Category Archives: motion picture history

From Talking Movies to Looney Tunes – Celebrating 100 Years of Warner Brothers

Posted on April 3, 2023 by ahcadmin

April 4, 2023, marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Warner Brothers Pictures. Here at the American Heritage Center, we have the papers of some of the creative personalities behind the films for which Warner Brothers is revered. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, cartoons, Hollywood history, motion picture history, music, popular culture, television history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unsung Music Man Walter Scharf

Posted on February 20, 2023 by ahcadmin

Walter Scharf is one of the great, unsung composers & arrangers in film history. Anyone who finds themselves humming Pure Imagination from the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) is likely to recall, along with the melody itself, … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, Hollywood history, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, television history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Wizard of Oz – The Story Behind the Film

Posted on November 15, 2021 by ahcadmin

The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, beloved by children and adults alike, holds a special place in cinematographic history. The award-winning movie is based on an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors and literature, Book history, Chinese Americans, Hollywood history, motion picture history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Many Faces of Peter Lorre

Posted on October 25, 2021 by ahcadmin

This Halloween, we highlight the career of actor Peter Lorre (1904-1964), who is represented in two of our collections. Lorre, who was born László Löwenstein in Hungary, began acting for the stage in Vienna in the early 1920s. He gained … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Hollywood history, Horror, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Time Warp: The Back to the Future Film Trilogy

Posted on September 6, 2021 by ahcadmin

Time travel behind the wheel of a nuclear-powered DeLorean is the premise of the 1985 hit movie Back to the Future. The film follows the comedic adventures of Marty McFly, a high school student who is accidentally transported back thirty … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy, Hollywood history, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, science fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Groundbreaking Character Actor Richard Loo

Posted on April 26, 2021 by ahcadmin

To celebrate May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the AHC would like to feature the life and career of Chinese American actor Richard Loo. Loo was born in Maui, Hawaii, in 1903. As a young man he … Continue reading →

Posted in American Perspectives on Asia, Asian American history, Current events, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, Pacific Islander history, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Plainclothes Irishman Michael O’Shea

Posted on March 15, 2021 by ahcadmin

It seems only right to send to commemorate the life of actor Edward Francis Michael Patrick Joseph O’Shea on St. Patrick’s Day. Not only was he Irish American, he was born on March 17 in 1906. He went by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Holidays, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, popular culture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

William Beaudine, Bela Lugosi, and Horror Films Out West

Posted on October 26, 2020 by ahcadmin

For Halloween 2018 and 2019, we brought you blog posts on The Killer Shrews and The Giant Gila Monster, two low-budget horror movies financed by Texas radio pioneer Gordon McLendon. This year, we shine a spotlight on the career of … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Hollywood history, Horror, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, popular culture, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Blacklisted! – The Albert Maltz Papers

Posted on October 12, 2020 by ahcadmin

Brooklyn-born Albert Maltz grew up in affluence. His Russian immigrant Jewish parents had made good in their new American home. Maltz’s education credentials were those of an elite. He studied philosophy at Columbia University, graduating in 1928. He then attended the … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors and literature, Blacklisting, Cold War, Communism, Hollywood history, Hollywood Ten, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Breathing New Life Into An Old Cinema Dinosaur

Posted on August 3, 2020 by ahcadmin

On June 2, 1983, 54 boxes of materials arrived at the Western History Research Center, now the American Heritage Center. It’s always exciting to open boxes of new materials to find out what surprises might be in store. So, those … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, announcements, Authors and literature, behind the scenes, Collection donor, motion picture history | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment