Home Movies from the War Front: The First Fighters in New Guinea

This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab.  Home movies aren’t usually thought of as a rarity – especially these days as we happily capture our kids, friends, families, and pets on our smartphones– but home movies taken during war on the front lines are … Continue reading Home Movies from the War Front: The First Fighters in New Guinea

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

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 Fury of Hell on Wheels: Tank Warfare, April 1945

This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab.  Ten months after the D-Day invasion, Allied forces were sweeping through western Europe. Germany in April 1945 is often depicted as the Allies capturing scattered Axis soldiers and liberating citizens from the clutches of the Third Reich. Small … Continue reading The Fury of Hell on Wheels: Tank Warfare, April 1945

Kodacolor Decoded: Early Color Footage of Yellowstone National Park

This post was written by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab.  So, what would you do if you found what just may be the first color moving image footage of Yellowstone, but it was disguised as black and white images? Well, the staff in the NARA Motion Picture … Continue reading Kodacolor Decoded: Early Color Footage of Yellowstone National Park

Restoring The True Glory

This post was written by Criss Kovac and Harry Snodgrass. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab. Harry recently joined the Motion Picture Lab and is working on a project to preserve and digitize World War I and World War II films and photographs. When the U.S. Office of War … Continue reading Restoring The True Glory

The Preservation and Restoration of John Huston’s “Let There Be Light”

Today’s post is by Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the National Archives’ Motion Picture Preservation Lab. In honor of Veterans Day, we are proud to share the National Archives’ digital restoration of John Huston’s Let There Be Light (Local Identifier: 111-M-1241), the groundbreaking film about the treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) of … Continue reading The Preservation and Restoration of John Huston’s “Let There Be Light”

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

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

Protecting Your Past–It’s What We Do Here: The Preservation and Restoration of The March

Today’s post is from Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, which is responsible for performing conservation and preservation work on motion picture records held across the National Archives. Recently, she completed a digital restoration of The March. The March, the James Blue film documenting the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs … Continue reading Protecting Your Past–It’s What We Do Here: The Preservation and Restoration of The March

Making The March

Today’s post is from Criss Kovac. Criss is the supervisor of the Motion Picture Preservation Lab, which is responsible for performing conservation and preservation work on motion picture records held across the National Archives. Recently, she completed a digital restoration of The March (306.765). On August 10th, 1963 The U.S. Government, under the auspices of … Continue reading Making The March