Film & TV source books
SPY STORY.
New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, [1974]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First U.S. edition. The author's sixth spy novel with his nameless hero. Produced as a film in 1976. Jay Pederson: St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, pp. 288-291. Smith and White: Cloak and Dagger Fiction (3rd ed.) 1594.
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP?
Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1968. Octavo, cloth. First edition. In a depleted world, where android animals are marketed to help expiate the guilt people experience because the real ones have been largely exterminated, the protagonist must hunt down androids illegally imported from Mars. A 1968 Nebula nominee. "A key novel in Dick's canon." - Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-326. Basis for the feature film "Blade Runner," directed by Ridley Scott. Pringle, Science Fiction the Best 100 Novels 55. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions.
UBIK: THE SCREENPLAY.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Corroboree Press, 1985. Octavo, cloth. First edition. 1250 copies printed of which this is one of 1200 trade copies. Dick's filmscript incorporates an ending that differs from that of his novel.
A SCANNER DARKLY.
London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1977. Octavo, boards. First British edition. New Path uses group attack therapy to cure addiction to hallucinogenic Substance D (nicknamed "Death"), relentlessly reprograming the subject to obey authority. And New Path is apparently growing the flower from which Substance D is made, thus helping to perpetuate itself. Winner of the British Science Fiction Association Award, Novel, 1978. Basis for a feature film, released in 2006. Anatomy of Wonder (2004) II-333. Sargent, British and American Utopian Literature, 1516-1985, Additions.
BILLY BATHGATE.
New York: Random House, [1989]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Novel set in the 1930s involving the Dutch Schultz gang. Winner of the 1990 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and runner up for the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Filmed in 1991 with Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman and Bruce Willis.
A DESERT DRAMA: BEING THE TRAGEDY OF THE KOROSKO.
Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1898. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-277 [278: blank] [279-288: ads], original light blue cloth, front stamped in dark blue, brown and green, spine stamped in dark blue, gold, brown and green. First U.S. edition. A party of tourists sailing on the Nile are abducted by Dervish warriors, during captivity they are asked to renounce Christianity. Imperialistic view of North Africa. Adapted into a stage play and filmed twice (1923 & 1932). Green and Gibson, A22c.
THE LOST WORLD: BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECENT AMAZING ADVENTURES OF PROFESSOR GEORGE E. CHALLENGER, LORD JOHN ROXTON, PROFESSOR SUMMERLEE, AND MR. E. D. MALONE OF THE "DAILY GAZETTE." ...
London, New York, Toronto: Hodder and Stoughton, n.d., [1912]. Large octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-vii [viii] 9-319 [320: printer's imprint], thirteen illustrations, several in color, pasted to light brown mounts tipped in, original pictorial light blue cloth over heavy bevel-edged boards, front and spine panels lettered in gold, dinosaur footprints stamped in blind on front, spine and rear panels, t.e.g., pictorial endpapers. First edition, large paper copy, first issue. 1000 copies of the Presentation edition were prepared, but the first issue comprised only 190 copies. The remainder were bound later, most issued in 1914 in brown cloth, others distributed sometime later. The first Professor Challenger story, in which the scientist and his exploring party locate a remnant of the prehistoric world on a plateau in South America. Challenger's narrative "remains the most famous of its type and has served as a model since its publication." - Anatomy of Wonder (1981) 1-63. "... written as pure entertainment, and as such it is a huge success. It stands at the very end of an era of great adventure stories, and it is the equal of anything else in its genre." - Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1270-73. Anatomy of Wonder (1976) 2-67; (1981) 1-63; (1987) 1-31; (1995) 1-31; and (2004) II-354. Angenot and Khouri, "An International Bibliography of Prehistoric Fiction," SFS, VIII (March 1981), 43. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 612. Cawthorn and Moorcock, Fantasy: The 100 Best Books 27. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 264. Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 71. In 333. Bleiler (1987), p. 63. Reginald 04496. Green and Gibson A37c.
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES: ANOTHER ADVENTURE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES.
London: George Newnes, Limited. 1902. Octavo, original red cloth, front cover stamped in gold and black, spine stamped in gold. First edition. Sherlock Holmes on the Moors. Filmed numerous times.
THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE.
New York: Avon Publishing Co., Inc., [1949]. Octavo, pictorial wrappers. First paperback edition. Basis for the film noir directed by Felix Feist with Lawrence Tierney.
TRUE CONFESSIONS.
New York: E.P. Dutton, [1977]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Filmed in 1981 from a screenplay by the author, starring Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall.
