Dear Readers of Film & History ...

Abstract

Film & History Vol. 24, No's. 3-4, 1994 EDITOR'S CORNER© K LAtK) ©HA 1TÄTTI ytfWtlKSOTrV Dear Readers of Film & History... My experience with Film & History has always been full of surprises. Back in the Winter of 1972, as a young assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, I received an "emergency" call to fill in at the annual meeting of the Historians Film Committee. Patrick Griffin (then at Long Beach St. U) could not make the meeting; would I appear in his place to critique a film about the Dutch Fascist leader, Anton Mussert, by an archivistfilmmaker , Rolf Schurrsma? Down to New Orleans I flew, willing to close the gap. It was an exciting opportunity and an honor for a fledgling professor (who had met Griffin at a previous AHA meeting). At the 1972 AHA session (held in December in those days) I met John O'Connor and Martin Jackson for the first time. Over raw oysters and the local Jax Beer, I was told the story of Film & History, ajournai founded by the two enterprising New Yorkers. From that December day until the present, I have subscribed to, and published in, Film & History on a regular basis. Indeed, after one issue came out in the 1970s (in which I had a major article plus a review or two) a distinguished scholar called in to remind Editor John O'Connor that he might be publishing too many articles from the Oklahoma contingent! In any case, the early issues of the journal proved very helpful to me in planning classes and identifying a research agenda. Along the way-before the immediacy of the Internet—I met fine scholars of traditional disciplines who, like me, were trying to learn the rudiments of film language, film aesthetics, and film history in order to link the visual medium to the study of culture. I remember wonderful letters and packages to and from Patrick Griffin, Richard Raack, Daniel Leab, David Culbert, John O'Connor, Russell Shain, Eugene Schlegh, Taylor Stults, and others about books, book lists, syllabi, and meetings. Much university stationery crossed the country by what is now often referred to as "snail mail." It did not seem to move so slowly in those days! The historian-as-filmmaker movement received considerable attention from Film & History. Patrick Griffin's articles were fascinating and challenging explorations and calls to action. His analysis of his own film, Goodbye Billy, gave me Editor's Corner all kinds of inspiration to continue my study of the minutiae of film language. Richard Raack's articles further whetted my appetite for historian filmmaking. He shared tapes of his historical compilations with me-for which I am most grateful. Not long after reading these publications, with the assistance of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in 1976, 1 brought Griffin and Raack on board to teach me how to make such productions, drawing off my expertise about Will Rogers. Since I had been working on The Writings of Will Rogers for the preceding four years, I was intimately familiar with the collection at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Oklahoma. Using the stills, the interview sources, and the audio from the Memorial together with archival materials from a variety of sources, we produced Will Rogers'1920s: A Cowboy's Guide to the Times, a film which has since won a number of awards-including a CINE Golden Eagle. The experience was a real apprenticeship for me and I trace it all back to the excitement and information to be found in Film & History. (Richard Raack is still a mentor to me after all these years.) Also during the 1970s, television came along as a source for scholarly study and teaching. Again, Film & History expanded its horizons to include the newer visual medium. John O'Connor pushed further, inspiring a fine book of essays entitled American History/American Television (Ungar, 1983). That project brought a number of us to The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for debates, reports, and sharing. Many of the articles later published in Film & History to deal with television are spinoffs of that stimulating seminar. Many suggested that Film & History modify its title to include...