1933 ORIGINAL RELEASE SCRIPT - PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII - CHARLES LAUGHTON

Description

ORIGINAL RELEASE SCRIPT of THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII, Starring CHARLES LAUGHTON, Directed by ALEXANDER KORDA.
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This Original “Release Script” is undated, but such documents, created to archive every shot, scene and line of dialogue in the finished film, were normally produced just after a film was “in the can” and just before or just after the finished film was released. The film was Produced and Shot in Britain by London Film Productions Limited, and was Released in the U.S. by United Artists in August 1933, so this “Release Script” would be circa 1933, though it is possible this final record of the film was produced later.
Original mimeographed pages in tan paper covers, title typed on to front cover, mimeographed on 8” x 13” paper, mimeographed on one side only on fine paper that is watermarked “64 Mill / Hard Sized”, bound with 3 staples at the left margin, 46 pages.
Contains 2 pages of credits, followed by a reel by reel, shot by shot continuity of the film, followed by a reel by reel dialogue continuity of the film.
Release Scripts and Continuity Scripts (Continuities) were an important part of the film industry in its early days. They were typically created just before or just after a film was released, in order to create a written “copy” of the film. A good “Continuity” provides a transcription of every shot, scene and piece of dialogue, as it occurred in the finished film, something that could obviously not be known until a film was completed and “in the can”. Continuities were created both for copyright protection and for an original  “record” of a film, thus a copy might be kept by the studio and by the studio’s legal department. Many early films easily degenerated, and many others were wiped out to recover their silver. A true continuity script was therefore often the only archived, shot-by-shot, scene-by-scene, word-by-word, record of many early films. One could, conceivably, reconstruct a film from a Release Script or Continuity.
GOOD condition, the rear cover is disbound, some of the latter pages have pulled from the upper staple, the staples are rusted, the front cover has some edge wear, creases and light soiling, the inner pages are very nice - a spot of foxing here and there, one page is folded at its lower corner (the paper was cut incorrectly - not affecting text), the mimeographed printing runs somewhat dark and light but is always clear and fully legible.
Rare Original Screenplay of Charles Laughton’s great film.
About the 1933 film THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (from Wikipedia):
******The Private Life of Henry VIII is a 1933 British historical comedy film directed by Hungarian Director-Producer Alexander Korda and starring Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, Merle Oberon and Elsa Lanchester. The film focuses on the reign of Henry VIII, King of England, and his various marriages. It was written by Lajos Bíró and Arthur Wimperis for London Film Productions. The film was a major international success, establishing Korda as a leading filmmaker and Laughton as a box office star.
The film takes place 20 years into King Henry's rule. In May 1536, immediately following the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn (Merle Oberon), King Henry VIII (Charles Laughton) marries Jane Seymour (Wendy Barrie), who dies in childbirth eighteen months later. He then weds a German princess, Anne of Cleves (played by Laughton's real-life wife Elsa Lanchester). This marriage ends in divorce when Anne deliberately makes herself unattractive so she can be free to marry her sweetheart. (In an imaginative and high-spirited scene, Anne "wins her freedom" from Henry in a game of cards on their wedding night). After this divorce, Henry marries the beautiful and ambitious Lady Katherine Howard (Binnie Barnes). She has rejected love all her life in favour of ambition, but after her marriage, she falls in love with Henry's handsome courtier Thomas Culpeper (Robert Donat). Their liaison is discovered by Henry's advisers and the couple are executed. The weak and ageing Henry consoles himself with a final marriage to Catherine Parr (Everley Gregg), who survives her husband.
Alexander Korda was looking for a film to star Charles Laughton and his wife, Elsa Lanchester. Several stories of the film's genesis were from a resemblance between a statue of Henry VIII and Laughton, a cabby singing the music hall song "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am", and a discussion on a set of one of his previous films. Originally, the story was to focus solely on the marriage of King Henry VIII and his fourth wife Anne of Cleves, but as the project grew, the story was re-modified to focus on five of Henry's six wives. Only the first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was omitted because they had no particular interest, described later as a "respectable lady," as denoted in the film.
It was hugely successful as a commercial film. It made Alexander Korda a premier figure in the film industry at the time; United Artists signed Korda for 16 films. It also advanced the careers of Charles Laughton, Robert Donat, and Merle Oberon. It was also Oberon's first major film role. Laughton would later reprise the same role in 1953 in the film Young Bess, opposite Jean Simmons as his daughter, Elizabeth.
The film premiered to record-breaking crowds at New York's Radio City Music Hall and London's Leicester Square Theatre one week later.
Charles Laughton won the 1933 Academy Award as Best Actor for his performance as Henry. The film was the first British production to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.******
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