Title: Herman Shumlin Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1930-1968

Creator:

• Shumlin, Herman, 1898-

Call Number: U.S. Mss 19AN; Micro 1043

Quantity: 8.6 c.f. (21 archives boxes, 1 flat box, oversize items) and 4 reels of microfilm (35mm)

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 leading producer and director of Broadway dramas consisting of correspondence, production and publicity materials, financial and legal records, clippings, a few scripts and directors' prompt books, and miscellaneous production materials. Coverage is most complete for The Deputy (1964) and Inherit the Wind (1955), while The Corn is Green (1943), Grand Hotel, (1930), The Male Animal (1940), and plays done in association with Lillian Hellman are documented primarily by microfilmed pressbooks. The correspondence documents Shumlin's involvement in organizations such as the Council of the Living Theatre and the League of New York Theatres; his motion picture work for Warner Brothers during World War II; his financial support of numerous theatrical and social action organizations; and his relationship with British and American actors, playwrights, and authors, producers and directors, critics, composers, and others.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0019an

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Herman Shumlin, a leading producer and director of serious Broadway drama, was born in Atwood, Colorado on December 6, 1898. Although his formal education ended after only one year of high school, he became a reporter for the New York Clipper (a theatrical weekly) in 1924.

Continuing a theatrically-oriented career, he served as a motion picture editor for Billboard from 1924 to 1925 and later as a press agent for Schwab and Mandel (1926) and manager for producer Jed Harris (1927), before turning to theatrical production on his own by staging the drama The Celebrity in 1927. In 1930 Shumlim experienced his first real successes with The Last Mile and Grand Hotel.

Some of Shumlin's best work during the 1930's arose from his association with Lillian Hellman who was originally a play reader in his office. He produced and directed The Children's Hour for her in 1934 and later staged four other Hellman dramas including The Little Foxes (1939), Watch on the Rhine (1941) and The Searching Wind (1944). During World War II he directed Watch on the Rhine for Warner Brothers, following it with Confidential Agent in 1945.

Besides the Hellman dramas, the best known hits that Shumlin produced and/or directed include The Male Animal (1939 or 1940), The Corn is Green (1943), which starred Ethel Barrymore, and Inherit the Wind (1955) with Paul Muni and Melvyn Douglas. His controversial production of The Deputy in 1964 earned him a Tony Award. Some of Shumlin's other stagings include The Merchant of Yonkers (later The Matchmaker, 1938), Wedding Breakfast (1954), Only in America (1959), and Tall Story (1959). Spofford, staged in 1967, was his one attempt at writing a play.

Described as a “passionate political liberal” Shumlin was a generous contributor to many social action causes. He also served as secretary of the League of New York Theatres and was active on behalf of the Council for the Living Theatre and the Committee of Theatrical Producers.

Herman Shumlin was married three times (Rose Keane, Carmen Englander, and Diana Shumlin), the first two of which ended in divorce. He died on June 14, 1979.

The Shumlin Papers are organized as GENERAL PAPERS and THEATRICAL PRODUCTION FILES.

The Shumlin Papers came to the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theatre Research in two segments. The original material, which covered the period from 1930 to 1962, was received in 1962, and additional material covering the early 1960's was presented in 1969. During the 1970's the 36 original press books received with the collection were microfilmed in order to preserve their contents, and the originals were discarded. In 1992, as part of a project to reappraise the papers of a number of theatrical producers, a large quantity of the detailed financial records (primarily those documenting Inherit the Wind) were discarded from the Shumlin Papers, and the two additions were rearranged.

The resulting collection does not present full coverage of Shumlin's career. There is no information either of his earliest productions or his work before he became a producer. Even after 1930, the date of the first documented play, not all of the dramas with which Shumlin was associated as producer and/or director are included. There is also no documentation whatsoever following his work on The Deputy in 1964. Even taking into account the considerable reduction in volume which took place as a result of the 1992 reappraisal, it is unlikely that the material received by WCFTR represents the “extensive files” described by Director Robert Hethmon during a 1961 field trip to New York City.

