How to Succeed with Brunettes (1967) and Return of Count Spirochete (1973):

The Motion Picture Preservation Lab’s Favorite Titles from the DVIC Accession

Sure, the National Archives holds films a lot of really important historical films.  Beautifully made educational films about government programs during the Great Depression?  Yeah, we’ve got that.  Millions of feet of material covering every 20^th Century war or conflict?  Check!  Films documenting the Civil Rights movement, space exploration, or presidential speeches?  Check, check, and check.

Down in the lab, we’re accustomed to handling these Very Important Films every day.  We appreciate and take seriously our role in making sure that these records of our nation’s history will be accessible for years to come.  What sticks out, then, is the occasional film that isn’t like the others.  In the DVIC accession, there were a couple of titles that grabbed our attention.

As described in our previous post, the Defense Visual Information Center (DVIC) accession contained films that provided training or education that directly related to the work of the armed forces.  We also received preservation elements for a handful of films that were intended to contribute to overall health and well-being of military personnel.

One of these titles was How to Succeed with Brunettes (1967), a film produced by the Navy that demonstrates proper dating etiquette for officers.  The film features wonderful music, evocative of its era, and a fair bit of comedy, both intentional and unintentional.

Another title for which we received original elements is Return of Count Spirochete (1973), a delightful animated short that advises viewers on the dangers of venereal diseases.  That film was covered in the Armed with Science blog and posted there.

Lab staff were intensely interested when one of the motion picture archivists discovered a video of a 1981 60 Minutes piece that detailed waste and duplication in government filmmaking.  Sure, there were some good points made in the 1981 rebroadcast of a piece originally aired in 1974, but we also got to see our favorite titles singled out for derision!

Count Spirochete was used as an example of waste through duplication of subject matter.  According to the 60 Minutes story, as of 1974, 14 VD films had been made by the military.  Unfortunately, I haven’t found any others that get the message across with an anthropomorphized bacterium.  As YouTube user simbared points out, the film was made for 18 year old new recruits who had grown up with Saturday morning cartoons, so perhaps it isn’t as silly as it looks today.

How to Succeed with Brunettes, along with its companion film Blondes Prefer Gentlemen, was awarded the 60 Minutes “Oscar” for most unnecessary and wasteful film, at a cost of $64,000 to taxpayers (approximately $446,000 in today’s dollars).  Now, I don’t know if the films were necessary to the mission of creating perfect manners in officers of the U.S. Navy, but hopefully they can create some joy for those who see it today!

Mission Preservation!

Technical Assessment of the Films of the Defense Visual Information Center in the Motion Picture Preservation Lab

In 2006, the National Archives accessioned over 2700 titles from the Defense Visual Information Center (DVIC). By the time the 51 pallets (coming to 40 tons!) of motion picture and video records arrived at Archives II in College Park, a staff member with the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video branch had already reviewed over 5000 titles offered to the National Archives. About half were determined to be of value as permanent records.

DVIC films in the stacks

The resulting group of records is comprised entirely of films and videos produced by the military for instructional purposes. That means, for example, that we received films that were used to train military personnel in the use of a particular piece of equipment, such as the “AH-1G Huey Cobra Main Rotor System”, or in the somewhat more general topics of “Bayonet Fighting” or “Living Off the Land”. This is distinct from the large chunk of our motion picture holdings that were produced in order to document events as they were happening, such as military ceremonies or soldiers on active duty in conflict zones. In addition to providing a wealth of information about the specific topics they cover, the DVIC films give us insight into how military personnel were prepared for their jobs, and can be viewed as a record of those activities.

So, what happens after the archival unit receives the records before they can be made available for public research? More specifically, what’s so different about film as a format that means we have to go through a second process, or technical assessment, before we can make them available?

