''MGM Parade'' is a documentary television series produced by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and broadcast by the ABC network during the 1955–56 season on Wednesdays at 8:30pm (E.S.T.), under the alternate sponsorship of American Tobacco ( Pall Mall), and

General Foods General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by C. W. Post, Charles William (C. W.) Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895. The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, a ...

( Instant Maxwell House). The 30 minute ''MGM Parade'', one of MGM's first TV programs, was produced by MGM's trailer department as one of the compilation and promotional shows that imitated Walt Disney's ''

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

''.

Background

first used television for promotional purposes having a tie in with ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' (on CBS) in the early 1950s. The Sullivan Show, however, switched to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...

in the mid-1950s, so MGM attempted to have a promotional agreement with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, but could not come to terms on the specifics. Instead, MGM's trailer department produced what became MGM's first television series, which was called the ''MGM Parade''. Within three years after its cancellation, the company then launched what became

MGM Television Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, formerly known as MGM/UA Television, is the television studio arm of the American film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), specializing in broadcast syndication and the production and distribution of television sh ...

History

''The MGM Parade'' premiered on ABC in the fall of 1955. Hosted by

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American actor and politician. Murphy was a song-and-dance leading man in many big-budget Hollywood musicals from 1930 to 1952. He was the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1944 to ...

(September 14, 1955 – March 7, 1956),

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. A major leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood, known for his "portrayals of men who prove both sturdy and wise," Pidgeon earned two Academy ...

(March 14–May 2, 1956) and other MGM stars, the series went into the MGM vaults to offer segments extracted from such past productions as '' Good News'' (1947) and '' The Pirate'' (1948); in December, a condensed edition of the 1938 version of ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

'' was presented for the first time on television. Exploring the inner workings of the MGM studios, it featured interviews with prominent MGM stars to promote current and upcoming releases. The program also presented "selected short subjects" from the studio's library ( Carey Wilson's ''Miniatures'', John Nesbitt's '' Passing Parade'', Pete Smith's ''Specialties'',

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

's cartoons,

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist and actor. From his beginnings at ''The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, through his many years writing essays ...

, etc). After Walter Pidgeon became the host, the format was slightly altered to include edited multi-part versions of "classic" MGM feature films, including '' Captains Courageous'' and '' The Pirate'', as well as a tribute and biography of

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

. An example of its use as a promotional tool can be seen in the 2008 DVD release of the 1955 musical film '' Kismet'', which includes two episodes of ''MGM Parade'' in which actors from the film are interviewed, along with excerpts from the film plus behind-the-scenes footage. Episodes of the series sporadically air between features on the

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcas ...

network in the United States.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0047753, title=MGM Parade 1955 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows 1950s American documentary television series Television series by MGM Television