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William K. Everson

April 11, 2024

For other people named William Everson, see William Everson (disambiguation).

Keith William Everson (8 April 1929 – 14 April 1996) was an English-American archivist, author, critic, educator, collector, and film historian. He also discovered several lost films. Everson's given first names were Keith William, but he reversed them so that "William K." would mimic the name of Hollywood director William K. Howard, whom he admired.[1]

William K. Everson
Born
William Keith Everson

8 April 1929
Yeovil, Somerset, England, UK
Died14 April 1996 (aged 67)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Archivist, author, critic, educator, collector and film historian

Early life and career edit

Everson was born in Yeovil, Somerset, the son of Catherine (née Ward) and Percival Wilfred Everson, an aircraft engineer.[2] His earliest jobs were in the motion picture industry; as a teenager he was employed at Renown Pictures as publicity manager. He began to write film criticism and operated several film societies.[3]

Later career edit

Following service in the British Army from 1946 to 1948, Everson worked as a cinema theatre manager for London's Monseigneur News Theatres.[3] Emigrating to the United States in 1950 at age 21, he worked in the publicity department of Monogram Pictures (later Allied Artists)[4] and subsequently became a freelance publicist.[3]

Concurrently with his employment as writer, editor and researcher on the TV series Movie Museum and Silents Please,[3] Everson became dedicated to preserving films from the silent era to the 1940s which otherwise would have been lost. Through his industry connections, he began to acquire feature films and short subjects that were slated to be destroyed or abandoned.[1]

Many of his discoveries were projected at his Manhattan film group, the Theodore Huff Film Society, founded by Theodore Huff (filmmaker[5] and the biographer of Charlie Chaplin), Everson, film critic Seymour Stern and Variety columnist Herman G. Weinberg as the Theodore Huff Film Society. After Huff's death, Everson added the word "Memorial". At each screening, Huff members were presented with extensive program notes written by Everson about each film. During the 1960s, these screenings were held in a hall at Union Square.[3]

Occasionally, he would make special arrangements with a select invited group to see a 35mm print in a theater. For example, on a Sunday morning in the mid-1960s, he took over Daniel Talbot's New Yorker Theater to show the silent She (1925) to an audience of no more than 15 silent-film buffs. Later, the Huff Society screenings relocated from Union Square to The New School, by invitation of Everson's friend and fellow Huff Society member Joseph Goldberg, who was a professor at The New School. Everson was an influential figure to the generation of film historians who came of age from the 1960s to the 1980s, many of whom were regulars at his New School screenings. Other attendees at the Huff Society included such New York personalities as author Susan Sontag and publisher Calvin Beck.

Kevin Brownlow described an infamous incident at the Huff Society:

It was a society that showed the rarest films — often in a double bill with a recognised classic. Everson's programme notes became world-famous (and let us hope that some enterprising publisher will bring them out).

In 1959, MGM's Ben-Hur received rave reviews and Everson felt they were not deserved — so he showed the 1925 version at the Huff. Rival collector Raymond Rohauer, experiencing a little trouble himself over a lawsuit from MGM, told the FBI what Everson was doing, and they confronted him after the performance.[6] They seized the print, and Everson spent the next few days squirreling other hot titles around New York. Lillian Gish had to intervene on his behalf.

In the 1970s, the FBI instituted a "witch hunt" among film collectors, but by then Everson was too highly respected to be touched. Archives came to depend on him — he would not only loan rare prints for copying or showing, but he would travel the world presenting the films he loved. I was astounded to meet him at an airport weighed down by three times as many cans of films as any human could be expected to carry. He had the uncanny knack of finding lost films. It would be no exaggeration to say that single-handedly, he transformed the attitude of American film enthusiasts towards early cinema.

Many of Everson's film programs were assembled from his own personal collection, which comprised over 4,000 titles by the 1970s.[3] These screenings usually showcased minor masterpieces and critically overlooked B pictures that he deemed worthy of reappraisal. He brought these rediscoveries to other venues, such as the Pacific Film Archive[7] and the Telluride Film Festival.[3][7][8][9][10][11][12]

He worked as a consultant to producers and studios preparing silent-film projects, and collaborated closely with Robert Youngson, screening and assembling the best in silent comedy for Youngson's feature-length revivals. (Everson even wrote some of Youngson's promotional feature articles for publication.) He assisted in the production of the syndicated TV series The Charlie Chaplin Comedy Theatre (1965) and its offshoot feature film The Funniest Man in the World (1967). He was technical advisor on David L. Wolper's TV specials Hollywood, the Golden Years (1961) and The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1982).[3]

