More than 1500 speeches can be accessed at the Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches Database; in some cases a video clip of the speech is included. You can conduct various searches: by keyword, date, award winner, and film title. Read and listen to John Wayne’s brief but heartfelt speech as well as Sally Field’s speech, and read/listen to the numerous acceptances when The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King garnered multiple statues.
Archive for Films
Earliest Christmas Films
The ten shown here date from 1898 to 1912 and, of course, one is based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Thousands of Copyrighted Books Become Available on January 1, 2022
Public Domain Day will see 50,000+ books come out from under U.S. copyright laws. Additionally, plays, films, and music will also be accessible. Works such as Murnau’s silent film Faust; Dororthy Parker’s poetry collection Enough Rope; The Scarlet Letter starring Lillian Gish; and all sound recordings published before January 1, 1923 will all be accessible.
Watch the Russian Version of “The Fellowship of the Ring”
Broadcast only once on Russsian TV and then lost for three decades, this two-part adaptation is available for free on YouTube, Presently, there are no sub-titles in English, but it makes for lovely viewing anyway.The Guardian has an informative article about this re-discovery.
“Christmas Carol” on Film
Almost 400 versions of this venerable title can be accessed here, from Blackadder’s Christmas Carol to a 1969 animated version shown on ABC to the 1910 interpretation done by the Thomas Edison studio. This latter title was remastered, retitled, tinted, and supplied with a new soundtrack in 2010; for the original, please come here.
Free Ad-Supported Movies Now on YouTube
YouTube has released its first batch of movies you can watch; they contain ads that appear on a regular basis. Many of these films were/are popular in nature.
National Film Registry Digital Collection
Every year, the Library of Congress announces those films of cultural significance that are to be preserved by this worthy institution. Some 66 early films have been digitized and are available for online viewing. They range from a film depicting the immediate aftermath of the massive San Francisco earthquake of 1906 to a short film by D W Griffith. More will be added over time.
Congressman Frank J. Guarini Library Blog 