Welles mss., 1930-1950 (Bulk
1936-1947)
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence primarily concerns Welles' varied artistic endeavors, though a small
amount is personal and/or social in nature. Among the correspondents are Reginald
Armour, Richard Barr, Diana Bourbon, Joseph Ignatius Breen, Hadley Cantril, Geneva
(McMath) Cranston, Herbert F. Drake, Norman Foster, William Gordon, Arnold Monroe
Grant, Ross R. Hastings, Bernard Herrmann, Roger Hill, John Houseman, Jack Kapp, Sir
Alexander Korda, Donald D. Lawrence, Jackson Leighter, Sidney L. Lipsitch, J.R.
McDonough, Herman Jacob Mankiewicz, Jack Moss, Jose Noriega, H. Earl Rettig, George
J. Schaefer, George Bernard Shaw, L. Arnold Weissberger, Ward Wheelock, Thornton
Niven Wilder, Richard Alan Wilson, Walter Winchell, Dan Winkler, Robert Wise,
Alexander Woollcott, and Richard Wright.
Speeches and writings include many articles for
Free
World
and other journals, newspaper columns, lecture tours, and the 1944
presidential campaign. There are also scripts and some production materials for the
Shakespeare and Decca recordings that Welles made or planned but did not record.
Welles' stage career is well documented in the collection. Scripts for every
production from the 1936
Macbeth in Harlem through the
1947
Macbeth in Salt Lake City are here. There are also
a number of scripts for plays that were planned but not produced as of 1947. These
include
Marching Song, a play written by Welles during
his teens. Varying amounts and types of production materials for the plays are also
in the collection. A sampling of these are a WPA Audience Survey Report for
Doctor Faustus; set designs, never used, for
The Cradle Will Rock; holograph music scores and
publicity newspapers for
Julius Caesar; set designs and
costume sketches for
Five Kings; and contracts and
financial records for
Around the World. There are also
background materials, press releases, handbills, programs, cast lists, and clippings
for most of the plays. Other Mercury Theatre materials include leases, financial
records, subscriptions, programs, handbills, and press releases.
Documents from Welles' radio career are extensive and include scripts and/or tape
recordings for most of the programs and series in which he appeared. Many drafts of
scripts never used, especially for the Lady Esther series, story reports, profile
studies, background research, and production materials are also present in the
collection. Other radio projects represented include a large number of production
and financial documents for the Fifth War Loan Drive shows, as well as notes,
scripts and recordings for an Eversharp Almanac series that was planned but never
broadcast. Welles also attempted, unsuccessfully, to contract with the Ziv
Transcription Series for radio programs and some production materials associated
with that effort are filed here.
The collection contains voluminous materials for the films Welles planned and
produced. His first project, the unproduced
Heart of
Darkness,
is represented by scripts, planned camera shots, a preliminary
budget, shooting schedule, make-up photos, and other items. There are similar,
though fewer, materials for
Smiler with a Knife. The
first film that Welles did complete for RKO was
Citizen
Kane.
Nine scripts, both complete and partial, including one with the
title American, document the writing of the film. Photographs and negatives of the
storyboard contribute additional details. Other items include shooting schedules,
cast lists, wardrobe list, a Pre-Budget Estimate, lists of receipts and operating
expenses, and summaries of film earnings.
Present in the collection are drafts of scripts for an unnamed Mexican story and for
the proposed film based on
The Way to Santiago. Welles'
second film,
The Magnificent Ambersons, is represented
by four scripts and a storyboard, as well as the production materials and financial
records. In the 1942 correspondence files are telegrams between Welles, Jack Moss,
and Robert Wise regarding the editing of the film.
It's All True, the unfinished film that ended Welles'
career at RKO, has the largest file in the collection. Drafts of scripts, background
and research files, music, financial records, and newspaper clippings are all
present. The materials for
Journey into Fear, begun at
about the same time as
It's All True, include scripts,
storyboard, financial records and assorted production documents.
Although Welles worked on several film projects the next few years, as witnessed by
scripts for
V & W,
The Little Prince, and
Don't
Catch Me,
and acted in
Jane Eyre,
Follow the Boys, and
Tomorrow is
Forever,
he did not direct again until
The
Stranger.
For this production there are scripts, shooting schedules,
sketches of sets and scenes, staff and cast lists, financial records, and a
pressbook.
The Stranger was followed by
Lady from Shanghai for which the collection contains
scripts, dialogue, lists of shots and re-makes, music cues, a plot summary, set
budget, summaries of earnings and accounting reports.
Welles' last Hollywood movie until
Touch of Evil in 1956
was the 1947
Macbeth. In the collection are drafts of
scripts and a cutting continuity for
Macbeth and a
wardrobe plot with photos and lists for wardrobe and make-up. Of particular interest
are the several blueprints and sketches of set designs. The collection's film
section ends with the script and a few related items for the movie
Black Magic and scripts for several undated, unrealized
film projects.
The research files include printed, mimeo, and typescript materials on a variety of
topics that were for Welles' use in preparing speeches, articles, newspaper columns,
radio programs, etc. The miscellaneous series of the collection consists of
materials both personal and professional in nature. These files are arranged
alphabetically by subject and include art work, automobile records, awards,
biographies, contracts, Mercury Productions finances, Welles' personal finances,
lectures, magic trick information, memberships, passports, printed materials, and
writings by people other than Welles.
The tape recordings are almost entirely of radio shows and were made from the
original recordings. They are listed individually in the collection guide.
Photographs and negatives are of the various plays and films in which Welles acted
or directed, and of his family and friends. The largest number of photographs are
publicity stills of Welles and from
Citizen Kane, The
Magnificent Ambersons, It's All True,
and
Journey
into Fear.
The final series of the collection consists of bound radio
scripts which are also listed individually in the collection guide.
