Paramount News

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Paramount News

Paramount News is the moniker

Moniker

"Moniker" is another term for a "nickname", "pseudonym", or "cognomen."Typically, the title is used as a personal or professional name, instead of the person's given name, for works of art, music, books, or performances....
for the newsreels that were produced by Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
(1927-1957).

Paramount Newsreel began operation in 1927 and distributed roughly two movie theater issues per week until their closing in 1957. Movie theaters across the country would run these issues, usually on 35mm nitrate film stock. The Paramount News weekly issues typically ran from seven to nine minutes, with the average story running from forty to ninety seconds.

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Encyclopedia

Paramount News is the moniker

Moniker

Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production company and distribution company, located on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, California....
(1927-1957).

History

The Paramount Newsreel began operation in 1927 and distributed roughly two movie theater issues per week until their closing in 1957. Movie theaters across the country would run these issues, usually on 35mm nitrate film stock. The Paramount News weekly issues typically ran from seven to nine minutes, with the average story running from forty to ninety seconds. At first, the newsreels ran silent, its action only listed via a title card. By the early 1930's, sound had been introduced to Paramount News, and a handful of voice over talent had been hired to now narrate the events over the filmed action (see below). Bill Slater (1903-1965) was the narrator for Paramount News for many years.

When the news warranted, as in the case of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu, Hawaii. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base....
(1941), the historic inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , often referred to by his initials FDR, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States....
's third-term as president

President

President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, company, trade unions, university, and country. Etymology, a "president" is one who Wiktionary:Preside, who sits in leadership ....
(1941), a presentation of a Mid-Century Sports Poll (1950) where legendary sports figures such as Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe

Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe was an United States athlete. Considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern sports, he won Olympic Games gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon, played American football at the collegiate and professional levels, and also played professional baseball and basketball....
, Babe Ruth

Babe Ruth

George Herman Ruth, Jr. , also popularly known as "Babe", "The Bambino", and "The Sultan of Swat", was an United States Major League Baseball baseball player from –....
, Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an United States Athletics athlete. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 metres relay team....
, Jack Dempsey

Jack Dempsey

Jack "Manassa Mauler" Dempsey was an United States boxing who held the List of heavyweight boxing champions from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history....
, and Babe Didrikson (among others) were highlighted, or a recap of the All-American

All-America

An All-American "team" is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players, those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position, who are referred to as All-America or, less precisely, All-American Sportspersons....
college football team of the previous year, the entire issue was devoted to one major story.

A typical issue began with a "hard" news item, which eventually wound its way down to "softer" news items as the issue progressed, usually ending with a recap of recent sports events.

Paramount cameramen shot some very exclusive footage in its day, putting Paramount News near the forefront of the competition of the other newsreel divisions such as Pathé News

Pathe News

Path? Newsreels were produced from 1910 until mid-1956, when the newsreels in general stopped production. The newsreels were shown theatrically, silent at first with title cards mentioning the action on the screen and then with voiceover narration, which was added in the early 1930s....
(1910-1956), Fox Movietone News (1928-1963), Hearst Metrotone News

Hearst Metrotone News

Hearst Metrotone News was a newsreel series produced by the Hearst Corporation, founded by William Randolph Hearst. Hearst produced silent films under the titles of Hearst Newsreel, International Newsreel, and MGM News before settling on the generic title Hearst Metrotone News....
(1914-1967), Universal Newsreel

Universal Newsreel

Universal Newsreel was a series of 7- to 10-minute newsreels that were released twice a week between 1929 and 1967 by Universal Studios. Nearly all of them were filmed in black-and-white, and many were narrated by Ed Herlihy....
(1929-1967), and The March of Time (1935-1951).

A Paramount News exclusive was the 1937 Republic Steel

Republic Steel

Republic Steel was once the third largest steel producer in the United States.The Republic Iron and Steel Company was founded in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1899....
strike in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
. On Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a United States Federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May . Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S....
, May 26, 1937, a strike escalated into a massacre, documented by the 1937 film Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage
Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage

Republic Steel Strike Riot Newsreel Footage is a 1937 in film documentary film which tells the story of a strike at Republic Steel on Memorial Day, May 26, 1937, which escalated into a massacre in which 10 workers were killed, documented by this film....
.

