Content note: Quotes wartime anti-German language, including "Hun", and period terms for racial and national groups. This object is shown as it was published. Why
This department has had a stock of reels comprising Pershing's Crusaders, America's Answer, Under Four Flags, Our Colored Fighters, Our Bridge of Ships, the early issues of the J Official War Review, and several short pictures having to do with naval and military training.
This was one of the first departments created in the Division of Films for the purpose of furnishing material free of charge to various patriotic organizations. It entailed considerable expense in cost of material and organization overhead, which expense was carried by other departments of this division.
The films were loaned to Army and Navy stations, educational and patriotic institutions, without charge except transportation. Other organizations and individuals were usually charged $1 per reel for each day used. When it is considered that the average reel costs $40 for raw stock and printing, and that the average life of a reel is about 200 runs, it can be readily seen that this charge of $1 per reel barely covers cost. For the purpose of comparison the leading motion picture houses in New York pay as high as $3,000 for the use of one picture for one week's run.
Complete Report of the Chairman of the Committee on Public Information, George Creel, Chairman, Committee on Public Information. A work of the United States government, printed by the Government Printing Office in 1920, so not protected by copyright in the United States (17 U.S.C. 105) and in the public domain by age as well. The Library of Congress states that it is unaware of any copyright restrictions on the item. Provenance and rights.