J. Searle Dawley papers
Catalogued by Slide, Anthony; Catalogued by Almendarez, Val
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
333 S La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Published January 2023
Descriptive Summary
Abstract: The collection consists of a small amount of production information, most notably four scripts for Edison shorts from 1910
and 1911. There is a small amount of correspondence, notes for Dawley's memoirs, clippings, time books, and a scrapbook of
mostly unidentified photographs from Edison films.
Collector:
Dawley, J. Searle
Dates: 1907-1947
Dates: 1907-1923
Collection number: 72
Collection Size:
0.5 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
J. Searle Dawley papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Mrs. J. Searle (Grace) Dawley, 1949
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The J. Searle Dawley papers span the years 1907-1947 (bulk 1907-1923) and encompass 0.5 linear foot. The collection consists
of a small amount of production information, most notably four scripts for Edison shorts from 1910 and 1911. The subject files
contain a small amount of correspondence, notes for Dawley's memoirs, and information about the Edison Company and the Motion
Picture Directors Association. Of special interest are time books kept by Dawley from 1907 to 1909 that contain cast information
and days in production. There is also a scrapbook of photos from the Edison films, though most of them are unidentified.
Biography
James Searle Dawley (1878-1949) was born in Del Norte, Colorado, and educated in Denver. In 1895 he joined Lewis Morrison's
theatrical company as an actor. After the tour was canceled, he moved back to Denver, where he remained until he was asked
to rejoin Morrison's company in 1897. He stayed with the company for three years, first as an actor and later as stage manager.
In 1900 he left Morrison to enter vaudeville as a performer and writer. Around 1902 Dawley joined the Spooner Stock Company
as an actor, stage manager, and writer. He was hired by Edwin S. Porter in May 1907 as a director for the Edison Company.
His first film was THE NINE LIVES OF A CAT (1907), and he went on to direct more than 200 films for Edison, including FRANKENSTEIN
(1910) and THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1912). In 1912 Dawley was once again hired by Porter, this time to direct features
for the Famous Players Company. His first was TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (1913), and he directed 13 more before leaving Famous
Players in 1913 to start his own company, Dyreda. The company lasted for more than a year before it was bought out by Metro
Pictures. Dawley returned to Paramount, where he made such films as SNOW WHITE (1916) and UNCLE TOM'S CABIN (1918). He left
Paramount in 1918 to get married and freelanced for several years before joining Fox Films in 1921. The last feature he directed
was BROADWAY BROKE (1923), though he also directed two sound shorts for Lee Deforest, ABRAHAM LINCOLN and LOVE'S OLD SWEET
SONG, which were released in 1924. After retiring from films, Dawley tried various businesses before working in radio from
the end of the 1920s through the middle of the 1930s.
Arrangement of the Collection
1. Production files; 2. Subject files; 3. Scrapbooks
Indexing terms
Dawley, J. Searle
Actors
Directors
Screenwriters
folder 1
THE BIG DAM (Edison, short)--script
1911--1911
Record ID: 71301361
Scope and Content Note
scenario, July 19, 1911, 2 pages [#701; lightly annotated]
folder 2
BROADWAY BROKE--miscellaneous
1922--1922
Record ID: 71305482
Scope and Content Note
clippings; unsigned agreement between J. Searle Dawley Productions and Mary Carr, December 1922
folder 3
DANCES OF THE AGES (Edison, short)--miscellaneous
1913--1913
Record ID: 71305483
Scope and Content Note
letter from Ted Shawn asking if the Edison Co. would be interested in dance pantomimes or scenarios which he and Norma Gould
had written, March 5, 1913; cast list; sub-titles for dances; synopsis; brochure for Norma Gould and Ted Shawn
folder 4
THE HARVEST MOON--clippings
1919--1920
Record ID: 71305484
folder 5
LEAVES OF A ROMANCE (Edison, short)--script
1911--1911
Record ID: 71305485
Scope and Content Note
scenario, June 20, 1911, 2 pages [#703; heavily annotated]
folder 6
THE LITTLE STATION AGENT (Edison, short)--script
1910--1910
Record ID: 71305486
Scope and Content Note
scenario, June 21, 1910, 2 pages [#405]
folder 7
MICE AND MEN--clippings
Circa 1916--1916
Record ID: 71305487
folder 8
THE MYSTERIOUS MISS TERRY--clippings
1917--1917
Record ID: 71305488
Scope and Content Note
clippings for THE LOST PARADISE
folder 9
THE PHANTOM HONEYMOON--clippings
1919--1920
Record ID: 71305489
Scope and Content Note
