- Pathé News
Pathé Newsreels were produced from 1910 until mid-1956, when the
newsreels in general stopped production. They were shown theatrically, silent at first with title cards mentioning the action on the screen and then with voice over narration, which was added in the early 1930s.Pathé News, part of the
Pathé motion picture company, is the oldest name in the motion picture industry today. The company was founded as Société Pathé Frères in France in 1895 byCharles Pathé , a dynamic personality who was directly responsible for the rapid growth of the young motion picture industry and the discovery of many of its major artists. In fact, employees of the early Pathé company in America composed a veritable Who's Who in the motion picture industry.In 1895, Charles Pathé chose as a trademark the rooster, known from the days of the Gauls as an emblem of victory. The choice was prophetic, for today the Pathé rooster, with the clarion voice, is recognized in the remotest corners of the world as a symbol of authority of visual information.
In 1947, the film assets of the successor companies of Pathé News, Inc. were purchased by
Warner Brothers fromRKO Radio Pictures , which had acquired them in 1931. Warners, as had RKO before them, continued to produce the theatrical newsreel "Pathé News Film Library". Warners also produced a series of 38 theatrical short subjects, and 81 issues of the "News Magazine of the Screen" series, which added to the Pathé film properties and are now part of the company's extensive film library.In 1956, Warner Bros. discontinued the production of the theatrical newsreel and sold the Pathé News film library, the 38 theatrical short subjects, the "Pathé News Magazine of the Screen", the crowing rooster trade mark and the copyrights and other properties to Studio Films, Inc.-- shortly thereafter named Pathé Pictures, Inc. -- which subsequently relinquished the name and film properties of both companies to Pathé News, Inc.
Voiceover talent consisted of Dwight Weist, Dan Donaldson,
André Baruch , andClem McCarthy , among others.External links
* [http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28News%20Magazine%20of%20the%20Screen%29 17 of the 38 News Magazine of the Screen shorts]
* [http://www.britishpathe.com/ British Pathe News Archive from 1896 to 1970]
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