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Financier John Hay Whitney formed Rainbow Pictures and Spectrum Corp. in 1933 to make
films
in Technicolor. These companies later became known as Pioneer Pictures, which released
three
films: La Cucaracha (1934), Becky
Sharp (1935, the first feature-length three-color film), and The Dancing Pirate (1936). Whitney joined Selznick International
Pictures (SIP) in 1936 as chairman of the board and east coast manager. |
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The bulk of the files contained in this collection represent the activities of the
New York
SIP office. Among these were the monitoring of new publications and the acquisition
of film
rights by east coast representative Katharine "Kay" Brown
and her staff. Until December of 1937, they also helped scout and test talent on the
east
coast, including the monumental talent search for Gone with the
Wind. However, the New York office most frequently handled various post-production
business and financial functions, including sales and distribution, for the eleven
SIP films
released 1936-1940: Little Lord Fauntleroy and Garden of Allah (1936); A Star Is
Born, The Prisoner of Zenda, and Nothing Sacred (1937); The Adventures of
Tom Sawyer, and The Young in Heart (1938); Made for Each Other, Intermezzo: A Love
Story, and Gone with the Wind (1939); and Rebecca (1940). Gone with the Wind,
from Kay Brown's earliest efforts to acquire the film rights in 1936, through casting,
filming, premieres, and phenomenal public response, is dominant. The files also reflect
the
corporate and financial restructuring that ended SIP and Whitney's involvement in
the film
business. |
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The papers consist largely of correspondence files and legal and financial records,
including detailed billings and receipts information for the SIP films. Also present
are
talent photographs, posters, test scenes from various scripts, and clippings and
scrapbooks. |
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Relatively little information documenting Whitney's pre-SIP film corporations is present,
though there are some files for both Pioneer and Spectrum, as well as some of Whitney's
own
early files. However, most of the files in this collection that include pre-1936 material
do
include Pioneer as well as SIP items. |
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The files are organized by the individual or department responsible for their creation,
and
generally folders are arranged alphabetically or chronologically within these categories.
Groups of files are maintained in their original order, even when their original creator
or
purpose is not immediately recognizable. Individuals and organizations whose files
are
represented in the papers include A. C. Berman, who handled foreign distribution at
SIP;
Katharine Brown, SIP's east coast representative, who was responsible for both the
story and
talent departments; Lowell V. Calvert, SIP's general manager, who oversaw sales and
distribution; Leonard R. Case, Selznick Releasing Organization (SRO) treasurer; Val
Lewton,
creator of SIP's Hays Office files and story editor in the story department; Samuel
C. Park,
Jr., chairman of the finance committee of the Whitney Communications Corporation (earlier
material within this grouping was probably originally kept by Case, but accumulated
by Park
later during corporate/financial restructuring); Pioneer Pictures, Inc./Pioneer Development
Corp.; Spectrum Corporation; John F. Wharton, SIP treasurer; and John Hay Whitney.
Other
file groups include records of the story and talent departments, teletypes sent between
David O. Selznick and staff in the New York office, and unidentified files, many of
which
may have been created by L. F. Altstock. |
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Financial Records and Synopses consist of billing records and other financial documents
from Selznick International Pictures (SIP) dating from 1935 to 1942, and thousands
of book,
play, and film synopses from SIP's files. |
