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newsreel

newsreel

22 6.1
A short film that shows recent events before a movie in old cinemas
  • noun
  • /ˈnuːzˌriːl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : noticiario
  • Alonso, a prominent figure in Cuba's newsreel industry, directed Cuba's first full-length sound film in 1937.
  • newsreel footage
  • newsreels and documentaries

Good Lord, why not just make an old timey newsreel?

Examples

  • At the door, a pair of photographers and a newsreel cameraman are jockeying for position.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • We heard about world news on the radio and in newsreels, but it was all unreal and far away from us.

    Academic text (2011)
  • So it was in the newsreel scene, the movie houses called the March of Time.

  • MOVIE HOUSE - NIGHT OPEN ON the screen, which shows a newsreel about the war effort.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • But before the bidding begins, we'd like to show the actual newsreel of this most historic event.

  • The interview is cross-cut with sequences of newsreel footage, newspaper headlines, and still photographs of the achievements.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Then, abruptly, the newsreel shifted to Washington, and the announcer's voice turned grim.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • The place is bedlam, overflowing with reporters, newsreel camera crews, photographers, you name it.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Since the thirties, Rehovot's glory had been its grapefruit, which appeared in newsreels, thundering down chutes.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • In the past, audiences would eagerly watch a newsreel before the main feature at the cinema.

How Long

feature article
  • Literature
3 3.8
newsreel
  • Archaic
22 6.1
film clip
7 3.0
news item
  • Literature
12 2.0

Surface Forms

newsreel singular
newsreels plural

Morphology

newsreel = news + reel (transparent) = news + reel

Direct compound of 'news' + 'reel'; a film reel showing news items is readily inferable from the parts.

Etymology

Newsreel joins news 'information about recent events' and reel 'a roll of film'. It originally meant the short films shown in cinemas that told people the news before TV, which is why a newsreel is a short film reporting current events.