The captions in [brackets], whenever possible, include labels from the original item in “quotation marks.” We add estimated dates and other details. For best viewing experience, choose the 720p or higher setting on the player.
Amateur filmmaker Betty Stefenel (Jan. 2, 1913 – Aug. 1980) was from San Mateo, Morgan Hill, San Jose, and other cities in the peninsular part of the Bay Area. Stefenel picked up a “Bolex L-8”, “Cine-Kodak Mode E Sixteen” and other cameras to shoot small gauge films — starting in her mid-30s — from the late 1940s until at least the ’70s. She was a charter member and eventually program director of Peninsula Home Movies Unlimited (PHMU) club, a regional chapter of the Amateur Cinema League.
She was also a delegate from her group to the Northern California Council of Amateur Movie Clubs and served the Council as editor of its Filming For Fun Quarterly. (“Closeups — What Filmers Are Doing,” Movie Makers, June 1951, p204.) We have acquired a great many of her amateur films and home movies which, often in narrative form, cover domestic scenes and self-portraiture, club meetings and activities, her husband Anthony at work at a rock and gem shop, her friends and family, the circus, and very enthusiastically experimented with handmade titles with little asides, illustrations, stock footage, and even some unusual film stocks such as Dynacolor and 8mm film onto which she added magnetic striping for soundtracks. This was years before, for example, Kodak released Super 8mm film with magnetic soundtracks and made the practice more common.
At least one of her films (Tik Tok Said the Clock) won a PHMU award in the uncut/unedited 16mm category in 1950, and she produced at least four films which were distributed to other club members: This is Christmas, Dissolves, What! No Dessert?, Tik Tok Said the Clock and Closeups v. Chatter (which has been digitized). Since acquiring more of her films, to that list we might add the tiles Pie and Cake.] [Note:In fall 2023, UCLA Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) graduate students Jackie Forsyte, Gabz Norte, and Daniella D’Acquisto, inspected, cleaned, and digitized a selection of six films. See their work — BS#2, BS#3, BS#5, BS#6, BS#7, and BS#8 — on this page. Update 2025:California Revealed has supported the digitization and preservation of seven Stefenel films, and three will be chemically preserved and digitized with the support of the National Film Preservation Foundation. We also started paying to digitize some of her more “straightforward” home movies.]
Amateur Films
BS#2. [Pictures of Me I Wouldn’t Show to A Dog, ca. 1949.] 8mm. B/W & Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. Playful self-portraiture (with some shot by friend “Rosemarie”) of Betty hamming it up around and outside the house. Singing, dancing, making faces, doing a silly Chaplin “Tramp” walk, self-deprecating intertitles and more. Summary written by board member Sean Savage.
BS#3. [Memories ofEden Movie Makers Picnic 1951.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. Documentation of an outdoor amateur movie club picnic, shot in muted (or lousy) Dynacolor, as a title card explains. Betty’s footage is augmented by shots from other club members, some seen in action with their cameras and tripods. There’s also a staged skit involving an outhouse and a comically large roll of toilet paper. Summary written by board member Sean Savage.
BS#6. [“PHMU Club News Reel 1949 to Oct. 1950.”] 8mm. B/W and Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. Title cards for ACL (Amateur Cinema League) and Betty Productions, friends Catherine and Nick Zarevich come for a visit, they drive away, title card: The End. New reel, “all around sportsman” Ferdinand Barni with Rudy, Ronald, and Tony Stefenel; men teach the boys how to hold a hunting rifle, they look for game; Tony and Ferdinand talk it over, title card: The End. Description written by volunteer Rio Maropis.
BS#7. [“Album ‘59-60,” “(2nd Filming for Fun) Fiesta Script,” and Outtakes from 1953 and Otherwise.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. Outtakes and other “Reel Clippings” from various Stefenel films. Glimpsed are a white Chihuahua with a turtle, kittens and chickens feeding together, classic silent movie excerpts shot from a television screen, stray title cards, and much material from the 2nd “Filming for Fun” Fiesta for amateur moviemakers, held in San Francisco, 1958. Summary written by board member Sean Savage.
BS#8. [Our Circle of Friends, 1947-1949.] 8mm. B/W & Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. Title cards for ACL (Amateur Cinema League) and Betty Productions, friends Catherine and Nick Zarevich come for a visit, they drive away, title card: The End. New reel, “all around sportsman” Ferdinand Barni with Rudy, Ronald, and Tony Stefenel; men teach the boys how to hold a hunting rifle, they look for game; Tony and Ferdinand talk it over, title card: The End. Description written by volunteer Rio Maropis.
