Description

Description: Writer Ian Beith wishes he “could see [Heggie] in the flesh,” even though he sees his “features in the pictures”. He informs Heggie that “the film rights to TILLY OF BLOOMSBURY are disposed of” and that, “ [he thinks], British Imperial Pictures . . .  have a hold on it for five years or so.” And as they had “the world rights,” he doesn’t expect “it will be ever shown in America.” Signed, “Yours ever / Ian Hay Beith”

Typed on 8 ½” x 7” pale sage stationery bearing the address: “47, Charles Street, Berkeley Square, W. 1.” and dated May 4th, 1933. Item #A01994

Major John Hay Beith (1876-1952), who wrote under the pen name Ian Hay, was a prolific and well-liked British novelist and playwright. He also served in the army during WWI. The success of his first novel, Pip (1907), enabled his writing career. His wry account of army life in The First Five Hundred Thousand was well-received in Europe, as well as, in the U.S. He began writing plays after WWI, often co-authoring with writers such as Edgar Wallace and P. G. Wodehouse. He was also engaged in cinema, in advisory capacities, as well as, in writing screenplays.

O. P. Heggie (1877-1936), an Australian theater and film actor, began in amateur theater productions in Sydney and London. He gained prominence on Broadway (NYC), playing the lead in Androcles and The Lion, Old Man Minick in Minick, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Diggory in She Stoops to Conquer and others. He moved to Hollywood in 1928 and appeared in 27 films, including: The Count of Monte Cristo, The Mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, etc.

Condition: Mailing fold lines, otherwise in very good condition.