The March of Time is an American newsreel series sponsored by Time Inc. and shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. It was based on a radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945 that was produced by advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO).[1] The "voice" of both series was Westbrook Van Voorhis. Produced and written by Louis de Rochemont and his brother Richard de Rochemont, The March of Time was recognized with an Academy Honorary Award in 1937.
The March of Time organization also produced four feature films for theatrical release, and created documentary series for early television. Its first TV series, Crusade in Europe (1949), received a Peabody Award and one of the first Emmy Awards.
Production
The March of Time was based on a news documentary and dramatization series, also called The March of Time, that was first broadcast on CBS Radio in 1931. Produced by Madison Avenue advertising agency, Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BBDO), the series was designed to cross promote Time magazine on the radio.[2] Usually called a newsreel series, The March of Time was actually a monthly series of short feature films twice the length of standard newsreels. The films were didactic, with a subjective point of view.[3]: 75–76 The editors of Time described it as "pictorial journalism". Like its radio namesake, The March of Time included reporting, on-location shots, and dramatic reenactments. The March of Time's relationship to the newsreel was compared to the weekly interpretive news magazine's relationship to the daily newspaper.[4]
The March of Time was launched February 1, 1935, in over 500 theaters. Each entry in the series was either a two- or three-reel film (20 or 30 minutes). Westbrook Van Voorhis, who hosted the radio program, served as narrator of the film series. The series, which finally totalled close to 200 segments, was an immediate success with audiences. Because of its high production costs—estimated at $50,000 per episode, released at the rate of about one episode per month—the series was a money loser. However, it remained in production for six years beyond the cancellation of the radio show on which it was based.
The films were originally distributed by First Division Pictures, an independent distributor of minor-studio product. Major studio RKO Radio Pictures took over distribution in August 1935, and 20th Century-Fox began releasing the series in September 1942. At its peak The March of Time was seen by 25 million U.S. moviegoers a month.[5]
"Implicit in all March of Time issues was a kind of uncomplicated American liberalism — general good intentions, a healthy journalistic skepticism, faith in enlightened self-interest, and substantial pride in American progress and potential", wrote March of Time chronicler Raymond Fielding:
The men who made the March of Time were not political theorists, they were journalists. For them, fascism, communism, and native demagogues seemed foreign to the American ethic, and they exposed and attacked them accordingly. … A cinematic agent provocateur, the March of Time turned over a lot of rocks, both at home and abroad, and illuminated the creatures it found beneath them. The demagogues and quacks whom they attacked in the 1930s may seem like obvious targets now, but they didn't seem so then. They were popular, powerful, frightening people, and the March of Time stood entirely alone in theatrical motion picture circles as a muckraker.[3]: 87
In late 1936, producer Roy E. Larsen reluctantly left The March of Time to serve as publisher of Life, a weekly news magazine that began publication in November 1936. Time executives had long vacillated over launching such a magazine, but the success of The March of Time's experiments in pictorial journalism overcame the hesitation of the corporation's board of directors. Larsen proposed that the new magazine be named The March of Time, but the name Life was purchased from the owners of a declining periodical. Life magazine was a great success and notable influence on photojournalism throughout its 36-year history.[3]: 161–162
Louis de Rochemont succeeded Larsen as producer of The March of Time, while Larsen continued to supervise the operations of the series on behalf of the Time corporation.[3]: 162
Examining the subjects of The March of Time, series historian Raymond Fielding found that episodes dealing with a single country and its affairs comprised 32.6 to 36 percent of the entire series. Economic issues were the subject of 10 percent of the episodes, and domestic politics 5 percent. Between 1935 and 1942, approximately 24 percent of the episodes were about war or the threat of war; from December 1941 until the end of World War II nearly every episode dealt with war.[3]: 172
"Although the March of Time was professedly nonpartisan, a clear and persistent antifascist tone was becoming apparent in its analysis of world politics and rising militarism", Fielding wrote. "'Rehearsal for War' [August 6, 1937] was unquestionably anti-Franco, which was exactly what liberal staff members had intended."[3]: 175–176
