The I.A.L. Diamond Papers, 1941-1969, are mainly comprised of correspondence, notes, conference notes, outlines, treatments, and scripts from his career as a screenwriter. In addition, the collection includes a script and program from the 1941 Columbia Varsity play; two unproduced scripts for theater, c. 1945-1946; a television documentary, c. 1953; and a poem and two articles Diamond wrote for The Screenwriter from June to December, 1947.
The Motion Picture material is arranged in two sections - produced and unproduced, and chronologically thereunder. There are varying amounts of material for films he wrote for Paramount and Warners, but an extensive amount for Twentieth Century Fox. For most of the Fox productions and for the unproduced “Pink Tights,” 1952-1955, the collection includes correspondence and conference notes indicating Darryl F. Zanuck's reactions to the films. Only a few scripts document Diamond's work on Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, One, Two, Three, Irma La Douce, The Fortune Cookie, and The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. Reflecting pressures on the film industry to produce “cleaner” movies are two letters, one from the MPAA re Goodbye Charlie and one concerning the Legion of Decency's reactions to Kiss Me, Stupid. Four scripts reflect the development of Cactus Flower. In both the produced and unproduced sections are several works by Diamond and his long-time collaborator Billy Wilder. Included are a treatment for “Around the World in Eighty Hours,” and scripts and screenplays for the produced films Avanti!, Buddy Buddy, Fedora, Forty Carats, and The Front Page, and the unproduced “Just One of Those Things” and “Tinseltown.” Most of the unproduced material is from the period 1941 to 1956 and is material prepared while Diamond was under contract.
