Sally Benson collection
Date Published: 1942 to 1949
Binding: No binding
Sally Benson was an American screenwriter and short story author, best known for her semi-autobiographical stories collected including the creator of Judy Graves, the awkward, ungainly yet curiously appealing adolescent heroine of the “Junior Miss” stories in The New Yorker and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” published in 1942, which comprised pleasant fragments about a year in the life of a family of St. Louis. Hollywood made it into a popular musical in which Judy Garland sang “The Trolley Song.”
The collection consists of 21 items dating from 1942 to 1949, specifically, 12 letters from her husband, 3 photos, 1 film script, 2 pieces of sheet music, 2 lobby cards, and 1 press kit for a movie.
12 Autographed Letters Signed (ALS) and 3 photos
• 12 ALS (38 pp. some letters torn in parts but complete), 3 photos, and some news clippings from Reynolds "Babe" Benson, 1942-1944, when Reynolds served as a Major in the US army in America and overseas during World War II. Sally Benson married “Babe” when she was 19 years of age. They met at Horace Mann School where “Babe” was an impressive athlete and student council president. The couple had a daughter, Barbara, and later divorced.
1 Original Film Script - Come to the Stable.
• Come to the Stable. Original screenplay for the 1949 film. Carbon ts. on onion-skin stock. Light blue titled wrappers. 9 December 1948. Noted as “Revised Final”, with a credit for screenwriter Benson. 139 leaves, with verso of last leaf of the text numbered 136. [1],13, 13A, 14-136, [blank]. Los Angeles: Twentieth Century-Fox. Nominated for seven Academy Awards: Koster, Henry (director); Oscar Millard, Sally Benson (screenwriter); Loretta Young, Celeste Holm, Hugh Marlowe, Elsa Lanchester (starring). Sisters Margaret (Young) and Scholastica (Holm) are French nuns who come to New England to open a children's hospital, enlisting the help of colorful characters, including an artist, a composer, and a racketeer. Near fine, bound with two gold brads.
2 pieces of sheet music
• Alfred Newman (music) and Mack Gordon (lyric) Through a Long and Sleepless Night. Sheet music from Come to the Stable. New York: Miller Music Corporation, 1949.
• Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. The Trolley Song. Sheet music from M-G-M’s Meet Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland with Margaret O’Brien. New York: Leo Feist, Inc., 1944.
1 Press Kit for movie
• Press kit for Come to the Stable issued by Twentieth Century-Fox in 1949 with 2 color lobby cards. A few tears and chips.
Collection on consignment with LDRB.
Item #8006
$1,200.00 USD
$1,629.11 CAD