George Abbott Director (8 results)

Vintage British front-of-house card from the 1952 British film. Based on the popular 1948 Broadway play by Frank Loesser and George Abbott, which was based on the 1895 play "Charley's Aunt" by Brandon Thomas, wherein an Oxford student poses as his rich aunt from Brazil. Ray Bolger, Allyn Ann McLerie, and Horace Cooper all reprised their Broadway performances for the film. Set in and shot on location in Oxford, England. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, with light overall toning.…

Vintage black-and-white still photograph from a later re-release (1950s) of the 1930 film. Brief annotations in manuscript ink on the verso and recto. Based on Remarque's 1929 novel, one of the greatest books written about World War I from the German perspective, about German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of them upon their return home from the war. Winner of two Academy Awards (Best Picture and Best Director). Set in Germany, shot on location in California. 8 x 10 inches. A few faint creases, else Near Fine. National Film Registry.…

Final script for the 1939 film. Specially bound copy belonging to screenwriter Jerry Wald, with his name in gilt on the front board. Jerry Wald is best remembered for his long and successful association with Warner Brothers as both a screenwriter and producer of a number of notable films, including "Mildred Pierce" (1945), "Humoresque" (1946), "Key Largo" (1948), and "Flamingo Road" (1949). In the 1950s he moved to Twentieth Century-Fox, and was the producer there for "An Affair to Remember" (1957), "Peyton Place" (1957), and "Sons and Lovers" (1960). Based on Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical. A former vaudeville star is forced to join a ballet company, whereupon he becomes romantically involved with the company's prima ballerina, whose jealous dance partner attempts to arrange the man's death. Set in New York. Bound in red cloth with red quarter leather binding, with five raised bands and gilt titles on the spine. Distribution page present, dated 5/5/39 and noted as FINAL, stamped copy No. 102, with receipt intact. Title page present, with credits for screenwriters Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay and playwrights Richard Rodgers and Larry Hart. 138 leaves, with last page of text numbered 135. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with two blue revision pages dated 5/9/39. Pages Near Fine, binding Near Fine.…

Draft script for the Broadway premiere of the 1932 play. Working copy belonging to playwrights Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, with their annotations in manuscript pencil throughout. An early theatrical effort by legendary playwrights, authors, and creative collaborators Hecht and MacArthur, preceded by "The Front Page" (1928) and "The Great Magoo" (1932). Based on "Napoleon of Broadway," an unproduced play by Charles B. Millholland, about an egomaniacal theatrical producer (based on real-life impresario David Belasco) as he attempts to win back his former protégé, now working as a Hollywood actress. The play made its Broadway premiere on December 29, 1932, at the Broadhurst Theatre, running for 152 performances. Adapted for film by Howard Hawks two years later, starring John Barrymore and Carole Lombard. Set in New York. Blue titled wrappers, with credits for playwrights Hecht, MacArthur, and Millholland on the front wrapper. Title page present, dated December 29, 1932, with credits for playwrights Hecht, MacArthur, and Millholland, director George Abbott, and others. 112 leaves, with last page of text numbered 3-29. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only. Title page lightly dampstained, else Pages Near Fine, wrapper Good, moderately dampstained and edgeworn, bound with two gold brads. …

Collection of five vintage studio still photographs and one borderless reference photograph from the 1939 film. One with a printed mimeo snipe affixed to the verso. Based on Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical. A former vaudeville star is forced to join a ballet company, whereupon he becomes romantically involved with the company's prima ballerina, whose jealous dance partner attempts to arrange the man's death. Set in New York. Five photographs 8 x 10 inches, one 7.25 x 9.5 inches. Near Fine.…

Vintage borderless double weight reference photograph from the 1939 film, showing actress Vera Zorina posing in a tulle-trimmed leotard and elbow-length gloves. With the stamps of Dell Publishing Company and still photographer Hurrell on the verso, along with a date stamp reading SEP 12 1939. Based on Rodgers and Hart's 1936 Broadway musical. A former vaudeville star is forced to join a ballet company, whereupon he becomes romantically involved with the company's prima ballerina, whose jealous dance partner attempts to arrange the man's death. Set in New York. 7.5 x 9.5 inches. Near Fine.…

Three vintage double weight publicity photographs by photographer Ray Jones from the 1930 film, showing each of its three female leads. Each has a mimeo snipe and a studio stamp crediting photographer Jones on the verso, and one has an additional agency stamp on the verso. From the archive of noted Hollywood still photographer Ray Jones. Born in Wisconsin on January 1, 1901, Jones worked for Paramount Pictures in the early 1930s, and went on to be the head of the still photography department at Universal Pictures in 1935, where he worked well into the 1950s. The actresses represented in the photographs are: Yola d'Avril, who starred in the uncredited role of Suzanne, the French woman who sleeps with Paul, played by Lew Ayres (the largest female role in the film). Renée Damonde, who starred in the uncredited role of a brunette French woman who sleeps with Albert, played by William Bakewell. Poupée Andriot, who starred in the uncredited role of a blonde French woman who sleeps with Leer, played by Scott Kolk. Based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque, and the first film to win the Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production and Best Director. Remade for television in 1979, directed by Delbert Mann, and starring Richard Thomas and Ernest Borgnine, and in 2022, directed by Edward Berger, starring Felix Kammerer and Ernest Borgnine. Shot on location in California. 7.5 x 9.5 inches. Near Fine. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000.…

Vintage linen-backed keybook photograph of the famous nightclub set of the 1929 film. The photograph highlights not only the spectacular production design, but the camera crane developed by director Paul Fejos, which enabled the cumbersome cameras at the time to fluidly move at nearly every conceivable angle, and at the speed of 600 feet per minute. "DUPL NYPL" stamp and mimeo snipe on the verso, original mimeograph snipe visible through linen backing. Based on the 1926 musical by Philip Dunning and George Abbott. Lovers Ray Lane (Glenn Tryon) and Billie Moore (Merna Kennedy) are performers rehearsing at the Paradise Nightclub when they are inadvertently drawn into backstage bootlegging and murder. Universal's first talking picture with Technicolor sequences. The Criterion Collection reconstructed the incomplete surviving talking version in 2012 and was included in their release of Paul Fejos' 1928 film "Lonesome." 7.5 x 10 inches. Left side has punch hole extension cut off, else Near Fine. Criterion Collection 623.…