On The Tinsel Front

Tag: First Motion Picture Unit

  • The Hal Roach Studios

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    Christopher Bomba
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    Miller: No, before the war it was the Hal Roach Studios, you know, where Laurel & Hardy and the Our Gang films were made. When the Army took it over, Fort Roach seemed appropriate… The home of the USAAF First Motion Picture Unit during the war, the “Hal Roach Studios was an American motion picture and television production studio. Known…

  • First Motion Picture Unit

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    Christopher Bomba
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    Ollie: There was a stretch of large buildings strangely fronted by a mansion – or what looked like a mansion. Big letters over the front porch read “U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES.” But I gotta tell you, it was not like any base I’d ever seen… “The 18th AAF Base Unit (Motion Picture Unit), originally known as the First…

  • Ronald Reagan

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    Christopher Bomba
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    Ollie: That’s when it dawned on me. This was that actor, Ronald Reagan. … here he was, a lieutenant in the Army Air Force and some big cheese at this base. While there are many websites that detail Reagan’s military service during the war, this article from the National Museum of the United States Air…

  • About the Cover Art

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    Christopher Bomba
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    If you are wondering the podcast’s cover art… This was the emblem for the USAAF’s First Motion Picture Unit during the war. In researching whether I could use it I learned about the INSTITUTE OF HERALDRY, the U.S. Government agency in charge of emblems and coats of arms for the military and other agencies. From…