Fonds Mss 348, Pc 303, Mf 33, TC 170 (A.10-97, A12-16) - Ely Bronstein fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Ely Bronstein fonds

General material designation

  • Textual record
  • Graphic material
  • Moving images
  • Sound recording

Parallel title

Other title information

Title statements of responsibility

Title notes

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

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

Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1936-2010 (Creation)
    Creator
    Bronstein, Ely
    Note
    Content collected 1982-2010

Physical description area

Physical description

2.72 m of textual records.
87 items of graphical material.
1,429 photos.
44 photo negatives.
503 slides.
1 microfiche.
4 microfilm.
33 audio cassettes.
12 video cassettes.

Publisher's series area

Title proper of publisher's series

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Other title information of publisher's series

Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series

Numbering within publisher's series

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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 to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by Ely Bronstein in 2010 and 2012.

Scope and content

The fonds consists primarily of photocopies of articles, documents, correspondence, photographs 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". Some of the collection falls outside the scope of either of the two aforementioned movies, being a collection of writings, photos 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, "Lost Horizon" microfilm, correspondence about “Lost Horizon”, “Lost Horizon” biographies, oversized photos of “Lost Horizon,” video collection associated with “Lost Horizon,” and audio cassette collection associated with “Lost Horizon”.

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" various articles series also features articles discussing James Hilton's other works. 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 correspondence and ephemera, though the vast majority of this material relates to “Lost Horizon”. The video collection associated with “Lost Horizon” series contains films based on other works by James Hilton or starring Ronald Colman, as well as information on Frank Capra’s life and his American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. The audio cassette collection associated with “Lost Horizon” series contains various primary sources such as interviews, theatre programs, soundtracks, prayers, and news reports. The next three series contain photographs of “Lost Horizon”, both publicity stills - scenes from the movie -slides, 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 interest 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 press books 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

Immediate source of acquisition

Donated directly to University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections by Ely Bronstein.

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English
  • French

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

There are no restrictions on this material.

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

Associated materials

Related materials

Accruals

Further accruals are expected from Ely Bronstein.

Alternative identifier(s)

Standard number area

Standard number

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Control area

Description record identifier

Institution identifier

University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections

Rules or conventions

Rules for Archival Description

Status

Final

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Created 23 August 2011.
Revised 3 February 2012.
Revised 13 December 2012.

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

Sources

Accession area

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