<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">How established was the US West Coast
Japanese cinema circuit before the War? Were prints come in via that and
staying in the US - and who outside of the Japanese-American community
was seeing them pre-1941 - or afterwards?</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">I remember asking a few US film archivists
and historians about this some years ago, when I doing some research on
extensive Greek, Italian (and to a lesser extent Chinese ) immigrant
cinema circuits that existed down here and was curious about equivalent
US migrant cinema circuits. I was a bit surprised that (at least then)
there didn't seem to be much of a literature on this history. I could have
not been looking in the right places (this was in the early days of the
Web) and wouldn't surprise me if much more work had been done since. Be
curious to know.</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="sans-serif">Quentin Turnour, Programmer, <br>
Access, Research and Development<br>
National Film and Sound Archive, Australia<br>
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<td width=40%><font size=1 face="sans-serif"><b>Mark Nornes <amnornes@umich.edu></b>
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<br><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Sent by: owner-KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</font>
<p><font size=1 face="sans-serif">08/02/2010 02:37 PM</font>
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<div align=center><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Please respond to<br>
KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</font></div></table>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">To</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">"KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"
<KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu></font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">cc</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Mark Nornes <amnornes@umich.edu></font>
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<div align=right><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Subject</font></div>
<td><font size=1 face="sans-serif">Re: question regarding early archives
and Japanese film</font></table>
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<br><font size=1>Frank Capra and Ruth Benedict were watching Japanese feature
films shortly after Pearl Harbor. Where did the prints come from? It's
an interesting question. And as Roger indicates, the alternative universe
where a powerful programmer got behind Asian film could have altered the
bedrock of "international cinema" long before Rashomon.</font>
<br><font size=3><br>
Markus</font>
<br>
<br><font size=3>On Feb 7, 2010, at 7:26 PM, Roger Macy wrote:</font>
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<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Dear William,</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">This is a crucial point that you have hit.</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Iris Barry is one of a very small number
of people who, if they had any Asian focus, would have radically changed
the preserved landscape of film history.</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Presumably like you, I found very little
to go on at MoMA. So, I followed the money to the Rockefeller Foundation.
The short answer is yes, its collection activities were limited to
the United States and Europe, including the Soviet Union, and there was
no failed rescue attempt for Japan. But there is a slightly longer
story which is likely to be told soon.</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Is there any chance we could meet at KinemaClub
X ?</font>
<br><font size=3 face="Arial">Roger</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">----- Original Message -----</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>From:</b> </font><a href=mailto:ReelDrew@aol.com><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>ReelDrew@aol.com</u></font></a>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>To:</b> </font><a href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><font size=2 color=blue face="Arial"><u>KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</u></font></a>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>Sent:</b> Sunday, February 07, 2010 10:52
PM</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"><b>Subject:</b> question regarding early
archives and Japanese film</font>
<br>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">I am right now working on the final draft
of my forthcoming book, "The Last Silent Picture Show: Silent Films
on American Screens in the 1930s." Presently, I'm doing the
revisions for a chapter on the archival movement and the Museum of Modern
Art in the '30s.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">Relating this to Japanese film, I point out
that MOMA in the Iris Barry years (1935-1951) limited its collection of
early cinema--and the programs of early films it featured--to the historical
development of filmmaking in the United States, Western Europe and the
Soviet Union. What I'd like to find out from knowledgeable people
here is does anyone know if my information is accurate? Has anyone
here, for example, seen any correspondence or other documents indicating
that Iris Barry was planning a program on the history of Japanese cinema
(and those of India and China as well) in say, 1939 but that the outbreak
of WWII halted this project? Or am I correct in my assumption that
the standard view of the historical development of cinema in those days,
as set forth at MOMA, completely omitted the early contributions of Latin
America, the Middle East and Asia, including Japan?</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">I should point out that in the 1930s and
1940s, the Museum of Modern Art Film Library, contrary to Peter Decherney's
tendentious assertions in "Hollywood and the Culture Elite,"
was not a national film archive and, in fact, many important areas in early
American film history were neglected due to Iris Barry's international
focus. Many at the time, in fact, felt it was her preoccupation with
the European art film that caused her to overlook so much of the American
cinema. Or perhaps in fairness to her, she was trying to balance
America and Europe in the collection she built up. However, what
I think was clearly left out of the film history programs established by
Barry at MOMA was the entire historical production of cinema in Asia, the
Middle East and Latin America during the first half of the 20th century.
I am not aware that Barry made any effort in the 1930s and 1940s
to obtain examples of filmmaking from those countries beyond Hollywood
and Europe. If anyone here, however, has information to the contrary,
specifically, of course, with respect to Japanese cinema, I would very
much like to know. I wish my analysis to be as accurate as possible.</font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial"> </font>
<br><font size=2 face="Arial">William M. Drew</font>
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