Production records for his association with Lillian Hellman were received by WCFTR not as part of the Shumlin Collection, but as part of the papers of Kermit Bloomgarden, who worked with Shumlin as general manager and co-producer from 1935 to 1945. Unfortunately those records were returned to Bloomgarden in 1962 at his request, and at the time of the reappraisal in 1992 they had not been returned to archival custody. (Some records of The Children's Hour were later added to the Bloomgarden Papers.) Shumlin's association with Lillian Hellman is primarily documented here in microfilmed scrapbooks, scattered general correspondence, and in the production records on The Searching Wind. Several of his other important early productions such as The Corn is Green, Grand Hotel, and The Male Animal are also represented chiefly by microfilmed pressbooks.

In general, the business aspects of theatrical production is less fully represented in the Shumlin collection than in the papers of Herman Levin and other theatrical producers held by WCFTR, and only Inherit the Windcan be considered fully documented in that respect. (There is, however, unusually complete correspondence concerning his relationship with his partners and investors.)

But unlike the collections of producers who involved themselves very little with the artistic aspects of production, the Shumlin papers contain rich material about his activity in that regard. There is extensive correspondence relating to his relationship with playwrights and the revision of particular dramas, although there are only a few draft scripts here. Shumlin's reputation as a tireless searcher for promising scripts is abundantly documented, and his relationship with British playwrights, promoters, and theatrical agents is especially prominent.

The GENERAL PAPERS, which are alphabetically arranged by subject or type of documentation, contain a few biographical clippings, general correspondence, and specialized correspondence files relating to his activity in the Council of the Living Theatre and the League of New York Theatres. For the Council of the Living Theatre, there are also minutes and reports. Additional special correspondence regarding charitable contributions documents his donations to a wide range of theatrical and social action causes, although for the majority Shumlin's support appears to have been solely financial.

Several files in this section relate to his association with Warner Brothers during World War II. Included is a budget for Confidential Agent and drafts of Shumlin's contract with Jack Warner. (Additional correspondence related to Shumlin's Hollywood years may be found in the General Correspondence.) Another special correspondence file relates to a particular effort to import British drama, while a file of handwritten notes concerns his play selection process during the late 1930's.

The general correspondence should not be overlooked by researchers, as it contains important production-related information as well as other professional and personal letters which range in subject from his real estate dealings to his support for particular legislation to his relationship with many people in the theatre. The quality of the correspondence varies over time, and coverage is best for the period from World War II to the mid-1950's and for 1964 and 1965. For some periods there are gaps in the incoming letters, and Shumlin's connection with some of the prominent correspondents noted below may only be inferred from carbons of outgoing letters. The following is a partial list of prominent correspondents for whom there are either incoming or outgoing letters in the general correspondence. Only the first incidence of correspondence with that individual has been noted, and the researcher should know that for some individuals there are also scattered later letters.

1938

Leland Hayward

1941

Marshall Field, Lillian Helman, Jack Warner

1942

Bette Davis, Howard Dietz

1943

Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Hal B. Wallis

1945

Humphrey Bogart, Charles Boyer, Peter Lorre

1949

Fanny Brice, Rex Harrison, Edward G. Robinson, Cornelia Otis Skinner, William Wyler

1950-1951

Moss Hart, Laurence Olivier, James G. Patton, William Saroyan, Emlyn Williams

1956

Theodore Bikel, Rod Serling

1958

S.N. Behrman, Lillian Hellman

1961

Michael Kanin

1962

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, William Styron, Margaret Webster

1963

Irving Berlin, Roddy McDowell

1964

Hannah Arndt, Herbert Biberman, Jeremy Brett, Hume Cronyn, Harold Prince, Maximilian Schell, Leonard Spigelgass, Barrie Stavis, Studs Terkel, Tennessee Williams, William Wyler

Undated correspondence

Maurice Evans, Albert & Frances Hackett, Archibald MacLeish

Also in the GENERAL PAPERS are a few biographical clippings, articles and statements written by Shumlin about the theatre in general and specific productions, and copies of state and federal income tax forms which track his fluctuating financial condition from 1941 to 1968.

