188:, a successful newspaper and broadcasting conglomerate also based in Davenport. The rapid rise in the price of silver (essential to black-and-white film processing) caused home-movie retail prices to skyrocket, and many collectors abandoned film in favor of then-new home video. Lee Enterprises' decision to emphasize mail-order sales instead of a unique product line, and heavy investments in the
117:, authorized editions of Keystone comedies licensed by Sennett’s original backer, Roy Aitken, and a group of railroad films (Eastin was a lifelong rail fan). Consumer interest grew, and soon Blackhawk was offering a wide variety of vintage comedies, dramas, westerns, musicals, documentaries, serials, and cartoons. Unlike the home-movie dealers
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Blackhawk subjects, made to order. In July 2007 he announced that
Blackhawk Films would discontinue the 16mm business. Shepard then devoted his energies to video restorations of classic motion pictures, until his death in 2017. The Blackhawk Films/Film Preservation Associates Collection is now held at the
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Boasting up to 18 new releases every month, an in-house film restoration facility as good as any owned by film archives, and more than 90 employees working in a picturesque, century-old building of roughly 30,000 square feet (2,800 m), Blackhawk grew to dominate the home-movie field with a base
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Shepard owned Film
Preservation Associates, specializing in restoration of silent film classics. He started FPA with the purchase of the Blackhawk film library. Although the film-sales business had slowed dramatically, Shepard continued to serve serious hobbyists by selling new 16mm prints of
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were just some of the silent-era personalities whose work had almost totally vanished until
Blackhawk brought some representative reels to light. The company issued a tabloid-sized catalog, the "Blackhawk Bulletin," which heralded the latest releases and sales promotions each month.
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had been working closely with Kent Eastin to ensure permanent preservation of
Blackhawk’s unique original films at the Library of Congress. Shepard joined the Blackhawk Films staff in 1973, and spearheaded the ambitious restoration of
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Soundies, and other libraries and producers. Blackhawk began publishing monthly catalogs in 1949. More than 2,500,000 used films were sold by mail order before this business was discontinued in 1981.
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market in the early 1980s, Blackhawk began producing video versions of many of their titles in 1981 and within a few years no longer manufactured film copies. The company was later purchased by
95:, operating a rental library until 1957 when business slowed due to television. Davenport was also home to the Victor Animatograph Corporation, a pioneer motion picture equipment manufacturer.
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to become Eastin's business partner in 1947. The
Blackhawk name was first used for a secondary business, liquidating stocks of used 16mm prints from British Information Services, Mills
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joined Hal Roach as important sources for
Blackhawk's releases. Other rare finds were offered to Eastin by private collectors, for reprinting in the home-movie gauges.
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and sold independent 35 mm theatrical film prints for home projectors of the day. Eastin worked from his parents’ home in
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Hundreds of catalogs have been published over the years. Most of them have been digitized and made accessible online by
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125:, which offered brief excerpts from longer films, Blackhawk released complete subjects as they were shown in theaters.
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In 1952, Blackhawk introduced its own releases in both 8mm and 16mm. Included in this "Collector Series" were
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In 1975, with business booming in the Super 8 and 16mm film formats, Eastin and Phelan sold
Blackhawk to
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Lee
Enterprises sold the company to its Blackhawk management team, who continued until 1985 when
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bought the company. Republic discontinued film sales and closed the
Davenport facility in 1987.
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by Kent D. Eastin, who made movie ads for merchants, filmed local news events for theater
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comedies of 1916-17. Shepard later became vice president of
Blackhawk Films.
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262:"USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive » Blackhawk Films' Catalogs"
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Blackhawk continued to cater to dyed-in-the-wool silent-film enthusiasts;
91:. With the advent of 16mm sound film in 1932, Eastin moved his company to
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With a background in direct mail and management, Martin D. Phelan left
19:, from the 1950s through the early 1980s, marketed motion pictures on
51:, and other famous comedy series of the past. Blackhawk also offered
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303:"Georges Méliès titles from the Blackhawk Films anthologies"
244:"Blackhawk Films/Film Preservation Associates Collection"
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in 1985, and the film elements still later by archivist
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mechanical video disc) formats, proved very costly.
59:, and silent feature films. With the rise of the
284:1935-1995 Blackhawk Films/FPA catalogs online
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334:Mass media companies disestablished in 1967
157:, silent-film revivalist Paul Killiam, and
31:film. Most were vintage one- or two-reel
324:Mass media companies established in 1927
215:and owned by Paris-based Lobster Films.
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225:USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive
319:Film distributors of the United States
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136:, Charles Hutchinson, Lige Conley,
79:The company was founded in 1927 as
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329:1927 establishments in Illinois
289:16mm Blackhawk Films Collection
339:1967 disestablishments in Iowa
297:"The Story of Blackhawk Films"
1:
159:National Telefilm Associates
35:, usually comedies starring
219:Catalogs of Blackhawk Films
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153:of 125,000 customers. Fox
75:History of Blackhawk Films
170:American Film Institute
164:Since the late 1960s,
248:Academy Film Archive
213:Academy Film Archive
250:. 4 September 2014.
89:Galesburg, Illinois
305:by Spencer Sundell
291:listing, May 2004
205:Republic Pictures
115:Hal Roach Studios
65:Republic Pictures
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279:Official website
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146:Richard Talmadge
111:Laurel and Hardy
37:Laurel and Hardy
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186:Lee Enterprises
175:Charlie Chaplin
100:Montgomery Ward
93:Davenport, Iowa
81:Eastin Pictures
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45:Charlie Chaplin
17:Blackhawk Films
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273:External links
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155:Movietone News
138:Lloyd Hamilton
123:Official Films
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33:short subjects
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166:David Shepard
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113:silents from
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69:David Shepard
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57:documentaries
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49:Buster Keaton
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299:by Mark Roth
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142:Alice Howell
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119:Castle Films
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313:Categories
230:References
177:'s twelve
134:Theda Bara
130:Art Acord
85:newsreels
53:newsreels
41:Our Gang
190:Betamax
168:of the
104:Panoram
29:Super 8
179:Mutual
144:, and
198:RCA's
61:video
27:and
192:and
121:and
21:16mm
194:CED
25:8mm
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140:,
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55:,
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