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

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the 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 serve merely as brea ...

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 and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

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

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

Production

The unfinished film was originally titled ''Hollywood Revue of 1930'' and was conceived by producer

Harry Rapf Harry Rapf (16 October 1880, in New York City – 6 February 1949, in Los Angeles), was an American film producer. Biography Born to a Jewish family, Rapf began his career in 1917, and during a 20-year career became a well-known producer of ...

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 born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

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 Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre manager, and producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber. He also produced shows on his own and starred in ...

of the Weber and Fields comedy team, Gus Edwards,

Fay Templeton Fay Templeton (December 25, 1865 – October 3, 1939) was an American actress, singer, songwriter, and comedian. Her parents were actors/vaudevillians and she followed in their footsteps, making her Broadway debut in 1900. Templeton excelled ...

Marie Dressler Marie Dressler (born Leila Marie Koerber, November 9, 1868 – July 28, 1934) was a Canadian stage and screen actress, comedian, and early silent film and Depression-era film star. In 1914, she was in the first full-length film comedy. Sh ...

Van and Schenck Van and Schenck were popular American entertainers in the 1910s and 1920s: Gus Van (born August Von Glahn, August 12, 1886 – March 12, 1968), baritone, and Joe Schenck (pronounced "skenk"; born Joseph Thuma Schenck, (June 2, 1891– June ...

, 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 film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

Albertina Rasch Albertina Rasch (January 19, 1891 – October 2, 1967) was a naturalized 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 ...

and her dancers,

Polly Moran Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started in vaudeville, and widely toured North A ...

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

Benny Rubin Benny Rubin (February 2, 1899 – July 15, 1986) was an American comedian and film actor. Born in Boston, Rubin made more than 200 radio, film and television appearances over a span of 50 years. Career In 1929, Rubin went to Hollywood, where he ...

Ramon Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...

performing "Long Ago in Alcala,"

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

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

Barney Fagan Barney Fagan (January 12, 1850 – January 12, 1937) was an American performer, director, choreographer, and composer. Career Barney Fagan was born as Bernard J. Fagan in Boston, son of Douglass and Ellen Fagan. His father was the deputy ...

performing a soft shoe 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, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

that was to be released in 1932. That project was also abandoned. The footage from ''The March of Time'' later found its way into the musical shorts ''

The Devil's Cabaret ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1930), '' Crazy House'' (1930), ''

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

'' (1933), ''

Hello Pop! ''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 (Healy's gi ...

'' (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 ''Broadway to Hollywood'' is an American television program broadcast on the now-defunct DuMont Television Network. While the daytime version was mainly a talk show with news, celebrity gossip, and home-viewer quizzes, the quiz portion became a ...

'' (1933). Footage from the unfinished film also appears in '' That's Entertainment! III'' (1994).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:March Of Time, The 1930s 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