Summary Information
John Cromwell Papers
1902-1972
- Cromwell, John, 1888-1979
U.S. Mss 139AN; Lot A116; Lot A117; Lot A118; Lot B23
3.2 c.f. (8 archives boxes) and 933 photographs
Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Contact Information
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of John Cromwell, an award-winning actor, director, and producer for motion pictures and theater, including correspondence, scripts, and scrapbooks. Of Cromwell's many motion picture credits, the papers include scrapbooks and scripts on eleven films, most notably Abe Lincoln in Illinois (RKO, 1940), Anna and the King of Siam (20th Century-Fox, 1945), The Prisoner of Zenda (United Artists, 1937), and Since You Went Away, (United Artists, 1944). Three scrapbooks pertain to his career as a Broadway actor and director, with one of these relating to his Tony-winning role in Point of No Return (1951). Participation in regional theater, primarily the Cleveland Playhouse and the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre, is represented by clippings, playbills, and miscellaneous production materials. The professional correspondence includes letters from Paddy Chayefsky, Joseph Conrad, Bette Davis, Ruth Gordon, Katharine Hepburn, John Hess, David O. Selznick, and Robert E. Sherwood. The photographs are primarily personal and include snapshots of Cromwell's homes, travels, horses, and a wedding in the 1940s.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0139an ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
John Cromwell, actor, director, and producer, is well known for his extensive work in films, on Broadway, and in regional theater.
He was born Elwood Dager in Toledo, Ohio on December 23, 1887. After graduation from the Howe School in Indiana in 1905, he immediately began his stage career, acting with touring and stock companies. He was billed as Elwood Dager until a New York appearance in 1912, when he changed his name to John Cromwell. In 1913, he received his first assignment as a director for the production of The Painted Woman. From 1915 to 1919, he worked as an actor and director for the New York Repertory Company and appeared in the American premieres of George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara (Playhouse, December 9, 1915) and Captain Brassbound's Conversion (Playhouse, March 29, 1916). His career was briefly interrupted by service in the U.S. Army during World War I. After the war, he continued to act and direct and also to produce on Broadway and for various regional theaters in the United States and in Great Britain. From 1929 until the early 1950s, he worked primarily as a film director, but frequently appeared in and directed plays on Broadway.
With the introduction of sound to motion pictures, Cromwell was one of many stage directors invited to join Hollywood production teams. In 1929, he worked for Paramount and in 1933 went to RKO. He made over 40 films, most for RKO, although he also directed for a number of independent producers such as David O. Selznick, Walter Wanger, and Samuel Goldwyn. His films include Tom Sawyer (Paramount, 1930), Of Human Bondage (RKO, 1934), Little Lord Fauntleroy (United Artists, 1936), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (RKO, 1940), and Anna and the King of Siam (Fox, 1946). In the 1940s, he was twice president of the Director's Guild of America. Appalled by the House Un-American Activities Committee investigations into alleged communist infiltration into the film industry, Cromwell gradually broke away from films. From this period of disengagement, however, come two of his better films, Caged (United Artists, 1950), for which Eleanor Parker won an Academy Award nomination, and The Goddess (Independent, 1956), for which Paddy Chayefsky wrote the screenplay.
In 1951, his contract with RKO expired and Cromwell was only too happy to accept a part in Point of No Return, which opened on Broadway at the Alvin on December 13, 1951. He won an Antoinette Perry Award for his portrayal of John Gray in that play. He subsequently appeared in or directed a number of Broadway plays, including Mary, Mary (Helen Hayes, March 8, 1961). Increasingly disenchanted with Broadway's commercialism, he became involved in regional theater, where he felt plays were more likely to be judged for their artistic merit. With his wife Ruth Nelson, Cromwell played in the first four seasons of Tyrone Guthrie's Minnesota Theatre Company (1963-1966). He has also worked with the Cleveland Play House, the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, and other regional theaters.
Cromwell married four times and had one son. At the time these papers were processed, he was working on his autobiography.
Scope and Content Note
The John Cromwell Papers, 1902-1972, are arranged in four categories: Correspondence, Motion Pictures, Theater, and Photographs. In addition to correspondence, the papers include scripts, clippings, playbills, production stills, reviews, and other materials.
The CORRESPONDENCE contains letters from writers whose works Cromwell adapted to stage or screen; this includes Joseph Conrad (Victory, 1918), Robert Sherwood (Abe Lincoln in Illinois, RKO, 1940), and Paddy Chayefsky (The Goddess, Independent, 1956). There are also letters and telegrams from performers with whom he worked, including Bette Davis, Ruth Gordon, Katherine Hepburn, and others; and correspondence with his producers, most notably David O. Selznick. Of special interest is Cromwell's correspondence with John Hess of Fortress Productions, which thoroughly documents the production of his Swedish film, A Matter of Morals (United Artists, 1961). Arrangement is alphabetical.
