\"How the West Was Won\" James R. Webb Hand Signed FDC Dated 1961 For Sale

Up For sale "How the West Was Won" James R. Webb Hand Signed First Day Cover Dated 1961.

ES-3189

James R. Webb (October

4, 1909 – September 27, 1974) was an American writer. He won an Oscar in 1963 for How the West Was Won.

Webb was born in Denver, Colorado, and graduated from Stanford University in

1930. During the 1930s, he worked both as a screenwriter and a fiction writer

for a number of national magazines, including Collier's Evening Post.

Webb's early screenplays were written for Republic Pictures. He did a series of films starring Roy Rogers and directed by Joseph Kane: Nevada City (1941), Bad Man of Deadwood (1941), Jesse James at Bay (1941)

and South of Santa Fe (1942)

with Roy Rogers. He also did Rags to Riches (1941)

directed by Kane. Webb was commissioned an army officer in June 1942 and became

a personal aide to General Lloyd R. Fredendall who

was commander of the II Corps (United States).

Webb accompanied Fredendall to England in October 1942 and participated in the invasion

of North Africa in

November 1942 when the Second Corps captured the city of Oran.

The Second Corps then attacked eastward into Tunisia. In February 1943 the German army launched a

counterattack at Kasserine Pass which

repulsed the Second Corps and nearly broke through the Allied lines. The

Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower relieved

Fredendall of command in March 1943 and sent him back to the United States

where he became deputy commander of the Second United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee. Webb

returned to the United States with Fredendall and later served in the European Theater. Webb left the Army after the war and

returned to Hollywood, California,

where he continued his work as a screenwriter. He returned to Republic

for California Firebrand (1948).

In 1948 he sold a story to Universal, Going, Going, Gone and

was going to write the script but no film resulted.[3] A story of hisFugitive from Love,

was filmed as Woman in Hiding (1950). Webb

signed a contract for Warner Bros for whom he wrote the Flynn, Raton Pass (1951), and The Big Trees (1952) with Kirk Douglas. He

also wrote Close to My Heart (1951)

based on his own novel, Operation Secret (1952), The Iron Mistress (1952) for Alan Ladd, The Charge at Feather

River (1953) a 3-D film, and Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954).

Webb had a big hit with two films for Burt Lancaster and Robert Aldrich: Apache (1954) and Vera Cruz (1954). He wrote episodes of The G.

Robinson. Lancaster hired Webb to do Trapeze (1956). He also wrote The Big

Country (1958) and Pork Chop Hill (1959). Webb received acclaim for his

script for Cape Fear (1962)

and especially How the West Was Won (1962).

Webb won an Oscar for the latter. Less

well received were Kings of the Sun (1963) for Autumn (1964) for John Ford. He wrote an

early draft of Chinese Finale that became 7 Women, Ford's last film, but Webb is not credited in the

final movie. Webb

wrote the English language version of Guns for San Sebastian (1968)

and did a script for Patton. He

did some historical epics: Alfred the Great (1969),

for MGM; Sinful Davey (1969) for John Huston and the

Mirisches; and The Hawaiians (1970),

for the Mirsches. His last credits were sequels to In the Heat of the

Night, both for the Mirsches: They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)

and The Organization (1971).

In March 1974 the American Writers Guild awarded him the Morgan Award for

services to the guild. He

died on September 27, 1974, and was buried in Los Angeles National

Cemetery. He was survived by a wife, a son and a daughter.