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“
It occurred to me since that . . . the Parisian police is heavily armed . . . . In arming them, and in
mentioning the Arabs in the beginning, we set the trigger. I think at the last scene or near the last, the
Professor is shot accidentally . . . by Arabs, then when the Bride finds out that her only true love is
gone, she hangs his typewriter on the wall . . . and slowly starts to undo her makeup, it was all illu-
sion, for she is a man. . . . I know these fabulous half-Menschen half man half woman . . . in whom all
is the terrible desire for love that is in all human beings. . . .”
13 November 1960, ALS: “I’ve spent a great deal of time on the scene . . . . I think in 3 weeks I
will have an outline of the whole thing . . . .”
22 March 1961,TLS:“It takes me four years to do a Madeline, and I see now, that I can’t do a play
in a matter of months. So I have done this outline for a novel and play.
“
I have always complained that nobody could adapt me properly to the stage. Now I am on trial.
Here is the outline. . . .”
25 August 1962,TLS: “. . . I have started to plot the Magicians book in full now, and it goes some-
thing like this, reversing the usual Madeline theme [
Madeline’s Christmas
, 1985?].The Magician
is a man of tremendous arrogance and power, something like Nubar Gulbenkian, with always an
orchid in his buttonhole, and who loves to eat . . . . [H]e can regulate the weather, and make Notre
Dame blue, green, red, any color he wants. He exercises in the morning with 18 karat golden Barbells
and . . . when he exhales, he is so strong in breath, that all the pigeons in the neighborhood are pressed
motionless against the buildings . . . .
“
Now we move into the House of the little girls. It was the night before Christmas . . . and everybody
is sick except Madeline. . . .”
WITH
—
Two typescripts, unsigned, each entitled
The Street Where the Heart Lies
, each a draft
of the play, one a first draft consisting of first two acts, the other complete and with few holograph cor-
rections. Together over 80 pages, 4to. 1960-61 * Over 10 pages of correspondence from Frank to
Bemelmans, retained drafts, concerning the play and other projects. 1959-62 * A few letters from
Bemelmans’s agents concerning publishing rights for Madeline stories. 1961 *
Madeline’s
Christmas
. 12mo, pictorial wrappers; original pictorial envelope. [New York]: A McCall’s Book,
1956 * Printed galleys for
Madeline in London
. 5 pages, 9x24 inches. [1961] * Printed invi-
tation to showing of Bemelmans’s casein paintings from
Madeline in London
at Hammer
Galleries. 1961.