Patricia Lovell papers concerning film making in Australia, 1974-1995

MLMSS 9085/Boxes 1-43

fonds

1974-1995

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Ephemera, Drawings, Clippings, Posters

110983

6.65 metres of textual material (43 boxes), some files contain ephemera items (mostly posters), drawings and photographs - printed, manuscript, typescript

PATRICIA LOVELL, 1929-2013
The depth and breadth of Patricia Lovell's achievements in Australian television and film were remarkable
Patricia Anne Parr was the first daughter, and the eldest surviving child, of six born to Harold Parr, an optometrist, amateur actor and charmer, and his wife, Leticia (nee Forsythe), a talented author of children's books, but a distant mother
Lovell was born on the lower north shore but the family soon settled in Campsie in a big old Federation house from where her father practised. From the beginning she would paint stage sets, co-opt other children into acting, and charge her parents to watch plays she invented
Her parent's marriage buckled under the strain of the deaths of two sons and a daughter, and they divorced when she was 15
After a short time living with her father, Lovell went to live with her mother and a brother and sister in Moree, and was later sent to board at PLC Armidale
She fell in love with film during school holidays in Sydney with her father. Some films that made a particular impression on her were Anthony Asquith's Pygmalion (1938), Marcel Carne's Les Enfants du Paradis (1945) and Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete
She trained briefly as a librarian, then worked in community theatres, where she met her husband, the actor Nigel Lovell, a widower with one daughter. They married in 1956.
The role that made her forever famous to viewers of a certain age was Miss Pat - the only flesh-and-blood member of the cast of Mr Squiggle and Friends
She bought a copy of Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock and immediately saw its potential as a film
After a series of setbacks, the film appeared in 1975. It was a haunting, lyrical gem that co-starred, as did most of Lovell's films, the Australian landscape. It was the vanguard of a revival of filmmaking in Australia and earned her the respect and support of an industry legend, Ken G Hall
Two films followed, both directed by Ken Hannam: Break of Day (1976), a love story set in country Victoria in the 1920s, and Summerfield (1977), a mystery set on Phillip Island. Neither was a great commercial or critical success, but both had Lovell's special quality
In 1979, Weir invited her to produce Gallipoli, written by David Williamson and starring Mel Gibson, and financially backed by Rupert Murdoch and Robert Stigwood
It was the most expensive Australian film to be made to date, and it was a massive box-office hit and the first Australian feature film to be released in the United States by a major house
An adaptation of Helen Garner's first novel Monkey Grip (1977) appeared in 1982, replete with brilliant performances by Noni Hazlehurst and Colin Friels and some critical acclaim. The film historian Graham Shirley said it was 'the most dramatically potent and timeless of all Lovell's productions'
In 1995, Lovell's autobiography No Picnic was published. It charted her tragic early life, her years with the ABC and Channel Seven, as a Beauty and anchor; but it is the detailed picture she paints of her battles to produce films that is most riveting. Time and again she was let down or sidelined, yet she fought on like a tigress
Lovell was awarded an MBE in 1978 and an AM in 1986. Her reaction to being named the 1983 Bulletin-Qantas Business Woman of the Year bordered on incredulity.
In 2004, she was awarded the Raymond Longford lifetime achievement award by the Australian Film Institute. Her receipt of the Ken G Hall award in 2010, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the preservation of Australian film history, must have brought her particular joy
Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/comment/obituaries/grande-dame-of-film-tv-20130203-2dsbk.html#ixzz2d1v16c00 (Accessed, 26 August 2013)

Picnic at Hanging Rock
Box 1
Picnic Productions P/L Correspondence
Set of 11x14 still pictures for front of house promotion, plus press sheet and letter head
Artwork and designs for world premiere at Adelaide, 1975
Original brochure for Cannes and general sales English/French, 1976
Release script and trailer release script
Film rights option with Sugarfoot
Music cue sheet

Box 2
Budget
Original script assessments from the Australian Film Development Corporation (of particular interest because none were positive)
Cast and crew lists
General correspondence
Publicity and advertising
Telex/telegram correspondence
J & M Film sales
GUO film rental reports

Box 3
Australian Film Commission - monthly return statements
Seawell films correspondence
Overseas returns statements

Box 4
Screenplay final draft
French text for sub-titling
Correspondence (also relates to Monkey Grip)
Original production deed and re-assigning of copyright to Picnic Productions
Action against GTO (UK)
Roadshow Video papers

Box 5
Publicity and Advertising
Australian and overseas reviews
Contracts
Music copyright

Tetley and other projects
Box 6
‘Tetley’ Correspondence file
Tetley script by Linda La Plante
‘Rupert Brooke’ treatment
‘The Bitter Sea’ final draft

In Times like These
Box 7
Drafts of the scripts of 4 episodes of ‘In Times like These’ mini-series

City Live
Box 8
Drafts of the scripts of the first 3 episodes of proposed 13-part series for Channel Ten

Sixth Grade (Film not made, 1991)
Box 9
Contains scripts, budgets, schedule and correspondence

Summerfield
Box 10
Correspondence file
Release script and trailer script
Sales brochure designed for Cannes Film Festival and overseas sales 1978
Two sets of front of house stills for overseas sales 1978
Music cue sheet
Publicity and Advertising (including newscuttings of reviews)
Greater Union film rental reports
Telex/telegram correspondence

Box 11
Original screenplay
Shooting script
Investor agreements and investor meetings minutes
Roadshow video papers
J & M Film Sales reports
Correspondence
Marketing papers
File relating to M.I.F.E.D., Milan, 1977
File relating to Cannes Film Festival, 1978
Australian Film Commission returns and overseas returns