page from scrapbook, includes credits for AS A MAN LIVES (1923); review for HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD! (1923); clippings for
THE HARVEST MOON; reviews for TWILIGHT (1919)
folder 10
THE SHERIFF (Edison, short)--script
1911--1911
Record ID: 71305490
Scope and Content Note
scenario, July 19, 1911, 1 page [#702; medium annotations]
folder 11
SNOW WHITE--clippings
1916--1916
Record ID: 71305491
folder 12
AN UNSELFISH LOVE (Edison, short)--script
1910--1910
Record ID: 71305492
Scope and Content Note
scenario, June 13, 1910, 4 pages [#389; lightly annotated]
folder 13
A VIRGIN PARADISE--clippings
1921--1921
Record ID: 71305493
Scope and Content Note
clippings and reviews
folder 14
A VIRGIN PARADISE--correspondence
1921--1921
Record ID: 71305494
Scope and Content Note
letter from Mrs. Rae N. Victor, August 15, 1921; letter from Hiram Percy Maxim, August 18, 1921
folder 15
WHO ARE MY PARENTS?--clippings
1922--1922
Record ID: 71305495
Scope and Content Note
clippings and reviews, all from when the film was titled A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM
folder 16
Agreement
1915--1915
Record ID: 71305496
Scope and Content Note
signed agreement between James D. Rhodes, James B. Clark, and J. Searle Dawley in which Mr. Dawley agreed to write a scenario
for a five-reel film, July 2, 1915
folder 17
Correspondence
1908--1938
Record ID: 71305498
Scope and Content Note
letter from Universal Electric Stage Lighting Co., February 21, 1908; letter from Raymond L. Ditmars of the New York Zoological
Park regarding the possible reactions of lions on top of a seaplane, August 9, 1938; handwritten card from Marguerite Clark
(Williams)
folder 18
Dawley, J. Searle--career information
Circa 1921--1947
Record ID: 71305499
Scope and Content Note
typed article, "Past and Present in Motion Pictures," for "Movie Weekly," 5 and 6 pages [part 1 incomplete]; typed article
from "Film Daily" regarding court case involving Mr. Dawley's patent for double exposures, October 23, 1928; script for radio
program on "Famous Firsts," undated, 3 pages; biography, circa 1930s, 4 pages; rough transcript of interviews with Howard
Walls, 26 pages; list of firsts claimed by Mr. Dawley, 3 pages; excerpt [for a proposed biography?] by Henry Irving Dodge,
undated, 15 pages; lists of credits, etc. by Mr. Dawley
folder 19
Dawley, J. Searle--clippings
1914--1937
Record ID: 71305500
folder 20
Dawley, J. Searle--notebooks
1942--1942
Record ID: 71305501
Scope and Content Note
(1) contains information on D. W. Griffith, Harold Lloyd, John Barrymore, Adolph Zukor, Thomas Edison, Harry K. Thaw, Minnie
Maddern Fiske, Cecil Spooner, Edwin S. Porter, Douglas Fairbanks, Daniel Frohman, Marguerite Clark, Billie Burke, Alice Brady,
Elsie Ferguson, cost of motion picture stories, William Randolph Hearst, THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1912), THE BATTLE
OF TRAFALGAR (1911), Lee De Forest, Sun Light Arc Company, Mary Pickford and IN THE BISHOP'S CARRIAGE (1913), M.P.D.A., Famous
Players stars, Lewis J. Selznick and Dyreda, Pearl White, SNOW WHITE (1916), Walter Lang, etc.; (2) contains information on
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, Edison trademark in each scene, THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR, THE RELIEF OF LUCKNOW (1912), Lee
De Forest, trip to Canada in 1910, studio scenery, THE NINE LIVES OF A CAT (1907), THE STARS AND STRIPES [aka JOHN PAUL JONES]
(1910); (3) contains information on Sun Light Arc Company, Trick photography, Mary Pickford, M.P.D.A., etc.; (4) contains
information on M.P.D.A., Famous Players stars, first motion picture stories, stage and screen, etc.; (5) contains information
on Cuba, Lewis J. Selznick, Pearl White, etc.; (6) contains information on Pearl White
folder 21
Edison Company
1910--1912
Record ID: 71305502
Scope and Content Note
itinerary of stock company during its location trip in the Midwest and Canada, August 17, 1910; list of films sold abroad
(from January 1909 through May 1910), August 18, 1910 [annotated by Mr. Dawley to show which films he made]; list of films
sold abroad (through February 1, 1911), March 8, 1911 [annotated by Mr. Dawley]; list of Bermuda films, December 29, 1911;
list of Mr. Dawley's Western films, July 8, 1912; letter from Horace G. Plimpton to Mr. Dawley with comments about THE CHARGE
OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, August 22, 1912; lease between P. L. Howland and J. Searle Dawley for rental of studio in Long Beach,
December 23, 1912 [2 copies]
folder 22
Edison Company--time books
1907--1909
Record ID: 71305503
Scope and Content Note
two books with handwritten entries showing casts and days worked kept by Mr. Dawley from July 22, 1907, through September
2, 1908, and September 11, 1908, through March 11, 1909
folder 23
Famous Players Film Co.
