------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Priority: normal
Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:47:45 MST7MDT
Reply-to: Archives & Archivists <>
From: Roy Webb <rwebb@LIBRARY.UTAH.EDU>
Organization: Marriott Library
Subject: (Fwd) Corianton, a film
To: ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
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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