Periscope Film LLC

11/30/2025

We've just posted a fascinating WWII German newsreel, which includes footage of the Führersonderzug aka the "Führer's Special Train". This was a specially commissioned armored train that was ordered in 1937 and ready by August 1939, just before the outbreak of WWII. The train served as Hi**er's command center during early war campaigns, including the invasion of Poland. Hi**er and his entourage also used it to travel between various fronts and his other headquarters, such as the Berghof and the Wolf's Lair.

This historic German film was produced during WWII as propaganda in support of the National Socialist regime. It is presented in its original form as an hist...

11/15/2025

We love old films about tractors! Coming up this Sunday, "Oddities in Farming" (1950s) presented by John Deere. An episode in a forgotten film series -- see the world's largest plow, compressed air used to thin out beets, an antique horse-drawn harvester in action, and more agricultural craziness!

10/29/2025

Help -- we have a mystery on our hands. These stills are from a 16mm movie from 1951 that features a Native American woman visiting Los Angeles. She must have been a celebrity of some sort? She watches a tennis match, goes to Chinatown and Long Beach's Pike Amusement Park, and even visits the circus. The clowns adore her! We have no idea who this elegant woman is -- or what tribe she belonged to? Think you know or -- know someone who might know? We'd love to give this lady back her proper name and figure out the story behind this film!

10/22/2025

Join our co-founder Nick Spark at the San Marino Historical Society this Monday evening. He'll be sharing some rare films and participating in a Q&A. The public is welcome.


http://sanmarinohistoricalsociety.org

10/14/2025

10/14/2025

09/12/2025

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy visited the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation plant in We recently scanned and just posted a filmed record of that visit -- essentially unseen in 63 years! https://youtu.be/89PnkNTdVas

09/09/2025

We normally hate Mondays but yesterday, out of the blue we suddenly started getting IMs from a fellow named Dave — who wanted to donate a General Motors auto maintenance 16mm film to us! So this week is starting off just right...

08/15/2025

Sometimes we have to repair films before we can scan them. In this case, you can see a big tear in a 1931 home movie (probably caused by bad projectionist back in the day). We cut a piece of clear 16mm leader to fit and put it into place with a tape slice. Far from perfect, but it does ensure that the film won’t snap in the scanner.

08/13/2025

Mama don't take my Kodachrome away! The rumor on Wall Street this week is that Kodak might be shutting down. It is true that the company has a mountain of debt (mostly due to a legacy pension plan). It's also true that the company, which invented the first digital camera, badly bungled the transition away from physical film. Still, Kodak is a storied name and many of its product lines are still viable and essential to industry. Hopefully, the company and the brand survives the current crisis.

08/11/2025

Long before Netflix downloads, long before Blockbuster Video VHS and Beta tapes, the Kodascope Libraries rented 16mm films for home use. This beautiful brass film can for "The Moose Country" — a silent travelogue of the Mountain West -- is embossed with fateful words: "Rental Charged for Each Day Held Whether Used or Not". So long before Blockbuster late fees, there was that!

08/04/2025

Dennis the Menace in mothballs! So -- a friend of ours dropped off a rare 16mm B&W print of an episode of "Social Security Today" featuring a circa 1964 interview with "Dennis the Menace" star Jay North. Unfortunately, the film is shrunken and would not go through our scanner without jitter. We're using a tried and true method to see if we can make the film more supple: exposing it to camphor crystals (which are often used as a moth repellant) for the next two months. Hopefully it will improve things enough to get a good scan. (If it doesn't, round #2 treatment will involve a chemical soak.)