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
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