Yesterday’s Newsreel Tokyo Prepares for Bombing is a black and white film created in the late 1940’s and early 1950s. This film is one of the episodes of “Yesterday’s Newsreels”, a TV show made of television highlights from the General Newsreel collection. In these films, vintage clips can be found of famous people and events from the first half of the 20th century. Narration of this film is done by Tom Hale, Roger Owens, and Sally Anderson, each having done 139 episodes over their career.
1934: Tokyo practicing mock war exercises – a rehearsal for war. It shows mock air bombing, care of wounded, and putting out fires (0:44-2:15). 1923: A man (? Albert de Witten) gets tied up with ropes, jumps off the railroad bridge, then swims ashore freed of his ropes (2:22-3:05). 1924: President Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace meet with Thomas Edison, Harvey and Russell Firestone, and Henry Ford in August of that year (3:12-3:48). 1927: New York, Westchester and Boston commuter train (also called “the Westchester” and the “Boston-Westchester”) ran from 1912 to 1937. Views of the train and passengers (3:52-4:59). 1931: Personalities – Victor Schertzinger, an American composer, film director and producer, and screenwriter, is shown with his two daughters (5:02-5:25). Pictures of heiress Gloria Gould (daughter of industrialist heir George Jay Gould I) arriving in her wedding attire for her wedding in New York’s St. Bartholomew’s Church (5:27-5:53). Actual pictures of Jackie Coogan, child star (5:55-6:12). 1935: Key West is destroyed by a Hurricane on September 3. Scenes of the devastation (6:20-7:20). 1925: St. Louis, Missouri. Monkey’s ¼ million dollar home. Views of a chimpanzee eating at a table (7:22-8:01).1925: Fashion for women – Flapper days of short skirts and high heeled shoes. Smoking was a newly acquired art: gadgets, like garters, for lighting up, pockets in her belt for cigarette supplies, cigarette holders as hat ornaments (8:04-9:27). 1937: Aviation – seaplane aircraft used as an airlift to carry a smaller aircraft into flight (9:32-10:10). 1926: Sports – Memorial Day parade marching band and car race at the Indianapolis Speedway, Indiana. Frank Lockhart, an American automobile racing driver active in the 1920’s, raced his first important contest. Scenes of that race, and the spectators, and Frank Lockhart himself (10:17-11:43). Helene Madison was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Scenes of her swimming (11:44-12:19).
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
