XD19674 “ OMAHA, NEBRASKA AND LAKE PARK ” 1940s HOME MOVIE FAMILY, P-61 BLACK WIDOWS AT AIRBASE

This 1940s color, silent home movie shows family members, WWII aircraft. It is believed that it was shot in and around Nebraska, primarily near Omaha. Most likely it dates to WWII era.

The film begins with what appears to be a husband and wife coming down the outside stairs of their home from the porch, which is flanked by white railings (0:21). Another man, dressed in an olive drab military uniform, follows behind. The three pose, looking at the camera, in front of an oak tree in the yard (0:33), and then they get into a car by the side of the curb (0:58). The film then shows a large, white colonial-style house with white columns and a dark roof (1:01). A woodie type station wagon is parked out front. The camera then shows the back of the house, bordered by trees with no leaves (1:25). Three people (an older man with white hair, a younger brunette woman, and a younger man) stand on the house’s back steps (1:34). An older woman with white hair comes up to join them and puts her arm around the older man’s shoulders. Three younger women in skirts and dresses gather next to the older man and woman and look towards the camera, as though posed for a photo (1:54). The older man, wearing a collared shirt and tie, puts down the small metal garbage can he was holding (1:55). One of the women in a black dress comes toward the camera, and we see her face close up. She sits down on the outside stairs of the house next to a young couple (2:43). The two women then pet a small brown-and-white dog (2:54). A woman with greying hair and pearl earrings talks up close to the camera (3:07). A man and a woman sit on the steps, the man has a wind-up 16mm movie camera in his hands (3:13). A teenage boy kneels on a lawn with a basketball hoop in the background (3:35). He sets off several firecrackers which issue small explosions and produce white smoke. (It might be July 4th?) The film then shows several instances of P-61 Black Widows taking off on a runway (3:55). The planes have the U.S. military insignia (white star on a blue circle) near the tail. The film is shaky and uneven, because it is shot with a telephoto lens. At (5:11) a C-47 is shown on the tarmac. The film then shows two young men in baseball caps getting out of a Ford Model A coupe with a small metal teardrop trailer or camper hitched to the back (6:33). They get back in the car and drive off. The camera focuses on trees at Lake Park (7:14). Two young men walk through grass towards basketball hoops at the park (7:33). From 7:40 to the end of the film, the film quality is dark and shaky, and it is difficult to distinguish anything, although aerial views of flashes of lightning out a military plane’s window, cars driving across a bridge, a lake, and houses under water can be seen (8:54). The side of the plane’s white star logo can be seen at 9:45. The film ends with the roofs of houses visible under water as a result of a flood. (Nebraska experienced major flooding in 1950 and 1952, and Zorinsky Lake Park in Omaha experienced flooding in 1964 and 1965.)

Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies — including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com

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