"BUT ED HAS BIG PLANS, AND BIG AMBITIONS, WHICH WILL AMAZE YOU. IT IS STIMULATING TO TALK ABOUT. AND TO THINK OF ME AS A MOVIE ACTOR IS A KICK"

GREY, Zane. Autograph letter signed. Australia,1936. One page, measuring 6 by 10-1/2 inches, writing on both sides; handsomely frame with portrait, entire piece measures 18-1/2 by 21-1/2 inches. $3800.

Autograph letter signed by Zane Grey as "Daddy" to his wife (addressed as "Mommy") while on a trip to Australia about the filming of a fishing movie starring him and plans for another film, handsomely framed with a photograph of Grey.

The letter, written while filming a movie in Australia, reads: "Mom Darling: This is the 7th day of bad weather, when we can't shoot, and which costs ——- 200 per day! But we must finish this picture by end of July. I have written Romer about plans Ed and I are formulating for our next picture. It seems funny to tell you what Ed & Marge, and the girls, the staff, the critics and exhibitors, think about Z.H. on the screen. I'll never believe it till you say so. Anyway Ed wants to do—- next with a part written into it for me. The writing would be dull stuff, and the playing to, as far as I'm concerned. I've written Romer to ask him to begin to think about it, and figure out treatment and script. We can raise the money here. But Ed has big plans, and big ambitions, which will amaze you. It is stimulating to talk about. And to think if of me as a movie actor is a kick. But we need the dough, darling, at least I do. I may slip in another letter before the mail goes, which will be the last to you this trip. Of course I'll cable you a few collect cables, honey! No, I'll pay for them. They've called me to work, and its stormy as hell. But Ed is desperate. Love and kisses and things. Dad."

Grey made a number of trips to Australia, where he was treated as a visiting celebrity. In 1936, he starred in a movie about hunting Great White sharks, titled White Death, directed by his friend Edwin G. Bowen. The movie production was plagued with problems, and the results, when finally released in Australia, were poorly received. Grey's son Romer Grey, in addition to being a writer like his father, was also a noted scriptwriter. Indeed, the three of them were to work together on Bowen's only other credited movie, the 1937 Oregon Steelhead, another fishing film starring Zane, also of limited success. Handsomely frame with a picture of Grey holding a trout while on a New Zealand fishing trip in 1926, which is captioned on the verso by Grey: "Specimen of a [Lake] Taupo trout, called slab by natives. This is example of starvation, owing to multiplication of trout." With later note in red ink at head of letter, and later note in black ink on verso of the photograph. Includes Grey's autograph envelope addressed to his wife on the verso of the frame.

In fine condition.