The David Miller papers span the years 1935 to 1979 and encompass five linear feet of papers. The collection contains production files, television files, subject files, and oversize material documenting Miller’s work as a director of film and television.

The production files consist of material for nearly every film Miller directed. Much of it is in the form of scripts, including multiple drafts for CAPTAIN NEWMAN, M.D. (1963), EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973), HAIL, HERO! (1969), LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962), LOVE HAPPY (1950), SATURDAY’S HERO (1951), SUDDEN FEAR (1952), and SUNDAY PUNCH (1942). There are also scripts for 18 shorts directed by Miller at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including drafts written by Miller for AQUATIC ARTISTRY (1936) and CREW RACING (1935), a draft of THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH (1940) by Albert Maltz, and a script for the Academy Award-winning PENNY WISOM (1937). Also notable is the material on SEEDS OF DESTINY (1946), the Academy Award-winning documentary short promoting the efforts of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). The film was directed and co-written by Miller, who was sent to Germany as a United States Army Photographer by the United States Department of War immediately after World War II. There are scripts, breakdowns, clippings, publicity material, and contact information for men in the United States Army Signal Corps who shot the film’s footage. Correspondence for the film includes letters from Fiorello La Guardia and Brig. General Charles T. Lanham. Of particular interest is a handwritten daily diary kept by Miller during production of the film. There is nothing in the collection on THE STORY OF ESTHER COSTELLO (1957), nor on the never-completed THE BELLS OF HELL GO TING-A-LING-A-LING (circa 1966).

The television files are comprised of script and production material for all four television movies Miller directed at the end of his career. There are scripts, cast and crew lists, and a continuity breakdown for THE BEST PLACE TO BE (1979). There is also a script, cast and crew lists, and notes for GOLDIE AND THE BOXER (1979) as well as a script for GOLDIE AND THE BOXER GO TO HOLLYWOOD (1981). Most of the material in the series covers LOVE FOR RENT (1979) and includes scripts, budgets, cast and crew lists, correspondence, and production reports.

The subject files include studio biographies of Miller, clippings, correspondence, including letters from Dore Schary and Kirk Douglas, and storyboards for unidentified projects. The bulk of the material in the series concerns an unpublished manuscript by Miller about the making of SEEDS OF DESTINY. There is correspondence with several people involved in the production, including Art Arthur, Gene Fowler, and Jack Muth, as well as transcripts from interviews conducted with the same men in 1977 and 1978. There are also mementos collected by Miller while in Germany just after the war, including official letterhead from various organizations related to the office of Adolf Hitler, as well as documents related to Miller’s military service.

The oversize material consists of a magazine article for THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH and scrapbook pages containing photographs of Miller during the production of SEEDS OF DESTINY.

David Miller was born in Paterson, New Jersey in 1909. As a teenager he worked as a copy boy for National Screen Service and in time learned how to cut film trailers. With that experience he moved to Hollywood in 1929 and found work as a second assistant cutter at Columbia Pictures. He then went to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a director of shorts, making two dozen short films between 1935 and 1941. The majority of these were sports-themed documentaries for the “Pete Smith Specialty” series of shorts, one of which, PENNY WISDOM (1937), received the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Color. His first feature length opportunity came when he was hired to replace Frank Borzage on BILLY THE KID (1941), which was followed by SUNDAY PUNCH (1942) and FLYING TIGERS (1942). Miller enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and served during World War II. Soon after Germany surrendered, he was dispatched to Europe as a United States Army Photographer to document the aftermath of the war and its effect on displaced children. He was sent at the behest of the United States Department of War, which wished to produce a film that would promote the work of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), as well as raise money to support their efforts. The result was SEEDS OF DESTINY (1946), a documentary short co-written and directed by Miller which used footage shot by Miller and several cameramen of the United States Army Signal Corps. The film received the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject, and screenings of the film raised $200 million for the UNRRA.

In an interview conducted in 1982, Miller said he returned to MGM following SEEDS OF DESTINY but quickly grew frustrated with his first assignment, GREEN DOLPHIN STREET (1947), and abruptly left the film during preproduction. After a few years away from the industry, he resumed his directing career with LOVE HAPPY (1950), the final Marx Brothers picture. Though the film was not well received, he had reestablished himself as a director, and he worked steadily until the early 1960s. His work covered a range of genres, and his notable credits from this time include the noir SUDDEN FEAR (1952), the thriller MIDNIGHT LACE (1960) and the melodrama BACK STREET (1961), the latter two produced by Ross Hunter, the western LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962), and the war comedy CAPTAIN NEWMAN, M.D. (1963). Despite the success of CAPTAIN NEWMAN, M.D., Miller was unable to find work after the release of the film. He returned to directing after five years with HAMMERHEAD (1968) and only worked sporadically for the remainder of his career. His final credits include the drama HAIL, HERO! (1969), the conspiracy thriller EXECUTIVE ACTION (1973), and the television movie THE BEST PLACE TO BE (1979), which reunited him with Ross Hunter. Miller died in 1992.