Description
Object description
An edition of United News, missing its commentary, including King George VI inspecting American troops; the launch of US Navy light cruiser USS Houston and the attestation of men in Houston, Texas; Canadian sheep farmers gathering their flock for a summer shearing; the final occupation by American forces of Attu Island, in the Aleutians.
Content description
Main titles: United News in line text with eagle superimposed on marching troops, tanks, ships, planes all marching/driving/flying/sailing directly towards camera. Part I: 'King George Reviews American Troops in Africa' Wide shots of troops on parade. Dodge command car passes carrying King George VI. Footage from a motorcade passing parked tanks and guns etc. The King sits down to lunch with Generals Clark and Patton, and a civilian man. Close shot of lunch in a deep tin plate. March past by a large body of American troops; the King takes the salute. Jeeps drive past.
Content description
Part 2: 'People of Texas hail newest US cruiser Houston'. Various shots of the cruiser USS Houston. On Memorial Day, 30 May 1942, civilian men walk en masse through Houston and are hailed by their fellow Texans. The men assemble outside Loew's State Theater at 1014 Main Street (the Theater is showing 'I Married An Angel' with Jeanette Macdonald and Nelson Eddy; the next door Metropolitan is showing Leslie Howards' 'The Invaders'). A close-up of 'Houston Volunteers' label on a man's jacket. The crowd of civilian men raise their hands to swear an oath. Two naval officers (the senior possibly Rear Admiral William Glassford) administering the oath. The cruiser Houston on its slipway at Newport News, Virginia; tilt up along the bow. Dignitaries with the radio microphones of CBS, WRVA and WTAR (the latter two local Norfolk, Virginia radio stations). The female dignitary smashes a bottle of champagne against the bow; the ship slides down its slipway.
Content description
Part 3: 'Canadian sheep ranchers hold summer roundup'. In Alberta (?) a flock of sheep are corralled by dogs. Close-up of a watchful sheepdog. The flock is driven to a farm. The flock eating from stalls.
Content description
Part 4: 'US completes occupation of Attu Island'. Aerial landscape shots of Attu Island in the Aleutians. A US Army encampment. Troops emerge from a dugout and tramp across a snowy wasteland. Dead Japanese in a trench. Mountainous terrain. Troops in action; a machine gun is fired. A light artillery piece or mountain gun is fired. A casualty is retrieved. Captured Japanese equipment including machine guns and mortars. Japanese graves with wooden markers. A Japanese mass grave and bodies lying in the open. End Titles.
Physical description
35mm