The Sky Falls

N.p. N.p., 1969. Revised Draft script for an unproduced film. With a single manuscript ink notation to page 21.

Loosely based on the 1946 novel. A bleak retelling of the somewhat apocryphal, failed 1212 "Children's Crusade"—a Christian campaign to regain Jerusalem from the Muslims, led by a young boy who claimed to possess prophetic powers, followed by thousands of children. In screenwriter Albert Band's version, following Humphrey Slater's novel, the tragedy plays out through the plight of three young children, who take to the streets to hide from zealous Christian press gangs who seek to train them for the crusade, sleeping in alleys and surviving on cats and stolen bread.

In the mid- and late 1960s, Band worked primarily in Italy, producing several Euro Westerns and writing screenplays for "Massacro al Grande Canyon" (1964); "Gli uomini dal passo pesante" (1965), which he also directed; "I crudeli" (1967); and "Un minuto per pregare, un instante per morire" (1968).

Orange titled wrappers, with a printer's stamp on the verso of the front wrapper reading "teena mayers s.r.l. / via marche, 84 / 00187 roma / tel. 485785 - 482470." Title page present, noted as REVISED, dated November, 1969, with credits for screenwriter Albert Band and novelist Humphrey Slate. 138 leaves, with last page of text numbered 135. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, with offsetting on the front wrapper, bound internally with two gold brads.

[Book #146246]