FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alexander Street Press announced an agreement with RKO to add the studio’s 250 scripts to the American Film Scripts database. Nearly all of the new scripts are previously unpublished, rare texts that have been otherwise inaccessible for a very long time—there are even never-before-seen scripts from noted writers such as William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, George S. Kaufman, Dorothy Parker, Zoe Akins, Terrence Rattigan, and Clifford Odets. The new scripts include well-known films such as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Out of the Past (considered by many critics to be one of the greatest film noirs ever), Swing Time and other Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers musicals, and the original King Kong script from 1933.

"RKO Pictures was arguably the most innovative Hollywood studio between the late 30s and early 50s,” said Will Whalen, Editorial Director for Alexander Street Press. “They made classics in every genre, and their history is a substantial part of American film and American culture. This extensive RKO script library reflects that history, and it is incredibly exciting to make this accessible for the first time.

“Historically, RKO attracted some of the most prestigious writers and directors working at the time,” continued Whalen. William Wyler, Nicholas Ray, Otto Preminger, Fritz Lang, Sidney Lumet, Howard Hawks, Robert Wise, Anthony Mann, John Ford, George Stevens, Alfred Hitchcock, George Cukor, Garson Kanin, Clifford Odets, William Wellman, Ben Hecht, Norman Krasna, and Jacques Tourneur all directed films for RKO, bringing classic musicals, westerns, war films, comedies, thrillers, film noir, and B-movies to the silver screen.

The new scripts add to a collection that already includes original texts from a range of sources, such as the special collections archives at the University of Southern California (the Warner Brothers collection), the University of Texas Ransom Center (David O. Selznick collection), the Wisconsin Film Center archive, the Library of Congress, studio archives, a recent agreement with Sony-Columbia, and even original manuscripts form the personal holdings of the writers and estates. The entire American Film Scripts collection now includes more than 700 scripts by more than 600 writers, together with detailed, fielded information on the scenes and characters related to the scripts.

More information about American Film Scripts and other drama databases can be found at www.alexanderstreet.com/drama. Interested librarians can also call 800-889-5937 or email sales@alexanderstreet.com.

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Alexander Street Press, L.L.C., is an academic publisher of electronic full-text databases in the humanities, social sciences, and music. Founded in June 2000, the company publishes collections in history, literature, music, women’s studies, sociology, ethnic and diversity studies, popular culture, film studies, the arts, and other areas. Alexander Street Press is located in Alexandria, Virginia. EDITORS: For additional information on Alexander Street Press and its products, please contact Eileen Lawrence, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, 800-889-5937 ext. 211, email lawrence@alexanderstreet.com, or visit http://alexanderstreet.com.