Sponsored film

[3] Many of the films are orphan works since they lack copyright owners or active custodians to guarantee their long-term preservation.

[8] America's largest companies - AT&T, DuPont, Ford, General Electric, General Motors, Republic Steel, Standard Oil, and Westinghouse Electric Company - were for decades active sponsored film producers and distributors; others included airlines who offered travelogues on their destinations.

Sponsored films have been produced since the early years of the motion picture industry.

Early sponsored films include Edison Studio's The Stenographer’s Friend (1910)[9] or, What Was Accomplished by an Edison Business Phonograph; The Worcester Film Corporation's The Making of an American (1920)[10]—a primer on how to be a good citizen—for the State of Connecticut Department of Americanization, and the Rothacker Film Manufacturing Company's The Heart of Cleveland (1924) for the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company.

[11] The post-World War II period through the 1950s is considered the golden age of sponsored films.

A behind the camera look at the cast and crew filming the 1949 Sherwin-Williams Company sponsored film “Sell the Facts.”
Ronald Reagan and Fran Allison starred in “How will you rate in ’58?,” a General Electric dealer training film.
Prominent actors and other notables, including Basil Rathbone, recognized for his many portrayals of Sherlock Holmes, appeared in sponsored films.