Headline Shooter

"Headline Shooter" is a quick-moving, entertaining little film with excellent use of contemporary newsreel footage. A hotshot independent newsreel cameraman (Gargan), always on the prowl for a great story, crosses paths and falls in love with a newspaper columnist (Dee). Trouble is, she's already engaged to... who else but the classic "other man" of the 30's Ralph Bellamy. There's plenty of snappy dialog and well integrated newsreel footage of contemporary disasters including the Long Beach earthquake, a brewery fire, a race car crash, and a flood. There is even some attempt at realism in portraying accurate camera equipment in a distinct difference between the motor-run sound cameras and the hand-cranked silent camera that Wallace Ford uses. It's obvious he's a lower budget operation although his crank speed looks suspiciously faster than the standard one crank per second. Quibbling aside, this picture is certainly worth a look to film buffs. There's even a reference to using Nitrate film as a fire starter.