Title: John Kobal Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1932-1987

Creator:

• Kobal, John

Call Number: Mss 1218; Audio 1369A

Quantity: 2.4 cubic feet (2 record center cartons and 1 archives box) and 54 audio recordings
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:

Papers of John Kobal, a writer and researcher in the field of film, television, and drama. The predominate part of the collection are transcripts and audio recordings of interviews Kobal conducted for various book projects. A small amount of correspondence and articles written by Kobal are included along with movie scripts he collected.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01218

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Acquisition Information

Presented by John Kobal in several accessions between 1978 and 1988. MCHC78-050, MCHC78-084, MCHC79-081, MCHC80-036, MCHC80-089, MCHC83-009, MCHC83-016, M87-148, M88-038, M88-008, M88-158

Processing Information

The Kobal papers were processed in February 2020 by Mary Huelsbeck and Haley Jensson. Five accessions were incorporated into one and the collection was given the manuscript number Mss 1218.

MCHC83-009 and MCHC83-016 both consisted of scripts which were all retained.

M88-008 and M88-038 consisted primarily of galley and page proofs of the books People Will Talk, The Art of Hollywood, Gotta Sing Gotta Dance, and Portrait Photographers. The combined quantity of these two accessions was 4.0 cubic feet. The only paper materials retained from these two accessions were correspondence, interview transcripts and some miscellaneous materials; the galleys and page proofs were discarded.

M88-158 consisted of audio recordings and paper documents. The paper documents included in M88-158 were retained and incorporated into the collection.

M88-038 consisted of one archives box containing a copy of the 1983 edition of the book Gotta Sing Gotta Dance, a heavily edited copy of the 1971 edition of Gotta Sing Gotta Dance with parts of many pages cut out, and a folder of book reviews along with a few pieces of correspondence and interview transcripts for Arthur Freed and Madison Lacy, Lois Lindsey and Mabel Marsh. The 1983 edition was added to the WCFTR library, the heavily edited 1971 edition was discarded, the transcripts and correspondence were added to existing folders, and a new folder was created for the reviews.

The audiotapes in M88-008 and M88-158 were processed and digitized in late 2019 and early 2020 by Arik Kriha. The audio number for the collection is 1369A.

A program for the television series Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film / by Thames Television was separated and put into the WCFTR Item file (#A519/WCFTR).

Motion picture playsInterviewsScripts (documents)Manuscript collectionSound recordingsPhotographs

