| Universal Newsreel | |
|---|---|
A 1962 Universal Newsreel on the 1st anniversary of theBerlin Wall's construction, narrated byEd Herlihy | |
Production company | |
Running time | 7–10 minutes |
Universal Newsreel (sometimes known asUniversal-International Newsreel or justU-I Newsreel) was a series of 7- to 10-minutenewsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 byUniversal Studios. A Universal publicity official,Sam B. Jacobson, was involved in originating and producing the newsreels.[1] Nearly all of them were filmed in black-and-white, and many were narrated byEd Herlihy. From January 1919 to July 1929, Universal releasedInternational Newsreel, produced byHearst'sInternational News Service—this series later becameHearst Metrotone News released first byFox Film Corporation 1929–1934 and then byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer beginning in 1934.
In 1974, the films' owner,MCA, made the decision to donate all its edited newsreels and outtakes collection to theNational Archives, without copyright restrictions.[2] The decision effectively released the films into thepublic domain, although some stories may contain other underlying intellectual property or proprietary use rights.[2] Because royalties no longer have to be paid in order to broadcast them, Universal Newsreels have become a popular source offile footage.The History Channel made them a key part of the TV seriesYear-By-Year. Also,C-SPAN andCNN regularly use the films for video of events that took place before those networks were founded. Nevertheless, much of the footage was lost in the1978 National Archives vault fire which destroyed about 12.6 million feet of 35mm black and white negatives, or about 70% of the MCA-U donation. Most of the nitrate film was irreplaceable single-copyouttakes from WWII that had never been seen by the public.[3][4][5]
Also in the United Kingdom as Universal News from 1930 to 1959, a successor to Empire News Bulletin,[6] and in Ireland as Universal Irish News,[7] both are currently held (including British Paramount News) underReuters archive.
Other U.S. newsreel series includedPathé News (1910–1956),Fox Movietone News (1928–1963),Hearst Metrotone News/News of the Day (1914–1967),Paramount News (1927–1957), andThe March of Time (1935–1951).
