TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS) on the Death of Jesse Lasky and the Afterlife
Hollywood: 23 January 1958. Letter. A letter on 8" x 10" Paramount Pictures Corporation Office of DEMILLE, Cecil B stationery to Arthur S. Wenzel, in response to his expressions of sympathy after the death on 16 January of Jesse L. Lasky, associate with DeMille and Sam Goldwyn in the founding of the Lasky Feature Play Company in 1913. DeMille, then engaged in the production of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, waxes philosophical: “...I believe that a man's mind is imperishable, that it is immortal and close to the Divine Mind. I believe that the laying aside of a body is like the laying aside of a suit of clothes that we have been fond of and appeared in and utilized until it is worn out and the mind is freed to go on in a new garment which we have never seen, but which we believe is a much finer one than the one cast aside. I agree with you when you say Jesse and I will be together always for the mind can go where it wills and be with whom it wills....” Dictated, then signed with a flourish: "C.B. de Mille." Housed in a 10" x 12-1/2" custom-made clamshell box with a blue morocco leather spine, with transcript. Often referred to as the father of the Hollywood motion picture industry, Cecil B. DeMille made 70 films, including several box-office hits, and is one of the most commercially successful film directors in history. Among his films are CLEOPATRA, THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1953 Academy Award for Best Picture), and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. A bit rumpled, with some wear at folds, large pencil docket by recipient, small chip from blank corner. Very Good in a Fine clamshell box. Item #022617
Price: $1,000.00