Search Results: Film Noir from Royal Books, Inc.

Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox, 1951. Original pressbook for the 1951 film noir. Based on the French novel, "Le Corbeau" ("The Raven") by Louis Chavance. The sixth of director Otto Preminger's seven classic "chamber noirs," a remake of the French noir masterpiece, "Le Corbeau" (1943, Henri Georges Clouzot). A testament to Production Code-era antagonism, Preminger pushed the limits of alllowed sexual content. A mile marker for films that would lead to the Code's end in the late 1950s. 16 pages, 11 x 15 inches. Original sewn signatures have been neatly removed, but binding glue intact, with no leaves missing or loose, overall Very Good plus or better. Faint horizontal fold crease at the center of the wrapper and pages, and brief wear at a couple of corners. Still bright and appealing. Selby US. Silver Classic Noir. Spicer US.

Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox, 1960. Original pressbook for the 1960 film noir. Based on the novel, "All the Way," by noted hard-boiled author Charles Williams. Edmond O'Brien is hired to impersonate a murdered businessman, and dominates nearly every scene, mostly on the phone as the "third voice," in this strange film post-noir entry. The first adaptation of a of Charles Williams novel, and one of only a few American film adaptations of his work. One sheet folded twice as issued, with one insert, 13 x 16 inches. Very Good plus, with a faint horizontal fold crease at the center of the wrapper and pages, a few short closed tears, and light rubbing. Spicer, p. 424.

Beverly Hills, CA: United Artists, 1953. Original pressbook for the 1953 film noir. A former professional fighter (John Payne) is framed for the murder of his unfaithful wife (Peggie Castle) by her lover (Brad Dexter). With the help of an aspiring actress (Evelyn Keyes), he must clear his name before the killer flees the country. 11 pages, saddle stapled, 11 x 17 inches. Faint horizontal fold crease at the center of the wrapper and pages. Near Fine condition, starting (only slight) at the hinge fold. Laid in is four-page supplement on newsprint in Fine condition. A compelling and unusual film that has been rediscovered as one the late classics of the noir cycle. Grant US. Lyons US. Silver Classic Noir. Selby Canon US.

Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox, 1973. Final Draft script for the 1974 neo-noir film. A satirical neo-noir following a professional hit man who is contracted by a local mob boss to take out the competition, but soon finds himself the target of several personal attacks in retaliation. Shot on location in Seattle, Washington and Silver Springs, Florida. Blue titled wrappers, noted as FINAL and copy No. 332 on the front wrapper, dated JUNE 8, 1973. Title page present, dated June 8, 1973, noted as FINAL, with credits for screenwriter Robert Dillon. 135 leaves, with last page of text numbered 129. Mimeograph duplication on eye-rest green stock, rectos only, with rainbow revision pages throughout, dated variously between 8/1/73 and 9/10/73. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine, bound with two gold brads. Spicer US Neo-Noir.

London: The Rank Organization, 1957. Original British quad poster for the 1957 British film noir A low budget British film noir that brought Rod Steiger across the ocean in order to put his formidable character acting skills into what became a critically praised film. Shot in Spain (but represented as Mexico), "Across the Bridge" expands on Graham Greene's short story, bringing more specifics to the author's intentionally empirical outline. Steiger plays a crooked businessman on the run who steals a man's passport in order to hide out in Mexico, only to discover that the passport belongs to a wanted political assassin. 30 x 40 inches. Near Fine. Phillips US. Spicer US.

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for Nicholas Ray's seminal film noir, "Born to Be Bad," in which Joan Fontaine played decidedly against type to lustrous effect. With a green American Booksellers Association Book Selection bookmark laid in. Very Good plus in a Very Good plus jacket. Binding slightly cocked. Jacket is lightly chipped at the crown and heel, with light wear and toning to the extremities.

