory # 2432
Bibliographic details
- Title
- ORIGINAL READER'S REPORT FOR ULYSSES
- Author
- ELSTREE STUDIOS; JOYCE, James; CARDIFF, Jack
- Publisher
- Associated British Productions Limited, London
- Publication year
- 1963
Tom W. Ayling
Wallingford, United Kingdom
Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
| Item | 14 to 45 business days | 5 to 10 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 27.14 | £ 39.44 |
Payment methods
Store description
Tom W. Ayling deals in rare books and manuscripts spanning centuries, from medieval manuscripts to modern first editions.
Specialty
Rare Books and ManuscriptsAssociation member
Seller's business information
Tom W. Ayling Ltd
Co Strivex Ltd Beacon House, Ibstone Rd
High Wycombe, United Kingdom HP14 3FE
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Tom W. Ayling, Wallingford, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.