Scope and Content Note
The papers of Rowland Vance Lee (1891-1975) span the years 1907-1971, with the bulk of the material dating from 1917 to 1959. They focus on his career in motion pictures, first as a silent film actor in Thomas H. Ince productions, and mainly as a director of more than fifty films, starting in the silent era and continuing into the 1940s. His work as a writer and producer is also documented. Types of material include scripts, scrapbooks of reviews and press coverage of his films, personal photographs and production stills, items compiled for an autobiography, and printed matter.
The largest group of material consists of Lee's scripts for the films he directed. They include A Thousand to One (1920), The Cup of Life (1921), Desire (1923), Alice Adams (1923), Barbed Wire (1927), Zoo in Budapest(1933), The Count of Monte Cristo (1934), Mother Carey's Chickens (1938), Son of Frankenstein(1939), and Tower of London(1939).
Other items include photographs, clippings and memorabilia Lee compiled to accompany an autobiography that is not part of the collection. These items relate to his career as a silent film actor from 1917-1920, his trip to California in 1916, and his military service during World War I. A photograph album contains photographs taken during the filming of The Silver Treasure (released 1926). Included in a group of books is an annotated copy of Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington that Lee used while preparing his film adaptation of the book. There is a large array of material relating to his last film, The Big Fisherman (released 1959).