The Treasures from American Film Archives series of DVDs is produced by the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF), a nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress in 1997. The NFPF publishes these DVD sets, with accompanying booklets and extensive commentary, to promote public access to the films preserved by the American archival community.
The NFPF's inaugural DVD set — Treasures from American Film Archives, issued in 2000 — was the first video anthology sampling the range of films preserved by American cultural institutions. Featuring home movies, avant-garde films, documentaries, government films, cartoons, newsreels, political ads, and silent-era narratives saved by 18 archives from Alaska to West Virginia, the set presented 50 historically significant works that had never been available before on video. By providing these examples on video, the set helped popularize the idea of the orphan film. When the first edition went out of print in 2005, it was reissued as the Encore edition.
Since 2000, the NFPF has issued five other box sets, each with a specific theme. More Treasures from American Archives, 1894–1931 showcases the creative range of American motion pictures in their first four decades through examples preserved by the nation's leading silent-film archives. It was the first NFPF set to feature audio commentary. Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900–1934 looks at socially inflected films during the formative years cinema, when virtually no issue was too controversial for the big screen. Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947–1986 is the first multi-artist survey of the avant-garde film movement in the years following World War II. Treasures 5: The West, 1898–1938 explores how the West was imagined and documented in early cinema. Lost and Found: American Treasures From the New Zealand Film Archive presents a sampling of repatriated American films previously existing only in foreign archives.
To date, six sets of DVDs present 227 films on 17 discs for a total runtime of 3,059 minutes (51 hours). All NFPF-produced sets are region-free and playable around the world. These sets are:
Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films (2000), 50 films on 4 discs.
More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894–1931 (2004), 50 films on 3 discs.
Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900–1934 (2007), 48 films on 4 discs.
Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947–1986 (2008), 26 films on 2 discs.
Treasures 5: The West, 1898–1938 (2011), 40 films on 3 discs.
Lost and Found: American Treasures From the New Zealand Film Archive (2013), 13 films on 1 disc.
Another box set was announced in 2011, intended for release in 2014: Treasures 6: Next Wave Avant-Garde, with the following titles: Report by Bruce Conner, Radio Adios by Henry Hills, Hi-Fi Cadets by Lewis Klahr, A Visit to Indiana by Curt McDowell and Ted Davis, Plumb Line by Carolee Schneemann, and 11 thru 12 by Andrea Callard.[1][2] It has yet to be released.
The DVD sets
Treasures from American Film Archives: 50 Preserved Films (2000, encore edition 2005)
More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894–1931 (2004)
Number of discs: 3
Number of films: 50
Date range: 1894–1931
Total runtime: 573 min. (9.5 hrs.)
Booklet: 200-page illustrated book with film notes and credits
Four feature films (over an hour in length) are included in this set; also: 46 short advertisements, documentaries, promotional and educational films, and some early experiments with color and sound.
Select reviews:
Schwartz, L (January 4, 2005). "More Treasures from American Film Archives," Fresh Air. [3]
The films:
Disc 1
The Dickson Experimental Sound Film (ca. 1894, 1 min.), two men dancing and a man playing a violin in front of a huge metal cone (the microphone for the wax cylinder the sound was recorded on); directed by W. K. L. Dickson.
Now You're Talking (1927, 9 min.), instructional cartoon on how to use a telephone; directed by Dave Fleischer.
There It Is (1928, 19 min.), animation by the Inkwell Studios; absurdist comedy two-reeler by Charley Bowers (the great unknown silent movie comedian, stop-action animation innovator and rather surreal filmmaker).
Rip Van Winkle (1896, 4 min.), a series of very short scenes adapted from a popular stage play starring Joseph Jefferson (an established stage actor since before the American Civil War); directed by W. K. L. Dickson and photographed by G. W. Bitzer to be shown on flip-card style mutoscope machines.
Mr. Edison at Work in his Chemical Laboratory (1897, 1 min.), directed by James White.
Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900–1934 (2007)
Number of discs: 4
Number of films: 48
Date range: 1900–1934
Total runtime: 738 min. (12.3 hrs.)
Booklet: 200-page illustrated book with film notes and credits
Exposing abuse or lampooning reform, films in the early 20th century put a human face on social problems and connected with audiences in a new way. Topics include: prohibition, abortion, unions, atheism, the vote for women, organized crime, loan sharking, juvenile justice, homelessness, police corruption, immigration—in their first decades, movies brought an astonishing range of issues to the screen.
Select reviews:
Corliss, R (October 16, 2007). "Treasures III: Social Issues in American Film, 1900–1934", TIME. [4]
Ellerson, L (October 16, 2007). "A Reality Check from a Century Past", ABC News. [5]
How They Rob Men in Chicago (1900, 1 min.), an elderly man is robbed in Chicago, but some money is left behind on his unconscious person; directed by Wallace McCutcheon.
Trial Marriages (1907, 12 min.), male fantasy inspired by a reformer's proposal, a man tries marriage to several women and finally gives up on matrimony entirely; photographed by G. W. Bitzer.
A Lively Affair (ca. 1912, 7 min.), comedy with women playing poker and child-caring men. The moral is that this is what to expect if women get the vote.
A Suffragette in Spite of Himself (1912, 8 min.), boys' prank results in an unwitting crusader; directed by Bannister Merwin.
The Hazards of Helen, Episode 13: "The Escape on the Fast Freight" (1915, 13 min.), Helen thwarts some robbers and overcomes workplace problems; directed by Helen Holmes and Leo Maloney.
The Courage of the Commonplace (1913, 13 min.), a young farm woman dreams of a better life; directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon.
Poor Mrs. Jones! (1926, 46 min.), a woman works endless hard hours on the farm and believes her sister who lives in the city has a much a better life, until she visits her for a week and realizes that the grass is not always greener on the other side; directed by Raymond Evans.
Offers Herself as a Bride for $10,000 (1931, 2 min.), a woman comes up with a way to survive the depression.
Disc 3 – "Toil and Tyranny"
Uncle Sam and the Bolshevik-I.W.W. Rat (1919, 1 min.), anti-union cartoon from Ford Motor Company.
The Crime of Carelessness (1912, 14 min.), tells the story of a workplace fire without references to a specific company, but parallels with the Triangle Factory fire are heavily implied; directed by Harold M. Shaw.
Who Pays, Episode 12: "Toil and Tyranny" (1915, 35 min.), lumberyard strike brings deadly consequences; directed by Harry Harvey.
Surviving reel of Labor's Reward (1925, 13 min.), surviving reel showing the American Federation of Labor's argument for buying union made goods.
Listen to Some Words of Wisdom (1930, 2 min.), why personal thrift feeds the Great Depression.
The Godless Girl (1928, 128 min.), sensational film about girls' reformatories; directed by Cecil B. DeMille (this is his last completely silent film).
Redskin (1929, 82 min.), racial tolerance epic shot in two-strip Technicolor. Richard Dix plays Wing Foot, son of a Navajo chief who suffers heartache and prejudice before the film's happy ending with Wing Foot bringing peace between the Navajo and Pueblo peoples; about half the film features two-tone color using red and green filters; a technique already used in the 1910s but not often employed due to the extra work and expense. In "Redskin" color is used only for the scenes showing the Navajo and Pueblo Indian people and their land. Directed by Victor Schertzinger.
United Snakes of America (ca. 1917, 1 min.), World War I cartoon assails home front dissenters.
Uncle Sam Donates for Liberty Loans (1919, 1 min.), a patriotic cartoon encouraging Americans to buy Liberty Loans.
100% American (1918, 14 min.), a young "thriftless" woman impassioned to start saving in order to buy Liberty Loans; directed by Arthur Rosson and starring Mary Pickford.
