TV VOID » Newsreels

A Day Called X (1958)

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:50 +0000

A Day Called ‘X’ was a dramatized CBS documentary set in Portland, Oregon in which the entire city is evacuated in anticipation of a nuclear air raid, after Soviet bombers had been detected by radar stations to the north; it details the activation of the city’s civil defense protocols and leads up to the moment before the attack (the ending is left intentionally unknown). It was filmed in September 1957 and aired December 8 of that year. It was presented by Glenn Ford.

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This is particularly interesting to me because I grew up in Portland in the 1960′s. The city has sure changed a lot. There might have been a half million people in Portland back in those days. That’s about 3 million now.

Airpower at Khe Sanh (1968)

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:27:19 +0000

This is an Vietnam era Air Force film about the Marine fire base at Khe Sanh, which was supported by OPERATION NIAGARA in early 1968, which supplied 24,000 tactical sorties and 2,700 B-52 sorties. Airpower dropped over 110,000 tons of bombs on the enemy over a two-month period. This allowed 1 battalion of South Vietnamese and US troops to repel three battalions of NVA and Chinese.

Atomic Annie (1955)

admin — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 08:28:03 +0000

“Atomic Annie” or “Amazon Annie” was a 280mm cannon capable of delivering a 15-20 kiloton nuclear weapon to a range of about 40 miles. I need one of these for my yard.

The W19 was an American Nuclear artillery shell, derived from the earlier W9 shell. The W19 is fired from a special 11 inch howitzer. It was introduced in 1955 and retired in 1963.

The W19 was 11 inches in diameter, 54 inches long, and weighed 600 pounds. It had a yield of 15-20 kilotons.

Chevrolet Leader News

admin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:00:56 +0000

Here’s some Chevy-centric short films from Chevrolet called Chevrolet Leader News. News items. One piece bathing beauties. Classic 1930′s Chevy Cars. It’s a blast from the past.

Despotism (1946)

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:00:17 +0000

Despotism examines how a country becomes a despotate.Â It explains how societies and nations can be measured by the degree that power is concentrated and respect for the individual is restricted. Where does your community, state and nation stand on these scales?

Edison Newsreels: San Francisco Earthquake aftermath (1906)

admin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:25:06 +0000

The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 A.M. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.8; however, other values have been proposed from 7.7 to as high as 8.25. The main shock epicenter occurred offshore about 2 miles (3 km) from the city, near Mussel Rock. It ruptured along the San Andreas Fault both northward and southward for a total length of 296 miles (477 km). Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and inland as far as central Nevada. The earthquake and resulting fire is remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. The death toll from the earthquake and resulting fire, estimated to be above 3,000, represents the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California’s history. The economic impact has been compared with the more recent Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (2008)

admin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:08:11 +0000

The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly named the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, or GLAST) is a space observatory being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations from low Earth orbit. Its main instrument is the Large Area Telescope (LAT), with which astronomers mostly intend to perform an all-sky survey studying astrophysical and cosmological phenomena such as active galactic nuclei, pulsars, other high-energy sources and dark matter. Another instrument aboard GLAST, the GLAST Burst Monitor (GBM), is being used to study gamma ray bursts.

GLAST was launched 2008-06-11 at 16:05 GMT aboard a Delta II 7920-H rocket. The mission is a joint venture of NASA, the United States Department of Energy, and government agencies in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden. NASA announced 2008-02-08 that it was seeking a new name that would, “capture the excitement of GLAST’s mission and call attention to gamma-ray and high-energy astronomy.”

This is a multipart playlist of about 25 minutes.

Jackie Kennedy Whitehouse Tour (1962)

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:10:06 +0000

Jacqueline “Jackie” Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was the wife of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. She was later married to Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis from 1968 until his death in 1975. In later years she had a successful career as a book editor.

Marihuana (1936)

admin — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:51:50 +0000

Aka “Marihuana, the Devil’s Weed” or “Marihuana, the Weed with Roots in Hell!”. “A young girl slowly becomes a dope pusher.” Directed by … Dwain Esper, written by Hildegarde Stadie and Rex Elgin.

In the United States, the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, Pub. 238, 75th Congress, 50 Stat. 551 (Aug. 2, 1937), was one of the cornerstone bills that led to the criminalization of cannabis. It was introduced to U.S. Congress by Harry Anslinger, then Commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.

The act did not itself criminalize the possession or usage of cannabis, but levied a tax equaling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. It did, however, include penalty provisions. Violations of proper procedure could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years’ imprisonment. The net effect was to make it too risky for anyone to deal in the substance.

My Japan (1943)

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:41:52 +0000

My Japan is an extremely racist, extremely violent example of a World War II propaganda film. It’s pretty disturbing, but that’s what makes it sort of interesting. To see where we were in the 1940s.

The film was produced by the War Finance Division, a division of the United States Office of War Information, which was responsible for promoting the sale of all securities offered to the public by the Treasury Department. The 1945 United States Government Manual outlines their rights and responsibilities, stating:

“The sales organization (field) consists of offices in all States, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Alaska, actively operating in recruiting of volunteer committees, sales, and promotional personnel. The Washington organization formulates publicity and promotion campaigns for recommendation to the State committees and for use at the national level.”

My Japan was the only film produced by the War Finance Division in 1945.