Found 4 collections related to Motion%20picture%20industry%20--%20California%20--%20Los%20Angeles

Jack Cunningham (1882-1941) was a Hollywood screenwriter and producer who worked primarily for Paramount Pictures, and developed material for many prominent stars, including Douglas Fairbanks, Barbara Stanwyck, W.C. Fields and Harold Lloyd. Cunningham began his career as a screenwriter in 1913, and had written over seventy screenplays before his epic Western THE COVERED WAGON, one of the biggest box office successes of the silent film era, brought him acclaim in 1923. In the years that followed he specialized in Westerns, and also wrote a number of swashbucklers for Douglas Fairbanks, such as THE BLACK PIRATE (1926) and THE IRON MASK (1929). In the mid-1930s Cunningham turned to comedy, writing several films for W.C. Fields including IT'S A GIFT and THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY (both 1934), MISSISSIPPI (1935), and POPPY (1936). Cunningham also wrote PROFESSOR BEWARE for Harold Lloyd in 1938 before returning to Westerns with the Cecil B. DeMille production UNION PACIFIC in 1939. Jack Cunningham died in Santa Monica, Calif, on Oct. 4, 1941, at the age of 59. The Jack Cunningham papers consist primarily of correspondence pertaining to Cunningham's screenwriting career, especially two of his biggest successes, the epic Westerns THE COVERED WAGON (1923) and UNION PACIFIC (1939). Although there are several letters documenting a variety of Jack Cunningham's professional activities in the early to mid-1930s, the bulk of the collection is devoted to his work on these two films. In the case of THE COVERED WAGON the crew went on location to Utah in the autumn of 1922 while Cunningham remained in Los Angeles, reviewing the footage they sent back and writing detailed letters about it to director James Cruze. For UNION PACIFIC Cunningham travelled to Nebraska and Wyoming in the spring of 1938 to engage in preliminary research, and corresponded primarily with producer/director Cecil B. DeMille and his assistant William Pine, who remained in California. Cunningham also corresponded with local historians and with a number of elderly residents who participated in the construction of the Union Pacific railroad in the 1860s. less

The Jean Elliott - Joshua Logan correspondence consists of letters written by Joshua Logan to Jean Elliott, his cousin. The letters span 1920 to 1989 (including letters written to his widow, Nedda Harrigan Logan), and illuminate Logan's career and family life. Of special note is a note written in 1920 by the 12 year-old Joshua, thanking his cousins for a pleasnt summer visit. The ephemera consists of photographs, programs, and clippings collected by Jean Elliott about her cousin, including childhood snapshots of Joshua and his sister, and a 1943 Army portrait. Programs include tributes to Joshua Logan. less

John Van Druten (1901-1957) was an Anglo-American playwright, theatrical director, screenwriter, and novelist. Born in London of a Dutch father and an English mother, Van Druten was educated at London's University College School. His controversial play YOUNG WOODLEY (1928), initially prohibited, was eventually staged successfully in London and New York. Van Druten's later plays include THERE'S ALWAYS JULIET (1931), OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1940), the hugely successful VOICE OF THE TURTLE (1943), and BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE (1950). Van Druten adapted several of these plays into film versions, and also wrote original screenplays, including UNFAITHFUL (1931) for Ruth Chatterton. Van Druten adapted Christopher Isherwood's BERLIN STORIES into the play I AM A CAMERA, which was made into a movie and later musicalized on stage and screen as CABARET. Van Druten's novels include A WOMAN ON HER WAY (1931) and THE VICARIOUS YEARS (1956). John Van Druten died on Dec. 19, 1957, at the age of 56. John Van Druten's letters to his friend D. Franklin Houston were written between Feb. 1929 to March 1931, from London, various places in France, and later from Hollywood, where Van Druten was writing a screenplay. Van Druten writes about his novel in progress, ELINOR, later to be retitled A WOMAN ON HER WAY, expresses his opinions about current plays in London, writes heartfelt but obscure notes about love affairs gone awry, and expresses disdain for the Hollywood movie industry. Also included is a very brief note to Houston from Noel Coward. less