Berkeley Historical Films

Film archivist Bert Gould will provide commentary on this collection of rare footage from films made between 1906 and 1936 which capture Berkeley on film. Included in the program, presented in chronological order, are A Trip to Berkeley (1906), the earliest known film of Berkeley, consisting of a streetcar ride depicted with comic touches; opera singer Madame Tetrazzini at the Greek Theater (1911); Senior Class of 1912, remarkable footage of the class which produced Earl Warren and other dignitaries, a record of diverse activities ranging from a farcical class play to sports events, all shot by classmates Edwin Einstein and Thomas Rice in 1912; footage of work being done on Berkeley's Campanile and School for the Blind (both 1914); campus Army drill and flag raisings (1917-18); footage of Bentley School dances (1922); the Berkeley fire (September 1923); Officer 444 (1926): a chapter from this comic fictional serial made with Berkeley's first Police Chief August Vollmer and assorted Hollywood actors, built around a plot which demonstrates Vollmer's innovative and internationally renowned methods; footage from the Big Game (1928-29); and the rediscovered lost film Berkeley, City of Culture and Progress (1936).

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