Typed Letter Signed to Lewis E. Gensler from S.S. Van Dine with Western Union Wire from Van Dine to Gensler--1938

Author: Van Dine, S.S. [Willard Huntington Wright]
Title: Typed Letter Signed to Lewis E. Gensler from S.S. Van Dine with Western Union Wire from Van Dine to Gensler--1938
Publication: 1938

Description: Typed Letter Signed to Lewis E. Gensler from S.S. Van Dine with Western Union Wire from Van Dine to Gensler--1938

Letter measures 10.5 x 7.25 inches; wire measures 6.5 x 8 inches. Letter is toned with previous folds--very good condition. Wire has chipping and wear to edges and is very toned--good condition. Verso blank on both.

Enigmatic letter and telegram between two famed personalities of Hollywood, S.S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright) and Lewis Gensler. Willard Wright was an American art critic and social gadfly within entertainment circles but ultimately achieved financial success writing pot-boiler detective novels, starring Philo Vance, under the pseudonym of S.S. Van Dine.

Lewis Gensler's work spanned both coasts as a composer, songwriter, author, and producer. He often incorporated his songs into films he produced. His movie "College Swing", starring George Burns, Gracie Allen, Martha Raye, and Bob Hope is referenced in Van Dine's letter. Gensler primarily was associated with Paramount Pictures.

Van Dine humorously writes in the undated letter, "We ironed out a few details, straightened a couple of incipient kinks, and beat the shell game by lifting the hat hiding what seemed to be the most promising idea." Van Dine had just had a lunch date with a "Mr. Holman" who likely worked with Lewis Gensler.

The telegram, dated Feb. 24, 1938, sent the day before Van Dine was to meet Holman states, "Outline going first rate and licking nicely with a double snapper. With no more Jack Louis fights scheduled hereabouts and all the local racetracks closed you should have a first draft in a week or ten days."

In the early 1930's, Van Dine wrote screen treatments for Warner Brothers including 12 two-reel "murder mystery" short films.

Piecing the dates together, we surmise Van Dine was writing the screenplay for the "Gracie Allen Murder Case", his last novel. The novel, published in 1938 was released as a movie, produced by Paramount Pictures, shortly after Van Dine would pass away, in April 1939.

Seller ID: 1513

Subject: Americana, Autograph Letters & Manuscripts



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