Periscope Film LLC

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.)

07/28/2025

Fun to see this 16mm countdown leader on an educational film — offering helpful advice to the projectionist. Teachers were notorious film wreckers — because they weren’t properly trained on how to care for celluloid or load and rewind films.

07/14/2025

We reached a milestone last week. We are so grateful to all the people who have supported and shared our passion for old films, and who have made our YouTube channel what it is today!

06/23/2025

Just scanned and posted this rare PSA from the 1970s, an era when tractor rollover accidents killed or seriously injured over 1000 people per year. The short film advises farmers to invest in newfangled "roll cages" for protection. Quite a time capsule, back to an era when safety was not job #1!

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06/10/2025

Some things never changed ... just scanned and posted "The Riot Makers", a 1972 film made by the International Organization of Chiefs of Police. This "documentary" agitprop movie attempts to connect the campus upheavals and race riots of the 1960s to Leftist agitators, Lenin's Russia and Hitler's Germany.

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06/05/2025

Sometimes we open a vintage 16mm film can and find a historically interesting insert or study guide. This one is particularly cool - it was found inside "Silent Alarm Response" (https://youtu.be/N8RZt27An00), a 1971 film about bank robberies. Check out #2 under "Prepare": Install concealed air vent and telephone in vault and other tools and equipment which may be needed such as flashlights, screw drivers, etc.

04/26/2025

Our friend Greg Tillman's new documentary, "Oklahoma City Bombing / American Terror" just cracked the Top 10 list on Netflix! This gripping film re-examines the tragic 1995 attack, which remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in US history. Incidentally, Greg is also the director of the "Reel Discoveries" series on our channel -- see them at this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqqqqZrD37h6YuwdnTRjOMtGy0tfxXFPk