NFPF News

Lighter Than Air, Larger Than Life: The U.S.S. Akron Onscreen

Construction of the U.S.S. Akron, captured on film by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and preserved by the University of Akron with an NFPF grant.

The deadliest airship disaster in history was not the crash of the Hindenburg but the U.S.S. Akron, which claimed the lives of 73 crew members (nearly twice the body count of the Hindenburg disaster). Unlike the famous German zeppelin, the Akron’s demise was not immortalized on film, but its birth was, thanks to the motion picture department of its builder, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

In 1928 Goodyear, in partnership with the German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, won a U.S. Navy contract to manufacture two rigid airships, to be designed by Luftschiffbau engineers led by the renowned Dr. Karl Arnstein. The first of these dirigibles, launched on Sept. 23, 1931, was the U.S.S. Akron. 785 feet long and with gas … Read more

Recently Completed Preservation Projects: Wayne State University Historic Films

A spirited game of pushball between WSU freshmen and sophomores captured on film in 1925.

Perhaps the most satisfying moment of a film preservation project is its completion, when an archivist can rest assured that the films are finally safeguarded. Fresh from the lab, the movies are now accessible to researchers and can be screened or digitized for the general public. The most recent example is Wayne State University’s preservation of two films shot on its campus (and in Detroit) in 1925 and 1932. Preserved through a 2015 NFPF Federal Grant, the footage provides an unvarnished, non-Hollywood look at what college life was like more than 80 years ago, with freshman vs. sophomore games (bloodshed included), a “Freshman Frolic,” Christmas festivals, costumed dances (one attendee is dressed as “the Forgotten Man,” a reference to a 1932 speech by President … Read more

Orphan Film Spotlight: Adaptive Behavior of Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels

Working for peanuts in Adaptive Behavior of Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels (1942).

Preserved by the University of Oregon, Adaptive Behavior of Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrels (1942) depicts members of the titular species (not to be confused with chipmunks) roaming around Crater Lake, Oregon, before moving indoors to show captive squirrels learning how to solve a series of increasingly challenging tasks. Tantalized by out-of-reach peanuts, the determined critters literally pull strings for food.

The man behind the squirrels was University of Oregon psychology professor and educational filmmaker Lester F. Beck (1909-77), whose love of animals stemmed from growing up on an Oregon ranch; he would later build a house that allowed wild rodents to crawl into a maze suspended from the living room ceiling. Beck called film “one of the greatest aids to learning since … Read more

Happy Thanksgiving

His Mother's Thanksgiving (1910)

The NFPF would like to give thanks to all of our friends and supporters. To celebrate the holiday, we hope you will enjoy His Mother's Thanksgiving (1910), a melodrama from the Edison Studios about the importance of being with family at this time of year. A contemporary review from Variety reported that “A young man in one of the theatre boxes wept silently, which was the best testimonial imaginable for this picture.”

Preserved under the direction of The Museum of Modern Art, His Mother's Thanksgiving is one of the 176 films that were returned to the US as part of our successful collaboration with the New Zealand Film Archive.

Before you get ready for feasting, here are a few reminders and announcements:

• You probably know about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which follow on the heels of Thanksgiving. But do you know about Giving Tuesday? Held on … Read more

Six “Lost” Films Premiering on the NFPF Website

An Iguanodon demonstrates what life was like Fifty Million Years Ago (1925).

Now available for viewing are the first fruits of the NFPF’s partnership with EYE Filmmuseum in Amsterdam. Six newly preserved American silent films, almost all unseen since their original release more than 80 years ago, are now freely available to the public, complete with new music and program notes.

Chicago Rodeo (1920) depicts Tex Austin’s rodeo show, held in Chicago’s Grant Park in July 1920, and includes appearances by Ruth Roach, Foghorn Clancy, and “Yiddish Cowboy” Dizzy Izzy Broad. Clarence Cheats at Croquet (1915) is a comedy from the Thanhouser Film Corporation involving a jealous lover with no sense of fair play—its preservation was co-funded by Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc. Both films were preserved through the Library of Congress.

The … Read more