ULTRA-RARE! THE BRASHER DOUBLOON 1947 Uncut Noir Pressbook, Chandler, Marlowe!

Description

ULTRA-RARE! THE BRASHER DOUBLOON 1947 Uncut Noir Pressbook, Chandler, Marlowe!
Offered here is an exceedingly rare uncut pressbook for the 1947 film noir
THE BRASHER DOUBLOON
based on Raymond Chandler’s third novel featuring private eye Philip Marlowe, The High  Window.  George Montgomery stars as Marlowe who is hired by a wealthy widow (Florence Bates) to find a missing coin.  Her neurotic secretary (Nancy Guild), creepy son (Conrad Janis) and other shady characters keep Marlowe on his toes as he tries to untangle the mystery.  While not operating at the same “classic” level as
MURDER, MY SWEET
with Dick Powell or
THE BIG SLEEP
with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall,
THE BRASHER DOUBLOON
is a solid little noir and holds together better than Robert Montgomery’s oddball, first-person-camera
LADY IN THE LAKE
from the same year.  The movie benefits from some Los Angeles location shooting  and director John Brahm provides a few nice flourishes along the way.
Measuring 11x16 and coming in at 20 pages, the pressbook contains lots of information about the film, ads, promotion, and of course all the poster designs.  One curious bit of business is the suggestion for a contest in which entrants are asked to identify the three other actors who have portrayed Marlowe.  The answers provided are Dick Powell in
MURDER, MY SWEET
, Bogart in
THE BIG SLEEP
, and Alan Ladd in
THE BLUE DAHLIA
.  The last of course is incorrect.  Though
DAHLIA
was a Chandler screenplay, the character Ladd played was not Marlowe!
In decades of collecting film noir material, I have only seen several of these pop up for sale or auction, and I have two of them.  (One sold on emovieposter last year for 0+).  While pressbooks for
MURDER, MY SWEET
and
THE  BIG SLEEP
appear occasionally,
THE BRASHER DOUBLOON
seldom does – this pressbook is almost as rare as the coin in the film’s title!
Condition:  The pressbook is uncut and unfolded.  There is some rust on the staples.  There is a damp stain on the lower right of the front cover that extends to most pages, but it is pretty unobtrusive.  The bottom corner of one page (14) was stuck to the opposite page.  It has been “unstuck” and reattached with archival adhesive.  All in all this pressbook is in excellent condition for an item that is 75 years old.
Offered as a buy-it-now, or make me a reasonable offer.  This is a great addition for anyone who  collects film noir material, Chandler, or pressbooks in general.
U.S. bidders only, please. Buyer pays for Priority Mail, insured shipping. See my other auctions and offers. Happy to combine shipping.