Pare Lorentz papers, 1914-1994, bulk 1932-1960

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Series IV: The River, 1935-1943, undated

In June 1936, Lorentz pitched the idea for his second film, The River. In his original conception, the documentary would follow a single drop of water as it flowed from the source of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, the words and images would depict the social, ecological, and economic life of the Mississippi Valley, which at the time was home to more than half of the nation's population. Later, he scrapped the original idea of tracing the river's length and instead based the action around the tributaries flowing into the main stream. One of the main themes of the film is humanity's careless stewardship of the river, which had led to serious erosion and flooding. The first screening was held in New Orleans in October 1937.



Box 46

Subseries 1. Printed Materials and Publicity, 1936-1940, undated

This subseries contains press reviews, distribution materials, shooting record from production and screening.



Box 47 Folder 1 to 4 Paramount Reports From Exchanges, 1938-1939, (4 Folders)


Box 47 Folder 5 The Land, 1939-1940


Box 47 Folder 6 Movie Making Ideas, 1936-1939


Box 47 Folder 7 U.S. Government Films, 1938-1939



Box 48 Folder 1 Postaudit and Claims, Letters, 1937-1940


Box 48 Folder 2 Budget, 1935-1937


Box 48 Folder 3 New Orleans Voucher, 1940


Box 48 Folder 4 Miscellaneous Pieces Re: The River, 1938


Box 48 Folder 5 The River signed by Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt,, 1935-1938


Box 48 Folder 6 Publicity, 1937


Box 48 Folder 7 The River a U.S. Documentary Film, undated


Box 48 Folder 8 Publicity Book, undated


Box 48 Folder 9 Press Information, undated



Box 49 Folder 1 Venice Film Festival Award, 1938


Box 49 Folder 2 Grand Shorts Award, 1938


Subseries 2. Subject Files, 1935-1943

These folders contain research materials used by Lorentz to write the screenplay and choose locations.



Box 50 Folder 1 General Information, 1938-1941


Box 50 Folder 2 Australia, Mervyn Scales, 1938-1940


Box 50 Folder 3 Biographies, undated


Box 50 Folder 4 Book The River, 1937-1938


Box 50 Folder 5 Booking, 1938-1939


Box 50 Folder 6 Booking Reports, Griswold Summaries, 1936-1938


Box 50 Folder 7 Booking Reports, Commercial Paramount, 1938-1939


Box 50 Folder 8 Booking Reports By State, 1938-1940


Box 50 Folder 9 Bookings, Balaban and Katz, 1937


Box 50 Folder 10 Bookings, Boston Opening and Run, 1937-1939


Box 50 Folder 11 Bookings, Cameo Theater, 1938


Box 50 Folder 12 Bookings, Special, 1938-1939


Box 50 Folder 13 Brief Synopsis of The River, undated



Box 51 Folder 1 Cameramen For The River, 1937


Box 51 Folder 2 Canadian Showings and Requests, 1938-1939


Box 51 Folder 3 Commercial Appeal Article, 1937


Box 51 Folder 4 Contract, Paramount, 1937-1940


Box 51 Folder 5 Copyright, 1938


Box 51 Folder 6 Criterion Opening, 1938


Box 51 Folder 7 Cutting Continuity, 1938


Box 51 Folder 8 Distribution Statistics, 1939-1940


Box 51 Folder 9 to 11 Distribution, March-July 1939-, January-June 1940, (3 Folders)



Box 52 Folder 1 Distribution--Foreign, 1937-1940


Box 52 Folder 2 Distribution--Migrant Camp Movies, 1938


Box 52 Folder 3 Distribution--Non-Commercial, 1937-1940


Box 52 Folder 4 Distribution Policy, 1938


Box 52 Folder 5 Distribution Requests--Commercial, 1937-1938


Box 52 Folder 6 Fan Mail, 1937-1939


Box 52 Folder 7 Location Trip Diary, 1936


Box 52 Folder 8 Location Background, 1937


Box 52 Folder 9 Lorentz Coast Trips, 1937-1938


Box 52 Folder 10 Mississippi Premieres, 1937-1938


Box 52 Folder 11 Education Plan, 1938


Box 52 Folder 12 Exchange List, 1939


Box 52 Folder 13 Griswold, 1937-1939


Box 52 Folder 14 Financial Report, undated


Box 52 Folder 15 Exploitation--Regional Information Advisers, 1938-1939


Box 52 Folder 16 Exploitation--Magazine and Other, 1937-1938


Box 52 Folder 17 Exploitation--Radio, 1937


Box 52 Folder 18 Miscellaneous, 1937-1940



Box 53 Folder 1 Music, 1937-1938


Box 53 Folder 2 Music and Copyright, 1938


Box 53 Folder 3 Payrolls, 1937-1938


Box 53 Folder 4 Permission to Use Title of The River, 1937


Box 53 Folder 5 Personal Appearances, 1937-1938


Box 53 Folder 6 Press Book, 1937


Box 53 Folder 7 Press Book--Paramount, 1937-1938


Box 53 Folder 8 Press Releases--NY Office, 1938


Box 53 Folder 9 Press Reviews, 1937-1938


Box 53 Folder 10 Clippings, 1937-1943



Box 54 Folder 1 Research and Production, 1935-1937


Box 54 Folder 2 Zone Reports and Activities, 1937-1938


Box 54 Folder 3 Previews, 1937-1938


Box 54 Folder 4 Prints, 1938-1939


Box 54 Folder 5 Questionnaire and Answers--Little Red School House, undated


Box 54 Folder 6 Releases, 1938


Box 54 Folder 7 Research Data--Production #3, 1937


Box 54 Folder 8 Service Manual, 1938


Box 54 Folder 9 Stills, 1938-1943


Box 54 Folder 10 Technical Production Costs, undated


Box 54 Folder 11 Television, 1938-1940


Box 54 Folder 12 Venice Exposition, 1938


Box 54 Folder 13 Verbatim Transcript From Movie, undated


Box 54 Folder 14 Washington Premiere and Run, 1937


Subseries 3. Still Photographs, 1935-1940, undated

Some of these are stills from the movie, while others were used for research.



Box 55 Folder 1 Stills--"A", undated


Box 55 Folder 2 Stills--"B", undated


Box 55 Folder 3 New York City, undated


Box 55 Folder 4 The River, 1940


Box 55 Folder 5 Pare Lorentz On Location, 1936


Box 55 Folder 6 Complete Set 10 Paramount Stills and 18 Rejects, undated


Box 55 Folder 7 Publicity Stills--L8-L27, undated


Box 55 Folder 8 Publicity Stills--L28-L60, undated


Box 55 Folder 9 Publicity Stills--1-10, undated


Box 55 Folder 10 Publicity Stills--11-20, undated



Box 56 Folder 1 Publicity Stills--22-29, undated


Box 56 Folder 2 Publicity Stills--30-47, undated


Box 56 Folder 3 Publicity Stills--48-55, undated


Box 56 Folder 4 Carded Stills, undated


Box 56 Folder 5 to 7 Still Photographs, undated, (3 Folders)



Box 57 Folder 1 to 6 Still Photographs, 1935-1938,undated, (6 Folders)


Box 57 Folder 7 A Complete Set of 10 Stills, undated



Box 58 Folder 1 to 6 Still Photographs, undated, (6 Folders)