The Andrew Marton papers span the years 1920-1984 and encompass 36 linear feet. The collection consists of production files for produced and unproduced films, television files, story files, subject files, oversize material, and scrapbooks.

The production series includes scripts and production material for BEN-HUR (1959), CLEOPATRA (1963), and KING SOLOMON’S MINES (1950). The legal file for CLEOPATRA (1963) includes documents regarding Marton’s screen credit, and correspondence in the production file includes his critique of the script and sea battle sequence. A letter in the correspondence file for A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957) captures his observations about John Huston, and the David O. Selznick file contains innumerable production memos. The correspondence file for 55 DAYS AT PEKING (1963) traces Marton’s struggle to obtain proper screen credit following Nicholas Ray’s inability to complete the film. The correspondence file for KING SOLOMON’S MINES (1950) confirms the additional functions he assumed during production, and telegrams in the production file relate the process by which edits were decided; also in this file is information on the film’s promotional short JUNGLE SAFARI (1950). Voluminous correspondence in the production files for SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (1956) yields information on production logistics; telegrams from Merian C. Cooper explain in his own words his method of “leapfrogging” and numerous items of correspondence demonstrate how this process was utilized.

Material in the unproduced production series includes scripts for AND THE ROCK CRIED OUT, THE DREAMERS, and THE FOX AND THE FOREST, all by Ray Bradbury, and John Sayles’s THE SEA DRAGON OF LOCH NESS. Also included is pre-production material for ATOMIC #79, a proposed remake of the 1934 German film GOLD. Script material written by Marton is found in the files for THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, ,CLOSE HARMONY, DEATH ON THE TABLE, ENEMIES ARE HUMAN, and STATE OF THE UNION.

The bulk of material in the television series consists of scripts and script material for episodes of THE MAN AND THE CHALLENGE. Also present is material for COWBOY IN AFRICA, MAURICE CHEVALIER’S PARIS and SEA HUNT.

The story series includes fictional works by Marton: “Homecoming,” “Hunger for Power,” and “Point of No Return.” Of note is the play “Reclining Figure” by Harry Kurnitz, and the story “The Whole Truth” by Gina Kaus and George Froeschel.

The bulk of the subject files consists of correspondence, including letters from Jules Dassin, Otto Lang, Max Linder, Ernst Lubitsch, Eva Monley, and Joe Pasternak. Extensive personal and professional correspondence from his brother George Marton provides frequent updates on European film projects and the political climate abroad. Of note is an affidavit documenting Marton’s activities in pre-war Berlin, Germany. Also present is miscellaneous material written by Marton for unproduced television programs.

The oversize series includes a promotional booklet for Leni Riefenstahl’s 1938 film OLYMPIA. Of interest are Marton’s shooting scripts for CATCH-22 (1970) and MOHAMMAD, MESSENGER OF GOD (1977), which contain substantial interleaved photographs and storyboards.

Scrapbooks include information on THE DEVIL MAKES THREE (1952), GALLANT BESS (1946), GREEN FIRE (1954), GYPSY COLT (1954), MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY (1954), PRISONER OF WAR (1954), STORM OVER TIBET (1952), and THE WILD NORTH (1954).

Andrew Marton was born Endre Marton in 1904 in Budapest, Hungary, to literary agent and copyright attorney Dr. Alexander Marton and Albertina Kovacs. Dr. Marton was interested in theater, and the young Marton often accompanied his father to dress rehearsals, observing how a play was produced and engendering an early interest in show business. He graduated from high school in 1920 armed with a gift for working with his hands and a desire to become an engineer. After completing formal training at a technological university, he emerged as a full master of metalworking. But as the political landscape in Hungary became increasingly anti-Semitic and he was refused entry into university for being Jewish, he moved to Vienna, Austria, in 1922, with the help of his older brother George, a successful literary agent. He found a position as an assistant in the story department at Vita Film translating synopses into other languages.

Finding the desk job static and aspiring to a more dynamic position, he quickly became a production gofer at the studio. His first big break came when he worked as assistant director to Max Linder on the comedy short THE KING OF THE CIRCUS (1925). By the time production finished, Vita Film was bankrupt. Linder stayed on to edit the film and requested Marton’s assistance in the editing room. Linder became Marton's first mentor in the film industry; the knowledge he gleaned from Linder's directing and editing techniques would later inform his own methods in these crafts. With Linder’s encouragement, he set his sights on directing in Hollywood, and left Austria for America. In 1926, he became a personal assistant to actor Charles Puffy, who was then under contract to Universal Studios making a series of two-reelers in Hollywood. Director Dick Smith gave Marton bit parts in a few Puffy shorts, and Universal soon hired him as a stock player and stuntman. During production of LOVE ME AND THE WORLD IS MINE (1927), he worked first as assistant prop manager, then as second unit director, and finally as first assistant director. Ernst Lubitsch, impressed by Marton’s creative energy and film sensibility, hired him to cut THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG (1927). He again worked for Lubitsch editing ETERNAL LOVE (1929). Following six films in Hollywood, including his Hollywood directorial debut TWO O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING (1929),

