Field Guide to Sponsored Films - National Film Preservation ...

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
The Field Guide to Sponsored Films describes 452 films commissioned by American advocacy
groups, businesses, charities, educational institutions, fraternal and service organizations,
state and local government units, and trade associations between 1897 and 1980.
The films were chosen on the basis of (1) historical and cultural significance, (2) quality,
and (3) reception and influence. Effort was made to achieve a balance across industries,
charitable groups, and regions.
The entries are arranged alphabetically by film title. Descriptive titles are provided
in brackets for untitled works. In a few cases, entries are given for series, such as Ford
Educational Weekly.
The descriptions have three parts.
The first covers the physical characteristics of the film, its major production credits
(sponsor, production company, producer, director, crew, and cast), published sources discussing
the title, and American repositories that have copies. For titles in the two Prelinger
Collections, production credits were transcribed from the film itself. Corporate and personal
names reflect the form of name in use at the time of the film’s production. Sources
are listed in chronological order, beginning with the original copyright registration date
and number. Copyright data were drawn from the publications listed in appendix 2 and
do not report the current copyright status. The citations for frequently consulted publications
are given in short form; the full references are provided in appendix 1. Citations of
Web sites are valid as of June 30, 2006.
The holdings data were derived in two ways. More than 20 stock footage houses, collectors,
corporate archives, and public institutions, including the Library of Congress and the
Smithsonian Institution, contributed up-to-date information specifically for this project.
Holdings data from the other repositories were taken from published catalogs, scholarly
monographs, and institutional Web sites; the use of such secondary sources is noted in
appendix 3. Roughly 20 percent of the titles were not found in any American collection;*
for these fugitive titles, no repositories are listed.
The second part of the entry outlines the film’s purpose and content. Quotations cited
without a source are taken from the film itself. Any other quotations are from resources
cited in the first part of the entry.
The third section summarizes awards, accounts of the film’s reception, and production or
distribution details of special interest. Also mentioned is the availability of Internet viewing
copies and sources for further reading.
Compiling a reference work is a humbling task. Many films represented here are known
largely through published descriptions and secondhand accounts. Errors and omissions
are inevitable, and the reader is encouraged to send corrections to Rick Prelinger at
footage@panix.com.
* To be included, a title had to have been described in two or more published accounts of the period.
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