The March of Time (film)

Last updated
The March of Time
Directed by Charles Reisner
Produced by Harry Rapf
Production
company
Running time
Unknown (Unfinished - probably 1 hours?)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The March of Time is the title of an unreleased 1930 American pre-Code musical film directed by Charles Reisner. [1] The film was originally scheduled to be released in September 1930 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) but was shelved. The March of Time would have been one of the many musicals partially filmed in two-color Technicolor.

Contents

Production

The unfinished film was originally titled Hollywood Revue of 1930 and was conceived by producer Harry Rapf as a follow-up to MGM's The Hollywood Revue of 1929 , which he had also produced. [2] The film was retitled The March of Time, as it was to consist of three sections which featured past performers from the stage and the vaudeville circuit, then-present-day performers and up-and-coming performers. [3] Production began in Fall 1929, but by October 1930 MGM had decided to shelve the project as interest for musicals or musical revues had waned. [2] [3]

Among the performers who filmed scenes for The March of Time were Joe Weber and Lew Fields of the Weber and Fields comedy team, Gus Edwards, Fay Templeton, Marie Dressler, Van and Schenck, DeWolf Hopper Sr., Buster Keaton, Albertina Rasch and her dancers, Polly Moran, Cliff Edwards, Benny Rubin, Ramon Novarro performing "Long Ago in Alcala," Bing Crosby performing "Poor Little G-String,"the Duncan Sisters performing "Graduation Day," Barney Fagan performing a soft shoe routine, and Raquel Torres performing "The Story of An Old Spanish Clock". [2]

In order to salvage the $750,000 ($13.7 million in 2023) that had already been spent on the film, MGM announced plans to use the footage in a planned project starring Jimmy Durante that was to be released in 1932. That project was also abandoned. [3] Footage from The March of Time later found its way into the musical shorts The Devil's Cabaret (1930), Crazy House (1930), Nertsery Rhymes (1933), Hello Pop! (1933) and Jail Birds of Paradise (1934). MGM's 1931 musical revue Wir schalten um auf Hollywood (We Tune In to Hollywood), produced for the German market, also featured many sequences from The March of Time. MGM considered foreign versions for the French and Spanish speaking markets as well, but the box office failure of The Hollywood Revue of 1929 in France eliminated that possibility. The Technicolor finale of March of Time along with some black-and-white sequences were included in Broadway to Hollywood (1933). [4] Footage from the unfinished film also appears in That's Entertainment! III (1994). [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Hollywood Revue</i> 1929 film

The Hollywood Revue of 1929, or simply The Hollywood Revue, is a 1929 American pre-Code musical comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was the studio's second feature-length musical, and one of their earliest sound films. Produced by Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg and directed by Charles Reisner, it features nearly all of MGM's stars in a two-hour revue that includes three segments in Technicolor. The masters of ceremonies are Conrad Nagel and Jack Benny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramon Novarro</span> Mexican-American actor (1899–1968)

Ramón Gil Samaniego, known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican actor. He began his career in American silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box-office attractions of the 1920s and early 1930s. Novarro was promoted by MGM as a "Latin lover" and became known as a sex symbol after the death of Rudolph Valentino. He is recognized as the first Latin American actor to succeed in Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Dane</span> Danish-American actor and comedian

Karl Dane was a Danish-American comedian and actor known for his work in American films, mainly of the silent film era. He became a star after portraying “Slim”, a supporting role in one of the most successful silent films of all time, The Big Parade (1925), directed by King Vidor and starring John Gilbert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polly Moran</span> American actress (1883–1952)

Pauline Theresa Moran billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and a comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Boles (actor)</span> American actor (1895–1969)

John Boles was an American singer and actor best known for playing Victor Moritz in the 1931 film Frankenstein.

<i>The Show of Shows</i> 1929 film

The Show of Shows is a 1929 American pre-Code musical revue film directed by John G. Adolfi and distributed by Warner Bros. The all-talking Vitaphone production cost almost $800,000 and was shot almost entirely in Technicolor.