First, to further understand the sheer massiveness of the DVIC accession, some more numbers: About 2000 of the titles were motion picture film and the rest were video productions (for more information about the difference between film and video formats, check out these links at the website of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia). In the 2000 titles, there were over 13,000 separate film elements, or reels.  This could be anything from an original camera negative or soundtrack, to a final film print, and everything in between. The film elements came to over 10 million feet of film, which laid end to end, would reach from our building in College Park to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The staff of NARA’s  motion picture preservation lab evaluated every one of the 13,000 reels in a process we call technical assessment, or film inspection. Proper film inspection is the foundation that allows us to accomplish our first and most important goal, protecting the most original elements and ensuring that we can extend the life of the record through proper storage and handling. When a set of films comes to the lab, we organize them so that the best, most original copies are given the highest level of protection, both in terms of cold storage, and in terms of more limited handling.  Secondary copies are used as reproduction masters, and extra prints are served as reference copies in the research room. Sometimes we only have one copy, and it is a straightforward process; sometimes we have dozens of elements.

Lab staff also prepare films for long-term storage with appropriate cans, proper labeling, and by winding them in an ideal manner so that they will not suffer unnecessary damage. We identify any potential preservation issues such as high shrinkage or chemical deterioration, and reformat to new film stock as necessary in order to preserve the record. All of the information we collect about the films is saved in a database so that we can track the condition of the reels over time.

It seems like a long process, but what we’re trying to avoid is simple. We don’t want the most original copy of a film, or even our reproduction master, to accidentally end up in the research room, leaving us with a poor quality duplicate when the original is degraded through repeated use. Our aim is for the original to exist long into the future. Expectations for digitization quality are increasing exponentially; soon enough everyone will have 8K holographic televisions and we’ll need those film elements for new transfers to satisfy the need for content. More importantly, the films inspected by the motion picture preservation lab are records of the activities of the United States government and need to remain intact as such. Something as seemingly simple as a scratch on the image is actually the removal of information from the frame.

So how can the public find out more about these 2,700 DVIC titles now that the motion picture lab has ensured their preservation? The Archival Research Catalog (ARC) records will be uploaded in the coming months, and a search for 330-DVIC will provide a researcher with a good deal of information about the titles. All are now available for viewing. About a third of the titles have reference prints already and can be viewed in the research room at Archives II in College Park.  For the rest, a researcher can request that we create a DVD.

If you want to know more about how moving image collections are processed and what happens in the motion picture preservation lab, check our our video, Out of the Dark: Bringing Films to Light at the National Archives.

The series document a range of NOAA surveys and projects, including documentation of an emergency response drill in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, images of the shipwreck site of the USS Monitor, documentation of NOAA research expeditions and missions to the Lost City Hydrothermal Fields in the Atlantic Ocean, and NOAA research expeditions to the northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary.

Footage also includes camera originals used in the making of two NOAA-produced documentaries. “The Surveyors: Charting America’s Course”, which commemorates  the 200^th anniversary in 2007 of NOAA and its predecessor agencies,   and  “People of the Seal”, a documentary about the history, legacy of the Unangan native people of Alaska’s Pribilof and Aleutian Islands, the relationship between the Unangan and the northern fur seal, and of NOAA’s restoration and environmental remediation efforts on the islands.

Descriptions of the footage shot to make these two documentaries can be found in the series “Unedited Video Recordings Used for “People of the Seal” Documentary, compiled 08/2008 – 09/2008 ARC Identifier 6927407 / Local Identifier 370-POTS and “Coast Survey 200th Anniversary Video Recordings, compiled 2006 – 2007 ARC Identifier 6925728 / Local Identifier 370-CS.” 

Most of the videos from these series are unedited, and were shot in the high definition video format. If you are interested in the technical specs, they were shot in 720p, or 720 progressive scan, with frame rates of both 24 and 60 frames per second, and recorded to DVCPro videotape.

Roughly speaking, 720p meaning that there are 720 lines of horizontal resolution in every frame of video, and the images are scanned progressively( (line 1,2,3,4, etc. through 720). In 1080i, or interlaced video, another high definition format, the image or frame is displayed as even lines, odd lines, over and over again.  As our colleague Courtney Egan explained ,  ”this is a more traditional type of video formatting and display that has been used since the early days of broadcasting and that was originally used as a basic means of compression.”

This video, “Pribilof Islands Scenes”  is from the series “Unedited Video Recordings Used for “People of the Seal” :

Here are descriptions for the new NOAA series:

• Safe Sanctuaries Video Recordings (370-SAS)   ARC 6921948 .   The series documents an oil cargo vessel emergency response drill in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary conducted by NOAA and several partners. Compiled 2005 (16 items).

