“News Digest No. 2” dates to 1937 and was sold for home projection as part of a series of silent newsreels by Pathe. Pathegrams was a commercial subsidiary of Pathe News founded in 1922; eventually Pathegrams merged or was acquired by Castle Films and the company left the home movie market in the USA. This newsreel covers 1937, an interesting year for history makers; it covers various topics including Soviet Russia’s response to the Second Sino War following Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in July 1937. It continues to show Italian innovations created during wartime shortages, the start of the Spanish Civil War, a royal wedding and the December 12th 1937 Grid Championship. It also shows the notorious CIO “sit down” strike of 1937 in Flint, Michigan headed by John Lewis. Lewis was an indomitable voice in the 1930’s labor movement. It opens with Russian War games in review; Stalin watches over his fleet. 1920’s relations between Russia and Japan were a mixture of tension, distrust and wary stabs at cooperation. It is presented by Pathograms (:10); the logo featured is the second logo dating from 1928-1932. The title screen follows (:24). Black Soviet war planes fill a gray sky (:16). Stalin stands amid war generals (:54). Bombs spill from the bomb bay (1:00) and crack mushroom clouds over dirt. Hitler gasps (1:13). Tupolev TB-3 heavy bombers drive forward (1:20). Soviet paratroopers slid off the wing in mid flight (1:30); white ants on a black war plane. Close shots watch paratroopers jumping off (1:36). Chutes crack open (1:59). The army spills down (2:08). Milk wool (2:35) was first produced and patented in Italy in 1935 by Antonio Ferretti. The dairy yarn was created as part of the national self sufficiency drive under Mussolini’s fascist regime. Footage shows the process for production (2:40). A tester samples the product (2:53). Materials are pulled into a thread like material (3:19) and stretched for spooling (3:23). A heddle loom spins the materials (3:53). Textile workers pull white dairy fluff from the machine (4:00). An inventor tests out a rocket pack (4:42). The inventor’s cohorts put him out with snow balls (5:02). In a second attempt (5:11) the rocket pack ignites. The rocketeer is kicked onto his buttocks (5:12). The 1937 Grid Championship closed with a score of 28 to 21 (5:15). Aerial shots show Wrigley Field in Chicago Illinois (5:26).The Redskins kick off (5:27). Sammy Baugh completes a pass (5:54). Washington gets a first touchdown (6:30). Jack Manders (7:01) ties the score. Masterson makes a pass (7:10). A final play by Baugh to Justice delivers a win for the Redskins (8:26). Scenes follow of the AFL-CIO strike led by Lewis in 1937. Picketers march outside the General Motors plant (9:20). Ground views capture the American flag waving amid protestors (9:24). Lewis appears (9:28). Violent scenes show baton sticks (9:34) smacking against stone wall and cracking holes in glass windows (9:39). The Siege of Alcazar; led by militarists of the Populist Front began on July 21st 1936 (9:50). Militarists dip below makeshift barricades (9:53). Riflemen squeeze off rounds (9:57). Young casualties of war are drug up from the trenches (10:06). The Battle of Shanghai (10:14) follows. Smoke billows from shore line installations (10:17). Cannons fire (10:22). King George VI gets crowned (10:28). The carriage arrives (10:42). The crown is lowered during ceremony (11:01). Edward VII and Wallis Simpson marry in 1937 (11:11). The Ohio River Flood (11:33) hit in January of 1937. Waters of the river bank doorways of city buildings (11:42). A natural gas explosion strikes the Consolidated School of New London in Texas (11:55). Amelia Earhart’s toothy smile appears prior to her final flight (12:12). The Hindenburg dirigible burns in flames over Lakehurst, New Jersey (12:22). The frame bends under extreme heat (12:44). The film concludes with the Pathegrams logo (12:56).

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