Steinbeck authorizes the French production of a war-time play.
Typewritten contract signed: "
John Steinbeck", 3p, 8x12½
Paris, France, 1947 February
24. John Ernest Steinbeck Jr. signed this contract, dated February 24, 1947, to permit
Madame Rose Belin, the Director of the Saint George Theater, to finance productions of his
play,
The Moon Is Down, in France and Belgium. The contract also provided for the translation
of the play into French.
Steinbeck had written the play during World War II (1939-1945);
it had
opened on Broadway on April 8, 1942. After completing the play, Steinbeck
immediately adapted it into a novelette with the same title.
The Moon is Down deals with the
Nazi occupation of a European country;
Steinbeck wrote it as a contribution to the war
effort while working with the Coordinator of Information, an agency created by
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-1945) to
combat Nazi propaganda with Allied
films and literary works. The
play was criticized in the United States for its humanizing
portrayal of German fascists: however, it was well-received in Europe since it encouraged
the resistance underground movement.
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