If you went to the movies (or, as they would say, the cinema) in Britain during the 1930s, this is the beginning of what you would see first, before the feature presentation.
Unfortunately, this is only the introduction to the newsreel, not the newsreel itself. Remember, there were no televisions - if you wanted to know what people looked like or sounded like, you had to look at pictures printed in magazines or the newspaper and listen to them on the radio or these newsreels.
It was a useful tool to direct public opinions....
Elspeth - Those newsreels really were a very important source of information at that time. Nearly everybody went to the Pictures during those years and I'll bet lots of people loved seeing images of famous people they'd only heard on the radio. I once designed a course called "News and the Media" in which I included a lesson on Movietone newsreels. I'm so glad you shared that part of this era...
ReplyDeleteMargot; That sounds like a fascinating course! You're right, those Movietone newsreels really were important back then - it was the only way for 'regular' people to see the world.
ReplyDeleteI remember Saturday Kiddie Matinees, and we got newsreels, cartoons, and goodness knows what else. Nowadays, all we get at the theater are coming attractions and commercials.
ReplyDeleteTerry
Terry's Place
Romance with a Twist--of Mystery
Terry; Sometimes I think those commercials and previews take a longer time to run than the feature.
ReplyDeleteI remember Movie Newsreels especially when I'm suffering through the trash before the movies now
ReplyDeleteGiggles; Sometimes I'm tempted to shout "Just START IT already!!"
ReplyDeleteI think that's amazing! People went to find out what was happening in the world.
ReplyDeleteClarissa; Or at least, moving pictures of it. There were newspapers and radios.
ReplyDelete