Preston Sturges papers, 1920-1959

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Summary

Creators:
Sturges, Preston
Abstract:
Preston Sturges (1898-1959) was a inventor, playwright and motion picture writer and director. He wrote the hit Broadway play, Strictly dishonorable (1929), and received a Academy Award for his screenplay, The great McGinty (1940). He lived in Europe for a period of time during the 1950s, and wrote and directed his last film in France in 1955. The collection consists of film scripts, production material, and correspondence related to Sturges' career.
Extent:
57.5 Linear Feet (101 boxes and 7 cartons), 4 Born-digital Carriers (4 optical discs), and 6 Audiovisual Carriers (6 videocassettes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Preston Sturges papers (Collection 1114). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of film scripts, production material, and correspondence related to Sturges' career as a playwright and motion picture writer and director.

Biographical / historical:

Born August 29, 1898 in Chicago as Edmond Preston Biden; inventor of kissproof lipstick for mother's cosmetic company; wrote hit Broadway play, Strictly dishonorable, 1929; moved to Hollywood, 1933; worked as screenwriter, and beginning in 1940 as a writer-director of satiric comedies; Academy Award for screenplay The great McGinty, 1940; left Paramount Pictures in 1944, and had a short business association with Howard Hughes, founding California Pictures in mid-1940s; lived in Europe for a period of time during the 1950s, writing and directing his last film in France in 1955; died in New York of heart attack on August 6, 1959.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mrs. Preston Sturges, 1975.
Processing information:

Processed by Charles Ziarko.

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:

  1. Film productions.
  2. Production material.
  3. Business and personal material.
  4. Correspondence.
  5. Production scrapbooks.

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

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.

Reproduction restricted except with permission of the Sturges family.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Preston Sturges papers (Collection 1114). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

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
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