Collection Guide
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Elmer Dyer papers
21
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Table of contents
Abstract: The collection consists of scripts; pressbooks; programs; financial records; biographical material, including many articles
that Dyer wrote on his career, aerial photography, and Paul Mantz; correspondence of both a personal and business nature,
particularly extensive for the period from 1916 to 1921; books; pamphlets; periodicals; catalogs regarding photography, photographic
equipment, and supplies; and a scrapbook. Scripts for several U.S. Navy flight training films document Dyer's work during
World War II.
Collector:
Dyer, Elmer
Dates: 1910-1969
Dates: 1930-1959
Collection number: 21
Collection Size:
4 linear ft. of papers
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Available by appointment only.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all
necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing
materials obtained from the library.
Elmer Dyer papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Stacy McCullough, 1985
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Elmer Dyer papers span the years 1910-1969 (bulk 1930s-1950s) and encompass 4 linear feet. The papers consist of production
files and subject files relating primarily to his professional career and his various businesses. The production material
consists of scripts, pressbooks, programs, and other papers relating to some of the films Dyer worked on, both for the major
studios—such as NIGHT FLIGHT (1933), THE GOOD EARTH (1937), TAIL SPIN (1939), and THE FLYING DEUCES (1939)—and for independent
producers—including SPECIAL AGENT K-7 (1937) and THE ATTACK FOR 1940 (1939, short). THE BIG CIRCUS (1959) is the last film
covered. Scripts for several U.S. Navy flight training films document Dyer's work during World War II. There is also a small
number of scripts for unproduced properties. Of particular interest is SHADOW OF THE WING, which Michael Balcon was to have
produced for MGM in 1937. The remainder of the collection consists of bills, receipts, and other financial records covering
1920-1965; biographical material about Elmer Dyer, including many articles that he wrote on his career, aerial photography,
and Paul Mantz; correspondence, of both a personal and business nature, particularly extensive for the period from 1916 to
1921; books, pamphlets, periodicals, and catalogs regarding photography, photographic equipment, and supplies; and one oversize
scrapbook containing clippings and other biographical information.
Elmer G. Dyer (1892-1970) was born in Lawrence, Kansas. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1906. Dyer worked as a glass cutter
and designer for a number of years and for a short time was an assistant set dresser at Universal. Dyer's purchase of a camera
led to his work as a freelance cinematographer from 1916 to 1921, and he sold footage to such firms as Paramount-Bray Pictorials,
Universal Weekly, and the Gaumont Company. During the 1920s he photographed several Westerns but soon became known for his
aerial photography using an Akeley camera. After working on HELL'S ANGELS (1930), he began to specialize in aerial photography
and aerial stock shots and was closely associated with stunt pilot Paul Mantz for many years. His output during the 1930s
and 1940s included AIR MAIL (1932), I WANTED WINGS (1941), ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939), and AIR FORCE (1943); he received
an Academy Award nomination in cinematography for the latter. During World War II Dyer served in the Army's First Motion Picture
Unit and shot aerial footage for training films. Dyer began his own stock-shot library in the 1940s and in later years concentrated
his energies on this business.
1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Subject files, subseries A-B as follows: A.
General; B. Books and periodicals; 3. Scrapbooks
Dyer, Elmer
Cinematographers