Search Results for: "first motion picture unit"

The U.S. Military Goes Hollywood: Behind the Scenes with the First Motion Picture Unit

by Audrey Amidon, posted in Motion Pictures

I will admit, I didn’t know about the U.S. Army Air Forces First Motion Picture Unit until 2007, when the Motion Picture Preservation Lab was tasked with making theater prints for a special program at the Pacific Film Archive. I may not have heard of the unit, but I certainly recognized its stars: “Hey, is … Continue reading The U.S. Military Goes Hollywood: Behind the Scenes with the First Motion Picture Unit

Wings for This Man: Celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen

by chucik, posted in African American History, Archives, Films, Military, Motion Pictures, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II

Please Note: Primary source documents used in this post may contain harmful language. See NARA’s Statement on Potentially Harmful Language. The First Motion Picture Unit When America entered the war in Europe in 1941, the country’s greatest challenge was finding enough manpower to wage a two-front war. The country needed to quickly increase the number … Continue reading Wings for This Man: Celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen

50 Years Makes a Difference! How Film Research Has Changed Since the 1972 Conference on Audiovisual Archives

by Audrey Amidon, posted in Motion Pictures

You may have heard that the National Archives is partnering with the University of Maryland Cinema and Media Studies Program to present Films of State, an online conference on government-produced moving images (if not, check out my last blog post for more background). What you may not know is that the National Archives sponsored a … Continue reading 50 Years Makes a Difference! How Film Research Has Changed Since the 1972 Conference on Audiovisual Archives

Favorite Film Finds of 2017

by Audrey Amidon, posted in Motion Pictures

This post was written with Heidi Holmstrom. In the past year, staff in the motion picture preservation lab handled millions of feet of film. Films might come to us for inspection and repair, photochemical duplication, or digitization. To continue an annual tradition, we’ve identified a handful of films that were digitized in 2017 and found their … Continue reading Favorite Film Finds of 2017

Spotlight: Hollywood Goes to War

by chucik, posted in Films, Military, Motion Pictures, Uncategorized

Just prior to Pearl Harbor, a military lecture series was created to educate new draftees and volunteers. The series covered important topics such as world military history and the principles of democracy. But the lecture series and outdated films that accompanied it failed to capture the audience’s attention. Instead of boosting moral and educating service … Continue reading Spotlight: Hollywood Goes to War

From the Front Lines to the Homefront: The Importance of War Films Then and Now

by US National Archives, posted in Motion Pictures

This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab.  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the premiere of Fury Wednesday night and seeing the film (on film even!) reinforced what I know about World War II from the reels I see in NARA’s holdings … Continue reading From the Front Lines to the Homefront: The Importance of War Films Then and Now

The Sailor and the Seagull: FMPU Veterans Animate Re-Enlistment Efforts

by Audrey Amidon, posted in Motion Pictures, Preservation

For the last two weeks, we have been sharing films of the First Motion Picture Unit. This week, we’ll take a look at an animated film produced for the Navy by former members of the FMPU. This post was written with Criss Kovac, supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab at the National Archives. Like … Continue reading The Sailor and the Seagull: FMPU Veterans Animate Re-Enlistment Efforts

A WWII Training Film in Action: Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter

by Audrey Amidon, posted in Motion Pictures, Preservation

As a follow-up to last week’s post on the Army Air Force’s First Motion Picture Unit (FMPU), this week I am focusing on a title that is arguably the most significant training film produced by the unit. Considered as a federal record, Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter (1943) is an important historical document of the training … Continue reading A WWII Training Film in Action: Recognition of the Japanese Zero Fighter