Guide to the Philip Hart Dunning Papers, 1915-1968 CTC.1976.01
Arrangement
Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Philip Hart Dunning Papers
Creator
Dunning, Philip
Collection Number
CTC.1976.01
Extent
3.3 Linear Feet(8 boxes)
Date
1915-1968
Abstract
Phillip Hart Dunning was a playwright, producer, director, stage manager, and as a young man also an actor. He is best known as the co-author and co-director, with George Abbott, of the 1926 hit, Broadway. The collection contains play, radio, TV, and film scripts, one novel, and a few short stories. There is a very small amount of related material such as preliminary notes, correspondence, contracts, clippings, etc. included in the collection and filed according to play title with the script.
Language
English
.
Author
Christie Graci in June 2010.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System Archives & Special Collections Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Acquisition Information
Gift of George J. Barrere, 1976.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into five series:
I. Philip Dunning as Sole Author
II. Phillip Dunning as Collaborator
III. Phillip Dunning as Adapter
IV. Phillip Dunning as Producer
V. Associated Scripts
Scope and Content Notes
The collection contains many of Philip Hart Dunning's personal scripts which include play, radio, TV, and film scripts, one novel, and a few short stories. While the collection represents a large portion of his work, it is by no means complete. A small amount of related material such as preliminary notes, correspondence, contracts, clippings, etc. is included in the collection and filed according to play title with the script. In cases where there is no script, a title is represented only by a synopsis. The collection comprises 94 titles in all, including some associated items, at least one of which is dated after Dunning's death. In a few cases there is more than one version of a given title. Many of the scripts are original typescripts, however, most are copies, and most have annotations.
Related Material
Script for Sequel to a Verdict (1963) can be found in the Curtis Theater Collection, PS3507/U67854.
Biography
Phillip Hart Dunning [December 11, 1892 (One source, The Biographical Encyclopedia and Who's Who of the American Theatre, 1966, lists 1891 as Dunning's birth date.) – July 20, 1968], playwright, producer, director, stage manager, and as a young man also an actor, began a long theatrical career in 1910 as assistant manager with a small part in Pomander Walk (Script not included in Dunning collection.). He wrote his first play, Dollar Bill, in 1915. He is best known as the co-author and co-director, with George Abbott, of the 1926 hit, Broadway, and his collaboration as author, producer, or director with Abbott continues into the 1930s, including Lilly Turner (1932), the Hecht-MacArthur play, Twentieth Century (1932), Heat Lightning (1933), The Drums Begin (1933), and Kill That Story (1934) which he wrote with Harry Madden. Without Abbott, Dunning produced Page Miss Glory (1930), written with Joseph Schrank and produced with Lawrence Schwab, Remember the Day (1935), which he wrote and produced with Philo Higley, and his final Broadway production, Schoolhouse on the Lot (1938), which he also directed.
Dunning had begun to write screen plays some ten years earlier, and he continues to write for the movies until at least 1948, adapting many of the Broadway plays with which he had been associated to the screen. In the 1950's and 1960's he turned his craftsmanship to television. He was also a regular Variety by-liner, and for a short time, 1960-1963, edited the Dramatists Bulletin, organ of the Dramatists Guild. Although a prolific writer, he published only one play, Sequel to a Verdict (1963). When he died in 1968 at age 76, he left a completed play, also with a courtroom setting, A Fantastic Chain of Events, based on the Kennedy assassination. Among his survivors was his brother, Caesar Dunn, also a playwright.
Copyright
The University of Pittsburgh holds the property rights to the material in this collection, but the copyright may still be held by the original creator/author. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Jean Blanco. It was entered into Archivists' Toolkit by Christie Graci in June 2010.
Preferred Citation
Philip Hart Dunning Papers, 1915-1968, CTC.1976.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Previous Citation
Philip Hart Dunning Papers, 1915-1968, CTC.1976.01, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
Philip Hart Dunning Papers, 1915-1968, CTC.11, Curtis Theatre Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
