Valentine Davies

The Valentine Davies papers span the years 1925–1960 and encompass 15.5 linear feet. The papers include script material for all of the films written by Davies, with the exception of House Without a Name (1956), as well as material on his plays. Script drafts and, in most cases, the shooting script exist for the following films: Bachelor in Paradise (1961), The Benny Goodman Story (1956), The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1955), Chicken Every Sunday (1948), The Glenn Miller Story (1954), It Happens Every Spring (1949), It Started with a Kiss (1959), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), On the Riviera (1951), Sailor of the King (1953), Strategic Air Command (1955), Syncopation (1942), Three Little Girls in Blue (1946), and You Were Meant for Me (1948). Extensive production documentation for The Benny Goodman Story includes research and music notes. Storyboard sketches for The Bridges at Toko-Ri are also of interest. A couple of television scripts; several stage scripts, including Keeper of the Keys, Three Times the Hour, and Blow Ye the Winds; a dozen unstaged play scripts; and script material for the 1956 and 1957 Academy Award ceremonies round out the script files. Tambourine is represented by a published score containing music and lyrics. Treasury Department war bond speeches for Binnie Barnes, Kay Francis, Arlene Judge, and Herbert Marshall are of interest. Nine scrapbooks document Davies's career from 1931 to 1957.

Gift of Mrs. Valentine Davies, 1980.