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 includes both items collected by Clarke and material relating to his career, including scripts, production
material, correspondence, writings, and an American Film Institute oral history transcript. Scrapbooks compiled by Clarke
contain correspondence addressed to William Selig or the Selig Polyscope Company.
Collector:
Clarke, Charles G.
Dates: 1879-1983
Collection number: 47
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
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
Charles G. Clarke collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Charles G. Clarke, 1977
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Charles G. Clarke collection spans the years 1879-1983 and encompasses 2 linear feet, consisting of production files,
subject files and scrapbooks. The collection includes both items collected by Clarke and items relating to his career. The
production files contain material for five films with cinematography by Clarke, with voluminous material on THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR
(1955), on which he was second unit director, and a dozen scripts from the television series ARNIE, which he photographed.
Other important documentation includes correspondence between Clarke and various collectors and preservers of film and film
history, including two letters from actor Andre Beranger regarding his collection of 28mm films. There are writings by Clarke,
Howard Walls, and Albert E. Smith, as well as a transcript of Clarke's American Film Institute oral history. The subject files
include a Fox Film Corporation folder with daily cast reports for their 1919 films. Stereo photographs taken by Clarke on
location in the 1920s contain rare images of James Wong Howe behind the camera for EBB TIDE (1922) and Clarke on location
in Alaska for ROCKING MOON (1926), among others. Two scrapbooks compiled by Clarke contain correspondence addressed to William
Selig or the Selig Polyscope Company.
Clarke was not only a major Hollywood cinematographer, but also a collector of materials relating to film industry history.
The library has benefited from his donations through this collection, the Motion Picture Patents Company/General Film Company
collection, the William Selig papers and many books, pamphlets, and periodicals among the library's general holdings.
Biography
Charles Galloway Clarke (1899-1983) was born in Potter Valley, California. He entered the film industry as an assistant cameraman
at Universal in 1915. Following active service during World War I, he was made first cameraman at the National Film Company,
where he photographed the serial SON OF TARZAN. His work as a prominent first cameraman and director of photography began
in 1922 with THE HALF BREED. Other films in the 1920s and 1930s include FOUR SONS (1928), WORDS AND MUSIC (1929), TARZAN THE
APE MAN (1932), VIVA VILLA! (1934), and THE CASINO MURDER CASE (1935). Clarke joined 20th Century-Fox in 1938 and remained
under contract there until his retirement in 1962. Among his Fox features are MARGIE (1946), MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947),
THE SNOWS OF KILIMANJARO (1952), CAROUSEL (1956), and RETURN TO PETYON PLACE (1961). His writings include "Early Film Making
in Los Angeles" (1976). Clarke served on the Academy Board of Governors from October 1945-May 1951 (assistant treasurer, 1948-1949),
from June 1960-May 1962, and from July 1970-May 1975. Clarke received Academy Award nominations for cinematography for four
Fox films: MOONTIDE (1942), HELLO FRISCO HELLO (1943), GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING (1948), and SAND (1949). In addition, he was
presented with a Scientific or Technical Achievement citation (1943) and an Honorary medal of commendation (1979) from the
Academy.
Arrangement of the Collection
1. Production files; 2. Television files; 3. Subject files, subseries A-C as follows: A. General; B. Biography; C. Additions;
4. Oversize; 5. Scrapbooks
Indexing terms
Clarke, Charles G.
Cinematographers
Collectors