Newsreels of 1961, Volume 1

Between 1929 and 1967, Universal-International Newsreels were released twice weekly, many narrated by famed announcer Ed Herlihy. It was almost impossible to attend a motion picture that was not preceded by one. Top production crews traversed the nation and the globe to bring the leading stories in politics, entertainment, sports as well as national and global affairs, back to eager audiences.

Highlights from this collection include mounting tensions as the Reds tighten their grip on the Berlin border. Crisis erupts in the Congo. The Soviet Union blackmails the West with a new round of nuclear tests. In sports, we see the 97th running of the Saratoga classic and Gene Autry purchases a major league baseball team. Ski season is rocked by a fatal cable car accident in France. Scores die in a Belgian air tragedy. Amazing new innovations revolutionize the typewriter. Former Vice President Nixon parlays with former President Eisenhower in California. The latest in Paris fashion is presented to an eager public. President Kennedy launches the Peace Corps.

• documentary