A short compilation of newsreel clips featuring people performing strange stunts with humorous narration added by Pete Smith.A short compilation of newsreel clips featuring people performing strange stunts with humorous narration added by Pete Smith.A short compilation of newsreel clips featuring people performing strange stunts with humorous narration added by Pete Smith.
- Writer
- Stars
Photos
- Narrator
- (voice)
- Self
- (as 'Cannonball' Richards)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first file card reads: SCIENTIFIC- - -TELESCOPES WORLD'S LARGEST 'SCOPE COMPLETED Reel #783122-D
200 inch reflecting "giant eye" under construction at Corning, N.Y. Long Shots, Medium Shots and Close-ups.. testing first glass sections. Close shots officials see progress on new "Wonder." Full coverage completion ceremonies.
- Quotes
[first lines]
Narrator: Newsreel cameramen are forever at work making out of the stories of today a record which will be the history of tomorrow. At Newsweekly Headquarters, carefully cross-indexed data concerns events and personalities which those hustling photographers have captured for posterity. Noted here are movies of scientific achievements, of economic woe, of historic importance; but at the moment we're looking for none of these. Ah, this looks more like it - yep, what we want are people who crash the newsreels through unique events such as this...
[the film short then goes on to show and display examples]
- Crazy creditsFrank Richards, aka "Cannonball" Richards, is identified by the narrator.
Some folks will do anything when it comes to CRASHING THE MOVIES.
Narrator Pete Smith gives the viewer an eccentric look at some of the odder sights captured by newsreel photographers, including a fat ladies' diving competition, human cannonballs, and assorted car crashes.
Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.
- Ron Oliver
- Nov 6, 2005
Details
- Runtime8 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1