OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES, THE VIII {1960 SQUAW VALLEY OLYMPICS} {1960/02/18}: OPENING CEREMONY (TV)

Summary

This program presents a portion of coverage of the 1960 VIII Olympic Winter Games from Squaw Valley. Highlights include the Opening Ceremony, taking place on February 18th:

Anchor sports commentator Walter Cronkite presides over this portion and reports from the midst of a snowstorm, pointing out the Blyth Arena, the KT-22 mountain, the Tower of Nations, and other areas where the competitions will take place.

Cronkite talks briefly with IOC President Avery Brundage, and sports commentator Bud Palmer talks with Walt Disney, chair of the Pageantry Committee.

Sports commentators Art Devlin and Lowell Thomas discuss the "ideal" blizzard and the upcoming skiing events on the KT-22 mountain.

The Opening Ceremony gets underway as the standard-bearers assemble around the rostrum with flags of the 30 participating nations. Brundage acknowledges Vice President Richard M. Nixon, and a chorus of 4,000 high school students from California and Nevada perform the Olympic Hymn.

Renzo Menardi, deputy mayor of Cortina d'Ampezzo, presents the Olympic Flag to Brundage and Congressman Harold Johnson. The flag will be kept in Squaw Valley for four years and then passed on to the next host city.

Two thousand pigeons are released as a symbol of peace, and alpine ski racer Andrea Mead Lawrence (USA), who won two gold medals at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo, carries the Olympic Flame. She passes it to speed-skater Kenneth Henry (USA), who also won gold at the 1952 Olympic Winter Games in Oslo, and who officially lights the cauldron.

Figure skater Carol Heiss (USA), who won a silver medal at the 1956 Olympic Winter Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, recites the Athletes' Oath. The American national anthem is played, and 20,000 multicolored balloons are released as fireworks are set off.

Cronkite notes that the men's downhill skiing competition has been postponed because of the extreme weather, and then visits the IBM Data Computing Center where the scores will be officially measured.

Cronkite introduces fellow sports commentators Chris Schenkel, Art Devlin, Giancarlo Rossini, Dick Button, Andrea Mead Lawrence and Bud Palmer, and then previews the upcoming days' events.

Includes commercials for Renault Dauphine automobiles.

Cataloging of this program has been made possible by The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation.

Details

• NETWORK: CBS
• DATE: February 18, 1960 7:30 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:28:00
• COLOR/B&W: B&W
• CATALOG ID: T80:0771
• GENRE: Sports
• SUBJECT HEADING: U.S. Olympic Archive, presented by Gordon Crawford, The; Olympic Games, 1960, Winter, Squaw Valley; Olympics; Sports; Opening Ceremony
• SERIES RUN: CBS - TV, 1960
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV - Commercials - Renault Dauphine automobiles
  • TV - Promos - "The Betty Hutton Show"

CREDITS

• Paul Levitan … Producer
• Peter Molnar … Producer
• Frank Chirkinian … Director
• Vern Diamond … Director
• Jack Murphy … Director
• Don Cook … Director
• Walter Cronkite … Anchor Sports Commentator
• Bud Palmer … Sports Commentator
• Art Linkletter … Sports Commentator
• Lowell Thomas … Sports Commentator
• Chris Schenkel … Sports Commentator
• Art Devlin … Sports Commentator
• Giancarlo Rossini … Sports Commentator
• Dick Button … Sports Commentator
• Andrea Mead Lawrence … Guest
• Walt Disney … Guest
• Avery Brundage … Guest
• Richard Nixon … Guest
• Renzo Menardi … Guest
• Harold Johnson … Guest
• Kenneth Henry … Guest
• Carol Heiss … Guest