John Huston papers, 1920-1985, bulk mid-1940s to mid-1970s

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Summary

Creators:
Huston, John
Extent:
63 linear feet of papers. 4 linear feet of photographs.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The John Huston papers span the years 1920-1985 (bulk mid-1940s to mid-1970s) and encompass 67 linear feet. The collection contains production files (scripts, production material, correspondence, and research); correspondence (material dealing with professional, personal, financial, and legal matters); subject files (clippings, various drafts of his autobiography, material relating to his home in Ireland, various publications of a general nature, a few drawings by Huston, and material gathered for an unpublished biography of his father, Walter Huston); and photographs. The production files contain material related to both produced and unproduced projects, including budgets, employment agreements, casting information, shooting schedules, interoffice memos, cutting notes, censorship correspondence, general correspondence, and publicity clippings and reviews. The emphasis is on the 1950s and 1960s. There are no production files from the 1930s and only a few from the 1940s. Those from the 1940s include the government wartime documentaries.

Biographical / historical:

John Huston was an American director, actor, and screenwriter whose film career spanned 1929 to 1987. Huston came to Hollywood as a writer in the early 1930s, under contract first at Samuel Goldwyn, then at Universal. Finding his niche as a writer at Warner Bros., Huston scripted JEZEBEL (1938) and HIGH SIERRA (1941), among other films. His directorial debut was THE MALTESE FALCON (1941), for which he also wrote the screenplay. Huston went on to direct such pictures as THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), MOULIN ROUGE (1952), MOBY DICK (1956), THE MISFITS (1961), FREUD (1962), THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (1964), WISE BLOOD (1979), UNDER THE VOLCANO (1984), and PRIZZI'S HONOR (1985). As an actor Huston has appeared in THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948), THE CARDINAL (1963), and CHINATOWN (1974). Huston received Academy Awards for writing and directing THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. His other dozen nominations span five decades and three categories (writing, directing, and acting).

Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series: 1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Television files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 3. Correspondence; 4. Subject files; 5. Writings; 6. Photographs, subseries A-B as follows: A. Motion picture production; B. Subject

Rules or conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
333 S. La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211, US
Contact:
(310) 247-3036 extension 2226
specialcollections@oscars.org
Website