San Francisco California-1939: Pair Of Ships Approaching Sea Port On A Clear

$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.

Year1939
Decade1930s
LocationSan Francisco, California, United States
Duration6s
Price$149 USD
Collection1939 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.

Pair Of Ships Approaching Sea Port On A Clear — Clip Details

Shot on 8mm film in 1939, this vintage home movie captures a hazy view of a naval port in San Francisco. Two large warships approach the harbor, their silhouettes visible through the fog. In the foreground, industrial buildings and a crane line the waterfront, with parked cars and scattered debris suggesting a working dock. The footage exhibits classic Super 8 grain and film imperfections, offering a nostalgic glimpse of mid-century maritime activity.

Licensing & Technical Details

Original Format: 8mm / Super 8 Home Movie
Shot details: Exterior
Resolution: 4K restored master (MP4)
License: Direct license: commercial and editorial use
Delivery: Instant Digital Download
Duration: 6s
Price: $149 USD
Clip ID: 127270206

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 1166 · 8mm · 5″ reel
Original reel label: may
Reel-level year note: 1939
Reel-level location note: california
Date: 1939 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: Useful for 1930s documentary or educational edits needing San Francisco waterfront, harbor approach, or naval-port atmosphere from original 8mm home-movie footage.
Period detail: The waterfront buildings, parked cars, crane, and distant ship silhouettes may show late-1930s industrial harbor activity in San Francisco.
Home-movie behavior: The clip has a visitor-shot vantage from above the waterfront, watching ships and dock activity without staged action or direct human subjects.
What appears in frame: Visible elements include distant ships on the bay, low industrial waterfront buildings, a dockside crane, parked cars, utility poles, open water, haze, and film-frame edges.
Film character: The 8mm scan carries soft focus, gray tonal range, visible grain, gate shadow, and slight exposure variation that read as physical home-movie texture.
Edit role: An editor could use it as a brief establishing insert, maritime cutaway, transition into a port sequence, or quiet memory beat for prewar San Francisco.
Historical context: The view places large vessels against a working waterfront, suggesting everyday maritime infrastructure rather than a ceremonial or newsreel-style scene.
Research note: No people, brands, or logos are apparent, but vessel identity, military context, copyright status, and any property issues should be checked for intended use.
Research search match: Matches searches for 1939 San Francisco harbor 8mm footage, distant ships approaching port, naval waterfront home movie, and vintage Bay Area dock views.
Archive pairing path: Pair first with other shots from the same reel, then with San Francisco 1939 waterfront material, then with broader 1930s harbor, ship, and port footage.

Still Frames From This Clip

1939 San Francisco harbor view with distant ship silhouettes, dockside buildings, a crane, and parked cars seen through 8mm grain. — Distant vessels approach beyond a working San Francisco waterfront with industrial buildings and a crane in the foreground.

A distant vessel sits on hazy San Francisco Bay beyond low port buildings, a road, and scattered waterfront structures. — A ship silhouette appears offshore behind low port buildings and a waterfront road.

1939 San Francisco waterfront frame showing a long industrial building with a distant ship silhouette across the hazy bay. — A long waterfront building fills the foreground while a distant ship is visible through haze on the bay.

Hazy 1939 San Francisco harbor view with two distant ship silhouettes beyond low port buildings and open dockside ground. — Two distant vessels are visible beyond the waterfront, with low buildings and open dockside ground in front.

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