Title: RICHARD BARE COLLECTION
Collection Number:
Span Dates: 1928-2004
Creator: Richard Bare
Extent: 75 Reels ; 2 boxes ephemera
Links: Online Media
Subject(s): Richard Bare ; USC Cinema ; Modesto ; Holy City ;Alameda High School ; Piedmont High School ; Oval Portrait ; Real George ; Community Leaders ; Sandy Shawen ; Fullerton ; Yosemite ; Arizona ; Long Beach Earthquake ; VItaphone ; Golf ; John Montagu ; Amos Alonzo Stagg ; College of Pacific, Stokton ; Cinecolor ; Modesto Butter ; Stanislau Golf & Country Club ; Modesto High School ; Jack Nightingale rescue ; Joe McDoakes ; World War II ; Wicked Wicked ; Olvera Street ; Blessing of the Pets ; San Francisco Museum ; Ruth Roman ; Gordon Macrae ; Golden Bough Theater ; California’s First Theater in Monterey ; Bobo the Shredded Wheat Man ; West of the Rio Grande ; Stop Motion Animation ; Bill Smith Boat Racer ; Vivian Duncan ; Great Maurice Daredevil ; Del Monte Hotel ; Green Acres ; Double Cross ; Art Mix ; Wally Wales ; Duncan Sisters ; So This Is Hollywood TV ; Henry Fruelich ;
Notes:
Richard Leland Bare was given a camera for his 14th birthday in 1927 and set off on a long career filming and directing movies and televisions shows. He is best known for creating the sitcom Green Acres, but here at USC he is most important for making the first proper student film entitled the Oval Portrait in 1934. The irony is that the only reason he was able to make it was because he already had his own camera and had been selling newsreel stories to the studios prior to enrolling at USC. Because of this he was able to shoot a film while other student could not since USC did not have any functioning equipment in those days. In addition his studio connections allowed him to pull some strings and gain access to proper studio sets and lights, etc. The film was a success and it gained USC their first of many student awards. The bulk of the collection are the films and footage he shot in his early days, combined with some home movie footage throughout the years. Some of the most important footage would be the early Modesto, California films which capture for the most part what is known as Old Modesto since remodeling has changed the place that Bare grew up in.Bare was a very entrepreneurial young man and even owned and ran his own Theater at age 17.
Citation: Richard Bare Collection, HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
Location: USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive
Access: Most films are being digitized and put online.