The THEATRICAL PRODUCTION FILES are arranged alphabetically by title and thereunder alphabetically by record type. The material variously includes correspondence, contracts and agreements, box office statistics, financial statements and weekly settlements, clippings, casting information, programs, publicity and microfilmed pressbooks, and some information on technical production, with Bicycle Ride to Nevada, The Deputy, Gertie, and Inherit the Wind being the most completely documented dramas. There are annotated and draft scripts for a number of productions such as Bicycle Ride to Nevada and Inherit the Wind, and for Tonight in Samarkand and Wedding Breakfast director's prompt scripts are included. There is also information on many plays that Shumlin only considered for production.

The production-related correspondence is particular valuable for its documentation of Shumlin's involvement with his partners and investors; with the writers of many represented plays such as Rolf Hochhuth and Lawrence & Lee; and with some actors. For The Deputy there is extensive documentation of the controversy this play generated among the general public.

Important personalities noted in the production correspondence include:

• Biggest Thief - Dalton Trumbo
• Dear Me - Ron Leibman
• The Deputy - Gertrude Berg, Hume Cronyn, Alec Guiness, George Kerstein, Michael Myerberg, Arthur Goldberg, Cyril Ritchard, Shepard Traube
• Gertie - Glynis Johns
• Inherit the Wind - Ed Begley, Victor Borge, Fredric March
• Jeb - David Merrick
• Lace on Her Petticoat - Brooks Atkinson, Billy Rose, Lee Shubert
• No for an Answer - Marc Blitzstein
• Only in America - Diahnn Carroll, Fannie Hurst
• To Dorothy, A Son - Jean Arthur
• Searching Wind - Betty Davis, Fredric March, Jack Warner
• White-haired Boy - Fredric March
• Unproduced plays - Albert and Frances Hackett, Arthur Miller, John O'Hara, John Steinbeck, James Thurber

Acquisition Information

Portions on loan from Carl Schaeffer, New York, N.Y., 1962, presented 1969; and additions presented by Herman Shumlin, New York, N.Y., 1969. Accession Number: MCHC62-042, MCHC69-105

The Case File in the Archives Division contains a calendar inventory of the Joris Ivens/Herman Shumlin Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which consists largely of correspondence to and from Shumlin, 1936-1942, relating to two organizations, Contemporary Historians, Inc., and History Today, and films with which they were associated.

