We are pleased to announce that Chicago Film Archives has been awarded a Basic Preservation grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation for the photochemical preservation of five nitrate films. These films document early 20th century journalism, civic life, political history, and community experiences in America. They illustrate both private and public life of their respective eras and provide a unique window into how people captured events and their communities using the medium of film.
This project will result in the creation of new 35mm polyester interpositives and prints for each of these films, which currently exist only as fragile nitrate prints.
1923 Wedding (1923)
from the Deutsch Family Collection
1923 Wedding is a 35mm film depicting the wedding of Henrietta Glick and Melvin B. Deutsch in Chicago. The film conveys a striking and home movie-like intimacy in its portrayal of the couple and their guests, despite being shot professionally on 35mm nitrate film in 1923 (the same year 16mm entered the market as an option for domestic filmmaking on “safety” stock).
[1929 Chicago Daily News Screen Service Reel] (1929)
The Chicago Daily News Screen Service, Issue No. 23, Volume 4 (1929)
from the Dick Kautzer Collection
These two newsreels were produced and distributed by the Chicago Daily News Screen Service, Inc, an initiative of the Chicago Daily News, the iconic evening newspaper published from 1875-1978. Among the stories featured in the films are the attendance of 100,000 at Soldier Field for an extravagant “fire muster,” the ordination of 1929’s Miss Illinois, and a celebration of the 10th anniversary of “Greater Romania.”
[Kelly Re-Election Campaign] (1939)
from the Mayor Edward J. Kelly Collection
This film is an advertisement from Mayor Edward J. Kelly’s 1939 reelection campaign for his second full term in office as mayor of Chicago. This short reel is a rare surviving example of early regional campaign media, a pre-television example of the use of mass media for political persuasion.
[1948 American Sunbathing Association Convention] (1948)
from the Frank Koza Collection
This film, shot by an unknown filmmaker, documents the 1948 American Sunbathing Association Convention at Sunshine Park in Mays Landing, New Jersey. It includes scenes of attendees playing volleyball, swimming, talking to the police, attending seminars, and performing skits. Notable figures depicted in the film include naturist pioneers Rev. Ilsley “Uncle Danny” Boone (Executive Secretary of the ASA 1931-1951), Alois Knapp & Dr. Mabel Allen King (co-founders of Zoro Nature Park in Roselawn, Indiana), and Edith Church (a member of the National Nudist Council known for her efforts in securing legal recognition for nudist clubs throughout the Midwest).
Since 2005, CFA has photochemically preserved over 50 films from our collections thanks to the National Film Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to help save America’s film heritage. You can read more about CFA’s previous NFPF-funded projects on our Preservation Projects page. We are deeply grateful to the NFPF for their continued support in preserving these films for the future.
