[Collection Name]

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

[Collection Name] ZOË AKINS PAPERS 1878 - 1959 FINDING AID The Huntington Library Gayle M. Richardson January 17, 2008 ©The Huntington Library Zoë Akins Papers -- Finding Aid -- page 2 Table of Contents Page Administrative Information 3 Biographical Note 4 Scope and Content Note 5 Container List 6 Manuscripts 6 Correspondence 55 Oversize Correspondence 134 Photographs 135 Drawings 141 Ephemera 142 Oversize Ephemera 151 Indexing: Subjects 151 Indexing: Added Entries 275 Indexing: Form and Genre Terms 298 Bibliography 298 Appendix I: List of Akins’ Works with Original 299 and Alternate Titles Zoë Akins Papers -- Finding Aid -- page 3 Administrative Information The bulk of the collection was acquired from Zoë Akins on March 20, 1952. The following material was acquired separately and added to the collection: Orrick Johns, H.L. Mencken letters to Akins, and H.L. Mencken letter to Jobyna Howland, gift of Zoë Akins, July 28, 1952. Zoë Akins Addenda acquired from the Zoë Akins Estate, May 12, 1961. Zoë Akins manuscripts, “First Verse” and “Iseult, The Fair,” gift of Henry O’Neil. Zoë Akins letter to Alexander Woollcott acquired from Walter R. Benjamin, January 10, 1978, (accession number 493). Zoë Akins typewritten letters (carbon copies), gift of Occidental College Library, January 21, 1982, (accession number 926). Zoë Akins diary, 1924, acquired from R.E. Evans, December 23, 1986, (accession number 1312). The collection has been fully processed and is available for research. The collection numbers 7, 354 cataloged items plus ephemera. Call numbers: ZA 1 - 7330 Restrictions: Willa Cather stated in her will that none of her letters are ever to be published. Therefore, no copies of any kind are to be made of these letters; additionally, the letters are not to be published or quoted from in any print or electronic medium. These restrictions are noted in this Finding Aid and on the folders. The Literary copyright: The status of the literary rights for Zoë Akins remains unresolved at this time. Please consult the curator of the collection for additional information. Other Material and Collections of Interest • Sonya Levien Papers -- includes various people as author, addressee or subject who are in the Akins Papers; for example Zoë Akins, Carl Hovey, Sonya Levien, Kay Rasmus Nielsen and Ulla Nielsen. Cataloging Decisions 1. The cataloging of this collection was begun in 1952 by Gertrude Ruhnka and continued by Kay Peterson in the 1990s. In 2006, it was decided to completely recatalog the collection according to current standard authorized cataloging forms. The original Summary Report Zoë Akins Papers -- Finding Aid -- page 4 prepared by Gertrude Ruhnka, and used by subsequent catalogers, has been retained and is cataloged in Ephemera Box 181 (16). 2. Zoë Akins’ autograph notes appear on manuscripts and letters throughout the collection. Unless substantive, it was decided not to index each instance separately. Additionally, autograph notes made by Gertrude Ruhnka, while going through the collection with Miss Akins, were not indexed, but, if the notes were substantive, noted on the folder. 3. Zoë Akins appears to have been an indifferent speller, especially of proper names and titles of her own works. She frequently misspelled the names of friends, both in letters to them and when writing about them; this habit was also shared by her mother, Sarah Elizabeth Akins. Regardless of the Akins’ spelling, letters are cataloged and indexed using the authorized name both on the folder and in this Finding Aid. 4. There are references to Zoë Akins throughout the collection; only substantive references and author/title references for her works have been subject indexed. 5. A number of Akins’ books, plays, and screenplays were published and/or produced under more than one title; it was decided to catalog and index these works by the title used at the time by Akins. Please see Appendix I for a list of Akins’ alternate titles for her major works. Biographical Note Zoë Akins (1886-1958) was a dramatist, novelist, poet and screenwriter. Born in Humansville, Missouri, on 30 October, she was educated at home before attending Monticello Seminary in Godfrey, Illinois, and Hosmer Hall in St. Louis. While a teenager in St. Louis, Akins wrote poetry and criticism for William Marion Reedy’s Mirror; in 1905, she moved to New York to be an actress but eventually found writing to be her true talent. Her early plays include, “Iseult the Fair,” “Papa,” “The Magical City,” and the moderately successful “Déclassée,” with Ethel Barrymore. In 1928, Akins moved to California permanently to work as a screenwriter under contract to Paramount and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where she became a favorite writer of George Cukor. During this time she wrote the screenplays “Christopher Strong” and “Morning Glory” for Katharine Hepburn and “Camille” for Greta Garbo. During these years she continued to write for the stage