Sport Slants
The Sport Slants (a.k.a. Sports Slants) and its follow-up “Sports Thrills” were a series of documentary film shorts produced by Warner Brothers and hosted by the top sports caster of the 1930s, Ted Husing.
Overview
Each black & white film ran 8 to 9 minutes in length and covered three or four topics much like a newsreel. Ted Husing was a leading announcer, with the Warner Brothers ad campaign declaring in Film Daily (May 30, 1931) that each of the initial 13 titles featured "the champions of every sport" [1] Bert Frank, who worked on Ripley's Believe It or Not! series for Warner, handled the editing at the Vitaphone studios in New York.
Turner Classic Movies occasionally airs these, giving modern TV viewers a glimpse at the world of Depression Era sports.
List of films
Specific dates listed below are the Film Daily reviews, close to the time of their release.
| Title | Vitaphone number | Release date | Synopsis | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sport Slants #1 | 1218 | June 14, 1931 | wrestlers Frank Judson & Clevio Massimo / hockey with Lester Patrick & the NY Rangers / gymnasts Al Jochim & Adelaide Meyers / Buck Freeman & St. Johns (NY) basketball | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #2 | 1240/1264 | August 1931 | fencing with George Santelli & Norman Cohn (among others) / Dick Glendon and Columbia University rowing | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #3 | 1272 | November 22, 1931 | sport of cricket / Long Island sailing regatta / polo in Westbury International Field | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #4 | 1306 | December 1931 | field hockey / soccer / Ireland hurling | reviewed by Film Daily, February 14, 1932 |
| Sport Slants #5 | 1330 | February 7, 1932 | bowling & wrestling with Walter L. Richard & Joe Felcaro | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #6-7 | 1347/1360 | March 27, 1932 | boxers Tony Canzoneri & Teddy Martin / Ralph Greenleaf & other champions at billiards | skipped a number in title card, TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #8 | 1382 | July 2, 1932 | Greyhound racing / diving off Florida with Pete Desjardins | |
| Sport Slants #9 | 1393 | July 9, 1932 | Florida water sports / alligator wrestling | |
| Sport Slants #10 | 1402 | July 19, 1932 | Jai alai / deep sea fishing | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #11 | 1409 | August 9, 1932 | features Olympic hopefuls | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #12 | 1425 | August 1932 | cockfighting / catching swordfish | TCM listing |
| Sport Slants #13 | 1426 | September 1932 | champion child golfer / outboard motor & steeplechase racing | TCM listing |
| Sport Thrills #1 | 1448 | September 24, 1932 | Willard Rogers in ping-pong / swimmers Katherine Rawls & Eleanor Holm / Bill Heckman in handball | |
| Sport Thrills #2 | 1449 | October 1932, © January 3, 1933 | more fishing / Scandinavian Skijoring / harness racing | |
| Sport Thrills #3 | 1489 | October 29, 1932 | Pendleton, Oregon rodeo / bicycles | |
| Sport Thrills #4 | 1446 | © February 13, 1933 | silent film footage of past athletes including Annette Kellerman | |
| Sport Thrills #6 | 1505 | © February 23, 1933 | hunting game birds | |
| Sport Thrills #5 | 1515 | © March 22, 1933 | moose hunting / Irish Hurling |
References
- Liebman, Roy Vitaphone Films – A Catalogue of the Features and Shorts 2003 McFarland & Company
- Motion Pictures 1912-1939 Catalog of Copyright Entries 1951 Library of Congress