Before the TV was commonplace, people saw the news at their local
movie theaters. Newsreels were shown before feature films and at
dedicated newsreel movie theaters in larger cities.These vintage
Universal Newsreel collections are a way to glimpse special events
of the past.
A note on quality: Newsreels were not preserved with the same care
as much other old film footage. Although most of the footage is
of very good quality, this collection may have portions that are
silent or have degraded audio or video.
This collection includes the years of 1939, 1940 and 1941 and has
a run time of 1 hour 28 minutes.
Some of the news items covered in this collection include: Prime
Minister Chamberlain declares a state of war exists; Hitler's war
machine rolls into Poland; King George and Queen Elizabeth leave
London on the start of their trip to Canada and the U.S.; Strongly
condemning the Nazi invasion of Holland and Belgium, President Roosevelt
tells the 8th American Scientific Congress that the Americas are
shocked and angered by Hitler's newest attack; Queen Elizabeth is
an interested spectator at a colorful parade of 'Wats,' Women Auxiliary
Territorial Service units; Historic scenes as the first peace-time
draft in the U.S. gets underway; Gen. John J. Pershing, says the
'Allies are fighting a war for civilization' and urges the country
to send them unlimited supplies of planes, arms and ammunition;
Pres. Roosevelt tells the United States that it must be on guard
against enemy agents and spies; Pres.Roosevelt requests an additional
Billion Dollars for defense; President Roosevelt purchases the first
'defense' bond from Treasury Secretary Morgenthau; Prime Minister
Churchill gets warm welcome from hardy Icelanders as he arrives
on 'Prince of Wales.' ; Nazi Germany and Red Russia, are engaged
in a life-and-death struggle along 2,000 miles of frontier; Santo
Tomas Prisoners Liberated; and much more
Here are some sample clips from the DVD
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