From 1964 to 1984 he taught film history at The School of Visual Arts,[3] and from 1972 to 1996 was professor of cinema studies at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He also taught film history courses at The New School.[4] His courses often had an emphasis on comedy, Westerns and British films. Everson sometimes discussed film history as a guest on Barry Gray's late-night radio talk show in New York. He appeared as an actor in Louis McMahon's serial parody Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates (1966); the four-part film, made by a cast and crew of like-minded movie buffs, concerned heinous traffic in rare silent-screen masterpieces.[13]

In 1994, the National Board of Review established the William K. Everson Award for Film History, of which Everson was the first recipient.[14]

Works edit

  • Classics of the Silent Screen (1959) – attributed to Joe Franklin but actually written by Everson
  • The Western: From Silents to Cinerama (1962) with George N. Fenin; later updated and retitled The Western: From Silents to the Seventies (1973)
  • The American Movie (1963)
  • The Bad Guys: A Pictorial History of the Movie Villain (1964)
  • The Films of Laurel and Hardy (1967)
  • The Art of W. C. Fields (1967)
  • A Pictorial History of the Western Film (1969)
  • Days of Thrills and Adventure: An Affectionate Pictorial History of the Movie Serial (foreword, 1970) by Alan G. Barbour
  • The Films of Hal Roach (1971)
  • The Detective in Film (1972)
  • Classics of the Horror Film (1974)
  • Claudette Colbert (1976)
  • American Silent Film (1978)
  • Love in the Film: Screen Romance from the Silent Days to the Present (1979)
  • The Further Perils of Dracula (foreword, 1979) by Jeanne Youngson
  • More Classics of the Horror Film (1986)
  • The Hollywood Western (1992)
  • Hollywood Bedlam: Classic Screwball Comedies (1994)

In addition, Everson contributed articles and reviews to numerous film magazines, including Films in Review (1909–), Variety and Castle of Frankenstein.

Death and legacy edit

On 14 April 1996, Everson died of prostate cancer at the age of 67 in Manhattan, and he was survived by his wife, Karen Latham Everson,[3] his daughter, playwright Bambi Everson[15] (named for ballerina Bambi Linn), his son, Griffith and his granddaughter, Sarah. His film collection was taken over by his widow and sold to the George Eastman House. Most of his manuscripts, film screening notes and memorabilia were donated to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, comprising the William K. Everson Collection.[16]

In 2004, Everson was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards.[17]

Further reading edit

  • Huff, Theodore (1951). Charlie Chaplin. New York: Henry Schuman. 
  • Goldwyn, Samuel (1923). Behind the Screen. New York City: George H. Doran Company. 
  • Seldes, Gilbert (1924). The Seven Lively Arts. New York City: Harper & Brothers. 

References edit

  1. ^ a b . TCM.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21.
  2. ^ Profile, filmreference.com; accessed 1 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grimes, William. "William K. Everson, Historian And Film Preservationist, 67", The New York Times, 16 April 1996.
  4. ^ a b Everson biography, nyu.edu; accessed 1 September 2016.
  5. ^ Mallory, Mary (9 September 2016). "52nd Cinecon Offers Something for Everyone". ladailymirror.com. Cinecon: "Ghost Town: The Story of Fort Lee" (1935, Theodore Huff) played after lunch Monday afternoon, a sad and moving documentary about the disappearing or destroyed silent film studios of Fort Lee, a metaphor for the Great Depression and the United States' financial collapse.
  6. ^ "Raymond Rohauer: King of the Film Freebooters by William K. Everson". Brenton Film. 22 October 2018.
  7. ^ a b "William K. Everson Presents Rare & Rediscovered Films". Pacific Film Archive. 1984. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  8. ^ Maltin, Leonard (5 September 2019). "FORTY YEARS OF TELLURIDE". Leonard Maltin .com. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  9. ^ http://telluridecms-production.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/guides/34th_tff_prog_guide_FINAL.pdf
  10. ^ Pristin, Terry (30 August 1998). "FILM; The Festival That Tries To Dodge the Spotlight". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  11. ^ Everson, William K. (27 September 1987). "TELLURIDE". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  12. ^ Thompson, Anne (24 August 2007). "The Big Change at Telluride". Variety. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Captain Celluloid vs. the Film Pirates", imdb.com; accessed 1 May 2016.
  14. ^ "William K. Everson Award for Film History: Archive". nationalboardofreview.org. National Board of Review. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  15. ^ "Bambi Everson". bambieverson.com. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  16. ^ "William K. Everson Collection". New York University.
  17. ^ "Legends, Newcomers Win 3rd Annual Rondo Awards". Rondo Awards.