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for Nicholas Ray's seminal 1950 film noir "Born to Be Bad," in which Joan Fontaine plays decidedly against type to lustrous effect. A sharp, Near Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket. Jacket has a crease at the center of the spine, with a tiny closed tear on the top of the front panel and mild toning, otherwise quite striking. In a custom maroon quarter-leather clamshell box. The Dark Page II: 1959-1965, p. 158.

New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1947. First Edition. First Edition. INSCRIBED by Arthur Miller on the title page: "For Bryan Sheahy / Arthur Miller." The author's first play (after writing a novel and a nonfiction book), winner of two Tony Awards for Best Author and Best Director, and basis for the 1948 film noir starring Burt Lancaster and Edward G. Robinson. Very Good plus in a Very Good or better dust jacket. Boards lightly rubbed, with offsetting and faint soil on the endpapers. Jacket has small chips on the spine ends and corners, with a lightly toned rear panel.

London: Michael Joseph, 1949. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for the 1950 British film noir, "Double Confession," starring Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, and Peter Lorre. Rare in or out of jacket. Very Good plus in a bright, Very Good plus dust jacket. Book has a touch of foxing on the front endpaper, page edges, and front board, else clean. Jacket is nicked at the corners, with some foxing to the white rear panel.

France: Athos Films / Chaumiane / Filmstudio, 1965. Collection of five vintage borderless reference photographs from the 1965 film. Four with manuscript pencil annotations on the verso crediting photographer Georges Pierre, one with the stamp of Cinemagence on the verso. Godard transplants fictional detective Lemmy Caution (played by Eddie Constantine, as he was in several French films based on the character created by pulp novelist Peter Cheyney) into a dystopian future, where he is on a mission to kill the machine intelligence that rules over a fascist state where emotion is outlawed. 7.25 x 5 inches. Near Fine. Criterion Collection 25. Godard, Histoire(s) du cinema. Grant US. Rosenbaum 1000.

N.p.: Andre Michelin Productions, 1965. Vintage borderless reference photograph of Eddie Constantine as Lemmy Caution, in bed, armed and reading a French translation of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep," from the 1965 film. Printed snipe and provenance stamp of "G. Toussier" on verso. Jean-Luc Godard's neo-noir foray into science fiction, transplanting the fictional detective Lemmy Caution (Constantine) into a dystopian future, assigned to kill the machine intelligence that rules over a fascist state where emotion is outlawed. 9.5 x 7.25 inches. Very light edgewear to the corners, else Near Fine. Criterion Collection 25. Godard, Histoire(s) du Cinema. Grant France. Rosenbaum 1000.

Grunwald, Germany: Bavaria Film, 1977. Vintage photograph from the 1977 film. With manuscript annotations on the verso. Based on the 1974 novel "Ripley's Game" by Patricia Highsmith, later adapted in 2002 under the original title, directed by Liliana Cavani and starring John Malkovich, Dougray Scott, and Ray Winstone. Nominated for the Palme d'Or at Cannes. 7 x 5 inches. Near Fine. Criterion Collection 793. Grant Germany.

New York: Boni and Liveright, 1925. First Edition. First Edition, in two volumes with dust jackets, housed together as issued in the publisher's illustrated slipcase. Basis for the stunning, bleak 1951 film noir "A Place in the Sun," directed by George Stevens and starring Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor. Theodore Dreiser's first novel in a decade at the time, a scathing indictment of the American dream, bringing him to the zenith of his critical and commercial success. Both volumes Near Fine. Dust jacket for Volume 1 is Very Good, bright and clean but with a chip at the top of the rear panel. Dust jacket for Volume 2 is Near Fine. In a lightly worn, Very Good plus example of the original slipcase. Dust jacket of the first volume has small chips on the rear panel and spine ends, but is otherwise intact. All told, an exceptional set. Johnson, The Dark Page, Volume 1, pp. 44-45.

