A SCREENPLAY OF MARY ROBERTS RINEHART'S TISH. MCGUINNESS, J.K. Mimeographed Manuscript with anno...

A SCREENPLAY OF MARY ROBERTS RINEHART'S TISH. MCGUINNESS, J.K. Mimeographed Manuscript with annotations, 'Tish,' based on works by Mary Roberts Rinehart, approx. 162 pp, 4to, [Culver City], June 5, 1934, bound with brads in typed blue covers marked 'Original' and 'revised' and stamped 'file copy,' several typed carbon pages inserted and other pages with revisions pasted over the original leaf, pages moderately toned with some chipping at edges, covers thumbed. Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958) was a popular suspense novelist of the early 20th century often compared to Agatha Christie. Like many women writers before her, she took up her pen to earn extra income after her family lost their savings in the crash of 1903. She introduced the concept of the 'had I only known' conceit, where a first-person narrator deliberately withholds information that would reveal the mystery too soon, and she is also credited with introducing 'the butler did it' trope. The present screenplay is based on a series of short stories that Rinehart wrote for The Saturday Evening Post featuring Letishia Carbury, a meddling New England spinster who finds herself in a variety of comic situations. Tish was filmed in 1942 by MGM and starred Marjorie Main as the titular character. Harry Ruskin received final screenplay credit, while Frances Marion and Carey Wilson are listed as uncredited on IMDB. McGuinness's script, however, has most of the moving parts of the final film: the star-crossed lovers, the disappearance of Tish, her return with a random baby, and the chaos that ensues. CHARLIE FELDMAN'S COPY? WITH HIS NOTES??? CHECK AGAINST OTHERS. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing