DS, eleven pages, 8.5 x 11, December 20, 1956. Agreement between John Huston and The Selznick Company for employment "as a director, in directing and…otherwise assisting in the production and creation of our motion picture entitled 'A Farewell to Arms,'" for the sum of $250,000. Signed at the conclusion in ink by John Huston, and countersigned by a Selznick representative. Includes a second DS, three pages, April 16, 1957, in which they mutually agree to terminate the contract, also signed at the conclusion in ink by Huston, as well as a carbon copy of a legal letter pertaining to the employment agreement and the payment of Huston's expenses. All are stapled together into a brown paper folder. In fine condition.
For many years, David O. Selznick had wanted to film an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms, but Warner Bros. owned the property and refused to sell it to him. He found himself in an advantageous bargaining position when Warner Bros. bought the remake rights to A Star is Born, to which he owned the foreign rights. Without them, the studio could not release their intended remake with Judy Garland overseas. Selznick offered to relinquish his rights to Star in exchange for the rights to Farewell, and Warner Bros. agreed. It was to be Selznick's first film in four years.
On October 25, 1956, Selznick contacted director John Huston and enthusiastically welcomed him to the project. He advised him his contract with 20th Century Fox called for severe financial penalties if the film went over schedule and/or budget, and urged him to concentrate wholly on the film until principal filming was completed. Selznick's concerns increased as Huston began to tinker with the script and spend an inordinate amount of time on pre-production preparations, and on March 19, 1957, he sent the director a lengthy memo outlining the problems he foresaw arising from Huston's lack of cooperation. Two days later, Huston announced he could not agree with Selznick on any of the issues he had raised and quit the project.
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