In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Robbins Barstow (October 24, 1919-November 7, 2010), the Center for Home Movies would like to pay tribute to our friend, mentor and former Advisory Board member. Robbins made films for eight decades and was a life-long advocate for amateur filmmaking and public access television (among many other causes). CHM first met him when he brought some of his films to show at Home Movie Day in Boston. He then allowed us to include his film Tarzan and the Rocky Gorge—made in 1936 when he was 16 years old–on our DVD Living Room Cinema. Always eager to find new audiences for his films, he uploaded many of them to Archive.org, including Disneyland Dream, which was named to the National Film Registry in 2008. Before his death he donated many of the films Barstow Travel Adventure Collection to the Center for Home Movies. They were then transferred to the Library of Congress, which already held a large collection of his films. He donated several of his films to NYU and Northeast Historic Film.
Robbins Barstow was a pre-eminent home movie maker of the pre-digital era. He took advantage of–and was constrained by–the nature of 16mm film to use narrated home movies to tell family stories that entertain and inform a wider audience than just the family. This recording of a presentation by his son Dr. David Barstow and Kimberly Tarr of NYU at the 2019 Northeast Historic Film Symposium describes his films, his career, and his craft.
Robbins Barstow Filmography
| Date | Title |
| 1930s | Recreational New England Sailboating in the 1930s |
| 1932-1934 | 1930’s Barstow family film frolics |
| 1935 | Work and play at the Poultry Farm of Charles H. Buck in Naples, Maine |
| 1936 | The adventure of the galloping geese |
| 1936 | Tarzan and the Rocky Gorge [also 1974 sequel, 2005 about production] |
| 1941 | The Abbakadabba Coopno |
| 1942 | Honeymoon capers |
| 1942-1951 | The way we started out |
| 1943 | Everyone’s Coming to the Guild |
| 1943 | Hudson Guild Farm |
| 1944 | Youth and the Future |
| 1944 | Youth and the Future (w/ narration) |
| 1951-1961 | Barstow family early film chronicles II: When we were very young |
| 1954-1959 | Family camping through 48 states. Part I, America’s history |
| 1956 | Disneyland dream: A true-life Barstow family adventure [also 2009 about production] |
| 1960-1961 | Family camping through 48 states. Part II, America’s wonderlands |
| 1961-1969 | Barstow family early film chronicles III: Teen years in Wethersfield |
| 1962 | Seattle World’s Fair; Olympic National Park |
| 1966-1968 | Eastern Canada; Montreal Expo |
| 1967 | Dream trip |
| 1970 | Haiti; Puerto Rico |
| 1970-1995 | Austin odyssey (short) |
| 1970-1995 | Austin odyssey (4 hours) |
| 1971 | Hawaii |
| 1972 | European Odyssey |
| 1973 | Florida; A mid-winter day’s dream |
| 1973 | Alaska |
| 1973 | Baja boat trip |
| 1974 | Colombia Sojourn |
| 1974 | The Return of Tarzan & The Lost, Last Whale |
| 1975 | California; Nantucket |
| 1976 | The Building of “Conny” |
| 1976 | Breathtaking Britain |
| 1977 | Bermuda |
| 1978 | Adventures with African wildlife |
| 1978 | Seychelles |
| 1979 | Colombia |
| 1982 | Spectacular Norway and Sweden. A Scandinavian summer |
| 1985 | Come with Us to China! |
| 1985 | Eyewitness to Extinction: The Chinese River Dolphin |
| 1986 | Whalewatching Adventures in Baja California |
| 1988 | Around the World in Forty Days |
| 1990 | Neighborhood Backyard Gathering |
| 1991 | The Quest for the Great Sperm Whale |
| 1991 | Stan Hugill – legendary shantyman |
| 1992 | Fete fantastique |
| 1992 | On location with French art |
| 1992 | Don Sineti sings for whales in Heidelberg |
| 1992 | Touring Paris with two grandchildren |
| 1992 | Why Whales? |
| 1992 | Heidelberg and Whales, with Folksinger Don Sinetti |
| 1994 | The International Whaling Commission: Two Historic Meetings |
| 1994 | Mary Elizabeth “Cedar” Barstow |
| 1994 | Cedar Barstow’s 50th birthday celebration |
| 1996 | The happiness equation |
| 1996 | “Conny” gets a spout |
| 1996 | The humpbacks of Trinity Bay. Newfoundland whale adventures |
| 1996 | The heroic mold of Douglas Fairbanks |
| 1997 | 1997 Austin graduation milestones |
| 1998 | Rediscovering Paul Robeson |
| 1998 | Jason Pierre Padilla Barstow |
| 1998 | African American art and artist Jacob Lawrence |
| 1998 | The Fun of Public Access Television |
| 1998 | Paul Robeson – a black American hero for all humanity |
| 1998 | Two narrative poems: “The Creation” and “The Highwayman” |
| 1999 | Robbins Barstow’s 80th birthday celebration |
| 1999 | Fourscore years. Filmed recollections of a full life |
| 2000 | The mystical vistas of Monument Valley |
| 2000 | Nature’s greatest movie set |
| 2001 | Heritage Sunday |
| 2001 | Happy Birthday to Meg |
| 2001 | Portrait of a wondrous woman – a celebration of Margaret Vanderbeek’s 80th year |
| 2002 | Twenty years of international outreach |
| 2002 | “Twas the Night Before Christmas” |
| 2003 | The gift of years – aging creatively in America |
| 2003 | Teen years in Wethersfield |
| 2003-2004 | R.O.O.F. takes to the airways |
| 2004 | Paul Rogers Barstow |
| 2004 | Scenes from the childhood years of Suzanna Lin Barstow |
| 2005 | Fascinating forbears – ten generations of Vanderbeeks in America |
| 2005 | The Making of Robbins Barstow’s 1936 “Tarzan” Home Movie |
| 2006 | Our hidden heritage – women artists |
| 2006 | Next generations – first visit of baby “Meg” to “Fairacre” in Wethersfield |
| 2007 | Wethersfield live |
| 2007 | Moving images at Culpeper |
| 2007 | A home movie for the librarian |
| 2007 | Windows on Earth |
| 2008 | Video memories of Victor Padilla |
| 2008 | We remember family and our home |
| 2008 | Barstow family homegathering Christmas |
| 2009 | No wonder to compare |
| 2009 | Edmonia Lewis – African American Native American sculpture |
| 2009 | A new roof for “Fairacre” |
| 2009 | Home movies segment from Ken Burns’ PBS series The National Parks: America’s Best Idea |
| 2009 | The making of Disneyland Dream. Family recollections fifty-three years later |
| 2009 | Family Perspectives on a Full Life |
| 2010 | John Barstow Film Chronicles, 1921-1983 |
| 2010 | Robbins Barstow Memorial Service* |
| 2011, 2015 | Disneyland Dream Revisited* |
| 2015 | Disneyland Dream Revisited Again* |
| 2019 | The Craft of Robbins Barstow* |
* Produced by David Barstow