U.S. Mss 19AN	Series: General Papers
	Biographical clippings
Box   1 Folder   1	Loose
Micro 1043 Reel   4 Frame   644	Scrapbook, 1940-1961
U.S. Mss 19AN Box   1 Folder   2	Confidential Agent, Motion picture budget, 1945
	Correspondence
	General
Box   1 Folder   3-9	1934-1951
Box   2	1952-1964, July
Box   3 Folder   1-7	1964, August-1968, July; n.d.
Box   3 Folder   8-9	re charitable contributions
Box   4 Folder   1	Council of the Living Theatre, 1950-1955
Box   4 Folder   2	Financial miscellany, 1941, 1957-1964
Box   4 Folder   3-4	League of New York Theatres, Correspondence and negotiations, 1949-1964
Box   4 Folder   5	London tour in search of plays, 1949-1950
Box   4 Folder   6	Notes re prospective plays, 1935-1938, n.d.
Box   4 Folder   7	Speeches and statements, 1941-1968
Box   4 Folder   8	Warner Brothers contracts, 1941-1944
	Series: Theatrical Production Files	⇧
Box   4 Folder   9	“The Assistant,” Correspondence and contracts, 1958-1959
	Bicycle Ride to Nevada (1963)
Box   4 Folder   10	Casting
Box   17 Folder   1	Contracts
Box   17 Folder   11	Correspondence
Box   5 Folder   1	Miscellaneous financial records
Box   5 Folder   2	Limited partnership
Box   5 Folder   3	Rehearsal notes
Box   5 Folder   4	Reviews
	Script
Box   5 Folder   5	Typed draft of Acts II and III (anno.), n.d.
Box   5 Folder   6	“Dangerfield” mimeo script (anno.) by Robert Thom, n.d.
Box   5 Folder   7	Mimeo script (anno.), n.d.
Box   5 Folder   8	Mimeo script (anno.), n.d.
	The Biggest Thief in Town (1948)
Box   5 Folder   9	Audit
Box   17 Folder   2	Box office statements
Box   5 Folder   10	Correspondence, 1948-1949
Box   5 Folder   11	Limited partership
Box   5 Folder   12	“Birds Still Sing,” Correspondence, 1962
	The Children's Hour (1934)
Micro 1043	Scrapbooks
Reel   1 Frame   1	New York (Vols. 1-2)
Reel   1 Frame   407	Tour (Vols. 3-7)
U.S. Mss 19AN	The Corn Is Green (1943)
Box   5 Folder   13	Ledger
Micro 1043	Scrapbooks
Reel   1 Frame   544	December 1942-January, 1943 (Vol. 8)
Reel   1 Frame   594	October, 1940-January 1942 (Vol. 9)
Reel   2 Frame   1	, November 1940 (Vol. 10)
Reel   2 Frame   54	, January 1942-July 1944 (Vol. 11)
U.S. Mss 19AN	Daphne Laureola (1950)
Box   5 Folder   14	Contracts
Box   5 Folder   15	Correspondence
Box   6 Folder   1	Ledger
Box   6 Folder   2	Limited partnership
Box   6 Folder   3	Miscellaneous financial records and properties
Box   6 Folder   4	Reviews
Box   6 Folder   5	Script revision notes
Micro 1043	Days to Come (1936)
Reel   2 Frame   147	Scrapbook 12, 1936
U.S. Mss 19AN	Dear Me, The Sky Is Falling (1963)
Box   6 Folder   6	Clippings
Box   6 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1962-1965
Box   6 Folder   8	Program
	The Deputy (1964)
Box   6 Folder   9	Advertising
Box   6 Folder   10	Arbitrations
Box   6 Folder   11	Canadian production
Box   6 Folder   12	Casting
Box   6 Folder   13	Chicago production
	Clippings
Box   20 Folder   1-2	Catholic newspapers and magazines
Box   20 Folder   3	Christian newspapers and magazines
Box   20 Folder   4-5	Jewish newspapers
Box   20 Folder   6	National magazines
Box   20 Folder   7	New York and Chicago newspapers
Box   21 Folder   1	English newspapers
Box   21 Folder   2	German newspapers
Box   21 Folder   3	Hungarian and eastern european newspapers
Box   21 Folder   4	Italian newspapers
Box   21 Folder   5	Foreign reviews
Box   22	Miscellaneous clippings
	Correspondence
Box   6 Folder   14	1963, January-October
Box   7	1963, November-1964, July
Box   8 Folder   1-3	1964, August-1965, August, n.d.
Box   8 Folder   4	Rolf Hochhuth correspondence
Box   8 Folder   5	Financial miscellany
Box   8 Folder   6	Interviews and statements by HS
Box   8 Folder   7	Literature distributed by pickets
Box   8 Folder   8	Music
