Mourning Becomes Electra

Culver City, CA: RKO Radio Pictures, 1930s-1947. Archive of material relating to Eugene O'Neill's 1931 play cycle and the subsequent 1947 film adaptation, including a Final script for the film and a bound carbon typescript of the condensed published version of the play. Film script belonging to director Dudley Nichols, with his name in manuscript pencil on the title page, and his annotations in pencil on several pages, amending dialogue and noting deletions.

Additionally included with the archive is a 1956 Columbia University Master's degree thesis credited to a Herbert Kennedy Jr., comparing the film and play, with photographs from both.

Based on the Oresteia, with the setting moved from ancient Greece to New England shortly after the American Civil War, about a Union general returning from war, only to confront deception and adultery in the women who have waited at home. O'Neill's play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 26, 1931, running for a successful 150 performances.

Originally released by RKO with a three-hour run time, the screen adaptation was heavily cut after release, ultimately clocking in at 105 minutes, with the complete version currently considered lost. Rosalind Russell and Michael Redgrave were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances as Lavinia and Orin Mannon, respectively.

Film script:

Generic blue card wrappers, with Kennedy's name and address in manuscript ink on the front wrapper. Title page present, dated FEBRUARY 25, 1947, noted as FINAL SCRIPT, stamped copy No. 8, with credit for O'Neill. Distribution page present, with receipt removed. 202 leaves, with last page of text numbered 199. Mimeograph duplication, rectos only, with ten blue revision pages dated 3/12/47. Pages Very Good plus, wrapper Very Good plus, bound internally with a silver prong.

Condensed play script:

Black card wrappers with a typed title label affixed to the front wrapper. Title page present, with credit for O'Neill and writer Demetrios Vilan. 120 leaves, with last page of text numbered 3-2-10. Carbon typescript on onionskin stock, rectos only. Pages Very Good plus, wrapper Very Good plus, bound with three silver brads.

Thesis:

Black card wrappers with a typed title label affixed to the front wrapper crediting Kennedy. Title page present, with a credit for Kennedy. Approximately 164 leaves. Carbon typescript on onionskin stock, rectos only. Pages Very Good plus, wrapper Very Good plus, bound internally with a silver prong.

[Book #163849]