THE DELUGE / THE DELUGE AT NORDERNEY (short story screenplay adaptation)

[FILM PRODUCTION ARCHIVE; SCREEN ADAPTATION; ISAK DINESEN STORY] THE DELUGE [screenplay working title, full title The Deluge at Norderney], from the story by Isak Dinesen, Screenplay by Gerald Kean, archive including 4-1/2" x 7" pages from a copy of the 79-page story in Dinesen's book "Seven Gothic Tales" taken apart and glued on front side only of 8-1/2" x 14" blank pages put in order in 4-ring binder, in the wide margins outside of the book pages the screenwriter Gerald Kean has added notes in red and black pen and in pencil for the screenplay he is writing for the film production; between some of the annotated book pages are lined pages of the screenwriter's handwritten notes and scene sketches, this annotated copy of the book pages is the screenwriter's first step in the writing of the screenplay, this ringed binder of the annotated book pages comes with a carbon copy of the final version of the screenplay and also a photostat copy of it, at the front of each is a page headed "In a letter to the author, Isak Dinesen writes…" reading in part, "I am delighted with your screen conception of THE DELUGE AT NORDERNEY, particularly because you have taken this fantastic tale and made me feel that it might happen, that it might be a reality...Out of the sea have come our four main characters and to the sea they must return...These then, are our principal characters, and this then is our story…."; besides the initial working copy and the two copies of the final version of the screenplay, there is an archive of roughly 50 pages (most 8-1/2" x 11", and some larger folded sheets and smaller note pages) dated 1962 and 1963 having to do with all aspects of the production of the screenplay from contracts to budgeting to communication between various parties, highlights of this archive include: (a) handwritten notes and carbon copies of letters by screenwriter Gerald Kean concerning selling options on the screenplay and finding financial backers for production; (b) a copy of a standard distribution contract/agreement of the period with parts blacked out; (c) a copy of the 3-page option agreement between the Estate of Isak Dinesen and Frank Ledlie Moore (composer, filmmaker, author, d. 1999) of Trigon Productions, Inc. dated February 14th, 1963, sent to the screenwriter's agent Robert Lantz (renowned agent for authors and artists, d. 2007); (d) a carbon copy dated 18 January 1963 of the basic agreement between F. L. Moore of Trigon Productions and the screenwriter Gerald Kean "as screen-writer and producer of a feature-length film based on...[which gives Kean] equal voice with the Executive Producer concerning all production aspects…", with two places where Kean writes in "film" in place of "production" adding his initials GK, hand-signed by Kean with carbon signatures for Trigon and F. L. Moore, pres., paperclipped to this page are handwritten notes by Kean "Add - all misc. expenses, paid monthly, submit vouchers, etc."; (e) a 8 December 1962 typed letter signed/TLS from F. L. Moore to Gerald Kean discussing making improvements in "The Deluge" script and referring to another project going into production which has precedence until "The Deluge" screenplay is ready, (f) a 4-page chart headed Production Budget dated July 2, 1962, with printed expenses followed by handwritten figures and also many other expenses written in by hand with following figures, and also a typed page headed "The Deluge at Norderney - Synoptic Budget" listing expenses and related figures with handwritten notes of figures differing from the typed ones; (g) two photocopies of a handwritten letter dated July 6, 1962 with the letterhead of Mont Blanc - Restaurant from the European stage and screen actress Elizabeth Bergner thanking Robert Schuyler of Challenger Productions, Inc., for sending her a copy of Isak Dinesen's book "Seven Gothic Tales" and asking to be kept up with the progress of the plan for the film as Schuyler has told her she is being considered for the role of the character Malin Nat-og-Dag, and also copies of two related letters dated June 25 and July 14, 1962, from Robert Schuyler to Bergner about plans for the play, in one of the letters Schuyler mentions "our director is Alf Kjellin, a protege of Ingmar Bergman" and that screenwriter Gerald Kean in working in consultation with him, Schuyler also mentions they are working with "Lanterna Films for locations along the Danish coast" (h) a 1-plus page letter dated July 12, 1962, from the Danish director Mogens Skot-Hansen signed by his secretary about some points of the film version of "The Deluge", a 2-page carbon copy of a letter from Gerald Kean to Skot-Hansen with questions about the production (e. g., lighting, dollies on the set, type of film) with the related page of Kean's handwritten notes in preparation for writing the letter, and additionally other miscellaneous related papers /// UNPRODUCED PROJECT WAS BASIS FOR PRODUCED TV PROGRAM: there is no record that this project of "The Deluge" was ever produced, but in the following year, 1964, on May 3 and 10 a TV program with the title "The Deluge at Norderney" was shown on the CBS program Camera Three with no mention of any of the individuals or companies involved in the project of this archive; it seems however that the screenwriting, preliminary production work, contracts, and other matters of the project of this archive must have been the basis for the 2-part program of "The Deluge" that was finally produced and aired, as it seems improbable that the New York City area entertainment professionals putting time and money into the project reflected in this archive would not have known about a similar project and would have bothered with this one under such circumstances, another point of interest is that the leading American film director Francis Ford Coppola got the inspiration for his first film studio named Zeotrope in meeting Mogens Skot-Hansen, the founder of Lanterna Film in Copenhagen, in the 1960s /// CONDITION: all pages well-preserved with all text legible, spots in a couple of copies of pages where text is faint. keywords: film studies, film archive, film adaptation, screenplay