Accession A2010-97 [PC 303, MF 33] - Ely Bronstein fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

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Ely Bronstein fonds

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Accession

Reference code

CA UMASC Mss 348, Pc 303, Mf 33, TC 170 (A.10-97, A12-16)-A2010-97 [PC 303, MF 33]

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

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Physical description area

Physical description

1.8 m of textual and other material including 899 photos, 44 photo negatives, 1 microfiche & 4 microfilm

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1945-)

Biographical history

Ely Bronstein was born on November 8, 1945 as one of the many Western foreigners in Shanghai at that time, known as “Shanghailanders”. Fearing the Chinese Communists’ anti-Western policies after their victory in 1949, the Bronstein family left the country, coming to Winnipeg in 1952, where Ely was first exposed to the 1937 Frank Capra film starring Ronald Colman, “Lost Horizon”. The movie struck a chord with Ely, speaking to his own spiritual beliefs as well as serving as a reminder of his Far Eastern heritage, and igniting his lifetime fascination with film and the film industry. Graduating with an Arts Degree in anthropology from the University of Manitoba in 1970, Bronstein retained his love of film, particularly with “Lost Horizon” and began his collection in 1982, assembling articles, documents, correspondences, photos, and artwork relating to the film, as well as others that stuck with him, such as the 1956 film, “Helen of Troy”. Finally deciding his collection would be better off serving the needs of film studies students, Bronstein donated the vast majority of his collection to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections in 2011.

Custodial history

The fonds was donated by Ely Bronstein to the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collection in 2010.

Scope and content

The fonds consists of 2,484 items, nearly all of which are photocopies of articles, documents, correspondences, photo groups or artwork that the donor has acquired from various magazines, newspapers, books, associates and other archives and libraries. The vast majority of the collection relates to “Lost Horizon”, with a much smaller, though still significant, percentage relating to "Helen of Troy". Over 150 of the items fall outside the scope of either of the two aforementioned movies, being a collection of writings, photographs and artwork relating to Hollywood and the movie industry in general, as well as California travel information and info on Tibet. The fonds is divided into the series “Lost Horizon” articles, “Lost Horizon” documents and research, personal effects, "Lost Horizon” publicity stills, “Lost Horizon” production photographs, “Lost Horizon” negatives, “Lost Horizon” art, “Helen of Troy”, related interests, oversized items and "Lost Horizon" microfilm. The "Lost Horizon" articles series contains newspaper, magazine and journal articles, as well as book excerpts, related to various "Lost Horizon" subjects, such as production, reception and cast and crew biographies. The “Lost Horizon” documents and research series contains various primary sources such as interviews, scripts, theatre programs and legal documents. The personal effects series contains content related to Ely Bronstein’s personal life such as correspondences and ephemera, though the vast majority of this material relates to “Lost Horizon”. The next two series contain photographs of “Lost Horizon”, both publicity stills – scenes from the movie blown into photos – and production photos – pictures taken of the production processes or of members of the production crew. The negatives relating to “Lost Horizon” are reproduced photographic negatives, while the artwork contains movie posters and concept art. The “Helen of Troy” series contains material relating to that film, including articles, documents and publicity stills. The related interests series contains various articles and pictures related to Hollywood and the movie industry, as well as information about California and Tibet. All oversized items requiring larger boxes are included in the oversized items series. Lastly, the "Lost Horizon" microfilm series contains pressbooks and visual representations of the film on 35mm microfilm. The items are all paper photocopies of their original formats, with the exceptions of a few original correspondences, a few original newspaper clippings, the negatives and the microfilm.

Notes area

Physical condition

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Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 6 series and Photograph (Pc 303) and Microform Collection (Mf 33

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Script of material

Language and script note

English

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Restrictions on access

There are no restrictions on this material.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

There are no restrictions on this material.

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Duplicate copies have been removed.

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Further accruals are anticipated

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Inventory prepared by Jarad Buckwold (2011)
Finding aid encoded by Jarad Buckwold (2011)

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