The Howard Rodman Papers consist primarily of scripts, stories, and outlines written by Rodman. Miscellaneous personal and professional materials are also included. The material is organized in the following series: a General File, Miscellaneous Writings, Radio, Television, Theater, and Motion Pictures.
Within each of the writings categories, the papers are arranged alphabetically by title. Scripts within the series are arranged chronologically, either by broadcast date or script date.
The General File contains appointment diaries, correspondence, miscellany, student evaluations done by Rodman as a college teacher, telephone messages, and some arbitration decisions from the Writers Guild of America, West. Among the notable correspondents are Melvin Belli, February 25, 1972; Ray Bradbury, November 21, 1968; Paddy Chayefsky, February 25, 1972; Harlan Ellison, November 11, 1974, June 12, 1975, September 10, 1975; Helen Hayes, May 24, 1944; Jack Lemmon, March 3, 1969; Clifford Odets, January 25, 1951; Robert Redford, August 16, 1972; and Richard D. Zanuck, December 15, 1972. Correspondence contains story submissions and rejections, some including critiques of his writings; information regarding productions on which he worked; terms of agreements and payment for his work; complaints about those who tampered with his scripts during rewrites, and information regarding the Radio Writers Guild of the Authors League of America. Of interest is a memorandum (enclosure with letter May 20, 1977) which discusses television's family viewing hour.
Included in the Miscellaneous Writings, Radio, Television, Theater, and Motion Pictures series are variant scripts and discarded pages; notes, outlines, synopses, and treatments; and occasional presentations, continuity clearances, and clippings. Miscellaneous Writings consist of short stories, an outline for a novel, and sketches.
A noteworthy feature of the collection is that researchers can examine Rodman's development as a writer over a period of more than twenty-five years. His entire career is highlighted here--from his short stories of the early 1940s, to radio in that same decade, to television in both the 1950s and 1960s, through his later motion picture scripts and novels. Furthermore, the material offers many examples of the skills of a professional writer, as well as evidence of the development--by slow, painstaking revision--of a sophisticated script. Often the scripts and their several revisions have been bound into volumes. The volumes have since been microfilmed, and the volumes were discarded. The motion picture Winning is extensively documented in this manner.
Other interesting aspects of the material are the examples of documentary scripts (Box 15, Folder 12), pilot scripts (Box 17, Folder 2), and instances of plots re-worked for different media (Box 1, Folder 50; Box 5, Folder 26). In addition, Rodman has often added personal explanatory notes to the scripts.
