Daniel Talbot Papers, 1923-2010, bulk 1960-2008

Creator:

Talbot, Daniel, 1926-2017

Abstract:

The Dan Talbot Papers document the business operation of the New Yorker Films, an independent film acquisition and distribution company, dating from 1960s to 2008, as well as movie theaters in the Upper West Side Manhattan which he operated, dating from 1960 to 2007. It is of particular relevance to New Yorkers as the Talbots operated the New Yorker Theater, Cinema Studio, Metro, and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, on the Upper West Side, as popular venues to view independent and foreign films.

Extent:

495 linear feet (303 record cartons (box 1-207, 209-251, 253-296, 302-306, 355-356), 5 tall manuscript boxes (box 298-301), 48 manuscript boxes (box 307-354), 79 flat boxes (Box 208 Flat, 252 Flat, Flatbox 1-77))

Language:

English , French , German , Japanese , Spanish; Castilian .

Scope and content:

The Dan Talbot papers comprise the business records of the New Yorker Films, an independent film distribution company, as well as the records of the movie theaters that the Talbots operated in Manhattan's Upper West Side, namely the New Yorker Theater, Cinema Studio, Metro, and Lincoln Plaza, with the bulk dating from 1960 to 2008. The collection contains extensive correspondence files, producer reports, distribution agreements and contracts, theatrical engagement files, publicity files of film titles distributed by the New Yorker Films, dating from the 1960s to 2008. Materials also include business and financial records, guest books, photographs, and other materials from the three movie theaters that the Talbots operated, dating from 1960 to 2008. This collection is an outstanding record of independent film exhibition and distribution.

Biographical / historical:

Dan Talbot is a notable figure in art-house cinema in the United States and the founder of New Yorker Films. New Yorker Films began in 1965. The company was a means to exhibit foreign films at the now defunct New Yorker Theater. Talbot first acquired Bernardo Bertolucci's Before the Revolution, which led the way for New Yorker Films to acquire more than 400 film titles. New Yorker Films held the rights for theatrical release to theaters and colleges, as well as to distribute films in VHS and DVD format. New Yorker Films was sold to Madstone Films in 2009.

Daniel Talbot was born Daniel Distenfeld on July 21, 1926, in Bronx, New York. He graduated from New York University with a degree in literature. He married Toby Talbot in 1951. He worked in publishing, Gold Medal Books and Avon Books and had published three anthologies: A treasury of mountaineering stories, 1955; Thirteen Great Stories, 1955; Film: an anthology, 1959. He was also a book editor, serving as the East Coast story editor for Warner Bros, and the film critic for The Progressive. In 1963, Talbot produced "Point of Order" with Emile de Antonio.

He also operated multiple theaters in New York's Upper West Side: New Yorker Theater (1960-1973), Cinema Studio (1977-1990), Metro Theater (1982-1987), and Lincoln Plaza Cinema (1981-2018). Talbot was honored in 2004 by IFP/New York with the Gotham Award for Industry Lifetime Achievement. Through his exhibition and distribution activities, Talbot provided moviegoers in the United States with access to a vast array of international filmmakers, including Robert Bresson, Claude Chabrol, Rainer Fassbinder, Federico Fellini, Werner Herzog, Yasujiro Ozu, Ousmane Sembene, and Wim Wenders, among others.

Dan Talbot died in New York City on December 29, 2017, at the age of 91.

Acquisition information:

2010.2011.M066: Source of acquisition--Dan Talbot. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--February 2011.

2009.2010.M041: Source of acquisition--Dan Talbot. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--September 2009.

Custodial history:

The Dan Talbot Papers were purchased by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in March 2009.

The collection was previously deposited/stored in various locations prior to the collection sale in 2009: storage room of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, MoMA's offsite storage facilities, offices of New Yorker Films, Dan Talbot's home, University of Wisconsin's Center for Film and Theater Research.

Subseries II.1: New Yorker Theaters (6 cartons with 112 volumes of guest books, and 2 cartons of financial records, and posters) was previously placed on deposit at the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (now Wisconsin Historical Society) by Daniel Talbot in 1974.

Subseries II.2 and II.3: Lincoln Plaza Cinemas (6 cartons on Lincoln Plaza and The Cinema Studio consisting tax records, candy inventories, petty cash, film settlement records, bills paid, daily box office statements and log books on projections, etc.) was previously placed on deposit at the Museum of Modern Art by Daniel Talbot in 1991, and a total of 157 boxes of materials on deposit by 1992.

Processing information:

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.

The majority of the collection was processed by Adrien Hilton in 2013-2014, with the assistance of Zuleimy Gabriela Alcantara and Andrew Lee. The boxes were sent to ReCAP due to onsite space constraints. Some boxes were minimally processed. The posters series was inventoried and processed by Tom McCutchon with the assistance of Kevin Schlottmann and other students in 2021. The reprocessing work in 2023 includes a review of the entire collection, and conversion of various inventories into a container list for the finding aid with additional processing and rehousing work for materials that were not processed offsite and the remaining 67 boxes onsite. This work was completed by Yingwen Huang with some assistance of Madelyn Elizondo in Fall 2023.

Duplicative bank deposit receipts (1965-1979) from Subseries II.1 were deaccessioned due to the information already being reflected on daily box office reports. Duplicative materials such as commercial VHS and posters were also deaccessioned during processing. Duplicative serials have also been deaccessioned: American Cinematographer, American Film, Cineaste, Film Comment, Sight and Sound, New York Times Film Reviews, Cahiers du cinéma, Artforum. Researchers may search and request these serials via the library catalog and the e-journal databases. MPLP processing applied to some boxes, especially in Subseries I.G: Theatrical Engagements, the original folders were retained and labels were reinforced.

Box 355-356 Producer reports found onsite and added to finding aid-yh,2024.

Arrangement:

Collection is arranged in 5 series.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related material:

NEW YORKER FILMS COLLECTION, Harvard Film Archive. https://harvardfilmarchive.org/collections/new-yorker-films-collection

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

All original copies of audio / moving image media are closed until reformatting. Please email rbml@columbia.edu.

Terms of access:

Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred citation:: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Dan Talbot Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

RBML Home Page
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10027, USA
Before you visit:: Researchers interested in viewing materials in the RBML reading room must must book an appointment at least 7 days in advance. To make the most of your visit, be sure to request your desired materials before booking your appointment, as researchers are limited to 5 items per day.

Contact:: rbml@library.columbia.edu

Collection