The collection documents Ffolkes' lengthy and productive career as a costume and set designer. Much of the collection consists of designs, sketches, and photographs of his work for motion pictures and theatrical productions. Photographs which portrayed his creations were kept with the collection. The collection is organized into three series: Subject File, Motion Pictures, and Theater.
The SUBJECT FILE contains awards, clippings, correspondence, programs, scrapbooks, miscellaneous sketches, and writings and is arranged alphabetically by type of record. Included are the Donaldson Awards Ffolkes received for his costume designs for Brigadoon and Man and Superman. Miscellaneous clippings, reviews, and programs for several productions in which he was involved such as Alexander the Great, Where's Charley?, Brigadoon, Henry VIII, and Seventeen are also found. A small file of biographical information consists of clippings, resumes, and a program of an art exhibit where his designs were shown. The correspondence contains general comments about Ffolkes' work and documents efforts to engage his services for specific productions. Several sheets of journal-like entries describe the problems he encountered in receiving payment for his designs for La Ronde. The scrapbooks contain telegrams, clippings, photographs, correspondence, and miscellany for the productions All Gaul Is Divided, Brigadoon, The Browning Version, Hamlet, Harlequinade, The Heart of the Matter, Henry IV, Henry VIII, Man and Superman, and What Every Woman Knows. Miscellaneous early and unidentified sketches and designs are also filed in this section. Finally, a folder of writings includes a series of clippings about the London stage that were written by Ffolkes for the San Francisco Chronicle and miscellaneous articles in which he described his Shakespearean designs.
MOTION PICTURES is arranged alphabetically by film title and chronologically thereunder. It contains scripts, costume and set designs, fabric swatches, notes, and photographs of eighteen motion pictures, 1952-1966. The films most thoroughly documented are Alexander the Great, Island in the Sun, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Where's Charley?. Smaller production files exist for motion pictures such as Heaven's Above, Darling, and You Only Live Twice.
THEATER-PRODUCED includes scripts, set and costume designs, photographs, and publicity for 27 theatrical productions. Among these are Hamlet, Henry VIII, and Where's Charley?. Preliminary set designs for La Ronde on which both Ffolkes and his wife Mary worked are also included.
