[An Archive of Fourteen Scripts and Associated Documents for:] THE PARADINE CASE by [Hichens, Robert (source work)]: Hitchcock, Alfred, Alma Reville, and others [screenwriters] - 1961

[Culver City]: Vanguard Films, Inc. / Selznick International, 1961. Fourteen volumes / items. Quarto and folio. Mimeographed and spirit- duplicated typescripts, printed on rectos only. Bradbound or stapled in stencil printed wrappers, or stapled in self-wrappers. A few items a bit used (as noted below), but generally very good to fine. A substantial archive of scripts and technical documents tracing the long and troubled history of this film adaptation of Hichens's 1933 novel. According to one source, Selznick had acquired the film rights to the novel prior to its publication, but submission of a preliminary script in 1934 to the Breen Office resulted in assurances that it would not pass muster according to the PCA. So the project was shelved for over a decade. This archive records much of that evolution, and consists of the following: a) Unspecified draft of a October 1934 screenplay by Lewis Waller, 124 leaves (rerun by Vanguard 25 March 1946); b) an unspecified draft of a February 1942 screenplay prepared for MGM, written by Salka Viertel and Polly James, 124 leaves plus lettered inserts (rerun by Vanguard 1 April 1946), creased bruise at middle brad to early leaves ; c) a wholly new script, denoted a "First Rough Draft (With Dialogue from Novel)" by Alfred Hitchcock and Alma Reville, April 1946, 195 leaves (rerun by Vanguard 12 August 1946); d) a roster of "Costumes Compiled from the Novel," 10 leaves, 17 April 1946; e) a "Description of Settings and Props Compiled from the Novel," [2],7 leaves, 17 April 1946; f) a "Gay Comparison" compiled by Alice Hartman, 23 Sept. 1946 - a comparison of the script and the novel of the scenes involving the character Gay Keane; g) a "Third Draft Script," credited to James Birdie, based on an adaptation by Alma Reville, 205 leaves, 10 August 1946; h) the "Final Shooting Script," credited to David O. Selznick, based on Reville's adaptation, [3],154 leaves, dated December 1946, small snag in fore-edge of upper wrapper; i) a preliminary Dialogue Continuity, foliated in reel format, 12 June 1947; j) a Dialogue Cutting Continuity, foliated in reel format, dated 19 February 1948; k) a Dialogue Cutting Continuity for the Trailer, 5 leaves, 27 February 1948; l) a large folio Trailer Spotting List, 5 leaves, somewhat ragged; m) a large folio, minutely detailed complete continuity, with corrections, dated March 1948, compiled by S. G. Samuels, outer leaves a bit ragged; and finally, n) a late, 30 April 1961 Combined 16mm Continuity script. Final screen credit for the screenplay fell to Selznick, and neither Hecht's nor Birdie's contributions were credited. Hitchcock directed, and Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Charles Laughton, Ethel Barrymore (in a role that earned an Oscar nomination) and Louis Jourdan starred, among others, and a 29 December 1947 premiere brought to a conclusion the long and tangled series of attempts to bring Hichens' novel to the screen.