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Posted by: Mike Mashon
Silent films were never silent. From their earliest days as an exhibition attraction, motion pictures were accompanied by some form of music–typically a piano, a musical combo in more modest sized houses, and sometimes an entire orchestra in movie palaces. In some instances, the pianist was joined by a drummer employing sound effects, something I’ve …
Posted in: Film/Video, Motion Pictures, Paper Prints
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Our focus on Westerns this month continues. Thursday, June 12 (7:30 p.m.) Monte Walsh (National General, 1970) Acclaimed cinematographer William A. Fraker made his directorial debut with this melancholy Western about a down-and-out ranch hand who finds himself part of a dying west. Lee Marvin stars as the title character with Jack Palance (in a …
Posted in: Motion Pictures, Packard Campus Theater
Posted by: Mike Mashon
The Library’s moving image collections are large (1.4 million film reels and videotapes with more arriving every day) and almost unimaginably diverse. We may not have every film or television show ever produced, but it’s a rare occurrence when Moving Image Research Center staff can’t help a patron find at least a little something related …
Posted in: Film/Video, LGBTQ, Motion Pictures
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Thursday, June 5 (7:30 p.m.) “Range Busters” Double Feature “The Range Busters” was a lucrative film series of 24 Westerns on the adventures of a trio of cowboys, produced by George W. Weeks and distributed by Monogram Pictures. Many of the movies were filmed at the Corriganville Movie Ranch. B-Western actor Ray “Crash” Corrigan came …
Posted in: Motion Pictures, National Film Registry, Packard Campus Theater
Posted by: Mike Mashon
The Library’s moving image collections began with a bureaucratic decision. In August 1893, an unnamed employee (but most likely W.K.L. Dickson) of the Thomas Edison Laboratories in West Orange, NJ, where work had been going on for several years to develop motion picture photography, sent sequential frames from various camera tests to the Copyright Office. …
Posted in: Copyright, Motion Pictures, Paper Prints
Posted by: Mike Mashon
The Packard Campus Theatre typically goes dark on a holiday weekend, so only one show this week…but what a nifty one it is as the first of several films (continuing next week) about auto racing. Thursday, May 22 (7:30 p.m.) The Crowd Roars (Warner Bros., 1932) Howard Hawks directed this fast-paced auto-racing story starring James …
Posted in: Motion Pictures, Packard Campus Theater
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Although the collections of the NAVCC are rightfully associated with audiovisual content (after all, it’s in our name), we have a tremendous amount of paper records—well in excess of two million items. And for moving images, this documentation really runs the gamut: posters, lobby cards, photographs, festival catalogs, scripts, trade periodicals, press kits, and on …
Posted in: Copyright, Motion Pictures
Posted by: Mike Mashon
It’s spring in Culpeper, and our fancy lightly turns to thoughts of monsters. Thursday, May 15 (7:30 p.m.) King Kong (RKO, 1933) Filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong), recent discovery Ann Darrow (Fay Wray) and his team discover a giant prehistoric ape, dubbed Kong, while searching for locations on an uncharted jungle island. The crew manages …
Posted in: Motion Pictures, Packard Campus Theater
Posted by: Mike Mashon
Here at the Packard Campus in Culpeper, April showers bring May…monsters? Among the many attributes of the Campus is our lovely 205 seat art deco theater, where we are proud to present free screenings three times a week. Future posts will feature more specific information about the theater and its design, but of special note …
Posted in: Motion Pictures, Packard Campus Theater