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clip 2Clip description
This clip is from the opening sequence for the Australian edition of Fox Movietone News, showing the laughing kookaburras. A superimposed graphic reads '20th Century Fox presents’ followed by 'Movietone News’ in block letters. The Movietone News graphic remains on the screen as a montage of news images plays behind. Instrumental fanfare music is used throughout. The main title fades out and the 'Movietone Special’ graphic fades up. The word 'peace’ appears on screen over an illustration of trumpets.
Curator’s notes
Both major cinema newsreels of the pre-television era – Movietone News and its all-Australian counterpart, the Cinesound Review – had iconic opening title sequences. Movietone News always began with the laughing kookaburras while Cinesound Review had the kangaroo. The fanfare music accompanying the opening graphics would have been as familiar to cinemagoers then as the theme to television news is to audiences today. Graphics and news excerpts changed over time, but the Australian fauna icons in the Cinesound and Movietone title sequences remained constant.
