Lillian Hellman Play (10 results)

Vintage studio still photograph of Martha Hyer from the 1966 film. An underrated, key film for director Penn, something of an intellectual thriller, made between two better known films, "Mickey One" (1965) and "Bonnie and Clyde" (1967). Also, very much an acting tour de force, with early performances by Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, and Robert Redford, and an exceptional turn by Brando as a town sheriff facing painful choices. The film itself was the subject of am acrimonious struggle for creative control between the director and studio, coincidentally making the production mirror the themes of upheaval of the social order and the fight for freedom within the film story. Set in Texas, shot on location in California (Calabasas and Chico). 8 x 10 inches. Near Fine with faint toning and light creating at the extremities. Spicer US. Twilight Time.

Two vintage studio still photographs from the 1936 film. Based on Lillian Hellman's 1934 play, "The Children's Hour." The story follows two school teachers whose small school suddenly loses enrollment when a student lies about one professor having an affair with the other's fiance. The film is based on a play by Lillian Hellman, in which the female professors are accused of having a lesbian relationship. When asked to adapt her play for the screen, she was forced to change the plot and erase any lesbian implications to appease the exceedingly strict Hays Code. The film was well received, and Hellman was widely commended for her writing. Costar Bonita Granville was nominated for an Academy Award for her role. Shot on location in California. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

Draft script for an unproduced British film called "Act of Treason," written by Guy Elmes, based on Lillian Hellman's adaptation of Emmanuel Robles' 1948 play, "Montserrat." Screenwriter Elmes also wrote for films like "Bad Blonde" (1953), "Across the Bridge" (1957), "Pontius Pilate" (1962), "the Invincible Six" (1970), and "White Fang" (1973). Robles' play opened in Paris in 1948, a story about the civil war in Venezuela during the early 1800s, where a Spanish officer commits treason and joins the Venezuelan revolutionaries. Guy Elmes is a screenwriter, primarily known for his work in writing the original story and screenplay for "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" (1979). Gray blank wrappers with die cut title window in the British style. Title page present, with credits for screenwriter Guy Elmes, playwright Lillian Hellman, and producer Ben Arbeid. 123 leaves, with last page of text numbered 121. Mechanical duplication. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine bound internally with two silver brads.

Cloth. Condition: Near fine. Limited edition of Watch on the Rhine: A Play in Three Acts by Lillian Hellman, with a foreword by Dorothy Parker. (illustrator). Limited Edition. Quarto, [2], 175pp, [1]. Red cloth, title in white on spine. Illustration of a man tied to a swastika in black and white on front cover. Solid text block, rubbing to title on spine, light shelf wear along edges. Lacking the publisher's slipcase. Faint toning to endpapers. Decorated with full page illustrations throughout text. One of 349 copies, this piece numbered 334.

Vintage oversize, double weight, borderless still photograph from the 1961 film. Shot, struck, and mounted by the film's still photographer, Bob Willoughby, with his ASMP rubber stamp on the verso. Full provenance available. Based on Lillian Hellman's 1934 play, about two teachers at an all-girls boarding school accused of being in a lesbian relationship by one of the students, ruining the careers and personal lives of both. The play was previously adapted by William Wyler in 1936 as "These Three," though the Production Code forced Hellman to change the substance of the rumor from homosexuality to infidelity. The 1961 version restores the content of the child's lie, and is overall incredibly faithful to the stage play. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Fay Bainter. After studying with Saul Bass at the Kann Institute of Art in Los Angeles, photographer Robert Willoughby began working for magazines such as "Life," "Look," and "Harper's Bazaar" in the late 1940s. He spent the next 20-plus years as a set photographer for every major studio and magazine, with his images seen in print literally every week of his career. Willoughby's photographs are in the permanent collections of ten museums, including The National Portrait Galleries in Washington, DC and London, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Tate Modern. 13.5 x 9.25 inches. Near Fine.

Limited edition with 349 numbered copies, of which this is no.339. Quarto (31cm); black cloth spine over red cloth-covered boards, with titling and decorations stamped in white and black on spine and front cover; black topstain; [ii],[12],13-175,[1]pp; illus. Light shelf-wear and soil, with rubbing to upper front corner, offsetting to pastedowns, and vertical creases to front endpaper and pp.161-168; Good. In slipcase with shelfwear and rubbing, chips, and cracks; Good. Three-act play begins in 1940, and focuses on a German engineer's involvement with anti-Fascism work. [85080].

Vintage reference photograph of Tallulah Bankhead from the original stage production of "The Little Foxes," which ran on Broadway at the National Theatre from February 15, 1939 to February 3, 1940. Based on Lillian Hellman's classic 1939 play, about the struggles of the Hubbard family in the deep south in the early twentieth century. Adapted to the screen by William Wyler in 1941 with Bette Davis in Bankhead's role. 8 x 10 inches. Near Fine.

Vintage reference photograph of director William Wyler in conversation with actress Bette Davis and millionaire businessman and hotelier Victor Sassoon on the set of the 1941 film. Printed mimeo snipe affixed to the verso, along with the stamp of Culver Pictures. Based on Lillian Hellman's classic 1939 play, about the struggles of the Hubbard family in the deep South in the early twentieth century. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, with a light horizontal crease affecting the upper portion of the photograph, and light soil on the bottom right corner.

Vintage matte-finish double-weight borderless reference photograph of director Arthur Penn talking with actress Jane Fonda on the set of the 1966 film. With a Columbia Pictures stamp on the verso, along with a provenance stamp. Based on the 1952 Broadway play by Horton Foote, about a small-town sheriff on the lookout for an escaped prisoner he believes is innocent, while the townspeople whip themselves into a vigilante frenzy. 8 x 10 inches. Near Fine. Spicer US. Twilight Time 242.

Collection of twelve vintage still photographs from the 1943 film. Two of these are linen-backed keybook photographs, both test shots of Bette Davis. One is a third test shot, single weight, of Davis with some wax pencil annotations on the recto and a snipe on the verso. The remaining nine photographs are studio stills. Based on Lillian Hellman's 1941 play of the same name. A German-born Engineer and his family escape to the US after engaging in anti-Fascist activities in Europe. The screen rights for this World War II drama were attained by Jack L. Warner, who saw its potential as a propaganda film. After a difficult production, the film was released to positive reviews and received an Academy Award for Best Actor. 8 x 10 inches. Condition Very Good to Very Good plus. Some cello tape to the recto of some of the studio stills, and some fading occasional pin holes to a few of same.