<i>Hello Pop!</i> 1933 American short film by Jack Cummings

Hello Pop! is the third of five short films starring Ted Healy and His Stooges released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 16, 1933. A musical-comedy film, the film also featured the Albertina Rasch Dancers and Bonnie Bonnell. The film was considered lost until a 35mm nitrate print was discovered in Australia in January 2013. Stooges Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard were billed as "Howard, Fine and Howard."

<i>Showgirl in Hollywood</i> 1930 film

Showgirl in Hollywood is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche Sweet. It was adapted from the 1929 novel Hollywood Girl by J.P. McEvoy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Sisters</span> American entertainers; vaudeville duo

The Duncan Sisters were an American vaudeville duo who became popular in the 1920s with their act Topsy and Eva.

<i>Call of the Flesh</i> 1930 film

Call of the Flesh is a 1930 American Pre-Code musical film directed by Charles Brabin. The film stars Ramon Novarro, Dorothy Jordan, and Renée Adorée. It featured several songs performed by Novarro and originally included a sequence photographed in Technicolor.

Chasing Rainbows is a 1930 American Pre-Code romantic musical film directed by Charles Reisner, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<i>The Cat and the Fiddle</i> (film) 1934 film by Sam Wood, William K. Howard

The Cat and the Fiddle is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic musical film directed by William K. Howard based on the hit 1931 Broadway musical of the same name by Jerome Kern and Otto A. Harbach, about a romance between a struggling composer and an American singer. The film stars Ramon Novarro and Jeanette MacDonald in her MGM debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George K. Arthur</span> English actor (1899–1985)

Arthur George Brest, known professionally as George K. Arthur, was an English actor and producer, born in Aberdeen, Scotland,. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1919 and 1935, and is best known as the diminutive half of the comedy team of Dane & Arthur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Rapf</span> American film producer

Harry Rapf, was an American film producer.

<i>Broadway to Hollywood</i> (film) 1933 film

Broadway to Hollywood is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film directed by Willard Mack, produced by Harry Rapf, cinematography by Norbert Brodine and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film features many of MGM's stars of the time, including Frank Morgan, Alice Brady, May Robson, Madge Evans, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, and Jackie Cooper. Brothers Moe Howard and Curly Howard of The Three Stooges appear—without Ted Healy and without Larry Fine—almost unrecognizably, as Otto and Fritz, two clowns in makeup. It was the first film to feature Nelson Eddy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorothy Jordan (American actress)</span> American actress (1906–1988)

Dorothy Jordan was an American movie actress who had a short, successful career beginning in 1929.

<i>Paramount on Parade</i> 1930 pre-Code revue film

Paramount on Parade is a 1930 all-star American pre-Code revue released by Paramount Pictures, directed by several directors including Edmund Goulding, Dorothy Arzner, Ernst Lubitsch, Rowland V. Lee, A. Edward Sutherland, Lothar Mendes, Otto Brower, Edwin H. Knopf, Frank Tuttle, and Victor Schertzinger—all supervised by the production supervisor, singer, actress, and songwriter Elsie Janis.

<i>Huddle</i> (film) 1932 film

Huddle is a 1932 American pre-Code sports drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Ramon Novarro, Madge Evans, Ralph Graves and Una Merkel. This was the first of two films Ramon Novarro would make in 1932, and his first after appearing in the acclaimed, successful Mata Hari.

Lloyd Leonard Nosler was an American film editor, director, and screenwriter who worked in Hollywood in from the 1910s through the 1950s.

References

  1. Kennedy, Matthew (1999). Marie Dressler: A Biography : with a Listing of Major Stage Performances, a Filmography, and a Discography. McFarland. p. 236. ISBN   0-786-40520-1.
  2. 1 2 3 Bradley, Edwin M. (2002). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland. p. 261.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bradley, Edwin M. (2004). The First Hollywood Musicals: A Critical Filmography of 171 Features, 1927 Through 1932. McFarland. p. 261. ISBN   0-786-42029-4.
  4. Soares, André (2010). Beyond Paradise: The Life of Ramon Novarro. University Press of Mississippi. p. 158. ISBN   978-1-6047-3458-4 . Retrieved 2021-08-12.