• Pac Baroness Video Recordings (370-PACB)   ARC 6921951 .  The series is comprised of unedited video recordings that capture the sunken remains of the vessel Pac Baroness in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary.  Compiled 2002 (5 items).

• Okeanos Lost City Video Recordings (370-OLC)   ARC 6923580 .  These are video images of the Lost City Hydrothermal Field, located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, that were captured from two robotic vehicles — Hercules and Argus – in a 2005 expedition. Compiled 2005 (3 items).

• Okeanos Explorer Video Recordings (370-OEX)   ARC 6923602.  This Okeanos Explorer series consists of raw footage recording the commissioning and conversion of the USS Capable, a naval surveillance ship, to a research vessel equipped with real-time broadband satellite communications. Missions of the ship included mapping, site characterization, reconnaissance, education and outreach. Compiled 2007-2008 (8 items).

• Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Video Recordings (370-MON)  ARC 6923810 .  This series captures high-resolution digital video images from the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary of the shipwreck site of the USS Monitor. Compiled 2006 (11 items).

• Northwest Hawaiian Islands Video Recordings  (370-NWHI)   ARC 6924946 .    This series documents events from May 14th through June 7th 2005, when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) research vessel Hi`ialakai, conducted a research expedition to the northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI).   NWHI footage includes scenes of marine life; placement of permanent transects to mark monitoring sites for coral ecologists; investigation of shipwreck sites; and the work of several scientific research teams. The vessel visited French Frigate Shoals, La Perouse Pinnacle, Maro Reef, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Midway Atoll, and Kure Atoll. Compiled 2005 (34 items).

• Coast Survey 200th Anniversary Video Recordings  (370-CS)   ARC 6925728  .  This Coast Survey series consists of raw footage used to make a NOAA documentary film “The Surveyors: Charting America’s Course” (2007). The film was made in celebration of the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson’s authorization of the Survey of the Coast in 1807.  The series also includes footage of modern, state-of-the art operations aboard the NOAA ships Fairweather, Thomas Jefferson and Rainier . Compiled 2006-2007 (13 items).

• Unedited Video Recordings Used for “People of the Seal” (370-POTS)   ARC  6927407 .  This series consists of moving images that compile Pribilof Island scenes for potential inclusion in the documentary “People of the Seal.” The footage includes wildlife and scenes of contemporary everyday life in the Aleut community.  Compiled 2008 (22 items).

Search Tip: You can search on individual program titles for a series by clicking on “Search Within This Series” in the series ARC record.

As of March 31, 2013 the following records have been declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Army

Local Identifier           Title

111-DTCF-67-7/8       Film Report 67-7 and 67-8

Sound Recordings:

Local Identifier           Title

No sound recordings were declassified during this quarter.

Descriptive information for declassified records can be accessed by searching for the item number, ex. “111-DTCF-67-7/8”, in NARA’s Archival Research Catalog (ARC). You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. For example, searching on the declassification number for Film Report 67-7 and 67-8, “NND 64803”, currently returns eight entries that are part of Declassification Project 64803. A list of declassified textual records can be found on the National Declassification Center’s web page.

There are many sound systems that have been used for motion picture films over the years.   Some of the earliest relied on sound recorded to a disc or cylinder that had to be played back in sync with the film. Even after optical soundtracks became the industry standard,  there were multiple optical systems available. Soundtracks recorded as variable area or variable density are easy to play back with standard equipment and fortunately most soundtracks we see are one of these two types.   However, NARA also has a good number of films with push-pull soundtracks. They are most often associated with newsfilm from the 1930s. At NARA, we are most likely to see them in donated news footage, such as Motion Picture Films of March of Time Outtake Footage, compiled 1935 – 1951 (ARC Identifier 97891 / Local Identifier NWDNM(M)-MT-MTT).

Push-pull tracks cannot be read by standard equipment because the sound information contained on the two halves of the soundtrack must be processed and combined together. If the processing is not done, you can easily mistake the audio for a monologue by one of the teachers in a Charlie Brown cartoon.

NARA’s Motion Picture Preservation Lab recently installed a new system for reading optical sound that will finally allow us to decode push-pull soundtracks in house. A camera records a high-resolution image of the soundtrack that is then converted into audio information by software on a digital audio workstation. The software can isolate the two halves of the soundtrack image and process them together to output clear and undistorted audio. If preservation of the film original is required, the audio can be recorded optically onto stable polyester film stock.

