Finding aid for the Harry Horner papers 6107
Emily Hodgkins, Marje Schuetze-Coburn and Sue Luftschein
USC Libraries Special Collections
2017 March
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Harry Horner papers
creator:
Horner, Harry
Identifier/Call Number: 6107
Physical Description:
1.5 Linear Feet
5 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1924-2000
Abstract: The Harry Horner papers consist of correspondence, notebooks, sketchbooks, programs, clippings, scripts, and scrapbooks, 1924-2000,
created and collected by director and production designer Harry Horner. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence,
both professional and personal. It also includes two of Horner's personal sketchbooks; clippings and related ephemera pertaining
to Max Reinhardt; film scripts; and biographical statements written by Horner. Harry Horner was born in Czechoslovakia in
1910, and after graduating from the University of Vienna with a degree in architecture, he joined Max Reinhardt's repertory
company in Vienna. He came to New York with Reinhardt in 1935 and became a US citizen in 1940. Horner became a noted production
designer and director in Hollywood, on Broadway, for operatic productions and large pageants. He won 2 Academy Awards and
was nominated for an additional six. He died in Los Angeles in 1994.
Biographical / Historical
Harry Horner, two-time Academy Award-winning production designer, director and producer, was born in Czechoslovakia in 1910
and raised in Vienna. After graduating from the University of Vienna with a degree in architecture, he worked as an architect
for a year, then turned to acting under the guidance of Max Reinhardt. For two years (1933-1935) he appeared in a number of
Reinhardt productions in Vienna and Salzburg, and then in 1935 he traveled to New York with "The Eternal Road" as Reinhardt's
assistant, and in 1937 took over as designer of the show (succeeding Norman Bel Geddes). From this success, he went on to
design a number of Broadway productions.
Horner served in the US military during World War II (he became a citizen in 1940), during which time he designed a production
of "Winged Victory" for both stage and film and wrote, designed and directed the Air Force training show "You Bet Your Life".
After leaving the military, Horner moved to Los Angeles and continued his career as a production designer and director. He
was nominated for several Academy Awards (production design for "Our Town", "The Little Foxes", "Separate Tables", "Double
Life", "Born Yesterday" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They") and won for "The Heiress" (1951) and "The Hustler" (1962). Horner
very often worked as both production designer and director on films. His first effort in this dual role was "Beware, My Lovely"
starring Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan. He also directed for television, continued to work on Broadway productions, and for the
Metropolitan and San Francisco Operas. Horner also worked in Canada and England, where he produced Francois Truffaut's "Farenheit
451".
Horner died in Los Angeles in 1994.
Scope and Contents
The Harry Horner papers consist of correspondence, notebooks, sketchbooks, programs, clippings, scripts, and scrapbooks, 1924-2000,
created and collected by Harry Horner. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, related to both Horner's work
as a production designer and director for Broadway, Hollywood, and operas, and personal correspondence. Also included are
two of Horner's personal sketchbooks, depicting nudes and some studies for set designs; clippings and related ephemera pertaining
to Max Reinhardt; a number of film scripts, some of which include notes and letters by and from Horner regarding work on those
scripts; and biographical statements written by Horner.
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder no. or item name], Harry Horner papers, Collection no. 6107, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of
Southern California
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Joan Horner, February 6, 2015.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Motion picture producers and directors -- Archival resources
Set designers -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Set designers -- New York (State) -- New York -- Archival resources
Clippings
Correspondence
Notebooks
Scripts (documents)
Horner, Harry -- Archives
Feuchtwanger, Lion -- Correspondence
Reinhardt, Max -- Archives
Box 1, Folder 1
Literary correspondence
1963-1976
Box 1, Folder 2
Production correspondence
1965-1967
Box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence re: "The Castle"
1969
Box 1, Folder 4
Ellis Kohs correspondence
1969-1977
Box 1, Folder 5
General correspondence
1970-2000, undated
Box 1, Folder 6
Notes and correspondence re: "The Strange One"
1972
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence with Curt Siodmak and Rodolfo Loewenthal
1973-1974
Box 1, Folder 8
Correspondence with Norman Gambill
1977-1982
Box 1, Folder 9
Viennale Internationale correspondence
1993
Box 1, Folder 10
Letter to Carl/Manuscript notes for "Brotherhood of Fear"
undated
Box 1, Folder 11
Railroads on Parade/New York World's Fair
1939
Scope and Contents
Horner designed costumes for this attraction.