During Louis de Rochemont's tenure (1935–1943), 14 percent of the March of Time episodes were about the impact of specific individuals on political, economic and military events — a number that dropped significantly after his departure. De Rochemont's particular interest in the geopolitical role of the world's waterways resulted in 7.5 percent of all episodes devoted to the subject.[3]: 172
Unless noted, sources for episode information are The March of Time, 1935–1951 by Raymond Fielding,[3]: 335–342 and the HBO Archive's summary of The March of Time newsreels.[7] Episodes 1.1–1.4 were distributed by First Division Pictures; episodes 1.5–8.13 were distributed by RKO Pictures; episodes 9.1–17.6 were distributed by 20th Century-Fox.[8]
Volume + issue
U.S. release date
Title
Length
Notes
1.1
February 1, 1935
Saionji Speakeasy Street Belisha Beacons Moe Buchsbaum Fred Perkins Metropolitan Opera
4:14 2:32 3:02 1:56 3:28 5:48
Prince Saionji counsels Japan's leaders The 21 Club frustrates federal agents during Prohibition Britain's transport ministry erects traffic lights despite hostility U.S. tourist agrees to pay fine in France under one condition[9] Manufacturer defies NRA wage-scale directives on principle Giulio Gatti-Casazza retires; first sound pictures of the Met
1.2
March 8, 1935
Germany New York Daily News Leadbelly Mohawk Disaster Speed Camera
General Douglas MacArthur leads Army maneuvers in a simulated invasion of the U.S. Militant French fascist organization Croix-de-Feu forms and grows Portrait of politically outspoken radio evangelist Father Charles Coughlin
1.6
September 20, 1935
Bootleg Coal Civilian Conservation Corps Ethiopia
5:47 7:27 7:13
Pennsylvania miners on strike dig coal from closed mines to survive CCC camps save both the land and unemployed youth of America British build dam for Emperor Haile Selassie as Italy mobilizes for war
1.7
October 18, 1935
Neutrality Palestine Safety ("— And Sudden Death") Summer Theatres
Religious organization and theories of spiritual leader Father Divine Dr. Leroy L. Hartman invents new painkilling technique for dentistry Study of life in the Soviet Union
2.3
March 13, 1936
Devil's Island Tokyo, Japan Fisheries
6:09 5:00 6:13
Prisoners in French Guiana Study of political revolt and killing of government officials by army officers New England fishermen fear losing Canadian tariff
2.4
April 17, 1936
Florida Canal Arson Squads in Action Field Trials Veterans of Future Wars
6:04 6:11 4:27 5:34
Angry debate over construction of the Cross Florida Barge Canal Dramatization of fire marshal Thomas P. Brophy solving arson case in Brooklyn Hunting and sporting dog trials in Tennessee Princeton University student organization proposes bonuses for future military service
2.5
May 15, 1936
League of Nations Union Railroads Relief
7:14 8:04 5:34
Critical look at the weakened League of Nations and worsening international relations Uncertain future of railroad industry Dramatizations depict the decreasing national relief fund
Albania's King Zog Highway Homes King Cotton's Slaves
6:25 6:31 7:40
Profile of Albania and King Zog I Trailers are used for camping, recreation and affordable homes Brutal economic conditions under which Southern sharecropper families live
A Soldier-King's Son St. Lawrence Seaway An Uncle Sam Production
6:30 5:35 9:17
Young King Leopold III of Belgium rules a country facing Nazi aggression from Germany and within U.S. and Canadian efforts to open a binational deep waterway for trade through the Great Lakes face opposition The Federal Theatre Project works to revitalize an industry ravaged by the Great Depression
3.5
December 24, 1936
China's Dictator Kidnapped Business Girls in the Big City
Amateur Sleuths Britain's Food Defenses The Supreme Court
5:44 6:25 8:10
Volunteer sleuth clubs organized to help police solve crimes Facing a military shortage due to malnourishment, Britain campaigns and trains for physical fitness FDR combats legal challenges to New Deal innovations, including the Wagner Act, with an attempt to reform the Supreme Court
3.10
May 14, 1937
Irish Republic — 1937 Puzzle Prizes U.S. Unemployed
7:09 5:12 6:33
With a new Constitution and the leadership of PresidentÉamon de Valera, Ireland works to become self-sufficient through industrialization Legal contests, puzzles and lotteries like the Irish Sweepstakes gain popularity David Lasser's Worker's Alliance pressures U.S. legislators to combat unemployment; the WPA needs increased funding
3.11
June 11, 1937
Dogs for Sale Dust Bowl Poland and War
5:49 6:02 5:43
Catering to dog owners is big business; The Seeing Eye trains service dogs for the blind, and new legislation will lift restrictions With more than nine million acres of U.S. farmland suffering major soil erosion, the USDA aggressively promotes planting and plowing methods that restore ecological balance Historical overview includes the accomplishments of General Pilsudski and his successor, growing anti-Semitism and changing regional conditions
3.12
July 9, 1937
Babies Wanted Rockefeller Millions The 49th State?
