Description:

MARLON BRANDO
(1924 - 2004) American stage and film actor and Academy Award winner, remembered for his roles in A Streetcar Named Desire, The Wild Bunch, and The Godfather. A BACK-HANDED THREAT SENT TO THE PRESIDENT OF TAHITI Superb content T.L.S. signed in full, 2pp. 4to., [n.p.], Feb. 24, 1997 to the President of Tahiti, Gaston Flosse. Brando, addressing the president as "Gaston", discusses his beloved island of Tetiaroa which he had purchased in the early 1960s. He opens his letter mentioning the "judicial decision" that had apparently cleared up questions of his ownership and right to use the island. He adds: "...If I had wanted to, I could have turned Tetiaroa into a Disneyland...Because of its beauty and its uniqueness, I never really wanted to vulgarize it by cheap exploitation. There are many in Tahiti who would...If you can present me with a fair price and an honest price, I think we can then create something...If you pay me the proper sum and accept the restrictions...no one ever having the right, including myself, to build...be held in perpetuity as a reserve..." Brando then delves into politics, mentioning American use of islands for atomic tests and bomb storage, French extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen and the need for Tahiti to remain independent. He closes essentially threatening that if he and the president cannot agree on a purchase price, he will sell the island to developers, return to court, or leave the island to his heirs. Fine condition. In the end, Brando passed and left the island to his family, who developed a single high-end hotel there where President Obama recently spent weeks writing his memoirs.

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August 1, 2018 10:00 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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