and, in 1935, won the Pulitzer Prize for her dramatization of Edith Wharton’s story, “The Old Maid.” In addition to many screenplays and plays, Akins also authored two volumes of poetry, criticism, two novels, teleplays, magazine and newspaper articles. On March 12, 1932, Akins married Capt. Hugo Rumbold, an artist and set designer from a British diplomatic family, but, tragically, he died only eight months later on 18 November; she never remarried. Akins lived the remainder of her life in Southern California, where she died, after a brief illness, on October 29, 1958. Zoë Akins Papers -- Finding Aid -- page 5 Scope and Content Note The papers consist of the following series: 1. Manuscripts (Boxes 1-60) are arranged alphabetically by author and title. The manuscripts cover a wide span of Akins’ literary career including some of her childhood writing and the episodes for television she was working on at the time of her death. Included in this series are: Akins’ articles, essays, interviews, short stories, plays, screenplays, poems and novels (both published and unpublished). This series also includes manuscripts by other authors, most notably by W.H. Auden, Carlo Beuf, Hildegarde Flanner, Patterson Greene, Orrick Johns, George O’Neil, Hugo Rumbold, and George Sterling. 2. Correspondence (Boxes 61-165) is arranged alphabetically by author. This series includes personal letters and letters related to Akins’ writing; the personal letters cover almost all of Akins’ life, from her teenage years when she became engaged, briefly, to William Marion Reedy, till the end of her life. A large number of letters deal with the entertainment business, both Hollywood and Broadway, concerning the production of screenplays and plays. This series includes the personal and business correspondence of Hugo Rumbold and the Rumbold family. Akins retained many business letters of her late husband concerning his various projects. This series also includes a number of letters written or received by Rumbold family members dealing with their diplomatic work, including comments on historical events and meeting famous people in the late 19th and early 20th centuries all over the world. This series also includes letters from notable people in the literary, acting, and publishing fields in America and Europe, including: Aline Barnsdall, Ethel Barrymore, Carlo Beuf, Billie Burke, Willa Cather, George Cukor, Patterson Greene, Gerald Grove, William Harris, Carl Hovey, Jobyna Howland, Orrick Johns, George S. Kaufman, Alice Kauser, Sonya Levien, Anita Loos, Amy Lowell, W. Somerset Maugham, H.L. Mencken, Harry Moses, Kay Rasmus Nielsen, George O’Neil, Max Pfeffer, Rosamond Pinchot, Una Pope-Hennessey, William M. Reedy, Etheldred Rumbold, Horace Rumbold, Hugo Rumbold, David O. Selznick, Edward Sheldon, Sara Teasdale, Harriet Ware, Edith Wharton, and John Wheelock. The series also includes letters from various magazines, movie studios, production companies, and theatres, including: Charles Scribner’s Sons, Ladies’ Home Journal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, R K O Pictures, Richard Madden Play Co., Samuel French, Inc., Shubert Theatres Corporation, and the Theatre Guild. 3. Photographs (Boxes 166-168) are arranged alphabetically by subject. The first group consists of famous actors and actresses from Hollywood and Broadway, from 1905, through the 1950s; this series also includes some photographs from various productions of Akins’ screenplays and plays. The second group includes Akins and Rumbold family photographs. 4. Drawings (Boxes 169-170) are arranged alphabetically by artist. This series includes drawings by Alfred Joseph Frueh, Norman Bel Geddes, Kay Rasmus Nielsen, and Hugo Rumbold. A number of these drawings are of stage sets for Akins’ plays, “The Human Element,” and “Papa.” Zoë Akins Papers -- Finding Aid -- page 6 5. Ephemera (Boxes 171-184, Oversize Box 185, Oversize folder) are arranged into various subseries. These include: Akins’ Personal & Family Material, Hugo Rumbold & Rumbold Family Material, Financial & Legal Material, Contracts, Agreements & Copyrights, Box Office Statements & Receipts, Printed Articles, Clippings, Scrapbooks, and the Pulitzer Prize awarded to Akins. Strengths of the collection: This collection has several strong points for the purpose of research. In some cases there are both manuscript and typewritten versions, as well as initial notes, for a screenplay, play, or novel, which enables the reader to trace the creative process of writing a work through several stages. There are also large groups of letters with various agents, producers, and publishers, dealing with the “nuts and bolts” side of producing a play or writing a novel. In some instances, despite Akins’ every effort over many years, she was unsuccessful in getting the play produced or the novel published. The collection also contains material dealing with the “Golden Age” of both Hollywood and Broadway; and the particular challenges faced by a woman screenwriter in Hollywood from the 1920s, through the 1940s. Container List Box 1: Manuscripts -- Abdullah - Akins, T.; Akins, Z.: After-Another. ZA 1 - 22 Abdullah, Achmed, 1881-1945. “Seen Through Mohammedan Spectacles:” [political essay], MS. (typewritten: 11 p.), (1914, Oct.). ZA 1. Incomplete, missing page 12. Also enclosed: 3 carbon copies (12 p.
