If the United States had a tradition of recognizing individuals as"national treasures," media archaeologist, Rick Prelinger would be one of my first nominees. Over the decades Rick rescued 60,000 industrial and educational films, many literally from the dumpster, that together tell a story which is quite different than the"official" Hollywood version. What Rick understood was that the narrative in these"ephemeral" films, which were never intended to be saved for future watching. . . was in many ways a more honest portrayal of the culture than the comedies and dramas on TV and movie screens.
Rick gave his collection to the Library of Congress and also made much of it available at the Internet Archive. But before that, Rick curated a two-hour collection of films which shine a light on the darkness of mid-20th century American culture. Voyager published these on laserdisc and videotape in 1988 and on CD-ROM in the early 90s.
Ephemeral Films 1931-1945
In My Merry Oldsmobile (1931) excerpt
Master Hands (1936) excerpt
We Drivers (1936) excerpt
Chevrolet Leader News (1936) excerpt
Relax (1937) excerpt
Precisely So (1937) excerpt
Extra (ca. 1938)
Breakfast Pals (ca. 1938)
Three Smart Daughters (ca. 1938)
Oxydol Goes Into High, 1938) excerpt