NFPF News

24 Films Join the NFPF's Online Field Guide to Sponsored Films

Once Upon a Time (1934)

Today the NFPF adds 24 films to its Online Field Guide to Sponsored Films, a free digital screening room that presents entries from The Field Guide to Sponsored Films, written by Rick Prelinger and published by the NFPF in 2006.

These additions bring the total amount of titles to 159. All of the films were commissioned by a host of American businesses, charities, advocacy groups, and governments, and intended to promote commercial products, highlight good works, bring attention to social causes, and explain government programs.

Among the highlights are two drivers’ safety films: Last Date (1950) introduced the word “teenicide” into the English language, while the cartoon Once Upon a Time (1934) features the good fairies “Carefulness” and “Courtesy” preventing car crashes.

Another pair of films praise public libraries: Portrait of a Library (1940) profiles … Read more

33 More Films Added to NFPF’s Online Field Guide to Sponsored Films

1999 A.D. (1967)

Today the National Film Preservation Foundation adds 33 more films to its digital access project the Online Field Guide to Sponsored Films, a screening room that presents films from the 2006 book The Field Guide to Sponsored Films, written by Rick Prelinger and published by the NFPF with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The screening room gathers 135 sponsored films, all commissioned during the past century by a host of American organizations: businesses promoting commercial products, charities highlighting their good works, advocacy groups bringing attention to social causes, and state and local governments explaining their programs.

The 33 new films in the screening room range across two thirds of the 20th century: Hotel Del Monte, sponsored by Southern Pacific Railroad to promote a resort in Monterey, California, is from … Read more

Now Online: 102 Films from the NFPF’s Field Guide to Sponsored Films

Frank Sinatra sings for religious tolerance in The House I Live In (1945).

Today the National Film Preservation Foundation launches an ambitious digital access project: an online screening room featuring more than 100 films from The Field Guide to Sponsored Films. Written by Rick Prelinger and published by the NFPF in 2006 through the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Field Guide was the first overview of the motion pictures commissioned during the past century by American businesses, charities, advocacy groups, and state and local government organizations. The annotated filmography singled out 452 sponsored films of particular historical, cultural, and artistic interest; now viewers can see 102 of them online. Almost all are in HD and available for free download, thanks to our partners at the Library of Congress and the Internet Archive.

Since … Read more

Now Online: Treasures From American Film Archives

William S. Hart in Hell’s Hinges (1916), one of nearly four dozen films from Treasures from American Film Archives that are now online.

Today the NFPF makes freely available for online viewing 47 films from its first DVD set, Treasures from American Film Archives. Originally released in 2000 and hailed by Roger Ebert as “a treasure trove of old, obscure, forgotten, rediscovered, and fascinating footage from the first century of film,” Treasures marked the first time that America’s archives had joined forces to share their films with home video audiences and showcase the amazing range of American films. It received an award from the National Society of Film Critics and was called the “best set of the year” by The New York Times. Treasures eventually sold out, as did an Encore edition made possible through the support of the Cecil B. De Mille Foundation. We are committed to keeping the … Read more

Celebrate Thanksgiving "For Liberty and Union"

For Liberty and Union (1977)

Now available for public viewing on the NFPF website, For Liberty and Union is an example of sponsored filmmaking in the service of history. It is a dramatization of the 1861 convention that led to West Virginia breaking away from Confederate Virginia during the Civil War and becoming a new state. The film was sponsored by the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and restoring the Wheeling Custom House, where Unionist delegates held their fateful convention. Produced by Larry Keating Productions and local filmmaker Ellis Dungan in 1977, For Liberty and Union was also filmed within the Custom House, whose restoration was nearing completion. Opened as a museum and rechristened the West Virginia Independence Hall, the building today screens the film for visitors. This online presentation is made … Read more