Title: James C. Gutman Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1973-1980

Creator:

• Gutman, James C., 1946-

Call Number: Mss 671

Quantity: 0.8 c.f. (2 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

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

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a filmmaker including his production records for two films, Hollywood on Trial, concerning the blacklist of Hollywood writers and actors, and I'm a Stranger Here Myself: A Portrait of Nicholas Ray. The production files consist of correspondence, financial and insurance records, contracts, releases, publicity clippings and press releases, research materials, transcripts, and biographical sketches. There are also incorporation papers from Gutman's production company, October Films.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00671

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James Gutman was born in Philadelphia in 1946. He received a B.A. from Yale University in 1968 and an M.A. from Harvard in 1970. In 1971 he served as production assistant and still photographer for the feature film Que Hacer filmed in Chile and distributed for Impact Films. The next year Gutman and David Halpern, Jr., a film reviewer and writer, directed and produced a series of short educational films for television and film festivals. In 1973 Gutman became director of the Film School at the Orson Welles Complex, Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, he and Halpern, then the Film School's director of special projects, conceived the idea of a feature length documentary about director Nicholas Ray. The two later wrote the screenplay and under the auspices of their film company, October Films, Inc., produced the documentary, I'm a Stranger Here Myself: A portrait of Nicholas Ray(1974). Gutman's second film, Hollywood on Trial, concerned blacklisting in the film industry during the 1940's and 1950's.

Gutman also has written film journal articles and screenplays.

The collection consists of production and related records from the films Hollywood on Trial and I'm a Stranger Here Myself: A Portrait of Nicholas Ray. Files for each film include correspondence; financial records such as budgets and prospectuses, cost and expense reports, insurance records, and grant requests; contracts, releases, and legal correspondence; publicity clippings and press releases; and research materials gathered for production. Biographical sketches of Gutman, Halpern, and others associated with the making of Hollywood on Trial are located in Box 1, Folder 1. Hollywood on Trial files also include records of the producers' selection of films and photographic stills and transcripts used in the making of the film, a treatment, credits, and production notes. Within the legal files for I'm a Stranger Here Myself are papers from the incorporation of October Films in 1973.

Acquisition Information

Presented by James Gutman, New York, New York, 1981. Accession Number: MCHC81-064

Processing Information

Processed by Sarah Cooper and Christian Frazza, 1983.

	Hollywood on Trial Files
Box   1 Folder   1	Biographies of Personnel
Box   1 Folder   2-3	Correspondence, 1975-April 1980
	Financial Records
Box   1 Folder   4	Budgets and Prospectus, 1975-1976
Box   1 Folder   5	Costs, 1974-1976
Box   1 Folder   6	Daily Expense Records, 1974-1976
Box   1 Folder   7	Expense Records and Correspondence, 1976-1977
Box   1 Folder   8	Expenses for Envision Project, 1975-1976
Box   1 Folder   9	Insurance
Box   1 Folder   10	National Endowment for the Arts Grant Proposals, Budgets, and Expenses
	Legal files
Box   1 Folder   11	Contracts and Agreements, 1975
Box   1 Folder   12	Correspondence, 1975-1976
Box   1 Folder   13	Releases, 1975
	Publicity
Box   1 Folder   14	Clippings and Press Releases, 1975-1979
Box   1 Folder   15	Distribution
Box   1 Folder   16	Film Festival
	Research Materials
Box   2 Folder   1	Film and Photographic Stills Selection
Box   2 Folder   2	Newspaper Articles and Miscellany, 1976
	Transcripts
Box   2 Folder   3	French
Box   2 Folder   4	Interviews
Box   2 Folder   5	Narration and Script
Box   2 Folder   6	Treatment, Credits, and Production Notes
	I'm a Stranger Here Myself: A Portrait of Nicholas Ray Files
Box   2 Folder   7-8	Correspondence, 1973, June - 1978, April
	Financial Records
Box   2 Folder   9	American Film Institute Grant Application, 1973
Box   2 Folder   10	Budget Summary
Box   2 Folder   11	Insurance, 1973-1974
	Legal Files
Box   2 Folder   12	Agreement with Nicholas Ray, 1973
Box   2 Folder   13	Incorporation of October Films-Correspondence and Agreements, 1973
Box   2 Folder   14	Releases, 1974
Box   2 Folder   15	Publicity