''The March of Time'' is the title of an unreleased 1930 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by

Charles Reisner Charles Francis Reisner (March 14, 1887 – September 24, 1962) was an American film director and actor of the 1920s and 1930s. The German-American directed over 60 films between 1920 and 1950 and acted in over 20 films between 1916 and 1 ...

. The film was originally scheduled to be released in September 1930 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 ...

(MGM) but was shelved. ''The March of Time'' would have been one of the many musicals partially filmed in two-color

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

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. 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 Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

circuit, then-present-day performers and up-and-coming performers. 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. 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 Leila Marie Koerber (November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934), known professionally as Marie Dressler, was a Canadian-born stage- and screen-actress and comedian, popular in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood in early silent film, silent an ...

, Van and Schenck, DeWolf Hopper Sr.,

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

Albertina Rasch Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was an Austrian-American dancer, company director, and choreographer. Early life Rasch was born in 1891 (although she would later shave five years off her age), in Vienna (in what was then ...

and her dancers, Polly Moran,

Cliff Edwards Clifton Avon "Cliff" Edwards (June 14, 1895 – July 17, 1971), nicknamed "Ukulele Ike", was an American pop singer, musician and actor. He enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s, specializing in jazzy renditions of pop sta ...

, Benny Rubin,

Ramon Novarro Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), 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-offic ...

performing "Long Ago in Alcala,"

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...

performing "Poor Little G-String,"the Duncan Sisters performing "Graduation Day," Barney Fagan performing a

soft shoe Tap dance (or tap) is a form of dance that uses the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion; it is often accompanied by music. Tap dancing can also be performed with no musical accompaniment; the sound of the taps is its own ...

routine, and Raquel Torres performing "The Story of An Old Spanish Clock". In order to salvage the $750,000 that had already been spent on the film, MGM announced plans to use the footage in a planned project starring

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side New York accent, accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

that was to be released in 1932. That project was also abandoned. Footage from ''The March of Time'' later found its way into the musical shorts '' The Devil's Cabaret'' (1930), '' Crazy House'' (1930), ''

Nertsery Rhymes ''Nertsery Rhymes'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code musical comedy short film starring Ted Healy and His Three Stooges, Stooges, released on July 6, 1933 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It is the first of five short films the comedy team made for the studi ...

'' (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). Footage from the unfinished film also appears in '' That's Entertainment! III'' (1994).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:March Of Time, The 1930 musical films 1930s color films 1930s unfinished films American musical films Films directed by Charles Reisner Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Unreleased American films American black-and-white films Early color films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language musical films

Production

See also

References

External links