The King of Kings; a novel [Photoplay Edition]

[a tight clean copy, minor wear to base of spine, light dust-darkening to top of text block; the jacket is quite nice-looking, with only minor wear to the edges and extremities, but unfortunately with a small pinky-sized piece torn out of the bottom edge of the rear panel and some associated creasing/tearing at that place, plus a short closed tear and associated crease at the top of the front panel, and a couple of small internal tape repairs]. (12 B&W film stills) Photoplay Edition issued in conjunction with the release of Cecil B. DeMille's Biblical epic -- and because it was a DeMille production, of course they wouldn't be satisifed with the typical four stills from the movie to illustrate the text, nor even with the eight stills that were sometimes deployed if the movie was "important" enough. OH no, this volume had to boast TWELVE stills. The publisher's brief Foreword to the book is equally over the top, making various grandiose and implausible claims, such as that he "his final determination to make the Picture [love that capital P!] came only after he had discussed the subject with leaders of public sentiment, savants and scholars, and obtained the cooperation of all the cinema companies," to produce "the greatest cooperative effort the united motion picture industry has yet achieved, [with] the technical and architectural resources of every great California studio being placed at the Producer's disposal, and eminent actors from many companies vying for parts." And if you really believe that "twenty-five hundred authorities were consulted in research" for the picture, then, well, I've got a few fragments of the True Cross left here in stock, which can be had for a very reasonable price. (It's interesting, too, to note the allocation of writing credit: Jeanie Macpherson wrote the film's scenario, and the book is acknowledged as an adaptation of that scenario, and she gets top billing book's spine, front cover, and dust jacket -- but the title page actually reads "by Henry MacMahon and Jeanie Macpherson." The exact nature of Macpherson's long collaboration with DeMille -- she received writing credit on several dozen of his productions between 1915 and 1930, and is known to have been one of his several mistresses) -- is still a subject of controversy and interpretation among film scholars. But who the heck was Henry MacMahon)

Product Info

Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap

Year: (c.1927)

Type: Used

Binding: Hardcover

First Edition

Seller Info

ReadInk

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Country: United States