Collection Summary
Rivkin, Allen, 1903-1990
Allen Rivkin papers
1904-1975 (bulk 1930-1962)
02254
20.35 cubic ft. (45 boxes)
University of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
English
Contains the papers of Allen Rivkin, a mid-20th century
screenwriter and co-founder of the Writers Guild of America.
Biography of Allen Rivkin
Allen Rivkin (1903-1990) was a freelance magazine writer from 1925-1931 before
working as a writer for motion pictures, television programs, and plays. Rivkin was
originally from Hayward, Wisconsin and studied journalism at the University of
Minnesota. He worked as a reporter before moving to Hollywood in 1923. He was one of
the first nine directors elected to the Screenwriters Guild, which later became the
Writers Guild of America. His writing career launched in the 1930s when he
collaborated with Ben Markson on the stage play "Is My Face Red," which became a
1932 movie. In 1963 he quit screenwriting and became director of publicity for the
Writers Guild, founding and editing their newsletter. He was married to Laura
Hornickel (who wrote under the pseudonym of Laura Kerr) in 1952 and together they
wrote two non-fiction books on the film industry, Hello, Hollywood! in
1962 and I Wasn't Born Yesterday. They also co-wrote the screenplay for
the 1947 film "The Farmer's Daughter" for which Loretta Young won a best actress
Academy Award.
Scope and Content
Collection consists mainly of scripts, related correspondence, and research notes for
motion pictures and television programs written by Rivkin (some written with
Laura Kerr), including the movies "Battle Circus," "Farmer's Daughter," "Prisoner of
War," "The Eternal Sea," and "Joe Smith, American" and the television program "The
Troubleshooters." The manuscripts, research notes, correspondence and galley proofs
for Hello, Hollywood!, correspondence, miscellaneous biographical
information, a scrapbook, magazine articles written by Rivkin, and research
materials for an unpublished book on the Weyerhaeuser Company, The Wooden
Empire, are also included.
Access Restrictions
There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the
collection is open to the public.
Copyright Information
The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and
libel laws as they apply.
Related Materials
There are no known other archival collections created by at the date of
processing.
Acquisition Information
This material was received from Allen Rivkin from 1967 to 1982.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Kathryn Brooks in April 2012.
Preferred Citation
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number,
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Access Terms
Writers Guild of America
Weyerhaeuser Company
Motion picture authorship -- United States
Television authorship -- United States
Television programs--United
States
Lumber trade -- United States
Scrapbooks
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Performing Arts
Social Life and Customs
People, Ethnicity, and Culture
Container List
Series I. Works
Sub-series 1. Scripts
2
"Air Medic"
1955 August 31
2
"Battle Island"
1956
3
"Black Sheep"
1935 March
3
"Broadway Vagabond"
1931
5
"Cripple Creek"
undated
5
"Crossroads"
1936 May 8
5
"Doctor in the Sky"
1955 October 24
6
"Get Me a Gun"
undated
12
"Just Off Broadway"
1955 December29
12
"Knock on Wood"
1935, undated
13
"The Long Day"
1954
14
"Manhattan Serenade"
1951, 1953
15
"Minnesota West"
1940, 1949, undated
15
"Miraculous Fish"
1958-1963, undated
17
"The Naked Weekend"
undated
17
"The Nobel Prize"
1962, undated
17
"Old Friends"
1951 March 20
18
"Old Friends"
1950-1951
18
"Past Due"
circa 1954
19
"Point Venus"
undated
21
"Scenario #8511"
1952
21
"A Servant in the House of My Party"
1962
22
"They Dream of Home"
1945
22
"Trial by Sasswood"
undated
23
"Trial by Sasswood"
undated
23
Troubleshooter series: "The Cat-Skinner Kids"
1959
23
Troubleshooter series: "Gino"
1959
23
Troubleshooter series: "Harry Maru"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "The Law and the Profits"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "Liquid of Death"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "The Lower Depths"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "Moment of Terror"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "Tiger Culhane"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "Trouble at the
Orphanage"
1959
24
Troubleshooter series: "The Widow of Elbow Bend"
1959
25
"Wind from the East"
1952
25
Winston Churchill series - Episode #21
1960 November 1
Sub-series 2. Manuscripts
6
"A Flagpole Needs a Flag"
1948 January 16
19
"A Piece of Pain, A Piece of Pleasure"
1962, undated
21
"A Servant in the House of My Party"
1962
2
"Babes in Bogotá"
1944
40
Bound Mss. "The Wooden Empire" in four parts
1939, 1941, undated
39
Chapters 1-5. Carbon
1941
3
"Cinderella Goes to Washington"
undated
3
"Class of '37" or "Three Cheers"
1935, undated
4
"Crazy Feet"
undated
5
"The Dance Queen"
undated
39
Duplicates. "The Wooden Empire"
1939, undated
6
"Flowers by Toni"
undated
6
"Fraternity Row"
undated
6
"Girls Are Like That"
1931
6
"Go East, Little Girl"
undated
6
"Grounds for Marriage" News clippings &
correspondence
1949-1951
6
"Have Fun, My Darling"
undated
10
Hello, Hollywood! clippings
1962
10
Hello, Hollywood! correspondence
1962, undated
10
Hello, Hollywood! invoices
1962
10
Hello, Hollywood! material lists
circa 1952-1961
8
Hello, Hollywood!