Highlights of Paramount News include basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain , nicknamed Wilt the Stilt, The Big Dipper, and Chairman of the Boards, was an American professional National Basketball Association basketball player for the Philadelphia Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; and also played for the Harlem Globetrotters....
being introduced to the sports world at the age of seventeen years old, playing high school basketball and countless special coverage of Paramount movie premieres and stars, including Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope, Order of the British Empire, Order of St. Gregory the Great , was an British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway theatre, and in radio, television and movies....
, Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an United States popular singer and actor whose career lasted from 1926 until his death.One of the first multimedia stars, from 1934 to 1954 Bing Crosby held a nearly unrivaled command of record sales, radio ratings and motion picture grosses....
, Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis

Martin and Lewis were an United States of America comedy team, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. The pair first met in 1944; their debut as a duo occurred at Atlantic City, New Jersey's 500 Club on July 24/25, 1946....
and Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ....
solo, Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an United States singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became a solo artist with great success in the early to mid-1940s, being the idol of the "bobby soxers"....
at New York

New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
's Paramount Theater

Paramount Theater

Paramount Theater or Paramount Theatre may refer to:in Canada*Paramount Theater in China*Paramount Ballroomin England*Any one of several Paramount Theatres which operated in the United Kingdom during the 1930s ....
in 1944, with throngs of bobby soxers swooning, and W.C. Fields on a Paramount set (filming International House
International House (1933 film)

International House is a comedy film, directed by A. Edward Sutherland and released by Paramount Pictures. The tagline of the film was "the Grand Hotel of comedy"....
) when the 1933 Long Beach earthquake

1933 Long Beach earthquake

The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 took place on March 10, 1933 at 17:55 Pacific Standard Time , with a moment magnitude scale of 6.4, causing widespread damage to buildings throughout Southern California....
hit.

Paramount mogul Adolph Zukor

Adolph Zukor

Adolf Zukor, born Adolph Cukor, was a film Media proprietor and founder of Paramount Pictures.He was born to a Jewish family in Ricse, Hungary, which was then a part of the Austria-Hungary empire....
"presented" (produced) Paramount News and appeared in many of its newsreels throughout the years.

Voiceover Talent

Voiceover talent included Gregory Abbott

Gregory Abbott

Gregory Abbott is an United States Soul music-musician , singer, composer and record producer He currently lives in both New York and the San Francisco Bay area....
(1900-1981) who was Paramount News' lead voice for its presentation of news and the only voice talent to stay for the entire series run. Paramount News incorporated sound into the newsreels during the early 1930's and Abbott was hired during its inception of sound and remained until the series ended in 1957), Gabriel Heatter

Gabriel Heatter

Gabriel Heatter was an USA radio commentator whose World War II-era sign-on became both his catchphrase and his caricature. He also gave the self-help group Alcoholics Anonymous its first national exposure with a 1939 broadcast, and earned an unusual reputation---even in a less media-driven and cynical time---for morale boosting during some...
(who had the distinction of introducing the voiceover talent in a special issue release of Paramount News during the early 30's, Gregory Abbott being among those introduced) , Vincent Connoly, Maurice Joyce

Maurice Joyce

Maurice Joyce is an Ireland director and animator. Maurice was born in Dublin, Ireland and was formerly based in New York. He has worked on television shows and movies including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Beavis and Butthead Do America....
, Dennis James

Dennis James

Dennis James was an American television personality. He worked as an actor, wrestling announcer, sports show host, game show host, and newsreel announcer....
(who found later fame as a TV game show

Game show

A game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrity, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems for money and/or prizes....
and variety show host), Gilbert Martyn, and Frank Gallop

Frank Gallop

Frank Gallop was an American radio and television personality....
among others.

The sports voiceover talent was handled first by Bill Slater in the early years and from 1948 to the end of the Paramount run in 1957 was handled by the ex-athlete and football player, Marty Glickman

Marty Glickman

Martin "Marty" Glickman was a Jewish United States track and field athlete and sports announcer, born in The Bronx, New York....
who later became known as the voice of New York sports and a renowned legend in the sports broadcasting industry. Other legendary broadcasters like Johnny Most

Johnny Most

John M. Most was an United States sports announcer, known primarily as the raspy radio voice of the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association from 1953-54 NBA season to 1989-90 NBA season....
, Don Dunphy

Don Dunphy

Don Dunphy was a United States television and radio sports announcer specializing in boxing broadcasts. Dunphy was noted for his fast paced delivery and enthusiasm for the sport....
and Jackson Beck

Jackson Beck

Jackson Beck was an United States actor best known as the voice of Bluto in the Famous Studios era Popeye theatrical shorts, as well as in the made-for-tv shorts made in the 1960s....
who lent their hand doing sports voiceover for a few Paramount News releases, (Jackson Beck also did a few "hard news" stories as well.) In some instances as well, Gregory Abbott

Gregory Abbott

Gregory Abbott is an United States Soul music-musician , singer, composer and record producer He currently lives in both New York and the San Francisco Bay area....
, Gilbert Martyn, and Maurice Joyce

Maurice Joyce

Awards

Paramount News Issue #37 (1946) was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short

Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject

This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Awards together with the other nominations for best documentary film short subject. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year....
.