DS, seven pages on adjoining sheets, 8.5 x 14, October 27, 1944. Contract between Raymond Chandler and Warner Bros. Pictures for the motion picture rights to his 1939 hardboiled crime novel The Big Sleep. In part: "Whereas, Owner represents and warrants that he is the sole owner and author of that certain novel entitled 'The Big Sleep,' which said novel has heretofore been published in book form by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and which said novel was registered for copyright in the United States Copyright Office by and in the name of the Owner under date of February 6, 1939…The Owner hereby agrees to…sell, assign, transfer and set over…the exclusive, complete, and entire motion picture rights" for the sum of $19,000. Signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Raymond Chandler, and countersigned by a studio representative and two notaries. Several modifications to the contract have been made, mostly pertaining to other adaptations and related usage rights, each of which has been initialed in the margin by Chandler: he pens his initials, "R.C.," an impressive thirteen times. In fine condition.
Chandler's first book to feature detective Philip Marlowe, The Big Sleep was recognized as one of Le Monde's '100 Books of the Century' in 1999 and listed on Time Magazine's list of the '100 Best Novels' in 2005. The film adaptation, released by Warner Bros. in 1946, stars Humphrey Bogart as the private eye Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as the enigmatic femme fatale, Vivian Rutledge. The film brings the gritty world of 1930s Los Angeles to life with its moody atmosphere and sharp dialogue. Bogart's portrayal of Marlowe is iconic, capturing the character's tough exterior and moral compass, while Bacall adds a layer of complexity to the role of Vivian. In 1997, the Library of Congress deemed the film 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,' and added it to the National Film Registry.
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