AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Last updated

The AFI Catalog of Feature Films, also known as the AFI Catalog, [1] is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema in 1893 to the present. It began as a series of hardcover books known as The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, [1] and subsequently became an exclusively online filmographic database.

Contents

Each entry in the catalog typically includes the film's title, physical description, production and distribution companies, production and release dates, cast and production credits, a plot summary, song titles, and notes on the film's history. The films are indexed by personal credits, production and distribution companies, year of release, and major and minor plot subjects.

To qualify for the "Feature Films" volumes, a film must have been commercially produced either on American soil or by an American company. In accordance with the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF; French: Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film), the film must have also been given a theatrical release in 35 mm or larger gauge to the general public, with a running time of at least 40 minutes (or a length of at least four reels). With that said, the Catalog has included over 17,000 short films (those less than 40 minutes/four reels) from the first era of filmmaking (1893–1910).

The print version comprises five volumes documenting all films produced in the United States from 1892 to 1993, while new records are created by the AFI editorial team and added each year to the online database. [2]

History

In 1965, the "Arts and Humanities Bill" was signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson; it established the American Film Institute (AFI), as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. As there was no existing listings of films of the past—making preservation an immediate concern—the Bill obliged the AFI to build a new "catalog" of feature films that would protect cultural history from being lost in obscurity or disappearing entirely. [1]

In 1967, the AFI officially began operation, documenting the first century of American filmmaking through the AFICatalog of Feature Films. [1] [2] The Catalog would be the very first scholarly listing of American films, "with academically vetted information about the existence, availability and sources of motion pictures already produced, spanning the entirety of the art form since 1893." [1]

From 1968 to 1971, AFI researched film production between 1921 and 1930 (i.e., the 1920s). The first AFI Catalog was published thereafter in 1971 by the University of California Press; the publication featured, as encyclopedic volumes, the records for every American feature film released during the 1920s' period. [1] [3]

Hardcover publications

The Catalog began as a series of hardcover books known as The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, published by the University of California Press(excluding vol. A) from 1971 to 1993. [1] [4]

The print version comprises seven volumes documenting all films produced in the United States from 1892 to 1970. [2] The publication of the hardcover volumes was suspended due to budgetary reasons after volume F4 (1941–50) in 1997. Feature films released from 1951 to 1960 and from 1971 to 1993 have been cataloged only in the online database.

Hardcover volumes [3]
Publication dateVolumeTitlePeriod coveredNotes
1995AFilm Beginnings, 1893–19101893–1910Compiled by Elias Savada, published by University Press of America (ISBN 0-8108-3021-3) [3]

Subtitled "A Work in Progress" due to the scant information available on many films released in this era. Foreign-made films are included if they were released by American companies.[ citation needed ]

1971F1Feature Films, 1911–1920 [5] 1911–20Edited by Patricia King Hanson (ISBN 0-520-06301-5)
1971F2Feature Films, 1921–19301921–30Edited by Kenneth Mundin.
1993F3Feature Films, 1931–1940 [6] 1931–40Edited by Patricia King Hanson.

With this volume, the project began to include plot summaries written especially for the catalog from viewing the movie itself, whenever possible, instead of relying on plot summaries taken from copyright registrations, studio publicity materials, or reviews.[ citation needed ]

1997F4Feature Films, 1941–19501941–50Edited by Patricia King Hanson.
1976F6Feature Films, 1961–19701961–70Edited by Richard Krafsur (ISBN 9780913616451)

Due to the large number of co-productions between American and foreign companies in the 1960s, and the difficulty of determining any particular film's nationality, this volume includes all feature films released theatrically in the United States in that period. The hardcover edition includes pornographic features, although they have been excluded from the electronic database edition. Errors in the print editions have been carried over to the online version, despite published criticisms, and there is no means by which users can offer discussions or corrections.[ citation needed ]

1997Within Our Gates: Ethnicity in American Feature Films, 1911-19601911–60Edited by Alan Gevinson.

This is the first of the AFI Catalog series to include films from more than one decade. It contains over 2500 feature-length films whose central components include racial and national ethnic experience in the United States, such as Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Broken Arrow (1950), Bright Victory (1951), Giant (1956), and The Defiant Ones (1958). This volume also includes various independent productions by African-American filmmakers and various ethnic and religious organizations. [7]

The project estimates that additional years will be cataloged at 6-month intervals. Film School students are offered the opportunity to provide plot synopses and original research, but input from other, experienced film researchers is not encouraged.[ citation needed ] The project will also eventually catalog short films (beyond 1910) and newsreels.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Film Institute</span> Nonprofit educational arts organization

The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees.

A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term feature film originally referred to the main, full-length film in a cinema program that included a short film and often a newsreel. Matinee programs, especially in the US and Canada, in general, also included cartoons, at least one weekly serial and, typically, a second feature-length film on week-ends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selznick International Pictures</span> Defunct American film studio

Selznick International Pictures was a Hollywood motion picture studio created by David O. Selznick in 1935, and dissolved in 1943. In its short existence the independent studio produced two films that received the Academy Award for Best Picture—Gone with the Wind (1939) and Rebecca (1940)—and three that were nominated, A Star Is Born (1937), Since You Went Away (1944) and Spellbound (1945).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurence Trimble</span> American film director

Laurence Norwood Trimble was an American silent film director, writer and actor. Trimble began his film career directing Jean, the Vitagraph Dog, the first canine to have a leading role in motion pictures. He made his acting debut in the 1910 silent Saved by the Flag, directed scores of films for Vitagraph and other studios, and became head of production for Florence Turner's independent film company in England (1913–1916). Trimble was most widely known for his four films starring Strongheart, a German Shepherd dog he discovered and trained that became the first major canine film star. After he left filmmaking he trained animals exclusively, particularly guide dogs for the blind.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film Booking Offices of America</span> American film studio of the silent era

Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an Anglo-American import-export company. Robertson-Cole began distributing films in the United States that December and opened a Los Angeles production facility in 1920. Late that year, R-C entered into a working relationship with East Coast financier Joseph P. Kennedy. A business reorganization in 1922 led to its assumption of the FBO name, first for all its distribution operations and ultimately for its own productions as well. Through Kennedy, the studio contracted with Western leading man Fred Thomson, who grew by 1925 into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. Thomson was just one of several silent screen cowboys with whom FBO became identified.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Ricketts</span> English-American actor and director (1853–1939)

Thomas B. Ricketts was an English-born American stage and film actor and director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the first American film adaptation of A Christmas Carol (1908), and directed one of the first motion pictures ever made in Hollywood. After directing scores of silent films, including the first film to be released by Universal Pictures, Ricketts became a prominent character actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lambert Hillyer</span> American film director

Lambert Harwood Hillyer was an American film director and screenwriter.

Cinerama Releasing Corporation (CRC) was a motion picture company established in 1967 that originally released films produced by its namesake parent company that was considered an "instant major".

<i>King, Queen, Joker</i> 1921 film

King, Queen, Joker is a 1921 American silent feature farce written and directed by Sydney Chaplin, the elder half-brother of Charlie Chaplin. The picture was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. The film was shot in England, France, and the United States.

<i>Scarlet Pages</i> 1930 film

Scarlet Pages is a 1930 pre-Code American crime drama film with songs starring Elsie Ferguson and directed by Ray Enright. It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Elsie Ferguson, John Halliday, Grant Withers and Marian Nixon. Scarlet Pages is based on a 1929 Broadway play of the same name that Ferguson also starred in. It is similar in theme to the better remembered Five Star Final, also by Warners released a year later. The film simultaneously marked the first time Ferguson appeared in a sound film and the last film she ever made.

<i>Forty Thieves</i> (film) 1944 film by Lesley Selander

Forty Thieves is a 1944 American Western film starring William Boyd in the lead role of Hopalong Cassidy. It was directed by Lesley Selander, produced by Harry Sherman and released by United Artists. This was the last Hopalong Cassidy film that producer Harry Sherman produced for United Artists.

<i>Stranded</i> (1916 drama film) 1916 silent film by Lloyd Ingraham

Stranded is a 1916 American silent drama film produced by Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. The film stars DeWolf Hopper with newcomer Bessie Love in a supporting role. The film is considered lost.

<i>See America Thirst</i> 1930 film

See America Thirst is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film produced and distributed by Universal Pictures and directed by William James Craft. Silent comics Harry Langdon and Slim Summerville star along with Bessie Love. Though released late in 1930, it nevertheless had a silent version.

<i>Party Husband</i> 1931 film

Party Husband is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film produced by First National Pictures and released through their parent company Warner Bros. It was directed by Clarence G. Badger and stars Dorothy Mackaill. It is preserved at the Library of Congress.

<i>Devil Goddess</i> 1955 American film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet

Devil Goddess (1955) is the sixteenth and final Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. It features Johnny Weissmuller in his third and last performance as the protagonist adventurer Johnny Weissmuller, and his final film as well. It co-starred Ed Hinton and William Tannen as the film's antagonists, Leopold and Nels Comstock, respectively. Angela Stevens also stars. The film was directed by Spencer G. Bennet and written by Dwight Babcock and George H. Plympton.

Penrod and Sam is a 1923 American silent comedy-drama film directed by William Beaudine and starring Ben Alexander, Joe Butterworth, and Buddy Messinger. Wendy L. Marshall stated that "Beaudine had the Midas touch when it came to directing children" in films like this and Boy of Mine. In 1931, Beaudine directed a sound adaptation of the novel.

<i>Durand of the Bad Lands</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Durand of the Bad Lands is a 1925 American silent Western film directed by Lynn Reynolds and starring Buck Jones, Marian Nixon, and Malcolm Waite. It is a remake of the 1917 film of the same title.

<i>The Right to Be Happy</i> 1916 film

The Right to Be Happy is an American silent film from 1916 that draws inspiration from Charles Dickens' 1843 Novella, A Christmas Carol. This film was Universal's first attempt at making a Feature film based on Dickens' novella. Throughout the silent era, it stood as the first and only feature film adaptation of A Christmas Carol by an American or foreign film company. The movie was directed by Rupert Julian and supported by a cast of Universal Bluebird players, including Rupert Julian, Claire McDowell, and Harry Carter.

<i>Getting Gerties Garter</i> (1927 film) 1927 film

Getting Gertie's Garter is a 1927 American silent comedy film directed by E. Mason Hopper and starring Marie Prevost, Charles Ray and Sally Rand. It is an adaptation of the 1921 play of the same name by Wilson Collison and Avery Hopwood.

Code of the Wilderness is a 1924 American silent Western film directed by David Smith and starring John Bowers, Alice Calhoun, and Alan Hale.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "About the AFI Catalog of Feature Films". American Film Institute . Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  2. 1 2 3 Cason, Daniela. "LibGuides: American Film Institute Catalog (AFI): Home". proquest.libguides.com. Archived from the original on 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  3. 1 2 3 "Metadata challenges and agent disambiguation in re-architecting the AFI Catalog of Feature Films" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-12-29.
  4. "The AFI Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States titles from University of California Press". www.ucpress.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  5. Hanson, Patricia King (1988). The American Film Institute catalog of motion pictures produced in the United States: feature films, 1911-1920, Vol. 1. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-06301-3.
  6. The 1931–1940: American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States. October 1993. ISBN   9780520079083.
  7. https://books.google.com/books?id=bsoUXGZSxZcC