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(Fwd) Corianton, a film



I checked all my sources and couldn't find anything on this, so
since it's pretty interesting I'm throwing it out to the list.  Does the
AMIA list still exist?  I lost track of it...  This isn't something we
have but I wish we did!

Corianton is a name out of the Book of Mormon, by the way.

I'll delete all the address information, so please to respond to the
list or directly to me.  Thanks!

Roy Webb


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------

Hello Roy,

I have been looking in the special collections web page for
something that
I hope you have.  I have not found it but maybe it is just that I don't
know how to look for it.

I would like to know if you have a copy of a film that was made in
the
1930's by a Utah native, filmed in New York but debuted in the
Tower
theater.  It was called Corianton (as far as I can tell, this is the
complete title) and the executive producer was Lester Park.  I don't
know
any other names that would have been associated with it (director,
actors,
etc.) but I know it was a professionally produced production, with
big-name silent movie stars, it was one of the first "talkies"
produced in
the industry, and it was a huge flop, losing money for many
investors, big
and small, here and on the east coast.  As far as I know, only a few
copies of the film were ever made and one was worn out by the
family of
Lester's youngest daughter, as it was shown over and over, through
the
years.

I am interested in this because my (step) grandmother, who is now
90, was
Lester's oldest child and worked as his secretary, in the New York
studios, where the film was made.  I have encouraged her to write
down all
she knows, of the making of this film, for the sake of historical
accuracy
and healing the feelings of ours and possibly other families who
were
affected by this.  She has a collection of black and white photos of
the
sets and actors involved in the film, but she is the only person still
alive that knows anything about it, in the family.

I heard that your collection may have one of the copies of the film,
from
another relative.  I may write an article about this production, in the
future, for the Utah Historical Quarterly and I would like to know if
any
copies of the film exist.

The scandal that followed the opening of this film was devastating
to my
grandmother's family (my grandfather had not yet married her when
it
happened) and reportedly to many families in Utah who invested in
it,
especially because of the timing of it.  The real story is more like
the
plot of 'Singin in the Rain', with the director being the best money
could
buy - for silent pictures - only with a tragic ending rather than a
happy
one.

Any help you could give me on this topic would be greatly
appreciated.


END OF FORWARDED MESSAGE
Roy Webb, C.A.
Multimedia Archivist
Special Collections
J. Willard Marriott Library
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah   84112
(801) 585-3073  //  fax (801) 585-3976
rwebb@library.utah.edu

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