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Comedies and Musicals
Lot 78

A Screenplay of The Lady is Willing and an Album of Press Clippings

4 – 14 June 2024, 12:00 PDT
Online, Los Angeles

US$800 - US$1,200

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A Screenplay of The Lady is Willing and an Album of Press Clippings

Columbia Pictures, 1942. Mimeographed Manuscript, "Miss Madden is Willing," 160 pp, Beverly Hills, n.d., housed in Feldman Corp. wrappers, with 5 keybook stills from the film laid in (8 x 10 in, three holes punched at left margin) featuring Dietrich, Fred MacMurray, and director Mitchell Liesen, among others. "Advertising-Publicity-Exploitation Campaign" folio album with printed paper covers containing newspaper and periodical clippings from the press campaign for The Lady is Willing, including stories about Dietrich and "Baby Corey," plus coverage about Dietrich's broken ankle, script from an April 21, 1942 Dorothy Kilgallen radio show discussing the film, and examples of theater advertisements.

Marlene Dietrich was not known for her comedic talent, but she manages to pull it off as Elizabeth Madden in The Lady is Willing, directed by Mitchell Leisen. Her co-star Fred MacMurray, as Dr. Corey T. McBain, may seem like a staid partner for the sensual Dietrich, but in the 1930s and '40s, he was a top-notch leading man and not the affable father type one may remember from television's My Three Sons (think Double Indemnity where he takes on Barbara Stanwyck). Audiences preferred Dietrich in dramatic films, however; in The Lady is Willing, the plot seemed a stretch with Dietrich wanting to adopt a baby, even though in real life, Dietrich did have a daughter. Interestingly, Dietrich fractured her ankle during filming when she fell while holding the baby (and saved the baby from hitting the ground).
Largest: 10.5 x 15 in.

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