THE GREAT GATSBY

Book Description

[Los Angeles]: Paramount Pictures, Inc., 25 February 1948.. [3],130 leaves. Quarto. Mimeographed typescript, printed on rectos only. Punched and bradbound. A few minor corner creases, steno department checkout slip partially separated at perforation, but a very good copy. "Final White Script" of Hume and Maibaum's adaptation to the screen of Fitzgerald's novel by way of Owen Davis's dramatization. This version is the first sound, and the first surviving rendering of The Great Gatsby to the screen, as the 1926 silent Famous Players production is a lost film. Elliott Nugent directed this production, and it starred Alan Ladd as Jay Gatsby, Betty Field and Barry Sullivan as Daisy and Tom Buchanan, MacDonald Carey as Nick Carraway, Ruth Hussey as Jordan Baker, Shelly Winters as Myrtle Wilson, et al. This copy bears the name "Seitz" in an unknown hand in pencil on the top sheet, perhaps indicative of John F. Seitz, cinematographer for the film, and in yet another hand, appears the pencil inscription: "For Mr. Nugent," likely relating to director Elliott Nugent. This adaptation, and particularly Alan Ladd's performance, have been praised for the dominance of mood and noirish elements over reliance on a manufactured reconstruction of '20s glitter in the portrayal of Gatsby. The release time of the finished film was 92 minutes, and this script, at 130 pages, suggests that there were likely significant cuts and differences between this draft and the final film. An uncommon and important screenplay. BRUCCOLI 7.8.

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