Universal Newsreel 1952: Weight Lifters Show Muscles / Mr. America

The sports segment of Universal Newsreel Vol. 25 Release 574, released 30 June 1952, excerpted from 3:21.5 to 4:37.25 of the full reel; 1 minute 16 seconds, black and white, with sound. According to the original release sheet quoted on the source page, this was a double event in New York: Olympic weightlifting trials held together with the Mr. America contest, with the weightlifting won by John Davis of Brooklyn; neither the release sheet nor the footage names the Mr. America winner. On screen, lifters press barbells overhead on a theatre stage with weight boards at the side and an applauding audience, followed by the Mr. America line-up, individual posing showing back and biceps, and reaction shots of women in the audience. It is a direct record of bodybuilding sharing a stage with Olympic weightlifting and reaching cinema newsreels in the early 1950s. Source: U.S. National Archives Universal Newsreel collection (copyright deeded to the U.S. Government by MCA/Universal in 1974); the per-reel exception notice has not been individually verified, and the item will be taken down on receipt of any rights objection.