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Edward Dmytryk papers
939
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Table of contents
Abstract: The collection includes a handful of scripts for films directed by Dmytryk; a few scripts for unproduced films; extensive
clippings; 60 letters from Dmytryk written to his wife Jean during the period of his incarceration in the federal penitentiary
at Danville, Connecticut in 1950; writings by Dmytryk, including his manuscripts for “Dmytryk on Film-Making,” “It's a Hell
of a Life But Not a Bad Living,” “Odd Man Out,” “On Film Directing,” and “On Film Editing”; material on the “Hollywood Ten”;
and photographs.
Collector:
Dmytryk, Edward
Dates: 1947-1999
Collection number: 939
Collection Size:
4.5 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.
Edward Dmytryk papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Jean Porter Dmytryk, 2005.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Edward Dmytryk papers span the years 1947 to 1999 and encompass 4.5 linear feet. The collection consists of production
files (produced and unproduced), subjects files, and a small amount of oversize material documenting Dmytryk’s work as a film
director and writer.
The production files (produced) consist primarily of scripts for several films directed by Dmytryk, including annotated scripts
for THE CARPETBAGGERS (1964) and THE RELUCTANT SAINT (1962), as well as a script for CROSSFIRE (1947) bound with shooting
schedules for the film. Additionally, there are bound scripts for MURDER, MY SWEET (1944), SALT TO THE DEVIL (1949), and THE
YOUNG LIONS (1958). Of interest is the file of research material for THE LEFT HAND OF GOD (1955) and a bound photo album chronicling
the production of SALT TO THE DEVIL, the film Dmytryk made in England after he was cited for contempt of Congress and compelled
to flee the United States. There is also an undated, unpublished manuscript for “Making of Raintree Country” by Dmytryk. There
is no material for films Dmytryk worked on as an editor early in his career, nor on such notable directorial credits as TENDER
COMRADE (1943), THE CAINE MUTINY (1954), or WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (1962). The production files (unproduced) contain material
for four projects, including a documentary on John Fante, who co-wrote SALT TO THE DEVIL and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE, as well
as a script for THE MOUNTAIN IS YOUNG, adapted by Robert Alan Arthur from the bestselling novel by Han Suyin.
The subject files include extensive clippings as well as numerous manuscripts for Dmytryk’s memoirs and books on filmmaking.
The bulk of the clippings concern the hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the resulting
blacklist, as well as clippings collected later in Dmytryk’s life on the activities of other members of the Hollywood Ten.
Further materials on the blacklist can be found in the files of correspondence, which include numerous letters written by
Dmytryk to his wife, Jean, while he was incarcerated in Danville, Connecticut. Other correspondence in the collection comes
from prominent attorney Bartley Crum and Robert Taylor’s daughter, Terry. Elsewhere in the series there are manuscripts for
two of Dmytryk’s memoirs, “It’s a Hell of a Life But Not a Bad Living” and “Odd Man Out,” as well as manuscripts for several
of his books about filmmaking, including “On Film Directing” and “On Film Editing.”
Edward Dmytryk was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada in 1908. He was the second of four children born to Ukrainian
immigrant parents. With the advent of World War I, his parents were in danger of being interned by the Canadian government,
so the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Northport, Washington. When his mother died in 1917, his father
moved the family down to San Francisco, and finally to Los Angeles when he remarried in 1919. Because his father was abusive,
Dmytryk ran away from home to live on his own at the age of fourteen, working as a messenger for Famous Players-Lasky while
attending Hollywood High School. He excelled at mathematics and enrolled at the California Institute of Technology but left
after his first year to return to the film industry. He eventually made his way back to Famous Players-Lasky, by then known
as Paramount Pictures Corp., and found work as a projectionist, taking advantage of his time projecting the day’s rushes to
observe the aesthetic and technical choices made by such filmmakers as Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg. He became
an assistant cutter in 1929, working on THE DANCE OF LIFE (1929) and a few Spanish-language productions before being promoted
to editor with ONLY SAPS WORK (1930). As an editor he had the opportunity to work under and observe such directors as George
Cukor on THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY (1930) and ZAZA (1939) and Leo McCarey on RUGGLES OF RED GAP (1935) and LOVE AFFAIR
(1939). However, many of his editing assignments at Paramount were B pictures.
Although Dmytryk had directed one film, the Western THE HAWK (1935) for Monogram Pictures Corp., his directing career began
in earnest in 1939, the same year he became an American citizen. Throughout the 1930s he had done uncredited work directing
scenes on some of the B pictures he had edited, and his efforts on MILLION DOLLAR LEGS (1939) led Paramount to offer him a
directing contract. He directed four films, among them GOLDEN GLOVES (1940), before Paramount prematurely ended his contract,
leaving him to move among several studios throughout the 1940s. His work at RKO was the most successful, beginning with the
propaganda films HITLER’S CHILDREN (1943) and BEHIND THE RISING SUN (1943), and including the melodrama TENDER COMRADE (1943)
and the noirs MURDER, MY SWEET (1944) and CROSSFIRE (1947), the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
His success was short-lived, however, as he soon found himself embroiled in the investigations of the House Un-American Activities
Committee. Dmytryk, who had briefly joined the Communist Party in 1944, became a member of the “Hollywood Ten” when he refused
to testify before the committee. He was subsequently fired from RKO and sentenced to prison. He left the United States for
England, directing THE HIDDEN ROOM (1949) and SALT TO THE DEVIL (1949) before his passport expired and he was forced to return.
He served several months in prison and during that time became disillusioned with the stand he had taken as one of the Hollywood
Ten. He reappeared before the committee in 1951 as a cooperating witness.
A month after his testimony, Dmytryk was hired to direct MUTINY (1952). He then made four films in quick succession for producer
Stanley Kramer, concluding with THE CAINE MUTINY (1954), a critical and commercial success that received Academy Award nominations
for Best Picture and Best Actor. Dmytryk’s film career had recovered, but his reputation with many in the industry was irrevocably
damaged. Nevertheless, he was able to work steadily through the 1950s and 1960s. His notable credits include the Western BROKEN
LANCE (1953), the romantic drama THE END OF THE AFFAIR (1955), the historical epic RAINTREE COUNTRY (1957), the war film THE
YOUNG LIONS (1958), the drama WALK ON THE WILD SIDE (1962), and the thriller MIRAGE (1965). He worked far less frequently
in the 1970s, directing his final work, the short film NOT ONLY STRANGERS, in 1979. He then transitioned into academia, teaching
filmmaking at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California. He wrote two autobiographies as
well as several books on the filmmaking process, focusing on directing, editing, writing, and acting, the latter written with
his second wife, actress Jean Porter. Dmytryk died in 1999.
1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Subject files
Dmytryk, Edward
Directors
Editors
Hollywood Ten
Producers
Screenwriters