J. Stuart Blackton papers
Catalogued by Almendarez, Val
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
333 S La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Published January 2023
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
folder 1
BRIDE OF THE STORM--production costs
1925--1926
Record ID: 71301245
folder 2
DAWN--script
Circa 1919--1919
Record ID: 71305345
folder 3
THE FILM PARADE--storyboard sketches
Circa 1933--1933
Record ID: 71305346
folder 4
THE GILDED HIGHWAY--production costs
1925--1926
Record ID: 71305347
folder 5
THE GLORIOUS ADVENTURE--script
1922--1922
Record ID: 71305348
folder 6
THE GLORIOUS ADVENTURE--legal
1921--1922
Record ID: 71305349
folder 7
HELL-BENT FER HEAVEN--production costs
1926--1926
Record ID: 71305350
folder 8
A HOUSE DIVIDED--legal
1919--1919
Record ID: 71305351
folder 9
THE JUDGEMENT HOUSE--script
Circa 1917--1917
Record ID: 71305352
folder 10
MISSING--script
Circa 1918--1918
Record ID: 71305353
folder 11
PASSERS-BY--script
Circa 1916--1916
Record ID: 71305354
folder 12
THE PASSIONATE QUEST--production costs
1926--1926
Record ID: 71305355
folder 13
RESPECTABLE BY PROXY--legal
1919--1919
Record ID: 71305356
folder 14
WOMANHOOD, THE GLORY OF THE NATION--legal
1916--1916
Record ID: 71305357
folder 15
THE WORLD FOR SALE--script
Circa 1918--1918
Record ID: 71305358
folder 16
Clippings
1912--1962
Record ID: 71305359
folder 17
Contracts
1917--1937
Record ID: 71305362
folder 18
Correspondence
1917--1938
Record ID: 71305363
folder 19
Financial
1928--1928
Record ID: 71305364
folder 20
J. Stuart Blackton Productions, Inc
1936--1936
Record ID: 71305365
folder 21
Lectures
1936--1936
Record ID: 71305366
folder 22
Miscellaneous
1924--1943
Record ID: 71305367
folder 23
"Motion Picture Story Magazine"
1913--1913
Record ID: 71305368
folder 24
"Movie Hit Parade"
1939--1939
Record ID: 71305369
folder 25
Radio--"Famous People I Have Known"
1940--1940
Record ID: 71305370
folder 26
Radio--"Famous People I Have Known"
1940--1940
Record ID: 71305371
folder 27
Radio--"I Was There"
1938--1940
Record ID: 71305372
folder 28
Treatment
Record ID: 71305373
folder 29
Warner Bros.--distribution reports
1927--1928
Record ID: 71305374
folder 30
Warner Bros.--financial
1927--1928
Record ID: 71305375
Subject files/Manuscripts
folder 31
"Hollywood With Its Hair Down"
Record ID: 71305376
folder 32
"Hollywood With Its Hair Down"
Record ID: 71305378
folder 33
"Silence Was Golden"
Record ID: 71305379
folder 34
"Silence Was Golden"
Record ID: 71305380
folder 35
"Silence Was Golden"
Record ID: 71305381
folder 36
"Silence Was Golden"
Record ID: 71305382
THE GLORIOUS ADVENTURE--presentation album
1921--1921
Record ID: 71305383
