San Francisco California-1953: Cargo Ship Sailing Past Rolling Mountains on Coastline

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

Year1952
Decade1950s
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
Duration5s
Price$149 USD
Collection1952 San Francisco California

$149 · CommercialDirect license: commercial and editorial use

$149 USD flat · royalty-free worldwide · 4K restored master (MP4)

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Stockfilm licenses the rights identified in the applicable agreement. Additional use-specific review may be required. See the Licensing Guide and Archive Integrity.

Cargo Ship Sailing Past Rolling Mountains on Coastline — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1953, this vintage home movie captures a large cargo ship sailing across a deep blue sea, viewed from a moving perspective. The vessel glides past a rugged coastline with rolling mountains under a clear sky, its silhouette standing out against the water. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain and color shifts, with a distinct blue tint and soft focus, evoking a nostalgic mid-century travel memory. The scene suggests a coastal journey, possibly near San Francisco, with the ship navigating calm waters near a distant port. This archival clip offers authentic 1950s maritime footage for documentaries, historical projects, or nostalgic content.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 5s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 123344930

Rights & Clearance

$149 · Commercial Direct license: commercial and editorial use. $149 flat from Stockfilm. Royalty-free worldwide license for commercial and editorial use, delivered as the restored 4K master.

No recognizable people, logos, or music are flagged. Lower-risk for commercial use, subject to your own review.

People visible: No
Logos / trademarks: No
Audible music: No

Flags come from automated catalog metadata, not a legal opinion. The source is an original 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie reel. For high-stakes commercial use, request a full rights review.

Source & Documentation

Source reel: Reel 1234 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: miss universe
Reel-level year note: 1952
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1952 Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Date evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level note shows the same year, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Location: San Francisco, California, United States Estimated (Catalog estimate from the footage and file metadata; not independently confirmed.)
Location evidence: Catalog estimate. A reel-level location note is linked, but the clip-to-reel link is itself a catalog match, so this is not counted as independent confirmation.
Licensing route: Direct license available from Stockfilm

Confidence labels are defined on Archive Integrity. Fields without a recorded value are shown as not recorded rather than assumed.

View source reel context Open Clip Documentation Record Request source information

Topics & Keywords

Archive Intelligence

Archive brief fit: 1950s 8mm maritime footage for documentary inserts about coastal travel, cargo shipping, or a mid-century San Francisco Bay journey.
Period detail: The clip may show a mid-century cargo vessel passing a mountainous shoreline, with no visible modern signage, vehicles, or skyline details to narrow the date beyond the provided 1952 metadata.
Home-movie behavior: The camera watches from a moving vantage point, giving the scene the unstaged feel of a traveler filming a ship and coastline from across open water.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include a dark cargo ship, deep blue water, hazy mountain ridges, pale sky, distant shoreline structures, and black film-frame borders.
Film character: The 8mm scan has soft focus, blue color shift, visible grain, slight exposure variation, and contact-sheet framing that preserve its physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use this as a maritime cutaway, coastal transition, travel-memory beat, or visual bridge between port, ocean, and shoreline material.
Historical context: The footage places a working cargo ship within a scenic coastal setting, suggesting everyday maritime movement observed through a private travel film rather than official documentation.
Research note: No people, logos, or readable marks are visible, but ship identity, location certainty, copyright status, and any vessel-related permissions should be reviewed separately.
Research search match: Useful search matches include 1950s 8mm cargo ship, San Francisco Bay home movie, vintage coastal shipping, blue sea mountains, and mid-century maritime travel footage.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with adjacent shots from the same reel, then other 1952 San Francisco or Bay Area coastal footage, then broader 1950s ships, harbors, and ocean-travel scenes.

Still Frames From This Clip

A large dark cargo ship moves across blue water near a mountainous shoreline, consistent with the supplied 1952 San Francisco-area metadata. — Cargo ship seen in profile against blue water and distant mountain ridges.

The vessel appears in a darker silhouette against deep blue water, with hazy coastal mountains beyond it in the 1950s home-movie frame. — A silhouetted cargo vessel passes in front of a hazy mountainous coast.

A dark ship is partially framed along the lower edge of the shot, with blue water and distant mountains visible behind it. — Part of the ship crosses the foreground as the camera looks toward the coast.

Only the right portion of the vessel remains in frame as the camera view opens onto blue water and a mountainous shoreline. — The cargo ship exits the frame beside open water and distant mountains.

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