Mss 1218	Series: Correspondence
Box   1   Folder   1	1970-1979
Box   1   Folder   2	1980-1986
Box   1   Folder   3	undated
Box   1   Folder   4	Legends book series, 1985-1986, undated
Box   1   Folder   5	People Will Talk, 1985-1986, undated
	Series: Interview Transcripts	⇧
Box   1   Folder   6	Agutter, Jenny, undated
Box   1   Folder   7	Allen, Woody, undated
Box   1   Folder   8	Arletty, undated, 1985
Box   1   Folder   9	Astaire, Fred, undated
Box   1   Folder   10	Baclanova, Olga, undated
Box   1   Folder   11	Bankhead, Tallulah, undated
Box   1   Folder   12	Bergman, Ingrid, undated
Box   1   Folder   13	Blondell, Joan, undated
Box   1   Folder   14	Brent, Evelyn, undated
Box   1   Folder   15	Brooks, Louise, undated, 1965
Box   1   Folder   16	Coburn, Robert, undated
Box   1   Folder   17	Cole, Jack, undated
Box   1   Folder   18	Crawford, Joan, undated
Box   1   Folder   19	Dunne, Irene, undated
Box   1   Folder   20	Duprez, June, undated
Box   1   Folder   21	Engstead, John, undated, 1983
Box   1   Folder   22	Fontaine, Joan, undated, 1968-1985
Box   1   Folder   23	Freed, Arthur, 1970, undated
Box   1   Folder   24	Gish, Dorothy, undated
Box   1   Folder   25	Godowsky, Dagmar, undated
Box   1   Folder   26	Guilaroff, Sidney, undated
Box   1   Folder   27	Hathaway, Henry, 1974
Box   1   Folder   28	Hawks, Howard, undated
Box   1   Folder   29	Hayworth, Rita, 1986-1987, undated
Box   1   Folder   30	Hepburn, Katherine, 1969, undated
Box   1   Folder   31	Hopkins, Miriam, undated
Box   1   Folder   32	Hurrell, George, undated
Box   1   Folder   33	Krige, Alice, undated
Box   1   Folder   34	La Plante, Laura, undated
Box   1   Folder   35	Lacy, Madison, Lois Lindsey, Mabel Marsh, 1971, undated
Box   1   Folder   36	Loos, Anita, undated
Box   1   Folder   37	Louis, Jean, 1974
Box   1   Folder   38	Lupino, Ida, undated
Box   1   Folder   39	Milestone, Lewis, undated
Box   1   Folder   40	Minnelli, Vincente, undated
Box   1   Folder   41	Moore, Colleen, undated
Box   1   Folder   42	Morrisey, Paul, undated, 1985
Box   1   Folder   43	Pan, Hermes, 1977
Box   1   Folder   44	Ray, Sheila, undated
Box   1   Folder   45	Rich, Irene, undated
Box   1   Folder   46	Stankwyk, Barbara, undated
Box   1   Folder   47	Seeger, Gwen, undated
Box   1   Folder   48	Stanley, Kim, undated, 1983
Box   1   Folder   49	Sten, Anna, undated
Box   2   Folder   1	Swanson, Gloria, undated,1966
Box   2   Folder   2	West, Mae, undated
Box   2   Folder   3	Willinger, Laszlo, undated
Box   2   Folder   4	Wood, Natalie, undated
Box   2   Folder   5	Young, Loretta, undated
Box   2   Folder   6	The Hollywood Pinup, 1983 April
	Series: Programs	⇧
Box   2   Folder   7	British Film Institute awards, 1987
Box   2   Folder   8	British Film Institute Cinema Song and Dance, undated
	Series: Scripts	⇧
Box   2   Folder   9	Blonde Venus, 1932 April 18
Box   2   Folder   10	The Buccaneer, 1938 January 4
Box   2   Folder   11	The Greatest Show on Earth, 1950 December 22
Box   2   Folder   12	Northwest Mounted Police, 1939 November 22
Box   2   Folder   13	Northwest Mounted Police, 1940 January 5
Box   2   Folder   14	The Plainsman, 1936 July 14
Box   2   Folder   15	Reap the Wild Wind, 1941 May 22
Box   2   Folder   16	Samson and Delilah, 1948 September 7
Box   2   Folder   17	The Ten Commandments, 1956 July 6
Box   3   Folder   1	Unconquered, 1946 April 25
	Series: Writings	⇧
Box   3   Folder   2	de Mille program notes, 1987
Box   3   Folder   3	"Deborah Kerr: An Appreciation," 1986 August
Box   3   Folder   4	Miscellaneous, undated
Box   3   Folder   7	Reviews, 1983-1984
Box   3   Folder   5	Rock Hudson book review, 1986 August 14
Box   3   Folder   6	Whales of August article, 1986 December 24
Box   3   Folder   8	Gotta Sing Gotta Dance: A Pictorial History of Film Musicals, edits, 1977 May 28
	Series: Audio Recordings Physical Description: 54 audio recordings	⇧
Audio   1369A/1	Hepburn, Katharine, undated
Audio   1369A/2-3	Young, Loretta, undated
Audio   1369A/4	Davis, Bette and Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, undated
Audio   1369A/5	Crawford, Joan and Anita Loos, Dagmar Godowsky, undated
Audio   1369A/6-7	Brooks, Louise, 1982 April
Audio   1369A/8	Myers, Carmel and Olga Baclanova, Louise Brooks, undated
Audio   1369A/9	Blondell, Joan and Sylvia Sidney, Jack Cole, 1965
Audio   1369A/10	Seeger, Gwen and Sheila Ray, undated
Audio   1369A/11	Lindsey, Louis and Arthur Freed, undated
Audio   1369A/12	Markey, Enid and Olivia de Haviland, Joan Fontaine, Edith Head, Wiard "Bill" Ihnen, undated
Audio   1369A/13-14	Bankhead, Tallulah, undated
Audio   1369A/15-19	Hayworth, Rita, undated
Audio   1369A/20	Swanson, Gloria, undated
Audio   1369A/21	Lupino, Ida and Peter Ibbetson, undated
Audio   1369A/22	Swanson, Gloria and Jacqueline Logan, May McAvoy, undated
Audio   1369A/23	Brent, Evelyn and Sheila Ray, Laura La Plante, undated
Audio   1369A/24	Brent, Evelyn and Irene Rich, undated
Audio   1369A/25	Hudson, Rock and Jean Louis, undated
Audio   1369A/26	McCrea, Joel and June Duprez, undated
Audio   1369A/27	Duprez, June, undated
Audio   1369A/28	Hawks, Howard and Diane Varsi, undated
Audio   1369A/29	Mankiewicz, Joseph L., undated
Audio   1369A/30	Hathaway, Henry (on Rita Hayworth and Hollywood), undated
Audio   1369A/31	Brooks, Louise and Jacqueline Logan, Enid Markey, undated
Audio   1369A/32	Gagover, Lil and George Marshall (regarding Rita Hayworth), undated
Audio   1369A/33	Caine, Michael (on Albert Bridge), 1984 September
Audio   1369A/34	Sondergaard, Gale and Teresa Wright, undated
Audio   1369A/35	Fitzgerald, Geraldine and Woody Allen, Rock Hudson, undated
Audio   1369A/36	Prentiss, Paula and Dorothy Gish, Geraldine Fitzgerald, undated
Audio   1369A/37	Milestone, Lewis and Richard Moore and cameraman on Myra Breckinridge, undated
Audio   1369A/38	Brent, Evelyn, undated
Audio   1369A/39	Marsh, Mabel and Lois Lindsay, Madison Lacy (Berkeley Girls), 1971
Audio   1369A/40	Hutton, Betty and Lana Turner, undated
Audio   1369A/41	Mirren, Helen, undated
Audio   1369A/42-43	Stanley, Kim, undated
Audio   1369A/44	Minelli, Vincente, undated
Audio   1369A/45	Dunne, Irene and Raquel Welch, 1970, 1981
Audio   1369A/46-49	Sondergaard, Gale, undated
Audio   1369A/50	Gish, Dorothy, undated
Audio   1369A/51	Marsh, Mabel and Lois Lindsay, Madison Lacy (Berkeley Girls), undated
Audio   1369A/52	MacLaine, Shirley and MGM promotional tape for Ask Any Girl, undated
Audio   1369A/53	Soundtrack for Dass Leben Kann So Schon Sein, undated
Audio   1369A/54	Kobal lecture on German entertainment films of the 1930s, undated