Title:
Jeanne Crain collection of home movies and other materials, 1932-1976, (bulk 1948-1965)
Home movies. Jeanne Crain
Creator/Contributor:
Crain, Jeanne, 1925-, creator
Abstract:
This collection consists of home movies, feature films, shorts distributed for the home market, television shows and commercials,
and audio tape reels. Approximately half of the collection consists of 16 mm. Kodachrome home movies that feature Crain in
both her professional and personal life. The majority feature Crain with family and friends, with most of the footage focused
on baptisms, graduations, and children's birthday parties. Locales as diverse as South Africa, France, Japan, Egypt, Iran,
Hawaii, Italy, Jerusalem and Brazil can be seen in the home movies, including footage shot in Africa while Crain was on location
for Duel in the jungle (1954). There is behind-the-scenes footage of her films including Apartment for Peggy (1948), A letter
to three wives (1949), Gentlemen marry brunettes (1955) and Nefertiti, queen of the Nile (1961). Celebrities featured include
Robert Cummings, Van Johnson, Ann Miller, Walter Pidgeon, Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, Ann Blyth, Alan Young, Jane Russell,
Rudy Vallée and a brief shot of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz. The 16 mm. feature films, which are in the early stages of
safety deterioration due to mold, vinegar syndrome or stickiness, include Merrily we live (1938), Margie (1946), Hell town
(1937), Desert gold (1936), Bad men of Arizona (i.e., Arizona raiders) (1936), Man of the forest (1933), and State fair (1949).
Of these feature films only State fair (1949) and Margie (1946) pertain specifically to Crain's career. A number of the 16
mm. shorts feature Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker and were distributed for the home market by Castle Films. These shorts
were most likely purchased by Crain for her children during the 1950s. Television programs from the 1950s include episodes
from The Howdy Doody show, The Eve Arden show and The Cisco Kid, plus a number of DeSoto commercials created between 1957
and 1958 in which Crain appears by herself or with other celebrities such as Groucho Marx and Gordon McRae. The collection
also consists of two 35 mm. safety prints, one contains a reel of excerpts that is likely from the feature film Clay (1965)
and the other is an untitled sequence highlighting a fire in the California desert. Content of the nine 1/4 in. audio tape
reels is not known.
Date:
1948 (issued)
Subject:
Crain, Jeanne -- 1925- -- Archives
Crain, Jeanne -- 1925- -- Homes and haunts
Brinkman, Paul -- 1918-2003
Duel in the jungle
Apartment for Peggy
Letter to three wives
Gentlemen marry brunettes
Nefertiti, queen of the Nile
Motion picture actors and actresses -- Archival resources
Mickey Mouse (Fictitious character)
Woody Woodpecker (Fictitious character)
Note:
APPOINTMENT REQUIRED FOR VIEWING MATERIALS ONSITE. Inquire at the Archive Research and Study Center for further information
(email: arsc@ucla.edu).
Materials entirely in English.
Jeanne Crain (1925-2003) was born in Barstow, California. Not long after her birth, her family moved to Los Angeles where
her father accepted the position of high school English teacher. Crain's chance to play the lead in a junior high school play
initially sparked her interest in acting and eventually led to her enrollment in the drama department at UCLA. Although Crain
had done a screen test for Orson Welles while still in high school, her film career didn't take off until she signed a contract
with Twentieth Century-Fox, where she began with a bit part in The gang's all here (1943) and quickly transitioned to starring
roles in B-films. In 1945, Jeanne Crain became a household name following her appearance in the Technicolor musical State
fair (1949) co-starring Dana Andrews, who frequently served as the romantic lead in other Crain vehicles. That same year,
Crain married actor-turned-businessman Paul Brinkman (1918-2003), also known by the stage name as Paul Brooks. The couple
had seven children, Paul Jr. (1947-), Michael (b. 1949), Timothy (1950-), Jeanine (1952-), Lisabette (1958-), Maria (1961-),
and Christopher (b. 1965). Crain's rocky marriage to Brinkman ultimately ended in separation. Crain received her only Oscar
nomination for her role as a light skinned black woman who passed for white in the controversial film Pinky (1949). In 1954,
Crain left Fox and traveled to Africa for the filming of Duel in the jungle (1954) for Warner Brothers and eventually signed
a five-year contract with Universal. During the 1960s, she increasingly made films overseas. Although Crain continued to act
in films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, her career gradually went into decline. She retired from the screen in 1972, but
remained active during retirement through her painting. She died of a heart attack on December 14, 2003 in Santa Barbara,
California.
Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Deposit; Jeanne Crain's daughter, Lisabette Brinkman; May 2005.
Inventory list available. Inquire at the Archive Research and Study Center.
Related materials tracing Jeanne Crain's career compiled by Charles J. Finlay, a longtime publicist for 20th Century-Fox,
is available at Wesleyan University's Cinema Archives in Middletown, Connecticut.
The Jeanne Crain Collection at the UCLA Film & Television Archive.
Type:
motion picture
Home movies and video.
Features.
Shorts.
Cartoons.
Commercials.
Children's films and programs.
Physical Description:
101 film reels, 9 audio tape reels.
Language:
English
Identifier:
Collection 5
Origin:
California
Copyright Note:
APPOINTMENT REQUIRED FOR VIEWING MATERIALS ONSITE. Inquire at the Archive Research and Study Center for further information
(email: arsc@ucla.edu).
Copyright has not been assigned to the UCLA Film & Television Archive.