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (SEQUEL TO FRANKENSTEIN).
London: The Readers Library Publishing Company Ltd., n.d., [1936]. Small octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-252 [253-256] [note: first and last leaves used as front and rear paste-downs], original decorated blue-green boards, spine and front cover stamped in gold. First edition. Copies bound in cloth with the Queensway Press imprint were intended for the library market while this simultaneous cheaper issue with the Readers Library imprint were sold in Woolworth's for 6d. Novel based on the James Whale film "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) starring Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff. From George Locke's introduction to the American edition from Bookfinger, he provides the following information: After the movie was completed it was realized that no book existed for a tie-in. The Hutchinson (U. K.) publishing group which owned the Readers Library imprint commissioned author Michael Harrison to produce a novel. Mr. Harrison was given three weeks to produce a finished work. Harrison started working from a shooting script for the film which contained not only the dialog but the shooting details also. After getting bogged down following the script and working under deadline Harrison decided to ignore the script (but not the story). "...the remaining work represented so radical a departure from the script that the finished book was to all intents and purposes original fiction." Harrison took his pseudonym from a public house, "The Egremont Arms." Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 77. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 53-4. Bleiler (1978), p. 68. Reginald 04717.
THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (SEQUEL TO FRANKENSTEIN).
London: The Queensway Press, [1936]. Small octavo, pp. [1-6] 7-252 [253-256] [note: first and last leaves used as front and rear paste-downs], original decorated blue-green boards, spine and front cover stamped in gold. First edition. One of two binding states (the other is black cloth stamped in green), priority, if any, not known. Copies with the Queensway Press imprint were intended for the library market and were sold for 2/6, while the simultaneous cheaper issue with the Readers Library imprint were sold in Woolworth's for 6d. Novel based on the James Whale film "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) starring Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff. From George Locke's introduction to the American edition published by Bookfinger, he provides the following information: After the movie was completed it was realized that no book existed for a tie-in. The Hutchinson (U.K.) publishing group which owned the Readers Library imprint commissioned author Michael Harrison to produce a novel. Mr. Harrison was given three weeks to produce a finished work. Harrison started working from a shooting script for the film which contained not only the dialog but the shooting details also. After getting bogged down following the script and working under deadline Harrison decided to ignore the script (but not the story). "...the remaining work represented so radical a departure from the script that the finished book was to all intents and purposes original fiction." Harrison took his pseudonym from a public house, "The Egremont Arms." Locke, A Spectrum of Fantasy, p. 77. Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, pp. 53-4. Bleiler (1978), p. 68. Reginald 04717.
FEDERAL BULLETS...
New York: The William Caslon Company, Inc., [1936]. Octavo, pp. [1-8] 9-256, original black cloth, front and spine stamped in orange, fore edge untrimmed, bottom edge rough trimmed, top edge stained orange. First edition. The author's first mystery novel. Dan Fowler, special agent of the Department of Justice fights crime. "Tireless, vigilant and daring, Dan faces the sinister forces of the underworld..." - from the front flap copy. The authors first novel to feature Dan Fowler, G-Man.Fowler was the main character in G-Men Detective pulp magazine (1935-1953). George Eliot wrote the majority of the stories under the C. K. M. Scanlon house pseudonym. Eliot also wrote for other pulp fiction magazines. This is one of the few if not the only pulp hero type character to have stand alone novels written and published contemporary to also appearing in magazine. Major Eliot served in World War I and was a reserve U. S. military intelligence officer in the 1920s and early 30s. He started writing pulp fiction in the mid-20s and also wrote a book with recommendations on the national defense. During WW II he worked as an analyst CBS news and continued to write articles on military matters which continued after the war. Filmed in 1937 with the lead character's name changed. Hubin, p. 263.
DREADFUL SUMMIT.
New York: Simon and Schuster, 1948. Octavo, cloth. First edition. The author's first novel. Suspense novel of a teenage boy who plans to avenge his disgraced father. Basis for the 1951 film noir "The Big Night." Hubin, p. 263. Johnson, The Dark Page (2), p. 52. Silver and Ward (eds.), Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd edition), pp. 31-33.
THE BLACK DAHLIA.
New York, London: The Mysterious Press, [1987]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. A novel based on the famous unsolved murder mystery in L.A. of the late 40’s.The first book in his L.A. Quartet series of novels. Main basis for the 2006 film directed by Brian De Palma with Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hillary Swank.
THE BLACK DAHLIA.
