Museum of Modern Art Film Department
Press Releases
Press Release : January 4, 1936 : The Film Library announces its first screening program, "The Development of Narrative." Films shown included: The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1893); Wash Day Troubles (1895); A Trip to the Moon (1902); The Great Train Robbery (1903); Faust (1905); Queen Elizabeth (1911). Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/286/releases/MOMA_1935-37_0009_47A.pdf?2010
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
Press Release : November 21, 1935 : John Hay Whitney announces the Motion Picture Library has acquired five important groups of films. [note: earliest press release I found mentioning the MoMA Film Department] Retrieved from http://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/276/releases/MOMA_1934-35_0091_44.pdf?2010
Your browser does not support viewing this document. Click here to download the document.
Quotes & Notes
MoMA was founded in 1928 but the film department opened in 1935.
The daily film presentations at the Museum of Modern Art, which had begun in 1939, were of particular importance. Indeed, Marcia Vogel remembers rushing to meet Amos at five o'clock screenings, and witnessing his growing realization that there might be a larger market for the classics and documentaries the Museum was showing. Richard Griffith, the director of the Museum's film department, helped the Vogels in various ways, most importantly, getting Amos Vogel together with Robert Flaherty who assisted in Cinema 16's original membership drive. As early as 1936, the Museum of Modern Art Film Library was circulating films to colleges and museums nationwide, and in 1937, the Film Library created the first college credit course in film at an eastern university (Columbia), a course that included lectures by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Joris Ivens and others whose work and presence would be important at Cinema 16.
MacDonald, S. (1997). Cinema 16: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society. Wide Angle, 19(1), note 11.
Image credit: Diagram, Average Day at the Museum: The Year's Work: Annual Report to the Board of Trustees and Corporation Members of the Museum of Modern Art for the Year June 30, 1939–July 1, 1940. Annual reports 1931–40. MoMA Archives.
The daily film presentations at the Museum of Modern Art, which had begun in 1939, were of particular importance. Indeed, Marcia Vogel remembers rushing to meet Amos at five o'clock screenings, and witnessing his growing realization that there might be a larger market for the classics and documentaries the Museum was showing. Richard Griffith, the director of the Museum's film department, helped the Vogels in various ways, most importantly, getting Amos Vogel together with Robert Flaherty who assisted in Cinema 16's original membership drive. As early as 1936, the Museum of Modern Art Film Library was circulating films to colleges and museums nationwide, and in 1937, the Film Library created the first college credit course in film at an eastern university (Columbia), a course that included lectures by Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Joris Ivens and others whose work and presence would be important at Cinema 16.
MacDonald, S. (1997). Cinema 16: Documents Toward a History of the Film Society. Wide Angle, 19(1), note 11.
Image credit: Diagram, Average Day at the Museum: The Year's Work: Annual Report to the Board of Trustees and Corporation Members of the Museum of Modern Art for the Year June 30, 1939–July 1, 1940. Annual reports 1931–40. MoMA Archives.