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First Edition. Signed presentation copy from Darryl F. Zanuck, film mogul of 20th Century - Fox, to screenwriter, director and film producer Nunnally Johnson, inscribed on the printed half-title: ÒTo Nunnally, With affectionate regards from this chronicle, Ôthe subjectÕ. Darryl.Ó With the bookplate of Nunnally Johnson affixed to the front pastedown, 4Ó x 5 3/4Ó, light blue paper, printed in large lettering: ÒNunnally Johnson, His BookÓ with a drawing of an open book in the center with the following amusing text: ÒEx-Liberus, Pro-Bono Publico, Ex-Cathe-dra, Sic Semper, Tyranus, Klassy Kut Klothes.Ó Near fine bright copy with some minor edge wear in a very good dust jacket with a touch of dust soiling and some small chips and tears. Illustrated. Very rare inscribed. Darryl F. Zanuck (1902 - 1979) was one of the founding fathers of the modern American film industry. In 1929 he became head of production for Warner Brothers, helping to successfully guide the studio out of the silent film era into sound. After establishing Warner BrothersÕ film style with such classics as ÔThe Jazz Singer,Õ ÔThe Public Enemy,Õ and ÔI Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang,Õ he broke out on his own in 1933 after a dispute over studio policy, and went on to form Twentieth Century Films with support and backing from Louis B. Mayer and Joseph M. Schenck. In 1935, Twentieth absorbed the financially troubled Fox studios, thus becoming Twentieth Century-Fox. He was an unusually active participant in the development of the films his studio was producing and established a reputation as the most Ôhands-onÕ of the major studio bosses, as this script indicates. As producer, some of his best known films include ÔLes Miserables,Õ ÔYoung Mr. Lincoln,Õ ÔDrums Along the Mohawk,Õ ÔThe Grapes of Wrath,Õ ÔHow Green Was My Valley,Õ ÔGentlemenÕs Agreement,Õ ÔAll About Eve,Õ ÔViva Zapata!,Õ ÔThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,Õ ÔThe Sun Also Rises,Õ and ÔThe Longest DayÕ which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. Nunnally Johnson (1897 - 1977) left his career as a journalist and short story writer in New York for Hollywood and found work as a scriptwriter and was hired full-time as a writer by 20th Century-Fox in 1935. Not long after he began producing films as well and cofounded International Pictures in 1943 with William Goetz. Johnson was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in 1940 for ÔThe Grapes of WrathÕ and the Directors Guild of America Best Directors Award in 1956 for ÔThe Man in the Gray Flannel SuitÕ. He is also the author of such classic films as ÔThe Desert Fox: The Story of RommelÕ (with Zanuck producing), ÔThe Prisoner of Shark IslandÕ, ÔJesse JamesÕ, ÔTobacco RoadÕ, ÔThree Came HomeÕ, ÔThe Keys to the KingdomÕ, etc.
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