Box   8 Folder   9	Production rights
Box   8 Folder   10	Program
Box   8 Folder   11	Publication rights
Box   8 Folder   12	Rome production
Box   8 Folder   13	Tour subscription controversy
	Gertie
Box   8 Folder   14	Casting
Box   8 Folder   15	Contracts
Box   9 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1951-1952
Box   9 Folder   2	Financial miscellany
Box   9 Folder   3	Ledger
Box   9 Folder   4	Limited partnership
WCFTR Title File	Photographs
U.S. Mss 19AN Box   9 Folder   5	Publicity
Box   9 Folder   6	Rewrites
Micro 1043 Reel   2 Frame   188	Scrapbook 13, November 1951-February 1952
U.S. Mss 19AN Box   9 Folder   7	Getting Married (1950), Ledger
Box   9 Folder   8	Grand Hotel (1930), Statement
Micro 1043	The Great Big Doorstep
Reel   2 Frame   235	Scrapbook 14, May-December, 1942
U.S. Mss 19AN	High Ground (1951)
Box   13 Folder   9	Miscellany, 1950-1951
Box   9 Folder   9	“How I Took Antwerp,” 1961
Box   9 Folder   10	The Immoralist
	Inherit the Wind (1955)
Box   9 Folder   11	Ads
Box   9 Folder   12-13	Advertising invoices
Box   10 Folder   1	Arbitrations and court cases
Box   10 Folder   2	Casting
	Contracts
Box   10 Folder   3	General
Box   10 Folder   4	Actors (Weeded)
Box   10 Folder   5	Lawrence and Lee
Box   10 Folder   6	Theatres
	Correspondence
Box   10 Folder   7-10	1955-1956
Box   11 Folder   1	1957-1959
Box   11 Folder   2	English and French productions
Box   11 Folder   3	Estimated expenses
Box   11 Folder   4	Financial statements, 1955-1957
Box   11 Folder   5	“Layoff expenditures”
Box   11 Folder   6	Lighting
Oversize Folder	Two light plots by Feder
Box   11 Folder   7-8	Limited partnership
Box   17 Folder   3-5	Manager's weekly statements (New York & tour), 1955-1957
Box   17 Folder   6	Motion picture statements, 1961-1965
Box   11 Folder   9	Music
Box   11 Folder   10	Playbills
Box   11 Folder   11	Promotion and tickets
Box   11 Folder   12	Rehearsal schedule and prompt books
	Salary lists
Box   19 Folder   1-2	1955-1956
Box   19 Folder   3-4	National company, 1956-1957
Box   11 Folder   13	1959
Oversize Folder	Set design blueprint 13r
Micro 1043	Scrapbooks
Reel   2 Frame   270	New York company, February 1955-March 1956 (Vols. 15-16)
Reel   2 Frame   540	National company, December 1955-June 1956 (Vol. 17)
U.S. Mss 19AN	Scripts
Box   12 Folder   2	Mimeo script (anno.) by Lawrence and Lee, February 21-March 16, 1955
Box   12 Folder   3	Mimeo script (anno.), ca. April 21, 1955
Box   12 Folder   1	Typed prompt script, post April 21, 1955
Box   12 Folder   4	Script revision notes
Box   12 Folder   5	Taxes, 1955-1965
Box   12 Folder   6	Technical production (Wardrobe, properties, scenery)
Box   12 Folder   7	Tour correspondence, 1955-1956
Box   12 Folder   8	Vouchers, Pre-production
	Weekly settlements
Folder   9 Box   12	1955-1957
Box   13 Folder   1	Tour
Box   13 Folder   2	The Innocents (1950), Notes and correspondence, , 1949
	J.B. (1958)
Box   13 Folder   5	Financial statement, 1946
Box   13 Folder   6	Ledger
Box   13 Folder   7	Limited partnership
Box   13 Folder   8	Published script galleys, Annotated
	Jeb (1946)
Box   13 Folder   3	Contracts
Box   13 Folder   4	Correspondence, 1944-1947
Box   13 Folder   10	Kind Lady (1935), Royalty statements
	Lace on Her Petticoat (1951)
Box   13 Folder   11	Atkinson review
Box   13 Folder   12	Budget
Box   13 Folder   14	Contracts
Box   13 Folder   15	Correspondence
Box   13 Folder   13	Financial statements
Box   13 Folder   16	Limited partnership
Box   13 Folder   17	Miscellany
Box   13 Folder   18	Promotion and publicity
Micro 1043 Reel   2 Frame   591	Scrapbook 18, July-October 1951
U.S. Mss 19AN	Script
Box   14 Folder   1	Kate Smith radio show
Box   14 Folder   3	Revision notes
Box   14 Folder   2	Royalties
