Screen Guide for Americans

RAND, Ayn

Published by Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, 1947

About this Item

By far, Ayn Rand's rarest article and without attribution. "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?" was the $99,000 question asked by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Red Scare, a household term in 1947. The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after ten left-wing screenwriters and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to answer before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Boldfaced names throughout the entertainment industry, Charlie Chaplin to Orson Welles, Leonard Bernstein to Lena Horne, saw their careers derailed over fears of their ties to the Communist party. Four years after publication of The Fountainhead, ten years before Atlas Shrugged appeared, Ayn Rand wrote her Screen Guide for Americans, addressed to "the independent judgment and for the voluntary action of every honest man in the motion picture industry." Still, the question perplexes: When and where did it first appear? On September 27, 1947, Rand wrote Ben Stolberg, organizer of the American Writers Association: "Thank you for your praise of the Screen Guide for Americans….Under separate cover, I am sending you twenty copies of the Screen Guide." Following this letter, editor Michael Berliner, (Letters of Ayn Rand New York: Dutton, 1995) writes, "The Guide was published in the November 1947 issue of Plain Talk." Yet Rand's letter to Stolberg was dated September 27, 1947, after Stolberg had read the Guide and before the November 1947 issue of Plain Talk saw publication. Clearly, Rand referred to her Screen Guide article, not her reprint Screen Guide in Plain Talk, as yet unborn. An edited version of the Screen Guide did appear in the November, 1947 issue of Plain Talk, published in New York, mid-November. The original Screen Guide pamphlet, however, published by the Motion Picture Alliance for the preservation of American Ideals, Beverly Hills, was the first and only separate edition of this early Rand article, intended as a manifesto of the MPA, but written by Rand, without attribution. If only there were a way to compare/contrast both… This Rand pamphlet is rare. It last appeared in commerce January, 2004, when PBA Galleries offered it at auction. In its 2004 description, PBA wrote: "No copies appear at auction in the past 25 years and only two copies appear on OCLC's WorldCat, one of which, Michigan State University's, has been reproduced in complete facsimile online." Accompanying the pamphlet is the November, 1947 issue of Plain Talk, where her name appears at the top of the cover page. The Screen Guide pamphlet (Perinn C2) contains some mild toning and and creasing. No writing or markings of any kind. Plain Talk evidences moderate toning and rubbing. Three punched holes on the left side. No writings or markings of any kind. Incomparably Rare Ayn Rand. Book #Bv1444. $2200. We specialize in rare Ayn Rand, and other legends and landmarks.

Seller Inventory # Bv1444

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Screen Guide for Americans
• Publisher: Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals
• Publication Date: 1947
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Ayn Rand