PBA Galleries

14 pages, printed and/or typed. Mostly 11¼x9 (the official folding printed contract 16¾x9), standard contractual sheets, stapled inside blue paper folder (with only back cover as issued); plus Western Union telegram (5¾x8).

A formal letter from Otto Preminger to James M. Cain and an ensuing contract between Otto Preminger and James M. Cain detailing rights and royalties due to each for a proposed film production of Cain's Galatea, with Preminger directing. One of the earlier examples of something that is nowadays a common practice: a successful film director purchasing an option to film a novel. This package, all under a folder bearing the name and address of Cain's Hollywood attorney, I.H. Prinzmetal, represents Preminger's purchase of film rights to Cain's novel. Both the letter and contract are signed by James M. Cain and Otto Preminger. Also includes a copy of a Western Union telegram dated September 29, 1953, detailing Preminger’s offer for the film option. Preminger ultimately let his 6-month option lapse, and the novel never became a film (though it was optioned again in 1979). A very interesting intersection in the histories of the famed author and director.