Intimate Relations [Les Parents Terribles]

London: N.p., circa 1951. Draft script for the 1951 London production of Jean Cocteau's 1938 play "Les Parents Terribles," translated by Charles Frank, under the title "Intimate Relations." Carbon typescript on onionskin. Copyright agency label affixed to front wrapper and on title page over previous copyright of Jean Cocteau & Charles Frank. One annotation in manuscript pencil striking a word of dialogue in script. Laid in is a "With Compliments" note on bandleader and impresario Jack Hylton letterhead.

The play premiered at the Strand Theatre in London on July 26, 1951 and ran through November 24, 1951 for a total of 140 performances. Frank would go on to direct the film adaptation of his translation in 1953, released as "Intimate Relations" in Europe, and as "Disobedient" in the US, starring Harold Warrender and Marian Spencer.

Cocteau's tale of a truly dysfunctional family. A neurotic, overly possessive mother, Yvonne, finds out her son, Michel, has intentions to marry the beautiful Madeleine, the woman with whom Georges, Michel's father, has been having an affair.

Blue untitled wrappers, with titled label. Title page present, with credits for playwright Jean Cocteau and translator Charles Frank. 145 leaves, with last page of text numbered III-38. Carbon typescript on onionskin, rectos only. Pages Near Fine, wrapper Very Good plus, with some light staining, side stapled.

Laid in Note: 4 x 6 inches. Very Good plus.

[Book #147312]