The MOTION PICTURE material includes two scrapbooks and ten bound volumes of scripts, which contain occasional production stills concerning some of his more notable films, 1930-1950. These are arranged chronologically by release date. Following them is a folder of general material including reviews of later films, a partial filmography, and several informative newspaper articles on Cromwell's film career.
The THEATER material contains three scrapbooks and a file on Broadway and various regional theaters. One scrapbook concerns his early career, 1902-1931; another concerns his return to Broadway in Point of No Return in 1951; and the third concerns his appearances in the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre's first season in 1963. Most of this material reflects Cromwell's interest in regional theater as an alternative to Broadway. There are clippings, playbills, and production and promotional material from plays in which Cromwell, his wife Ruth Nelson, or his son James were involved, 1963-1972. The collection also includes a script from The Aspern Papers (Cleveland Play House, February 1963), the only production Cromwell directed after his return to the theater. This material is arranged chronologically; and the regional theater material is further broken down alphabetically by name of company.
The PHOTOGRAPHS are primarily personal and include snapshots of Cromwell's homes, travels, horses, and a wedding in the 1940s.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by John Cromwell, Wilton, Connecticut, December 31, 1968 and October 1972. Accession Number: MCHC68-143, MCHC72-107
Processed by Eleanor McKay and W. R. Coleman, August 9, 1973.
Contents List
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Series: Correspondence, circa 1918-circa 1962
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Box
1
Folder
1
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A-H
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Box
1
Folder
2
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H, continued-Unidentified
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Series: Motion Pictures
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Tom Sawyer (Paramount, 1930)
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Box
8
Folder
2
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Scrapbook
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I Dream Too Much (RKO, 1935)
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Script
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Little Lord Fauntleroy (United Artists, 1935)
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Script
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Banjo on My Knee (Fox, 1936)
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Script
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The Prisoner of Zenda (United Artists, 1937)
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Script
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Made for Each Other (United Artists, 1938)
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Script
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Abe Lincoln in Illinois (RKO, 1939)
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Script
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Box
8
Folder
2
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Scrapbook
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So Ends Our Night (United Artists, 1940)
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Script
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Since You Went Away (United Artists, 1943)
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Script
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Anna and the King of Siam (Fox, 1945)
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Script
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Caged (Warners, 1950)
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Script
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Box
3
Folder
4
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General, 1950-1972
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Series: Theater
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Box
7
Folder
1
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Scrapbook re Cromwell's early career, 1902-1931
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Scrapbook re Point of No Return (Alvin, Dec. 13 1951)
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Regional Theater Material
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Box
4
Folder
2
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American Shakespeare Festival Theatre, 1968-1970
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Cleveland Play House, 1963-1969
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Box
4
Folder
3
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Script, The Aspern Papers, 1963
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Box
4
Folder
4
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Clippings and Correspondence, The Aspern Papers
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Clippings and Playbills, 1964-1969
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Box
4
Folder
6
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Lincoln Center, Repertory Theatre of, 1964-1969
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Box
4
Folder
7-9
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Long Wharf Theatre, 1968-1972
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Minnesota Theatre Company; Tyrone Guthrie Theatre
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1st Season, 1963
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Box
5
Folder
1
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General
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Box
8
Folder
1
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Scrapbook
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Box
5
Folder
2-4
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2nd Season, 1964
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Box
5
Folder
5-6
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3rd Season, 1965
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Box
5
Folder
7
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4th Season, 1966
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Box
5
Folder
8
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5th Season, 1967
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Box
5
Folder
9
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6th Season, 1968
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Box
5
Folder
10
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7th Season, 1969
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Box
6
Folder
1-2
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San Francisco Area Performing Companies, 1967-1972
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Box
6
Folder
3
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Shaw Festival
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Box
6
Folder
4
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Stage/West, 1967-1969
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Box
6
Folder
5-6
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Stratford Festival, 1964-1970
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Box
6
Folder
7
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Yale School of Drama Repertory Theatre, 1968-1970
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Theater, Miscellaneous, 1964-1971
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Box
6
Folder
8
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A-H
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Box
6
Folder
9
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L-W
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Series: Photographs
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Lot A116
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Untitled Album
: Album of 330 small format snapshots, mostly of the Cromwells' country house in Oregon in the 1940s and 1950s. The photos have been removed from the album, but a photocopy indicates the original placing.
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Lot A117
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“Places” Album
: Album with 362 mostly small-format snapshots of various Cromwell homes and visits to places, including at least one European trip (England, Switzerland, Paris). The photos have been removed from the album and their placing in the album indicated on the back of each photo.
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Lot A118
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“Horses” Album
: Album with 221 photos of varying format from 3 × 2 to 8 × 10 showing horses on Cromwell ranches and at races and polo matches. The photos have been removed from the album, but the original placement is indicated on the backs.
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Lot B23
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Wedding Photographs
: Album of 20 11 × 14 wedding photos from the wedding at the USAF base of an unidentified couple sometime in the 1940s.
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