[Brando, Marlon. (1924–2004)] [Tolstoy, Leo. (1828–1910)] Sherwood, Robert E. (1896–1955) [Todd, Michael. (1909–1958) & Zinnemann, Fred. (1907–1997)]
Presentation Copy of "War and Peace" given to Marlon Brando
New York: Simon and Schuster. 1942. Presentation copy of Tolstoy's War and Peace prepared for and gifted to Marlon Brando by the producer Michael Todd, director Fred Zinnemann, and playwright Robert E. Sherwood, almost certainly as an overture to offering him a role in their never-made film adaptation of the novel. Brown imitation leather covers gilt-stamped "To / Marlon Brando / ...with our Compliments. / Robert E. Sherwood / Fred Zinnemann / Michael Todd." Sherwood has typed an inscription to a bound-in extra front end paper, "I started reading this book in 1923 and finished it in 1943, when another would-be world conqueror was bogged down and beaten in the Russian winter. There is material here for hundreds of motion pictures; the problem confronting Mike Todd, Fred Zinnemann and me is to determine which is the best and the most faithful to the immortal spirit of Tolstoi. / Robert E. Sherwood." This is the "Inner Sanctum Edition," translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude, with a Foreword by Clifton Fadiman. Published at a time when Moscow and all Russia were threatened by German invaders, this edition provides rich documentation of Napoleon’s 1812 invasion, treating the novel as history rather than literature. Hardcover; lxii, 1361, [9] pages, maps, together with a a reader guide's in rear inner cover paper pocket. Light wear to spine, rear board partially split from spine; overall in fine condition.There was a tremendous rush to adapt War and Peace into a film in the mid-1950s, with several versions going into development simultaneously. The Italian producers Dino de Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti announced their adaptation in October of 1954, legendary producer David O. Selznick was working on a treatment, and Mike Todd announced that he, too, would be pursuing his own version, which would be filmed with the cooperation of the Yugoslavian army. (The New York Times) The project, which had Sherwood attached as screenwriter and Zinnemann as director, ultimately fell through when Todd decided to instead focus on his adaptation of Around the World in Eighty Days. (20048)
Book Signed Document/Item Ephemera Film