Recommended publications
  • A History of Education in Louisiana During the Reconstruction Period, 1862-1877
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1957 A History of Education in Louisiana During the Reconstruction Period, 1862-1877. Leon Odum Beasley Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Beasley, Leon Odum, "A History of Education in Louisiana During the Reconstruction Period, 1862-1877." (1957). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 191. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/191 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN LOUISIANA DURING THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD, 1862-1877 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Education by, ... Leon Odum Beasley B. A., Baylor University, 1948 M. A., University of North Carolina, 1953 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The writer wishes to express his appreciation of and his gratitude for the guidance and helpful criticisms which were given by Professor John A.- Hunter, under whose direction the study was made. To Professor John Oliver Pettiss and Professor Edwin A. Davis a special word of gratitude for their many valuable suggestions and criticisms. Professors Mitchell, Fulmer, and Deer provided the full complement to the committee which was of real benefit to the writer.
    [Show full text]
  • Grade 8 Social Studies
    Grade 8 Social Studies Grade 8 Social Studies Table of Contents Unit 1: Louisiana’s Physical and Cultural Geography ..................................................1 Unit 2: Economics in Louisiana......................................................................................19 Unit 3: Louisiana’s Government ....................................................................................38 Unit 4: Early Peoples of Louisiana and a Meeting of Different Worlds.....................57 Unit 5: The Acadian Odyssey .........................................................................................69 Unit 6: The Early American Era of Louisiana..............................................................77 Unit 7: Civil War and Reconstruction ...........................................................................90 Unit 8: Transitions to the Twentieth Century.............................................................103 Unit 9: Eras of World War II and Civil Rights ..........................................................115 Unit 10: Louisiana Ends the Twentieth Century and Enters the Twenty-First.......128 Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum, Revised 2008 Course Introduction The Louisiana Department of Education issued the Comprehensive Curriculum in 2005. The curriculum has been revised based on teacher feedback, an external review by a team of content experts from outside the state, and input from course writers. As in the first edition, the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum, revised 2008 is aligned with state content
    [Show full text]
  • Grain-Size Variability Within a Mega-Scale Point-Bar System, False River, Louisiana
    Sedimentology (2018) doi: 10.1111/sed.12528 Grain-size variability within a mega-scale point-bar system, False River, Louisiana PETER D. CLIFT*†, ELIZABETH D. OLSON*, ALEXANDRA LECHNOWSKYJ*, MARY GRACE MORAN*, ALLISON BARBATO* and JUAN M. LORENZO* *Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA (E-mail: [email protected]) †Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA ABSTRACT Point bars formed by meandering river systems are an important class of sedimentary deposit and are of significant economic interest as hydrocar- bon reservoirs. Standard point-bar models of how the internal sedimentol- ogy varies are based on the structure of small-scale systems with little information about the largest complexes and how these might differ. Here a very large point bar (>25Á0 m thick and 7Á5 9 13Á0 km across) on the Mis- sissippi River (USA) was examined. The lithology and grain-size character- istics at different parts of the point bar were determined by using a combination of coring and electrical conductivity logging. The data confirm that there is a general fining up-section along most parts of the point bar, with a well-defined transition from massive medium-grained sands below about 9 to 11 m depth up into interbedded silts and fine–medium sand sediment (inclined heterolithic strata). There is also a poorly defined increase in sorting quality at the transition level. Massive medium sands are especially common in the region of the channel bend apex and regions upstream of that point. Downstream of the meander apex, there is much less evidence for fining up-section.
