Collection Guide
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Frank Cavett papers
449
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Abstract: The collection consists almost exclusively of script material, for both produced and unproduced films, and playscripts. The
script material includes drafts, outlines, and treatments. Of interest is a handwritten treatment for GOING MY WAY. There
are congratulatory letters related to Cavett's two Academy Awards.
Collector:
Cavett, Frank
Dates: 1924-1957
Dates: 1939-1953
Collection number: 449
Collection Size:
2 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.
Frank Cavett papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Jonathan C. Cavett, Morgan Cavett, and Susan Cavett, 1999
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Frank Cavett papers span the years 1924 to 1957 (bulk 1939 to 1953) and encompass two linear feet. The collection consists
of production files (produced and unproduced), stage files, and subject files, and is almost exclusively comprised of script
material.
The bulk of the collection can be found in the production files (produced). There are several drafts of Talbot Jennings’ script
for ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI (1951), for which Cavett was credited for the story. Also included are scripts for THE CORN IS
GREEN (1945), SECOND CHORUS (1940), and a draft of the script for TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS (1940) co-written with Robert Stevenson.
GOING MY WAY (1944), for which Cavett won an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay, shared with Frank Butler, is the
best represented title in the series. There are numerous treatments and drafts of the script, including treatments written
by Leo McCarey, and script sequences and a draft written by Cavett and McCarey. There is also material for films on which
Cavett is not credited, including an outline, written with Robert Stevenson, for BLACKBEARD, THE PIRATE (1952), and notes
and script pages for WABASH AVENUE (1950). The only material representing THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952), for which Cavett
won his second Academy Award for Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, shared with Frederic M. Frank and Theodore St. John,
is a program, and there is nothing on SMASH-UP--THE STORY OF A WOMAN (1947), which he co-wrote with Dorothy Parker.
The production files (unproduced) contain script material for several projects co-written by Cavett, many with notable collaborators.
There are scripts for ASK FOR LOVE! and DIARY OF A WEDDING with Edward Roberts, Cavett’s writing partner from early in his
career. There is a treatment for a film called BOMBER SERENADE, cowritten with William B. Hawks and Morgan B. Cox, an outline
for a film called COME BLOW YOUR HORN, from a story by Cavett and Artie Shaw, a treatment for a film called TRUMPET MAN, written
with Virginia Kellogg, and an original screenplay for WORLD ON A STRING, written with W. R. Burnett in 1957. The stage files
contain playscripts for a handful of projects, many likely unproduced, including playscripts for HIGH NOON and THE TWILIGHT
TREE, both co-written with Edward Roberts. Of interest is an undated playscript for OXYGENERATOR by Ellsworth Prouty Conkle.
The subject files are the smallest series in the collection and include congratulatory correspondence related to Cavett's
two Academy Award wins. Of interest is a theater program from 1933 for FORSAKING ALL OTHERS, starring Tallulah Bankhead.
Frank Cavett was born in Jackson, Ohio in 1905. He attended Ohio University and Yale University, graduating from the Baker
School of Drama at Yale. He entered the film industry as an assistant director for Paramount Pictures in Long Island. In 1932
producer Walter Wanger, who had recently moved from Paramount’s East coast studios to Columbia Pictures in Hollywood, recruited
Cavett and writer Edward Roberts to write the story for Columbia’s VANITY STREET (1932). After completing the assignment,
Roberts and Cavett returned to New York to write for Broadway, where they co-authored the play FORSAKING ALL OTHERS, a romantic-
comedy starring Tallulah Bankhead which ran for 110 performances. In 1935 he was hired for the radio drama “Backstage Wife,”
which he wrote for in its first year on the air. He returned to Hollywood in 1937 and worked there as a screenwriter for the
remainder of his career. His credits include the original story for SECOND CHORUS (1940) and the screenplays for SYNCOPATION
(1942), THE CORN IS GREEN (1945), and ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI (1951). He was nominated for an Academy Award, with Dorothy
Parker, for Best Writing, Original Story for SMASH-UP--THE STORY OF A WOMAN (1947). He received two Academy Awards, first
with Frank Butler for Best Writing, Screenplay for GOING MY WAY (1944), and with Fredric M. Frank and Theodore St. John for
Best Writing, Motion Picture Story for THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952). Cavett died in 1973.
1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Stage files; 3. Subject files
Cavett, Frank
Screenwriters