Let Me Hear the Melody! A Comedy (1950 - 1951): carbon typescript
New York: Brandt & Brandt, 1950. First printing. Paperback. A carbon typescript of circa 1950-1951, riveted binding with red wraps "From Brandt & Brandt Dramatic Dept., Inc. ... Harold Freedman" Ca. 150 pp on rectos only. Good, battered condition. Red wraps are very chipped, first couple pages somewhat dog-eared and corner worn. Has pencil date "9 Dec 50" to top of first page. And pencil note on same page, "Small changes not yet inserted." From what we can ascertain NEVER PUBLISHED. Robert F. Gross writes in "Hollywood on Stage" that this play and "Wine of Choice" were Behrman's two comedies of the film industry (the play is set in Hollywood in 1939) and were among Behrman's most ill-fated theatrical productions. "Wine of Choice" lasted only 43 performances; "'Let Me Hear the Melody' fared even worse. Behrman began the play in 1946, but the play did not find its way to the stage until 1951, where it suffered from directorial and casting problems, and closed in Philadelphia." In the play, Esme Smith, the leading lady partly modeled on Paulette Goddard, is discovered by a Charlie Chaplin figure, rises to fame, but then becomes "box office poison" until a fascistic director casts her as Empress Napoleon in a huge epic drama that ends in debacle and disaster. According to Gross there were several drafts of this play that he examined and this appears to be one of the last drafts, but we could find reference to only one copy in any institution, the NYPL. RARE. Purchased from the estate of science fiction writer Philip Klass (better known as William Tenn). Good. Item #C00006881
Price: $180.00