    [Show full text]
  • Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Introduction
    Case 1:15-cv-01241 Document 1 Filed 08/03/15 Page 1 of 54 United States District Court District of Columbia Republican Party of Louisiana 530 Lakeland Drive, Suite 215 Baton Rouge, LA 70802 Jefferson Parish Republican Parish Exec- utive Committee 729 Champagne Drive Kenner, LA 70065 Orleans Parish Republican Executive Civil Case No. 15-cv-1241 Committee 230 Carondelet Street THREE-JUDGE COURT REQUESTED New Orleans, LA 70130, Plaintiffs v. Federal Election Commission 999 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20463, Defendant Verified Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief Plaintiffs complain as follows: Introduction 1. Plaintiffs challenge provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (“BCRA”), Pub. L. 107-155, 116 Stat. 81 (Mar. 27, 2002), restricting “federal election activity,” 52 U.S.C. 30101(20) (definition), as unconstitutional under the First Amendment (I) as applied to (a) non- individualized, independent communications exhorting registering/voting and (b) non-individu- alized, independent communications by Internet; (II) as applied to (a) non-individualized, inde- pendent communications and (b) such communications from an independent-communications- only account (“ICA”); (III) as applied to all independent federal election activity; and (IV) fa- cially. Verified Complaint 1 Case 1:15-cv-01241 Document 1 Filed 08/03/15 Page 2 of 54 2. Because Plaintiffs “elect [BCRA’s judicial-review] provisions to apply to this action,” BCRA § 403(d)(2), “[i]t shall be the duty of the ... Court ... to advance on the docket and to expe- dite to the greatest possible extent the disposition of this action ...,” § 403(a)(4). 3. In relevant part, BCRA § 403, 116 Stat.
    [Show full text]
  • A Century at Sea Jul
    Guernsey's A Century at Sea (Day 1) Newport, RI Friday - July 19, 2019 A Century at Sea (Day 1) Newport, RI 1: NS Savannah Set of China (31 pieces) USD 800 - 1,200 A collection of thirty-one (31) pieces of china from the NS Savannah. This set of china includes the following pieces: two (2) 10" round plates, three (3) 9 1/2" round plates, one (1) 10" novelty plate, one (1) 9 1/4" x 7" oval plate, one (1) 7 1/4" round plate, four (4) 6" round plates, one (1) ceramic drinking pitcher, one (1) cappachino cup and saucer (diameter of 4 1/2"), two (2) coffee cups and saucers (diameter 4"), one (1) 3 1/2" round cup, one (1) 3" x 3" round cup, one (1) 2 1/2" x 3" drinking glass, one (1) mini cognac glass, two (2) 2" x 4 1/2" shot glasses, three (3) drinking glasses, one (1) 3" x 5" wine glass, two (2) 4 1/2" x 8 3/4" silver dishes. The ship was remarkable in that it was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. It was constructed with funding from United States government agencies with the mission to prove that the US was committed to the proposition of using atomic power for peace and part of President Eisenhower's larger "Atoms for Peace" project. The sleek and modern design of the ship led to some maritime historians believing it was the prettiest merchant ship ever built. This china embodies both the mission of using nuclear power for peace while incorporating the design inclinations of the ship.
