Search Results: Pre-Code Film from Royal Books, Inc.

N.p.: N.p., 1931. Collection of nine vintage negatives from the 1931 pre-Code horror film. Based on the classic 1886 novella, and considered by many to be the definitive adaptation. Nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for Best Actor for Fredric March. 6 x 4 inches. Fine. Housed in a paper envelope with annotations in manuscript pencil and ink.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1929. Vintage reference photograph of Conrad Nagel and Kay Johnson from the 1929 pre-Code film, showing actors Conrad Nagel and Kay Johnson. Mimeo snipe on the verso. A socialite marries a wrongly convicted murderer in order to fulfill the requirements of her grandparents' will, expecting him to be out of the picture after his planned execution in a few days. The man is unexpectedly freed when the real murderer confesses, and the socialite finds herself married to-and forced to live with-a man she does not know. Kay Johnson's film debut. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus.

Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures, 1933. Post-production Final script for the 1933 film. Lt. Henry Crocker, a blithe Royal Air Force pilot, realizes that the constant violence of war is beginning to take a harsh toll on Lt. Jerry Young, his flying ace buddy. When Young breaks down and eventually commits suicide, Crocker decides to stage his death as an in-air combat casualty in order to save his friend's reputation. Tall white titled wrappers, rubber-stamped copy No. 0451, dated February 11, 1933. Title page integral with the front wrapper, as issued. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, bound with three staples.

London: National Film Archive, 1932. Vintage reference photograph from the set of the 1932 film, showing director Frank Borzage measuring Helen Hayes' foot. National Film Archive stamp on the verso. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. Based on the 1929 semi-autobiographical novel by Ernest Hemingway, about the doomed love affair between an ambulance driver and an English nurse in Italy during World War I. Nominated for four Academy Awards, winning two. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, lightly age toned, with creasing at the bottom corners.

N.p.: N.p., 1931. Vintage oversize reference photograph from the 1931 pre-Code film, showing actor Edward G. Robinson surrounded by newsroom staff. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. Based on the 1930 play by Louis Weitzenkorn. The beleaguered managing editor of a flagging tabloid newspaper attempts to resurrect the publication's readership by reinvestigating a decades-old murder case. Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst interpreted the film as a personal attack, pressuring theaters not to show the film and forcing film critics for his papers to review it negatively. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good, lightly toned overall, with a small bruise to the top left corner.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM] / Cosmopolitan Productions, 1933. Vintage reference photographs from the 1933 film. With manuscript ink annotation on the border of the recto identifying actor Walter Huston. Based on the 1933 novel by T.F. Tweed. The President of the United States gets in a car accident and begins to not act like himself. He declares himself dictator of the country. Set in Washington D.C. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine. Weldon 1996.

Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures, 1929. Vintage reference photograph from the 1929 film. With manuscript pencil annotation identifying actor Walter Huston and the set as "office" on the verso. Based on the 1928 play by Ward Morehouse. A journalist does not spend enough time with his family due to his work. Shot on location in New York City. 10 x 8 inches. Good, with creasing, pinholes in the corners, one small chip at the top left corner, one small tear at the top right corner associated with pinholes, and adhesive residue on the verso.

Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures, 1933. Vintage reference photograph from the 1933 pre-Code musical film. A naïve representational artist from Tennessee moves to France, where he promptly falls in with the wrong crowd (abstract artists) in Montparnasse. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine, with a faint ink mark on the upper right portion of the photograph.

Los Angeles: Fox Film Corporation, 1932. Final Shooting script for the 1932 film, seen here under the working title "Divided By Two," which has been crossed out, with the title "Handle With Care" written in manuscript ink just above. A single mother's peaceful family life is disturbed by her growing attraction to a handsome gangster. Green titled wrappers, noted as FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT on the front wrapper, dated 9/28/32, with credits for director David Butler and screenwriters Frank Craven and Sam Mintz. Title page present. 124 leaves, with last page of text numbered K-3. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with white revision pages throughout, dated 10-18-32. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, moderately edgeworn, bound internally with three gold brads.

N.p.: N.p., 1934. Vintage reference photograph from the 1934 film, showing a chorus line of bathing beauties, reflected in the foreground. An actor known for starring in jungle films wants to work with real lions in his next movie, and decides to throw a big star-studded party to win over a wealthy European baron who keeps lions as pets. Set in Los Angeles. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine, lightly worn to the corners.

