Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Film-Sleuth Phillip W. Stewart Latest Book Wins Award

Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel was awarded First Place in the General Nonfiction Category of The Written Art Awards for 2011.

PMS Press is pleased to announce that Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel: A Researcher’s Guide to the Aviation Related Stories Released Nationally by Universal Pictures, 1929 - 1931, won First Place recognition from the 2011 Written Art Awards. This prestigious annual literary award pays tribute to authors who are self-published or have had their books published by a subsidy publisher, small press, university press, or independent book publisher.

Author Phil Stewart expressed his appreciation, “I am honored. Rarely does a non-fiction book of this narrow scope and subject matter receive this high level of recognition.”

Aerial Aces is a must have practical resource guide to the aviation people, places and events of August 1929 through December 1931, as seen through the camera lens of the Universal Newsreel. It uniquely describes 219 aviation-related stories released by Universal during that time period.

Reviewers of Aerial Aces say that it:
• “...is an absolutely invaluable contribution to aviation history for which authors, historians and media producers will be grateful for years to come...no serious aviation historian can do without this book.”
• “…proves to be a riveting read with plenty of awe-inspiring history!”
• “…is a wonderful tool for researchers now and in the future…it is an important asset.”

Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel: A Researcher’s Guide to the Aviation Related Stories Released Nationally by Universal Pictures 1929 - 1931, (ISBN 978-0-9793243-7-6, hard back, $31.95/978-0-9793243-6-9, trade paper, $26.95, 222 pages, pms press, 2010) is the fourth book in The Historic Footage Project. More information is available at the author's website at www.pwstewart.com. All of Mr. Stewart's books are available from Amazon.com and other online sources.

Monday, October 4, 2010

AERIAL ACES Published!


Hi Folks-
Here's what the press release said...

Some Of History's Best Aviation Stories Are Buried In America's Film Vault
A Treasure Trove of Rare Aviation Related Newsreel Footage Re-Discovered at the National Archives.

Film-sleuth Phillip W. Stewart is at it again! After four years of digging, probing, and analyzing the evidence he has created "AERIAL ACES OF THE UNIVERSAL NEWSREEL: A Researcher's Guide to the Aviation Related Stories Released Nationally by Universal Pictures, 1929-1931." This "detective of celluloid" discloses the description of 219 aviation stories produced during the first three years of what was known then as the "Universal Newspaper Newsreel." This well-researched landmark work is a boon to scholars, librarians, and museum curators.

"Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel is an absolutely invaluable contribution to aviation history for which authors, historians and media producers will be grateful for years to come...no serious aviation historian can do without this book." - Walter J. Boyne, Historian and National Aviation Hall of Fame Enshrinee.

These historic aviation newsreels are listed in release order and all are identified by title, reel number, event date, location, and length. Each title has a storyline based on the newsreel synopsis sheets, a description the filmed action, a copy of the original narration script, and concludes with production or historical information. All titles were cross-referenced against various NARA inventories and only those that are known to currently exist are presented in detail.

Unfortunately, relatively few people know that historically significant films exist at the National Archives and even fewer know how to find them. The ultimate goal of Mr. Stewart's investigative work is to lift the veil of mystery surrounding these historic treasures and provide guides to finding them. So, if you're ready to play detective and to investigate America's film vault, you should take a guide--and this is it!

Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel: A Researcher's Guide to the Aviation Related Stories Released Nationally by Universal Pictures, 1929-1931 (ISBN: 978-0-9793243-7-6, $31.95 case bound/978-0-9793243-6-9, $26.95 trade paper, 220 pages, 60 photos, pms press, 2010) is the fourth book in The Historic Footage Project. More information is available at the author's website, www.pwstewart.com. All of Mr. Stewart's books are available from his publisher, pms press (www.pmspress.com), and via Amazon.com.

Whether you are an aviation museum curator, replica aircraft builder, college media professor, airplane model maker, film researcher, media producer, historian, novelist, or a student of aeronautical history, these newsreel stories will provide you with a timeless reference to moving images during the middle years of the aviation's Golden Age.

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Just a note to let you know that...
Hot off the printing press is the Summer 2010 issue of PROLOGUE, the magazine of the National Archives. Inside is an article titled "Frame After Frame" written by yours truly. If you're have an interest in the seemingly endless variety of historical films held within America's film vault, you can read the article at...
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2010/summer/frame-film.html
Thanks.

Friday, February 5, 2010

The Second Edition of BATTLEFILM: U.S. Army Signal Corps Motion Pictures of the Great War now available at Amazon.com

As sometimes happens, after the initial edition of Battlefilm was released, a few more World War I motion pictures that were within the scope of this book were “re-discovered.” In light of this, 21 new films and their summary descriptions have been added to this Second Edition of Battlefilm, which now puts the total number of entries at 488.

While making these additions, I took the opportunity to add NARA's Archival Research Catalog (ARC) identification number to each title. Therefore, in this edition, below each film title you’ll find information about the number of reels associated with that particular motion picture, followed by its unique National Archives’ Catalog Card reference number [in brackets] and its ARC identification number (in parentheses).

Why, you may ask, is this important to you? The answer to that question is that while this book consists of short summary descriptions of these historically significant Army Signal Corps films, ARC usually contains a more detailed account and occasionally has lengthy shot sheets for some of the titles. With this edition, you now have all the tools you need to proceed with any follow-on research you might want to undertake — on location at NARA’s Archives II facility at College Park, MD, or on-line at www. archives.gov/research/arc/. In addition, I tweaked the subject headings, polished the layout, added a few photos, created an alphabetical title index, and beefed up the subject index.

