Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Biography
Arrangement of the Collection
Indexing terms
Descriptive Summary
Abstract: The collection contains production material, clippings, contracts, correspondence, distribution reports, radio scripts, autobiographical
manuscript material, and a photograph album.
Collector:
Blackton, J. Stuart
Dates: 1912-1962
Dates: 1917-1940
Collection number: 119
Collection Size:
1.5 linear ft. of papers
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
Available by appointment only.
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
J. Stuart Blackton papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Charles G. Clarke and Marian Blackton Trimble, 1970-1974
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The J. Stuart Blackton papers span the years 1912-1962 (bulk 1917-1940) and encompass 1.5 linear feet. The collection consists
of production files, subject files, and manuscripts. The production files cover many of the films produced and/or directed
by Blackton after he left Vitagraph in 1917, though the material is not extensive. The subject files include clippings, contracts,
correspondence, distribution reports for his Warner Bros. films, and radio scripts. The manuscripts consist of two versions
of Blackton's autobiography.
Biography
James Stuart Blackton (1875-1941) was born in Sheffield, England, and emigrated to the United States when he was ten. He first
met Albert E. Smith (who would later become his business partner) in 1894, when they formed a short-lived act on the Lyceum
circuit. The act failed, and Blackton joined the "New York Evening World" as a cartoonist and cub reporter. He became interested
in film while interviewing Thomas A. Edison in 1896, and in 1897 bought a Kinetoscope from Edison. Forming a partnership with
Albert Smith, Blackton began presenting films in various theaters around New York. The pair quickly moved into production
with THE BURGLAR ON THE ROOF (1898), starring Blackton, but their first major success was THE BATTLE OF MANILA BAY (1898).
After encountering legal entanglements with the Edison Company, Blackton and Smith (joined by a third partner, William T.
"Pop" Rock) formed the American Vitagraph Company in 1900. At this time Blackton was acting (in the "Happy Hooligan" series),
drawing animated shorts ("Cohen and Coon"), and directing. By 1910 he had stopped directing and instead focused on supervising
all Vitagraph productions. This continued until June 1917, when he resigned to go into independent production. Among the films
he produced as an independent were DAWN (1919) and THE GLORIOUS ADVENTURE (1922). After the sale of Vitagraph in 1925, Blackton
continued to direct for Warner Bros. His final film before his retirement was THE PASSIONATE QUEST (1926). He continued to
work on various projects, including a history of silent films called THE FILM PARADE (1934), which he would later screen during
his lectures on the early days of the film industry. Blackton served on the Academy Board of Governors from October 1927 to
October 1929.
Arrangement of the Collection
1. Production files; 2. Subject files, subseries A-B as follows: A. General; B. Manuscripts; 3. Scrapbooks
Indexing terms
Blackton, J. Stuart
Actors
Directors
Producers
Screenwriters