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Performing Arts Materials in Library Special Collections

This guide provides resources and general information about UCLA Library Special Collections Performing Arts.

Toward Ethical and Inclusive Descriptive Practices in UCLA Library Special Collections

LSC is committed to remediating harmful description by creating and implementing an anti-oppressive approach to discovery and access. We aim to:

  • Be clear about what we know, how we know it, and what we don't know
  • Embrace baseline description as a tool to improve the discoverability of all our materials
  • Demonstrate an understanding that description is a continuous and necessarily iterative endeavor

Read more about our past and current approaches to description in Toward Ethical and Inclusive Descriptive Practices in UCLA Library Special Collections.

Film

film reelUCLA Library Special Collections stewards many primary source materials pertaining to Film. This guide is intended as a starting place to point researchers to these materials and also serves as a basic orientation on using Library Special Collections holdings.

 

Film Titles Represented in Library Special Collections

The following is a list of film titles that are represented in Library Special Collections's holdings. The list is in process and will be updated periodically.

Once you have identified a title in this list, search for that title (in quotes) in the Online Archive of California to locate the specific collection holding those materials. The list indicates if multiple collections hold certain materials, for example, "scripts (2 collections)."

If you don't see the title you are looking for, please contact Library Special Collections Public Services.

Actors' Collections

Personal Papers

Library Special Collections holds collections pertaining to specific people who played a prominent role in film. An example would be the Jean Renoir Papers. You will also find materials related to such individuals or film organizations in other collections, so be sure to use the keyword search function in the Online Archive of California, to find all available materials relating to those persons or organizations.

Physical Type-Specific Collections

Here you will find materials represented in a specific special format other than papers. Some of the formats included are set designs, posters, stills, and lobby cards.

Animation Collections

Here you will find collections of materials pertaining specifically to animators and animation.

Oral History Interviews

UCLA’s Center for Oral History Research collects oral history interviews related primarily to the history of Southern California and the Los Angeles metropolitan region.

Film Music Collections

Library Special Collections holds a large amount of film music archival materials including materials for silent and sound films. For a more complete listing of these holdings, consult the Online Archive of California, using the keyword search term, "film music."

 RKO Pictures Pianist's payroll card

Dorothy Fields payroll card, RKO Collection, box 157

Pianist's payroll card, RKO Collection, box 149

Film Studios/Organizations

Film Producer's Collections

Collections listed here pertain to the papers of specific television producers