nwFilmCenter

The Films of Thomas Vaughan

As the long-time director of the Oregon Historical Society (1954-1989), one of Thomas Vaughan's key interests was film preservation and the building of the Society's Moving Image Archive. Today, the Society's holdings exceed 20,000 titles, including early newsreels, family movies, television programs and commercial/industrial film produced by professional and amateur Northwest filmmakers from 1902 to today. Vaughan's regard for film as document, and as a medium for telling history, is also evident in his own career as a filmmaker. He has produced of a unique body of historical films, which he has written and produced in collaboration with George Hood and the late Ted Hallock. While rooted in the past, these very personal appreciations offer valuable perspective on events in the world today

Sun, Mar 9, 2008 at 3 PM	THE CRIMEAN WAR: A CLASH OF EMPIRES DIRECTOR: THOMAS VAUGHAN US Since Roman Times the geography that sweeps from the Balkans (present-day Bosnia) through Turkey to the borders of the Persian Empire has been a battleground between East and West. From 1853 to 1856, in what was perhaps the first real "world war," the armies of England, France and Sardinia joined forces to repel the advance of Russia, intent on gaining access to Constantinople and the Mediterranean and controlling the Balkans, long ruled by the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. Working with rare photographs and over 1600 prints and drawings, many from his personal collection, Vaughan vibrantly brings to life the story and lessons of a conflict now remembered only, if at all, because of Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," and the legendary exploits of Florence Nightingale—one note of grace in a nightmare of bloodshed and cholera. ( 180 min ) Thomas Vaughan will introduce and discuss the film. ^ Top
Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 2 PM	ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY: A MONARCH OF THE SEAS DIRECTOR: THOMAS VAUGHN US In 2007, with America's interests seemingly in every corner of the world, it is timely to look back to an event that heralded the emergence of this new world power. In 1898, a relatively obscure Admiral George Dewey (1837-1917) was in command of the U.S. Navy's Asiatic Squadron based in Hong Kong when the U.S. declared war on Spain. Commanded to sail to Manila and capture or destroy the Spanish fleet based there, Dewey engaged a large flotilla in Manila Bay and defeated it in mere hours. Instantly acclaimed a hero, his order "You may fire when ready, Gridley," entered into naval lore everywhere. Upon his return, he was celebrated in New York City with the greatest water and land parade in history. Soon, everything was being named in his honor, from pets, streets, and schools to children. Vaughan's meticulous film, featuring rare film clips, photographs and illustrations, traces the history and hysteria of events which seemed to channel, through an unlikely and now dimmed hero, a nation's romantic fervor in an age in which it awakened as a military, political and industrial power. ( 59 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 2 PM	WELLINGTON'S LAST PARADE DIRECTOR: THOMAS VAUGHAN US In 1852, Queen Victoria decreed a state funeral to honor her "wisest counselor" Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington. Vaughan reanimates the "Iron Duke's" last and most spectacular parade, his own funeral. The disasters yet to befall the British army are framed by a chronicle of Wellington's military career and the funeral parade which unfolds in rich detail. The pomp and circumstance left a false impression—with generals and statesmen alike—that Britain was invincible. Less than two years later the fabled British army would find that this was no so in the hills of Crimea. ( 30 min ) ^ Top
Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 2 PM	GEORGE CATLIN: PAINTER, PRESERVATIONIST & ETHNOLOGIST DIRECTOR: THOMAS VAUGHAN US In the 1830s George Catlin became the first major artist to travel west of the Mississippi and live with Native Americans. With a pack on his back, in saddle or canoe, he drew and painted incessantly on his own personal mission to preserve some hint of the noble cultures he predicted would soon vanish off the face of the earth. An inventive "episodic docu-drama" that deftly weaves paintings, drawings, photographs and letters, the film traces both a remarkable personal story and a rich artistic and ethnographic legacy. As Vaughan brings Catlin's journeys to life and reveals his keen understanding of indigenous cultures, he offers timely perspective on an important chapter in post-Lewis and Clark American history. ( 180 min ) ^ Top
Sat, Apr 5, 2008 at 1 PM	THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR: A STUDY IN EXTREMES DIRECTOR: THOMAS VAUGHAN US The Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) was the first major conflict of the modern age. From the onset it received huge, largely inaccurate, press coverage when it became apparent that a new Asian power might overturn a European army considered the strongest in the world. During the preceding decade Russia had completed the 8,000 mile long Trans-Siberian Railway. Needing a naval base to support her Pacific fleet, China was pressured to lease strategic Port Arthur on the tip of the Manchurian peninsula. Russia's expansionist activities ran counter to Japan's emerging sense of regional power and destiny, recently stirred by a victory over China and co-equal recognition in the spoils of the (1900-1901) Boxer Rebellion. A surprise attack carried out by Japanese torpedo boats started a long and bloody siege of the port, which culminated, after nearly a quarter of a million casualties, in a costly recognition of Japan as a world power. As in his earlier films, Vaughan's analysis of far-ranging events is a military historian's delight. Vaughan connects obscure dots between "forgotten" events of a century ago that still inform our geo-politics; and, insofar as it is possible, offers some understanding of the intricate mysteries of war. ( 118 min ) ^ Top