With this Second Edition, it is my sincere hope that you’ll find Battlefilm: U.S. Army Signal Corps Motion Pictures of the Great War to be a comprehensive resource, a superb historical research tool, and a valuable addition to your World War I stock footage library.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Year 2010

Happy New Year!
I hope you all had a GREAT holiday season.

In reviewing the posts of the last year, I noticed that while there was a lot of info...the regularity of the installments suffered during the last couple of months. After a review of my priorities for this year, that trend will probably continue. When I have updates I will post them here and on my website www.pwstewart.com.

So, what are my priorities for 2010, you may ask?
Well, first is to earn a respectable wage at my full time job so that I can pay the rent and provide basic and other goodies for my family.
Second, is to stay healthy, which is always a challenge in my case.
Third, to publish two books. The Second Edition of my book BATTLEFILM: U.S. Army Signal Corps Motion Pictures of the Great War, will be the first and should be available via Amazon.com and other on-line stores the Spring. There will more info about this in a future blog. The other title scheduled for publication is Aerial Aces of the Universal Newsreel, 1929-1931. This book should be ready in the late summer or early fall.

In the meantime, I intend to continue working on the Project History series. I just started research on Vol 3, which will cover the years 1933-1935 of the Universal Newsreel. I am also working on a book tentatively titled, Air Front: WWII Aviation Stories of the United Newsreel. Maybe those two will get published in 2011. We'll have to wait and see.

Enough for now. If you have any questions just email me at pws@pwstewart.com.
Phil

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A DMG EXAMPLE

All-
My how time flies when your editing your next book. I appoligize for my delay in posting.

This time I have an example from the DMG Category for you to review. It's from the Motion Picture Association of America. This collection contains 17 titles and covers a span from 1922-1959. Two representative title are:

• Talking Motion Pictures — shows Tykociner’s apparatus for photographing and projecting sound and pictures simultaneously; Professor Jacob Kung’s photo electric cell for converting light intensity variations into electric current variations; Tykociner’s first sound track in the middle of his film; Professor E.B. Paine reads; Tykociner speaks; Mrs. Tykociner rings a bell; a musician plays a violin, 1922.

• The Fighting Dutch — the training of Dutch combat units in the U.S. and Canada; tulip fields and the dike system in Holland; Rotterdam burns after the Nazi’s bombed it in May 1940; natives gather hemp and dance on the Island of Java; Japanese troops land and advance in the East Indies; Dutch Infantry units go through obstacle courses in Canada; pilots fly P-40 fighter planes in the US; Dutch crews man seaplanes and torpedo boats on submarine patrol in the Atlantic; Dutch troops present ceremonial dances; narrated by Lorne Greene, ca. 1943.

Once again, these title discriptions and many more are in Armerica's Film Vault, availble at Amazon.com...

Til next time.
Phil
www.pwstewart.com

Sunday, September 20, 2009

America’s Film Vault Wins a Silver Medal!

Hi All-
Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been real busy putting the final touches on the manuscript for the second edition of Battlefilm and finishing the research on the Henry Ford: Movie Mogal book. I will try to do better in the future.

Below is a press release you may see in a couple of days from my publisher, pms press.

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For Release: On Receipt
Contact: Margaret Stewart, 850-420-1970, info@pmspress.com
To arrange for an interview and/or a review copy, please contact the publisher.

America’s Film Vault by film-sleuth Phillip W. Stewart Wins the Silver Medal!

PMS Press is pleased to announce that America’s Film Vault: A Reference Guide to the Motion Pictures Held by the U.S. National Archives, was awarded the Silver Medal in the Reference Category by the Military Writers Society of America 2009 Book Awards.

Author Phillip W. Stewart expressed his appreciation, “Rarely does a non-fiction book of this narrow of scope and subject matter receive this high level of praise. I am honored.”

America’s Film Vault reveals a treasure trove of over 360,000 film reels documenting the 20th Century of American history. It exposes 349 Government and Donated records that have motion pictures buried within them, discloses how these vintage films are organized and where to find them, uncovers and specifically identifies more than 1,460 film titles and provides topical references to thousands more, and sums it up with a comprehensive 2,130 item subject index that sheds light on the vast variety of subjects and titles of these extraordinary films.

Reviewers of America’s Film Vault have called it…
• “An indispensible reference tool for the serious film researcher!”
• “...a convenient overview of National Archives and Records Administration’s motion picture holdings, one difficult to obtain from any other source,”
• “...has leveled the playing field for historians, film buffs, and curiosity seekers.”

Since relatively few Americans know that these historically significant films exist and even fewer know how to find them, the goal of Mr. Stewart’s book is to highlight this National treasure. It is also his goal to provide educators, historians, genealogists, and students of film, a guide on where and how to find them.

The Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) is an association of more than eight-hundred authors, poets and artists drawn together by the common bond of military service. Most members are active duty military, retirees or military veterans. (The MWSA contact is Joyce Faulkner at email MWSAPresident@gmail.com)

America’s Film Vault: A Reference Guide to the Motion Pictures Held by the U.S. National Archives (ISBN 978-0-9793243-0-7, $39.95, trade paper, pms press, 2009) is the third book in The Historic Footage Project. More information is available at the author’s website at www.pwstewart.com. All of Mr. Stewart’s books are available from Amazon.com.

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Until next time...
Phil
www.pwstewart.com