University of South Carolina Libraries
Many Great Sports By TRACY HELMS Sports Editor Imagine a front-row seat at any World Series or bowl garrfe. How about a trip to the Olympics? Or you just want a raD session with Rah#* Ruth Okay, just hit buttons 13, 7 and 29. It might not be quite so simple now, but in a few years, any-and almost all-major sports events from 1919 to 1963 will come to life on the screen by viewer request-right here at Carolina. USC'S MOVIETONEWS Film Library, which nas donated by the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation on March 26, 1980, is a living history of events, activities and features from around the world during a 44-year period. And among the 60 million feet of film footage that constitute the collection are most of the memorable, unique and important sports happenings during the first half of this century. All of the actual events contained in the library are not presently known, however, because of the sheer mass of film involved. There are more than 250,000 stories recorded in the collection. In perspective, that is more separate film clips than the total number of book titles in Thomas Cooper library and more than 10,000 viewing hours; "I'm sure nobody knows what all events are contained in the collection right now," James W. Jackson Jr., USC's director of newsfilm libraries, said. bT^"** '^wBf fji ? v>' 0W mmM . '*lvKL <*' "y ' . WS head women's aoftball and volleyball coach Judy Martino resigned from both positions Monday . Her resignation Is effective Aug. I nnPTr @c O w V,^ JJl OS) c RY ONI r..?i i i_ J i- ?? cvvnrs wciuuea in m JACKSON SAID THE complete transfer of the film from vaults in New York to the university will take about five years. The Fox newsreels, which were produced bi-weekly and shown in theaters throughout the world, are actually hfinP HnnatpH tn Parnlina in a corioc cinno fho nrirriml (ilme must be converted from their flammable nitrate-base form to safety film. The total value of the package is well over $100 million. Jackson said sports consititutes a large fraction of the collection. "Sports was a feature of Movietonews from the very beginning," he said. "In 1934, Movietonews was reorganized into a format like that of a semi-weekly newspaper. DURING THE EARLY 1950s, Movietonews joined with United Press International to provide a film service of news and sports for television, in addition to Movietone's theater films. "The collection features highlights from college football, the World Series, the Indianapolis 500, winter sports and many of the Olympics, among other events," Jackson said. "But Movietonews does not really give an acutal history of sports; it gives a chronological viewing of the sports that could be photographed during the period." Only 25 film clips -including four sports scenes- are nrpcon tl\; otfoiloKIa ?* 41? * *? wvmuj u?ui>uuiv iui puunL viewing ai me movieiunews viewing room, located in the first floor of the James F\ Byrnes International Center. Jackson admits that the current show is only a small taste of what will eventually be a historian's feast. "Ultimately, the entire library will be available for anyone to view," he said. "For example, if someone wanted to see some past football highlights, he could just request the films and then view them. It will be a push-button situation." High costs will determine exactly when the whole collec- ! 4 ill l * i nun win we visidic, jacKson said. THE FOUR SPORTS scenes currently available illustrate the wide range of events that were captured by the Movietonews cameras: a 1932 film of Babe Ruth clowning around with his trainer while during the start of spring training; the 1936 Berlin Olympics featuring Jesse Owens' three-medal performance; a recreation of the first football game which was played near the date 1500 in Italy and included 27 players on each side; and one of football's most unforgettable goofs-a Rice running back breaks what would have been a 99-yard scoring run until an Alabama player llimwo f Un A.? ?1-1 ? jumpo 11 win me ucuuii iu iiiuKf me lacKie. The current show, although well worth seeing, will in a few years be only a minute option of possible viewing events. Then, nearly every sporting figure and event from the firsthalf of this century will only be a touch away. OLD! , ovietone Collection Woman defeats male opponent in wrestling, 1925 ^ " M ^JkT2^ ; MP Gertrude Ederie, the first woman to swim the Engfish Channel, 1926. - ^;-i? ? * -M * Auto Race, 1920