This file of notes, rights, and contracts consists of materials necessary for the production and the transfer of ownership of motion pictures. Thus, the file contains such things as original production contracts; research into previous uses of particular titles; assignments to producers of the rights of authors, writers, and composers; copyright certificates; Hays office seals; and contracts, exhibits, warranty statements, etc., which prove the ownership of the pictures involved.
The file documents pictures produced during the 1940s. For each picture there is a “program” date: this is the season in which the picture was produced and, in general, released; e.g., a motion picture produced for the 1943-1944 exhibition season will bear the date 1943-1944. Thus, while there will often be materials dated after the program date (since a picture would be in distribution, change ownership, or be involved in litigation) there are relatively few if any materials dated before the program date.
The paragraphs that follow indicate the various kinds of records to be found in this series. Most of the folders contain checklists which record the materials received in a number of categories; these are useful in determining the type of data to be found in the folder.
The file contains materials dealing with the ownership of motion pictures: production contracts (usually drawn up by the Philipps, Nizer law firm; certified copies of resolutions dealing with powers of attorney; letters amending contracts; assignments of perpetual title to motion pictures; warranty statements relating to ownership of pictures; exhibits relating to loans; affidavits of payment of costs; delivery certificates from film processing laboratories; and bills of sale for pictures.
Also included are materials dealing more directly with the production of motion pictures. These include lists of previous uses of specific titles (usually drawn up by Ligon Johnson, attorneys); MPPDA title approval and certificates; certificates of copyright registration (both class D, compositions, and class L, for the actual pictures); assignments of story rights and music rights to producers; music cue sheets; certificates by authors and composers in the employ of producers, studios or companies stating that their work is the property of the employer; and a few scattered scripts.
Of special interest are the items known as “summaries of production costs” or “certified statements of costs.” These give detailed breakdowns of the production costs of motion pictures and include: names of directors, producers, associate producers, cameramen, and writers; variant titles; starting and finishing dates; and breakdowns of over twenty different classifications of costs, including the names and salaries of cast members.
