Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Robert Emmet Smith papers
- Dates:
- 1938-1974
- Creators:
- Smith, Robert Emmet, 1914-1988
- Abstract:
- Robert (Bob) Smith was an art director and production designer. The collection consists of original artist's blueprints and sketches, location photographs and stills, and scripts for motion picture projects; materials representing television projects; and a small maount of material related to Smith's father, art director Edward (Ted) Smith.
- Extent:
- 22.0 linear feet (34 boxes, 3 flat boxes, and 8 map folders) and 2.75 linear feet (1 unprocessed flat box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Robert Emmet Smith Papers (Collection PASC 101). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of material related to the career of art director and production designer Robert Emmet (Bob) Smith. Included are original artist's blueprints and sketches, location photographs and stills, and scripts primarily for motion picture projects along with materials representing television projects, and a small amount of items from unproduced and unidentified projects. Among the motion titles represented are A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966), The Flim Flam Man (1967), Fool Killer (1965), Hombre (1967), Operation Petticoat (1959), and Skidoo (1968), among others.
Additionally, there are is a small amount of papers related to Smith's father, art director Edward (Ted) Smith. Included are scripts, what appear to research photographs, set stills, and photocopies and reproductions of storyboards. Among the projects represented are Action in the North Atlantic, Captains for the Clouds, and Gentleman Jim
- Biographical / historical:
-
Robert Emmet Smith, also known as Bob Smith, was the son of Edward Smith, the former head of the art department at Paramount Pictures. Bob Smith graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture and was a master mason. Smith established his career as a motion picture art director and production designer. His numerous credits include motion pictures such as Rio Lobo, Hombre, Lonely are the Brave, A Big Hand for the Little Lady, Operation petticoat, and King Rat, which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction in 1966. Bob Smith died in Newport Beach, CA on Aug. 2, 1988.
Edward Smith was born ca. 1886. Hw started Jesse Lasky's art department in ca. 1917) and later became head of Paramount art department in 1929. His credits include films such as The Covered Wagon, Peter Pan, Wings, and Hell's Angels. Smith was under contract to Warner Bros. Studio at the time of his death; he died June 19, 1949.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Mr. Robert Smith, 1980.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by UCLA Library Performing Arts Special Collections staff, pre-1999.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
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- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in the following series:
- Personal Papers
- Motion Picture Projects
- Television Projects
- Unproduced Projects
- Unidentified Projcts
- Edward (Ted) Smith Papers
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-03-18 11:31:35 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Robert Emmet Smith Papers (Collection PASC 101). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988