Motion pictures, 1912-1939 : $b Catalog of copyright entries

CATALOG OF COPYRIGHT ENTRIES

Cumulative Series

Motion Pictures 1912-1939

1951

COPYRIGHT OFFICE ☆ THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

L. C. card, 51-60018

For sale by the Register of Copyrights, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D.C. Price $18

Table of Contents

Page Motion Pictures, 1912-39 1 Index 985 Series List 1229

Preface✦

Motion Pictures, 1912-1939, is a cumulative catalog listing works registered in the Copyright Office in Classes L and M between August 24, 1912, and December 31, 1939. Prior to that period motion pictures were registered in the category of photographs. These earlier works have not been included in this catalog because of the difficulty of identifying the motion pictures so registered.

The information given in each entry for the motion pictures in this catalog has been obtained from the record books of the Copyright Office, the original application for the registration of the copyright claim, and descriptive material deposited with the application and film in the Copyright Office at the time of registration. In addition, when these sources indicated that a particular motion picture was based on a published book or story or on a previously existing dramatic work, the name of the author and the title of such work have been verified, when possible, by reference to the records of the Copyright Office and the Official Catalog of the Library of Congress. Information from other reference tools was supplied in the entry only in the case of missing numbers and titles of parts of a serial, and in the few cases when that occurred the number or title is given in brackets. The descriptive material mentioned above is not available for all films. The film itself could not be examined because, in the case of published motion pictures, it was the policy to return the film to the claimant as soon as registration was completed, and in the case of unpublished motion pictures only representative prints taken from the film were deposited.

Each entry contains information which 1) is descriptive of the film, and 2) identifies the copyright claimant and the author of the motion picture as given in the application, the date on which the term of copyright began, and the copyright registration number. The descriptive portion of the entries varies considerably in fullness, depending on the completeness of the information contained in the sources used.

In the case of each entry the name of the copyright claimant is that given at the time of registration. Any information relating to renewal copyrights or to subsequent changes of ownership recorded in the Copyright Office can be ascertained upon request and upon payment of the statutory search fee to the Register of Copyrights. In addition, information relating to renewal copyrights can be secured by referring to the Catalog of Copyright Entries covering the period in which the renewal registration was made.

In the case of unpublished works the entry contains the date of the deposit of the title, description, and prints. For published works the entry contains the date of publication, rather than the date of the deposit of the copies (or copy, as the case may be). Deposit of the published copies has, however, been made as shown by the records in the Copyright Office.

This catalog is a part of the Catalog of Copyright Entries: Cumulative Series. The publication of these catalogs is authorized by sections 210 and 211 of Title 17 of the United States Code. Section 210 provides in part: "The current catalog of copyright entries and the index volumes herein provided for shall be admitted in any court as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein as regards any copyright registration."

The purpose of these catalogs is three-fold: 1) to meet the administrative needs of the Copyright Office; 2) to provide the legal profession, publishers, authors, and others interested in copyright easily consulted, compact index volumes listing the registrations in the several classes of works; and 3) to produce reference tools useful to libraries, to industry, and to research personnel by making available in printed form bibliographical information on record in the Copyright Office, much of which is not available elsewhere.

Of the same nature as the present Catalog of Copyright Entries: Cumulative Series, but issued before the series was established, is the two-volume work, Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870-1916. Supplemental volumes to this earlier work and to the present work are under consideration, as well as cumulative volumes for other classes of material.

Catalog entries for motion pictures registered subsequent to 1939 and for copyright renewals which have been or are presently being registered are available in the issues of the Catalog of Copyright Entries, covering the particular period of registration. A description (including price and instructions for ordering) of each part of the present Third Series, published semiannually, and of other publications of the Copyright Office, will be found in a list at the back of this volume.

The Copyright Office welcomes inquiries, suggestions, and comments on the content and organization of any of its catalogs. Please address communications of this nature to the Chief of the Cataloging Division, Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D. C.

Copyright Registrations of Motion Pictures

August 24, 1912—December 31, 1939 Class L, Motion-picture photoplays 35,301 Class M, Motion pictures other than photoplays 15,811 —————— Total 51,112

Class M contains many animated cartoons and newsreels as well as nontheatrical films. The letter P or U has been added to the class symbol preceding the registration number for each entry to indicate whether the respective film was registered as a published or as an unpublished work.

How To Use This Catalog

This catalog consists of three parts: Motion Pictures, 1912-1939, which is a list of main entries under title; an Index of names; and a Series List. Each part is arranged alphabetically.

Motion Pictures, 1912-1939

The elements which constitute each entry in this section are given below in the order in which they appear. The name of the claimant, copyright date, and registration number are always given; other information varies in completeness depending upon its applicability to the film being described and the amount of the data available.

1. Title. Main title, followed, as applicable, by subtitle, translated title, alternate title, and series title. Cross-references are made for alternate and translated titles. Series titles are given in the Series List. In those instances when the name of a performer precedes the title of the film, the name has been dropped unless it is an essential part of the title. For example: Sarah Bernhardt in Queen Elizabeth. The entry in this catalog is given under the title Queen Elizabeth, with a cross-reference from the title above. An entry under the performer's name in inverted form appears in the Index. Similar index entries are made when the performer's name is an essential part of the title of the film; for example: Giovanni Martinelli Singing Celeste Aida by Giuseppe Verdi.

2. Production statement. The name of the producing company is given if it differs from that of the claimant (see 8 below). The name of a foreign producing company is followed by the city or country in which the company is located. Trade names such as Imp, Rex, First National, etc., are given in brief form. The names of companies or persons responsible for release or distribution follow next.

3. Date. The year date appearing in the copyright date (see 9 below) is given here. It is preceded by the copyright symbol © when it applies to an unpublished motion picture. For serials, inclusive dates are given.

4. Sponsor. Following the date is the name of the organization (other than the producing company) which is responsible for the production of the motion picture or which cooperates with the producing company in the making of the picture.

5. Physical description. A full physical description contains information relating to 1) the length of the film, given in running time, footage, or number of reels; 2) color or black and white versions; 3) sound or silent versions; 4) width of the film. Few of the entries in this catalog contain full physical descriptions, because the records of the Copyright Office were incomplete on these points. Filmstrips are distinguished by the use of the term frames, preceded by a numeral indicating the number of frames.

6. Notes. Certain information which helps describe the motion picture more completely is given in the form of notes:

a. Information is supplied relating to the novel, drama, or other work upon which a picture is based. Included are the title and author of such work when known. The name of the author is given as it appears in the Copyright Office records, followed by the established form of the author's real name, enclosed in brackets, when a pseudonym has been used.