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

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

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 The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of ...

( Pall Mall), and

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

( 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 theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, 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. Disney initially envisio ...

''.

Background

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

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, 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 Septembe ...

'' (on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

) in the early 1950s. The Sullivan Show, however, switched to

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

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

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, 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 MGM Television Worldwide Group and Digital (alternatively Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television Group and Digital, commonly known as MGM Television and then-known as MGM/UA Television; common metonym: Lion) is an American television production/Bro ...

History

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

George Murphy George Lloyd Murphy (July 4, 1902 – May 3, 1992) was an American dancer, 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 fro ...

(September 14, 1955 – March 7, 1956),

Walter Pidgeon Walter Davis Pidgeon (September 23, 1897 – September 25, 1984) was a Canadian-American actor. He earned two Academy Award for Best Actor nominations for his roles in '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942) and ''Madame Curie'' (1943). Pidgeon also starred in ...

(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. ''A Christmas ...

'' 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 ''The Passing Parade'', a.k.a. ''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'', was an American radio series created, written, and narrated by John Nesbitt which was adapted into an Oscar-winning series of MGM short subjects. In both media, the series usually ...

'', Pete Smith's ''Specialties'',

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

's cartoons,

Robert Benchley Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor. From his beginnings at '' The Harvard Lampoon'' while attending Harvard University, thr ...

, etcetera). 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 ''Captains Courageous: A Story of the Grand Banks'' is an 1897 novel by Rudyard Kipling that follows the adventures of fifteen-year-old Harvey Cheyne Jr., the spoiled son of a railroad tycoon, after he is saved from drowning by a Portuguese f ...

'' 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. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

. 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-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

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

Background

History

See also

References

External links