Listen to our Push-Pull test to hear the difference!

 Photograph No. 95-GP-4908-407566; “Group of jumpers about to take off in Ford Trimotor plans at Missoula Airport, Missoula, Montana, for practice jump with static line,” June 30, 1941; Photograph by K. D. Swan; Records of the Forest Service, Record Group 95; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Photograph No. 95-GP-4854-1; “President John F. Kennedy and Smokey Bear”;  Records of the Forest Service, Record Group 95; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Photograph No. 95-GP-3282-23988A; “Anchorage, Alaska, Main Street”; 1915; Photograph by H. S. Graves;  Records of the Forest Service, Record Group 95; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Photograph No. 95-GP-4018-529560; “After the April 6, 1980 eruption, the Mount St. Helens crater measured 1,200 by 1,700 feet. A Forest Service plane flies over the center in a photo by Reed Blackburn, a Columbian newspaper reporter who perished in the May 18, 1980 eruption”; Photograph by Reed Blackburn; Records of the Forest Service, Record Group 95; National Archives at College Park, MD.

In addition to the Forest Service photos described above, there are several other on-going or completed digitization projects taking place.  First there is an ongoing preservation project to digitize a portion of the series “Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels, 1883-1972″ (ARC Identifier 513052) . This series is arranged in three parts with the third part currently being digitized. Other finished projects include the series “Original Artwork for World War II Posters, 1942-1945″ (ARC Identifier 2842724) and “Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, ca. 1950-ca. 1965″ (ARC Identifier 5051202).

Photograph No. 19-NN-AD-15-153954; “USS Prairie (AD-15) after regular overhaul, San Francisco Naval Yard”; January 1, 1956;  Records of the Bureau of Ships; Record Group 19; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Item No. 208-AOP-1-1; “Must! Shall!”; Artwork by James Montgomery Flagg; Records of the Office of War Information; Record Group 208; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Poster No. 306-PPB-170; “The Red Target is Your Home!”; 1951; Records of U.S. Information Agency; Record Group 306; National Archives at College Park, MD.

Shah Goes to Moscow (Local Identifier 341-IR-38-56/ARC Identifier 6040018), dated 1956, is an example of one declassified film. It comes from the U.S. Air Force series “Moving Images Relating to Intelligence Reports, compiled 1964 – 1998, documenting the period 1949 – 1958 (ARC Identifier 5964869 / Local Identifier 341-IR) and shows Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavī, the Shah of Iran, as he prepared to leave on a plane to Russia.

Descriptive information for these records is accessible through NARA’s  Archival Research Catalog (ARC) by searching for the item number, for example “341-IR-38-56”. You may also search on the Declassification Project Number (NND), if you know one. Searching on the declassification number for Shah Goes to Moscow, “NND 62901”, currently returns four entries that are part of Declassification Project 62901.

A list of declassified textual records is located on the National Declassification Center’s web page. You may also want to visit the NDC blog for more information on declassified records.

As of December 31, 2012 the following records have been declassified.

Motion Pictures:

Army

Local Identifier           Title

111-DTCF-65-12        Devil Hole I

111-DTCF-65-14        Elk Hunt I and II (Part 1 and 2)

111-DTCF-65-4          Magic Sword, 1966

111-DTCF-65-6          Big Tom

111-DTCF-66-1          Devil Hole II

111-DTCF-66-6          Purple Sage; Scarlet Sage

111-DTCF-68-50        Speckled Start

319.6                           Enclosure to Dispatch C-21-60 from MA/Yugoslavia, R-102-60, (ID # 2153844) (W.O. 31777)

Department of Energy

Local Identifier           Title

326.89                         Dogs and Dummies in Shelter, Civil Effects Tests 1954

326.90                         Apple II

326.91                         Weapons Effects Test Grable

326.92                         Project 31.1 Conventional and Special Types of Readiness

Air Force

Local Identifier           Title

341-G-2                      Colom-Bechar: Porte du Ciel

341-IR-38-56              Shah Goes to Moscow (1956)

341-IR-41-58              Soviet Air Capabilities MAR 58

341-IR-42-58              Soviet News Review MAR 58

341-IR-82-49              May Day Parade (5/1/49)

