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History - The Hall Film Library
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Gone with the Wind – Rare Behind-the-Scenes Footage
The names Howard and Margaret Hall evoke a variety of memories for Cedar Rapidians. Their legacy includes philanthropic contributions like the Hall Radiation Center at Mercy Medical Center; economic development like Iowa Manufacturing, the company now named Cedarapids, Inc.; and civic gifts like the donation of their estate Brucemore. Their generosity, spacious estate, and exotic pets still fascinate people a generation after their deaths.
With all of this adulation, it is easy to lose sight of the Halls as individuals. Even among the large number of people who shared an acquaintance with the Halls, only a few could honestly say they knew Howard and Margaret. That is what makes archival material so powerful, and so important to preserve. The facts and images documented in the archives separate historic sites like Brucemore from Disneyesque history theme parks.
In addition to hundreds of personal letters, the archives also houses a unique collection of home movies. The Hall Film Library consists of over 23,000 feet of 16 mm film primarily taken by Howard Hall from as early as 1928. Filled with vacation shots, in some ways the films are typical of home movies (or today’s home videos) taken by families for decades. There are hints throughout the collection, however, of the access the Halls enjoyed. There is rare behind-the-scene footage of the film classic Gone With the Wind, images of Herbert Hoover’s campaign visit to Brucemore in 1928, and football practice at the University of Iowa in 1939 -- including Heisman winner Nile Kinnick working as an assistant coach after his fabled senior year.
The 75 reels of film were included in Margaret Hall’s bequest to the National Trust in 1981. As with all archival material, the films were stored for eventual preservation and indexing. In 1994, Brucemore staff began researching preservation methods and storage procedures specific to cellulose acetate film. A number of private and corporate donors responded to Brucemore’s requests for funding. In 1996, the first batch of films were sent to Film Technology Company in Hollywood for cleaning and copying. The movies were transferred to new 16mm film, the most stable preservation medium available. Then they were transferred to BetaCam SP broadcast quality video. Metro Communications in Cedar Rapids donated the transfer of the images from BetaCam to standard VHS video for easy viewing by Brucemore staff. The two film copies are stored in freezers to prolong their lives. The video copies are used for programming, advertising, and sales.
These images reveal a fascinating glimpse of the personal side of the Halls’ privileged lifestyle but their importance transcends their ability to entertain. They provide us with the documentation used in sharing the significance of Brucemore with the public. When used in concert with other sources, motion pictures like these balance the interpretation by providing accounts that are both interesting and factual. The Brucemore archives gives a unique opportunity to understand the people who called Brucemore home-- real people who had a profound influence on the history of their community.
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