New York, London: The Mysterious Press, [1987]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. Generic inscription by Ellroy on the front free end paper. A novel based on the famous unsolved murder mystery in L.A. of the late 40’s. The first book in his L. A. Quartet series of novels. Main basis for the 2006 film directed by Brian De Palma with Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart and Hillary Swank. Hubin, p. 265.
SECONDS ...
New York: Pantheon Books A Division of Random House, [1963]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. The story of a man caught up by a nameless organization that uses advanced managerial and technological methods to achieve its singular aim -- lifting the moral and physical barriers to personal liberty and self-indulgence. Brilliantly filmed by John Frankenheimer with Rock Hudson as the hapless victim of a shadowy organization which ultimately kills him and recycles his body parts. "Like David Ely's slender, nightmarish novel, SECONDS has a thinly science-fictional rationale, but it is actually an exercise in Kafkaesque horror ... Outstandingly photographed by James Wong Howe, extremely well played by the whole cast (the choice of Hudson as every man's self-image is inspired), and directed with the imaginative flair John Frankenheimer brought to The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, and 99 and 44/100% Dead, SECONDS is perhaps the scariest movie of the 1960s." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 374. Reginald 37728. Hubin (1994), p. 266.
SECONDS ...
New York: Pantheon Books A Division of Random House, [1963]. Octavo, cloth-backed boards. First edition. The story of a man caught up by a nameless organization that uses advanced managerial and technological methods to achieve its singular aim -- lifting the moral and physical barriers to personal liberty and self-indulgence. Brilliantly filmed by John Frankenheimer with Rock Hudson as the hapless victim of a shadowy organization which ultimately kills him and recycles his body parts. "Like David Ely's slender, nightmarish novel, SECONDS has a thinly science-fictional rationale, but it is actually an exercise in Kafkaesque horror ... Outstandingly photographed by James Wong Howe, extremely well played by the whole cast (the choice of Hudson as every man's self-image is inspired), and directed with the imaginative flair John Frankenheimer brought to The Manchurian Candidate, Seven Days in May, and 99 and 44/100% Dead, SECONDS is perhaps the scariest movie of the 1960s." - Sullivan (ed), The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, p. 374. Reginald 37728. Hubin (1994), p. 266.
METHINKS THE LADY.
New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, [1945]. pp. [1-6] [1-2] 3-282, original brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in blue, top edge stained brown. First edition. First printing with "I" printed on copyright page. Psychological mystery involving a woman married to a psychologist who is a kleptomaniac and a murderer. Filmed in 1949 as "Whirlpool," directed by Otto Preminger. Barron (ed), Fantasy and Horror (1999) 4-50. Barron (ed), Horror Literature 3-66. Bleiler (1948), p. 109. Johnson, The Dark Page, p. 90. Selby, Dark City: The Film Noir, 470. Silver and Ward (eds.), Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style (3rd edition), pp. 385-386.
THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.
New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, [1993]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. The author's first novel. Filmed in 1999 with Kirsten Dunst and Josh Hartnett.
A FAN'S NOTES: A FICTIONAL MEMOIR...
New York, Evanston, and London: Harper & Row, Publishers, [1968]. Octavo, cloth backed boards. First edition. The author's first novel. A young man as an obsessed fan of the New York (football) Giants. Filmed in 1972.
THE REIVERS: A REMINISCENCE.
New York: Random House, [1962]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Winner of the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Filmed in 1969 with Steve McQueen.
THE BIG CLOCK.
New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, [1946]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Classic crime novel. "This quintessential tale of psychological suspense is so good, in fact, that labeling it a small masterpiece would not be unjustified." - Pronzini and Muller, 1001 Midnights, The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 242-243. Basis for two films The Big Clock (1948) and No Way Out (1987). The 1948 film is one of the best noir films of the 1940s. Johnson, The Dark Page, p. 94. See also St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers (pp. 345-46), Magill (ed.), Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 592-98.
THE BIG CLOCK.
New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, [1946]. Octavo, cloth. First edition. Classic crime novel. "This quintessential tale of psychological suspense is so good, in fact, that labeling it a small masterpiece would not be unjustified." - Pronzini and Muller, 1001 Midnights, The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 242-243. Basis for two films The Big Clock (1948) and No Way Out (1987). The 1948 film is one of the best noir films of the 1940s. Johnson, The Dark Page, p. 94. See also St. James Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers (pp. 345-46), Magill (ed.), Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction, pp. 592-98.
ICE PALACE.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, & Company, Inc., 1958. Octavo, cloth. First edition. A novel set in Alaska.