The Hammond Film Script Collection comprises 80 boxes or approximately 35 linear feet of film scripts. Currently, the collection consists of 454 scripts of feature films, the vast majority of which are French (along with assorted English, Spanish and Italian language scripts), representing the years 1935 through 1996.

The majority of the scripts in the collection are otherwise unpublished texts, and appear as original typed manuscripts or reproductions of manuscripts through various methods such as photocopy, mimeo, carbon-copy, etc. Additionally, some scripts (Series G) are in microfilm format. While most scripts are unbound, some are stapled, glued, or bound in similar fashion. The scripts in the collection were "live" shooting scripts, often accompanied by significant handwritten annotations, diagrams and marginal comments by the director, cast or other production members who utilized the particular script in the course of shooting the film.

The scripts were collected, in Hammond's words, "by tracking down and hounding anyone possible in the production hierarchy." There has been no systematic process to build the collection other than persistent and often serendipitous discovery by Hammond through his growing network of contacts in the French film industry. As a result, the collection lacks a certain unity, and there are some areas in the collection which have more development than others. For example, almost all of Cocteau, Tacchella and Truffaut are in the collection. Robert, Renoir and Resnais are also well represented. There is some lack of completeness of Spaak, Dreville and Delannoy, and films from the 1930s and 1940s are particularly thin. Among the English language scripts, the collection holds a series of drafts for the film Ragtime, based on E. L. Doctorow's book, along with screenplays for a handful Alfred Hitchcock films.

In addition to the film scripts collected by Hammond, the Collection includes a selection of plays, screenplays and scripts written by Richard Maibaum, a celebrated American playwright and screenwriter. Maibaum is best known for his work as screenwriter for the James Bond film series (1962-1989).

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

SERIES A: French Film Scripts

Series A contains 49 boxes of French film scripts and is divided into 8 subseries.

Subseries 1 contains one box of scripts directed by Jean Cocteau

Subseries 2 contains three boxes of scripts directed by Jean Dréville

Subseries 3 contains two boxes of scripts directed by Alain Resnais

Subseries 4 contains three boxes of scripts directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella

Subseries 5 contains three boxes of scripts directed by Bertrand Tavernier

Subseries 6 contains four boxes of scripts directed by Francois Truffaut

Subseries 7 contains 30 boxes of scripts from various directors, including some scripts where no director is indicated. (NB: This subseries includes non-consecutive boxes: boxes 15 through 43-A, as well as box 50)

Subseries 8 contains three boxes of scripts directed by Yves Robert

SERIES B: Spanish Language Film Scripts

Series B contains 6 boxes of (legal-sized) Spanish film scripts and is divided into 2 subseries. This series includes scripts from both Spain and Mexico.

Subseries 1 contains one box of scripts directed by Luis Bunuel

Subseries 2 contains 5 boxes of scripts from various directors, including some scripts where no director is indicated. (NB: This subseries includes non-consecutive boxes: boxes 45 through 48, as well as box 58)

SERIES C: Italian Film Scripts

Series C contains one box of Italian film scripts.

SERIES D: English Language Film Scripts

Series D contains 7 boxes of English language film scripts and is divided into 4 subseries. Many scripts in this series are organized and indexed by the screenwriter, rather than director.

Subseries 1 contains two boxes of scripts based on the writings of E. L. Doctorow

Subseries 2 contains one box of scripts written by Larry McMurtry

Subseries 3 contains one box of scripts of the film Prince of the City

Subseries 4 contains three boxes of scripts from various writers and directors.

SERIES E: Gift of Marc Maurette

Series E contains 11 boxes of various film scripts obtained by Robert Hammond as a gift from Marc Maurette, an assistant director who has worked with Renoir, Becker, Ophuls, and Bresson, as well as some American directors. This gift included not only many French films, but English language and Italian ones as well. Some scripts in this series are duplicated elsewhere in the collection.

SERIES F: Plays, Screenplays and Scripts of Richard Maibaum

Series F contains 4 boxes of numerous plays, screenplays and scripts written by Richard Maibaum. A one-time student of NYU, Maibaum studied acting at the University of Iowa. By age 30, Maibaum was a firmly established Broadway actor and playwright. He entered films as a screenwriter in 1937, spending the war years with the Army's Combat Film Division. In 1946, he joined Paramount as both screenwriter and producer, turning out such worthwhile projects as The Big Clock (1948) and the 1949 version of The Great Gatsby. Maibaum later formed a partnership with English producers Irving Allen and Albert Broccoli. This alliance eventually led to the James Bond film series, where Maibaum wrote or co-wrote the screenplay for every Bond film from 1962-1989. Included in this series is one play (The Lilac Bush), written by Maibaum's son, Matthew Maibaum.

NB: There does not appear to be a direct connection between Robert Hammond and Maibaum, either personally or in relation to the acquisition of these scripts. Nevertheless, the manuscripts are cataloged within the Hammond collection.

SERIES G: Microfilm Negatives of Film Scripts

Series G contains 5 boxes of scripts that are stored in microfilm format.

Accretions:

There are 3 boxes of scripts that represent accretions to the original collection received in 1996.

NB: Prior to 1996, periodic donations by Hammond to the collection were inter-filed within the existing series of the collection. From 1996 to present, any additions to the collection have been processed as Accretions.