Abraham Polonsky papers, 1946-1999, (bulk 1970s-1990s), bulk 1970-1990

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Summary

Creators:
Polonsky, Abraham
Abstract:
Abraham Polonsky was a director, screenwriter and novelist. In 1951, he refused to confirm or deny membership to the Communist party before the House Un-American Activities Committee and as a result, he was blacklisted by the entertainment industry. The collection consists of script material, manuscripts, books, and a small amount of clippings, photographs, correspondence, and other ephemera reflecting Polonsky's activities from the 1970s-1990s.
Extent:
10.9 linear feet (18 boxes, 2 record cartons, and 1 flat box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Abraham Polonsky Papers (Collection 2233). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of materials related to the career of Abraham Polonsky. Includes script material, manuscripts, books, and a small amount of clippings, publications, photographs, correspondence, audio and videotapes and other ephemera reflecting Polonsky's activities from circa 1970s-1990s. Script material includes writings for Body of Fear, Childhood's End, Cold War and Force of Evil, among others. The clippings and publications feature writings about Polonksy, his work, or the Blacklist. The books are a mix of publications given to and/or collected by Polonsky.

Biographical / historical:

Abraham Lincoln Polonsky was born December 5, 1910. He graduated from the City College of New York and Columbia University Law School, and for a while, he taught English at City College. Before trying starting his career in film, Polonsky wrote novels and several short stories. During the 1940s he also wrote for radio and worked with the Columbia Workshop and Orson Welles. During World War II, Polonsky was assigned to the Office of Strategic Studies, a forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency.

He moved to the West Coast in the mid-1940s. Polonsky's first two produced screenplays, Golden Earrings and Body and Soul, were released in 1947 and he was nominated for an Academy Award for Body and Soul. Not long after, Polonsky directed his first movie, Force of Evil (1948). During the late 1940s, he also became an editor of the journal, Hollywood Quarterly.

In the early 1950's, Polonsky refused to testify about his Communist Party affiliations or name party members before the House Un-American Activities Committee and was subsequently fired by Twentieth Century Fox and blacklisted. With only a few film titles to his credit, the Polonsky name did not appear in any film credit again for almost two decades. It was not until 1969 that he directed his second film, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.

Polonsky moved back to New York, and using pseudonyms wrote for television shows such as You Are There and the series Danger. During the 1950s he wrote the novel, A Season of Fear and co-wrote the 1959 film Odds Against Tomorrow, which was attributed to John O. Killens. Years later, as a leader in the fight to have credits restored to blacklisted filmmakers, Polonsky earned his own credit for that screenplay in 1996 from the Writers Guild of America.

In the 1990s, Polonsky helped write the McCarthy-era docudrama Guilty by Suspicion and appeared around the country in programs observing the anniversary of the blacklist. He also taught cinema classes at the University of Southern California and California State Northridge. To commemorate his film work, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association selected Polonsky a co-winner of the group's 1998 career achievement award. Polonsky died October 29, 1999 in Beverly Hills, California.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Susan Polansky Epstein and Henry Polansky, 2000.
Processing information:

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

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Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically according to file and publication titles.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Abraham Polonsky Papers (Collection 2233). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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