Yearbooks

By Samantha Janes and David Pierce

Yearbooks in Collection

The Picture Show Annual [1950]

The Picture Show Annual [1943]

The Picture Show Annual [1947]

The Picture Show Annual [1942]

The Picture Show Annual [1949]

The Picture Show Annual [1926]

The Picture Show Annual [1939]

The Picture Show Annual [1940]

The Picture Show Annual [1941]

The Picture Show Annual [1951]

The Picture Show Annual [1952]

The Picture Show Annual [1953]

The Picture Show Annual [1948]

The Picture Show Annual [1932]

The Picture Show Annual [1933]

The Picture Show Annual [1934]

The Picture Show Annual [1954]

The Picture Show Annual [1955]

The Picture Show Annual [1960]

The Picture Show Annual [1961]

The Picture Show Annual [1957]

The Picture Show Annual [1927]

The Picture Show Annual [1958]

The Picture Show Annual [1959]

The Picture Show Annual [1956]

The Picture Show Annual [1929]

The Picture Show Annual [1928]

The Picture Show Annual [1930]

The Picture Show Annual [1937]

The Picture Show Annual [1938]

The Picture Show Annual [1931]

The Picture Show Annual [1935]

The Picture Show Annual [1936]

Boxoffice barometer [1962]

Boxoffice barometer [1963]

Boxoffice barometer [1961]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1953]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1954]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1952]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1955]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1957]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1958]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1959]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1964]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1965]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1966]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1967]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1969]

Canadian Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry [1970]

In the film industry, Year Books or annuals, documented the accomplishments and participants in specific industries. The Year Books for the motion picture industry are especially important to historians because of their organization and perspective on the trade. For each year, the Year Books catalog films released, highlight events, provide comprehensive listings of industry companies and personnel, reprint company financial statements, and contain evocative advertisements from industry suppliers, vendors, producers, stars, and directors.

If magazines are the day-to-day history of the media industries, then Year Books follow that progress with a more objective perspective, while still looking at the industry as an inside player. Year Books such as Kinematograph and Film Daily showcase a variety of sections such as “Who’s What in the Industry” and vendor indexes for items like crystal chandeliers and seat covers. Since the industry trade magazines published the Year Books, there was a tacit understanding that the purchasing of advertising would help ensure that no negative coverage would appear and

Of the hundreds of available volumes, this collection includes a representative sample across five decades (1916-1964). The best known of these is The Film Daily Year Book, published out of New York, which served as an in-depth look at production and distribution. A highlight of this collection is a listing of every theater in the United States. The market was large enough that The Film Daily also published a Directors Guide in the 1930s. The main competitor was Quigley Publications' Motion Picture Almanac, which is represented in this collection by two examples, one in 1929 and the other from 1937-1938.

In an attempt to match these publications, in the 1940s, The Hollywood Reporter created The Hollywood Reporter Production Encyclopedia. Although credits were limited to the most recent five years, their contribution was notable for its focus on television and detailed cast and credits. Their credits included many names for production managers and assistant directors that did not appear on screen and can only be found through printed resources such as these.

While this collection does have numerous Year Books on Hollywood’s industry, it also houses Year Books from Great Britain, Canada, and Japan. Kine Year Book documents Great Britain’s vibrant yet small industry, and the Cinema Year Book of Japan presents the phases and films of the Japanese movie industry to a new audience in the 1930s.

Within this collection, it is important to note that there are two subcategories of Year Books - booking guides and studio directories. Booking guides helped exhibitors select films for their theaters and often provided indexes to reviews in the affiliated magazine. Studio directories served to remind casting directors and others of performers under contract and freelance supporting players. In the present, these Year Books provide scholars with a deeper and more detailed exploration of the inner workings of the film industry. The unique documentation of Year Books allows us to flip through the pages of these often forgotten names, films, and practices, in order to learn and remember.