Brandon LisiMillions of fans are familiar with Ayn Rand’s four main fictional works and her decades-long efforts as a public intellectual to promote her radical new philosophy, Objectivism. But many are likely unaware of Rand’s career in the film industry, which included work as a movie extra, a studio wardrobe employee, a reader at RKO, MGM, and Paramount, and eventually, as a contract screenwriter.
At last year’s Objectivist summer conference in Anaheim, California, the Ayn Rand Archives exhibited original artifacts that showcased Rand’s fascinating career in film and on stage. Those who were unable to attend the conference can view the online version of the exhibit. It features nearly three dozen high-resolution scans of historic artifacts, presented in context with narratives written by the Ayn Rand Institute’s archivists.
Movies played a crucial role in Ayn Rand’s life, particularly during the years that she lived under the oppressive Soviet regime. In biographical interviews, now housed in the Ayn Rand Archives, Rand recalled going to see American movies multiple times just to view brief shots of the New York skyline. “It was almost as if I had a private avenue of seeing the world outside,” Rand recounted decades later.
When she escaped Russia in 1926, Rand arrived in America with dreams of becoming a screenwriter. Rand eventually achieved the success that she had always dreamed of.
In 1943, Rand sold the film rights to her second novel, The Fountainhead, to Warner Bros. for $50,000. The following year, Rand signed a contract to write screenplays for producer Hal Wallis. Their collaboration yielded multiple scripts, including two produced films, You Came Along and Love Letters, the latter being nominated for four Academy Awards. The archives’ exhibit featured a multitude of artifacts from this period, including her original screenplays, photographs of Rand on-set during filming, as well as a 1946 letter sent to Walt Disney about a potential film adaptation of her novella, Anthem.
The exhibit also featured artifacts from Rand’s career as a playwright. While undertaking the writing her first novel, We the Living, Rand came up with an idea for a stage play, a project that she hoped would be “finished easier and . . . perhaps easier to sell.” Originally titled Penthouse Legend, the play centered around a murder trial and featured a clever twist: a dozen audience members would be selected to serve as jurors, with alternate endings depending on their verdict. The play would eventually be brought to Broadway under another title, Night of January 16th, and ran for 283 performances between 1935 and 1936. Over the next several decades, the play was performed by a variety of amateur and professional productions, both domestically and internationally. The exhibit featured an original poster advertising a 1946 performance of the play at the Apollo Theatre in Paris.
The final section of the exhibit showcased Rand’s work on film and television adaptations of her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, a project that she was fully engaged in at the time of her death in 1982. The exhibit displayed Rand’s notes and edits to one of the teleplays, as well as a list of potential cast members.
Together, all of these objects provide an unparalleled glimpse into a lesser-known aspect of Rand’s career, revealing how she was deeply inspired by the medium of film throughout her career.
Small segments of the Archives will continue to be brought before a viewing audience at future conferences. At this year’s annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts, Ayn Rand fans can expect to see an exhibition of archival material showcasing the history of Rand’s nineteen presentations at Boston’s Ford Hall Forum. The conference will also offer the chance for attendees to listen to rare audio of Rand at the forum – audio that has never been released to the public.
