Yesterday’s Witness: A Tribute to the American Newsreel

1974 / 54 min. / color
Directed by Christian Blackwood

Dr. Raymond Fielding the outstanding historian of the newsreels acted as consultant to Christian Blackwood for his documentary. Ray Fielding wrote the introductory commentary stating:

For the first 50 years of film history, the newsreel was a fixture in American movie theaters. These short segments released twice a week and lasting only about 10 minutes, contained a potpourri of news footage representing a unique contribution of journalism and entertainment. With the advent of television news programs following WWII, newsreels became obsolete but did not die immediately. These shorts remain the first instances of moving image photographic journalism and from 1911 to 1967 proved an influential source of information – and misinformation for generations of American moviegoers. Television news and public affairs programs became a great improvement over the scanty information offered by the newsreels. This documentary offers a fascinating insight into a medium which has disappeared.