Search Results: Mystery and Crime from Royal Books, Inc.

N.p.: N.p., Unknown. Carbon typescript manuscript for an unpublished novel. With manuscript ink and pencil annotations throughout, most noting editorial revisions. A chronically ill Palm Springs realtor finds himself unexpectedly framed for murder. Set in Palm Springs, CA. Ordered but unbound leaves, housed in a gray Southworth Typewriter Paper box. Title page present, with credits for author W.M. Bruckner. 330 leaves, with last page of text numbered 328. Carbon typescript, rectos only. Pages Very Good, with a few lightly soiled leaves.

Beverly Hills, CA: United Artists, 1957. Vintage studio still photograph from the 1957 film. Based on the 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose, about a jury of white men as they deliberate the conviction or acquittal of a Puerto Rican teenager charged with murdering his father. Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Set in New York. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, lightly and evenly toned, and slightly curled. National Film Registry. Criterion Collection 591. Ebert II. Grant US. Rosenbaum 1000.

Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures, 1936. Vintage press photograph of Mitchell Leisen, Myrna Loy, and John Howard from the preview party at Leisen's house for the 1936 film. Mimeo snipe on verso. What should be a routine transcontinental flight from New York to San Francisco is complicated by its shady passengers, which include three jewel thieves, a strange nobleman, and a beautiful socialite. Shot on location in Alhambra, California and Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. 10 x 8 inches. Near Fine.

Los Angeles, CA: Paramount Pictures, 1931. Vintage reference photograph of actor Clive Brook from the 1931 film. With two Paramount Pictures stamps on the verso crediting Brook. Based on the 1930 novel by Louis Bromfield. A man is having an affair with a woman who is murdered by her ex-husband. He has to try and prove his innocence while shielding his wife from any legal trouble. Set in New York City. 8 x 10 inches. Good, with one chip missing at the bottom right corner and three points of loss from a three hole punch along the left edge.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1948. Vintage reference photograph from the 1948 film, showing actors Mae Marsh, John Wayne, Ward Bond, and Ben Johnson. Based on the 1913 novel, following three outlaws who discover a dying woman and her infant stranded in the desert. Director John Ford had previously adapted the novel for film with "Marked Men" in 1919. Set in Arizona, shot on location in Mojave and Cantil, California. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus. Pitts 4360.

Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959. Vintage studio still photograph from the 1959 British film. Based on John Buchan's 1915 novel. A diplomat returns to his home in London, where he becomes involved in a corrupt, international organization of secret agents intending to sell government secrets relating to weapons resources. Set and shot on location in England and Scotland. 10 x 8 inches. Very Good plus, with pinholes to the corners.

N.p.: N.p., 1959. Two vintage reference photographs from the set of the 1959 French film, both showing director François Truffaut on the set. Annotations in manuscript pencil relating to cropping on the versos, and one with a provenance stamp. Truffaut's auspicious debut, a semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy's estrangement from his family and school, leading him into a life of petty crime and culminating in trouble with the law. Winner of Best Director at Cannes and nominated for the Palme d'Or. Set and shot on location in Paris, France. 7 x 5 inches. Near Fine. Criterion Collection 5. Ebert I. Godard, Histoire(s) du cinema. Rosenbaum 1000.

New York: Macmillan, 1987. First Edition. First Edition. Basis for the 1990 film "Die Hard 2," starring Bruce Willis. Very Good plus in a Near Fine dust jacket. Book lightly foxed on the upper boards and on the page edges. Jacket lightly rubbed.

New York: Macmillan, 1987. First Edition. First Edition. INSCRIBED by the author in the year after publication on the endpaper: "To dashing Barry Zeman / a friend and mystery maven of distinction / Best / Walter Wager / NYC / May 12, 1988." Basis for the 1990 film "Die Hard 2," starring Bruce Willis. Fine in an about Fine dust jacket.

N.p.: N.p., 1985. Second Draft script for an unproduced film. Laid in are two pages: a synopsis, and a handwritten manuscript note, dated March 3, 1985, from the screenwriter. A British pedophile and heroin addict travels to Singapore to adopt a young child, which he secretly plans to imprison and torture, in exchange for financially supporting the child's family. Set in Singapore and England. Beige untitled wrappers. Title page present, dated April 19, 1985, noted as 2ND DRAFT, with credit for screenwriter Benny Tao. 126 leaves, with last page of text numbered 121. Xerographically reproduced, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine, bound with two gold brads.

Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1963. Draft script for the 1964 film. MGM File Copy, with two interoffice communications, a three page cast list, and a casting note bound in before the script, and a script department sleeve containing a check-out card affixed to the front wrapper verso. Based on the 1935 novel "The Circus of Dr. Lao" by Charles G. Finney. A small western town is transformed by the arrival of a mysterious traveling circus, led by the titular wise old Chinese gentleman. A campy, well-loved family classic, featuring stop-motion animation by noted animator and director George Pal, in his final directorial effort. Script by noted speculative fiction author (and screenwriter of many classic "Twilight Zone" episodes) Charles Beaumont. Winner of an Academy Award for outstanding makeup achievement, the first film awarded with an honorary Oscar for makeup. Set in turn-of-the-century Abalone, Arizona. Goldenrod titled wrappers, rubber-stamped copy No. 192 and production No.… Read More