    [Show full text]
  • Akins Papers: Finding Aid
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8h132ss No online items Zoë Akins Papers: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Gayle M. Richardson. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department The Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2008 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. Zoë Akins Papers: Finding Aid mssZA 1-7330 1 Overview of the Collection Title: Zoë Akins Papers Dates (inclusive): 1878 - 1959 Collection Number: mssZA 1-7330 Creator: Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958. Extent: 7,354 pieces in 185 boxes + ephemera. Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2191 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: This collection contains the personal and professional papers of American writer Zoë Akins (1886-1958). It includes correspondence with various literary, theatrical and motion picture figures of the first half of the twentieth century. There are also manuscripts of novels, plays, poems, short stories, outlines for plays, and articles. There is also correspondence related to her husband, Hugo Rumbold (d. 1932), and the Rumbold family. Language: English. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
    [Show full text]
  • The People's Institute, the National Board of Censorship and the Problem of Leisure in Urban America
    In Defense of the Moving Pictures: The People's Institute, The National Board of Censorship and the Problem of Leisure in Urban America Nancy J, Rosenbloom Located in the midst of a vibrant and ethnically diverse working-class neighborhood on New York's Lower East Side, the People's Institute had by 1909 earned a reputation as a maverick among community organizations.1 Under the leadership of Charles Sprague Smith, its founder and managing director, the Institute supported a number of political and cultural activities for the immigrant and working classes. Among the projects to which Sprague Smith committed the People's Institute was the National Board of Censorship of Motion Pictures. From its creation in June 1909 two things were unusual about the National Board of Censorship. First, its name to the contrary, the Board opposed growing pressures for legalized censorship; instead it sought the voluntary cooperation of the industry in a plan aimed at improving the quality and quantity of pictures produced. Second, the Board's close affiliation with the People's Institute from 1909 to 1915 was informed by a set of assumptions about the social usefulness of moving pictures that set it apart from many of the ideas dominating American reform. In positioning itself to defend the moving picture industry, the New York- based Board developed a national profile and entered into a close alliance with the newly formed Motion Picture Patents Company. What resulted was a partnership between businessmen and reformers that sought to offset middle-class criticism of the medium. The officers of the Motion Picture Patents Company also hoped 0026-3079/92/3302-O41$1.50/0 41 to increase middle-class patronage of the moving pictures through their support of the National Board.
    [Show full text]
  • Zelda Fitzgerald Biography
    Zelda Fitzgerald by Erin E Templeton Zelda Sayre was born with the new century in July 1900. A Southern belle through and through, she grew up with a generation of young women who strove to be independent and audacious, reckless and rebellious. She fell in love with F Scott Fitzgerald, a lieutenant in the Army, who was stationed just outside her home town of Montgomery, Alabama just as he was about to be sent overseas to fight in the Great War. When the Armistice was signed on the cusp of his deployment, there was both relief and disappointment. The young couple’s grand wartime romance fizzled out under the banality of a regular job as his dream of becoming the Next Great American Novelist was frustrated by multiple manuscript rejections. Meanwhile, Zelda continued to flirt and dance and date eligible men from across the South. Charles Scribner’s and Sons accepted This Side of Paradise for publication in October 1919. Only then did Zelda hear from her former beau: the soldier turned ad-man turned author- to-be. He asked if he might come south to visit her. She agreed to see him, and before the weekend had ended, the couple had renewed their romance and were once again engaged to be married. Zelda’s family, however, would not formally announce the engagement of their youngest daughter until the following spring, in early March 1920. From that point forward, Zelda’s life changed quickly and completely. This Side of Paradise was published on 26 March and a week later, on 3 April, Zelda Sayre married F Scott Fitzgerald in the rectory of St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, having left her beloved South for the first time just days earlier.