1913--1916
Record ID: 71305504
Scope and Content Note
invitation for party given for delegates to the third annual convention of the Motion Picture Exhibitor's League, July 10,
1913; payroll list for the company, December 16, 1916; top of page of letterhead; list of films made by Mr. Dawley at Famous
Players
folder 24
Kaufman, Joseph
1918--1918
Record ID: 71305505
Scope and Content Note
eulogy by Mr. Dawley for this fellow director who died February 1, 1918, 2 pages [one page is on the letterhead of the Sun-Light
Arc Co.]
folder 25
Miscellaneous
Record ID: 71305506
Scope and Content Note
handwritten notes regarding film history
folder 26
Motion Picture Directors Association
1915--1922
Record ID: 71305507
Scope and Content Note
(1) "articles of incorporation of the Motion Picture Directors Association under the laws of California," June 18, 1915; (2)
telegram from Allan Dwan of the Los Angeles M.P.D. A. congratulating the New York Motion Picture Directors Assoc. on its formation,
November 14, 1916; (3) handwritten document with signatures of the 26 directors who agreed to be charter members of the New
York M.P.D.A, circa November 14, 1916 [on Hotel Astor stationery includes typed copy]; (4) minutes of meeting held at Hotel
Astor on November 14, 1916; (5) minutes of meeting held at Chapter Hall on November 20, 1916; (6) "articles of incorporation
of the Motion Picture Directors Association of New York, Inc.," January 2, 1917; (7) menu and place card for dinner held at
the Hotel Astor in honor of S. L. Rothapfel, January 16, 1917; (8) clipping, April 11, 1917; (9) letter from M. F. Gates of
the U.S. Naval Hospital at Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island asking for donations of defective films for the men in the hospital,
April 13, 1917; (10) admission card for dance held at the Biltmore Hotel on January 26, [1918]; (11) cover of program for
event held at Café des Beaux Arts in honor of Mr. Dawley's impending marriage, June 8, 1918; (12) invitation for dinner-dance
in honor of Will H. Hays held March 16, 1922; (13) letterhead with list of New York and California members
folder 27
National Board of Review
1937--1937
Record ID: 71305508
Scope and Content Note
program for 13th Annual Motion Picture Conference, February 4-6, 1937; article, "Old Days in Film Production" written by J.
Searle Dawley, 15 pages
folder 28
Patents
1918--1918
Record ID: 71305509
Scope and Content Note
typewritten copy of U.S. patent # 1,278,117 granted to Mr. Dawley for advances in special effects, September 10, 1918 [patent
filed August 17, 1914]
folder 29
Photographs
Record ID: 71305510
Scope and Content Note
one photograph of an actor in role of Abraham Lincoln; one mounted photograph by Marceau of Los Angeles of an actor in role
of Napoleon
Photograph album no. 1
1909--1910
Record ID: 71305511
Scope and Content Note
photographs from the following Edison films directed by Mr. Dawley (as well as many unidentified films) and for various actors:
THE CIGARETTE MAKER OF SEVILLE (1910), Pilar Morin, William J. Sorelle, FAUST (1909), Herbert Bostwick, William Bechtel, THE
STAR OF BETHLEHEM (1909), THE ORIGIN OF BEETHOVEN'S, MOONLIGHT SONATA (1909), A DAUGHTER OF THE SUN (?), PROFESSOR FIX FIXED
(1909)