BS#5. [Closeups vs Chatter, January 1951.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. After a number of opening titles, Betty introduces the very tools she used to make the film (titler, telephoto lens, extension tubes, pocette); she interjects footage of herself, with intertitles, asking audience members to please be quiet or there will be consequences!; plants and pets examined up close; a kitty with different-colored eyes, a “nosey” dog, leaves, petals, dirt; fur, eyes, beaks, and noses; close ups of pointing fingers and shushing lips, too. Description written by volunteer Rio Maropis.
BS#65. [“Cake,” May 1952.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. In this short amateur film Betty Stefenel’s son, Ronald, sneaks off with a cake fresh out of the oven, and his brother Rudy catches him outside with it and snaps a picture. Ronald pays Rudy for the camera to destroy the image, and the story continues as they swap places. Betty makes an appearance at the end. The filmmaker includes handcrafted titles throughout, including instructions for viewing — most likely for distributing to other members of local chapters of the Amateur Cinema League. This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#102. [“Pie,” June 6, 1952.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. In this short amateur film, the Stefenel boys (Ronald and Rudy) bake a handmade pie…once the pie is finished and he’s had a taste, Rudy throws it in Ronald’s face. The boys switch places and the story continues… Includes handmade titles and transitions. There’s a note stating that Peninsula Home Movies Unlimited awarded her first prize in the uncut/unedited 16mm category on June 6, 1952, but we cannot yet confirm. The years seems correct based on the boys’ approximate ages here. [This film includes a handwritten note: “Instructions to Projectionist. This film has quite a bit of black leader on it. Some projectors require more than others. Get past black leader before turning light on — color film. Disregard the magnetic stripe – no sound has been put on it. If possible, play some slapstick type of music with it.”] This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#43. [“Vincent Catalano, Jr., June 6, 1948.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. This home movie is about a birthday party for a little boy, Vincent Catalano, Jr. The filmmaker includes handcrafted titles to explain the narrative and identify the people on screen. The last minute is the Stefenels’ drive home. This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#52. [“She Dood It,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color. Sound. Betty Stefenel collection. In this amateur film, Stefenel documents her hilarious attempts to cover her dining room walls with wallpaper. The filmmaker includes handcrafted opening and closing titles. This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#75. [At Patio Coffee Shop, June 1948.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. In this very short amateur film, Betty Stefenel captures the proprietors of her favorite local “Patio Coffee Shop” in San Mateo (Calif.) at work. She includes handcrafted titles to open the film and to identify people onscreen (Joe and Mrs. Joe!) This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#105. [“Tik Tok Said the Clock,” ca. 1950.] 16mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#10. [“My First Movie, Part 2,” late 1940s.] 8mm. Color. Silent. Betty Stefenel collection. In this amateur short, Betty Stefenel documents her husband, Tony, at his rock and gem shop helping customers, her sons Rudy and Ronald attempting to build a dog house, the patient dogs and pet monkey (!), her sister Rosemarie, and a bit of self-portraiture. The filmmaker again includes handcrafted titles to explain the narrative and identify the people on screen — the titles get pretty crazy at the end. This film has been digitized and preserved thanks to a generous grant from California Revealed, which was supported at the time by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
BS#82. [“Engelbert Humperdinck at Circle Star Theatre, Oct. (16, 1972), Sign- Morty Gunty, Closeups.”] 8mm. Color. Silent. The Circle Star Theatre was a famous circular, rotating-stage venue in San Carlos, California, active from 1964 to 1993.
BS#83. [“1971 (July 31, 1970) Tom Jones at The Cow Palace.”] 8mm. Color. Silent.
BS#69. [“Mountain View Memories,” 1950s.] 8mm. Color & B/W. Silent. Further description forthcoming.
BS#47. [“My Favorite Shots {…} Mother’s Hobby {…} My Movie Oddities {…} Our Children at Play {…}, ca. 1949-1951.] 8mm. Color & B/W. Silent. Includes a local amateur cinema club meeting. Further description forthcoming.
Coming Attractions
Coming soon!:
BS#37. [“We Drive to Aunt Helen’s (at Corte Madera). Filmed April 1948.”] 8mm. B/W & color/tinting. Sound. Digitization and preservation supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
BS#15. [“Xmas Memories 1954.”] 8mm. Color. Sound. Digitization and preservation supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
BS#50. [“Monterey Memories,” May 1953.] 8mm. Color. Sound. Digitization and preservation supported by a grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation.
