Series consists of correspondence written and received by Gerald Pratley, largely relating to his professional career but also including correspondence with family and friends.
Among the correspondents are various Canadian institutions and agencies, including the following: CBC, National Film Society of Canada, Canadian Film Institute, Canadian Federation of Film Societies, Canadian Centre for Films on Art, Canada Council, Ontario Film Institute, TV Ontario, National Film Board, Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association, Montreal International Film Festival, Ryerson, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Vancouver International Film Festival, Motion Picture Theatre Association of Canada, Atlantic Film Festival, Canadian Picture Pioneers, and the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, among others. There is also correspondence regarding the Order of Canada and the Performing Arts Lodge in Toronto.
There is also correspondence with American and British film producers and distributors (and their Canadian branches), including Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, Warner Bros, Columbia, Twentieth Century Fox, J. Arthur Rank, Ealing Studios, RCA Victor, Walt Disney, and others. Other correspondents include Canadian, American and British periodicals, including Kine Weekly, Variety and the Canadian Journal of Film Studies.
Some individual correspondents include Robert C. Crone, Barbara Taylor, Robert Wise, Alma Duncan, Peter Cowie, Dorothy Macpherson, Gino Empry and Clyde Gilmour, whose letters appear throughout the files. There are also letters from Fred Astaire (1957), Vincent Price (1965), Pierre Berton (1994), Denys Arcand (1989), Janet Leigh (1964), Joan Crawford (1964), Nathan Cohen (1961-1964), John Frankenheimer (1994), Robin Spry (1996), John Wayne ([1963]), and Julie Andrews (1964).
