[Rarebooks] FS: Director's and Dorothy Parker's Scripts for the Original A STAR IS BORN

[Charles Agvent]

PARKER, Dorothy; CAMPBELL, Alan; CARSON, Robert; and WELLMAN, William. A 
STAR IS BORN ARCHIVE: The Director's Copy of the Original 1936 Script as 
well as Dorothy Parker's Copy of Part of the Script with additional 
material. [Los Angeles]: Selznick International Pictures, Inc., 16 
October 1936. First Edition. Quarto (8-1/2" x 10-7/8") in stiff yellow 
wraps with the left margins punch-holed with metal clasps. The archive 
includes two copies of the Final Shooting Script (one belonging to 
Director William A. Wellman and the other, a partial script, to 
screenwriters Dorothy Parker and her husband, Alan Campbell); a SIGNED 
8" x 10" Photograph of Fredric March who starred as Norman Maine 
(INSCRIBED "To Zoila/all good wishes/always/Fredric March/1937"); a 
formal 8" x 10" photograph of Parker and Campbell; and a small 
photograph of Wellman's secretary, Zoila Conan, holding two Oscar 
statues and annotated on the verso in an unknown hand: "Zoila Conan at 
Paramount Studios with Bob Carson's Oscar + Wm. Wellman's Oscar awarded 
for A STAR IS BORN made at Selznick Studios with Janet Gaynor & Fredric 
March." The film was nominated for 7 awards, including Best Screen Play, 
winning Best Original Story for Wellman and Carson. Wellman's copy of 
the script, acquired from his secretary, is numbered to 127 pages, 
though some numbers are skipped and others labeled "A," printed on 
various colored paper representing revisions and with a number of pages 
with pencil annotations by him. It also credits Carson for the screen 
play in addition to Parker and Cunningham. Parker's copy, acquired from 
her estate and with her last name in pencil at the top corner of the 
front cover, contains only the first 27 pages, plus a loose unnumbered 
page, and does not credit Carson on the cover. It differs quite a bit 
from Wellman's right from the beginning using a rabbit instead of a wolf 
in the opening scene and having the first scene take place in a movie 
theater instead of Esther's home. Parker's contribution to the finished 
script has long been a question. When she first saw the film, Parker was 
proud of her contribution and boasted about both the script and the 
film, but in later life she believed that she had contributed nothing of 
significance. The discovery of this script goes some way towards 
answering that question. Expected wear for working scripts but Very Good 
and stunning.
A STAR IS BORN, the quintessential Hollywood story, wa

s filmed from October to December 1936 and premiered in April 1937. 
Wellman's script has December pages included. In addition to the Oscar 
for Best Original Story, the film also received an honorary Academy 
Award for color photography. It was the first color film to be nominated 
for best picture. A STAR IS BORN has been remade three times, in 1954 
with Judy Garland and James Mason, in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and 
Kris Kristofferson, and most recently and notably in 2018 with Lady Gaga 
and Bradley Cooper. (#019214)        $35,000.00

https://www.charlesagvent.com/shop/agvent/019214.html

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