Class M contains many animated cartoons and newsreels as well as nontheatrical films. The letter P following the class symbol in an entry indicates that the film was registered as a published work; the letter U, an unpublished work.
How To Use This Catalog
This catalog consists of three parts: Motion Pictures, 1940–1949, which is a list of main entries under title; an Index of names; and a Series List. Each part is arranged alphabetically.
Motion Pictures, 1940–1949
The items which constitute each entry in this section are given below in the order in which they appear. The title, name of the claimant, copyright date, and registration number are always given; other items are included if applicable to the motion picture and available.
1. Title. Main title, followed by subtitle, translated title, and alternate title. Cross-references are made for alternate and translated titles. When motion pictures are based on the lives of real persons or when such persons are mentioned in the titles in connection with specific episodes in their lives, such as musical performances or athletic events, their names are included in the Index.
2. Production statement. The name of the producing company, i.e., the company responsible for the existence of the picture, follows the title. In some instances two companies or organizations are concerned with the production of a film, one with the physical production, i.e., photographing, editing, sound recording, etc., the other with planning, distributing, and sponsoring the motion picture. In such case the company concerned with physical production is named first, followed by the preposition for and the name of the other company. The name of a foreign producing company is followed by the name of the city or country in which it is located. When the name of a person or organization is given in the records of the Copyright Office preceded by the phrase presented by, the name, together with the phrase, follows the date (see item 3 below).
3. Date. For published works, the year date of copyright (see item 10 below) preceded by a lower case c, (e.g., c1941) follows the production statement. If a production date different from the copyright year date is given in the records, this information follows the copyright date. For unpublished works, no date is given in this position in the entry.
4. Physical description. A full physical description contains information relating to 1) the length of the film, given in running time, footage, number of reels or frames; 2) color or black and white versions; 3) sound or silent versions; 4) width of the film. Few of the entries in this catalog for the period prior to 1946 contain full physical descriptions because information on these points was not included in the records of the Copyright Office.
5. Notes. Certain information which helps to identify the motion picture more exactly is given in the form of notes: