O’HARA JOHN Typed Letter Signed “John” to screenwriter Eugen

Sale 2413 - Lot 285

Unsold

Estimate: $ 350 - $ 500

'MY PURPOSE . . . IS TO [TELL] THE STORY OF THE FIRST HALF OF THIS CENTURY" O'HARA, JOHN. Typed Letter Signed, 'John,' to screenwriter Eugene Solow, with holograph date at upper right, declining to contribute to a screen adaptation of his A Family Party. 1 page, 4to; uneven toning, minor loss at upper left corner, two ink phone numbers written in unknown hand in upper margin, folds. Np, 23 May 1963

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'I do not know Buddy Ebsen, but of course I have been aware of his work . . . . It has always amused me [to] watch the transformation from . . . class act to the frontiersman. . . .
'I have always wanted Ed Begley to do Sam Merritt, and . . . I told Swanson to get the lead out and make a deal. However, I am not committed to anyone. A FAMILY PARTY is very much for sale and I think it should be done on film. . . .
'But as to my doing a script, that is out of the question . . . . I will never again work on my own material after its original appearance in whatever medium. I have a novel coming out in two weeks, a collection of short stories coming out in November, a big novel coming out next year. . . . To go back and rework my material in a different medium is to misuse time and to defeat my purpose, which is to create a body of work that tells more completely than anyone else's work the story of the first half of this century in this country. . . .'