Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films (review)

Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films. Produced by the National Film Preservation Foundation; curator, Scott Simmon; music curator, Martin Marks. Distributed by Image Entertainment. San Francisco: National Film Preservation Foundation, 2000. [4-disc DVD set, 642 mins; with book (xiii, 137 p.). $99.99]

"How will we know it's us without our past?"

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

Perhaps the urge to chronicle history is part of human instinct. We sense a need to know where we have been to assure ourselves of where we are. Recording the past through sound and visual images has always been as much a part of our behavior as our zeal for progress.

During the last century the motion picture became the consummate medium through which to preserve expressions and experiences, from the lofty visions of a distinguished auteur to the most ordinary activities of our daily lives. At no time prior to the development of film were the sights and sounds of history so perfectly preserved, with such clarity and exactness that we can witness the past whenever we desire.

We view the motion picture in a variety of ways: as art form, as entertainment, as cultural and social expression, and as part of our national heritage. Nearly every aspect of our lives has been captured by filmmakers, both professional and amateur. The preservation of their work is the preservation of our collective memory of the past hundred years.

Treasures from American Film Archives, a video anthology of fifty films on four digital discs (DVD), is by far the most ambitious and compelling product of film preservation ever published. The undertaking is part of a long-term nationwide movement of the same name, spearheaded and supported by the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), a charitable affiliate of the Library of Congress's National Film Preservation Board.

The films were restored by eighteen different archives throughout the United States. The result is an extraordinary assortment of "orphan films"--films originating from sources outside the Hollywood mainstream and rarely seen following their initial release. Diversity is one of the primary appeals of this anthology, which comprises documentaries and newsreels, avant-garde and independent projects, amateur and home movies, animated and industrial films, and "silent" movies from the early years. With the array of pioneering special effects, advanced editing, and experimental animation, these works would be worth saving for their artistic appeal alone. But upon viewing them, one recognizes that their historical significance also cannot be overstated.

The concept of film preservation is not a new one. As early as the 1930s, the Museum of Modern Art, Cinématheque Française, The British Film Institute, and other organizations were preserving motion picture materials. The necessity of saving perishable nitrate elements from deterioration became urgent by the mid-1980s when owners of motion picture libraries found new markets for old films through home entertainment media. While corporate giants continue their attention to preserving the epics and the classics, it is the public and nonprofit archives that give preference to a wider variety of motion pictures that have been mostly inaccessible to general audiences. Their agenda includes an ongoing obligation to maintain the restored films for the benefit of future generations.

The almost eleven hours of film on these discs have been drawn from national archives, libraries, and museums such as the George Eastman House, the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and the film archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The films are presented in four programs, each organized in chronological order (with a few exceptions). There are four full-length features (over 60 minutes), and forty-six other selections, including excerpts from longer works. They range from under a minute to just over 30 minutes, and each holds a distinct surprise.

Among the milestone silent films is the first U.S. film longer than a few feet in length to be publicly exhibited: Blacksmithing Scene, a 30-second depiction of...