Description
[1945 DESTRY RIDES AGAIN; DINAH SHORE AND OTHER CAST SIGNED; ORIGINAL WWII U.S. RADIO PLAY ADAPTATION ANNOTATED DIRECTOR COPY] "FEMME OU DEMON" — from the Universal Pictures "DESTRY RIDES AGAIN" [the movie title for the release to the English-speaking market, "Femme…" is the movie title in French for the international market release in 1939], original ribbon radio script for the U. S. Office of War Information (OWI) WWII program, heavily annotated by director Gerald Kean whose name is in red pencil at the upper right corner of the cover page in pencil, editing of script dialog in black pencil and in red pencil for performance notations, cover page with heading United States Government, Office of War Information, Overseas Branch, Hollywood French Unit, Hollywood, California, For New York Radio Program Bureau, MUSIC: Serge Glykson, Nathan Scott, PRODUCTION: Gerald Kean, :SCRIPT: Jacques Surmagne, TIME: 30:00 [minutes], DATE: 3-15-45 [March 15, 1945], with United States Office of War Information seal …script is 35 pages plus cover page bound by brass clips in a legal-size manila folder, preceding the script are 10 pages of typed and handwritten notes having do to mostly with the songs and music, but also including one page with heading "Cast Report" followed by the signatures in pencil of Dinah Shore (signed as Dinah Shore Montgomery, her married name)and Maurice Marsac (French actor, 1915-2007), Louis Mercier (Algerian-born French actor, 1901-93), Charles Dechamps (French actor, 1882-1959), Jacques Lory (French actor, 1904-47), Theodore Kompanetz (Russian-born actor, 1925-88), Guy De Vestel (1896-1973), signatures required for U. S. government payment for actors work; one-of-a-kind original radio script for the audience of French-speaking Allies during WWII, signatures authenticated by seller with lifetime guarantee; NOTES: DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, 1939 movie starring Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich; GERALD KEAN, worked for the U. S. Office of War Information in WorldWar II…in the following decades, he worked for the fledgling United Nations, wrote radio scripts including many for CBS Radio Mystery Theater produced by the legendary Himan Brown, and was involved in many radio and early TV productions…for the highly influential and ground-breaking individuals he worked with and the varied projects he was involved in, Kean played a significant, though mostly unknown role in the post-WWII entertainment and media fields transition from radio to video, most notably TV…"As [Michael Feinstein] writes, 'The other day I was going through transcription discs that belonged to a man named Gerald Kean who worked in radio, for years with Norman Corwin, and found about 30 shows he produced in French with Hollywood stars such as Cary Grant, Dinah Shore, Gene Tierney, Marsha Hunt, etc. I can't find anything about them online. There are lots of big titles like Dark Victory, How Green Was My Valley, The Thin Man, etc., but all in French and presumably sent overseas.' " (HOLLYWOOD SPEAKS FRENCH: UNDISCOVERED RADIO DISCS, Leonard Maltin website); JACQUES SURMAGNE, 1907-99, emigrated to the United States at the start of WWII from France where he had been a columnist fo Paris-Soir…joined the executive staff of 20th Cetury-Fox Film, Corporation in Los Angeles to make a series fo special broadcasts to France at the the request of the U. S. State Department…a producer-commentator for the Office of War Information (OWI) Overseas Branch during the War (BROADCASTING – The Weekly Newsmagazine of Radio, July 15, 1946; SERGE GLYKSON, 1910-56, Swedish jazz and entertainment musician…In the 1950s he worked as a film producer (wikipedia); NATHAN SCOTT, 1915-2010, American film score and television composer who conducted, arranged, and orchestrated more than 850 works, including ones for Lassie, The Twilight Zone, and Dragnet and the 1948 film "Wake of the Red Witch" starring John Wayne (wikipedia); PROVENANCE: script was acquired at a Fairfield County, CT, estate sale of Gerald Kean possessions including career materials and memorabilia; CONDITION: well preserved working copy of original radio script. keywords: media studies, radio history, World War II home front.
