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Summary Information
S. N. Behrman Papers
1911-1973
Behrman, S. N. (Samuel Nathaniel),
1893-1973
U.S. Mss 6AN; Micro 585
10.8 c.f. (27 archives
boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society Archives
/ Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater
Research
Papers of a writer noted for his
sophisticated comedy for the stage and
motion pictures. Illustrating Behrman's
writing techniques are detailed notes,
drafts, and revisions of more than thirty
plays, screenplays, and adaptations. Among
the plays he wrote or adapted are
Amphitryon 38
(1937),
Biography (1932),
The Cold Wind and
the Warm (1958),
End of Summer
(1935),
Fanny (1954),
Jacobowsky and the
Colonel (1944),
Jane
(1952), No Time
for Comedy (1939),
The Pirate
(1942), Rain from
Heaven (1934), and
The Second Man
(1927); screenplays represented
include Bonjour
Tristesse (Columbia, 1958),
Ninotchka
(MGM, 1939), and
Waterloo Bridge (MGM, 1940). In
addition to script materials for some titles
there are clippings, playbills,
correspondence, and other related
information.
Biography/History
Probably more than any
other dramatist in American theatrical
history, S. N. Behrman's dramas exemplify
the mastery of high or sophisticated comedy.
Stark Young compared him favorably with
George Bernard Shaw and called him “...one
of those rare authors in the theatre who do
not mistrust civilized society, and do not
think that Times Square must understand or
no tickets will be sold.” Behind Behrman's
sophisticated dramas, of which
The Second Man
(1927),
Biography (1932),
Rain from Heaven
(1934), End
of Summer (1936), and
No Time for Comedy
(1939) represent his early finest
work, there is always a sound and
intelligent purpose and frequently a theme
of social or political significance.
Behrman was born in
Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1893. After
studying at Clark College and George Pierce
Baker's Workshop 47 at Harvard, Behrman went
to New York where he wrote reviews and short
stories for magazines such as
The Smart Set.
It was not long until his first
artistic and commercial success,
The Second Man,
started him on a career as an
important American dramatist. Turning his
talents partially to Hollywood, he achieved
recognition for his screenplays:
He Knew Women
(1930),
Anna Karenina and
The Tale of Two
Cities (1935),
Conquest
(1937), Waterloo
Bridge (1948),
Quo Vadis
(1950), and
Bonjour Tristesse (1956).
Behrman frequently
collaborated on or adapted plays.
Amphitryon 38
and The
Pirate, both vehicles for the acting
team of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, were
adaptations as were
Jacobowsky and the
Colonel, Jane, and the S. N.
Behrman-Joshua Logan musical
Fanny.
Behrman was distinctive in American theatre
in achieving a high degree of success during
five widely varied decades of the twentieth
century. Besides his dramatic writings, he
also wrote a biography of critic Max
Beerbohm, Portrait
of Max, and often contributed pieces
to The New Yorker.
Scope and Content Note
The collection provides
little information on Behrman's personal
life but does offer great insights into his
work as a dramatist. Extensive notes,
usually written daily during the writing and
rehearsing of a play, detail character and
plot development and often include Behrman's
personal reactions and attitudes toward his
work. Also included are variant scripts and
rewrites, often extensively annotated;
correspondence, congratulatory first-night
messages, and fan mail; clippings, including
reviews of road productions; playbills; box
office statements; and miscellany. The
papers have been organized in three series:
Theatre, Motion Pictures, and Radio.
Arrangement is generally alphabetical by
production title.
Behrman's
theatre works
comprise the majority of the collection and
includes plays such as
Amphitryon 38,
Biography, End of Summer, Fanny, Jacobowsky
and the Colonel, No Time for Comedy, The
Second Man, Serena Blandish, and
Wine of Choice.
Major productions are arranged
alphabetically by title with a small section
of miscellaneous files completing the
series. Included in the latter section are
several of Behrman's one-act plays,
unidentified script materials, and some
biographical clippings.
Behrman co-authored
several pieces with his friend playwright J.
Kenyon Nicholson. These include
All in a Night's
Work, an untitled one-act play, and
an unidentified manuscript. However, unless
noted otherwise, Behrman is assumed to have
written the works.
Amphitryon 38 correspondence includes
two brief sketches of Act I's set which were
designed by Lee Simonson. Correspondence for
The Cold Wind
discusses adapting the story to film,
while the
Dunnigan's Daughter file includes
several drafts of a letter concerning
Behrman's withdrawal from the Playwrights'
Company. Among the
Fanny materials is a transcript of a
phone conversation between Joshua Logan and
Oscar Hammerstein in which they discuss the
play. Included in the
Jacobowsky and The
Colonel correspondence are telegrams
and letters discussing questions of
authorship plus a draft script co-authored
by Franz Werfel and Clifford Odets. A
partial index to notable correspondents in
the collection follows:
| Name
|
Date
|
Production
|
| Atkinson, Brooks |
16 June 1958 |
The
Cold Wind |
| |
10 December 1958 |
The
Cold Wind |
| Choate, Edward |
9 September 1958 |
Me and
the Colonel |
| Fontanne, Lynn |
5 April 1937 |
Amphitryon 38 |
| |
6 April 1937 |
Amphitryon 38 |
| |
1 April 1946 |
I Know
My Love |
| |
31 March 1948 |
I Know
My Love |
| |
12 May 1948 |
I Know
My Love |
| |
20 May 1948 |
I Know
My Love |
| Logan, Joshua |
29 October 1958 |
The
Cold Wind |
| Lunt, Alfred |
5 April 1937 |
Amphitryon 38 |
| |
n.d. |
I Know
My Love |
| Marx, Harpo |
5 April 1949 |
I Know
My Love |
| Reinhardt, Gottfried |
June 1956-October 1957 |
Me and
the Colonel |
| |
11 September 1944 |
Jacobowsky and the Colonel
|
| Ross, H. W. |
7 November 1949 |
I Know
My Love |
| Sherwood, Robert |
6 April 1939 |
No
Time for Comedy |
| |
9 May 1945 |
Dunnigan's Daughter |
| Swope, Herbert Bayard |
19 April 1939 |
No
Time for Comedy |
| Werfel, Franz |
11 February 1944 |
Jacobowsky and the Colonel
|
| |
25 February 1944 |
Jacobowsky and the Colonel
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Series II: Motion
Pictures
Motion pictures includes
scripts of Anna
Karenina, Bonjour Tristesse, Ninotchka,
Queen Christina, Quo Vadis, A Tale of Two
Cities, and others. Typically these
files are smaller than those for theatre
productions.
Series III: Radio
Radio consists of one
script for an adaptation of Behrman's
theatrical work I
Know My Love, which was adapted for
radio by Erik Barnow.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Permission to use the
Behrman Papers must be requested in
writing from the director of the
Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater
Research or the director of the State
Historical Society.
Presented by S. N. Behrman, New York,
N.Y., 1961-1962; and placed on deposit
by Anne Grossman, New York, N.Y., 1975.
Six scripts (Anna Karenina, Conquest,
Queen Christina, Quo Vadis, Tale of Two
Cities, Waterloo Bridge) are on
permanent loan from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
Inc. Accession Number: MCHC61-033;
MCHC62-026; MCHC75-049
Processed by Diane Lindner and
Christine Rongone, October 1979.
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