Scope and Contents

The 1977 Additions primarily focus on the years 1956-1977, the period after Schary left Hollywood and concentrated his activities in New York. Some files predate this period and document his years at RKO and MGM, while a few miscellaneous items, personal items, and writings reflect still earlier activities.

The papers reveal aspects of both Schary's personal and his professional life. Included in the former are his involvement in Democratic politics, his affairs as a leading figure in the Jewish community, and the activities of his family. In the latter category are his work as a writer, director, and producer of motion picture and theatrical productions and as chairman of the Anti-Defamation League. Files relating to his tenure as commissioner of cultural affairs in New York City are fragmentary.

Given the wide range of Schary's work and interests, the collection provides insights not only into the creation of Hollywood and Broadway productions, but also into subjects such as Democratic politics, liberalism, anti-Semitism, the radical right, the Hollywood Ten, the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, and the Arab boycott.

Schary's filing system has been retained whenever possible. This has led to some overlap between and within subseries. To aid the researcher, some cross-referencing has been added by Archives staff. However, researchers are cautioned to examine the contents list below carefully in order to locate all pertinent files. The GENERAL FILE in particular describes people, events, productions, and organizations that may be mentioned in other subseries.

These additions are organized as five subseries: BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL MATERIAL, GENERAL FILES, PRODUCTION FILES, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE FILES, and GENERAL WRITINGS.

The BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL MATERIAL includes an artificial compilation of various interviews, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and other materials about Schary's life; documentation about various events in his life; and information about the lives and activities of Miriam Schary and other members of his family.

The General material within this subseries relates to Schary's home and family life and consists of correspondence, lists, clippings, writings and eulogies, diaries, financial and legal materials, itineraries, and miscellaneous. The subseries provides some evidence of the lifestyle and relationships of a close-knit, well-to-do Jewish family. Also here is some information on family parties, holidays, homes and apartments, trips, and miscellaneous. Of special interest are the files regarding Camp Flagler, a hotel where Schary worked as assistant social director and newsletter editor with Moss Hart. In the file is a newsletter dated August 16, 1929 which was guest edited by Hart.

The Family material focuses on individual members of Schary's family. The files are organized by the name of the individual most closely related to Schary. These files also contain material relating to other members of that individual's family. For example, included with the file on daughter Joy is correspondence with her husband and their children. Women are identified in the container list by their married name with the exception of Jill and Joy Schary. Of interest in Jill Schary's files are materials about her success with the "bird-in-the-hand" glove, a concept which she developed as a young girl and which Neiman Marcus marketed, and evidence of her early literary efforts. Many of Miriam Schary's files document her professional career as an artist (she painted professionally under her maiden name, M. Svet), although some writings are included.

The GENERAL FILES focus on Schary's activities as a public figure, primarily those outside his production and ADL activities. Much of the subseries consists of correspondence, although other types of documentation such as proposals, by-laws, financial and legal records, minutes, surveys, newsletters, bulletins, testimony transcripts, speeches and eulogies, outlines, scripts, lists, notes, clippings, and miscellaneous are also included.

The files relect the myriad individuals, organizations, committees, and causes with which Schary was involved. Among the prominent correspondents here are Ralph Bellamy, Art Buchwald, William F. Buckley, Jr., Norman Cousins, Moss Hart, Hedda Hopper, Lyndon Johnson, John and Robert Kennedy, Howard Lindsay, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., David O. Selznick, Adlai Stevenson, Darryl F. Zanuck, and others, while organizations such as the Authors League of America, Brandeis Camp Institute, the Dramatists Guild and the Dramatists Guild Fund, the House Un-American Activities Committee, Independent Citizens Committee of the Arts, Sciences and Professions, Interracial Council for Business Opportunities, MGM, Motion Picture Association of America, National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, Walter Reade Organization, and others are also represented. Arrangement is alphabetical by subject, with a general file (e.g. A-General) beginning each alphabetical sequence. A partial index to correspondents in this section is an Appendix to this finding aid.

Researchers should consult the contents list below to explore the full range of this subseries. However, the following description may alert users to items or files of particular interest. These descriptions follow in alphabetical sequence.

The Academy Award Show file includes a letter from David Selznick in which he explains his interpretation of the purpose of the Irving Thalberg Memorial Award. Minutes of a meeting with Joseph Papp are contained in the Ad Hoc Committee to Save the Theatre at Lincoln Center file. The Amafro Films Inc. file contains fragmentary information about a company designed to train talented blacks in producing films about the Afro-American experience and includes correspondence from Jack Valenti. The American Arbitration Association file includes materials about a West Side Story case on which Schary served as arbitrator. The file of the American Theatre Wing consists of minutes, reports, and financial statements of a Tony Award-sponsored organization which takes current Broadway plays to hospitals and other institutions. Included in the Americans for Democratic Action file is an address by Gunnar Myrdal and an Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. memorandum (January 7, 1960) in which he discusses Soviet-American relations. The file of America's Conscience Fund focuses on a plan designed to assist Birmingham blacks during the 1964 civil rights movement. The Authors League of America file reveals this group's concern about copyright legislation.

The Herman Badillo file focuses on his New York City mayoral campaign while correspondence of Lucy Ballentine, Schary's secretary, provides insight into his office operation and personal matters concerning family and friends. The file of Bernard Reis and Company, an accounting firm, relates to Schary finances and includes financial statements for Schary's production companies. Speeches and speech notes are included in both the files of the Brandeis Camp Institute and Brandeis University and reveal Schary's long association and support of these organizations. (Schary served on Brandeis University's Board of Trustees.) Fawn Brodie's correspondence details Schary's difficulties in obtaining sponsorship for a television program about slavery and also briefly comments on Marilyn Monroe's death. Letters with William Buckley clarify his attitude toward the John Birch Society and his support of Israel.

The C, General file includes a script of a portion of a Stan Freeburg album, three newsletters by Geoffrey Cowan describing Council of Federated Organization (COFO) activities in the South, and a parody of the poem "Gunga Din," which describes the Watergate affair. Correspondence from actor Louis Calhan describes films he made and Hollywood personages he knew, including Dave Tebets. The file of the Citizens Crusade Against Poverty includes letters from the group's president, Walter Reuther. The Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Community Council file contains information on Myron C. Fagan and Gerald L. K. Smith, individuals who believed that there existed a Jewish-Communist conspiracy and these groups had an undue influence in Hollywood. The file of the Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation documents the group's efforts to examine the portrayal of Jews in films and to urge the use of Jews in film production. The Council of Civic Unity file documents a coalition designed to end racial excitement and discrimination in the Los Angeles war industry area. Much of the crank mail is anti-Semitic in nature.

Files of the Dramatists Guild Fund Inc. reveals its efforts to assist struggling writers through scholarships and loans. The Dramatists Guild file includes Howard Lindsay correspondence while H, General contains letters from Mother Dolores (Hart) who comments on the monastic life she had chosen over acting. Moss Hart's letters are detailed and rich and mention not only the projects on which he worked but his mental state as he coped with bouts of depression. Included in the Hedda Hopper file is a log which contains excerpts of her column which mentioned Schary. The Hollywood 10 and the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) files contain materials on Schary's appearance before that committee, his opinions of the Ten, their dismissal by RKO following their citation for contempt, and the dismissal of producer Adrian Scott and director Edward Dmytryk who had made Crossfire.

The file of the Independent Citizens' Committee of the Arts, Sciences, and Professions focuses on a non-partisan political organization located in Hollywood. The Paul Morton Leeds file includes materials on the Communist Party and politics of the left. The MGM files include minutes of executive meetings and discuss the status of several films, projected films, and stars. The Motion Picture Association of America file contains production code reports regarding script censorship.

Among the N, General file is a letter (September 7, 1967) from Roy Wilkins of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in which he comments on black militants. The files of the New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs include minutes from the New York City Bicentennial Committee. The files pertaining to Frank O'Connor's New York gubernatorial campaign document a controversy which resulted from Schary's endorsement of O'Connor. (The ADL feared the endorsement would be perceived as an endorsement by that organization since Schary was then serving as national chairman.) The Daniel O'Shea file includes materials relating to Vanguard Films, David Selznick's company for which Schary worked prior to his RKO appointment.

Both the Edgar Peterson and the N. Peter Rathvon files contain materials relating to RKO. Files of Walter Reilly, production assistant to Schary, includes materials relating to Schary Productions. Among the RKO files are financial reports and status reports relating to several films. Scrapbooks, containing clippings, programs, playbills, and miscellaneous focus on Schary's public activities including both productions and speaking engagements.

The David O. Selznick files include correspondence with Vanguard Films regarding several film productions such as The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer and The Farmer's Daughter (also known as "Katie for Congress"). Among the Sidney Hillman Foundation files are scripts for three local television shows, Hotbed of Hatred, No Room at the Bottom, and The Orange and the Scratch. Telephone logs include not only discussions of routine matters but also occasional synopses and explanations of productions. The Justin and Maurice Turner file discusses some investments while the Uptown Service Committee file includes a report of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals. The file of the Water Conservation project discusses New York City's efforts to cope with a water shortage. Louis Wolfson's file documents a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit regarding the improper sale of securities and contains a letter of support regarding Wolfson's parole.

The PRODUCTION FILES concern motion picture, radio, television, and theatrical works. The subseries is arranged by genre and then alphabetically by title. It pertains to both produced and unproduced works. Correspondence with authors, designers, and actors that does not pertain to a particular production are located in the GENERAL FILES, as is information relating to MGM, RKO, the Hollywood Ten, and other film-related topics. The amount of information varies with the production, but may include treatments, outlines, notes, variant script drafts, speeches, clippings, crew lists, correspondence, legal records, miscellaneous, budgets, surveys, preview lists, publicity, playbills, design sketches, casting material, music, and journals. A small file of miscellaneous project submissions begins the subseries.

Among the works represented are the films Act One, The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer, Boys Town, Broadway Melody of 1939, Crossfire, The Farmer's Daughter, The Spiral Staircase, Sunrise at Campobello, Sunset Boulevard, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown; the Jimmy Durante radio program; and miscellaneous television programs such as Busing: Some Voices from the South and CBS Reports; and plays such as Banderol, Brightower, The Devil's Advocate, The Highest Tree, A Joyful Noise, A Majority of One, One by One, Something About a Soldier, Sunrise at Campobello, Too Many Heroes, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and Zulu and the Zayda.

These files document Broadway activity and independent motion picture and television productions during the 1960s. Items of interest include the stage manager's diary which detailed the rehearsal period for Brightower; Schary's own journal for One by One, which documents the production process; lyrics from Sunset Boulevard; a treatment for "Up Spoke the Captain," an unproduced play written for the Marx Brothers; and a treatment for Mississippi, a film for which Schary did not receive final film credit. Documentation of negotiation for the French production of The Devil's Advocate and litigation concerned with possible plagiarism in The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer are also included.

The ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE subseries consists of Schary's files as national chairman. Included are correspondence, reports, agenda, lists, scripts, treatments, financial records, transcripts, articles, speeches, writings, and miscellaneous. The subseries is subdivided into two sections: a Subject File and a Speech File. Arrangement in the former is alphabetical by title, with a general category (e.g. A-General) beginning each letter's segment. The speeches are organized by the name of the group addressed, with unidentified materials at the end in chronological order.

The general file does not appear to be exhaustive either of ADL's activities or of Schary's participation in it. However, it does reveal many concerns of the Jewish community such as anti-Semitism and the Arab-Israeli War. The following description summarizes some items of particular interest. Included in the A-General file are letters regarding a Steve Allen joke which offended some people. The file of the American Council for Judaism, an anti-Zionist organization, indicates conflicts between various Jewish groups. The AT&T file contains a complaint about the number of Jewish executives employed by that company. The file labelled Anti-Semitism includes a report of the reaction to a 1968 New York City teacher strike, while the Black/Jewish file reveals the attitudes of both groups.

The B'nai B'rith International Council file reveals a conflict between it and ADL over jurisdiction in combatting anti-Semitism in foreign countries. Among the topics discussed there are the Arab-Israeli situation, war, terrorism, the Nixon policy toward Israel, and Secretary of State William Roger's efforts to get the U.S. to adopt a neutral policy toward Israel.

The Coca Cola company file reports on alleged submission to the Arab boycott over funds; a controversy regarding America, a Catholic magazine which supported prayer in public schools; and an alleged anti-Semitic translation that the New York Philharmonic Symphony used in a 1963 concert.

In the CORE-Brooklyn file is a memorandum regarding an ADL complaint about anti-Semitic incident caused by militant blacks. The subseries also contains a file relating to Benjamin Epstein, national director of ADL. Among the papers on Arnold Forster are materials regarding George Lincoln Rockwell's appearance at the University of Chicago.

The John F. Hatchett file focuses on the controversy surrounding his appointment as director of a New York University Afro-American Student Center and some alleged anti-Semitic statements made by him. The Italian controversy file documents litigation between ADL and the American-Italian Anti-Defamation League over similarities in their names.

The John Birch Society files contain material about that group and the radical right in general. The controversy and litigation over the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli mural at the Jordanian pavillion at the New York World's Fair are documented in the file of that name. The National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council file contains information on its attempts to reestablish relations with ADL which had been severed since the 1950s. Among the S-General file contents is correspondence from Omar Sharif on his role in Funny Girl.

