Mystery Gaumont Graphic Newsreel

[silentfilm]

I recently acquired a 16mm print of a Gaumont Graphic newsreel. Although the main title was missing from the print, it is definitely a Gaumont Graphic newsreel, as "Gaumont Graphic" is mentioned quite frequently in the titles. Unfortunately, there is no end title, but a generic one has been spliced on. One of the titles says "International News", and I know that was a different company's newsreel series. Several of the inter-titles are labeled Gaumont Graphic No. 2-L Vol. XVI.

I found a listing for it in a Thunderbird Film catalog from 1982...

GAUMONT GRAPHIC NEWSREEL (1919-1920) French fads on California beaches; 1919 Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, World War I ending with crowd scenes in New York City, and much more! (1 reel) 16mm.

The interesting thing is that it is a sound print. There is narration to go along with the images and inter-titles. The narration is not simplistic or condescending as Paul Killiam could sometimes be.

The events pictured are from late 1919 and early 1920, but they are spread out so that I doubt that this was a weekly issue. I don't know if it was a contemporary compilation or a 1930s or 1940s compilation.

The scenes of Armistice day were almost certainly shot on November 11th or 12th, 1918. The Pasadena Rose Parade was certainly shot on January 1st, 1919. There is also a scene of Heber J. Grant, new head of the Mormon Church. He took over on November, 23rd, 1918. There is also a scene of Babe Ruth pitching for the Boston Red Sox, which could have been shot in 1918 or 1919, but certainly not in November or January because baseball season is over in October. There are scenes of ice harvesting in Bangor, Maine, which were certainly shot in the wintertime.

Has anybody seen this newsreel before? Was it a 1919 compilation, or was it assembled from 1918-1919 scenes for a 1930s or 1940s novelty?

[urbanora]

Gaumont Graphic was a British newsreel which ran 1910-1932. I've never come across sound compilations of the reel, nor a numbering system like No. 2-L Vol. XVI (GG numbers went sequentially with being broken down into volumes or series, and around 1919-20 they would have been in the 800s-900s). International News was produced by Hearst but handled by different companies at different times (e.g. MGM International News). Its footage was frequently used by British newsreels for generic American material, so it turns up quite a lot in British newsreel libraries.

My guess is that the compilation had nothing to do with the Gaumont Graphic newsreel or its successor newsreels Gaumont Sound News and Gaumont-British News. It does sound like a 1930s/40s novelty as you suggest, but I can't think why anyone would want to label it as being Gaumont Graphic.