Sponsored film

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

[7] Sponsored films were usually loaned at no cost, except sometimes postage, to clubs, schools, and other groups.

[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.

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.