A job offer from Francis Ford Coppola. With the benefit of hindsight it seems like the easiest decision, but remember this was very early-1970s. Lee Marvin was an Oscar-winning leading man and as such able to pick and choose his next role; Francis Ford Coppola on the other hand, although respected, was yet to win acclaim for his as-yet-unreleased The Godfather. It was the best part of a decade before Apocalypse Now saw the light of day; by then the Colonel in question had morphed from Karnage to Kurtz, and a certain Mr. Marlon Brando had taken the role.

The letter, along with the 1969 draft of Apocalypse Now that accompanied it, recently sold for a mere $5,078.05.

Transcript follows.

Transcript

Mr. Lee Marvin, We’d like you to play the part of Colonel Karnage in Apocalaypse Now. We’re an independant company in San Francisco financed by Warner Bros. It’s a good script. Sincerely Francis Ford Coppola