TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ExcellentGoodFairPoor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Yesterday’s Witness.” Pacific Arts. $24.95. This 54-minute documentary tries to definitively chronicle the newsreel era--back when a movie was always preceded by a brief, brash montage of parades, disasters, bathing beauties and freakish characters. The Lowell Thomas-narrated tape offers a reasonable history of the lost art and conveys much of its salty flavor. But while the interviews with several top cameramen and announcers are interesting, they take up too much of the visual content, which should have concentrated on more examples of memorable footage.