External links edit

  • William K. Everson at IMDb

April 11, 2024
william, everson, other, people, named, william, everson, william, everson, disambiguation, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, . For other people named William Everson see William Everson disambiguation This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources William K Everson news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Keith William Everson 8 April 1929 14 April 1996 was an English American archivist author critic educator collector and film historian He also discovered several lost films Everson s given first names were Keith William but he reversed them so that William K would mimic the name of Hollywood director William K Howard whom he admired 1 William K EversonBornWilliam Keith Everson8 April 1929Yeovil Somerset England UKDied14 April 1996 aged 67 New York City New York U S Occupation s Archivist author critic educator collector and film historian Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Later career 3 Works 4 Death and legacy 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External linksEarly life and career editEverson was born in Yeovil Somerset the son of Catherine nee Ward and Percival Wilfred Everson an aircraft engineer 2 His earliest jobs were in the motion picture industry as a teenager he was employed at Renown Pictures as publicity manager He began to write film criticism and operated several film societies 3 Later career editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Following service in the British Army from 1946 to 1948 Everson worked as a cinema theatre manager for London s Monseigneur News Theatres 3 Emigrating to the United States in 1950 at age 21 he worked in the publicity department of Monogram Pictures later Allied Artists 4 and subsequently became a freelance publicist 3 Concurrently with his employment as writer editor and researcher on the TV series Movie Museum and Silents Please 3 Everson became dedicated to preserving films from the silent era to the 1940s which otherwise would have been lost Through his industry connections he began to acquire feature films and short subjects that were slated to be destroyed or abandoned 1 Many of his discoveries were projected at his Manhattan film group the Theodore Huff Film Society founded by Theodore Huff filmmaker 5 and the biographer of Charlie Chaplin Everson film critic Seymour Stern and Variety columnist Herman G Weinberg as the Theodore Huff Film Society After Huff s death Everson added the word Memorial At each screening Huff members were presented with extensive program notes written by Everson about each film During the 1960s these screenings were held in a hall at Union Square 3 Occasionally he would make special arrangements with a select invited group to see a 35mm print in a theater For example on a Sunday morning in the mid 1960s he took over Daniel Talbot s New Yorker Theater to show the silent She 1925 to an audience of no more than 15 silent film buffs Later the Huff Society screenings relocated from Union Square to The New School by invitation of Everson s friend and fellow Huff Society member Joseph Goldberg who was a professor at The New School Everson was an influential figure to the generation of film historians who came of age from the 1960s to the 1980s many of whom were regulars at his New School screenings Other attendees at the Huff Society included such New York personalities as author Susan Sontag and publisher Calvin Beck Kevin Brownlow described an infamous incident at the Huff Society It was a society that showed the rarest films often in a double bill with a recognised classic Everson s programme notes became world famous and let us hope that some enterprising publisher will bring them out In 1959 MGM s Ben Hur received rave reviews and Everson felt they were not deserved so he showed the 1925 version at the Huff Rival collector Raymond Rohauer experiencing a little trouble himself over a lawsuit from MGM told the FBI what Everson was doing and they confronted him after the performance 6 They seized the print and Everson spent the next few days squirreling other hot titles around New York Lillian Gish had to intervene on his behalf In the 1970s the FBI instituted a witch hunt among film collectors but by then Everson was too highly respected to be touched Archives came to depend on him he would not only loan rare prints for copying or showing but he would travel the world presenting the films he loved I was astounded to meet him at an airport weighed down by three times as many cans of films as any human could be expected to carry He had the uncanny knack of finding lost films It would be no exaggeration to say that single handedly he transformed the attitude of American film enthusiasts towards early cinema Many of Everson s film programs were assembled from his own personal collection which comprised over 4 000 titles by the 1970s 3 These screenings usually showcased minor masterpieces and critically overlooked B pictures that he deemed worthy of reappraisal He brought these rediscoveries to other venues such as the Pacific Film Archive 7 and the Telluride Film Festival 3 7 8 9 10 11 12 He worked as a consultant to producers and studios preparing silent film projects and collaborated closely with Robert Youngson screening and assembling the best in silent comedy for Youngson s feature length revivals Everson even wrote some of Youngson s promotional feature