The Story of Dr. Wassell

N.p. N.p., 1942-1944. Archive of research material for James Hilton's novel, "The Story of Dr. Wassell," along with a ribbon copy typescript, carbon typescript, and mimeograph typescript (with infrequent manuscript corrections) of the novel itself.

A substantial archive of material relevant to Hilton's research on the subject that would culminate in his novel, published in the US in 1943, in the UK in 1944, and resulting in the 1944 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Ronald Colman.

The archive includes a clean carbon typescript, 133 leaves, dated "7/31/42," of a near final form of the text (accompanied by several leaves relating to name changes, one with substantive manuscript annotations by Hilton). The remainder of the material includes typed, carbon, and mimeograph transcripts of interviews Hilton (and others) conducted with those who knew Wassell, or soldiers who met him in the Pacific, newswire transcripts of articles about Wassell, and related topics.

Finally, and significantly, the archive contains a typed transcript, as well as mimeograph transcript, of a series of interviews with Wassell undertaken by Hilton and Cecil B. DeMille at the DeMille ranch, June 16-19, 1942.

[Book #122571]