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Talbot Jennings Scripts

 Collection
Identifier: MG 186

Abstract

Motion picture and television scripts (22 items), ten of which are by Jennings. Among works included are 77 Sunset Strip, Rawhide, The Alaskans, Romeo and Juliet, Anna and the King of Siam, and No more frontier.

Dates

  • Creation: 1926-1960

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Talbot Jennings was born in Shoshone, Idaho, August 25, 1894, the son of the Episcopal archdeacon of Idaho and Wyoming. He graduated from Nampa High School. After serving in the Army in World War I, where he fought in five major battles, he attended the University of Idaho where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1924. He attended Harvard University where he earned a master's degree, and then attended the Yale Drama School. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Idaho in 1939.

While at the University of Idaho he was president of the Associated Students. He also wrote Light on the Mountains, a state history set to music, which was first presented by students in 1923. He was editor of the yearbook, Gem of the Mountains, and the English Department literary publication Blue Bucket.

He was the author of 17 screen plays, including Mutiny on the Bounty, Anna and the King of Siam, The Good Earth, and Northwest Passage. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1936 version of Romeo and Juliet. In addition to movie screenplays he wrote for several television series including "77 Sunset Strip" and "The Alaskans". He was twice nominated for an academy award.

Talbot Jennings died in East Glacier, Montana on May 30, 1985.

Extent

1 cubic foot

Arrangement

Of the twenty-two scripts in this collection, only ten are by Talbot Jennings; several have no known author and may be by Jennings. The remaining scripts were possibly written by colleagues of Jennings and sent to him to critique. The plays are in alphabetical order by title, the title in parentheses is the title of the television series for which the script was written.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The script collection of Talbot Jennings was donated to the University of Idaho Library by Mr. Jennings in 1960. The scripts were originally dispersed among the book collections, but were removed in 1986 and 1989 and added to the manuscripts accessions. These two groups were brought together and processed by Judith Nielsen in February 1990.

Title
Talbot Jennings Scripts 1926-1960
Author
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen
Date
©1990
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid is in English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository