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1078

Frank Capra

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
Frank Capra

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Auction Date:2012 Oct 17 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
DS, signed “Frank R. Capra,” two pages, 8.5 x 13, June 30, 1933. Agreement between Capra and Joe Walker and Sheldon K. Johnson regarding Capra’s investment in their invention of “a certain communicating device.” In part: “The party…have now a working model ready to show prospective buyers…further financing is necessary for the disposal of the rights to the communicating device, and…it is necessary to send Mr. Johnson to Washington for the purpose of disposing said rights…It is further understood that [Capra]…shall receive twenty percent (20%) of the gross income from the sale and/or rental leases, or royalties as and when the device is disposed of.” In fine condition, with three horizontal folds, light scattered wrinkling, a paperclip mark and impression to the upper left, and a staple to the top edge.

Walker was a cinematographer who collaborated with Capra extensively throughout his career, including on classics like It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It's a Wonderful Life. He also held numerous patents on camera and film related devices that ranged from zoom lenses to a ‘facial makeup meter.’ However, given the date of this document and the fact that Johnson intended to go to Washington to sell the device, it seems that it must refer to his ‘Method and Means of Recording and Reproducing Secret Messages,’ which is the only patent naming both Walker and Johnson that was filed prior to 1933. The patent states that the invention “is particularly useful for diplomatic messages, as it may be readily transmitted over a wire or by radio” and that even cryptographic experts had been unable to intercept and decode the device’s messages during testing.
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