LAUGHTER IN THE DARK: Screen Adaptation

No-place: No-publisher, 1985. First edition, "Second draft, March 1985." An unproduced screenplay by Papas based on Nabokov's 1938 novel; a remake of the 1969 French-British film which changed the story's setting from 1930's Berlin to 1960's London. According to John Colapinto in The New Yorker, this planned 1986 remake was slated to star Mick Jagger in the role of the demonic Axel Rex but "ran aground after a ten-day table read of the script when Rebecca De Mornay, cast as the sex-kitten seductress, clashed with the director, Laszlo Papas, and fled the production." A replacement was found "but the production crumbled and was abandoned" ("Nabokov and the Movies, Jan. 2, 2015). Title page with "Property of" typewritten information for "Left Boot Productions" crossed out and with "J.C. Katz" (and contact info) handwritten beneath. 127 pages, printed on rectos only. 8 1/2 x 11"; clasp-bound in beige construction cardstock with "Vladimir Nabokov's 'Laughter in the Dark'" typewritten on front and the title handwritten on bottom page edges. Covers lightly soiled, touch of minor creasing, otherwise near fine. UNPRODUCED SCREENPLAY