1961, undated
11
Hello, Hollywood!
1943-1962
13
"The Lady and the Lumberjack"
undated
36
"Logging and Loggers in the 1860s"
undated
13
"Look Down a Deep Well"
undated
13
"Lovin' and Dancin'"
undated
13
"Lulu"
1944-1957
14
"Mad About the Girl"
1936, undated
14
"Mash '66"
circa 1950-1952
14
"The Matlock Place"
1938, undated
15
"Minnesota West"
undated
16
"Miraculous Fish"
1960, undated
16
"My Old Lady"
undated
17
"No Part of You"
undated
17
"Nothing Up My Sleeve"
1934
17
"Okay, New York"
undated
17
"Old Friends" MSS & research material
1947-1951
18
"Old Students Never Die"
1963-1965
37
Original typed "The Wooden Empire"
undated
18
"Personal Doctor"
1931
19
"Point Venus"
1951, undated
20
"The Pride of America"
1957, undated
20
"Professor Broadway"
undated
20
"The Purple Gang"
1958 February
20
"The Queen's Man"
undated
21
"The Run Around"
1934
22
"Society Director"
undated
22
"Straighten Me Out"
1933
22
"The Torrid Teens"
undated
22
"Trial by Sasswood"
undated
24
"Two Bad Chips"
undated
38
Typed "The Wooden Empire"
undated
39
Typed "The Wooden Empire"
undated
36
Weyerhaeuser Mss. By Schubert - "Weyerhaeuser Lumber
Interests"
undated
25
"Winged Scourge"
circa 1942-1946
25
"You're Out of My Mind"
undated
Sub-series 3. Treatments
6
"Eight Hours"
1937 November 29
12
"Hula"
undated
16
"Mister"
undated
17
"Off Key"
1936 January 16
3
"The Big Needle"
undated
Sub-series 4. Bound items
26
"Bad Boy"
1935 October 29
26
"Battle Circus"
1953 January 21
26
"Behind the News"
1940 December 23
26
"Black Sheep"
1935 June 28
9
Bound volume, no title
undated
26
"Champagne Charlie"
1936 May 7
27
"Cheating Cheaters"
1934 December 4
27
"Dancing Lady"
1933 December 2
27
"Dancing on a Dime"
1941 January 31
27
"Dead Reckoning"
1947 January 2
27
"The Devil is Driving"
1932 December 16
28
"The Eternal Sea"
1955 April 15
28
"The Farmer's Daughter"
1947
28
"Gambling House"
1951 January 20
28
"Girl in 419"
1933 May 20
28
"Grounds for Marriage"
1950-1951
29
"Guilt of Jane Ames"
1947 March 6
29
"Half Angel"
1936 May 4
29
"Headline Shooter"
1933 October 21
29
"Highway West"
1941 August 14
29
"Is My Face Red"
1932 June 17
27
"It Could Happen to You"
1939 June 30
30
"Joe Smith, American"
1942, 1959
30
"Kid Glove Killer"
1942 March 16
30
"Knock on Wood"
1935 May 28
30
"Let Us Live"
1939 February 29
30
"Live Fast, Die Young"
1957-1958
30
"Love Under Fire"
1937 July 20
31
"Madison Square Garden"
1932 October 14
31
"Man From Texas"
1955 June 17
31
"Meet the Baron"
1933
31
"Melody Cruise"
1933 June 16
31
"My Dream is Yours"
1948-1949
32
"Prisoner of War"
1953-1954
32
"Night World"
1932 May 5
32
"Our Little Girl"
1935 June 7
32
"Picture Snatcher"
1933 May 19
32
"Radio Patrol"
1931-1932
33
"Singapore Woman"
1940-1941
33
"Straight, Place and Show"
1938
33
"The Strip"
1951
33
"Sunday Punch"
1932
33
"Tension"
1949
34
"This is My Affair"
1936-1937
34
"The Thrill of Brazil"
1946
34
"Till the End of Time"
circa 1950
34
"Timberjack"
1954-1955
34
"Typhoon"
1939-1940
35
"Your Uncle Dudley"
1935
Sub-series 5. Other
45
"…And Now California" with foreword by Rivkin
1947
19
"A Piece of Pain, A Piece of Pleasure" data
1961
4
"The Collegiates" radio skit
undated
4
Comedy: "Come As You Are"
undated
20
Continuity & dialogue: J.F.K. "Pursuit of
Happiness"
1956
9
Hello, Hollywood! final galley
proof
undated
9
Hello, Hollywood! foundry proof
undated
35
Loose magazines
1922-1936
44
Magazine writings: "Close-Up, Movie Producer" with
correspondence
1935-1936
44
Magazine writings: "Flesh Peddler"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Hey, Keep That Gun Down"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Is it Good or Bad?"
