Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This collection of vintage newsreel footage and audio material presents an interesting look at 1939, a pivotal year that saw the beginning of World War II. About an hour's worth of old Movietone film footage (news material shot to be shown in movie theaters) provides a widely varied look at the year's events. Though everyone seemed to be awaiting a cataclysm in Europe, President Roosevelt is seen keeping American chins up with his rousing speech that optimistically opened the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. A major event in baseball history, Lou Gehrig's dramatic farewell address at Yankee Stadium, is also shown, and there are various segments on boat shows, movie premieres, and a holiday pageant on Broadway. But the focus is very much on the beginning of World War II, with clips of Hitler visiting his troops after their invasion of Poland, action footage of a German bomber attacking a British destroyer in the Atlantic, and ominous scenes of British civilians practicing air raid drills. An audio portion of the program (which is accompanied by still photos on the screen) contains a complete half-hour news broadcast from September 21, 1939, a program from Los Angeles featuring music from The Wizard of Oz performed by Judy Garland and other cast members, and a live broadcast of a show by bandleader Louis Prima. Rounding out the disc is a selection of five movie trailers, including one for the John Ford classic Stagecoach, starring John Wayne. --Robert J. McNamara
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Timeline: 1951
Starring: Timeline Manufacturer: Whirlwind Media ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD  General
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ASIN: B00005K9O0 Release Date: 2001-06-26 |
Amazon.com
This collection of vintage newsreel footage and audio material presents an interesting look at 1939, a pivotal year that saw the beginning of World War II. About an hour's worth of old Movietone film footage (news material shot to be shown in movie theaters) provides a widely varied look at the year's events. Though everyone seemed to be awaiting a cataclysm in Europe, President Roosevelt is seen keeping American chins up with his rousing speech that optimistically opened the 1939 World's Fair in New York City. A major event in baseball history, Lou Gehrig's dramatic farewell address at Yankee Stadium, is also shown, and there are various segments on boat shows, movie premieres, and a holiday pageant on Broadway. But the focus is very much on the beginning of World War II, with clips of Hitler visiting his troops after their invasion of Poland, action footage of a German bomber attacking a British destroyer in the Atlantic, and ominous scenes of British civilians practicing air raid drills. An audio portion of the program (which is accompanied by still photos on the screen) contains a complete half-hour news broadcast from September 21, 1939, a program from Los Angeles featuring music from The Wizard of Oz performed by Judy Garland and other cast members, and a live broadcast of a show by bandleader Louis Prima. Rounding out the disc is a selection of five movie trailers, including one for the John Ford classic Stagecoach, starring John Wayne. --Robert J. McNamaraCustomer Reviews:
The "Timeline" DVD Series --- Highly Recommended.......2004-01-24
Boasting 44 individual Newsreels in the "Video Chapter" portion of the DVD, this "1962" volume takes us on a fairly comprehensive trip around the world, circa 1962, a year that had John F. Kennedy in the White House, John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth, the introduction of the ground-breaking "Telstar" communications satellite, President Kennedy's battle with U.S. Steel, the deaths of Eleanor Roosevelt and Marilyn Monroe, and the biggest story of the year: the Cuban Missile Crisis in October, when the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the edge of nuclear catastrophe.
There is also a "Bonus" video chapter, which has Marilyn Monroe, less than three months before her sudden death, singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK, just prior to the President's 45th birthday in May '62. This bonus video clip runs for 3 minutes and 50 seconds and is a longer version of the Marilyn/JFK event than the normally very short snippet that is usually seen.
All the "Timeline" DVDs also feature an "Audio" section, with many top pop hits of that year presented. Here we get 10 of the top hits from '62, including "Twist And Shout", "Town Without Pity", "Let's Dance", and "Palisades Park". Audio quality is quite good for the musical section of the DVD. Pretty close to CD quality I'd say.
Also included in the "Audio" chapter of the disc, there's a "News" section, featuring radio accounts of major news stories of the year. Including: Richard Nixon's famous "You won't have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore" speech (after losing his bid to become the Governor of California). This is quite an extensive audio clip too, some 16-plus minutes long. And there's also a lengthy (nearly 20 minutes) audio account entitled "Cuban Missile Crisis As It Unfolded".
In addition -- The "Timeline" series includes an "Interactive Chapter", which consists of text screens, with info such as who won major awards during that calendar year, plus other lists and miscellaneous data.
Still More -- Yes, even more on tap here. .... There's an "Entertainment" area, which features a complete episode of the radio drama "Suspense" (one of my favorite Old-Time Radio shows). This episode, entitled "2464" (starring Lawson Zerbe) aired originally on radio stations across America just as the brand-new year of nineteen hundred sixty-two was dawning, on the night of January 2nd.
There's also a very nice, multi-page insert included here. It's an informative booklet, which folds out to paint a word picture of an even more detailed "1962 Timeline", with many news items shown that are not included as part of the video program.
There are many other years available in Whirlwind's "Timeline" series of programs on Digital Versatile Disc (available separately), including "1939", "1959", and "1961", which are three more that I'd also recommend highly.
A quick FYI regarding that 1939 volume --- The "Entertainment" chapter on that one contains the complete 60-minute "Lux Theater" radio play of "It Happened One Night" (with the original stars from the movie version, Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert).
With a satisfying total running time of 3 hours, 15 minutes, I'd regard "Timeline 1962" as a bargain at twice the price. Take a few hours off from 21st-century life, and set the ol' Time Machine back to 1962. Whirlwind's exhilarating "Timeline" DVD will take you there. It's worth the trip.
If this gets reissued, don't miss your chance again!.......2003-04-05
I can't believe no one else has ever reviewed this DVD set here, and I'm sorry to see it's apparently out of print, but if you ever get the chance to get this set again...don't miss it!
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