JOHN STEINBECK - DOCUMENT SIGNED 02/18/1947 - HFSID 101247
Price: $3,750.00
JOHN STEINBECK
The author collects foreign royalties on war-time play, The Moon Is Down
Typed DS: "John Steinbeck", 1p, 7½x9¾. No place, 1947 February 18. In full: "This is to
authorize Mademoiselle Marie Louise Bataille, 150 Boulevard Hausmann, Paris 8,
representative of Mr. Franz J. Horch 325 East 57th Street, New York 22 N.Y. to collect
all sums of money due to me out of French and Belgium performances of my play THE
MOON IS DOWN. Mademoiselle Bataille is authorized to conduct all negotiations in
connection with the French production of the aforesaid play and to act on my behalf
in all matters concerning this production. The "Société des Auteurs" is hereby instructed
to pay all sums of money due to me to the aforesaid Mademoiselle Marie Louise Bataille."
American novelist and playwright John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. (1902-1968) signed this
authorization to allow Marie Louise Bataille to collect royalties due him for the
adaptation and the use of his play, The Moon is Down, which was being performed in
French in both France and Belgium. Steinbeck had already received a large sum of
money from selling the film rights for the play to Warner Brothers. He was originally
promised $300,000, the largest amount offered by a movie studio for an individual
story, but Steinbeck actually received less than half that sum. The movie, considered the best
of the resistance films, premiered in 1943, the year after the play and novelette of the same
title were published. The Moon is Down deals with the Nazi occupation of a European country
during WWII (1939-1945). Steinbeck wrote it as a contribution to the war effort, though
many critics claimed that it actually helped the Nazi war effort by portraying the German fascists
as too humane. Critics further complained that Steinbeck's belief that free men always win wars
gave a too optimistic view of the war's outcome. They also feared that his support of the
underground would encourage Nazis to take a stronger stand against members of the resistance.
The Moon Is Down was well received in Europe because it helped keep up the morale
in the resistance movement. Europeans found it remarkable than an American who had
never lived in an occupied nation could relate to their situation so well. The year after this
contract was signed, Steinbeck suffered a nervous breakdown following two major
upheavals in his life; his best friend was killed in an auto accident, and his second wife,
Gwyndolyn Conger, wanted a divorce. He vented his emotions in his next two major works,
Burning Bright (1950) and East of Eden (1952). Lightly creased with folds, light horizontal fold
at the descender of the "J". Slightly soiled. Fine condition. Framed to an overall size of
30x20½.
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