For my next trip into the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, I have chosen to focus on two musicians’ visits to Dallas in 1969. First up, Glen Campbell, who also brought his TV show to the Dallas Memorial Auditorium for a taping on June 20, 1969, shares his thoughts on the importance of keeping politics and entertainment…Continue Reading WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Highlights from 1969
How the News Got Made: Highlights from Dallas VideoFest 2016
On Saturday, October 22nd, SMU’s Central University Libraries co-sponsored an event with Dallas VideoFest, October 18-23, to highlight the WFAA collection, which is a CUL collection in the process of digitization by the G. William Jones Film and Video archive. Here is the clip reel shown at that event. Highlights include rare clips of celebrities such as Jimi…Continue Reading How the News Got Made: Highlights from Dallas VideoFest 2016
WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Look what I found this week!
Greetings. My name is Jeremy Spracklen, and I am the moving image curator of the G. William Jones Film and Video Archive inside the Hamon Arts Library. One of my current projects is the digitization of the Library’s WFAA Newsfilm footage spanning from 1960 to 1977. Every other week I’m going to share a set of…Continue Reading WFAA Newsfilm Collection: Look what I found this week!
Pioneers of African-American Cinema
Kino Lorber recently released Pioneers of African-American Cinema, a five DVD set with extensive film notes. An announcement of the collection’s release appeared in The New York Times (August 10, 2016), in which the film critic, J. Hoberman, stated that “there has never been a more significant video release” in cinema history. This set includes…Continue Reading Pioneers of African-American Cinema
Gems from the Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection
The Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection is one of the signature collections of the G. William Jones Film & Video Collection. This collection of race films from the 1930s and 1940s were discovered in an East Texas warehouse in 1983 on miraculously well-preserved nitrate stock and transferred to safety film in 1985. With the advent of…Continue Reading Gems from the Tyler, Texas Black Film Collection
Meet Jeremy Spracklen, Film Preservation Technician
Jeremy Spracklen is the Film Preservation Technician for the G. William Jones Film & Video Collection at the Hamon Arts Library. He received his undergraduate degrees in History and Philosophy and recently earned his MA in History – all from the University of Texas at Arlington. Additionally, Jeremy is the Projectionist at the Modern…Continue Reading Meet Jeremy Spracklen, Film Preservation Technician
The travels of The Blood of Jesus
One of the most significant of the Tyler Race Films is The Blood of Jesus, written by and starring Spencer Williams. As with many of Williams’ films, this is a study of the continuing conflict between good and evil, holiness and godlessness, church and juke joint. Williams filmed it with a largely amateur cast and…Continue Reading The travels of The Blood of Jesus
Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 2
Does Fondren have ghosts? Some say yes. As far as we know, the only entities haunting Hamon late at night are SMU students. Let’s get on with the second installment of Collecting the macabre….Continue Reading Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 2
Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 1
In the spirit of Halloween, we’ve gathered here some of the most macabre items from Central University Libraries’ special collections….Continue Reading Pictorial: Collecting the macabre, Part 1
The late Omar Sharif’s time in Dallas
Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, who died July 10th, was best known for his roles in films such as “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Funny Girl,” and “Doctor Zhivago.” But Sharif also made a name for himself in Dallas as a bridge player over the last half of the 20th century, joining his group the Omar Sharif Bridge Circus…Continue Reading The late Omar Sharif’s time in Dallas