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Collection Number: 12016

Collection Title: Ernest Frankel Scripts, 1965-1986 and undated

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


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Size 37 items (2.5 linear feet)
Abstract Novelist, screenwriter, and producer, Ernest Frankel was a regular contributor to the Perry Mason television series and wrote the novels Tongue of Fire (1955) and Band of Brothers (1958). The collection includes scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel, including eleven scripts for episodes of Perry Mason, all but one written with Orville H. Hampton; one script for The New Perry Mason; scripts for episodes of The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, My Friend Tony; and several Movie of the Week scripts. Appended to most of the Perry Mason scripts are carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner and memos from the CBS Program Practices Department.
Creator Frankel, Ernest.
Curatorial Unit Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers
Language English.
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Ernest Frankel Scripts #12016, Rare Book Literary and Historical Papers, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Provenance
Received from Ernest Frankel of Los Angeles, Calif., in October 2003 (Acc. 99639).
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Novelist, screenwriter, and producer, Ernest Frankel was a regular contributor to the Perry Mason television series and wrote the novels Tongue of Fire (1955) and Band of Brothers (1958). In addition to Perry Mason, his television credits include I Spy, The Mod Squad, Mannix, and numerous Movies of the Week, including Reluctant Heroes (1971) and Murder in Music City (1979).

Frankel was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on 15 January 1923. He was graduated from high school in Charlotte, N.C., in 1940 and from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 1944. At the University of North Carolina, Frankel was co-president of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity and worked on the Daily Tar Heel, the Carolina Magazine, the Yackety Yack, and the Publications Union Board.

Frankel served as a Marine in the Pacific Theater during World War II and was recalled for service during the Korean War. He completed a brief tour of duty in Vietnam and retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve.

Frankel wrote two novels in the 1950s: Tongue of Fire (1955), about the career of an American demagogue, and Band of Brothers (1958), about U.S. Marines serving in Korea during the Korean War. Frankel won the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for fiction in 1959 for Band of Brothers.

Frankel worked for five years as a writer-director on the Apollo Project in the Space Division of North American Aviation. He subsequently worked as a writer and producer in network television.

Ernest Frankel married Louise Lazarus of Hendersonville, N.C., in 1944. They had two children, Sharyn Musika (UCLA 1968) and Elin Schwarz (UNC 1972).

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection includes scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel. Included are eleven scripts of episodes of Perry Mason from the ninth season of the show, 1965-1966, when Frankel was Executive Story Consultant. All but one of the Perry Mason scripts collected here were written by Frankel with Orville H. Hampton. Most of the scripts include carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason books. Notes from the CBS Program Practices office are also appended.

Also included is one script from The New Perry Mason; scripts by Frankel for episodes of The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, and My Friend Tony; and several Movie of the Week scripts, some of which were pilots for television series. There is also a script for an episode of the series, Concrete Cowboys, which was based on a Movie of the Week produced by Frankel.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scripts, 1965-1986 and undated.

37 items.

Arrangement: by television series.

Scripts of television shows written or produced by Ernest Frankel. Included are eleven scripts of episodes of Perry Mason from the ninth season of the show, 1965-1966, when Frankel was Executive Story Consultant. "The Case of the Final Fadeout" was the final episode of the series. All but one of the Perry Mason scripts here were written by Frankel with Orville H. Hampton. Most of the scripts include carbon copies of notes from Erle Stanley Gardner, author of the Perry Mason books. Notes from the CBS Program Practices Department are also appended. The one script from The New Perry Mason represents an attempt to resurrect the Perry Mason Show with Monte Markham in the lead role. The revival lasted for only one season. Frankel co-produced the show with Art Seid.

Also included are scripts by Frankel of episodes for The Mod Squad, Mannix, I Spy, Cimarron Strip, Dundee and the Culhane, My Friend Tony, as well as several Movie of the Week scripts, some of which were pilots for television series. There is also a script for an episode of the series, Concrete Cowboys, which was based on a Movie of the Week produced by Frankel.

Of the scripts for Movies of the Week, Murder in Music City, Nashville 99, Love's Dark Ride, and Reluctant Heroes aired. Nashville 99 became a series. "Wavelengths" and "Witch's Brew," written by others, were to be produced by Frankel.

Folder 1

Perry Mason: The Case of the Fanciful Frail

Folder 2

Perry Mason: The Case of the Final Fadeout

Folder 3

Perry Mason: The Case of the Golden Girls

Folder 4

Perry Mason: The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner

Folder 5

Perry Mason: The Case of the Misguided Model

Folder 6

Perry Mason: The Case of the Sausalito Sunrise

Folder 7

Perry Mason: The Case of the Tsarina's Tiara

Folder 8

Perry Mason: The Case of the Twelfth Wildcat

Folder 9

Perry Mason: The Case of the Twice-Told Twist

Folder 10

Perry Mason: The Case of the Unwelcome Well

Folder 11

Perry Mason: The Case of the Vanishing Victim

Folder 12

The New Perry Mason: The Case of the Wistful Widower

Folder 13

The Mod Squad: The Tangled Web

Folder 14

The Mod Squad: The Poisoned Mind

Folder 15

Mannix: A Button for General D (two drafts)

Folder 16

I Spy: Apollo

Folder 17

I Spy: Philotimo

Folder 18

I Spy: The Choice

Folder 19

I Spy: The Day They Gave the Bride Away

Folder 20

I Spy: Turnabout for Traitors

Folder 21

Cimarron Strip: The Hostages

Folder 22

Dundee and the Culhane: Bedlam at Bitter Creek Brief

Folder 23

Dundee and the Culhane: The Turn the Other Cheek Brief

Folder 24

My Friend Tony: Encounter

Folder 25

My Friend Tony: The Hazing

Folder 26

My Friend Tony: Welcome Home, Jerry Stanley

Folder 27

Concrete Cowboys: Eldorado by Bob Foster

Folder 28

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Love's Dark Ride

Folder 29

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Murder in Music City

Folder 30

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Nashville 99

Folder 31

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Paradise

Folder 32

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Reluctant Heroes

Folder 33

Movie of the Week/Pilots: The Rock Candy Charleyhorse

Folder 34

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Sawbones

Folder 35

Movie of the Week/Pilots: South Lake Park

Folder 36

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Wavelengths by Tracy Keenan Wynn

Folder 37

Movie of the Week/Pilots: Witch's Brew by Carol Raschella and Michael Raschella

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