Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990 TAG: 9007230286
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It may help to begin by saying that television is what killed newsreels, and that they offered an earlier, more amateurish version of what is available today on the tube: people in motion.
Decades ago, few went to movies for the short subjects; but most would have felt shortchanged without the newsreels, once a part of every theater's program. Filmed mostly in stark black and white, they were short on useful information but long on noise, sensation and trivia.
Newsreels depicted a planet filled with wars, natural disasters, celebrities, snippets of sports action, exotic pets and leg shows. Dictators and statesmen strode in and out of meetings. Explosions filled the screen, then troops marched into vanquished territories. Triumphant athletes and beauty queens stood still, faced the camera and mugged shamelessly. Photographers relied on comfortable cliches: the lonely chicken riding a coop in floodwaters; the champion sheepdog with fur-hidden eyes; the fashion shot focusing atop a model's hat, then moving around and down to reveal a smiling face.
Over it all, drums rolled and trumpets sounded, while stentorian male voices described the day's events in tones calculated to arrest if not terrify the listener. For an entertaining story, the music was light and frivolous, with a female voice-over. In the world of newsreels, men were the movers and shakers; women belonged in the kitchen or on the beach.
Cable News isn't trying to bring back all of that. There will not be much global news - that is old stuff by the time people get to the theater. The reels will be shorter and will concentrate on breezy features. If they gain acceptance with audiences, CNN hopes to add commercials.
It sounds very much like adaptations from People magazine or, possibly, a supermarket tabloid. Snacks for the eyes. Movietone News and RKO-Pathe knew how to divert, but they never let theatergoers forget that the world was a frightening place. All the more reason to escape from it for a couple of hours at a motion picture.
by CNB