Title: Paul Lazarus Sr. Sales Correspondence: United Artists Corporation Records, Series 1E
Inclusive Dates: 1929-1949

Creators:

• Lazarus, Paul N., Sr., 1888-1965
• United Artists Corporation

Call Number: U.S. Mss 99AN/1E

Quantity: 1.4 cubic feet (4 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives and Museum Collections; owned by the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

General correspondence of Paul N. Lazarus Sr., who worked for United Artists (UA) primarily in domestic sales. Lazarus was an intermediary between the producers representatives and the sales force and also correspondended with exhibitors. Early correspondence concerns contracts and rental terms; later files include letters on exhibitors' attempts to bring anti-trust suits against UA and investigations of exhibitors for fraud. Also included are statistical and other reports.

Note:

Forms part of the United Artists Corporation collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-99an001e

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Paul N. Lazarus Sr. was associated with United Artists from its founding in 1919 and served in various executive capacities related primarily to domestic sales. This file of general sales correspondence brings together materials dealing with the sales aspect of the film distribution business over a twenty year period.

Lazarus' role was that of intermediary between the producers representatives and the sales force. When salesmen turned in contracts unsatisfactory to the producers, Lazarus would instruct the salesmen on the changes necessary for the sale to be approved; when special circumstances dictated that reduced sales terms were appropriate, Lazarus would intervene with the producers and explain the need for reductions.

In performing these functions, Lazarus was in constant correspondence, not only with the sales force and the producers representatives, but with exhibitors as well, since letters of complaint and requests for reduced rentals were frequently directed to him. The earlier portions of the file are particularly interesting for the light which they shed on the problems of the small exhibitor in the face of both the arrival of sound and of the Depression.

In the later years, especially, there is extensive correspondence of a legal nature, involving attempts by exhibitors to bring anti-trust actions against United Artists in the wake of the Paramount decision and involving investigations by exhibitor checking companies (confidential reports, Sargoy and Stein) of possible fraud by theatres.

Finally, the file contains large quantities of statistical reports, and breakdowns on sales, along with surveys, projections and reports dealing with various aspects of sales, distribution and exhibition.

U.S. Mss 99AN/1E Box   1 Folder   1	Boxoffice grosses: daily reports, 1949 January-August
Box   1 Folder   2	Cancellation privilege proposals, 1938-1939 Scope and Content Note: Correspondence with producers on a proposal that exhibitors be allowed to cancel a certain percentage of contracted pictures.
Box   4 Folder   1	Contract forms, 1946-1947
Box   1 Folder   3	Distribution contracts, 1931-1942
Box   1 Folder   4	Double bill package deals, 1949 Scope and Content Note: Proposal to producers to exhibit some of their films as double features.
	Exchange correspondence Scope and Content Note: Includes correspondence from exchanges, exhibitors and lawyers, much of it having to do with potential anti-trust actions.
Box   1 Folder   5	1940-1948
Box   1 Folder   6	Atlanta, 1948
Box   1 Folder   7	Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, 1948
Box   1 Folder   8	Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, 1948
Box   1 Folder   9	Dallas, 1948
Box   1 Folder   10	Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, 1948
Box   1 Folder   11	Kansas City, Los Angeles, 1948
Box   1 Folder   12	Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Haven, 1948
Box   1 Folder   13	New Orleans, New York, Omaha, 1948
Box   1 Folder   14	Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, 1948
Box   1 Folder   15	St. Louis, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C., 1948
	Legal correspondence Scope and Content Note: Includes correspondence from exhibitors and lawyers on alleged anti-trust violations. Documents from U.S. vs. Paramount; Nicholas George vs. Lincoln Park Theatre.
Box   1 Folder   16	1934-1935
Box   1 Folder   17	1949
Box   4 Folder   2	List of commercial theatres operating in the United States, 1945 August 1
Box   4 Folder   3	Lists of theatres refusing checking representatives, 1945, 1946
Box   1 Folder   18	Memos to employees, 1949
	Miscellaneous correspondence
Box   1 Folder   19	1931-1934
Box   2 Folder   1	1935
Box   2 Folder   2	1936-1948
Box   2 Folder   3	1946-1947
Box   2 Folder   4	1948-1949
Box   2 Folder   5	O'Brien, Driscoll, Raftery and Lawler, 1949 Scope and Content Note: UA corporate counsel. Includes motions from I.B. Adelman vs Paramount.
	Played and earned reports (P&E)
Box   2 Folder   6	1943-1944
Box   2 Folder   7	1945 Scope and Content Note: Includes P&E reports on Since You Went Away, February 1945-July 1945; and U.S. Army Camps breakdown of P&E.
Box   2 Folder   8	1946 Scope and Content Note: Includes Five weeks advance billings; U.S. Army Camps breakdown of P&E; Source of revenue, by picture.
Box   2 Folder   9	1947 Scope and Content Note: Includes Five weeks advance billings; U.S. Army Camps breakdown of P&E; Source of revenue, by picture.
Box   2 Folder   10	1948 Scope and Content Note: Includes Source of revenue, by picture; Breakdowns of domestic P&E for 1946, 1947 and 1948 features.
Box   2 Folder   11	1949
Box   2 Folder   12	Price adjustment policies, 1941-1942 Scope and Content Note: UA policies in regard to price adjustments to exhibitors.
Box   2 Folder   13	Raftery, Edward, correspondence, 1949
	Sales correspondence
Box   3 Folder   1	1929-1930 Scope and Content Note: Includes references to the advent of the talking picture and its effect on production and distribution.
Box   3 Folder   2-6	1931-1936 Scope and Content Note: Includes Price, Waterhouse “Summary of Receipts and Expenditures, Mar 14, 1949.”
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Sargoy and Stein correspondence, 1949 January-August
Box   4 Folder   4	Survey on drive-in theatre checking, 1948 December
Box   3 Folder   9	Termination of World in Action series distribution, 1947
Box   3 Folder   10	Veterans Administration (VA) correspondence on exhibition in VA facilities, 1931-1937
Box   3 Folder   11	Withdrawal of Paramount package films from distribution, 1947