By RAY KELLY
A private collection of rare Orson Welles scripts, legal documents and memorabilia amassed over a more than 40-year period will go on the auction block on Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Collector Keith Burns, a former NBC News editor and son-in-law of RKO Pictures assistant director Samuel Ruman, told Wellesnet he decided to sell off some of his Welles-related treasures through Profiles in History.
Burns, 69, said in a telephone interview from his Sacramento, California, home that he met Welles on the sets of The Dean Martin Show and The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. The two men shared an interest in magic. (Burns has authored books on magician Dai Vernon).
“Welles liked me because I was an editor,” Burns said. “I was a fan, but not a fawning fan.”
Burns’ collection includes items given to him by Welles and Ruman and collectibles he purchased from “directors and producers who fell on hard times in the 1970s.”
Among the items up for auction:
- Welles’ personal American (Citizen Kane working title) typed manuscript First Rough Draft dated April 16, 1940 by Herman Mankiewicz. It would have been generated by Mankiewicz after Welles’ original first draft, which had been sent directly to him in March 1940 in Victorville, California.
- The 3rd Revised Final Shooting Script with numerous hand-annotations (including camera blocking notes) and signed by cast members Ray Collins, Agnes Moorehead, Everett Sloan, George Coulouris, Paul Stewart, Joseph Cotton and Erskine Sanford.
- A 62-page proposed adaptation of Citizen Kane for 1950s television by Welles. At least 44 pages have Welles’ handwritten annotations.
- Employment contracts including: Louis Armstrong for what would become It’s All True; Jack Carter, Ray Collins, Edgar Barrier and Erskine Sanford for Welles #1 (the aborted Heart of Darkness) and agreements with John Houseman.
- Scripts for unproduced or unfinished films like Dead Reckoning (The Deep), The Other Man, and Masque of The Red Death.
- Theater memorabilia and scripts for The Cradle Will Rock, Native Son, Moby Dick Rehearsed, Around the World and various Todd School For Boys stage productions.
“This is one of the finest institutional collections of Orson Welles personal memorabilia to be offered to date,” said Joseph Maddalena, president and CEO of Profiles in History. “Many of the vintage original typed manuscripts, letters, and documents are in immaculate condition while Welles’ personal written notes uncover a side of himself not publicly seen before, as a young prodigy, offering a new historical interpretation, substantial new insight into the actual script progression and development of the multi-award winning Citizen Kane film.”
Although the auction house is predicting $1 million in sales, Burns said he decided to sell these items with the hope that other Welles fans will enjoy owning them. However, he said he has not sold off his entire Welles collection.
Among the items he has kept is one of his favorite pieces – a Xerox copy of the continuity for The Magnificent Ambersons, given to him by Welles.
Check out the online catalog at profilesinhistory.com/flipbooks/Hollywood74/index.html Welles items begin on page 220. Online bidding is allowed.
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