All of the speeches delivered by Schary as ADL chairman have been microfilmed, and after filming the original materials were integrated in the chronologically-arranged speeches which are part of the GENERAL WRITINGS described below.

The GENERAL WRITINGS subseries contains speeches from the 1960s; other non-theatrical writings including verse, skits, short stories, book reviews, magazine and newspaper articles; and related material. Documentation is extensive for Schary's book Special Occasions which dealt with the family catering business. A folder regarding an unproduced musical based on this book is also included. Several files also pertain to "Hollywood as I Knew It," an unpublished autobiography, and a novelized version of "Storm of the West," an allegorical western by Schary and Sinclair Lewis that Schary wanted to produce for MGM.

Interview with Dore Schary covering the entire span of his career. He discusses his work with the major motion picture studios and in the theater.

The first part of an interview with Dore Schary covering the entire span of his career. In this part, Schary discusses his pre-Hollywood career, his work at Columbia as a writer, working as a writer and head of the "B" picture unit at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), his dispute with MGM over "Storm in the West," his work at Vanguard Pictures for David Selznick, working at RKO for Howard Hughes, their dispute over "Battleground," and his eventual return to MGM. The interview was recorded by the University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA) Television-Radio Division in the Department of Theatre Arts.

The second part of an interview with Dore Schary covering the entire span of his career. In this part, Schary compares his position at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) with that of Irving Thalberg. He also discusses his career at MGM, his differences with Louis B. Mayer, and the role of independent producers in Hollywood. The interview was recorded by the University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA) Television-Radio Division in the Department of Theatre Arts.

The second part of an interview with Dore Schary covering the entire span of his career. In this part, Schary compares the workings and final products of motion pictures, television, and theater. He also speaks on the film and theatrical productions of "Sunrise at Campobello," and describes the theatrical focus of his current career. The interview was recorded by the University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA) Television-Radio Division in the Department of Theatre Arts.

An interview with Dore Schary regarding the relationship between art and business. The program was produced by BB & D.

Interview with Dore Schary regarding his role as president of TelePremier, a pay television company. The discussion focuses on the company's product, TheatreVision, and it is then described how the system works. Schary also discusses the economics of pay television, the attitudes of original producers and commercial networks, and the desire of pay television to eventually produce its own content.

Dinner for Peter Strauss, Chairman of the New York State Democratic Campaign Committee, New York State reappointment leader, and campaign manager for the 1964 New York senatorial campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. Includes speeches by several local, state, and national Democratic politicians including New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Peter Strauss, and Robert F. Kennedy. Much of the focus is on the 1964 presidential and senatorial campaigns.

Part 1 contains the first part of the dinner and includes introductions, the invocation, and short speeches by New York state politicians.

Part 2 contains the second part of the dinner and includes comments by Peter Strauss regarding the reapportionment of the state legislature and comments by Robert F. Wagner Jr., the mayor of New York, New York.

Part 3 contains the third part of the dinner and includes continued comments by New York mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. regarding the 1964 presidential and New York senatorial campaigns. There is then a speech by Robert F. Kennedy regarding his campaign and his view of civil liberties, specifically wiretapping.

Part 4 contains the fourth part of the dinner and includes the conclusion of Robert F. Kennedy's speech.

A taped message to Dore Schary regarding Moseley's desire to get involved in motion picture production as a director. He solicits Schary's advice about the quality of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Film Department and those at other universities, and he also seeks Schary's opinion as to whether experience or formal education is the best teacher.

Includes speech fragments and music used in producing the memorial tribute. On this recording is a speech fragment by Eleanor Roosevelt and a fragment of a recitation of the Gettysburg Address (with orchestral arrangement) used for the Memorial at the New York State Theatre.

Includes speech fragments and music used in producing the memorial tribute. On this recording is the Aaron Copland background music used for the Memorial at the New York State Theatre.

An interview with Dore Schary regarding the publication of "Sunrise at Campobello" as a Random House play. Schary also discusses the theatrical and motion picture productions, the casting of Ralph Bellamy as Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his opinion of Eleanor Roosevelt.

See also Biographical material, Interviews

Radio reviews of the Dore Schary's Broadway production of "The Highest Tree," including those by The Griffens (WBAI-FM), John Wingate (WOR), Ken Banghart (NBC), and Jim McKay (CBS). The end of the reel also includes an interview with Schary regarding his play.