The Mummy [Cagliostro] (Universal, 1932), Early Draft "Screen Story" Typed-Carbon Dialogue and Shot Contin...

Description

The Mummy [Cagliostro] (Universal, 1932), Early Draft "Screen Story" Typed-Carbon Dialogue and Shot Continuity. Vintage original typed-carbon "screen story" treatment of The Mummy by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer, dated February 19, 1932, on (108) tissue-vellum legal-size leaves, brad-bound in tissue-vellum wraps. Inspired by the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, and the subsequent so-called "Curse of the Pharaohs" which plagued the tomb's discoverers, producer Carl Laemmle Jr. commissioned story editor Richard Schayer to find a novel to form a basis for an Egyptian-themed horror film, just as the novels Dracula and Frankenstein inspired their 1931 Universal Studio films. Failing to find anything other than a vaguely-suggestive Arthur Conan Doyle tale titled The Ring of Thoth, Schayer and writer Nina Wilcox Putnam learned about the mystical visionary Alessandro Cagliostro and wrote a nine-page treatment entitled "Cagliostro" about a 3,000-year-old magician who survives by injecting nitrates [advance press material from Universal announces the project with this working title] into himself. The "screen story" continuity offered here is an extension by Putnam and Schayer of their initial outline, and focuses heavily upon Cagliostro/ Dr. Astro's "psychic" abilities to predict stock market trends and such. Pleased with this concept, Laemmle then hired John L. Balderston, who had contributed to Dracula and Frankenstein, and had covered the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb for the New York World when he was a journalist, to write the eventual script. Balderston moved the story to Egypt from San Francisco and renamed the film and its title character "Im-ho-tep", after the dynastic Egyptian architect. He also changed the story from one of revenge upon all the women who resembled the main character's ex-lover to one where the main character is determined to revive his old love by killing and mummifying her reincarnated self, before resurrecting her with a spell from the mythical "Scroll of Thoth", which Balderston invented to add an aura of authenticity. Thoth was the wisest of the Egyptian gods who, when Osiris died, helped Isis bring her love back from the dead, and is believed to have authored The Book of the Dead. Karl Freund, the German cinematographer of Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Dracula in the U.S., was hired to direct, making this his first feature in that capacity. Freund retitled the film The Mummy and cast fledgling exotic-looking actress Zita Johann who believed in reincarnation, and named her character 'Ankh-esen-amun', after the only wife of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Offered here is an early preliminary draft, 8.5" x 13", (108) page typed carbon on legal size bond tissue shot and dialogue continuity, titled on "Universal Pictures Corporation" letterhead vellum cover: "Cagliostro"/ or (The King of the Dead)/ Original Screen Story by NINA WILCOX PUTNAM and RICHARD SCHAYER/ File No: 613-9/ Picture No. _ _ _ _/ February 19, 1932", and stamped "FILE COPY/ RETURN TO CENTRAL FILES", with added note "(From: Nina Wilcox Putnam)". Pages are only numbered up to "15", but all are marked with letter codes denoting shooting sequences and locations. Bound with (2) original tarnished brass brads; exhibiting light general handling to covers with moderate tattering around extremities and occasional age toning; interior remains relatively unabused, showing only trace foxing on just a handful of pages throughout. An extremely significant rarity from the very naissance of Universal Horror, one of the most memorable and influential moments in film history. The poster image is for reference only and is not included with this lot. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions.

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