articles for publication He assisted in the production of the syndicated TV series The Charlie Chaplin Comedy Theatre 1965 and its offshoot feature film The Funniest Man in the World 1967 He was technical advisor on David L Wolper s TV specials Hollywood the Golden Years 1961 and The Legend of Rudolph Valentino 1982 3 From 1964 to 1984 he taught film history at The School of Visual Arts 3 and from 1972 to 1996 was professor of cinema studies at New York University s Tisch School of the Arts He also taught film history courses at The New School 4 His courses often had an emphasis on comedy Westerns and British films Everson sometimes discussed film history as a guest on Barry Gray s late night radio talk show in New York He appeared as an actor in Louis McMahon s serial parody Captain Celluloid vs the Film Pirates 1966 the four part film made by a cast and crew of like minded movie buffs concerned heinous traffic in rare silent screen masterpieces 13 In 1994 the National Board of Review established the William K Everson Award for Film History of which Everson was the first recipient 14 Works editClassics of the Silent Screen 1959 attributed to Joe Franklin but actually written by Everson The Western From Silents to Cinerama 1962 with George N Fenin later updated and retitled The Western From Silents to the Seventies 1973 The American Movie 1963 The Bad Guys A Pictorial History of the Movie Villain 1964 The Films of Laurel and Hardy 1967 The Art of W C Fields 1967 A Pictorial History of the Western Film 1969 Days of Thrills and Adventure An Affectionate Pictorial History of the Movie Serial foreword 1970 by Alan G Barbour The Films of Hal Roach 1971 The Detective in Film 1972 Classics of the Horror Film 1974 Claudette Colbert 1976 American Silent Film 1978 Love in the Film Screen Romance from the Silent Days to the Present 1979 The Further Perils of Dracula foreword 1979 by Jeanne Youngson More Classics of the Horror Film 1986 The Hollywood Western 1992 Hollywood Bedlam Classic Screwball Comedies 1994 In addition Everson contributed articles and reviews to numerous film magazines including Films in Review 1909 Variety and Castle of Frankenstein Death and legacy editOn 14 April 1996 Everson died of prostate cancer at the age of 67 in Manhattan and he was survived by his wife Karen Latham Everson 3 his daughter playwright Bambi Everson 15 named for ballerina Bambi Linn his son Griffith and his granddaughter Sarah His film collection was taken over by his widow and sold to the George Eastman House Most of his manuscripts film screening notes and memorabilia were donated to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University comprising the William K Everson Collection 16 In 2004 Everson was inducted into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards 17 Further reading editHuff Theodore 1951 Charlie Chaplin New York Henry Schuman nbsp Goldwyn Samuel 1923 Behind the Screen New York City George H Doran Company nbsp Seldes Gilbert 1924 The Seven Lively Arts New York City Harper amp Brothers nbsp References edit a b William K Everson profile TCM com Archived from the original on 2012 10 21 Profile filmreference com accessed 1 May 2016 a b c d e f g h i j Grimes William William K Everson Historian And Film Preservationist 67 The New York Times 16 April 1996 a b Everson biography nyu edu accessed 1 September 2016 Mallory Mary 9 September 2016 52nd Cinecon Offers Something for Everyone ladailymirror com Cinecon Ghost Town The Story of Fort Lee 1935 Theodore Huff played after lunch Monday afternoon a sad and moving documentary about the disappearing or destroyed silent film studios of Fort Lee a metaphor for the Great Depression and the United States financial collapse Raymond Rohauer King of the Film Freebooters by William K Everson Brenton Film 22 October 2018 a b William K Everson Presents Rare amp Rediscovered Films Pacific Film Archive 1984 Retrieved 4 July 2023 Maltin Leonard 5 September 2019 FORTY YEARS OF TELLURIDE Leonard Maltin com Retrieved 4 July 2023 http telluridecms production s3 amazonaws com assets guides 34th tff prog guide FINAL pdf Pristin Terry 30 August 1998 FILM The Festival That Tries To Dodge the Spotlight The New York Times Retrieved 4 July 2023 Everson William K 27 September 1987 TELLURIDE Los Angeles Times Retrieved 4 July 2023 Thompson Anne 24 August 2007 The Big Change at Telluride Variety Retrieved 4 July 2023 Captain Celluloid vs the Film Pirates imdb com accessed 1 May 2016 William K Everson Award for Film History Archive nationalboardofreview org National Board of Review Retrieved April 26 2022 Bambi Everson bambieverson com Retrieved 2022 01 07 William K Everson Collection New York University Legends Newcomers Win 3rd Annual Rondo Awards Rondo Awards External links edithttp www tcm com tcmdb person 917824 7C0 William K Everson Works by or about William K Everson at Internet Archive William K Everson Collection New York University Obituary in The Independent Bill Everson Terminal film buff 1973 New York Herald article http www horschamp qc ca new offscreen everson interview html http www horschamp qc ca new offscreen everson html http www nationalboardofreview org award names william k everson award for film history William K Everson at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title William K Everson amp oldid 1215379975 Theodore Huff, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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