On Mon, 28 Feb 1994 16:52:04 EST Edmund Carlevale said:
>For a book and an upcoming trip to LA I need to know what special
>archives  are available in the Los Angeles area, specifically in regards
>to films of the '30s.  Books, films, costumes, scripts, anything
>available to a researcher.
 
Before you go, I suggest you hie yourself off to the library and find
Linda Mehr's directory of collections in moving pictures and related
fields.  I don't have the exact title to hand; it was published by
G.K. Hall in the late 1970s or early 1980s.  As a consequence, it's
a little out of date, but when it comes to archival collections, out
of date generally means that new information is missing, not that
older information is totally obsolete.
 
I agree that the Academy is a good place to start there.  The major
university research libraries each have their own range of collections,
whether from studios and companies or from individuals:  USC has
Warners production material and Universal, while UCLA I believe now
houses RKO.  (RKO's archives were meticulously organized by Vernon
Harbin, and were deeded to UCLA in the early 1980s.  I presume they're
housed there by now.)
 
As helpful as the librarians and archivists usually are, they would
be very grateful, I'm sure, if you could be more specific than "films
of the 1930s" when you make your request.  Which films?  What people?
What organizations?
 
 
Blaine Allan                           [log in to unmask]
Film Studies
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Canada  K7L 3N6