TV

[Ruby Miller, actress, one of the ‘Gaiety Girls’.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Popie’ (the theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope), regarding BBC TV, ‘the Gaiety fiasco’ and ‘Gaiety Girls who married out of the peerage & retired into the country’.

Author: 
Ruby Miller [Ruby Laura Rose Miller] (1889-1976), actress, one of George Edwardes' 'Gaiety Girls' [W. J. MacQueen-Pope [‘Popie’] (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 July 1957; on her letterhead.
£50.00

See her entry and his in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Ruby’. Begins: ‘Popie, darling, / What are we coming to? / You - as a pierrot with the “Fol-de-Rols”! / BBC/TV must be mad not to let you do a talk on the St. James’s. / But after the Gaiety fiasco I can believe anything of them.

[‘Compo’ in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’.] Typed Letter Signed from the actor Bill Owen to the theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, asking for advice on a script he wishes to write about Dan Leno.

Author: 
Bill Owen [William John Owen Rowbotham (1914-1999)], English actor and songwriter, best-known for playing ‘Compo’ in the BBC TV series ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ [W. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
15 April 1953; on letterhead of Lavender Lodge, Maidenhead Court, Maidenhead.
£45.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 16mo. Signed ‘Bill Owen’. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Hailing him as ‘the greatest living authority on British Theatre’, he asks for advice. ‘My job is acting, and it has always been an ambition of mine to portray the life of Dan Leno, either on film or TV.

[Adlai Stevenson, American Democratic politician.] Producer Hugh Burnett's copy of typescript of Stevenson’s interview with John Freeman in the BBC TV series 'Face to Face', marked up for publication.

Author: 
Adlai Stevenson [Adlai Ewing Stevenson II] (1900-1965), American Democratic nominee for President of the United States [John Freeman, interviewer on BBC programme ‘Face to Face’; Hugh Burnett]
Publication details: 
Undated, but BBC interview broadcast on 22 July 1959, and this item prepared for publication in 1964.
£80.00

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of Stevenson's interview with Freeman, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 22 July 1959. The single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in pencil and green ink. 2pp, foolscap 8vo, on two leaves.

[‘I have never felt more like chucking my hand in’: Jack Warner, English actor.] Typed Letter Signed to W. J. Macqueen-Pope (‘Popie’), regarding a bad bout of the flu, with signed publicity photograph in the part of Dixon of Dock Green.

Author: 
Jack Warner [Horace John Waters] (1895-1981), English actor who played PC George Dixon in film ‘The Blue Lamp’ and TV series ‘Dixon of Dock Green’ [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Dixon
Publication details: 
19 November 1957. 9 Courtfield Mews, Courtfield Road, SW5 [London]. On his letterhead.
£60.00
Dixon

See the entries for Warner and Macqueen-Pope in the Oxford DNB. Such was the popularity of Warner’s portrayal of George Dixon, that the Queen told him it had become part of ‘the British way of life’, and he was carried to his grave by six real officers from Paddington Green Police Station. LETTER: 1p, 4to. Folded twice. In good condition, lightly aged. Signature ‘Jack.’ and salutation to ‘My dear Popie’ in Warner’s hand; the rest typed. Letterhead with his name. He is sending ‘the long promised photos’, delayed because he ‘had to get some new prints of the “pipe” one.

[Jack Rosenthal, playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’.] Two photographs of Rosenthal while teaching the residential writer course at Fen Farm, Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Worboyes

Author: 
Jack Rosenthal [Jack Morris Rosenthal] (1931-2004), playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’), husband of actress Maureen Lipman [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm]
Rosenthal
Publication details: 
1992. Fen Farm, Suffolk.
£75.00
Rosenthal

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of both of the prints. Both colour prints. ONE: 23 x 16 cm photograph, in Landscape. Slightly creased at corners. A relaxed Rosenthal, in plaid shirt, jeans and trainers, seated on the steps of a farm outhouse, with five students and Warboyes grouped around him. On the reverse: ‘Jack Rosenthal / with his students / Sally Worboyes’.

[Alan Plater, playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series).] Three photographs of Plater with students at the residential writing course at Fen Farm in Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Warboyes.

Author: 
Alan Plater [Alan Frederick Plater] (1935-2010), playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series) [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm, Suffolk]
Alan Plater
Publication details: 
No date (1990s). Fen Farm, Suffolk.
£75.00
Alan Plater

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of each of the prints. All three in good condition. ONE and TWO: Black and white photographs, both 12 x 17 cm. ONE is in portrait, and shows Plater seated at a country table, in shirtsleeves, jeans and trainers, looking over with concentration and expressively spread hands. On back: ‘Alan Plater at my home. / Sally Worboyes’. TWO is in landscape.

[Irving Wardle, theatre critic.] Autograph Letter Signed to Gerald Wynne-Rushton, giving advice on offering a play, with reference to a letter he has received from Emyr Humphreys, producer of BBC TV production of Saunders Lewis’s ‘Siwan’.

Author: 
Irving Wardle [John Irving Wardle] (born 1929), theatre critic and champion of Harold Pinter [Gerald Wynne-Rushton (1894-), Catholic writer]
Publication details: 
16 March [no year, but between 1960 and 1963]; on letterhead of the Observer, London.
£45.00

Wardle worked as Kenneth Tynan’s deputy on the Observer between 1959 and 1963. Wynne-Rushton had published a play titled ‘The Gull’s Way’ in 1930, and a book on the papacy for Catholic publishers Burns, Oates and Washburne two years later. 2pp, 4to. In fair condition, folded three times, with wear and loss along one fold line of the second leaf, resulting in loss of a few words of text. Signed ‘Irving Wardle’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Rushton’, identified as G. W. Wynne-Rushton by associated correspondence.

