Newsreel of 1939, 1930's - Film 32136

An informative non-linear newsreel, accompanied by a guiding commentary, charting world events of 1939 with interesting footage, namely; the end of the Spanish Civil War; the Pan Am Clipper flies across the Atlantic; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth return from a USA-Canada visit; Bastille Day parade in Paris; the Chilean earthquake; the sinking of the U.S.S. submarine 'Squalus'; floods in China; a mass-wedding in Montreal; Germany invades Poland; Chicago grain fire; the U.S. Navy round Cape Horn. 1. Three year old Spanish Civil War comes to an End. In January 1939, Spanish troops enter the Spanish city of Barcelona - they parade in large columns through open streets, and a Spanish flag is held by the front soldier. Close-up of troops with rifles over their right shoulders. General Franco stands victorious in an open top black car which is driving through the city, past soldiers who are standing to attention. 2. Air passenger service between America and Europe becomes a reality. Aircraft is a Boeing 314 flying boat 'Clipper'. Excellent shots interior and exterior and cockpit. 3. Britain's King and Queen return from Canada-United States goodwill tour. In June 1939, luxurious Pullman carriages pull into a London trainstation (Victoria?) where male dignitaries, wearing tailcoats and holding their top hats in their hands, and females in formal wear, wait on the platform. King George VI - in a decorated Navy uniform. 4. Paris Bastille Day celebration assumes new world importance. On sunny day, the city of Paris sprawls out in the background, whilst thousands of people crowd the ground below the feet of the Eiffel Tower. British soldiers of the Foot Guards, wearing bearskin hats and red tunics, march down the Champs Elysee in a huge parade, watched by many people. 5. Earthquake in Chile 30,000 perish - 20 cities destroyed. Solemn, funeral music accompanies images of the earthquake of January 1939. Aerial shots of flattened buildings (of possibly the cities of Chilean or Conception?) with blocks of roads criss-crossing between them. 6. Submarine Accident 26 perish when U.S.S. Squalus sinks The turret of a submarine dives below the waves in the middle of the ocean. The bow of the submarine disappears under the water - the voice-over informs us that the Squalus sank under the North Atlantic coast. 7. Tietsin Foreign settlement becomes center of great unrest. In a street, huge Japanese crowds are driven back by a few soldiers, possibly policemen, and one warns them back with a truncheon. The scene becomes a little more frantic as people begin to run and push each other. 8. Floods in China People wade in knee-deep water down a central street in China. A line of rickshaws are slowly pulled through the flooded street in a single file. 9. 125 couples are united at unprecedented Montreal ceremony. The wedding march plays as a snaking line of brides and grooms dressed in traditional Western wedding outfits, queue in what appears to be an outdoor sports arena - the ascending rows behind them are filled to capacity and a stills cameraman takes a photograph of some of the waiting couples. 10. Second World War rocks Universe. Dramatic music accompanies an aerial view across a flat landscape - in September 1939 Poland was invaded by Germany - and plumes of grey and black smoke bellow from the towns below. Close-up of the buildings below - they are smouldering from the bombing. People congregate in front of a building and firemen enter a top window through a window. 11. GRAIN ELEVATOR DISASTER! $2,000,000 loss in the devastating Chicago fire! Fire hoses throw huge jets of water over the burning embers of a partially walled building and flames leap from it into the sky. A fireman stands next to the water jets as the fires rage and the air is thick with smoke. Part of the building collapse in flames. Fireman stand beside what appears to be storage carriages of a train, partially protected as debris falls to the ground. 12. Startling camera record of U.S. cruisers braving hurricane seas. A U.S. battleship bobs among the high rolling waves in the ocean off the South American shore on a goodwill voyage of peacetime activity. The bow of a cruiser dips into the waves and resurfaces, sending water crashing down from the port and starboard sides - the camera is aboard the U.S.S. San Francisco.