1935
44
Magazine writings: "Mix Me a Bromide, Please"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Portrait, Lou Edelman"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Radio Skit"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Straighten Me Out"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "The Wife Takes a Farm"
1935
44
Magazine writings: "The Wilkersons Have Lunch"
undated
44
Magazine writings: "Todd's Crazy About It"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "A Lesson to Ladies"
1937 July 14
44
Misc. writings: "Convention," or "A Man Who"
1961-1962
44
Misc. writings: "Copy Reader: Take It Away"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "Get 400 of Your Friends"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "Hell Week"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "Here's Cheers"
1950
44
Misc. writings: "Let 'Em Cry Real Tears"
1949
44
Misc. writings: "Melody Man"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "Press Agent"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "The Hidden Crisis"
1950
44
Misc. writings: "The Reign in Spain"
1956
44
Misc. writings: "The Road is Long"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "This is the Way It Was Then"
undated
44
Misc. writings: "What's Wrong with Writers"
1936 October 28
44
Misc. writings: miscellaneous
circa 1940-1962
18
"The Paper Curtain" documentary
1960-1961
5
Play: "Dateline Geneva"
1938
43
Printed material
1928-1953
21
"Round-Trip" play
1932-1934
21
"Seed of Violence" screenplay
1957 December 2
25
United Nations presentation
1962
Series II. Research
2
"Air Medic" research notes & correspondence
1953-1957
3
"The Big Needle" research notes
1951-1953
7
"Here's Hollywood!" with research notes
1932-1962, undated
39
Manuscript queries
1941, undated
43
Miscellaneous college material: poems, essays, & short
stories
1924-1927, undated
12
News clippings - Sinclair Lewis
1935, 1960
12
Photos - Weyerhaeuser family
1935-1937, undated
12
Photos - Weyerhaeuser Logging Company
1904-1939, undated
42
Research notes: "Historic Rock Island Co."
undated
42
Research notes: Fire
1954-1956, undated
42
Research notes: Genealogy
undated
42
Research notes: Indian story
1947-1955
42
Research notes: Logging - Mississippi River Logging
Co.
undated
42
Research notes: Maps
1940-1945, undated
42
Research notes: Miscellaneous & quotes
circa 1935-1949
42
Research notes: News clippings
circa 1931-1962
43
Research notes: Timber
1929-1942, undated
22
"Trial by Sasswood" research data &
correspondence
1950-1959, undated
23
Troubleshooter series: miscellaneous data
1959-1960
36
Weyerhaeuser bibliography material
1937-1939, undated
36
Weyerhaeuser biographical notes & data
1905-1935
36
Weyerhaeuser company reports & government
pamphlets
1929-1937
45
Weyerhaeuser news clippings
circa 1934-1946
36
Weyerhaeuser notes
undated
36
Weyerhaeuser research notes
1936-1943, undated
Series III. Personal
41
Biographical material: Allen Rivkin
undated
41
Biographical material: Dore Schary (notes, speeches, scripts,
etc.)
1905-1959
41
Biographical material: James J. Hill
1916-1940, undated
41
Biographical material: John Dietz
1910, 1938, undated
41
Biographical material: Richard Richards (campaign)
1962
1
Correspondence
1925-1961, undated
12
Photos - Allen Rivkin
1962
12
Photos - Richard Richards
1962
35
Publicity
circa 1946-1954
45
Scrapbook
circa 1920-1943
45
Writers Guild West calendar
1975