Robert Towne papers
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Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of American screenwriter, director, and producer Robert Towne (born 1934). Materials include scripts, draft pages, production files, press and publicity files, photographs, personal papers, contracts, videotapes, and audio cassette tapes. There are items for many film projects, including "Ask the Dust" (2006), "Chinatown" (1974), "Days of Thunder" (1990), "The Firm" (1993), "Personal Best" (1982), "Tequila Sunrise" (1988), and "Without Limits" (1998).
Dates
- Creation: 1945 - 2008
Creator
- Towne, Robert (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Cinematic Arts Library at ctlibarc@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cinematic Arts Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Biographical / Historical
Robert Towne (born 1935) is an American screenwriter and producer. He attended Pomona College and served in the United States Army before becoming a television and film writer and script doctor. His first film as writer was The Last Woman on Earth (1960). He received the Academy Award for original screenplay for Chinatown (1974). Among his writing credits are the films Shampoo (1975), Personal Best (1982), Tequila Sunrise (1988), Without Limits (1998), Ask the Dust (2006) and Mission: Impossible I-II (1996, 2000).
Extent
86.07 Linear Feet (119 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains the papers of American screenwriter, director, and producer Robert Towne (born 1934). Materials include scripts, draft pages, production files, press and publicity files, photographs, personal papers, contracts, videotapes, and audio cassette tapes. There are items for many film projects, including "Ask the Dust" (2006), "Chinatown" (1974), "Days of Thunder" (1990), "The Firm" (1993), "Personal Best" (1982), "Tequila Sunrise" (1988), and "Without Limits" (1998).
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert and Luisa Towne, September 14, 2015.
Processing Information
This collection is not fully processed.
Subject
- Towne, Robert -- Archives (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Robert Towne papers
- Status
- Minimally Processed
- Author
- Diann Benti
- Date
- 2022 November
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2023 March: Finding aid updated by Bo Doub to include three boxes of material (housed in box nos. 117-119) that had been separated from the rest of the collection for unknown reasons.
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library Repository
Doheny Memorial Library G4
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0185 United States
ctlibarc@usc.edu