about movie scripts
The scripts we auction are originals that were printed for use by actors when the movie first came out (or were printed to "pitch" the movie to studio executives). EVERY one of the scripts we auction are absolutely genuine and from the time the movie first came out (there are unscrupulous dealers on the Internet who take original scripts and copy them and then sell those copies as if they were originals). If you are new to collecting vintage scripts, here are some important things to know:
There are three basic kinds of scripts:
1) OUTLINES AND TREATMENTS. These are preliminary story proposals which are later fleshed out into scripts. These scripts always are called either OUTLINE or TREATMENT.
2) SCRIPTS/SCREENPLAYS These are shooting scripts for movies. They are written before a film is made, and they are often revised during the shooting of a film. In some cases, you will find multiple DIFFERENT versions of a script for the same film. The script might say FIRST DRAFT or REVISED FIRST DRAFT or SECOND DRAFT, etc., and these are all different things. Some script collectors would only want one script for a film, whereas others could be quite interested to buy different drafts or versions for the same film.
NOTE: Sometimes two scripts may initially look identical. They will have the same covers and both will say, for example, THIRD DRAFT. But, if the number of pages is different (and, typically, one version is all on white paper, and the other one has various pages of revisions, on various other colors of paper), then the two scripts are actually separate and different from each other. Most commonly, when a script was revised, the changed pages were printed in a new color, with the date of the revision at the top of each page, and then someone would collect all the scripts and manually take out the old pages and insert the new pages, and then pass the scripts back out! That way, everyone could quickly see the changed pages by looking for the pages of a new color. Often, the script would be revised a second time, and then yet a different color would be used for the second changes, and the same procedure would be followed. Sometimes there would be five or more revisions, and all of the scripts would end up looking like they were "rainbow colored", because of the many different color revision pages inserted inside. Sometimes, however, the revision pages would be printed in white, and sometimes they would not be inserted where they belonged, but would simply be added to the back of each script.
3) POST-PRODUCTION SCRIPTS These are summaries of what is on the screen, and they are made up by the studios after the film has been completed. They have different names, among them CONTINUITY, DIALOGUE CUTTING SCRIPT, CUTTING SCRIPT, CENSORSHIP SCRIPT.
Please realize that the prices of scripts do NOT correlate to the prices of the corresponding posters from those movies! There are cases where the posters sell for little and the scripts are quite valuable, and vice versa.
Sometimes, the title of a script was changed by the time of a film's release (the earlier title is commonly referred to as the "working title"). In the cases of those scripts, we have listed it under the title the movie was ultimately produced as. There are some scripts where we can find no information about whether they were ever turned into movies, and we think that they were never produced, but we are far from experts on this subject, so in those cases, we list it under the title that is on the script (and ask for help in identifying if it was ever produced, and if so, under what title).
KNOW THAT ORIGINAL VINTAGE SCRIPTS ARE FAR MORE RARE THAN POSTERS FROM THE CORRESPONDING TITLES! An initial outline or treatment would have had a tiny number of them printed, perhaps 5 or 10. An early draft prior to a final shooting script of a movie might have had 10 or 20 copies produced. And even a final shooting script of a film might have had a couple of hundred copies printed. And, of course, very few of these scripts survive, because no one valued them at the time. This was true all the way into the 1990s (long after collectors began placing a premium value on vintage posters, very few collectors sought out original vintage scripts, which means there is an extreme rarity of even 1990s scripts, and very few authentic scripts of the last forty years are offered for sale or auction).
There are three basic kinds of scripts:
1) OUTLINES AND TREATMENTS. These are preliminary story proposals which are later fleshed out into scripts. These scripts always are called either OUTLINE or TREATMENT.
2) SCRIPTS/SCREENPLAYS These are shooting scripts for movies. They are written before a film is made, and they are often revised during the shooting of a film. In some cases, you will find multiple DIFFERENT versions of a script for the same film. The script might say FIRST DRAFT or REVISED FIRST DRAFT or SECOND DRAFT, etc., and these are all different things. Some script collectors would only want one script for a film, whereas others could be quite interested to buy different drafts or versions for the same film.
NOTE: Sometimes two scripts may initially look identical. They will have the same covers and both will say, for example, THIRD DRAFT. But, if the number of pages is different (and, typically, one version is all on white paper, and the other one has various pages of revisions, on various other colors of paper), then the two scripts are actually separate and different from each other. Most commonly, when a script was revised, the changed pages were printed in a new color, with the date of the revision at the top of each page, and then someone would collect all the scripts and manually take out the old pages and insert the new pages, and then pass the scripts back out! That way, everyone could quickly see the changed pages by looking for the pages of a new color. Often, the script would be revised a second time, and then yet a different color would be used for the second changes, and the same procedure would be followed. Sometimes there would be five or more revisions, and all of the scripts would end up looking like they were "rainbow colored", because of the many different color revision pages inserted inside. Sometimes, however, the revision pages would be printed in white, and sometimes they would not be inserted where they belonged, but would simply be added to the back of each script.
3) POST-PRODUCTION SCRIPTS These are summaries of what is on the screen, and they are made up by the studios after the film has been completed. They have different names, among them CONTINUITY, DIALOGUE CUTTING SCRIPT, CUTTING SCRIPT, CENSORSHIP SCRIPT.
Please realize that the prices of scripts do NOT correlate to the prices of the corresponding posters from those movies! There are cases where the posters sell for little and the scripts are quite valuable, and vice versa.
Sometimes, the title of a script was changed by the time of a film's release (the earlier title is commonly referred to as the "working title"). In the cases of those scripts, we have listed it under the title the movie was ultimately produced as. There are some scripts where we can find no information about whether they were ever turned into movies, and we think that they were never produced, but we are far from experts on this subject, so in those cases, we list it under the title that is on the script (and ask for help in identifying if it was ever produced, and if so, under what title).
KNOW THAT ORIGINAL VINTAGE SCRIPTS ARE FAR MORE RARE THAN POSTERS FROM THE CORRESPONDING TITLES! An initial outline or treatment would have had a tiny number of them printed, perhaps 5 or 10. An early draft prior to a final shooting script of a movie might have had 10 or 20 copies produced. And even a final shooting script of a film might have had a couple of hundred copies printed. And, of course, very few of these scripts survive, because no one valued them at the time. This was true all the way into the 1990s (long after collectors began placing a premium value on vintage posters, very few collectors sought out original vintage scripts, which means there is an extreme rarity of even 1990s scripts, and very few authentic scripts of the last forty years are offered for sale or auction).
Want to know more about other poster types? Check out our Poster Types page!