Yesterday's Newsreel Luther Burbank P.G. Wodehouse (1930)

Synopsis

This Yesterday’s Newsreel film (episode 75) offers the viewer “television highlights of the news of yesteryear” by providing vintage clips of famous people and events from the first half of the 20th century. The episode begins with footage of Luther Burbank at home in Santa Rosa with his wife. He rolls around on the grass with his dog. He is then shown walking through wheat and a plot of his famous Burbank artichokes. Burbank walks through other areas in his garden (01:45); he holds a thornless cactus for the camera. He celebrates his 75th birthday with community members (02:25), cutting a large cake and giving slices to children. Burbank congratulates the winner of the Miss California contest. He plants a tree along a California highway (03:31). The segment ends with footage from his funeral. The next segment shows the world’s tallest man, China’s Liu Yu Ching, standing on a golf course in the U.S. The episode’s “Personalities” segment features General Cornelius Vanderbilt (04:40), Stella and Francine Larrimore, and P.G. Wodehouse with wife Ethel. Next, the episode shows the destruction of Santo Domingo, caused by a hurricane in September 1930. Buildings have collapsed and people sift through the rubble looking for survivors. Women of the Red Cross help the injured. The next segment shows the final lap of a German shepherd’s record-setting swim in 1928. Then, the episode takes viewers to Chicago for the dedication ceremony of Soldier’s Field on Armistice Day 1926 (08:00).…

Uploader's description on archive.org

Details

Running time

12 minutes

Collection

Ephemeral Films

Subjects on the Internet Archive

• Stock Footage