Box 12
Trailer screenplay
Contracts
Call sheets
Cost reports and daily production reports
Equipment leasing agreement with Panavision
Schedules
Film synopsis
Papers regarding Summerfield documentary
Production budget
Investment agreements

Gallipoli
Box 13
File containing budgets, progress reports, cost reports and schedule
Music cue sheet
Release script
Editing documentation

Box 14
Australian and overseas reviews and Associated Press articles
Video cassette rights

Box 15
Post-production files
Cast and crew lists and rushes schedule
General correspondence
Press clippings
‘Credits’ file
Telex/telegram correspondence
File of army and navy correspondence
Music file (includes copyright matters)
Art Department correspondence file

Box 16
Transport and facilities file
R & R Films correspondence and cheque butts
Continuity sheets
‘Crew’ file
‘Egypt’ file (locations, costs, extras etc)

Box 17
Various drafts of the screenplay with manuscript revisions

Box 18
Australian Imperial Force enlistment details forms
Investor agreements and other contracts
One piece of original publicity artwork (watercolour)
‘Egypt’ file (locations, costs, extras etc)
Publicity
General correspondence
Location papers

Box 19
R & R Films correspondence
Files related to the cast
Material relating to locations, travel and accommodation etc

Break of Day
Box 20
Music cue sheet
Release and trailer screenplays
Correspondence file
Artwork for Cannes Film Festival, poster sticker and brochure cover, 1977
Front of house posters for Italian theatrical release and GUO Australian theatrical poster
Brochure for Cannes and European sales, English/French, 1977
Budget
Copies of distribution agreements
Cast and crew lists
General correspondence
Publicity and Advertising (including newscuttings of reviews)

Box 21
Film rental reports
Seawell Films correspondence
Cannes Film Festival, 1977, and other market material
Australian Film Commission – returns statements
Telex/telegram correspondence
Investor meeting information file
Post-production costs
Qantas accounts

Box 22
Roadshow Video papers
Original screenplay

Box 23
Contracts
Trailer script

My Brother Jack
Box 24
Correspondence files
Rough Budget 1987

Langton Chronicles
Box 25
Correspondence
Initial contracts
Later dealings with Alomo (UK), who obtained the rights

Monkey Grip
Box 26
Original script and trailer release script
Two sets of front of house still in sheets
Original artwork for sales brochure
Design for record sleeve WEA Records
Cannes and overseas sales brochure English/French, 1982
Bromides for Cannes ads 1982
Bromides for Australian release ads, July, 1982
Music cue sheet
Publicity and advertising

Box 27
Investor agreements and correspondence with investors
Cinema takings

Box 28
General correspondence – including film development, administration, censorship, locations
Call sheets
Daily production reports
Budget
Post-production
Financial returns statements and other financial papers, e.g, insurance papers
Publicity and advertising
Roadshow Video papers

Box 29
Press clippings and reviews
Contracts
List of investors and agreements
1983 Mill Valley Film Festival brochure

Box 30
Scripts
Telex/telegram correspondence
Australian Film Commission returns
Overseas returns
Seawell films correspondence
Roadshow papers and correspondence

Box 31
Investor agreements
General and legal correspondence
Location agreements
Clare Beach Films file
Screenplay final draft (x2)
Flie related to crew business
Trailer titles (artwork)

Box 32
Daily production reports
Cast and crew contracts

The Perfectionist
Box 33
Original release script
Music cue sheets
Information on investors
Budgets and accounts
Gross proceeds file and other financial statements
Dissolution papers

Box 34
Publicity material
Correspondence and general information
Schedule and script amendments
File regarding a dispute over an illegal flyer

Box 35
Cost reports
Music cue sheets
Contracts

Box 36
Correspondence
Location agreements
Call sheets
Accounts
Daily footage reconciliation and camera report sheets

Box 37
Correspondence
Underwriting agreements
Overseas distribution
Investor agreements
Telex/telegram correspondence
Forms used on the production
License agreements
Film shot list
Insurance file

Box 38
Roadshow Distribution P/L file
Screenplay fourth draft (x3)
File titled, ‘Major Agreements’, largely relates to various video and television licensing agreements

Box 39
General correspondence, finances and material regarding sound recording and credits/titles

Box 40
Investor agreements and lists of payments
Call sheets
Daily production reports

No Picnic – Lovell’s autobiography
Box 41
1st working draft
1st and 3rd edited drafts for Transworld Publishers, 1994 & 1995
‘Pat’s Edit’, 1994
Gallery proof 1
First and final designs of the book jacket

Box 42
Press clippings
Proofs of pictures to feature in the book
File containing contract and correspondence
Amanda Hemming’s edit
Final draft

Collected/Miscellaneous/Personal Material
Box 43
Video Package (various films) – sale to Roadshow Home Video
Sugarfoot P/L - Articles of Association
Other ephemera
Movie telecast audience report
Lovell’s Italian film related papers, photos and ephemera

16 posters including
Monkey Grip – Roadshow home video poster, theatrical daybills
Gallipoli – daybills, UK and European poster
Picnic at Hanging Rock – Australian, Japanese and Polish theatrical posters and Australian video release poster
Break of Day – Australian and overseas theatrical posters
Summerfiled - Australian and overseas theatrical posters (including one with a misspelling)

Partly restricted: - - Access can only be granted with the written authority of Patricia Lovell. The papers regarding her autobiography are totally restricted

Rights and Restrictions Information:: Access can only be granted with the written authority of Patricia Lovell. The papers regarding her autobiography are totally restricted

Information upgraded as part of the Manuscripts Unprocessed eRecords Project 2013-2014