There are very few complete game films out there from earlier games. I think the oldest one I've heard of was the one from 1960 recently discovered in Bing Crosbys wine cellar.
Most broadcasts were local, and seldom had copies made. That was done by kinescope, basically filming the tv screen. Weekly shows used highlight reels.
The change to televising many games came roughly at the same time as the changeover to broadcasts being on tape rather than film. And even the high quality broadcast tapes don't hold up well.
Add to that the issues with the actual films. Many places threw the films out to save space. Plus starting in the early 50's Kodak sold a cheaper color film stock that loses color, eventually changing to a pinkish version of black and white. They finally changed to something better around 1981-2, but the film systems that didn't fade(Technicolor, Kodachrome) were mostly gone from commercial use by the late 60's and ended in the US in 1974 - Kodachrome was out of favor for commercial products much earlier.
Even finding good quality prints of common films can be difficult, I have one of the Coke World Series Highlight films in Technicolor, but it's the only one I've seen.
Steve B
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