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- The story behind the making of the 5 "Planet of the Apes" movies.
- Although not officially an entry in the Traveltalks series, the same production crew was used for this two-reeler, and the opening credits have the same appearance. The film visits many of the neighborhoods and landmarks on Manhattan Island and occasionally includes a history lesson. The neighborhoods include the Bowery, Chinatown, Herald Square, and Times Square. Some of the architectural highlights are the Empire State Building, the New York Public Library, Temple Emanuel, the Central Park Zoo, and the Rockefeller Center complex. The film ends in with a visit to a dining room in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where the Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra entertains.
- The 1946-1947 U.S. military expedition to explore and map Antarctica, led by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, is presented from its planning stages through its successful completion.
- Two brothers are ordered by their parents to go to Paris to study art. Having other interests, they pay two house painters to go in their place. When the impostors win an art contest, they are exposed by an unexpected visitor.
- This reality series followed three male US Air Force officers as they attended flight school at Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida. If they passed the course, which lasts several months, they would become pilots of F-15 fighter jets. The series featured classroom training, practical exercises, and interviews with instructors. Viewers also saw how the officers' wives and families were affected by the high-stress environment. The series was cancelled after three episodes because of low ratings.
- This short propaganda film, produced at the end of World War II, warns that although Adolf Hitler is dead, his ideas of racial hatred, violence and conquest live on in the German people, and in like-minded people in the United States.
- This promotional short for 2010 (1984) shows moviegoers how some of the film's visual effects were created. This includes makeup for Keir Dullea's character, how the astronauts float in space, and the construction of the spaceship in which the astronauts carry out their mission. The vehicle is so large, the two largest sound stages on the MGM lot were used to construct it.
- Various configurations of the United States Marine Band, including marching band, choir, and symphony orchestra, perform patriotic songs on the National Mall. The performances are intercut with footage of the Marine Corps in training.
- This "Theater of Life" series short focuses on a medical services ship that stops in the native village of Haines, Alaska. The natives are depicted as superstitious of modern medicine. At the end, however, youngster Ralph Sarlan (the only person identified by the narrator) is taken by airplane to get corrective surgery on his deformed foot.
- This documentary on the elusive director 'Alan Smithee' was first shown on the American Movie Classics (AMC) cable channel. We learn where the name came from and why the Directors Guild of America (DGA) first allowed his name to be used on Richard Widmark's western Death of a Gunfighter (1969). The film follows the numerous problems that director Tony Kaye had during the production and post-production of the film American History X (1998) and why the DGA refused to allow Alan Smithee to be credited for that film.
- Does your talented pooch have stars in his eyes? Is your parakeet a born performer? Pet Star searches far and wide for the best in outrageous pet tricks.
- Charles Vurn is always looking for a way for big money the easy way, which in his case usually means gambling. He does so at the possible expense of his job as an insurance salesman - money from the company which he's "temporarily" used to feed his gambling habit - and marriage to his wife, Marsha, who refuses to give him the money her mother gave her for a rainy day. But a series of incidents in combination with what he considers the lucky breaks he's needed lead to Charles taking desperate measures to be the wealthy man of which he's only dreamed, but at several costs in the process. But is it only a matter of time before karma catches up with him?
- Eleven year old Davy Allen, whose father recently passed making Davy the proverbial man of the house, has formed a bond with an old hound dog named Buck. Davy believes Buck is mistreated by his owner, Mr. Thornycroft, as Buck is sporting a neck wound from his collar, and he starts choking as his chain gets caught in Thornycroft's fence. Davy also believes Buck should be free to do what hound dogs do, which is hunt in the forest. In freeing Buck from what he would consider his shackles, Davy presents Buck as an ownerless stray who followed him home to his mother, who allows Davy to keep him. The question then becomes what will happen when Thornycroft finds out what happened to Buck, Davy, who, in his still child as opposed to adult's view of the world, won't give up Buck without a fight.
- This public service short for U.S. Savings Bonds starts out with Rowan and Martin arriving at a TV studio, ostensibly to host a show. It turns out that trumpet player Herb Alpert is the only other performer listed in the credits who is actually there in person. The others appear in clips, some from their own U.S. Savings Bonds spots, others from unidentified movie or TV appearances. Singer Barbara McNair is shown entertaining U.S. troops in Viet Nam, and the youth group The Young Americans also sings.
- This Passing Parade entry tells the story of Dr. Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929), a Hungarian immigrant who devoted his life to finding the cause of pellagra, a disease that killed hundreds of thousands in the southern United States. Although the medical community believed that the condition was caused by a virus, Goldberger proved that a healthy diet was the cure.
- This documentary, shown on the American Movie Classics (AMC) cable channel, looks at a facet of Hollywood that is little-known outside the motion-picture industry: cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency. It focuses on the career of longtime makeup artist John Chambers. In addition to his work in films, he worked on special makeup and prosthetic devices for use in the Vietnam War. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Iranians held U.S. embassy personnel hostage in the embassy compound in Tehran. At the CIA's request, Chambers worked behind the scenes to fashion disguises for several people to escape with the assistance of the Canadian embassy.
- While playing the organ at church, elder Franz Liszt receives a bouquet of flowers. With those flowers, he can't help but remember back to a time when he was a younger composer and music teacher, and mutually in love with one of his pupils, Caroline, the Countess de St. Cricq, his muse the inspiration for his musical compositions of love. While Liszt was embraced by the gypsies as the conveyor of the folk music of Hungary to the world, he was not so as a potential suitor to Caroline by the Baron de St. Cricq.
- Hal and Mitzi have known each other since they were babies. Tap dancer Hal now works as a window dresser in Blake's Department Store, owned by Mitzi's dad. Mr. Blake hates jazz music and dancing. He refuses to let Mitzi marry Hal, because Hal's ambition is to be a dancer on stage. When Mitzi reveals a secret about Mrs. Blake's past, her father soon changes his tune.
- An MGM short that starts with a brief history of music in the movies, from accompaniment for silents, to background scores, to elaborate musical productions, and ends up as a highlight reel of recent and upcoming releases from the studio.
- In this entry in the Passing Parade series, narrator John Nesbitt tells the story of Annie Swenson, who worked as a cook/housekeeper in the Nesbitt home when he was growing up. Annie was one of thousands of Scandinavian immigrant girls who came to America in the early years of the 20th century in search of a better life.
- In this short, MGM showed distributors and exhibitors highlights from the studio's films scheduled to be released during the upcoming 1967-68 film seasons. The first two-thirds of the film contain excerpts of movies in production or ready for distribution, starting in the fall of 1967. The last third shows advertising artwork for titles still in development. At least one of the films in the latter group never made it to the theater screen (an adaptation of Cornelius Ryan's book "The Last Battle"), and two other adaptations were not released until many years later (Caravans (1978) [released by Universal] and Tai-Pan (1986)).
- On the first Sunday of each month, at noon Eastern time, an author of at least three nonfiction books is interviewed. From the first episode through March 2019, the interview lasted three hours. Beginning April 2019, the time was reduced to two hours, The entire body of the author's work is discussed. The author's background, family, and motivation for writing are also explored. The program includes viewer questions and comments by telephone, Facebook, and Twitter. Guests include historians, biographers, politicians, political pundits, scientists, professors, and other fields. In 2018, for the first time, the series featured best-selling authors of fiction, focusing on writers of historical fiction, science and national security thrillers, and social commentary. The series logo had the tag "2018 Fiction Edition".
- Black vaudeville acts are featured in this Vitaphone Pepper Pot short. In addition to those listed in the credits, acts include The 3 Whippets, a group of acrobats; and The Five Racketeers, a band that initially backs up Eunice Wilson and then sings "Tiger Rag".
- Anita Ragusa, the daughter of a costume company owner, delivers a dress for a costume ball at the last minute. The snobbish customer doesn't like the design at first, but agrees to let Anita model it for her to decide whether to keep it. Charlie, a drunk partygoer, hears Anita singing behind a door. Upon opening it, he sees her in the dress and invites her to attend the festivities. She reluctantly agrees and sings for the other guests.
- This promotional short film for Soylent Green (1973) begins by showing clips of films that depicted what the future might be like beyond Earth (click the "movie connections" link for the short list). The narrator then discusses the origin of the idea depicted in "Soylent Green": some time in the future, there will be too many people and not enough food to feed them. Director Richard Fleischer and star Charlton Heston discuss how an upcoming crowd scene will be filmed. Then we see what happens when the crowd riots because there is not enough food available to be distributed to everyone. "Soylent Green" was Edward G. Robinson's 101st (and, as it turned out, his last) feature film. During a break in filming, the cast and crew hold a ceremony celebrating the first film of his "second hundred", and Robinson makes appreciative remarks to the crowd. Studio head Jack L. Warner and friend George Burns are among those in attendance.
