Blackhawk Films

Blackhawk Films
Company type	Private
Industry	Film distribution
Predecessor	Eastin Pictures
Founded	1927
Founder	Kent D. Eastin
Defunct	1987
Fate	Purchased by Republic Pictures in 1985; film sales discontinued and facility closed by 1987
Headquarters	Davenport, United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Kent D. Eastin, Martin D. Phelan, David Shepard (vice president)
Products	Motion pictures on 16mm, 8mm, and Super 8 formats; video editions from 1981
Number of employees	Over 90
Parent	Republic Pictures (from 1985)

Blackhawk Films, which operated from the 1950s through the early 1980s, specialized in distributing motion pictures on 16mm, 8mm, and Super 8 formats. Their collection included classic one- and two-reel short subject comedies featuring legendary performers such as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton. In addition to comedies, Blackhawk offered newsreels, documentaries, and silent feature films. With the emergence of the video industry in the early 1980s, Blackhawk began producing video editions in 1981 and gradually discontinued film production over the following years. The company was purchased by Republic Pictures in 1985, after which archivist David Shepard acquired its film assets.

History of Blackhawk Films

Originally established in 1927 as Eastin Pictures by Kent D. Eastin, the enterprise initially focused on creating movie advertisements, local newsreels, and distributing independent 35 mm theatrical prints for home projection. Eastin ran operations from his family residence in Galesburg, Illinois before moving to Davenport, Iowa in 1932 to take advantage of the growing market for 16mm sound films, operating a rental library until television's rise caused demand to decline in 1957. Davenport was also notable as the location of Victor Animatograph Corporation, an early innovator in motion picture technology.

In 1947, Martin D. Phelan partnered with Eastin, bringing experience from Montgomery Ward. The Blackhawk brand initially appeared as a side business focused on selling used 16mm prints acquired from entities such as British Information Services and Mills Panoram Soundies. Beginning monthly mail-order catalogs in 1949, Blackhawk sold more than 2.5 million used films before ceasing this operation in 1981.

By 1952, Blackhawk began issuing its own licensed releases on 8mm and 16mm under the "Collector Series" label, including silent works by Laurel and Hardy from Hal Roach Studios and Keystone comedies authorized by Roy Aitken. The company broadened its catalog to encompass vintage comedies, dramas, westerns, musicals, documentaries, serials, and cartoons—setting itself apart by offering full theatrical titles rather than excerpts like competitors such as Castle Films and Official Films.

Blackhawk appealed to aficionados of silent cinema by reintroducing films starring figures like Art Acord, Theda Bara, and Lloyd Hamilton. Its "Blackhawk Bulletin" catalog regularly promoted up to eighteen new monthly titles. Equipped with an internal restoration department comparable to major archives and employing over ninety staff members housed in a historic building, Blackhawk served roughly 125,000 customers. Prominent content suppliers included Fox Movietone News, silent-film revivalist Paul Killiam, National Telefilm Associates, and Hal Roach Studios. Rare materials were also sourced from private collectors for reissue.

From the late 1960s onward, preservationist David Shepard worked alongside Eastin to archive Blackhawk’s original prints at the Library of Congress. Joining Blackhawk’s team in 1973, Shepard directed restoration efforts including the twelve Mutual comedies (1916–17) by Charlie Chaplin, later advancing to vice president.

In 1975, with expanding Super 8 and 16mm markets, Eastin and Phelan sold Blackhawk to Lee Enterprises, a media company based in Davenport. However, escalating silver prices increased film processing expenses significantly, driving many collectors toward new home video technologies. Lee Enterprises’ emphasis on mail-order sales combined with investments in Betamax and RCA’s CED format led to financial difficulties.

Eventually, Lee Enterprises returned ownership of Blackhawk to its management team until it was acquired by Republic Pictures in 1985. Republic discontinued film sales and shuttered the Davenport facility by 1987.

Shepard’s Film Preservation Associates obtained Blackhawk’s film library to continue restoring silent-era classics. Although sales of film prints declined sharply, Shepard produced custom-made new 16mm prints for dedicated collectors until announcing the end of this service in July 2007. He then focused exclusively on video restoration work until his passing in 2017. Today, the Blackhawk Films/Film Preservation Associates Collection is preserved at the Academy Film Archive under ownership of Paris-based Lobster Films.

Blackhawk Films Catalogs

Numerous catalogs have been issued over the years, with the majority now digitized and available for viewing through the USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive.

External links

"The Story of Blackhawk Films" authored by Mark Roth
"Georges Méliès titles featured in the Blackhawk anthologies" by Spencer Sundell