A newsreel titled "Universal five wins Olympics basketball final" shows a game between the company team from Universal Pictures and the McPherson Globe Refiners from Globe Oil and Refining Co. of McPherson, Kansas. The McPherson team is sometimes also referred to as the Oilers, or the Refiners. The teams are seen playing in the Olympics Qualifying basketball final in New York's Madison Square Garden. People cheer the two teams. Universal defeats the McPherson Globe Refiners to win the Olympics final. The win entitled the Universal Pictures team to name 7 players to the Olympic basketball team representing the United States in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin Germany, and McPherson Globe Refiners was able to name 6 players to the team. These two teams beat out five U.S. college teams to earn the spots in the final and determine the makeup of the U.S. Olympic Basketball team. Players in the game in this video clip include Globe Refiners forward Francis Johnson, Centers Willard Schmidt and Joe Fortenberry, and Universal forward Carl Knowles. Universal beat the Globe Refiners by a score of 44 to 43. According to a Time Magazine article of April 13, 1936, the Globe Oil & Refining team, "...have perfected a technique called dunking with which they score by jumping up above the basket, dropping the ball into it." This may be one of the earliest references to dunking, now a staple technique in basketball. The same Time article further stated of the Oilers, "On the defense, they prevent opponents from scoring by batting the ball out of the basket." Again, the Globe Refiners were demonstrating play that later became standard in modern basketball. The idea for the Globe Refiners was a company promotion scheme, thought up in 1934 by Gene Johnson, the Sales Manager of Globe Oil who had several years experience coaching basketball. The Olympic team also included Washington State Huskey player Ralph Bishop. The USA went on to win the gold, defeating Canada 19-8.
Newsreel entitled "Baseball Aces Warm Up Under Southern Skies." Shows Washington Senators at spring training, 1936 in Orlando, Florida. Shot of players bursting through huge paper baseball marked '1936.' Last one is coach and noted "baseball comedian" Nick Altrock. Players do warm up drills as Altrock clowns for the camera. Players toss medicine balls. Players wheel legs in unison.
Excerpt from film about 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Athletes from different countries carrying flag of their country come on to the field at the opening ceremony of 1936 Berlin Olympics in Germany.
1936 Miss America beauty pageant at the Steel Pier (1000 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Contestants at Miss America pageant walk down a ramp. 1936 Miss America winner Rose Coyle from Philadelphia being crowned. Rose Coyle poses after winning the pageant.
African American life in South Carolina, United States. Front of a 1936 Plymouth P2 car. A Black child cleans the 1936 Plymouth P2 car. African American child smiles while wiping the car. Black child uses cloth for cleaning. Houses in the background.
The Cincinnati Reds baseball team disembarks from a Pan American Sikorsky S-40 flying boat in Miami, after a flight from Puerto Rico, March 1936. Players in Reds uniforms climb off boat. Sign on flying boat reads "Pan American Airways System." Players toss and lightly hit baseballs on a field near the shore. Close up of Reds pitcher Paul Derringer (#25). (NOTES: This was one of the first times a baseball team traveled by air. The Reds held part of their spring training in San Juan in 1936.)