I THE MEMBERS OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES 1949-1950 OFFICERS President CHARLES BRACKETT Vice-Presidents GEORGE MURPHY DORE SCHARY Treasurer FRED l. METZLER Assistant Treasurer G . CARLETON HUNT Counsel LOYD WRIGHT Secretary EMMET LA VERY Assistant Secretary JOHNNY GREEN Executive Secretary MARGARET HERRICK BOARD OF GOVERNORS HENRY BLANKE PERRY LIEBER JOHN W . BOYlE FRED l. METZlER CHARLES BRACKETT ROBERT MONTGOMERY FRANK CAPRA GEORGE MURPHY CHARLES G . ClARKE FREDERICK C. QUIMBY JOHNNY GREEN GORDON SAWYER ROBERT M. HAAS DORE SCHARY WILLIAM W . HORNBECK RUDOlPH STERNAD G. CARLETON HUNT GEORGE STEVENS KENNETH B. LAMBERT WALTER WANGER WALTER LANTZ HARRY WARREN EMMET LAVERY GABE YORKE Foreword To be President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a year means, even to one who has been closely connected with it before, to see it in a new light. It means understanding completely why Academy Awards main­ tain their importance, despite the countless awards given by other groups. Suddenly one knows the stupendous, back-breaking effort that goes into those Awards. I don't mean into the presentations-that's another story, and Johnny Green was its hero this year. I mean into the long, scrupulous endeavor to make the nominations representative, and to insure every Academy member a chance to see every nominated picture-thus getting a vote which reflects the considered opinion of our members. It means learning, as no superficial observation can teach, the long, steady effort of the Academy to act as a cultural liaison between our industry and the men and women everywhere who are deeply interested in motion pictures as an art. It means knowing the stresses and strains the problems of the Academy put on its Board of Governors, and-in my instance-how ably the Board met them last year. It means feeling deeply, if inade­ quately, grateful to every member of that great Board. It means knowing the value of Executive Director Margaret Her­ rick and her staff-something to be computed on that well known scale above rubies. It means appreciation of the contribution of Wright, Wright, Green and Wright, Academy legal counsel-of the services of Price, Water­ house and Company, certified public accountants-and of Howard G. Mayer and Associates, Academy Public Relations representatives. They have all performed their complicated functions magnificently. In conclusion, may I express my deep confidence in the future of the Academy, my satisfaction in the express wish of every branch that Academy membership shall not be given lightly, but only to those members of our industry who have a sense of the high importance of good picture making. CHARLES BRACKETT ~por~ of the 'Presiden~ For the Year Ending April 30, 1950 8() A report on a year in the life of an organization as vigorous and as varied in its interests as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences must necessarily be somewhat impressionistic. It must reveal the quiet, unremitting activities which are the everyday life of the Academy, and set forth the special events which highlight every month. From the balance of the two perhaps we can get a factual picture. Let's begin at 9038 Melrose Avenue, with our library. It is now the largest in the world devoted to the history of motion pictures. It is used daily by studios, Academy members, college students, and the general public. A complete production file of feature films released since 1925 containing cast, credits, critics' reviews and key stills on each picture is an invaluable reference source for the whole industry. The bound volumes of film publications since 1906, the foreign books and trade journals and the special subject files enable us to an­ swer hundreds of inquiries which come to us each week by mail and telephone. This year, in addition to our routine acquisitions, we received some notable gifts. From Mrs. J. Searle Dawley: still photographs, books, peri­ odicals and letters collected by the pioneer director, J. Searle Dawley. From Robert G. Vignola: 100 stills relating to the film career of Sidney Olcott and Mr. Vignola. From Mrs. Thomas H. Ince: 95 bound albums of stills fully indexed, ftom the productions of Thomas H. Ince. From various other sources we acquired 19,000 stills illustrating production techniques. Save for portraits needed for our biograph­ ical files, we accept only production stills which have permanent value in the Library . -3- A few library statistics: Books and bound periodicals .. .. ..... .. .. ... 3,350 Scripts. .. 592 Current periodical subscriptions.................... 42 Research questions answered this year .. .. ....... 5,300 Now let's consider the Film Archives. There are now 939 films in the Academy vaults. 