No one ever asks for or respects my opinion, yet I still offer it unsolicited.  This time, I want to bring up (back?) the topic of archival footage appearances.

I'm of the mind that credits that originate from archival footage should not be included unless the credits specifically address them.  I've seen two submissions today that include Adolf Hitler.

I'm not sure what Hitler's thespian aspirations were; but I know that he made many televised appearances; none of which were intended for inclusion into films like Pearl Harbor.  I personally believe that unless someone was hired for a specific role, or even as an extra, they have no place in the uncredited cast list of any film.

What do you guys think?

Generally speaking, it would seem rather silly to credit every archival face that appears in a documentary, or what have you.  I can offer at least one example of an exception that seemed best to handle with archival credits.

I recently did cast and crew for a film called The World of Abbott and Costello.  Now the credits consisted of basically a narrator, editor and producer.  The entire movie was comprised of various comedy sketches featured in their various films, edited together.  The narrator sets up each scene or injected humorous anecdotes along the way.  However, outside of the title, neither Abbott nor Costello were formally credited, regardless of the fact that they appear in almost every frame of film.  In this particular case, it seemed ridiculous to me not to give credit to the primary performers being featured.

I don't see the real value of archival footage credits, unless they are actually credited in the film. Documentaries/Propaganda/Historical such as Triumph of the Will are another matter.

If Adolf Hitler was given a credit for every film he's ever been "shown in", then he'd have one hell of an acting career behind him.

Quoting 8ballMax:

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Quoting Katatonia:

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I don't see the real value of archival footage credits, unless they are actually credited in the film. Documentaries/Propaganda/Historical such as Triumph of the Will are another matter.

If Adolf Hitler was given a credit for every film he's ever been "shown in", then he'd have one hell of an acting career behind him.

Right.  And just who would get the residuals for those credits?

I understand there's a post office box in Venezuela that gets a lot of A. Hitler mail.. 

Well the rules don't offically disallow (archive footage) cast like they do with (scenes deleted) cast.  When it comes to these types of cast best to just let the contributor make their case for why they should be included and leave it up to the voters and screeners to decied.

I would say wait for the DVD to come out, and see what the end credits say.