Micro 1043	The Last Mile (1930)
Reel   2 Frame   662	Scrapbook 19, March-October 1930
	The Little Foxes (1939)
	Scrapbooks
Reel   3 Frame   1	New York, December 1939-February 1939 (Vol. 20)
Reel   3 Frame   296	, January-February 1939 (Vol. 21)
Reel   3 Frame   312	, February 1940-August 1941 (Vol. 22)
U.S. Mss 19AN	The Little Moon of Alban (1960)
Box   14 Folder   4	Miscellany
Box   14 Folder   5	Loud Red Patrick (1956), Miscellany, , 1947-1948
Box   14 Folder   6	“Love on Ice,” 1954-1955
Box   14 Folder   7	“Magio's Cigar Store,” 1956
Box   14 Folder   8	No For An Answer (1941), Miscellany, , 1939-1940
Micro 1043	The Male Animal (1940)
	Scrapbook
Reel   3 Frame   382	Pre-Broadway road company, December 1939-January 1940 (Vol. 23)
Reel   3 Frame   408	New York, November 1939-October 1940 (Vol. 24)
Reel   3 Frame   570	Tour, July 1940-March 1941
Reel   3 Frame   634	Columbus, Ohio, December 1940-January 1941
Reel   3 Frame   671	Washington, D.C., January-February 1941
	The Merchant of Yonkers (1938)
Reel   3 Frame   713	Scrapbook 28, October 1938-February 1939
U.S. Mss 19AN	Only in America (1959)
Box   14 Folder   9	Budget
Box   14 Folder   10	Casting
Box   14 Folder   11	Contracts
Box   14 Folder   12	Correspondence, 1959
Box   14 Folder   13	Financial statement, 1960
Box   14 Folder   14	Limited partnership
Micro 1043 Reel   3 Frame   783	Scrapbook 29, July-December 1959
U.S. Mss 19AN Box   14 Folder   15	Technical production (Wardrobe, costumes, & props)
Box   14 Folder   16	Weekly settlements
Box   14 Folder   17	“Rising Heifer,” 1956
	The Searching Wind (1944)
	Contracts
Box   15 Folder   1	General
Box   15 Folder   2-3	Searching Wind Company
Box   15 Folder   4	Correspondence, 1943-1952
Box   15 Folder   5	Financial statements, 1944-1951
Box   15 Folder   6	Ledger
Box   15 Folder   7	Limited partnership
Box   15 Folder   8	Notes
Box   15 Folder   9	Radio script
Micro 1043 Reel   4 Frame   1	Scrapbook 30, February 1944-April 1945
U.S. Mss 19AN	The Talley Method (1941)
Box   15 Folder   10	Miscellany
	To Dorothy, A Son (1951)
Box   15 Folder   11	Box office statements
Box   15 Folder   12-13	Contracts
Box   16 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1950-1951
Box   16 Folder   2	Financial statements and budgets
Box   16 Folder   3	Ledger
Box   16 Folder   4	Limited partnership
Box   16 Folder   5	Notes
Box   16 Folder   6	Publicity
Box   16 Folder   7	Salary lists
Micro 1043 Reel   4 Frame   129	Scrapbook 31, September-November 1951
U.S. Mss 19AN	Tonight in Samarkand (1955)
Box   16 Folder   8	Clippings
Box   16 Folder   9	Correspondence, 1954-1955
Box   16 Folder   10	Mimeo script (anno.) by Jacques Deval and Lorenzo Semple, Jr., n.d., and playbill
Box   16 Folder   11	“Trumpet in the Street” , 1959
Box   16 Folder   12	“Under a Cloud,” 1951-1952
Box   16 Folder   13	“Visit Of An Old Lady,” 1956-1957
	The Visitor (1944)
Box   16 Folder   14	Miscellany
Micro 1043 Reel   4 Frame   176	Scrapbook, August-November 1944
	Watch on the Rhine (1941)
	Scrapbooks
Reel   4 Frame   212	New York, January 1941-February 1942 (Vol. 33)
Reel   4 Frame   522	Tour and film, February 1942-August 1943 (Vol. 34)
U.S. Mss 19AN	Wedding Breakfast (1954)
Box   16 Folder   15	Script notes (Bloomgarden)
Box   16 Folder   16	Typed script (anno.), n.d.
Micro 1043 Reel   4 Frame   613	Scrapbook 35, September-December 1954
U.S. Mss 19AN Box   16 Folder   17	White-Haired Boy (1934), 1940
Box   16 Folder   18	Wine of Choice (1938)
Box   16 Folder   20	“The Wolf Has Eaten Grandmother,” 1951
Box   16 Folder   19	The Wooden Dish (1955) 1953
	Miscellaneous unproduced plays
Box   18 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1936-1959
Box   18 Folder   2	Contracts, 1941-1965