342-AAFCFS-1672    Narco-Synthesis Treatment for Downed Airmen

342-AVA-423             Recovery of the Mayaguez 05/15/75

342-AVR-137             Red Flag Briefing

342-AVR-143             NATO Air Munitions

342-AVR-148             Worldwide Security Police Symposium–The Threat

342-AVR-198             E-3A (AWACS) Orientation

342-AVR-239             Defector:  A Soviet Pilot

342-AVR-240             Defector:  A Chinese Pilot

342-ER-34                  Beginning of a New Era

342-ER-73                  IM 70 Weapons System

342-FR-3A                  Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program:  Manned Aircraft, 1961

342-FR-8                    ARDC Staff Film Report No. 50

342-FR-13                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 52, SEP 58

342-FR-22                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 54, November 1958

342-FR-28                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 55

342-FR-29                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 56, 1959

342-FR-36                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 57

342-FR-38                  Air Defense in Operation WEX-VAL

342-FR-58                  ARDC SFR No. 61

342-FR-59                  Intelligence Briefing, Soviet Air/ICBM Threat to the United States, 1959-1963

342-FR-64                  ARDC Staff Film Report No. 62, July 1959

342-FR-117                ARDC Staff Film Report No. 73

342-FR-120                Sino-Soviet Bloc Air Defense

342-FR-134                ARDC Staff Film Report 376, SEP 60

342-FR-138                ARDC Staff Film Report #77, OCT 60

342-FR-146                ARDC Staff Film Report # 79

342-FR-154                ARDC Staff Film Report #80

342-FR-164                ARDC Staff Film Report #82, April 1961

342-FR-169                ARDC Staff Film Report #83, May 1961

342-FR-179                ARDC Staff Film Report #84

342-FR-186                Space Programs – Second Quarter 1961

342-FR-190                AFSC SFR #85

342-FR-319N              Air Reconnaissance in Action South Vietnam 1963

342-FR-385                The F-111 Tactical Fighter

342-FR-755                Combat and Support Activities S.E.A./Air Defense in S.E.A.

342-FR-756                Combat and Support Activities 02/01/67

342-FR-759                Riot Control Munitions

342-FR-768                Electronic Warfare Combat Operations in S.E.A.

342-FR-770                Project Rapid Roger

342-FR-899                AFSC Staff Film Report No. 176

342-FR-1031              Foreign Technology Division Annual Activities 1968

342-FR-1036              Electronic System Division Annual Report 1968

342-FR-1041              S.E.A. Combat Activities 10/01/68

342-GDS-82               Israeli Gun Camera Footage (1967)

342-HO-4                    Southeast Asia TV Briefing-Intelligence Special 24/01/68

342-PS-36-5/52          Friendly Enemy

342-PS-40-5/52          ARS in S.E.A.

342-PS-67-7/52          Aerial Combat Chase Photography

342-PS-91-0/C            Pave Eagle

342-PS-107-7/50        Tactical Air Power in Southeast Asia

342-PS-130-AD-3/C   [Homecoming] Feb. 13, 18, 20, 1973

342-PS-130-AF-3/C   [Vietnam Homecoming]

342-PS-181-1/C          USAF Gunship Operations

342-PS-265-5/52        Homecoming

342-SFP-593               Electronic Countermeasures (Test Facility) 1958

342-SFP-1173             USAF Participation Operation Dominic

342-SFP-1953             Summer Interdiction Campaign (1968)

342-SPR-7-73             Paisley Print Task I, Wright Patterson AFB, OH

342-SPR-5-74             Laser Rangefinder Radar Countermeasure Techniques

342-SPR-21-70           Cosmonaut Training

342-TF-5168               Air Crew Recovery

342-TF-5363               Nuclear Effects During SAC Mission

342-TF-5354A            Low Level Mission Techniques-B-47

342-TF-5354B            Low Level Mission Techniques-B-52

342-TF-5374               Electronic Warfare

342-TF-5390B            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) Inventory

342-TF-5390C            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Penetration Techniques

342-TF-5390D            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Mechanical Jamming

342-TF-5390E                        Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Spot Jamming

342-TF-5390F             Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Sweep Jamming