    [Show full text]
  • F Scott Fitzgerald's New York
    W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1993 His Lost City: F Scott Fitzgerald's New York Kris Robert Murphy College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Literature Commons Recommended Citation Murphy, Kris Robert, "His Lost City: F Scott Fitzgerald's New York" (1993). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539625818. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-zdpj-yf53 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HIS LOST CITY: F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S NEW YORK A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of English The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Kris R. Murphy 1993 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Author Approved, July 1993 Scott Donaldson Christopher MacGowan Robert Maccubbin TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................iv ABSTRACT.............................................................................. ...................................... v CHAPTER I. ‘The far away East. .the vast, breathless bustle of New York”. 3 CHAPTER II. “Trips to New York” (1907-1918)........................................................ 11 CHAPTER III. ‘The land of ambition and success” (1919-1920) ................................ 25 CHAPTER IV. ‘The great city of the conquering people” (1920-1921)...................... 53 CHAPTER V.
    [Show full text]
  • Survey of American Literature II Survey of American Literature II
    Survey of American Literature II Survey of American Literature II Joshua Watson & Lumen Learning Copyright: by Lumen Learning. Cover image “Cliff Dwellers” by George Bellows, available in the Public Domain from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bellows_CliffDwellers.jpg Survey of American Literature II by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Contents Student Resources .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1 How to Annotate a Text ........................................................................................................................... 3 2 Critical Approaches Chart ....................................................................................................................... 4 3 Writing about Literature Handout ........................................................................................................... 6 4 Organizing Your Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 12 Immigration ................................................................................................................................................... 13 5 Overview: Immigration .......................................................................................................................... 14 6 Video: Growth, Cities, and Immigration ...............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Ghost Ship on the Delaware
    The Ghost Ship on the Delaware By Steven Ujifusa For PlanPhilly Thousands pass by the Ghost Ship on the Delaware River every day. They speed past it on Columbus Boulevard, I-95, and the Walt Whitman Bridge. They glance at it while shopping at IKEA. For some, it is just another eyesore on Philadelphia’s desolate waterfront, no different from the moldering old cruisers and troop transports moored in the South Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Ghost Ship on the Delaware. www.ssunitedstatesconservancy.org Some may pull over to the side of the road and take a closer look through a barbed wire fence. They then realize that the Ghost Ship is of a different pedigree than an old troop transport. Its two finned funnels, painted in faded red, white and blue, are dramatically raked back. Its superstructure is low and streamlined, lacking the balconies and large picture windows that make today’s cruise ships look like floating condominiums. Its hull is yacht-like, defined by a thrusting prow and gracefully rounded stern. Looking across the river to Camden, one might see that the hull of the Ghost Ship bears more than a passing resemblance to the low-slung, sweeping one of the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey. This ship is imposing without being ponderous, sleek but still dignified. Even though her engines fell silent almost forty years ago, she still appears to be thrusting ahead at forty knots into the gray seas of the North Atlantic. Finally, if one takes the time to look at the bow of the Ghost Ship, it is clear that she has no ordinary name.
    [Show full text]
  • Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Adapted Screenplays
    Absorbing the Worlds of Others: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s Adapted Screenplays By Laura Fryer Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD degree at De Montfort University, Leicester. Funded by Midlands 3 Cities and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. June 2020 i Abstract Despite being a prolific and well-decorated adapter and screenwriter, the screenplays of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala are largely overlooked in adaptation studies. This is likely, in part, because her life and career are characterised by the paradox of being an outsider on the inside: whether that be as a European writing in and about India, as a novelist in film or as a woman in industry. The aims of this thesis are threefold: to explore the reasons behind her neglect in criticism, to uncover her contributions to the film adaptations she worked on and to draw together the fields of screenwriting and adaptation studies. Surveying both existing academic studies in film history, screenwriting and adaptation in Chapter 1 -- as well as publicity materials in Chapter 2 -- reveals that screenwriting in general is on the periphery of considerations of film authorship. In Chapter 2, I employ Sandra Gilbert’s and Susan Gubar’s notions of ‘the madwoman in the attic’ and ‘the angel in the house’ to portrayals of screenwriters, arguing that Jhabvala purposely cultivates an impression of herself as the latter -- a submissive screenwriter, of no threat to patriarchal or directorial power -- to protect herself from any negative attention as the former. However, the archival materials examined in Chapter 3 which include screenplay drafts, reveal her to have made significant contributions to problem-solving, characterisation and tone.
    [Show full text]