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Finding Aid for the Stanley Chase papers, ca. 1925-2001 (bulk 1955-1989)
1090
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Title: Stanley Chase papers,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1925-2001
Date (bulk): (bulk 1955-1989)
Collection number: 1090
Creator: Chase, Stanley
Extent:
105 boxes (52.5 linear ft.)
12 oversize boxes
27 map folders
Abstract: Stanley Chase (1928-) was a theater, film, and television producer. The collection consists of production and business files,
original production drawings, posters, press clippings, sound recordings, and scripts from his major projects.
Language: Finding aid is written in English
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Department of Special Collections. Literary 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.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Stanley Chase, 1967-1968 and 2002.
[Identification of item], Stanley Chase Papers (Collection 1090). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, UCLA.
The collection was originally brief-listed by Manuscripts Division staff in 1968. Following the second gift in 2002, the collection
was partially rehoused by Joshua Amberg in the fall of 2004, then thoroughly rehoused and processed by Timothy Holland in
the Center For Primary Research and Training (CFPRT), with assistance from Laurel McPhee, in the summer of 2005.
Expanded Biographical Narrative
Stanley Chase was born Stanley Cohen on May 3, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from New Utrecht High School in 1944,
and enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He received his B.A. from New York University in 1949, and immediately pursued graduate
study in drama at Columbia University. In 1950 Chase went to work for CBS Television and met Carmen Capalbo, with whom he
eventually produced the record-breaking musical off-Broadway hit,
The Threepenny Opera. Chase followed the success of that production with three more Broadway plays:
The Potting Shed (1957),
A Moon for the Misbegotten (1957), and
The Cave Dwellers (1957). He also produced a European tour of
Free and Easy, a Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer jazz musical featuring Quincy Jones.
Chase went on to work for various film and television companies, including Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, 1962; the American Broadcasting
Company, where he was director of network television program development from 1962-1963; United Artists, where he created
and developed the ABC television pilot
Inside Danny Baker with Mel Brooks in 1963; Columbia Pictures, where he was a television production head and executive producer from 1963-1964;
and Universal Studios, where he was an executive and producer from 1965-1970. Major projects from this period include the
Universal Studio television anthology series
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre for NBC, 1966-1967, and the Universal Studios films
The Hell with Heroes (1968) and
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). Chase founded Stanley Chase Productions, Inc. in 1976 as a motion picture, television production, and distribution
company, and was president of that enterprise. Major motion picture projects included
High Ballin' (1978),
Fish Hawk (1982), and
Mack the Knife (1990). Television projects included the made for television movies
The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (1979) and
An American Christmas Carol (1980).
The collection consists of production and business files, original production drawings, posters, press clippings, sound recordings,
and scripts documenting Stanley Chase's forty-year career as a producer in theater, film, and television. The production files
contain contracts, correspondence, legal documents, memoranda, photographs, publicity materials and other miscellaneous papers.
Of particular interest are the files pertaining to Chase's off-Broadway production of Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht's
The Threepenny Opera, and the Broadway plays
A Moon for the Misbegotten,
The Potting Shed, and
The Cave Dwellers at the Bijou Theatre. Important materials from the film series include production files, original production design drawings,
and photographs for
The Hell with Heroes (1968) and
Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), both created while Chase was an executive producer at Universal Studios. The collection also contains voluminous
files related to Stanley Chase Productions, Inc. projects and Chase's work in television, including screenplays, story pitches,
and memoranda.
Arranged in the following series:
- Theater, 1946-1989 (34 boxes, 5 oversize boxes, 5 map folders), subseries A-E as follows:
- The Threepenny Opera, 1952-1961.
- Free and Easy, 1956-1960.
- Bijou Theatre files, 1946-1961.
- Miscellaneous, 1953-1989.
- Playbill programs, ca. 1950-1960.
- Film, 1955-2001 (38 boxes, 4 oversize boxes, 20 map folders), subseries A-F as follows:
- The Hell with Heroes, 1967-1968.
- Colossus: The Forbin Project, 1965-1970.
- High Ballin', 1976-1986.
- Mack the Knife, 1955-1990.
- Miscellaneous productions, ca. 1973-1981.
- Scripts, 1956-2001.
- Television, 1925-1994 (32 boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 map folder), subseries A-D as follows:
- An American Christmas Carol, 1979-1994.
- The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog, 1977-1983.
- Miscellaneous productions, 1925-1994.
- Scripts, 1960-1984.
- Audiovisual materials, 1959-1989 (1 box, 2 oversize boxes).
- Miscellaneous, 1944 (1 folder, 1 map folder).
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Chase, Stanley--Archives.
Motion picture producers and directors--United States--Archival resources.
Television producers and directors--United States--Archival resources.
Theatrical producers and directors--United States--Archival resources.
Stanley Chase Productions.
Television plays.
Film scripts.
Items Removed from the Collection
The following eleven reels of film and two videos found among the papers were transferred to the UCLA Film and Television
Archive in September 2005 for processing.
- ¾" videotape: Grace Kelly; The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog; High Ballin'; Fish Hawk; High Ballin' screen tests; Fish Hawk trailers.
- VHS videotape: Grace Kelly; An American Christmas Carol.
- 16mm film: Dream Wife pilot; Inside Danny Baker pilot; Jigsaw pilot; Colossus: The Forbin Project.
- 35mm film: Frontier Family Adventure (aka Fish Hawk), reel 1 only.