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Hollywood Home Movies from the Academy Film Archive (1931–70)

Presented by Mike Pogorzelski, Director, Academy Film Archive

With live music by Sue Harshe

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy The Academy Film Archive

From the 1930s onward, the home movie camera has played a part in many families’ lives, and Hollywood moviemakers are no exception. Over the years, the Academy Film Archive has received dozens of directors’ collections that have included home movies. Sometimes they’re like the ones you’d find in any family—records of weddings, birthday parties, and holidays. But in some cases, the filmmaker took their home movie camera with them to work, either on set or on location. The result is priceless footage of movies being made during Hollywood’s golden era, capturing some of its biggest stars simply being themselves.

In this program hosted and narrated by Academy Film Archive Director Michael Pogorzelski, catch stellar clips from the archive’s home movie collection that feature Marion Davies, Shirley Temple, Douglas Fairbanks, Marlene Dietrich, Cyd Charisse, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Jerry Lewis, Sophia Loren, and Steve McQueen, among other Hollywood stars. You’ll also see rare, behind-the-scenes footage showing the making of classics such as Gunga Din and Gone with the Wind. (71 mins., digital video)

Columbus musician Sue Harshe, cofounder of the seminal band Scrawl, provides live musical accompaniment.

More about the expert

Mike Pogorzelski (Academy Film Archive) has supervised the restoration of such films as William Wellman’s Wings (1927), Lewis Milestone’s The Front Page (1931), Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy (1955–59), and Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County, USA (1976), among many others. This is his first appearance at Cinema Revival. 

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy the Academy Film Archive

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy the Academy Film Archive

Hedy Lamarr looking at the camera

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy the Academy Film Archive

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy the Academy Film Archive

Hollywood Home Movies, image courtesy the Academy Film Archive

SUPPORT FOR THE WEXNER CENTER
Greater Columbus Arts Council
Ohio Arts Council
American Electric Power Foundation
The Columbus Foundation
Nationwide Foundation
Cardinal Health Foundation
Huntington Bank

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Past Film/Video

Hollywood Home Movies from the Academy Film Archive (1931–70)