[Augustus John, OM RA, celebrated Welsh painter.] Producer Hugh Burnett’s copy of the typed transcript of John’s BBC TV interview with John Freeman in the series ‘Face to Face’, with proof and typographical marks for publication.

Author: 
Augustus John [Augustus Edwin John] (1878-1961), OM RA, celebrated Welsh painter [John Freeman (1915-2014), Labour MP and interviewer on 'Face to Face'; Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), BBC TV producer]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but BBC TV interview on 15 May 1960; and this transcript produced for inclusion in version published in London in 1964.
£220.00

The present item is the producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with John, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC series 'Face to Face' on 15 May 1960. This single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in green ink. 3pp, foolscap 8vo, on three leaves stapled together.

[Jomo Kenyatta, first President of Kenya, interviewed by John Freeman for BBC TV series 'Face to Face'.] Producer Hugh Burnett's copy of the typescript of the interview.

Author: 
Jomo Kenyatta (c.1897-1978), First President of Kenya [John Freeman (1915-2014), Labour MP and broadcaster; Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), producer; BBC TV series 'Face to Face']
Publication details: 
Undated transcript of a BBC TV interview broadcast on 26 November 1961.
£180.00

JJohn Freeman's interview with Jomo Kenyatta was broadcast on 26 November 1961 in the BBC TV series 'Face to Face'. The present duplicated typescript of the interview is from the papers of the programme's producer Hugh Burnett, and is edited for publication in the book 'Face to Face | Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964). 1p., foolscap 8vo. Headed 'JOMO KENYATTA', otherwise consisting entirely of the transcript, with no other details.

[Cecil Beaton interviewed by John Freeman for BBC TV series 'Face to Face'.] Producer Hugh Burnett's copy of the typescript of the transcript of the interview, containing passages not present in the published version.

Author: 
Cecil Beaton [Sir Cecil Walter Hardy Beaton] (1904-1980), photographer and diarist [John Freeman (1915-2014), Labour MP and broadcaster; Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), producer; BBC TV series 'Face to Face
Publication details: 
Transcript undated. BBC TV interview broadcast 18 February 1962.
£120.00

The present item is the producer Hugh Burnett's own copy of the transcript of John Freeman's interview of Cecil Beaton, broadcast in the BBC series 'Face to Face' on 18 February 1962. Duplicated typescript. 4pp, foolscap 8vo. Numbered, and headed 'CECIL BEATON', otherwise consisting entirely of the transcript, with no other details. Aged and worn, with punch holes for binder. On four leaves which were originally stapled together, but with the first and last leaves now detached. Page references 1-10 (presumably to a shorthand transcript) in the outer margin.

[BBC General Television Training Course, 1958.] Folder compiled by the producer Charles Chilton, containing documents (typescripts and forms) relating to the course, headed by Andrew Miller Jones, another attendee being the poet Louis MacNeice.

Author: 
BBC General Television Training Course, 1958, headed by Andrew Miller Jones (1910-1994), Chief Television Instructor [Charles Chilton (1917-2013), producer; Louis MacNeice (1907-1963), poet]
Publication details: 
The British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], London. April to June 1958.
£800.00

A significant document in the history of BBC Television, casting valuable light on production practices and internal procedure in the years following the end of the BBC's television monopoly. From the papers of distinguished producer Charles Chilton (1917-2013), best known for his radio series 'Journey into Space' and association with the Goon Show. The present item relates to the first of the BBC Television Training Courses.

[ Jack Pulman, British screenwriter. ] Collection of material from his personal papers, including typescripts, drafts and correspondence relating to various projects including the 1970 film 'The Executioner'; and folders of film industry material.

Author: 
Jack Pulman (1925-1979), British screenwriter [ Charles H. Schneer; Ameran Films; George Peppard; Sam Wannamaker; Columbia Pictures ]
Publication details: 
From London and other locations. Dating from between 1964 and 1975.
£1,500.00

From the Jack Pulman papers. Pulman's distinguished career is well described on the British Film Institute's website. His work for British and American television gained him plaudits as an 'adaptor-extraordinary', beginning with a 1965 version of Thomas Mann's 'Buddenbrooks' for the BBC, and including Henry James's 'Portrait of a Lady' (BBC, 1968) and 'The Golden Bowl' (1972), as well as 'David Copperfield' (NBC, 1970), 'Jane Eyre' (NBC, 1971), 'War and Peace' (BBC, 1973), and the controversial 'I, Claudius' (BBC, 1976).

[ Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey'. ] Typed Rehearsal Script of Maggie Wadey's 1987 BBC television adaptation. (directed by Giles Foster and produced by Louis Marks)

Author: 
Maggie Wadey, scriptwriter and wife of actor John Castle; Louis Marks (1928-2010) BBC producer and scriptwriter; Giles Foster, television director; Jane Austen [ British Broadcasting Corporation]
Publication details: 
[ British Broadcasting Corporation, London. ] At head of covering page: '3rd Draft - Typed 3rd June 1986'.
£120.00

[2] + 170pp., 8vo. On 172 leaves, held together by a steel stud. In good condition, lightly aged, with discoloring to first leaf and the last seven leaves dogeared. The names of the crew are given on the first covering page, and the cast of characters (but not the names of the actors playing them) on the second. An interesting artefact, indicative of the continuing reassessment and reinterpretation of the works of one of Britain's great writers.

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