DONALD HEYWOOD - COLLECTION WITH EDGAR G. ULMER, LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI, GREGOR PIATIGORSKY - HFSID 287683

EDGAR G. ULMER: Mementos from his personal collection

Six-piece collection featuring two of Ulmer's most important films, Carnegie Hall and Moon Over Harlem, and his association with classical music greats Piatigorsky and Stokowski on Carnegie Hall, and with influential black composer Donald Heywood on Moon Over Harlem. The sheet music - inscribed and signed by Heywood - and photographs in this collection were proudly displayed in his home, and are authenticated in a letter from his daughter Arianne!

Collection comprising: 1) Sheet music inscribed and signed: "In appreciation/for many favors/To Gustave/from Donald", 3 pages (integral leaf), 9x12. Music and music to "Moon Over Harlem", composed by Donald Heywood for the film of the same name (1939). Lightly worn and lightly creased, with a 7 inch horizontal crease across the center(not affecting inscription), The word "Complimentary" is stamped 3 ¼ x ½ inch upside down on the cover. 2) Sheet music inscribed and signed: "To/Helmo,/a real artist and a real friend/Donald Heywood", 3 pages (integral leaf), 9x12.Lyrics and music to "Teach Me To Sing", also composed by Heywood for Moon Over Harlem. Lightly worn and lightly creased. Horizontal crease running across the center (not affecting signature). The word "Complimentary" is stamped 3 ¼ x ½ inch upside down on the cover. Small silver crayon markings on the entire cover. 3) Photocopy, unsigned, 8½x11. of the title card for Moon Over Harlem. Fine condition. 4) Photograph, unsigned. B/w, 13x10¼, framed to 14½x11½. Pictured is cellist Gregor Piatigorsky with the director (Edgar G. Ulmer) and producer (Boris Morros) of the film Carnegie Hall (1947), and an unidentified man. Photo in fine condition. Wooden frame slightly worn. 5) Photograph, unsigned, B/w, 13x10¼, framed to 14½x11½. In this picture, director Ulmer and producer Morros are shown with a seated Leopold Stokowski (who appears to be signing or editing a script or sheet music). Stokowski, like Piatigorsky, was featured in Carnegie Hall. Photo in fine condition. Wooden frame lightly worn. 6) Photocopy, unsigned, 8½x11. of a printed advertisement for the film Carnegie Hall. Frame lightly worn. 7) Letter of authenticity signed by Arianne Ulmer Cipes, the daughter of Edgar and Shirley Ulmer. It reads, in part: "I, Arianne Ulmer Cipes, hereby guarantee the authenticity of the above described items." Austrian-American film director EDGAR G. ULMER (1904-1972) made two films which have long enjoyed cult status: The Black Cat (1934, starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff) and Detour (1945, a low budget film noir included in the first 100 films selected for preservation by the Library of Congress). Much of his other work was neglected until recently, however. His affair and subsequent marriage to the former Shirley Alexander, in-law of studio mogul Carl Laemmle, exiled him to Poverty Row studios for a decade. (As Shirley Ulmer (1914-2000), she was an indispensable aide to her husband, as a script writer on many of his films. She was script supervisor on both of the films featured here.) During this obscure but creative period, Edgar Ulmer directed Ukrainian and Yiddish films, including the well-known Green Fields. He also directed an all-black cast in Moon Over Harlem (1939), a film combining action, romance, drama, tragedy, and music and dance compositions of Donald Heywood. In the later 1940s, able to work on large budget films again, he directed Carnegie Hall (1947), a film with a thin plot, mainly contrived to fearure musical performances by many top names in classical, operatic and popular music. Performances by classical artists Gregor Piatigorsky and Leopold Stokowski, featured in this collection, were among the highlights. Among Ulmer's other noteworthy films were The Strange Woman (starring Hedi Lamarr, 1946, considered by many his best work), and Ruthless (1948). Ulmer, who labored in relative obscurity for much of his career, is now very much in vogue. A major European conference in 2006, Ulmerfest, was devoted entirely to the study of his  films. DONALD HEYWOOD (1896-1967), born in Trinidad, was a black composer, lyricist, director, writer and performer very active on Broadway in the 1930s. His songs were featured on stage beginning with Bottomland (1927). He also helped train future African-American stars, including Leslie Uggams. Heywood's last two Broadway shows, Black Rhythm (1936) and How Come Lawd (1937) were written by him as well. Heywood composed all the music for Moon Over Harlem, as featured in this collection. Ukraine-born cellist GREGOR PIATIGORSKY (1903-1976), who won a scholarship to the Moscow Conservatory, began playing with the Lenin Quartet and was the principal cellist for the Bolshoi Theatre while still a teenager. When he was not allowed to travel abroad to further his studies, Piatigorsky escaped to Poland and later studied briefly in Berlin and Leipzig before becoming the principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic. He made his U.S. debut in 1929, playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Leopold Stokowsi and the New York Philharmonic under Willem Mengelberg. Piatigorsky, who recorded and toured extensively with Arthur Rubinstein and Jascha Heifetz, also enjoyed a successful solo career, bringing the cello to the forefront as a solo instrument. He transcribed, arranged, composed and commissioned works for the instrument. Piatigorsky moved to America in 1939 and became a U.S. citizen three years later. From 1941-1949, he was the head of the cello department at the Curtis Insitute of Music in Philadelphia, and "Grisha" later taught at Tanglewood and Boston University before moving to the University of Southern California (1962 until his death). LEOPOLD STOKOWSKI (1882-1977, born in London England) conducted the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (1909-1912), Philadelphia Orchestra (1914-1936), N.Y. Symphony Orchestra (1944-1945) and Houston Symphony (1955-1962). He formed the American Symphony Orchestra in 1962. Stokowski was known for his lush interpretations of the classics and it was under his baton that the orchestra played the music for Disney's Fantasia (1940). ARIANNE ULMER CIPES (b. 1937), the daughter of Edgar and Shirley Ulmer, made childhood appearances in some of her parents' films, including Green Fields. As a grown actress, she appeared in a few more films, including Beyond the Time Barrier (1960) and The Challenge (TV-1970). Arianne and her mother Shirley, who remained active as a TV scriptwriter, were also guardians of Edgar Ulmer's legacy, anxious to insure his proper place in the history of film. Seven items. Photos not framed in the Gallery of History style.