The collection includes script material for nearly all of the films written by Davies, as well as material on his plays. Nine scrapbooks document Davies's career from 1931 to 1957.

Valentine Davies (1905-1961) was born in New York City. He was educated at the University of Michigan and attended drama school at Yale University. One of his earliest productions was a musical performed at the University of Michigan titled "Tambourine," for which he cowrote the book and lyrics. Work as a playwright in the late 1920s through the early 1940s yielded "Keeper of the Keys," "Three Times the Hour," and "Blow Ye the Winds." A proposed film adaptation of the latter brought Davies to Hollywood in the early 1940s, and he wrote the screenplay for another film, SYNCOPATION (1942). Davies served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I. His postwar story, originally titled "This Is the Time" and later "Kris Kringle," resulted in the film and novel MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947). Later screenplays include IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING (1949), THE GLENN MILLER STORY (1954), and STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (1955). He also directed and wrote THE BENNY GOODMAN STORY (1956). BACHELOR IN PARADISE (1961) was his final film. Davies received an Academy Award for his original story for MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET, two nominations in the writing category, and one for the documentary short HOUSE WITHOUT A NAME (1956). Davies served on the Academy Board of Governors from June 1955 to July 1961 (assistant secretary, 1957-1958; first vice president, 1958-1960; president, 1960-1961).

15.5 linear ft. of papers

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