The Real

February 24, 2005 5:31 AM

Howard Hughes on the set of Hell's Angels.For some reason, the Wisconsin Historical Society has a huge collection of stills from old movies that they are slowly releasing online. This collection is part of the material they sent to Scorsese for pre-production of The Aviator.
posted by rev- (9 comments total)

Bonus: still shot of a young Jean Harlow

Tangent:
The images are nice & I'll enjoy look at the wider collection, but the size & placement of the watermark are a little annoying.

Granted it's a 420dpi image and that has a certain value. But could they not have found a more aesthetic way of protecting their property?

First one I think of is an animated gif or flash presentation - watermark on/watermark off, slow rotation.
posted by tvjunkie at 6:13 AM on February 24, 2005

looking
posted by tvjunkie at 6:18 AM on February 24, 2005

great stuff, thanks
posted by matteo at 6:33 AM on February 24, 2005

Sadly, the often amusing WHS satirical blog is no longer being updated.
posted by gimonca at 8:13 AM on February 24, 2005

gimonica,

I had to give it up: after three months, it became another job.
posted by rev- at 8:17 AM on February 24, 2005

I am looking out the window at the Wisconsin State Historical Society as I type this.
posted by Dr. Wu at 9:04 AM on February 24, 2005

do you see Howard Hughes then?
posted by matteo at 11:07 AM on February 24, 2005

Yeah, he waved from a fourth-floor window. He appeared to be brandishing a cantilevered brassiere.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:39 AM on February 24, 2005

I read once why they had those records, but I can't remember it right now. The collection is extensive, making Madison a leading film history center.

Historical Society Finds Home for Records Online. Among the WHS's special collections is an exceptional civil rights archive. More pertinently, they recently purchased via eBay 32 photos of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin under construction.

Apropos of the film and Wisconsin connections, the Lunt/Fontanne getaway Ten Chimneys is now open to the public.
posted by dhartung at 8:26 PM on February 24, 2005