- Part of the Warner Brothers Sports Parade series, this short film chronicles the attempt by a group of men to navigate the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon to Lake Mead. Led by Norman D. Nevills, 9 men undertake a 19-day trip in three specialty-built rowboats through the more than 200 rapids, some of which run at 30 m.p.h. Along the way, they see the remnants of previous expeditions including wrecked boats and even a skeleton. They also visit now-abandoned Pueblo Indian cave dwellings.
- Students at New York's Rovina Finishing School for Girls send their photographs to the makers of Claybury's Beauty Soap in the hope of being chosen as "Miss Complexion of 1934". Martha Howson wins the contest, which includes a trip to Hollywood and a tour of the Warner Brothers lot with Lyle Talbot. When she gets to the studio, all she wants to do is meet Dick Powell, star of the new Warner Brothers film Dames (1934). During her search for Powell, she (and the audience) gets to see several scenes from that movie.
- The making and premiere of Max Reinhardt's stage production adaptation of William Shakespeare's William Shakespeare.
- Forty years after the start of the Star Trek phenomenon, Paramount commissions Christie's auction house in New York to sell over a thousand original artifacts (spaceship models, costumes, and props) used in the production of the five television series and ten feature films.
- A man joins the police force to learn police procedures with the intention of getting away with crimes.
- This Theatre of Life series short, produced with the cooperation of the Los Angeles Fire Department, emphasizes fire safety and fire prevention. It gives a behind-the-scenes look at the switching system used to dispatch the proper equipment to fires, as well as a look at life in the fire station and fire fighter training.
- Having received her training at the Royal Academy of Physical Education in Stockholm, Lissa Bengston now teaches swimming in California. She teaches children as young as three and four in a step by step method. The first step in to get the children comfortable with the overhead arm motions of the crawl, she holding their legs so as not to thrash them around. In the process, the children learn the natural breathing rhythms associated with being under the water. The next step has the children learning to kick with their legs, holding their hands in a stationery position above their heads. This step is to demonstrate that the arms alone and the legs alone are enough to propel them and keep them afloat in the water. This teaching method makes the children feel at home in the water, and not to be afraid of it. A key to Lissa's method is to ensure the children are having fun, which is obvious by their eagerness to get back into the water time after time.
- On March 19, 1945, the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, one of a group of ships off the coast of Kobe, Japan, was attacked by a Japanese bomber. The plane scored direct hits with two large bombs. This newsreel, shot by US Navy photographers, shows what happened on the Franklin after the attack. The Franklin was heavily laden with bombs, rockets, and fuel-loaded aircraft. For about 24 hours, the ship's armaments exploded. These explosions caused great damage to the ship, and the deaths of over 800 crewmen. Over 250 additional personnel were injured, with over 700 of the crew being awarded the Purple Heart. During the attempt to save the ship, it was under extended attack from Japanese fighter planes, with their American counterparts furiously defending the wounded vessel. There were many acts of heroism performed. Several ships came to the aid of the Franklin, which was now listing sharply to one side, some to fight the fires that all but gutted the ship, others to rescue survivors. Miraculously, the ship stayed afloat and was able to move under her own power to undertake the 14,000-mile journey home. After undergoing a cleanup at Pearl Harbor, she made the voyage through the Panama Canal to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for repairs. Father (Lieutenant Commander) Joseph O'Callahan, the ship's chaplain, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions.
- This Oscar-nominated short film tells the story of the discovery of radium and how it is used in medicine.
- A film short on the making of Lust for Life (1956) which starred Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn. This behind the scenes look focuses primarily the various European locations used in the filming including the coal mines, Holland and Arles, in the south of France. It also shows some of the challenges the production faced, including rebuilding various buildings used in some of Van Gogh's paintings.
- Promotional short film on an aspiring young actress Sharon Tate and her first film Eye of the Devil (1966). She takes acting classes and elocution lessons and is clearly on the fast-track to become a star. She is shown both at work and at play, dancing with actor 'David Hemmings' and frolicking with the pigeons in Hyde Park. Actor David Niven says she's a wonderful actress who has a great career ahead of her.
