''The Passing Parade'', also known as ''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade'', was an American radio series created, written and narrated by

John Nesbitt John Booth Nesbitt (August 23, 1910 – August 10, 1960) was an actor, narrator, announcer, producer and screenwriter. Nesbitt was best known as the narrator of the MGM series '' Passing Parade''. Early years Nesbitt, born John Booth Nesbitt ...

. It was adapted into an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning series of

MGM 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 ...

short subjects A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

. In both formats, the series usually focused on strange-but-true historical events, both obscure and famous, as well as on historical figures such as

Catherine de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

and

Nostradamus Michel de Nostredame (December 1503 – July 1566), usually Latinisation of names, Latinised as Nostradamus, was a French Astrology, astrologer, apothecary, physician, and reputed Oracle, seer, who is best known for his book ''Les Prophéti ...

''Passing Parade'' on radio

The radio series was developed as an offshoot of ''Headlines of the Past'', an earlier program that John Nesbitt had produced. The show was launched on the

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 ...

network on February 1, 1937, running intermittently until 1951 over three different networks and in syndication. Nesbitt's inspiration was a trunk inherited from his father that contained news clippings of odd stories from around the world. He utilized a research staff of 14 people to verify the details of his stories, but wrote the final scripts himself, often within an hour of airtime. The stories were usually presented without sound effects or music. The show was also heard as a segment on the

John Charles Thomas John Charles Thomas (September 6, 1891December 13, 1960) was an American opera, operetta and concert baritone. Biography John Charles Thomas was born on September 6, 1891, in Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. He was the son of a Methodist minister of ...

radio program, upon which Nesbitt served as narrator, from 1943 to 1946.Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 177. ''Billboard'' wrote: "There was a time when no one could be sold the idea that one man, without much musical help, could fill a half hour and hold his audience. Nesbitt has disproved the bromide because he's Nesbitt and spins a yarn that's as tight as an Armistice announcement." Radio producer/announcer

John Doremus John Doremus (August 3, 1931 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma – July 6, 1995 in Naperville, Illinois) was an American radio personality, best known for his radio syndication of ''Passing Parade, The Passing Parade'', a series of short stories of remarka ...

later acquired the rights to the series and revived it as a late 1950s-early 1960s syndicated feature, billing his version as "from the files of John Nesbitt." More than 1,500 three-minute episodes were broadcast.

''Passing Parade'' on film

A series of ''Passing Parade'' one-reel

were produced for

from 1938 to 1949. Most of the films feature the slow movement of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

's Symphony No. 5 as the opening theme music. The films' directors included

Fred Zinnemann Alfred Zinnemann (April 29, 1907 – March 14, 1997) was an American film director and producer. He won four Academy Awards for directing and producing films in various genres, including thriller film, thrillers, western (genre), westerns, film ...

and

Jacques Tourneur Jacques Tourneur (; ; November 12, 1904 – December 19, 1977) was a French-American filmmaker, active during the Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known as an auteur of stylish and atmospheric genre films, many of them for RKO Pictures, including ...

. The films were reedited for television syndication by MGM in the early 1960s. The shorts in their original form were eventually re-aired on

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 ...

. The films episodes may also be found as DVD extras accompanying some MGM films.

References

External links

"The Passing Parade (anthology, hosted by John Nesbitt)"

"John Nesbitt (I) (1910–1960)"
IMDb
"The Passing Parade - Pgm 10"
rand's esoteric otr

The Classic TV Archive
John Nesbitt filmography
TCM {{DEFAULTSORT:Passing Parade, The 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs NBC radio programs NBC Blue Network radio programs CBS Radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs Short film series Films based on radio series Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films