From the original release sheet:
As Cuba enters the fifth year of Fidel Castro’s rule, that island nation is a land of uncertainty and quiet desperation. These pictures of life in Cuba were made by an American cameraman on assignment from Universal Newsreel and show only what authorities wanted to show. However, they do reflect the military flavor of day-to-day life and there’s not much to show that Communism has bred prosperity for the masses in Cuba.
Then the freighter “Shirley Lykes” drops another shipment of supplies – ransom for Castro’s war prisoners – before picking up 1,170 refugees who will find a haven in the United States. They are mostly relatives of the war prisoners, who sacrificed all of their possessions to Castro in order to leave their homeland.
More Cuban Missile Crisis Videos
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The United States Breaks Relations with Castro’s Cuba |
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Universal News report from January 5, 1961, on the United States cutting of relations with Fidel Castro’s Cuba. |
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News Report on President Kennedy’s Cuban Missile Crisis Speech |
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October 22, 1962 » Universal News report on President Kennedy’s televised speech in which he revealed the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and announced that he was ordering a naval quarantine of Cuba. |
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Homestead Air Force Base During the Cuban Missile Crisis |
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October 1962 » Originally classified footage of Homestead Air Force Base operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis, including readying planes and weapons and visits by Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Curtis LeMay. |
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News Report on the Cuban Missile Crisis |
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An October 25, 1962, Universal News report on developments during the early stages of the public phase of the Cuban Missile Crisis and implementation of the U.S. naval quarantine of Cuba. |
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Cuban Missile Crisis in 5 Minutes |
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This is a 5-minute compilation of Universal Newsreel footage from the Cuban Missile Crisis. It can serve as a quick introduction to how the Cuban Missile Crisis played in the American news. |
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News Report on the Easing of the Cuban Missile Crisis |
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Video from Universal Newsreel report on the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis as the Soviets send Vasily Kuznetsov to lead their negotiating team. |
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McNamara Press Conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis |
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November 1962 » Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara briefing the press at the Pentagon on the recent Cuban crisis. Color | Silent. |
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JFK Arrives at Homestead Air Force Base |
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November 26, 1962 » Footage of JFK arriving in Air Force One at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida, in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Color | No Sound. |
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Special Cuba Briefing by the Department of Defense |
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Robert McNamara and DIA official Thomas Hughes give a televised intelligence briefing on the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
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News Report on Cuba Military Buildup and Aftermath |
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February 7, 1963 » Universal News report on Robert McNamara’s Special Cuba Briefing, along with Senator Kenneth Keating and JFK’s press conference on Cuba. |
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