Word: kahlenberg
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Kahlenberg's chief frustration is the necessity of tedious and tactful nego- tiation in bringing collectors out into the open, and convincing them to help. Like the studios, collectors sense the complex nature of the legal problems involved in film ownership and often prefer to hide their prints rather than risk legal battles and long expenditure of time. Although the AFI's cordial connection with the Library of Congress gives them an invaluable aid in negotiating for copies of rare films, they cannot legally guarantee an amnesty to collectors who admit ownership of black-market prints. Consequently, no uncertain skill...
...Kahlenberg goes to the private collector and begins a series of complicated negotiations for the film. The collector knows he owns something he has no right to own, and consequently must be handled with kid gloves. If he donates the print directly to the American Film Institute, a private corporation, and its owners discover its existence, they can legally claim the print and sue the collector...
...Kahlenberg's sole interest is to secure a permanent copy and rest assured that the film exists and is not steadily disintegrating. He asks the collector to lend his print to the Library of Congress, which is ready and willing to make a copy of it. Funds for the copying are supplied to the Library by the AFI; once the film has been transferred to acetate, the print is returned quietly to the collector. As soon as the print enters the Library of Congress, it becomes federal property and cannot be seized, therefore protecting the owner of the black-market...
...positive side, the problem of locating missing films is largely finite. The Library of Congress has always had the right to demand a print of any film copyrighted; according to Kahlenberg, they began exercising this right in 1934, and have prints of all American films made since. Although many of these are on nitrate and must be treated or transferred, the essential fact remains that when the rights to post-1934 films lapse into public domain, they will be available for library use and study. But the Library is not the same as the AFI: when Kahlenberg succeeds in inducing...
America has been fifty years late in establishing a national archive, and its success is far from certain, if only taking into account the diverse goals of the seventeen-man staff of the Institute. Nonetheless, Kahlenberg is as optimistic as he is resigned to a long haul: asked if the archive would include any foreign film, he laughed and said resignedly, "We only have 32,000 American films to get first."Erich von Stroheim...