This brief silent film, a home movie from 1958, follows a young cadet and his visiting family members at the notable Virginia Military Institute; (VMI). VMI is a public senior military college situated in Lexington, Virginia founded in 1839. It is the US’s first state military college and the oldest public senior military college in the US. The institute has pumped out a few prominent commanders including WWII’s George C. Marshall and David M. Maddox.
The film opens noting the name of a graduating cadet (:20). His school portrait follows in an ornate gold frame (:24). The inscription on the Parapet of the institute is zoomed in on (:39). The camera pans over the walls of the institute with vines growing up (:42). Cadets mill along the bottom of the screen. The statue pictured to the right bottom of the screen is of Stonewall Jackson (:59). This statue was the topic of much debate and has since been removed from the campus in 2020. The camera moves over the sprawling campus (1:38) littered with trees. A cadet marches through the center (2:05) rifle butt in hand guarding the grounds. Cadets march in drills with Virginia mountains in the background (2:11). A cadet, presumably the young boy named Leonard from the beginning of the film stands with his mother and father for photograph (3:26). He shakes hands with his peer (3:41). The young cadet’s yearbook follows (3:45). Foggy morning footage show cadets reading for a practice football game (4:31). The day falls to evening and the stadium is packed for a game (4:46). The VMI tank platoon practices maneuvers in mock battle exercise (5:31). The Piasecki H-21 Shawnee touches down (6:00). This craft was the fourth of a line of tandem rotor helicopters built by Piasecki Helicopter; later known as Boeing Vertol. It was playfully known as the ‘flying banana’. The Sikorsky H-34 S-58 helicopter follows (6:07). It lifts an Army Jeep from the ground displaying its lifting capabilities (6:19). Armed cadets touch down and spill from the helicopter (6:47). Family members visit VMI (7:09). Cadets march in all white uniform (7:57). Two female family members pose for photograph in front of a curing highway and sloping hills (8:41). The film begins to conclude as the air and lands turn snowy white with thick fog (8:58). Small waterfalls cut through the wooded area around the campus (9:19).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com