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Cinema and Media Studies (CAMS)

Selected reference works, electronic resources, and Web sites concerning film history, theory, and criticism.

Using Microfilm and Microfiche

The library's microfilm (reels) and microfiche (cards) collections can be found on the third floor. Manual readers for viewing microfilm and microfiche are available in the same area, but to scan or make printouts from microfilm or microfiche, you will need to use one of the several readers in the reference room on the fourth floor.

When you are finished looking at microfilm reels, place the reels in their boxes in the wire baskets on top of the microfilm cabinets. Place microfiche cards in their sleeves in the black boxes on top of the cabinets. Please do not put the microfilm or microfiche back in the drawers, keep microfilm in your library locker, or take it out of the library.

BFI Cinema Pressbooks 1920-1940

BFI Cinema Pressbooks 1920-1940
PN1995.9.P79 C56 1991 [Microform]

Cinema pressbooks are primary resource materials originally distributed to cinema owners and the mass media with the intent of publicizing a specific motion picture. They often contained technical descriptions and synopses of a film, brief biographies of and interviews with the film's stars, advertisement and poster designs, still photographs, and suggestions for effective promotion of the film. Today, pressbooks have been replaced by the electronic press kit which includes behind-the-scenes footage from the film and videotaped interviews with the stars but will often contain the same kind of printed synopses, biographies and interviews, and still photographs that a pressbook might have contained.

The BFI Cinema Pressbooks 1920-1940 collection contains 774 pressbooks from eight major American studios and several smaller independents and covers the 1920s and 1930s.

Click the "Microform Collections: BFI Cinema Pressbooks 1920-1940" tab above to find film titles and number of fiche for pressbooks included in the collection (use command-F to search on the page). A complete, searchable PDF guide to the collection is also available for download.

Cinema Pressbooks from the Original Studio Collections

Cinema Pressbooks from the Original Studio Collections
PN1995.9.P79 C55 2001 [Microform]

Cinema pressbooks are primary resource materials originally distributed to cinema owners and the mass media with the intent of publicizing a specific motion picture. They often contained technical descriptions and synopses of a film, brief biographies of and interviews with the film's stars, advertisement and poster designs, still photographs, and suggestions for effective promotion of the film. Today, pressbooks have been replaced by the electronic press kit which includes behind-the-scenes footage from the film and videotaped interviews with the stars but will often contain the same kind of printed synopses, biographies and interviews, and still photographs that a pressbook might have contained.

The Cinema Pressbooks from the Original Studio Collections microfilm contains 1700 pressbooks from three studios and covers the years of transition from silent to talking pictures through the "Golden Era" of Hollywood filmmaking.

The Cinema Pressbooks from the Original Studio Collections microfilm collection is comprised of four sub-collections: Warner Bros. sound features, 1927 to 1949Warner Bros. silent features, 1922 to 1929Monogram Pictures, 1937 to 1946; and United Artists (including Eagle Lion Films), 1919 to 1949. Click these links to locate film titles and reel numbers for pressbooks included in the collection (use command-F to search on the page). A complete, alphabetical index of all film titles included in the collection is available at the publisher's Web site.

Now Available Online!

Major Film Periodicals for Media Research (aka Film Daily and Predecessors)

Major Film Periodicals for Media Research (aka Film Daily and Predecessors)
CC Microfilm Periodicals (3rd fl.)

This microfilm collection includes the complete run of The Film Daily, a major film industry publication, and its predecessors (Wid's Film and Film FolkWid's Independent Review of Feature Films, and Wid's Daily) from 1915 to 1970. It also includes a complete run of The Film Daily Year Book from the same period.

Film Daily provided up-to-the-minute trade news, details of film releases, films in production, films made and not released, changes in studio ownership and management, analysis of financial trends and how they affected the film industry, and other news pertinent to the business of filmmaking.

Film Daily also provided news of interest to film exhibitors. Every issue of the newspaper included news and reviews of newly-released films; box office revenues; changes in theater chain ownership and management; and news of developments in sound, color, and presentation.

Information on censorship struggles was also provided by coverage of the activities of the Hays Film Office, the Catholic League of Decency, the Dies Committee, and other censorship organizations.

Also included in the coverage is news of actors and directors, producers and composers, cinematographers and set designers, and other cast and crew. Special reports from theaters in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Portland, St. Louis, and San Antonio provide extended and detailed views of theatergoing in those cities.

Film Daily also reviewed films, analyzing the commercial prospects of each film in consideration. These reviews are indexed annually in the Film Daily Year Books. The Year Books provide a "snapshot" of the movie industry in any given year, summarizing the important developments and news of the past year.

Film Daily is not indexed, but this online guide provides the dates of coverage for each microfilm reel. Click the "Microform Collections" tab above for indexes to the appropriate publication.

NOTE: The Film Daily (1918-1948) is now also available in online digital form via the Media History Digital Library, as well as some of The Film Daily Year Books (1920-1951, plus 1963).

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