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Clifford McCarty collection
1202
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Table of contents
Title: Clifford McCarty collection
Date (inclusive): circa 1935-2004
Collection number: 1202
Creator:
McCarty, Clifford
Extent:
29 linear feet of papers.
Repository:
Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages:
English
Important Information for Users of the Collection
Available by appointment only.
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.
Clifford McCarty collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gift of Maxine McCarty, 2005
Clifford McCarty spent most of his life in the book business after graduating from Los Angeles City
College in 1953. His passion for film music lead him on a lifelong quest to document authorship of film
scores, often through primary research at film studios. His writings include "Film Composers in America:
A Checklist of Their Work," (1953) and "Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911-1970" (2000). He
contributed articles to "The Cue Sheet," "Down Beat," "Films in Review," "Film and TV Music," and "Pro
Musica Sana," and wrote composer entries for "The New Grove Dictionary of American Music" (1986). He was
one of the founders of The Film Music Society and served as the first editor of its quarterly journal,
"The Cue Sheet," from 1984 to 1987. He edited the Society's first book, "Film Music 1" (1989). McCarty
also authored or co-authored books on Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and Frank Sinatra.
Collection Scope and Content Summary
The Clifford McCarty collection spans the years circa 1935-2004 and encompasses 29 linear feet. The
collection consists of McCarty's research files and includes articles and clippings on film music and
film composers, correspondence with composers and other researchers, filmographies, music cue sheets,
music scores, scripts, books, periodicals, and disc recordings. McCarty maintained files on composers
with the intent of authoring a reference work, "Film Composers in America: A Biographical Guide to the
Film Composers and Their Work." These files may include biographical questionaires, correspondence asking
composers to confirm credits or other information, and biographical material retyped by McCarty from a
variety of esoteric biographical reference sources. There are index cards with music credits for Abe
Meyer Synchronizing Service, Columbia, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Republic, RKO, Triangle, 20th
Century-Fox, United Artists, Universal, and Warner Bros. And, there are index cards with film composers'
birth and death dates.
Arrangement
Arranged in the following series: 1. Subject files
McCarty, Clifford , 1929-2005--Archives.
historians