Academy War Film Library files

Special Collections
Margaret Herrick Library © 2014


Descriptive Summary

Title: Academy War Film Library files
Date (inclusive): 1938-1950
Date (bulk): 1941-1945
Collection number: 1258
Creator: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Extent: 3 linear feet of papers.
Repository: Margaret Herrick Library. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Languages: English

Important Information for Users of the Collection

Access

Available by appointment only.

Publication rights

Property rights to the physical object belong to the Margaret Herrick Library. Researchers are responsible for obtaining all necessary rights, licenses, or permissions from the appropriate companies or individuals before quoting from or publishing materials obtained from the library.

Preferred Citation

Academy War Film Library files, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Acquisition Information

Collected by the library in the 1940s

Biography

The Academy War Film Library is a collection of motion picture films and associated papers gathered by the Academy library during World War II. Those involved include librarian and executive secretary Margaret Gledhill (later Margaret Herrick), executive secretary Donald Gledhill, and librarian Grace Gaunt. The project was made possible through the cooperation of the Academy, the motion picture industry, and the governments of the United Nations. The Academy library acquired more than 400 films produced by the governments of Canada, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States, among others. The Academy located the films, prepared catalogs, held special screenings for Academy members and studio employees, and referred requests for footage to the government. Film topics included air raids, civilian defense, mobilization, rationing, training, the role of women in industrialization and the armed forces, and war bond campaigns. Today, the Academy Film Archive houses the more than 230 associated film prints that survive in the War Film Collection.

Collection Scope and Content Summary

The Academy War Film Library files span the years 1938-1950 (bulk 1941-1945) and encompass 3 linear feet. The collection consists of files with clippings, correspondence, and other material on war films produced in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. Of interest are an address to the National Board of Review by Canadian Film Commander John Grierson, files on British Information Services, and material on the United Nations Information Office, including films on the United Nations. There is correspondence with numerous U.S. Government agencies, including the Office of War Information (OWI), Treasury Department, and the Office of Censorship. The OWI List of U.S. War Information Films is of interest. There are miscellaneous files regarding the War Film Catalog produced by the Academy listing films; film receipts and bookings; and miscellaneous correspondence regarding films borrowed for screenings. One file includes correspondence from Negro Marches On, Inc. and a pressbook for its upcoming motion picture WE'VE COME A LONG, LONG WAY (1944). The correspondence includes letters to Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, Garson Kanin, Walter Wanger, and Darryl F. Zanuck. Also included are letters from Garson Kanin, Julian Lesser, Gregg Toland, and Walter Wanger. Notable is a letter from Gregg Toland to Donald Gledhill requesting a 16mm sound projector to view a "confidential" film prior to its release which turned out to be John Ford's THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (1942).

Arrangement

Arranged in the following series: Not arranged in series.

Indexing Terms

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


 

Manuscripts

 