- A humorous look round various studios on a film lot. One of the " Pete Smith Specialties", produced and narrated " by a Smith named Pete."
- This Traveltalks entry takes the viewer to California's Yosemite National Park and offers glimpses of many of its well-known natural wonders.
- This "Theater of Life" series short looks at traffic problems in Los Angeles, California, as described and experienced by Sgt. Charles Reineke, a traffic enforcement officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.
- This short showcases the work of the cameramen who filmed the battles of WWI and early WWII. We also get to see the faces of many of the men who took the pictures. This includes director D.W. Griffith, who shot newsreels in the trenches of WWI.
- This short, a companion to the feature film The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), focuses on the sculpture of Michelangelo. After a short visit to Caprese, where the artist was born, and the town where he first studied his craft, we see many of his most important works. They include the Madonna of the Stairs, completed at age 15; the statues of the Medici Tombs; and his two most famous Biblical figures: David and Moses.
- This RKO-Pathe short film promotes the need for cooperation and neighborliness in the event of a nuclear disaster and associated civil defense procedures. After preaching the power of modern (for 1956) atomic weapons, civil defense is what saves everyday citizens. The scene shifts to Reading, PA where 8,000 volunteers contribute to the civil defense effort. They may take first aid classes or firearms training for auxiliary police. The national alert system and local communications systems are all in place. All that is needed, the film suggests, is for everyone to be alert.
- When David Lean made his film Doctor Zhivago (1965), he realized that it would be impossible to do location shooting in Moscow. Instead, he found a location on the plains outside Madrid, Spain and built a set to look like the Russian capital. This promotional film gives viewers a short look at the set under construction.
- M-G-M built a full-sized replica of H.M.S. Bounty for its production of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962). This promotional short shows the ship stopping at several cities on North America's west coast during a world tour.
- Some sculptors use marble as a medium to create beauty; Edmund Kara uses a large redwood tree stump.
- Two years after the end of World War II, many people in France and Italy were still ill-fed. Washington newspaper columnist Drew Pearson decided to launch a program that would help feed those still hungry in these countries and other places in western Europe. It would not be a government program like the Marshall Plan. Rather, it would be a people-to-people effort, with contributions from individuals. Pearson met with the Association of American Railroads, steamship lines, leaders of labor and agricultural groups, radio and the press, and the motion picture industry. He persuaded them to publicize the program and to donate their time and facilities to transport the foodstuffs that would be collected. The result was the Friendship Train. This short film documents the Friendship Train's trip from Hollywood across the country to New York City, as well as the initial delivery of food in France and Italy. The journey began on October 27, 1947 and ended in New York City on November 19. When the train pulled out of Hollywood, it had eight freight cars of cargo. At various stops along the route, the train was met by cheering crowds, and cars would be added to the train. When the train left Chicago it was split, with the New York Central Railroad going through northern New York state and the Pennsylvania Railroad going through Pennsylvania directly to New York City. At journey's end, there were 270 cars filled with food supplies for Europe. At the end, the cargo was loaded onto ships bound for Europe, and the first ships arrived in France and Italy in late December 1947.
- This short looks at the many ways Ecuador is building for the future, by constructing new roadways, railroads, and factories; and by attracting foreign investment. New agricultural methods are being used that will increase produce exports.
- This MGM short is a behind the scenes look at the making of Raintree County (1957). Filmed in Danville, Kentucky and starring Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, the film used many of the locals as extras. The film includes scenes of Sherman's march to Atlanta and shows several crews preparing sites for shooting.
- William F. Rodgers, an MGM vice president and the studio's general sales manager, introduces this short. It highlights the films that MGM plans to distribute to rural exhibitors and distributors in the period immediately following World War II. Excerpts from five films are shown first. Then there are trailers for numerous films. Finally, several novels that are scheduled for future production are also featured. Some of the films have already been released in larger cities, while a few are already in general release. A majority of the films, however, were released in 1947. In a few cases, a film title was changed before release (e.g., Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946) was advertised with the title "Uncle Andy Hardy"). Some of the novels mentioned have never been made into films. In one case, a novel's film version was not released until 14 years later (Green Mansions (1959))!
- Visits to three animal parks in Miami, Florida: the Rare Bird Farm, with its many chickens, cranes, and other birds; the Monkey Jungle, where the visitors are caged and the simian inhabitants roam freely; and finally the Parrot Jungle.