Hollywood: Fox Film Corporation, 1931. Draft script for the 1931 Western film, here under the working title "Wyoming Wonder." Copy belonging to an unknown Fox Film Corporation employee, with her name in manuscript pencil on the front wrapper, and a few brief annotations in pencil throughout. Based on the 1919 novel by Max Brand. The socialite son of a millionaire travels west to investigate his father's murder, discovering on the journey that his family origins are not all they seem. One of Humphrey Bogart's early film appearances. Green titled wrappers, marked production No. 31, dated 5-4-31, with credits for novelist Max Brand, continuity editor Ralph Block, and dialogue written by Myron C. Fagan and Al Cohn. Title page present, with credits for Brand, Block, Fagan, and Cohn, as well as director Irving Cummings, and other crew members. 84 leaves, with last page of text numbered 82. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with single white revision page dated 5-9-31. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1940. Vintage sheet of 35 Empress Brand collectible color transfer stickers, made in a philatelic style, featuring illustrations of six scenes from the 1932 pre-Code Marx Brothers comedy film. Noted on the top right corner as "Made in Japan." Very Good, lightly toned, with two rust marks and associated small tears from having been previously stapled, at the top edge.

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1931. Vintage portrait photograph of a menacing James Rennie from the 1931 film. Ann and Dick live happily together out of wedlock due to Ann's "modern" beliefs about love. After marrying due to social pressure, both prove to be unfaithful, and attempt to salvage their love by separating and dating. Stanwyck's first starring role, and the screenwriting debut of Robert Riskin. Set in New York City. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, with light edgewear and pinholes at the corners, and a faint vertical crease to the upper left.

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1927. Vintage reference photograph from the 1927 film. Based on the 1925 play by Samson Raphaelson. The first feature film with both a synchronized recorded score and lip-synchronized singing and dialogue, effectively signaling the end of the silent era. At the first Oscars, producer Daryl F. Zanuck received an Honorary Academy Award and the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, though it was declared ineligible to compete for Best Picture in fairness to the nominated silent films. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good plus, with a small chip at one corner, and a small bruise at another corner. Hirschhorn, The Hollywood Musical.

N.p.: N.p., 1931. Vintage publicity photograph of actress Clara Kimball Young from the 1931 film. With a mimeo snipe on the verso, along with the stamps of Dell Publishing Company and The Modern Screen magazine. A steel magnate's daughter decides to marry a worker at one of her father's plants, but the newlywed worker soon finds himself lost and unhappy in his newly wealthy lifestyle. The first film appearance for Young after a screen absence of six years. 7.25 x 9.5 inches. Very Good, with a closed tear and accompanying creasing to the top edge (see image).

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1930. Collection of eight vintage reference photographs from the 1930 comedy short film. Notable as the first short by the duo where Hardy says to Laurel, "Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!" A parody of the 1927 silent film "The Cat and the Canary," with Stan and Ollie spending the night in a mansion of a deceased relative of Stan's, only to be embroiled in suspected foul play. 10 x 8 inches. One photograph with a brief, stray ink annotation to the recto, else About Near Fine.

Culver City, CA: RKO Radio Pictures, 1932. Vintage reference photograph from the 1932 pre-Code film, showing Erich von Stroheim in costume as the tyrannical director Arthur von Furst. RKO Radio Pictures and Cinevogue stamps on the verso, along with annotations in manuscript pencil relating to cropping. Based on the 1932 novel by Dick Grace, about three World War I aviators who find jobs as Hollywood stunt fliers during the lean times after the war. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, lightly edgeworn and curled.

Los Angeles: Fox Film Corporation, 1933. Final Shooting script for the 1933 film. Copy belonging to an uncredited cast member, with his name in manuscript pencil on two revision pages. An incarcerated bootlegger conspires with the police to ensnare his own gang after they kidnap the daughter and son-in-law of the judge who jailed him. Green titled wrappers, noted as FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT on the front wrapper, dated 8-9-33, with credits for screenwriters William Conselman and Henry Johnson. Distribution page present, with receipt INTACTORREMOVED. Title page integral with the front wrapper. 112 leaves, with last page of text numbered 106. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with white revision pages throughout, dated variously between 8/14/33 and 8/23/33. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good, moderately edgeworn, bound internally with three gold brads.

Los Angeles: Fox Film Corporation, 1932. Final Shooting script for the 1932 film. Annotation in manuscript pencil on the front wrapper, noting the name of an unknown crew member. Based on the 1932 novel by Denison Clift. Government agent Stephen Morrow's boss and best friend is engaged to Morrow's former lover, a Hungarian woman under investigation for the murder of an ambassador. Set in Washington DC. Green titled wrappers, noted as FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT on the front wrapper, dated 3-12-32, with credits for novelist Denison Clift and screenwriter Leon Gordon. Title page present. 111 leaves, with last page of text numbered 109. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, bound internally with three gold brads.

Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures, 1934. Vintage composite photograph of self-taught husband-and-wife ballroom dance team Frank Veloz and Yolanda Casazza dancing the "Viola Waltz," a dance created for the 1934 film. Mimeo snipe on the verso. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. Veloz and Yolanda (as the couple were commonly known) were stars of ballroom dancing in the 1930s and 1940s, specializing in Latin ballroom styles. They opened a chain of studios in the 1940s, introducing many middle-class Americans to the dance form. "Many Happy Returns" was the first of several films for which the couple designed specialty choreography, followed by the Paramount film "Rumba" the following year. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.