819 of these are 35mm release prints. The balance are 16mm. We also have 80 28mm films and a 28mm projector. We will eventually make 35mm prints of the 28mm footage which in­ cludes "Battle at Elderbush Gulch", "Judith of Bethulia", and early Chaplin and Pickford films. All prints in the Academy collection are available for screening to Academy members, studios and students. Important contributions to the film collection were made this year. From G. Carleton Hunt: "lola's Promise" Biograph, 1912; from Earl Theisen: 12 reels of early American footage covering the period 1892- 1912; and from Mrs. Leon Schlesinger: 15,000 ft. of early Georges Melies films, made in France, 1902-1908. There are thirty complete Melies subjects, and this is the largest known collection of his work. In addition, the Academy, through the courtesy of the Library of Congress, retains the paper negatives of American motion pictures 1896-1912, loaned to us for conversion to celluloid. This project is progressing slowly, but as funds become available we are restoring to the screen films which trace the development of our industry and are pictorial Americana of inestimable value. Another preoccupation which runs throughout the year is our Acrulemy Museum. It's beginning to emerge as a reality. Believing that some day the Academy must have a museum, we have collected in recent years a quantity of early motion picture equipment and memorabilia. This year we placed exhibit cases in our theatre lobby and displayed for our members some of the items. Interest stimulated by the exhibits has brought us many additional gifts and promises of more to come. Now let us take up our Publications. The Academy Players Direc­ tory, as a cooperative service for actors and studios, has become, during its twelve years of publication, an indispensable working tool for studio casting and executive personnel. The Directory was formerly issued quarterly, but at the request of the Screen Actors Guild, we revised the format of the book this year to give greater coverage in each num­ ber and reduced the cost to players and studios. We now issue three books a year. Three Credits Bulletins: the Writers' Bulletin, the Directors' Bulle- -4- tin, and the Production List-are now in their sixteenth years of publi­ cation. An annual cumulated volume is issued; monthly supplements keep the records up-to-date. The Awards Bulletin of Scientific or Technical Achievement is issued annually and is in effect a historical record of scientific and technical advancement in our industry since 1931. Now let us examine a routine activity of particular interest to our general membership- the Academy Theatre. When we moved into our own building four years ago, Sunday evening was set aside as regular membership night in the theatre. We established a policy of screening in sequence, all Academy-Award winning pictures and short subjects. The regular schedule of old films has been varied with the screening of foreign films and special events for the membership. We concluded the year with the Award-winning pictures of 1940, and the current series includes Award Winners of 1941. During the week the theatre is rented to the studios for press pre­ VIews. Another line of steady activity can best be described as our Educa­ tional Services. The widespread and growing interest of educators and students in motion pictures is reflected in the variety of services re­ quested from the Academy by schools, colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. Local colleges work closely with the Academy. Guest lecturers have been supplied for the past two years for the gradu­ ate seminar in motion pictures at the University of Southern California. The Motion Picture Section of the Theatre Arts Department at the University of California at Los Angeles was set up with the cooperation of an Academy committee, and many of the teachers for the new de­ partment have been Academy members. Requests for bibliographies, scripts, music scores, lists of films for special curriculum use, general information on all phases of the indus­ try, and personal assistance in arranging interviews or special screen­ ings at studios are a part of our daily routine. An inquiry to our office is often the first direct contact with the motion picture industry. Wheth­ er the inquiry comes from a college dean or from an enthusiast in the fifth grade, we try to give the service needed, but it isn't always easy. This letter is from a current file: "My class and I think movies are very interesting. We would like to know more about it except what is in books. Will you please send all information about modern movies. Please send us pictures of your machinery and the man who invented the movie. Please rush it here if at all possible. We would great­ ly appreciate it if you would. Thank you. Johnny Jones." -5- Johnny didn't get "all information about modern movies," but he did get pictures of Thomas Edison, cameras, and projectors, and refer­ ences to some simply written, well illustrated articles on movie-making suitable to his age group.