342-TF-5390G            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Barrage Jamming

342-TF-5390J             Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Communications Jamming

342-TF-5390K            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC):  The Battle Staff & Electronic Countermeasure (ECM)

342-TF-5390L                        Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): AJ Console

342-TF-5390M           Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Height Finder in an Electronic Countermeasure (ECM) Environment

342-TF-5390P            Electronic Warfare in Air Defense Command (ADC): Mechanical Jamming

342-TF-5746               BMEWS Mission-Men of the Top

342-TF-6768A            F-4 Terminex Guided Weapons System

342-TF-6768B            F-4 Terminex Guided Weapons System

342-TF-6853A            F-111 Weapon System

342-TF-6856               F-111 Weapon System

342-TF-6857               F-111 Weapon System

342-TS-1517               Wild Weasel Equipment – Computer & Missile Equipment (CAMP)

342-USAF-21572       ABCR Warfare Decontamination, Eglin Field, FLA, 9 MAR-11 May 53

342-USAF-21858       Soviet Bombers (May 1954)

342-USAF-21961       CCTF

342-USAF-22189       RB-66 Weapons System

342-USAF-23239       Early Warning Posts Near the Iron Curtain, Schonfeld Germany 5 FEB 56

342-USAF-23397       Project Bird Dog Edwards AFB, CA

342-USAF-23569       Keystone in Pacific “Okinawa Briefing”, 1955

342-USAF-24110       Weapon System 123A (GOOSE) 1956 Report

342-USAF-24356       Project Hiran Manila Air Station South Cay North Danger Island South China S.E.A.

342-USAF-24457       Anti-Jamming Techniques

342-USAF-24659A    F-102 News Report No. 2, May 1956

342-USAF-24871A    Soviet Industry

342-USAF-25206       Phase II Flight Tests of the Boeing XB-52, NOV 52 – MAR 53

342-USAF-25757       Monticello (All Weather Day & Night Radar Photo Mapping System)

342-USAF-26306       White Lance – GAM 83 (Navy Bullpup) Annual Guided Missile Review

342-USAF-26350       The B-70 Weapon Introductory System

342-USAF-26724       Application of High Energy Fuels to Aircraft Gas Turbine Engines

342-USAF-27691       Bio-Science, Studies in Advanced Vehicles, Discoverer, Mice

342-USAF-27712       Quail Newsreel (GAM-72) Prototype Tactical Missiles Fly (1958)

342-USAF-27915       Salvage, Nose Cone Recovery, 4 December 1958

342-USAF-28944       MG-13 Radar Countermeasures Part II, Operating Techniques, March 8, 1961

342-USAF-29761       JCS Visit Lowry

342-USAF-31344       Lightweight Turbojet

342-USAF-34359       Human Factors Test Experimental Stress Project

342-USAF-36721       C-123B Crash, Nakhon Phanom, Thailand, 14-16 April 1963

342-USAF-36807       Discoverer History (1956 – 1961)

342-USAF-37223       F-111 Progress & Development 6 JUN 62 – 24 JUN 64

342-USAF-38216       The U.S. Crime of Bacteriological Warfare – The Evidence (Documentary)

342-USAF-38536       Air Rescue Udorn AB & Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand, June 1965

342-USAF-38666       Target Selections & Air Strike Control RVN NOV 63 – JUN 64

342-USAF-40328       Rice Bowl Tan Son Nhut AB, RVN, 11 DEC 1965

342-USAF-41673A    Wild Weasel S.E.A. 22 SEPT. 1966

342-USAF-41853       Blind Bat S.E.A. OCT 66

342-USAF-42172       Tiger Hound 8/22/66

342-USAF-42172A    Tiger Hound 17 SEPT. 1966

342-USAF-42295       First B-52 Mission at U-Tapao 10-11 April 1967

342-USAF-42417D    S.E.A. Air Strikes

342-USAF-42488       Rapid Roger

342-USAF-42605       Combat and Support Activities S.E.A. (Air Defense in S.E.A.) 16 NOV. 1966

342-USAF-42675A    Air Strikes, RVN April and JUN 1967

342-USAF-43123B     Muscle Shoals, RVN, 1968

342-USAF-43123D    Muscle Shoals, RVN, March 1968

342-USAF-43123E     Muscle Shoals, FEB-MAR 68

342-USAF-43565       Muscle Shoals DOO: 1968

342-USAF-43565A    Muscle Shoals

342-USAF-43565B     Muscle Shoals, Nakhon Phanom RT AFB DEC 67-JAN 68

342-USAF-43565G    Muscle Shoals, 9 Dec 1967 – 3 May 1968

342-USAF-43607B     Gunship II, Nha Trang AB, RVN, December 1967

342-USAF-43747       Muscle Shoals, March 1968

342-USAF-43747A    Muscle Shoals, April 1968

342-USAF-43747B     Muscle Shoals S.E.A.