Box 1, Folder 12
Opera productions
1939-1963
Scope and Contents
1 copy of "Opera News" (January 9, 1939) containing reproductions of Horner's sketches for the San Francisco production of
"Elektra"; two programs for Darius Milhaud's "David", premiering at the Hollywood Bowl, September 22, 1956, of which Horner
was the stage director; and press reelease for Metropolitan Opera's 1963-1964 season, for which Horne rrevised and restaged
his production of "The Magic Flute".
Box 1, Folder 13
"Winged Victory" programs and sketchbook
1943
Scope and Contents
Corporal Harry Horner was the set designer for the Army Air Forces production of Moss Hart's musical.
Box 1, Folder 14
50th Anniversary Program for the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund
1971
Scope and Contents
Horner designed the visual concept for "The After-Show Gala: The Movies".
Box 2
Scripts
Scope and Contents
Scripts, primarily used by Horner for productions in which he was involved. The Castle, by Max Brod (includes photocopies
of Horner's sketches); The Poison Tree, by Hugh Brooke (accompanied by Horner's notes inserted into the script, and letters
to Hugh Brooke regarding the script and the production design; Flight of the Dancing Bear, by Julian More and Charles Kasher;
OF Shadows Cast By Men (play) by Eugene Vale; The Man Who Couldnt Sin, by Curt Siodmak; SImone, by Lion Feuchtwanger and
Berthold Brecht, accompanied by two letters from Feuchtwanger; Eulenspiegel in Flandern, by Paul Kalbeck; Lily of the Valley,
by Ben Hecht (designed by Horner); and Moonbirds, by Marcel Ayme.
Box 3, Folder 1
Notes
Scope and Contents
Notebook containing Horner's notes and sketches, addresses, lists, etc.; a handwritten document titled "Notes oN Theater";
notes on newspaper reviews of Horner's production of Joan of Arc.
Box 3, Folder 2
Programs designed by Horner
1972, 1974
Scope and Contents
Programs for the American National Theatre and Academy and the Women's Auxiliary of the A.N.T.A. tribute to Alfred Lunt and
Lynne Fontanne's 50th wedding aniversary and Rosalind Russell. Horner designed the covers. The Program for Russell is accompanied
by a letter to Horner from Ezra Stone, and a dried leaf.
Box 3, Folder 3
Inventory list of Horner drawings and sketches
Box 2, Box 4, Folder 9
Publications
Scope and Contents
"The Stages"--spiral bound book of photographs of ancient and modern stage designs. "The Ideal Theater: Eight Concepts"--exhibition
catalog from the American Federation of Arts, 1962-1964. "Festmatinee Zum 125-Jahr-Jubiaum Der 'Presse'" (1973). One copy
each of American Cinematographer (July 1969)--cover story on photographing "They Shoot Horses, Don't They"; Film and TV Bi-Weekly
(January 19, 1966)--article on Horner and Enterprise Films moving to England; and American Film (February 1977)--Horner interview.
Box 3, Folder 4
Biographical materials and resumes
Box 3, Folder 5
Materials re: forming Canadian film studio
1965-1975
Box 3, Folder 6
Articles on set design and filmmaking by Harry Horner
1941, undated
Box 3, Folder 7
Newspaper clippings about Horner
Box 4, Folder 1
Materials regarding Max Reinhardt
Box 4, Folder 2
Correspondence between Harry and Joan
1967-1975
Box 4, Folder 3
Personal correspondence
1960-1980
Box 4, Folder 8
Daily calendar cards
1943 March 13-August29
Box 5
Family scrapbook
1953-1968