Descriptive Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Collection Scope and Content Summary
Biography
Arrangement of the Collection
Indexing terms
Descriptive Summary
Abstract: The collection consists of film and television scripts, correspondence, contracts, books and periodicals, scrapbooks and loose
clippings, miscellaneous items, and photographs.
Collector:
Beaudine, William
Dates: 1912-1973
Collection number: 167
Collection Size:
5.8 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
William Beaudine papers, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Acquisition Information
Gift of William Beaudine Jr., and Lucille Beaudine Warden, 1992-2005
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The William Beaudine papers span the years 1912-1973 and encompass 5.8 linear feet. The collection consists of scripts (motion
picture, television, and unproduced); subject files; scrapbooks and loose clippings; correspondence; contracts; photographs;
books and periodicals; and miscellaneous items. There are scripts for 54 of Beaudine's feature films and 27 of his television
episodes, but little other documentation of these productions. Items of particular interest include two original caricature
drawings of Beaudine; several files of his directing contracts from 1916 through 1934; "Bill Beaudine's Box Score," a nine-page
typed list prepared by Beaudine of his directing credits from 1915 through 1969; two issues of "Film Follies" (the Christie
Film Company house organ), five issues of the "Kalem Kalendar," and five "Biograph Bulletins" from 1912 and 1914.
Biography
William Beaudine [Sr.] (1892-1970) was born in New York City and entered the film industry in 1909 as a prop boy and general
assistant at Biograph Studios. He began appearing as an actor in Mack Sennett's Biograph films in 1912 and continued to work
behind the camera as well. After moving to California in 1914, he got his first chance to direct while working on the Kalem
Company's Ham and Bud comedy series in 1915. He directed as many as 150 short comedies before graduating to feature film assignments
in 1922. His early feature work—including several comedies starring Bebe Daniels and Viola Dana, and three films each with
child actors Wesley Barry and Ben Alexander—quickly established him as a capable craftsman with a light touch and a special
knack for working with children. On the strength of these credentials, he was hired to direct two major Mary Pickford vehicles,
LITTLE ANNIE ROONEY (1925) and SPARROWS (1926). He went on to become one of Hollywood's most prolific directors, turning out
more than 150 feature films after SPARROWS in virtually every conceivable genre. He directed pictures for First National,
Universal, Columbia, Warner Bros., and Paramount prior to moving to England in the mid-1930s, during which time he made 13
films, mostly comedies starring Will Hay, Max Miller, and other popular British comics. Following his return to Hollywood
in 1937, he worked almost exclusively on B pictures at such studios as Producers Releasing Corporation and Monogram (later
Allied Artists). His credits include multiple entries in the "Charlie Chan" and "Bowery Boys" series, as well as such unusual
fare as the religious drama THE PRINCE OF PEACE (1951), the sex-education/exploitation film MOM AND DAD (1946), the Disney
features WESTWARD HO THE WAGONS! (1956) and TEN WHO DARED (1960), and his final two films (both released in 1966), the horror-westerns
BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA and JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER. As his feature film output declined in the 1950s,
he moved into television, directing more than 200 episodes of such popular series as LASSIE, RIN-TIN-TIN, and WALT DISNEY
PRESENTS. At the time of his death in 1970, Beaudine was considered to be Hollywood's oldest active director.
Arrangement of the Collection
1. Production files, subseries A-B as follows: A. Produced; B. Unproduced; 2. Television files; 3. Subject files, subseries
A-B as follows: A. General; B. Books and periodicals; 4. Scrapbooks
Indexing terms
Beaudine, William
Directors