FAIR WARNING manuscript on eBay

[Le Chiffre]

Orson Welles' 1950's stage play FAIR WARNING (in an original manuscript) is on sale at eBay for only $10,000.00 for anyone who has that kind of cash lying around:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ORSON-WELLES-FAIR-W ... _500wt_922

Here's the description:

WELLES, ORSON. Original Typed Manuscript for ‘Fair Warning’ - A Comedy Play by Orson Welles. With Notes and Corrections in His Hand. 1950s. 74 pages total. Laid in are two items related to the play. The first is a typed note from Glenn Horowitz, Bookseller with an excerpt from the New York Times, March 20, 1957: “Michael Ellis confirmed a report yesterday that he and his producing partner, James Russo, are expecting to receive in the mails any day the script of Fair Warning, a new play by Orson Welles. Declaring that he has no idea what the work is about, Mr. Ellis said that it may be produced by them next season. Meantime, a French translation of Fair Warning is being made for a possible presentation in the French capital this spring.” The second is a typed letter signed from the noted actor, producer, and one-time collaborator of Orson Welles, John Houseman, dated February 11, 1985, written to Mr. Horowitz of the aforementioned note. The letter reads in full: “Dear Mr. Horowitz, Thank you for your letter of January 29th. I must say that I know absolutely nothing about these two Orson Welles plays since he and I terminated our relationship long before that. However, I can definitely assure you that the handwriting [in the Fair Warning manuscript] is in his hand. I have many specimens of his writing and I have no doubt about this. I hope this is of some use to you. Sincerely, John Houseman.” Welles and Houseman enjoyed a productive yet troubled creative and personal relationship with their most controversial work as co-producers of The Cradle Will Rock (1937) written by Marc Blitzstein, as well as co-founding the acclaimed New York drama company, The Mercury Theatre, and collaborating on the masterpiece Citizen Kane, after which their partnership dissolved. The manuscript is in near fine condition with a touch of dust soiling to the paper covers.

[Roger Ryan]

I find it a bit curious that Mr. Horowitz would contact John Houseman to confirm the authenticity of the "Fair Warning" manuscript when Welles himself was still alive at the time. Did Horowitz have an existing relationship with Houseman?

[Le Chiffre]

Welles could be pretty hard to track down, according to many people that knew him. Maybe Horowitz figured that Houseman was the next best thing.

Here's an excerpt from an article in Billboard magazine, dated Mar 29, 1952:

Orson Welles has written a new play called “Fair Warning”, and has promised to send the script to producers Michael Ellis and James Russo in the near future. Welles has also told the producers that he will let them know within the month when he can open the pair of Shakespearean plays in New York. “Othello”, which Welles has done successfully in England, will be the first. “The Merchant of Venice” had been mentioned as the second, but that is by no means set.

Here's the end of FAIR WARNING, which is also known in French as "À BON ENTENDEUR", which translates either as "To the Wise" or "A Good Listener", and so the implied title might be "A FAIR WARNING FOR THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND":



The text in the picture transcribes as:

"...or in bed or in any sort of ordinary or maybe embarrassing position, the bomb will explode - quite silently - and you will be left with - let's say - a piece of soap in your hand, or a toothbrush in your mouth. You won't remember what a toothbrush is, or how to remove it. The face in the mirror's will be a stranger, the face of somebody you'll never get to know - not even by name. Don't say you weren't warned...

(He starts away, then stops for a last word -)

Of course, you realize (since this is old stuff) that what you must do is organize a conspiracy - a world-wide conspiracy - to overthrow, not your government, or any other government, but the sovereignty of your nation. All our nations. ?????? is wishing you, good night.

(He blows out his lamp. When the lights come on again, the curtain is down and the play is over)"

[Wellesnet]

Original type-written manuscript available at ABAA books for $10K:
http://www.abaa.org/book/385024757