Subject files

folder 1

Australia--correspondence 1942--1945

Record ID: 71444721

folder 2

Authorized borrowers 1943--1943

Record ID: 71444946

folder 3

Belgium--correspondence 1943--1944

Record ID: 71444724

folder 4

Bills of lading 1942--1948

Record ID: 71444974

folder 5

Bookings 1942--1949

Record ID: 71444975

folder 6

Canada--Associated Screen News Limited 1941--1943

Record ID: 71444817

folder 7

Canada--BLUE NOSE SCHOONER 1943--1944

Record ID: 71444725

folder 8

Canada--booklet 1941--1941

Record ID: 71445091

folder 9

Canada--Canadian Government Trade Commissioner 1941--1945

Record ID: 71444727

folder 10

Canada--catalogs 1941--1942

Record ID: 71444816

folder 11

Canada--film societies 1940--1943

Record ID: 71444726

folder 12

Canada--government films 1941--1942

Record ID: 71445048

folder 13

Canada--National Film Board of Canada 1940--1942

Record ID: 71444728

folder 14

Canada--National Film Board of Canada 1943--1945

Record ID: 71446397

folder 15

Catalogs 1942--1944

Record ID: 71444988

folder 16

Catalogs--correspondence 1942--1945

Record ID: 71444945

folder 17

Catalogs--drafts

Record ID: 71444986

folder 18

Catalogs--miscellaneous 1941--1945

Record ID: 71445069

folder 19

Catalogs--subject headings 1945--1945

Record ID: 71444987

folder 20

China--correspondence 1942--1944

Record ID: 71444734

folder 21

Clippings 1942--1944

Record ID: 71445053

folder 22

Film information 1942--1946

Record ID: 71444999

folder 23

Film receipts 1939--1939

Record ID: 71445075

folder 24

Film receipts 1940--1940

Record ID: 71445074

folder 25

Film receipts 1941--1941

Record ID: 71445073

folder 26

Film receipts 1942--1942

Record ID: 71445072

folder 27

Film receipts 1942--1942

Record ID: 71446401

folder 28

Film receipts 1943--1943

Record ID: 71446402

folder 29

Film receipts 1944--1944

Record ID: 71446403

folder 30

Film receipts 1945--1945

Record ID: 71446404

folder 31

Film receipts 1946--1948

Record ID: 71446405

folder 32

Film receipts--air raid films 1942--1942

Record ID: 71445054

folder 33

Film requests 1943--1944

Record ID: 71444964

folder 34

Films--additions and returns 1938--1944

Record ID: 71444972

folder 35

Films--additions and returns 1945--1950

Record ID: 71444973

folder 36

Films--borrowed for screenings 1941--1943

Record ID: 71444958

folder 37

Films--prints promised 1942--1942

Record ID: 71445055

folder 38

Financial report 1943--1943

Record ID: 71444948

folder 39

Footage 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444941

folder 40

Great Britain--British Films Commercial Exhibition 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444735

folder 41

Great Britain--British Information Services (Thomas Baird) 1942--1946

Record ID: 71444782

folder 42

Great Britain--British Information Services (Sidney Bernstein) 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444769

folder 43

Great Britain--British Information Services (British Library of Information) 1941--1942

Record ID: 71444736

folder 44

Great Britain--British Information Services (R.R. Ford) 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444741

folder 45

Great Britain--British Information Services (Nevile Gardiner) 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444775

folder 46

Great Britain--British Information Services (India) 1943--1943

Record ID: 71444789

folder 47

Great Britain--British Information Services (pamphlets) 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444947

folder 48

Great Britain--British War Shorts (returned) 1941--1941

Record ID: 71445047

folder 49

Great Britain--British Information Services (Marjorie Baron Russell) 1943--1945

Record ID: 71444787

folder 50

Great Britain--British Information Services (survey) 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444791

folder 51

Home projection 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444957

folder 52

Inquiries 1941--1945

Record ID: 71444959

folder 53

Interoffice communication 1939--1942

Record ID: 71445059

folder 54

Los Angeles Board of Review--Office of Censorship 1942--1942

Record ID: 71446409

folder 55

Miscellaneous 1942--1945

Record ID: 71445024

folder 56

Motion Picture Society for the Americas 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444960

folder 57

Museum of Modern Art 1941--1942

Record ID: 71444961

folder 58

Negro Marches On 1943--1944

Record ID: 71444962

folder 59

Princeton Film Center 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444943

folder 60

Procedures 1942--1949

Record ID: 71445092

folder 61

Research council 1942--1942

Record ID: 71446411

folder 62

Russia 1942--1944

Record ID: 71444794

folder 63

San Quentin Prison 1942--1944

Record ID: 71444968

folder 64

Screenings--miscellaneous 1942--1947

Record ID: 71445081

folder 65

Screenings--nominated films 1942--1949

Record ID: 71444970

folder 66

Statistics 1941--1941

Record ID: 71444971

folder 67

Studios 1942--1944

Record ID: 71445020

folder 68

United Nations--films 1942--1944

Record ID: 71444870

folder 69

United Nations--Information Office 1943--1945

Record ID: 71444868

folder 70

United Nations--War Activities Committee 1941--1945

Record ID: 71444869

folder 71

United States government--Army Air Force 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444935

folder 72

United States government--Frank Capra 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444936

folder 73

United States government--Department of Agriculture 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444940

folder 74

United States government--manual

Record ID: 71444922

folder 75

United States government--Marines 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444932

folder 76

United States government--Navy 1941--1943

Record ID: 71444934

folder 77

United States government--Office for Emergency Management 1941--1942

Record ID: 71444927

folder 78

United States government--Office of Censorship 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444942

folder 79

United States government--Office of Strategic Services 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444939

folder 80

United States government--Office of War Information 1940--1945

Record ID: 71444873

folder 81

United States government--Signal Corps 1942--1943

Record ID: 71444933

folder 82

United States government--Treasury Department 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444919

folder 83

University of Minnesota 1942--1942

Record ID: 71444944