342-USAF-44142       Muscle Shoals, 16 May 1968

342-USAF-44142A    Muscle Shoals

342-USAF-44142B     Air Strikes, S.E.A.  April-June 1968

342-USAF-44582       POW Life in NVN

342-USAF-44826       Gunship II 9954-Gun Boat 5 June 67

342-USAF-45085       Photo Mapping in S.E.A.

342-USAF-45591       Commando Nail, RVN OCT 1967

342-USAF-46188       Nimrods (Nakhon Phanom, RTAFB, Thailand, July 29 – Aug. 12, 1969)

342-USAF-46215       A-16 Today, Southeast Asia, 1, 3, 9 NOV 69

342-USAF-46216       A-1 Air Documentation and VNAF AC 47′s S.E.A.

342-USAF-46510B     Pave Pronto, Ubon RTAFB, Thailand

342-USAF-46623B     Pave Pronto – 28 December 1970

342-USAF-46623C     Pave Pronto – 28, 29 December 1970

342-USAF-46623D    Pave Pronto – 30 December 1970

342-USAF-46623E     Pave Pronto – 31 December 1970

342-USAF-47458       Operation Niagara Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam 23 MAR 69

342-USAF-47741       Minuteman 1B Launch and Blow-Up Vandenberg AFB, CA 16 SEPT. 1966

342-USAF-48372A    Laser Guided Evaluation Armament Developing & Testing Center -Eglin AFB, FLA. 10 JAN – May 1970

342-USAF-49004       F-4 Crash Site

342-USAF-51212       Anti-Satellite System, 20 SEPT 1967

342-USAF-60316       B-52 Hound Dog Launches, Eglin AFB, FLA; 7 FEB 1973 – 16 JUL 1973

342-USAF-60402       Laser Effects Kirtland AFB, NM; 15 AUG 1972

342-USAF-60402A    Laser Effects Kirtland AFB, NM; 15 AUG 1972

342-USAF-60403       Laser Gun Kirtland AFB, NM; 19 SEPT. 1972

342-USAF-60406       Laser Briefing Film Kirtland AFB, NM March 1973

342-VBP-8                  Spike FAC – Ubon RTAFB, Thailand; 3 May 1971

342-VBP-9                  Wolf FAC, Ubon RTAFB, Thailand; 1 April 1971

342-VBP-33                Pave Pronto 2 February 1972

342-VBP-82                Pave Pronto – Best of the Week (AC 130 Gunship Night Ops); 16-22 March 1972

342-VBP-113              Pave Aegis, Ubon RTAFB, Thailand; 12 March 1972

342-VBP-219              AAD-5 Introduction and Employment, Udorn RTAFB, Thailand; May – June 1973

342-VCR-6011           Commando Vault, Cam Ranh Bay AB, RVN, 1971

342-VR-FS01-508      Mayaguez Control, Sub Title; Operation Rescue-Mayaguez

342-VR-FS01-509      The Recovery of the SS Mayaguez

342-VR-FS01-511      SS Mayaguez Recovery (Armed Surveillance, Spectre 11, 21, 31) 13-15 May 1975

Sound Recordings:

Army

Local Identifier           Title

319.1   319.53           Army Civil Disturbance Planning Conference, 1968

319.3                           Exit Interview with BG Glenn J. Collins, MC 0022687, SURG, 44TH MED BRIG

319.5                           Exit Interview with Col. James W. Thompson, MC, 072651, CO, 43RD MED GRP, 44TH MED BDE, (NHA TRANG) 31 JUL 68

319.13                         Command Readiness Presentation to Chief of Staff

319.15                         Speech by BG Blakefield: “The US Army Intelligence Command”

319.50                         Command Briefing: LTC Gillette 21 JUL 67

319.52                         Farewell Address of MG McChristian (ACSI-DA), Ft. Holabird, MD 30 APR 71

The National Archives in College Park currently houses tens of thousands of films, videos and audio clips from the United States Information Agency.  Yet this large collection is distinct from others for one obvious reason: the vast majority of it was never intended to be seen by anyone living in the United States.