Marton moved to Berlin, Germany, to marry Czechoslovakian actress Jarmila Vackova, whom he had met on the set of THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928). Arriving in Germany in 1930, he was approached by Tobis-Klangfilm and offered a five year contract as editor-in-chief with an option to direct. He oversaw all post production, and it was in this capacity that his intuition and ingenuity became evident and proved invaluable to both directors and producers. When a shot or an edit became difficult, Marton was brought in to execute it; when a storyline required rewriting, he was asked to doctor the script. Marton worked on 18 films in Germany between 1930 and 1935 alongside directors and producers such as Luis Trenker and Joe Pasternak. He made his solo German directorial debut with NORDPOL – AHOI! in 1933. However, with the changing political climate in Europe and the Nazi’s increasing control over the German film industry, his career would again shift dramatically. Despite receiving a dispensation from the Reich Propaganda Ministry to continue directing, he was forbidden from receiving screen credit.

After briefly directing films in Hungary and Switzerland, he sailed for England in 1935. English theater-owner R.B. Wainwright purchased the UFA film SECRETS OF THE ORIENT (1928) and hired Marton to re-edit it for sound. Impressed by Marton’s work and aware of his experience with talking pictures, Wainwright put him under contract to direct for Universal-Wainwright Productions in England. The first film he directed there was WOLF'S CLOTHING (1936). He directed four films in England between 1936 and 1939, but decided to return to Hollywood at the end of 1939. During his time in England, he had made SCHOOL FOR HUSBANDS (1937) his pièce de résistance to obtain work in Hollywood. It was on the strength of this film that producer Joe Pasternak hired him to direct A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (1940) for Universal.

His agent, Paul Kohner, formerly a producer with whom he had worked in Germany, suggested that he work for MGM. He would remain under contract to that studio for 15 years. He worked as a second unit director on nine MGM films between 1941 and 1944, including George Cukor’s TWO-FACED WOMAN (1941), William Wyler’s Oscar-winning MRS. MINIVER (1942), S. Sylvan Simon’s SALUTE TO THE MARINES (1943), Vincente Minnelli’s CABIN IN THE SKY (1943), Victor Fleming’s A GUY NAMED JOE 1943), Harold S. Bucquet’s and Jack Conway’s DRAGON SEED (1944), and Fred Zinnemann’s THE SEVENTH CORSS (1944). He was frequently asked to reconstruct a film by rewriting storylines and shooting additional scenes. It was this self-described midwife role, coupled with his ability to effectively execute difficult and challenging second unit assignments, that invariably prevented him from directing his own films. Nevertheless, his work at MGM extended beyond routine second unit directing, and these extra responsibilities helped him obtain his own directing assignments.

His first was the 1944 Western GENTLE ANNIE. He directed a total of ten films for MGM between 1944 and 1966, including THE WILD NORTH (1952), THE DEVIL MAKES THREE (1952), PRISONER OF WAR (1954), and MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY (1954). During this period he also co-directed the Oscar-nominated action-adventure KING SOLOMON'S MINES (1950). He functioned as second unit director on 23 films for the studio between 1941 and 1970, including ON THE TOWN (1949) and THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE (1951). He was uncredited on numerous others.

His technical proficiency and capacity to successfully navigate remote locations also made him appealing to other Hollywood studios, and he was frequently loaned out for work. He directed STORM OVER TIBET (1952) for Columbia and IT HAPPENED IN ATHENS (1962) for Twentieth Century-Fox. He co-directed SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD (1956) for Cinerama and THE LONGEST DAY (1962) for Twentieth Century-Fox. He was second unit director for Twentieth Century Fox on A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1957) and the Oscar-nominated CLEOPATRA (1963). Allied Artists hired him as second unit director on 55 DAYS AT PEKING (1963) and THE THIN RED LINE (1964). Paramount utilized his expertise as a second unit director on THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964) and CATCH-22 (1970), as did Universal for DAY OF THE JACKAL (1973). His last screen credit was as second unit director on the independent film MOHAMMAD-MESSENGER OF GOD (1977).

In 1952, Marton began an association with fellow Hungarian Ivan Tors, a film and television director, writer, and producer. They collaborated on STORM OVER TIBET (1952), UNDERWATER WARRIOR (1958), AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA (1966), BIRDS DO IT (1966), and AFRICA: TEXAS STYLE (1967). During the 1950s and 1960s they also worked together on television series such as SEA HUNT, THE MAN AND THE CHALLENGE, and COWBOY IN AFRICA. Marton’s career did not advance in a manner commensurate with his talent for several reasons. He had to work his way up to directing three times – first in Berlin, then London, and lastly Hollywood. In spite of these obstacles, he became a respected director and member of the Hollywood community, and one of the most sought-after second unit directors of his time.