LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 Oct. Sig. Entertainment Memorabilia #648  / 

22016

Marian Marsh Contract Extension for "Svengali"

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia Start Price:80.00 USD Estimated At:320.00 - 480.00 USD
Marian Marsh Contract Extension for Svengali
<B>Marian Marsh Contract Extension for "Svengali," Signed by Marsh and Jack L. Warner.</B></I> This lot includes a document on Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. letterhead, dated December 23, 1930, exercising the studio's option to extend the contract of Marilyn Morgan, who soon changed her professional name to Marian Marsh. The next day, the press reported the official Warners announcement that Marian would play the role of Trilby in <I>Svengali,</B></I> starring John Barrymore. The document is signed by Jack L. Warner (as "JL Warner") and by Marian (under the name Marilyn Morgan). There are several stains on the document, none touching the signatures. The lot also contains several inter-office communication memos to Marian from Darryl Zanuck, who was then Warners' production chief. The first, dated February 6, 1931, accompanies a copy of the February 3, 1931 <I>The Hollywood Reporter,</B></I> in which the paper's founder and publisher W. R. Wilkerson praises Marian ("The girl seems to have everything..."). The second memo, dated October 5, 1931 and sent after Zanuck had viewed rushes for <I>Under Eighteen,</B></I> criticizes her make-up ("... please never make your mouth up like that again ..."). The third, dated December 29, 1931, is more favorable after seeing rushes for <I>Beauty and the Boss</B></I> ("The best I have ever seen you on the screen..."). The lot also includes a February 27, 1931 telegram from Zanuck to Marian in Palm Springs, as well as a black-bordered 3.5" x 5.5" card, reading, "Mr. and Mrs. Darryl Francis Zanuck and family deeply appreciate your kind expression of sympathy." The memos are in Very Good condition. <I>From the Marian Marsh Archive.</B></I> <I>Accompanied by LOA from PSA/DNA.</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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