In 1948 the U.S. Congress passed a bill known as the Smith-Mundt Act. The act allowed the United States to spread information to foreign countries during times of peace. The act also prohibited the distribution of information within the United States.

By the 1950s, Soviet information agencies were spreading their beliefs around the world. When it became evident that the U.S. was losing this “war of ideas” the need to spread information grew even stronger. In 1953, President Eisenhower created the United States Information Agency (USIA). The agency was designed to make foreign nations more receptive to U.S. foreign policy.

As Cold War tensions continued to escalate, the desire to spread American ideas increased accordingly. In the early 1960s, John F. Kennedy took steps to advance American influence abroad. Kennedy appointed media icon Edward R. Murrow to lead the USIA and increased the agency’s budget dramatically.

Yet the USIA still faced the monumental task of convincing skeptical foreign nations that their government should embody the principles of the United States. This message was especially difficult to convey while hundreds of thousands of Americans were protesting inequality in the nation’s capital.

Photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressing the crowd during the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom in Washington, D.C.
ARC Identifier 6641456 / Local Identifier 330-CFD-DA-SD-05-00640

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people gathered in Washington D.C. to “March for Jobs and Freedom.” Better known today as the March on Washington, the famous protest took place on the 100^th anniversary of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Though there were many prominent speakers that day, the march will always be synonymous with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Coverage of the event was broadcast to Britain and France, and relayed to other countries around the world.

Since the world was already aware of the March on Washington, USIA directors had no choice but to embrace the event. In fact, the USIA produced multiple films about the march. All of these films focused on the advancement of minority rights through the inherently American principle of free speech. The most recognized of these films was a documentary titled The March, ( 306.765 ) , which focused on the planning and execution of the iconic rally.

I was particularly struck by another USIA film called the Hollywood Roundtable (306.1757). In addition to the popular masses, the March on Washington was attended and organized by many celebrities. Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, Joseph Mankiewicz, Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman and many others were in attendance. After the march, some of these men gathered in front of USIA cameras to share their thoughts about the March on Washington and the Civil Rights movement in general. That footage can be seen below.

The Hollywood Roundtable did not portray the United States as a perfect nation. Instead, the USIA used honesty and humility in an attempt to relate to foreign audiences. Throughout the film, the celebrities emphasized the nation’s faults while still promoting American values. Writer and director Joseph Mankiewicz perhaps put this best, “This is the only country in the Western world where this [the march] is possible, but also the only country where this is necessary.” (11:45)

The emphasis on hope and potential is another theme meant to lure foreign viewers to the American way of life. James Baldwin states, “No matter how bitter I become I always believed in the potential of this country. For the first time in our history, the nation has shown signs of dealing with this central problem.” (18:58)

In a subtle attack on communism, moderator of the debate, David Schoenburn, said, “The hope of our country is that we can have demonstrations of this kind, there is no ‘March on Moscow’ or ‘March on Peking.’” (11:10)

In September of 1963, The March and The Hollywood Roundtable were shown as a pair. In the production files for The March, I came across a memo from a USIA station in Hong Kong. The memo mentions that both films were shown together on a local television show to over 120,000 people. Additionally, the film was shown in schools and at the USIA auditorium. “The television station reported a favorable reaction from viewers.”

During the Hollywood Roundtable, Schoenburn mentions that over 100 countries would see their discussion (22:10). Due to the Smith-Mundt Act, this estimate did not include the United States.  When word spread that the government was broadcasting images of domestic inequality to foreign nations, many Americans were not pleased with USIA officials. Shortly after, Edward R. Murrow stepped down as USIA president and was replaced by Carl Rowan. At the time, this made Rowan the highest ranked African American in public office.

The USIA disbanded in 1999. Many of the agency’s records , including films such as The March and The Hollywood Roundtable, are now available to the public at the National Archives.