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers Television, 1962. Revised Draft script for the Episode 41 of Season 4 of the television series. Copy belonging to Sammy Davis Jr, who played the cashier and Kid Pepper in this episode, with his signature on the first page, and annotations in manuscript ink and pencil throughout. Two private investigators work on the south side of the Sunset Strip, next to Dean Martin's actual nightclub, Dino's Lodge. Each episode was an hour long and featured two hardboiled detectives and an aspiring PI working next door as a valet. The actor's first appearance in a show that hewed so closely to his "Rat Pack" persona (though he had appeared in a few other television dramas and Westerns as early as 1952). Set in Los Angeles. Bound in a homemade sewn binding with a card wrapper, black endpapers, and binding sealed with tan paper tape. Title page present, dated March 1, 1962, noted as Revised. 147 leaves, with last page of text numbered 71. Mechanical duplication, with green, blue,… Read More

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1963. Draft script for the fifth episode of season six of the 1958-1964 television series. The series followed Stu and Jeff, a pair of womanizing, wisecracking private investigators. In this episode, Stu heads to Tel Aviv to uncover a Nazi art-smuggling plot. Set in Paris and Tel Aviv. White titled self-wrappers, dated July 2, 1963. Approximately 71 leaves, not numbered. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with revision pages throughout, dated variously between June 28, 1963 and July 2, 1963. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, bound with a staple. Pagination available upon request.

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.

N.p.: N.p., 1970. First Draft script for an unproduced film. A group of celebrities and wealthy elites all meet at a remote mansion in order to learn how to avoid being kidnapped for ransom. Pink untitled wrappers. Title page present, noted as FIRST DRAFT, with credit for screenwriter Luther Davis. 150 leaves, with last page of text numbered 149. Xerographic duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, with a silver prong binding.

N.p.: Gordon Park Jr. Robert Anderson Production, 1974. Draft script for the 1975 film, here under the working title "Aaron and Angela." Gordon Park's Harlem-set coming of age story, wherein the love between an aspiring black basketball player and a Puerto Rican girl from Spanish Harlem not only sparks disapproval from their families, friends, and neighbors, but threatens violence. Featuring excellent location footage of a violent, decaying, half-abandoned 1970s New York. Gordon Park Jr's final film and Irene Cara's screen debut. Set in and shot on location throughout New York. Blue titled wrappers. Title page present, dated December 1, 1974, with credits for screenwriter Gerald Sanford. 142 leaves, with last page of text numbered 140. Xerographic duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine, bound internally with two gold brads. Howard, Blaxploitation Cinema. Parish & Hill 1.

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1987. First Draft script for the 1988 film. Steven Seagal's debut role as Nico Toscani, an Italian-American ex-CIA agent and martial arts expert working for the Chicago police force. What begins as a drug trafficking investigation soon reveals the CIA's involvement in an international weapons-trade operation. Nico goes to great lengths to stop Zargon (Henry Silva), the corrupt CIA agent behind it all. Shot on location in O'ahu and Chicago. Orange titled studio wrappers, noted as First Draft on the front wrapper, dated March 4, 1987, with credits for screenwriters Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, Andrew Davis, and Steven Seagal. Title page present, dated March 4, 1987, noted as First Draft, with credits for for screenwriters Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, Andrew Davis, and Steven Seagal. 110 leaves, with last page of text numbered 107. Photocopy, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine, bound with two gold brads.

Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers, 1987. Second Draft script for the 1988 film. Steven Seagal, in his film debut, stars as Nico Toscani, an Italian-American ex-CIA agent and martial arts expert working for the Chicago police force. What begins as a drug trafficking investigation soon reveals the CIA's involvement in an international weapons-trade operation. Nico goes to great lengths to stop Zargon (Henry Silva), the corrupt CIA agent behind it all. Shot on location in O'ahu and Chicago. Red titled wrappers. Title page present, dated March 27, 1987, noted as SECOND DRAFT, with credits for screenwriters Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, and Andrew Davis, and story credits for Andrew Davis and Steven Seagal. 112 leaves, with last page of text numbered 110. Mechanical duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Near Fine, bound with two gold brads. Moore, The Good, the Tough and the Deadly: Action Movies and Stars 1960s-2015.

N.p.: N.p., 1967. Vintage reference photograph of director Joseph Losey in conversation with actors Dirk Bogarde and Stanley Baker on the set of the 1967 film. With a printed mimeo snipe in Spanish affixed to the verso. Based on the 1965 novel by Nicholas Mosley. A professor at Oxford University finds himself enamored with his beautiful, young student Anna, the fiancee of his other student, Michael. Their three lives become horribly entwined by a brutal car crash. The second of three legendary collaborations between director Joseph Losey and screenwriter Harold Pinter, the others being "The Servant" (1963) and The Go-Between" (1970). Shot on location in Oxford, London, and Middlesex, UK. 9.5 x 7.25 inches. Very Good plus.

Beverly Hills, CA: United Artists, 1972. Collection of seven vintage color studio still photographs from the 1972 film, including five mounted as issued by the distributor on a presentation card. Based on the 1970 novel by Wally Ferris, about two New York City cops who become involved in a bloody struggle between the Italian mob, the Harlem mob, and a pair of small-time crooks who have stolen thousands of dollars from both groups. Due to its setting in Harlem, this underrated crime drama is often lumped with other blaxploitation pictures of the era, when in truth it belongs to the great pantheon of gritty, violent police procedurals of the early 1970s-something of a New York City companion to Don Siegel's "Dirty Harry," released the year before. Set in Harlem, shot on location in New York City. Cards 10 x 8 inches. Presentation card 14 x 11 inches. Color studio still photographs and presentation cards Very Good plus. Grant US. Parish and Hill 3. Spicer US Neo-Noir. Howard, Blaxploitation… Read More