Los Altos, CA: Carlyle Productions / Columbia Pictures, 1959. Two vintage reference photographs taken on the set of the 1959 film, one showing Duke Ellington working on the film score, and the other showing Ellington laughing with Billy Strayhorn. Carlyle Productions stamps on the versos. The first major Hollywood film to feature a score by an African American composer. Composed by Ellington and Strayhorn and performed by Ellington's Orchestra, the score won three Grammy Awards in 1959. Based on the 1958 novel by judge John D. Voelker (writing under the pseudonym Robert Traver), based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man whom he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards. Set and shot on location in Michigan. One 8 x 10 inches, the other 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US. Selby US.

Burbank, CA: Otto Preminger Films, 1959. Vintage photograph of Otto Preminger, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn on the set of the 1959 film. Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder" was the first major Hollywood film to feature a score by an African American composer. The jazz score, composed by Ellington and Strayhorn (uncredited), and performed by Ellington's Orchestra, won three Grammy Awards in 1959 including Best Sound Track Album. Based on the 1958 novel by John D. Voelker, under the pseudonym Robert Traver, which he based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man who he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Jimmy Stewart, and twice for Best Supporting Actor for George C. Scott and Arthur O'Connell. Set in and shot on location in Michigan. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine, very light creasing. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US.… Read More

N.p.: N.p., 1959. Vintage photograph of Lee Remick and Duke Ellington on the set of the 1959 film. From the archive of film historian and author Joel Finler. The first major Hollywood film to feature a score by an African American composer. The jazz score, composed by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and performed by Ellington's Orchestra, won three Grammy Awards in 1959. Based on the 1958 novel by judge John D. Voelker (writing under the pseudonym Robert Traver), based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man whom he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards. Set and shot on location in Michigan. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine, lightly faded, with a hint of creasing at the corners. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US. Selby US.

Burbank, CA: Otto Preminger Films, 1959. Vintage photograph of Lee Remick, Duke Ellington and Jimmy Woode rehearsing on the set of the 1959 film. The first major Hollywood film to feature a score by an African American composer. The jazz score, composed by Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and performed by Ellington's Orchestra, won three Grammy Awards in 1959. Based on the 1958 novel by judge John D. Voelker (writing under the pseudonym Robert Traver), based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man who he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards. Set and shot on location in Michigan. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine, very light creasing. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US. Selby US.

Burbank, CA: Otto Preminger Films, 1959. Vintage keybook studio photograph of Lee Remick with Jimmy Stewart and Duke Ellington at the piano from the 1959 film. Based on the 1958 novel by John D. Voelker, under the pseudonym Robert Traver, which he based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man who he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Jimmy Stewart, and twice for Best Supporting Actor for George C. Scott and Arthur O'Connell. Set in and shot on location in Michigan. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, with some light edgewear. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US. Selby US.

Culver City, CA: Columbia Pictures, 1977. Vintage photograph from the 1959 film. Based on the 1958 novel by John D. Voelker, under the pseudonym Robert Traver, which he based on a real life case of a veteran accused of killing a local man who he believed raped his wife. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Jimmy Stewart, and twice for Best Supporting Actor for George C. Scott and Arthur O'Connell. Set in Michigan and shot on location there. 8 x 10 inches. Very Good to Near Fine. National Film Registry. Rosenbaum 1000. Criterion Collection 600. Penzler 101. Spicer US. Grant US. Selby US.

Culver City, CA: TriStar Pictures, 1987. Two vintage black-and-white studio still photographs from the 1987 film. Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) hires detective Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) ostensibly to track down a big band singer he made a deal with years ago. However, a string of gruesome murders follows in Angel's path, and the unnerved detective gradually begins to uncover Cyphre's true intentions. The film stirred controversy for the graphic sex scene between the young Lisa Bonet and Rourke. Parker, threatened with an X rating, was forced to cut 10 seconds from the scene. At the time, Bonet was best known for her role in "The Cosby Show." Generally considered the director's masterpiece, and an essential supernatural horror film of the 1980s. Based on William Hjortsberg's 1978 novel, "Falling Angel." Set in New York and New Orleans, and shot on location in both places. 8 x 10 inches. Fine. Grant, p. 32. Spicer, p. 424.