- TitleClifford McCarty collection, 1935 - 2004 (inclusive)
- Collector
- Date(s)Circa 1935 - 2004 (inclusive)
- Description
16 linear ft. of papers
1. Composer, arranger, and orchestrator files; 2. Correspondence; 3. Research files; 4. Research notebooks; 5. Writings by Clifford McCarty; 6. Scripts; 7. Music credits (reference cards); 8. Music scores; 9. Sound recordings
- Summary
The collection consists of McCarty’s research files and includes articles and clippings on film music and film composers, correspondence with composers and other researchers, filmographies, music cue sheets, music scores, scripts, periodicals, and disc recordings. McCarty maintained files on composers with the intent of authoring a reference work, “Film Composers in America: A Biographical Guide to the Film Composers and Their Work.” The research files may include biographical questionnaires, correspondence asking composers to confirm credits or other information, and biographical material retyped by McCarty from a variety of esoteric biographical reference sources. There are index cards, or similarly-sized paper slips, with music documentation for Abe Meyer Synchronizing Service, Columbia, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Republic, RKO, Triangle, 20th Century-Fox, United Artists, Universal, and Warner Bros. McCarty viewed music scores at the film studios and extracted information, normally the surname of the composer and a page count of the conductor score that allows a user to determine the relative contribution made by each composer. And, there are index cards with film composers' birth and death dates.
- BiographyClifford McCarty spent most of his life in the book business after graduating from Los Angeles City College in 1953. His passion for film music lead him on a lifelong quest to document authorship of film scores, often through primary research at film studios. His writings include "Film Composers in America: A Checklist of Their Work," (1953) and "Film Composers in America: A Filmography, 1911–1970" (2000). He contributed articles to "The Cue Sheet," "Down Beat," "Films in Review," "Film and TV Music," and "Pro Musica Sana," and wrote composer entries for "The New Grove Dictionary of American Music" (1986). He was one of the founders of The Film Music Society and served as the first editor of its quarterly journal, "The Cue Sheet," from 1984 to 1987. He edited the Society's first book, “Film Music 1" (1989). McCarty also authored or co-authored books on Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and Frank Sinatra.
- Subjects
- Acquisitions InformationGift of Maxine McCarty, 2005.
- Preferred citationClifford McCarty collection, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
- DepartmentLibrary
- 1202
- AvailabilityFor information on the contents and availability of this collection please contact the Reference and Public Services department at ref@oscars.org.
- Moving Image Items
- Library Holdings