Tag Archives: popular culture

Carl Stalling, Music Animator

Posted on January 17, 2018 by ahcadmin

A chance meeting in the early 1920s at a Missouri movie theater led to some of the most beloved cartoons ever created. Carl Stalling was improvising on the organ while accompanying a silent film. A young Walt Disney was in … Continue reading →

Posted in cartoons, Composers, Film Music, motion picture history, music, Pop Culture, popular culture, television history, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary O’Hara: “My Heart is in Wyoming”

Posted on January 9, 2018 by ahcadmin

Could successful screenwriter and socialite Mary O’Hara exchange her glitzy lifestyle for that of a Wyoming ranch wife? Her friends didn’t think so. But by 1930 Mary had hit her mid-forties and was fed up with her gilded life. She … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors and literature, Biography and profiles, Children's literature, Local history, motion picture history, popular culture, Uncategorized, Western history, women's history, writers and poets, Wyoming history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Brassy Barbara Stanwyck and Pre-Code Hollywood

Posted on December 17, 2017 by ahcadmin

In 1934, the Hays Code began to be strictly enforced in Hollywood to clean up alleged indecency in movies. All evil-doers had to meet their just rewards. What spurred the prudish policing? Hardboiled flicks like Baby Face. This 1933 film had … Continue reading →

Posted in Hollywood history, Motion picture actors and actresses, motion picture history, Politics, popular culture, Uncategorized, Women in Hollywood, women's history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Terror in the Theater – Fifties Fears

Posted on November 13, 2017 by ahcadmin

Science fiction films of the 1950s commonly expressed several themes: fear of technology leading to unintended consequences; invasion of the planet by aliens; and the effects of atomic radiation. Because science fiction movies were not constrained by reality, more imaginative … Continue reading →

Posted in Cold War, Fantasy, Horror, motion picture history, Politics, Pop Culture, popular culture, science fiction, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Living the Reel Life: The Journey of Child Actor Dick Moore

Posted on October 5, 2015 by mmarcusse

Born John Richard Moore, Jr., “Dickie” made his silver screen debut at eleven months old when he portrayed the infant Francois Villon (fifteenth-century poet and scoundrel) in the silent film The Beloved Rogue (1927). Cast for his resemblance to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Current events, Journalism, motion picture history, Obituaries, popular culture, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jacques Kapralik and the Art of Film Promotion

Posted on April 25, 2014 by stowam

The American Heritage Center is fortunate to hold the papers and artwork of Jacques Kapralik. Kapralik was a commercial artist and caricaturist whose art was used in the promotion of motion pictures throughout Hollywood’s Golden Era of the 1930s-1950s. Born … Continue reading →

Posted in commercial art, Digital collections, Hollywood history, motion picture history, popular culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Louis C. Brandt: Producer and Director

Posted on March 21, 2014 by stowam

The American Heritage Center has recently processed the papers of Louis C. Brandt (collection number 6800). Mr. Brandt was an assistant director and producer for television and films from the 1930s to the 1970s. During his career, Mr. Brandt worked … Continue reading →

Posted in newly processed collections, popular culture, television history | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Collection Connection: A Conglomeration of Composers

Posted on June 14, 2013 by ahcadmin

Around the nation summer is a season for concert series and music festivals.  Holdings at the American Heritage Center include the papers of many musicians and composers, particularly those who composed for movies and television—even for cartoons!  This photograph from … Continue reading →

Posted in Composers, popular culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Why are Barbara Stanwyck’s papers at the AHC? Because we asked for them!

Posted on November 1, 2012 by ahcadmin

One of the most frequently asked questions about the American Heritage Center is how and why we wound up with such a large and significant collection relating to the history of popular entertainment in the U.S.—film, television, and radio in … Continue reading →

Posted in American Heritage Center, American history, Archival preservation, Archival work, Entertainment history, popular culture, television history | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment