The Big Picture is an American documentary television program which aired from 1951 to 1964. The series consisted of documentary films produced by the United States Army Signal Corps, Army Pictorial Service.
Production
The series was conceived by Albert Gannaway Jr and David Burkey, a former television producer who served with the Signal Corps in the Korean War. They saw it as a way to use film footage accumulated by the Army Pictorial Service, packaged in a way that would be attractive to commercial television. The first series of 13 episodes was broadcast on CBS in late 1951, with each episode about an aspect of the Korean War. It had a positive reception from audiences and the Army decided to expand the scope as a publicity tool. Army information units from around the world suggested topics with the Signal Corps filming all the segments. Topics varied and included military history, contemporary weaponry, training exercises, cooperation with allied forces, and Army sporting activities.
The half-hour weekly program was filmed on the Astoria stages, now Kaufman Astoria Studios, which is a historic movie studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The host was Army Master Sergeant Stuart Queen (1919–1981), a World War II veteran and Korean War combat broadcaster. Though Queen is referred to as both a host and narrator, he essentially introduced and linked segments that were narrated by others. Narrators for filmed segments included Audie Murphy, Lorne Greene, Robert Mitchum, Alexander Scourby, Walter Cronkite, Raymond Massey, and Ronald Reagan. In the 1950s, the series was shot on 35mm black-and-white negative, but by the 1960s it was using 16mm color negative.
It was eventually aired on 366 television stations on the CBS, ABC and DuMont networks and ran for 828 episodes. While the series, as a regularly produced and scheduled program, nominally ended in 1964, further episodes continued to be made on an irregular basis until 1971. In addition to the various network schedulings between 1951 and 1964, the show was also widely syndicated, and it continued to air in syndication until 1971.
As an official work of the United States government, The Big Picture was never eligible for copyright and has always been in the public domain, thus allowing it to be distributed far and wide without restriction. The National Archives and Records Administration has made individual episodes of The Big Picture available via Amazon and the Internet Archive, where they can be downloaded for free.Episodes via FedFlix at Archive.org Episode DVDs can also be copied for free by visitors to NARA's College Park, Maryland, facility. Many complete episodes and clips have been posted on YouTube.
List of episodes
Source:Catalog of episodes of The Big Picture; Army Picture Center, Signal Corps Photographic Center; dated July 10, 2016, updated June 10, 2019; last accessed May 15, 2020.
TV 169 – The First Forty Days in Korea TV 170 – The Turning of the Tide TV 171 – The United Nations Offensive TV 172 – Chinese Reds Enter the War
TV 173 – United Nations Forces Escape the Chinese Trap TV 174 – United Nations Consolidate Below the 38th Parallel TV 175 – United Nations Forces Push the Chinese Back TV 176 – The United Nations Offensive Continues TV 177 – The UN Forces Cross the 38th Parallel TV 178 – The Reds Launch Their Expected Spring Offensive TV 179 – United Nations Forces Counterattack TV 180 – The Korean Cease-Fire Talks Begin TV 181 – The UN Line is Stabilized While Truce Talks Continue TV 182 – The Mission of the Army TV 183 – The Army Combat Team TV 184 – The Citizen Soldier TV 185 – The Combat Soldier TV 186 – Duty, Honor, Country TV 187 – The Army Reserve Team TV 188 – Army Aviation TV 189 – The Army Medical Corps TV 190 – The Army Chaplains TV 191 – Women in the Army TV 192 – The Eyes and Ears of the Army TV 193 – Enough and On Time TV 194 – Citizen, Soldier and Taxpayer, Too TV 196 – A Day in Korea TV 198 – Information and Education Overseas (Part One) TV 199 – We Never Stop TV 200 – Army Language School
TV 201 – Civil Assistance, Korea TV 202 – Pictorial Report No. 1 TV 203 – Follow Me TV 204 – The Citizen Soldier TV 204 – Army Transportation Corps TV 205 – All American
TV 206 – Truth is Our Defense TV 207 – Pictorial Report No. 2 – A variety of subjects covered by our cameras both in Korea and in the United States. Included are: The story of a Quartermaster Aerial Supply Company, and the story of the 8209 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. TV 208 – Tools for a Modern Army TV 209 – (Not Used in BIG PICTURE Series) TV 210 – The Big Red One TV 211 – The Work Horse of the Western Front (30th Infantry Division) TV 212 – The 1st Cavalry Division and the 41st Infantry Division TV 213 – D-Day Convoy to Normandy TV 214 – The 6th Infantry Division TV 215 – The Red Bull Attacks TV 216 – All-American (82nd Airborne Division) TV 217 – The Famous Third Army TV 218 – Blood and Bullets TV 219 – Naples to Cassino TV 220 – Invasion of Southern France TV 221 – The 7th Infantry Division TV 222 – 29th Infantry Division TV 223 – Third Korean Winter TV 224 – Seventh Army TV 225 – Fire Power – Artillery TV 226 – Special Services TV 227 – Operation Blue Jay TV 228 – Ranger Ready
TV 229 – Double Duty American – Reserves TV 230 – Alaska TV 231 – Report from the Provost Marshal General TV 232 – Soldier in Berlin TV 233 – Armored Force TV 234 – Army Aviation TV 235 – Korean Wind-Up TV 236 – Pictorial Report No. 3 – Around the world in 30 minutes – showing military police activities in Europe, helicopter activities in the Far East and the latest in training methods within the Zone of Interior. TV 237 – Hawaiian Defense TV 238 – Soldier in Europe TV 239 – The Soldier Patient TV 240 – Pictorial Report No. 4 – The report features three segments: the history, traditions and opportunities of Army Bands; Eta Jima Specialist School in Japan, the largest school of its kind, with details on training for court reporting, chemical warfare decontamination, radio operators, telephone linemen, heavy equipment mechanics and operators, and napalm and flame thrower use; and, post-Armistice aid to Korean people, with distribution of shipments of food and clothing on the fifth anniversary of South Korea's independence. TV 241 – The Republic of Korea (ROK) Soldier TV 242 – Atrocities in Korea TV 244 – Christmas in Korea – 1953 TV 245 – Guided Missiles TV 246 – A Second Life TV 247 – The Quartermaster in Europe TV 248 – Sports for All TV 249 – This is Aberdeen TV 250 – Olympics TV 251 – Pictorial Report No. 5 TV 252 – The Alaskan Scout and Alaskan Command TV 253 – Pictorial Report No. 6 TV 254 – Japan, Our Far East Partner TV 255 – Rebirth of Seoul TV 256 – The Steel Ring TV 257 – Engineer Mission TV 258 – This is First Army TV 259 – This is Second Army TV 260 – This is Third Army TV 261 – This is Fourth Army TV 262 – This is Fifth Army TV 263 – This is Sixth Army TV 264 – Pictorial Report No. 7 TV 265 – TV in the Army TV 266 – Exercise Flash Burn TV 267 – NATO: Partners in Peace TV 268 – Okinawa, Keystone of the Pacific TV 269 – Soldier in Austria TV 270 – Battlefields of Yesterday TV 271 – Armed Forces Assistance to Korea TV 272 – Pictorial Report No. 8 TV 273 – Ice Cap TV 274 – Fifteen Forty-Five Hours TV 275 – Military District of Washington TV 276 – Commence Firing TV 277 – The WAC is a Soldier, Too TV 278 – Pictorial Report No. 9 TV 279 – Education in the Army TV 280 – Airborne to Battle
TV 281 – Soldier in Britain TV 282 – Army Technical Schools in Europe TV 283 – Soldier in Panama TV 284 – The Lodge Act Soldier TV 285 – Defense of Japan TV 286 – Pictorial Report No. 10 TV 287 – Nerves of the Army TV 288 – Time to Go TV 289 – The 24th Infantry Division in Korea TV 290 – Nurses in the Army TV 291 – NATO Maneuvers (1954) TV 292 – Birth of a Tank TV 293 – Aid to Nationalist China TV 294 – The 25th Infantry Division in Korea TV 295 – Ordnance in Europe TV 296 – The 1st Cavalry Division in Korea TV 297 – The 2nd Infantry Division in Korea TV 298 – Airborne Medic TV 299 – Pictorial Report No. 11 TV 300 – Role of the Army TV 304 – Pictorial Report No. 12 TV 305 – Pan American Games TV 312 – Army Information School TV 315 – Army Talent TV 322 – Pictorial Report No. 17 – This report features Army application of technological developments: Army stevedores train on a model ship; the Corps of Engineers' Beach Erosion Board studies erosion with the world's largest wave tank; visitors to Ft. Huachuca see a launch of the RC-71 Reconnaissance Drone, a 12-foot, 350-pound, remote-controlled aircraft that carries Signal Corps film cameras to deliver reconnaissance within an hour; the Corps of Engineers builds Army housing on the Greenland ice cap; the work of a chaplain's assistant; and, a day in the live of a parachute repairman. TV 325 – Military Police Town Patrol — YouTube video of this episode TV 326 – Division in Europe TV 328 – Soldier in France TV 333 – Pictorial Report No. 21 – A visit to the fabled land of Siam and a personal visit with Army Chief of Staff General Maxwell Taylor. TV 348 – Historic Fort Monroe TV 350 – Pictorial Report No. 25 TV 353 – Pictorial Report No. 26 – "THE BIG PICTURE" to cover Virginia township centennial and modern miracles of military science – For the first story in this pictorial report, the camera frames a picture of Fort Huachuca, Arizona, one of the most modern of all the Army's installations. Here in this desolate country, surrounded by empty desert and mountains, the Army has found an ideal proving ground for newly developed electronic equipment. Viewers will see the testing of an amazing reconnaissance robot, the pilotless plane – the drone; the newly developed radio contained in an infantryman's helmet and used under combat conditions; and the new all-weather flight control – a system of seeing in the dark. Fort Huachuca is a miracle testing ground, where 8,000 men and women are working to find new ways of protecting America. The second story is truly "off beat" for THE BIG PICTURE series. It concerns the farming community of Galax in Southern Virginia. Here is a township on the eve of its Centennial Jubilee volunteering its help through a Chamber of Commerce committee to form an Army Reserve training company that could march in the Centennial parade. It is a warm-hearted story of a people determined to keep American democracy safe. For they know that freedom is everybody's business – and prove it on THE BIG PICTURE.
TV 354 – You In Japan TV 357 – Army Ballistic Missile Agency TV 358 – Pictorial Report No. 27 TV 359 – DEW Line TV 360 – Defense Against Enemy Propaganda TV 371 – Mister Army TV 372 – Pictorial Report No. 29
TV 373 – Preamble to Peace TV 374 – Provide for the Common Defense (JOCO) TV 375 – Alexandria – City of Understanding TV 376 – Pictorial Report No. 30 TV 377 – Brush Fire – Korea TV 378 – Southern European Task Force (SETAF) TV 379 – Pictorial Report No. 31 TV 380 – 42nd Rainbow Division TV 381 – What Makes a General TV 382 – The History of Cavalry TV 383 – Engineer Supply Mission TV 384 – Missile Man TV 385 – Our Sons TV 386 – Many Roads to Glory TV 387 – Ottumwa, U.S. TV 388 – 42nd Field Artillery Group TV 389 – Armored Combat Power UNNUMBERED RELEASE – Operation Life Line TV 390 – Army Newsreel No. 1 TV 391 – Graduate – R.O.T.C. TV 392 – Pictorial Report No. 32 TV 393 – Individual Protection Against Atomic Attack TV 394 – Pentomic Army TV 395 – Special Services (USAREUR) TV 396 – Atomic Battlefield TV 397 – Army Satellites TV 398 – The General Bradley Story TV 399 – Your Defense TV 400 – Far East MAAGS TV 401 – Fire Brigade TV 402 – Why NATO TV 403 – Southeast Asia Treaty Organization TV 404 – Missiles on Target TV 405 – (Not Used in BIG PICTURE Series)