The Corner

Coolidge News

Thanks to reader Jason Woodward for this:

TCM is showing old film clips (early 1900’s) on Sunday evenings in November.

The Nov 21 show features this:

By a chance of history, “Silent Cal” – as Calvin Coolidge was known because

of his terse and somber style-was the first president to speak on film.

President Coolidge, Taken on the White House Grounds was the first sound

film made there, using a battery-powered camera and amplifier, and it was

among the earliest such films shot anywhere outdoors. It has been called the

first sound newsreel but is perhaps more accurately the first sound campaign

film, photographed on August 11, 1924, before the November election that the

president won with the slogan “Keep Cool with Coolidge.”

John Derbyshire — Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.
Exit mobile version