California On Stone (First Edition, Inscribed As A Gift In 1947 To Writer / Screenwriter Richard Connell By Lazlo Benedek)

Garden City Ny: Doubleday, Doran And Company, 1935. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Soft cover. Good. Illustrations Throughout. 221 Pp. Beige Cloth With Spine And Cover Labels, As Issued, Grey Endpapers. #371 Of 501 Copies Of A Limited Edition. Light Wear But Fraying At Ends Of Spine. Inscribed "Richard Connell From Lazlo Benedek Mgm 1947. With A Note Indicating That The Book Had Been Borrowed By Two Los Angeles Psychiatrists In 1966 From Laguina Breach Artist Leonard Kaplan. László Benedek (1905 - 1992; Sometimes Laslo Benedek) Was A Hungarian-Born Film Director And Cinematographer. He Intended To Be A Psychiatrist But He Worked In The Film Industry To Pay His Bills And Ended Up Deciding To Focus On That Instead. In Germany, Benedek Was Cinematographer On The Mistress (1927). He Was Assistant Director On The Great Longing (1929), Directed By Steve Sekely, And Edited And Assisted Directed The Man Who Murdered (1931) For Director Curtis Bernhardt. He Worked At Ufa For Joe Pasternak Until 1933. He Assisted On Hyppolit, The Butler (1931) And Edited Die Wasserteufel Von Hieflau (1932), And Miss Iza (1933). When The Nazis Came To Power, Benedek Followed Pasternak To Vienna Then Hungary Where He Edited A Precocious Girl (1934) Starring Franciska Gaal And Temptation (1934), Both Directed By Max Nuefeld; He Was Assistant Director On The Latter. He Went To England Where He Worked As A Writer On The Secret Of Stamboul (1936), Directed By In The Us, Benedek Worked On The Montage Scenes Of Test Pilot (1938) At Mgm. He Edited A Little Bit Of Heaven (1940) For Pasternak At Universal. At Mgm He Was Assistant Director On Song Of Russia (1944) And Worked As An Associate Producer Under Joe Pasternak. Among His Jobs Included Doing Screen Tests, Second Unit Directing, And Supervising The Animated Dance Sequence In Anchors Away (1945). In 1946 He Was Linked With Communist Front Organisations. Benedek Made His Feature Film Directing Debut With The Kissing Bandit (1948) At Mgm, Produced By Pasternak, A Notorious Flop. He Went To Eagle Lion Where He Directed A Noir, Port Of New York (1949) Starring Yul Brynner. For Stanley Kramer He Then Made Death Of A Salesman (1951) Which Was A Financial Disappointment But For Which He Won The Golden Globe Award For Best Director And A Best Director Nomination From The Directors Guild Of America. He Produced But Did Not Direct Storm Over Tibet (1952) (Marton Directed), Started To Direct Television, Notably Episodes Of Footlights Theater, And The Ford Television Theatre. Kramer Gave Him The Job Of The Wild One (1953) With Marlon Brando, Originally Called The Cyclist's Raid. ] It Was For His Directorial Efforts On This Project That Benedek Is Best Remembered. The Wild One Caused A Storm Of Controversy And Was Banned In The United Kingdom Until 1968. He Went Over To Universal To Do Bengal Rifles (1954) With Rock Hudson. Benedek Returned To Germany To Write And Direct Sons, Mothers And A General (1955). Back In The Us He Worked As A Film And Tv Director Almost Continuously Until 1977. From 1976 To 1980, He Was Chairman Of The Graduate Film Program At Nyu. Richard Edward Connell Jr. (1893 - 1949) Was An American Author And Journalist. He Is Best Remembered For His Short Story "The Most Dangerous Game" (1924). Connell Was One Of The Most Popular American Short Story Writers Of His Time, And His Stories Were Published In The Saturday Evening Post And Collier's Magazines. He Had Equal Success As A Journalist And Screenwriter, And Was Nominated For An Academy Award In 1942 (Best Original Story) For The Movie Meet John Doe (1941), Directed By Frank Capra And Based On His 1922 Short Story "A Reputation".