International Autograph Auctions Ltd.
Lot 59
FILM DIRECTORS: An interesting, rare collection of fifty three individual Ds.S. by various film and stage directors, cinematographers, producers and some actors, each one page, 4to, various places, March 1960. The documents all take the form of printed questionnaires that were issued by the Directors Guild of America, Inc. to their members and ask for their opinions in answer to whether they would prefer their credit to appear immediately before or immediately after television films. The directors are invited to state the reasons for their choice and all have signed the documents at the conclusion, many adding interesting holograph remarks. Included are questionnaires signed by Stanley Kubrick, George Pal (rare), William Wyler (who opts for the credit to appear after the show, explaining ‘To keep from boring the audience even before the show starts, the way we do in theatres. Don’t force the credits on people who don’t want to see them.’), Busby Berkeley (who opts for the credit to appear first, ‘What has been good enough for Motion Pictures through the years is good enough for me…’), Vincente Minnelli, Rouben Mamoulian (‘Many viewers switch the program off at the end of the film without waiting for tail-end credits’), George Stevens, Jean Renoir (‘I think that the movie industry is in bad shape because it didn’t recognise the importance of the real author of a picture, the director. I hope that television will not follow this dangerous example’), George Sidney, Albert Zugsmith, Norman McLeod, Robert Florey, Andrew McLaglen, Lee Garmes, Howard W. Koch (‘I think people…are more apt to notice credits after they have viewed the show.’), Charles F. Haas, Arthur Lubin, Karl Freund, Albert McCleery (‘A director should not proceed the show until he has reached the status of a star in his own right’), Clifford Odets, Robert Parrish, Walter Lang, Clyde Geronimi, King Vidor, Gower Champion, Robert Wise, Dick Powell, Jackie Cooper (‘Only your mother looks at the end credits…’), Jose Ferrer, Jeff Chandler, Paul Henreid (‘viewers may stay with a certain program because the director has given them previous worthwhile entertainment.’), Mel Ferrer (‘running the credit before the film at best insures that it will be seen’), Robert Cummings, Gene Kelly (‘I think on TV it’s most important to plunge into the story itself to keep the viewers attention.’), Ray Milland etc. A fascinating series of documents bearing a good array of signatures. A few with slight age wear, generally VG, 53
![[BRUNEL ISAMBARD KINGDOM]: (1806-1859) British Engineer. An original printed 4to notice for Brunel`s Great Western steamship,](http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/35396/2775047/185_468x382.jpg)
![[COLLINS MICHAEL]: (1930- ) American Astronaut, Command Module Pilot of Apollo XI, the historic NASA mission which took the f](http://lot-images.atgmedia.com/SR/35396/2775047/553.JPG)
