Chase (Stanley) papers, circa 1925-2001, bulk 1955-1989

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Summary

Title:
Stanley Chase papers
Dates:
circa 1925-2001, bulk 1955-1989
Creators:
Chase, Stanley
Abstract:
Stanley Chase (1928-) was a theater, film, and television producer. The collection consists of production and business files, original production drawings, posters, press clippings, sound recordings, and scripts from his major projects.
Extent:
157.2 linear feet (105 boxes, 12 oversize boxes, and 27 map folders)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Stanley Chase Papers (Collection 1090). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of production and business files, original production drawings, posters, press clippings, sound recordings, and scripts documenting Stanley Chase's forty-year career as a producer in theater, film, and television. The production files contain contracts, correspondence, legal documents, memoranda, photographs, publicity materials and other miscellaneous papers. Of particular interest are the files pertaining to Chase's off-Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht's The Threepenny Opera, and the Broadway plays A Moon for the Misbegotten, The Potting Shed, and The Cave Dwellers at the Bijou Theatre. Important materials from the film series include production files, original production design drawings, and photographs for The Hell with Heroes (1968) and Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), both created while Chase was an executive producer at Universal Studios. The collection also contains voluminous files related to Stanley Chase Productions, Inc. projects and Chase's work in television, including screenplays, story pitches, and memoranda.

Biographical / historical:

Stanley Chase was born Stanley Cohen on May 3, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from New Utrecht High School in 1944, and enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He received his B.A. from New York University in 1949, and immediately pursued graduate study in drama at Columbia University. In 1950 Chase went to work for CBS Television and met Carmen Capalbo, with whom he eventually produced the record-breaking musical off-Broadway hit, The Threepenny Opera. Chase followed the success of that production with three more Broadway plays: The Potting Shed (1957), A Moon for the Misbegotten (1957), and The Cave Dwellers (1957). He also produced a European tour of Free and Easy, a Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer jazz musical featuring Quincy Jones.

Chase went on to work for various film and television companies, including Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, 1962; the American Broadcasting Company, where he was director of network television program development from 1962-1963; United Artists, where he created and developed the ABC television pilot Inside Danny Baker with Mel Brooks in 1963; Columbia Pictures, where he was a television production head and executive producer from 1963-1964; and Universal Studios, where he was an executive and producer from 1965-1970. Major projects from this period include the Universal Studio television anthology series Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre for NBC, 1966-1967, and the Universal Studios films The Hell with Heroes (1968) and Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). Chase founded Stanley Chase Productions, Inc. in 1976 as a motion picture, television production, and distribution company, and was president of that enterprise. Major motion picture projects included High Ballin' (1978), Fish Hawk (1982), and Mack the Knife (1990). Television projects included the made for television movies The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (1979) and An American Christmas Carol (1980).

Acquisition information:
Gift of Stanley Chase, 1967-1968 and 2002.
Processing information:

The collection was originally brief-listed by Manuscripts Division staff in 1968. Following the second gift in 2002, the collection was partially rehoused by Joshua Amberg in the fall of 2004, then thoroughly rehoused and processed by Timothy Holland in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Laurel McPhee, in the summer of 2005.

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Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Theater, 1946-1989 (34 boxes, 5 oversize boxes, 5 map folders), subseries A-E as follows:
    1. The Threepenny Opera, 1952-1961.
    2. Free and Easy, 1956-1960.
    3. Bijou Theatre files, 1946-1961.
    4. Miscellaneous, 1953-1989.
    5. Playbill programs, ca. 1950-1960.
  2. Film, 1955-2001 (38 boxes, 4 oversize boxes, 20 map folders), subseries A-F as follows:
    1. The Hell with Heroes, 1967-1968.
    2. Colossus: The Forbin Project, 1965-1970.
    3. High Ballin', 1976-1986.
    4. Mack the Knife, 1955-1990.
    5. Miscellaneous productions, ca. 1973-1981.
    6. Scripts, 1956-2001.
  3. Television, 1925-1994 (32 boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 map folder), subseries A-D as follows:
    1. An American Christmas Carol, 1979-1994.
    2. The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog, 1977-1983.
    3. Miscellaneous productions, 1925-1994.
    4. Scripts, 1960-1984.
  4. Audiovisual materials, 1959-1989 (1 box, 2 oversize boxes).
  5. Miscellaneous, 1944 (1 folder, 1 map folder).

Physical / technical requirements:

CONTAINS AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains both processed and unprocessed audiovisual materials. For information about the access status of the material that you are looking for, refer to the Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements note at the series and file levels. All requests to access processed audiovisual materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

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

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Timothy Holland and Joshua Amberg with assistance from Laurel McPhee in the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), Fall 2005; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé and edited by Josh Fiala, Caroline Cubé, Laurel McPhee and Amy Shung-Gee Wong.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-05-18 15:37:19 -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], Stanley Chase Papers (Collection 1090). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website