Subject Librarian
Dartmouth College
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Getting started
Primary resources are first person accounts of events. The recounting may be an autobiography, an interview, a diary or corporate documents. Newspapers, magazines and journals published during the time you are researching are also primary documents. This page highlights not only contemporary (of the time) publications, but also special collections focused on particular topics or events within cinema.
Film indexes
The American Film Institute Catalog covers the time period 1893 to the present. This catalog is exclusively American films. Film Index International is the British Film Institute's catalog. This catalog is international in scope and covers 1900 through the present. Both catalogs include citations to reviews, industry and scholarly articles about the films. These bibliographies are good starting places for finding information about specific films.
Screen studies collection by Call Number: Electronic resourceA comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship alongside detailed filmographies. This collection includes the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute.
Newspapers
- Major metropolitan newspapers are a good source for movie reviews and information.
- You can also limit your searching to "reviews" in most of this group of databases.
- These newspaper archives go back before the early days of film making them an excellent source of information for early filmmaking.
Proquest historical newspapers by Call Number: Electronic resourcesA collection of major regional and ethnic newspapers from their beginning date to a date in the near past. The New York Times goes until 3 years ago, while the Boston Globe only goes to 1989. The Chicago Defender goes from 1905 to 1975.
Other library source(s)
Any and all newspapers, directories, yearbooks, magazines and journals published during the time period you are researching are primary sources. Some examples follow:
- International motion picture almanac byCall Number: Library Depository PN 1993.3 .I55 1937/38-2014This indispensable reference work for those in the motion picture industry and for all others who want to know the facts about its people, its product and the organizations which make it function. The almanac also includes statistics for that year covered.
- Photoplay magazine byCall Number: Library Depository 4895R 1916-1940
Photoplay by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe leading Hollywood fan magazine of the 1920s and 1930s. Photoplay offered readers portraits of their favorite movie stars and stories about their into personal lives. The magazine played an important promotional function for the Hollywood industry, but its editors and reviewers could also be highly critical of Hollywood. [Range: 1914-1943] ...
Production Code Administration
Find more information here.
- History of cinema. Series 1, Hollywood and the production code byCall Number: Library Depository #5076r reels 1 - 33There is an accompanying guide.
Hollywood, censorship, and the Motion Picture Production Code, 1927-1968 by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Production Code Administration Files collection documents forty years of self-regulation and censorship in the motion picture industry. The Production Code was written in 1929 by Martin J. Quigley, an influential editor and publisher of motion picture trade periodicals, and Reverend Daniel A. Lord, a Jesuit advisor to Hollywood filmmakers.
Production Code Administration records by Call Number: Electronic resourceFull documentation from a selection of 500 film titles in the Motion Picture Association of America Production Code Administration records. Will Hays, as president of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) in 1930, introduced the Production Code, a document designed to help the industry regulate itself by following certain moral principles and guidelines. Hays chose Joseph Breen to oversee the administration of the Code in 1934. ...
Primary sources
To find primary sources relating to film, you can do a keyword search for "s:sources and s:motion pictures." Click here to see the entire list of items in the online catalog. Check the online catalog for locations. The guides to these collections may be in a different place.
An autobiography of British cinema: as told by the filmmakers and actors who made it by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1998.2 .A98 1997ISBN: 9780413705204This volume of first-hand reminiscences, celebrating 50 years of British filmmaking, records the Golden Age of British Cinema as remembered by 180 great and best-loved names of the British cinema, including Lindsay Anderson, Dirk Bogarde, Julie Christie, Alec Guinness, Thora Hird, Richard Attenborough, Glenda Jackson, Sarah Miles, Richard Todd, Michael Caine, Moira Shearer and Norman Wisdom, plus a whole new generation of British filmmakers and actors like Sally Potter, Kenneth Branagh, Derek Jarman, Peter Greenaway, Emma Thompson and Stephen Frears.- Entertainment industry magazine archiveCall Number: Electronic resourceAn archival resource containing the essential primary sources for studying the history of the film and entertainment industries, from the era of vaudeville and silent movies through to 2000. The core US and UK trade magazines covering film, music, broadcasting and theater are included, together with film fan magazines and music press titles.
Film and propaganda in America: a documentary history by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .U6 F47 1990 v.1-4ISBN: 9780313208584During World War I, the medium of film took on a worldwide role. Capitalizing on its potential for persuasion, governments made unprecedented use of film to record actual fighting, help train combatants, sway neutral opinion, and make civilians on the home front aware of the need for sacrifice and patriotic commitment. ...
The film factory: Russian and Soviet cinema in documents by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .R9 F47 1988ISBN: 9780674301252- Istoriia otechestvennogo kino: dokumenty, memuary, pisma byCall Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .R9 I786 1996 vyp.1ISBN: 9785856460239
Media history digital library by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe Media History Digital Library digitizes collections of classic media periodicals that belong in the public domain for full public access. The project is supported by owners of materials who loan them for scanning, and donors who contribute funds to cover the cost of scanning.
The Collection feature extensive runs of several important trade papers and fan magazines.- The Moscow Lenin Order Mosfilm Studio (1938-1945 = Moskovska︠i︡a kinostudi︠i︡a "Mosfilʹm" (1938-1945) byCall Number: Library Depository 4920r reels 1-12 + guide
- Motion picture code: adopted code to govern the production of motion pictures byCall Number: Baker-Berry Oversize 809.23 A239Copy of the censorship code of the Hays Office of the Motion Picture Association of America.
- The movies in our midst: documents in the cultural history of film in America byCall Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .U6 M69 1982ISBN: 9780226509815Publication Date: 1983-06-01
- Papers, 1934-1988 byCall Number: Rauner Manuscript MS-779These are the papers of Wendell Triller relating to his work with the Dartmouth Eye Institute, his career in physiological optics, his work as an optician, and research on "Aniseikonia." The manuscripts include Dartmouth Eye Institute administrative papers as well as a copy of the motion picture film, "Aniseikonia."
- The Papers of Mario PuzoCall Number: Rauner Special Collections LibraryThis Dartmouth News story highlights this impressive gift from Diana and Bruce Rauner.
- Primary cinema resources: an index to screenplays, interviews and special collections at the University of Southern California byCall Number: Baker-Berry Z 5784 .M9 W5ISBN: 9780816111985This book details special screenplays, interviews and special collections at the University of Southern California. The short foreword talks about the importance of preserving documentation in the film industry.
- Proquest historical newspapers by Call Number: Electronic resourcesA collection of major regional and ethnic newspapers from their beginning date to a date in the near past. The New York Times goes until 3 years ago, while the Boston Globe only goes to 1989. The Chicago Defender goes from 1905 to 1975.
- Relationship between the story department and the animation director: from Dave Hand's talk of May 28, 1937 byCall Number: Rauner Scripts #2374Transcript of a meeting in which the animation director for Walt Disney Productions fielded co-workers' questions.
Werkstatt Film: Selbstverständnis und Visionen von Filmleuten der zwanziger Jahre by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1994 .W425 1998ISBN: 9783883775975
Keeping up with Film Studies journal literatuer
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for all facets of Film Studies? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's, you can download and read the articles you want from the journals for which we have subscriptions.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's also available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.