Sold For $949
*Includes Buyers Premium
TLS signed “Ayn,” two pages, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, October 10, 1948. Letter to literary agent H. N. Swanson, in part: "I am enclosing copies of my contract with Hal Wallis and all its subsequent amendments.
I am returning the synopsis of We the Living made at Fox, which you sent me. Unfortunately, this synopsis is quite awful. It is so confused that I could not untangle the story from it myself. It is loaded with unessential details and all the dramatic scenes are missing which is the usual trouble with synopses. So I don't think that we can use this synopsis to submit to anyone who might be interested in the novel. I think the best thing to do would be as follows:
I will send you a copy of the book, and after you have read it, you can tell me whether you feel that there is a good chance of selling it for pictures at present. If there is, I may hire a young writer myself and pay him to make a real synopsis of the novel for us, which you may then use for submissions. If you know of any prospective buyers who could be induced to read the book itself, that, of course, would be the best procedure.
I have to keep in mind the fate of The Fountainhead: it was rejected by all the studios on the basis of the synopses they had and after I had seen some of these synopses, I cannot say that I blame them. Blanke bought it after Barbara Stanwyck talked him into reading the book itself." In fine condition.
After the publication and initial success of The Fountainhead in 1943, author Ayn Rand adapted the novel into a screenplay—a format with which she was well familiar, as she worked as a reader and script-doctor for Paramount. She completed the screenplay in 1944, and the film, produced by Henry Blanke, was released some five years later by Warner Bros., directed by King Vidor and starring Gary Cooper as Howard Roark, Patricia Neal as Dominique Francon, and Raymond Massey as Gail Wynand. Despite her early soft feelings towards the film—Rand initially called it a 'triumph' and 'more faithful to the novel than any other adaptation of a novel that Hollywood has ever produced'—she later exclaimed that she 'disliked the movie from beginning to end.'
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$50.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