4:59 4:48 7:08
More families seek to adopt as the U.S. birth rate declines; agencies improve childcare and screening methods The philanthropy of John D. Rockefeller Jr., and the Rockefeller Foundation The key role of Hawaii in the defense of the U.S., and its campaign for statehood
3.13
August 6, 1937
Rehearsal for War The Spoils System Youth in Camps
6:12 5:57 5:48
The U.S. looks for lessons in the Spanish Civil War as it prepares for future conflicts Efforts to rid the United States civil service system of nepotism and patronage Summer resident camps for underprivileged American children offer good food, exercise, competitive sports and outdoor skills
4.1
September 10, 1937
Pests of 1937 War in China
5:09 12:38
4.2
October 1, 1937
England's D.O.R.A. Fiorello LaGuardia Junk and War
4:51 10:17 3:55
4.3
October 29, 1937
Amoskeag-Success Story Crisis in Algeria U.S. Secret Service
6:21 6:59 5:09
4.4
November 26, 1937
Britain's Gambling Fever Alaska's Salmon War The Human Heart
Boys Town of Italy aids destitute children after WWII; Academy AwardWinner; The Academy Film Archive preserved A Chance to Live in 2005.[10]
16.1
February 3, 1950
Mid-Century — Half-Way to Where?
16:20
16.2
March 17, 1950
The Male Look
15:33
16.3
April 28, 1950
Where's the Fire?
18:29
16.4
June 9, 1950
Beauty at Work
17:10
16.5
August 18, 1950
As Russia Sees It
15:36
16.6
September 29, 1950
The Gathering Storm
15:52
16.7
November 10, 1950
Schools March On!
17:49
16.8
December 1950
Tito — New Ally?
17:12
17.1
February 1951
Strategy for Victory
16:56
17.2
March 1951
Flight Plan for Freedom
18:22
17.3
April 1951
The Nation's Mental Health
18:21
17.4
June 1951
Moroccan Outpost
16:47
17.5
July 1951
Crisis in Iran
17:58
17.6
August 1951
Formosa — Island of Promise
16:30
Reviews and commentary
Writing for The Spectator in 1935, Graham Greene favorably contrasted the film with contemporary British news films whose stories he described as "scraps of unimportant material [...] flung without arrangement on to the screen". Praising the producers of The March of Time, Greene suggested that "their fortnightly programmes can be compared with an authoritative article by a special correspondent rather than with a haphazard page of photographs from the Daily Mirror", and went on to discuss the danger of censorship for this nascent news medium in light of England's stronger libel laws and the British Board of Film Censors' decision to severely cut scenes of the Parisian riots related to the Croix de Feu, and to remove the film's final scene revealing the source of the Croix de Feu's funding - an act of censorship that Greene noted as making the film "Fascist in tone".[11]
Alistair Cooke, The Listener (November 20, 1935) — The March of Time is not the result of bright inspiration. Behind it is ten years' experience with a magazine of the same style; an army of correspondents and cameramen scattered throughout the world; an historical film library it took two years to prepare; a newspaper cutting library as exhaustive as anything extant; and in New York and Chicago a vast research staff alert to trace the origins of any family, war, author, statesman, treaty, or breath or rumour. With no less than this should any other film company irresponsibly compete.[3]: 67
Bosley Crowther, The New York Times (October 31, 1937) — And now, less than three years old but already an institution, the March of Time is today one of the most successful and forward-looking features on the screen — a dynamic force for the purveyance of information through the medium of the film.[12]
D. A. Spencer and H. D. Waley, The Cinema Today (1939) — Although the ideal behind these films is to present, as objectively as possible, accounts of world happenings, there is no doubt whatever that they are helping to mould our views on such happenings. In America legislation regulating child labour … has at last passed both Houses of Congress by a narrow margin which is believed to be due to the March of Time. Their film on cancer has done a good deal to arouse the national conscience of America to the evils of the quackery that battens on fear of this scourge, while in England, before the present campaign for National Fitness was under way, their film Food and Physical Training aroused enormous interest and debate in that it brought home to many people's minds the fact that the animals at the zoo are better fed and housed than many of the nation's children.[3]: 176
Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times (September 2, 2010) — It's hard to know today even what to call these films. (Raymond Fielding, a retired college educator who wrote a book about the series, told me that roughly 290 were made.) '"Newsreels'" seems inadequate; they are longer, more detailed and much more opinionated than the standard-issue newsreels that preceded them. "Documentaries" is closer, but the blaring orchestrations and outlandish voice-overs sound nothing like a modern documentary. It's tempting to give up and label these whats-its a mass-media Neanderthal — an evolutionary dead end; an attempt to merge the tools of newsgathering and filmmaking that had its moment but died out. Except that, once you watch a few and learn about how they were made, you start to see a little March of Time in almost everything: Fox News, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the History channel, schlocky reality shows of the I Shouldn't Be Alive variety, PBS's P.O.V.[13]
Tom Shales, The Washington Post (September 4, 2010) — Fascinating, enthralling, enlightening—many a superlative applies to these documentary shorts, which have gathered value with the march of time itself and have been rescued from the ravages of time by New York's Museum of Modern Art and the HBO Archive, corporate relative of the series's original creators. … It's something of an irony that The March of Time may be less famous today than a bull's-eye parody of it — a parody that millions have seen, many of them perhaps not even knowing that it is a parody or what it's lampooning. Does News on the March ring a bell? It's the title of the fake-out newsreel that begins the Orson Welles classic Citizen Kane, and it includes wily duplications of all the March of Time trademarks, including the white-on-black transitional title cards, the wall-to-wall musical score and the bombastic narration.[14]
Awards and recognition
The March of Time received an honorary Academy Award in 1937 "for its significance to motion pictures and for having revolutionized one of the most important branches of the industry — the newsreel."[15]
On October 27, 1937, The March of Time episode "Conquering Cancer" received the first Clement Cleveland Medal, established by the New York City Cancer Committee of the American Society for the Control of Cancer.[16] "Louis de Rochemont was especially proud of a letter he received from U.S. Surgeon General Parran crediting the film with providing a crucial influence in securing a federal appropriation for the National Cancer Institute", reported March of Time chronicler Raymond Fielding.[3]: 170
In 1949 The March of Time created the first extensive documentary series for television, Crusade in Europe, based on the book by Dwight D. Eisenhower. The ABC series received a Peabody Award and one of the first Emmy Awards (Best Public Service, Cultural or Educational Program).[19] It was followed by Crusade in the Pacific (1951).[3]: 302
In 1965–1966, producer David L. Wolper revived the March of Time title for a series of documentary films produced in association with Time-Life, Inc.[20] The series was not successful.[3]: 302
A fine romance, with no kisses. A fine romance, my friend, this is. True love should have the thrills that a healthy crime has. We don't have half the thrills that The March of Time has.[21][22]
The March of Dimes, a fundraising organization that still exists, was named by Eddie Cantor in 1938 as a play on The March of Time. Because Franklin D. Roosevelt founded the March of Dimes, originally called the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, a dime was chosen to honor him after his death.[23]