Bud's Recruit (1918, 26 min.), brothers serve their country; directed by King Vidor (this is his earliest surviving film).
The Reawakening (1919, 10 min.), documentary about helping disabled veterans build new lives after the war.
Eight Prohibition Newsreels (1922–23, 13 min.), footage on raids along with various opinions about the effectiveness of Prohibition.
Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947–1986 (2008)
Number of discs: 2
Number of films: 26
Date range: 1947–1986
Total runtime: 312 min. (5.2 hrs.)
Booklet: 70-page book of program notes; foreword by Martin Scorsese
Independent cinema from Bruce Baillie to Andy Warhol, artists who worked outside the mainstream and redefined American film are collected in this set. An array of films never before released on VHS or DVD with styles ranging from animation to documentary are showcased in this collection of classics and rediscoveries, selected from five of the nation's foremost avant-garde film archives.
Select reviews:
Henderson, B (March 3, 2009). "Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film (1947–1986)," Slant Magazine. [6]
Lim, D (March 1, 2009). "Avant-garde film gems in 'Treasures IV' collection," The Los Angeles Times. [7]
The films:
Disc 1
Film No. 3: Interwoven (1947–49, 3 min.) - Harry Smith
A set celebrating the dynamic, gender-bending, ethnically diverse West that flourished in early motion pictures, including both narrative and nonfiction films; travelogues from 10 western states Kodachromehome movies; newsreels about Native Americans; and documentaries and industrial films about such Western subjects as cattle ranching.
Select reviews:
Kehr, D (September 23, 2011). "The West, When It Was Still Wild," New York Times. [8]
The films: Disc 1
The Tourists (1912, 6 min.), tourists run amuck in Albuquerque's Indian market; directed by Mack Sennett and starring Mabel Normand.
Broncho Billy and the Schoolmistress (1912, 14 min.), America's first cowboy star courts a pistol-packing schoolmarm; directed and starring Gilbert M. Anderson.
How the Cowboy Makes His Lariat (1917, 3 min.), Pedro León demonstrates the vaquero's art.
Mexican Filibusters (1911, 16 min.), intrepid woman does her bit for the Mexican Revolution; directed by Kenean Buel.
The Better Man (1912, 12 min.), Mexican bandit proves his worth; directed by Rollin S. Sturgeon.
Ammunition Smuggling on the Mexican Border (1914, 41 min.), Texas sheriff reenacts kidnapping by revolutionists in this docudrama.
Lake Tahoe, Land of the Sky (1916, 6 min.), travelogue celebrating the new auto road. Despite the title, the last two minutes feature the Historic Columbia River Highway and include the Mitchell Point Tunnel there.
From The Golden West (1938, 8 min.), excerpts from a longer film that documents the Los Angeles region; shot by an unknown amateur filmmaker.
Disc 3
The Lady of the Dugout (1918, 64 min.), story about a bank robber with a heart of gold; directed by W. S. Van Dyke and starring Al Jennings.
From Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaw (1915, 13 min.), excerpts from a lost docudrama, the celebrated frontier marshal Bill Tilghman reenacts his capture of the Wild Bunch; directed and starring Tilghman.
The Girl Ranchers (1913, 14 min.), comedy in which sisters inherit the Rough Neck Ranch; directed by Al Christie.
Legal Advice (1916, 13 min.), a cowboy falls for a lady attorney; produced, directed, written, and starring Tom Mix.
From Womanhandled (1925, 55 min.), these three excerpts cover most of the original film, which is now lost in its completed form; directed by Gregory La Cava.
Beauty Spots in America: Castle Hot Springs, Arizona (1916, 6 min.), Castle Hot Springs was a spa for the rich and famous.
Romance of Water (1931, 10 min.), how Los Angeles got its water.
A New Miracle in the Desert (1935, 1 min.), bringing Colorado River water to California.
The West in Promotional Travelogues (1898–1920, 22 min.), tours in seven states; produced by James White.