Pro Football

Film showing football team the Chicago Bears playing the game against a rival team. A narrator describes the strategy they're using and plays they're making.

As someone who doesn't even like sports I found this interesting and fun. Some of the moves the guys made were incredible. The narration is helpful for the most part. Also they show the plays in slow motion so you can exactly what's being done. Once they even show it backward! Unfortunately we have to deal with lots of bad jokes, silly sound effects and a vaguely homophobic part at the end...but that was all a sign of the time it was made. Recommended.

Does anyone but me think Bill Hewitt looks like George C. Scott?

A Pete called Smith narrates this series of wild shots about the Chicago Bears almost 90 ears ago, including Red Grange, still a name to conjured with among non-football fans. Smith had two modes: pure snark, and impure snark, mixed with some awe. He uses the second variety here. There's plenty of slow-motion shots to let you see what is going on.

This is one of the famous Pete Smith Movies.....Appearing in this film are some of the greats who played in the early days of the NFL.....including, BRONKO NAGURSKI, possibly one of the greatest players in the long history of the NFL.....If you have the opportunity to view this historic film I would highly recommend doing so.....Not many like this were produced.

Pro Football (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Entertaining Pete Smith short has the 1933 NFL Champions Chicago Bears on hand to show some special plays that they do doing their games. In typical Smith fashion, the football plays are all silent and we just get his narration over the footage, although we do get a few sound effects to show some of the silly defenders falling on the ground. Overall this is a must-see for fans of football because you get to see so many legendary older players from the early days of the NFL. Bronko Nagurski, Carl Brumbaugh, Jack Manders, Harold Grange, Gene Ronzani and William Lyman are just a few of the players who show up. While it's great seeing these people it's also fun just seeing how football was played back in this era. Of course the biggest different are the uniforms including the helmets, which would have people getting killed weekly in today's league. Another interesting change is of course the white ball and the wooden goal posts sitting pretty much in the playing field. The plays that the Bears demonstrate are all pretty entertaining including one incredibly, behind-the-back pass that is among the greatest passes I've ever seen. Smith, as you'd expect, does a nice job with the narration and even manages to get a couple nice laughs out of the material.