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Parade on film

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{{Short description|American radio series by John Nesbitt}}
{{italic title}}
'''''The Passing Parade''''', a.k.a. '''''John Nesbitt's Passing Parade''''', was an American radio series created, written, and narrated by [[John Nesbitt (announcer)|John Nesbitt]] which was adapted into an [[Academy Award|Oscar]]-winning series of [[MGM]] [[short subjects]]. In both media, the series usually focused on strange but true historical events, both little known and famous, as well as figures such as [[Catherine de' Medici]] and [[Nostradamus]].

==''Passing Parade'' on radio==
The radio series, developed as an outgrowth of an earlier Nesbitt-produced program (''Headlines of the Past''), was launched on the [[NBC]] network on February 1, 1937, running off and on until 1951 over three different networks and in syndication. Nesbitt's inspiration was a trunk left to him by his father which contained news clippings of odd stories from around the world. Nesbitt, who usually presented his stories without sound effects or music, utilized a research staff of 14 people in verifying the details of his tales, but wrote the final scripts himself, often within an hour of airtime.<ref name="dunning">{{cite book
| last = Dunning
| first = John
| author-link = John Dunning (detective fiction author)
| title = On The Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio
| edition = Revised
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| year = 1998
| location = New York
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn/page/533 533]
| url = https://archive.org/details/onairencyclop00dunn
| url-access = registration
| isbn = 0-19-507678-8
| access-date=2019-11-10
}}</ref>

Joseph M. Koehler described the unusual nature of the program in a review in the July 31, 1943, issue of [[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]: "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."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Koehler|first1=Joseph M.|title=Program Reviews: "The Passing Parade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aAwEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22John+Nesbitt%22+Passing+OR+Parade&pg=PT11|access-date=30 July 2016|work=Billboard|date=July 31, 1943|page=12}}</ref>

''The Passing Parade'' was heard as a segment on ''The John Charles Thomas Show'' (1943-1946).<ref name=rp>Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-4513-4}}. P. 177.</ref>

Radio producer/announcer [[John Doremus]] 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." Over 1500 three-minute episodes were broadcast.<ref>[http://gracegibson.com.au/project/the-passing-parade/ "The Passing Parade"], Grace Gibson Productions.</ref>

==''Parade'' on film==
The series of ''Passing Parade'' one-reel short subjects was produced for [[MGM]] from 1938 to 1949.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Slide|first1=Anthony|title=The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135925543|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnzsAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA156|access-date=30 July 2016|language=en}}</ref> Most of the films featured the slow movement of [[Tchaikovsky]]'s [[Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 5]] as the opening theme music. The directors included [[Fred Zinnemann]] and [[Jacques Tourneur]].

The films were re-edited for television syndication by MGM in the early 1960s. The shorts in their original form were eventually re-aired (and {{as of|2022|lc=1}} are still being aired) on [[Turner Classic Movies]]. These episodes can also be found as [[DVD extras]] accompanying some MGM films.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;"
|-
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Subject matter
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Cast
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Home video availability
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1938|1938}}
| ''Passing Parade''
|
| with [[Margaret Bert]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1938|1938}}
| ''The Face Behind the Mask''
| The [[Man in the Iron Mask]]
| with [[Leonard Penn]], directed by [[Jacques Tourneur]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1939|1939}}
| ''The Story of Alfred Nobel''
| [[Alfred Nobel]]
| with [[Paul Guilfoyle]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1939|1939}}
| ''Angel of Mercy''
| Story of Clara Barton, founder of the [[American Red Cross]]
| with [[Sara Haden]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1939|1939}}
| ''Yankee Doodle Goes to Town''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1939|1939}}
| ''The Story that Couldn't be Printed''
| John Peter Zenger
| with [[Victor Kilian]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1939|1939}}
| ''One Against the World''
|
| with [[Jonathan Hale]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''The Hidden Master''
| Common luck in person's life
| with [[Peter Cushing]], [[Emmett Vogan]], and [[Louis Jean Heydt]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''A Way in the Wilderness''
| [[Joseph Goldberger]]'s research on [[pellagra]]
| with [[Shepperd Strudwick]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''Trifles of Importance''
|
| with [[Clark Gable]], [[Lana Turner]], [[Robert Taylor (American actor)|Robert Taylor]], [[Myrna Loy]], [[Mickey Rooney]], and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''Utopia of Death''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''Dreams''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1940|1940}}
| ''American Spoken Here''
| A glimpse of american slang
| with [[John Harmon (actor)|John Harmon]], [[Barbara Bedford (actress)|Barbara Bedford]], and [[Ray Teal]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1941|1941}}
| ''Willie and the Mouse''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1941|1941}}
| ''This is the Bowery''
| Manhattan, [[Bowery]]
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1941|1941}}
| ''Of Pups and Puzzles''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1941|1941}}
| ''Strange Testament''
|
| with [[Edward Ashley]] and [[Ava Gardner]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1942|1942}}
| ''We Do It Because—''
|
| with [[Ava Gardner]], [[Dorothy Morris]], and [[Mark Daniels]]
| ''[[Reunion in France]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1942|1942}}
| ''The Woman in the House''
|
| with [[Ann Richards]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1942|1942}}
| ''The Incredible Stranger''
|
| with [[Paul Guilfoyle]], [[Dorothy Vaughan]], and [[Walter Baldwin]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1942|1942}}
| ''The Magic Alphabet''
| [[Christiaan Eijkman]]'s discovery of [[vitamin]]s
| with [[Horace McNally]]
| ''[[Great Day in the Morning]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1942|1942}}
| ''The Film that Was Lost''
| [[Film preservation]]
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''Madero of Mexico''
| [[Francisco I. Madero]]
| with [[Paul Guilfoyle]] and [[John Picorri]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''Who's Superstitious?''
| Common [[superstition]]s
| with [[Don Taylor (American filmmaker)|Don Taylor]], [[Ernie Alexander (actor)|Ernie Alexander]], [[Fred Toones]], and [[Margaret Bert]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''That's Why I Left You''
|
| with [[Jacqueline White]] and [[James Warren (actor)|James Warren]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''Forgotten Treasure''
| [[Film preservation]]
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''Storm''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1943|1943}}
| ''To My Unborn Son''
|
| with [[Steven Geray]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1944|1944}}
| ''Return from Nowhere''
|
| with [[Don DeFore]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1944|1944}}
| ''A Lady Fights Back''
| [[SS Normandie|SS ''Normandie'']]
|
| ''[[30 Seconds Over Tokyo]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1945|1945}}
| ''The Seesaw and the Shoes''
| [[Rene Laennec]]'s invention of the [[stethoscope]]; [[Charles Goodyear]]'s invention of [[vulcanized rubber]]
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1945|1945}}
| ''The Great American Mug''
| History of the [[barber]] shop
|
| ''[[Thrill of a Romance]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1945|1945}}
| ''[[Stairway to Light]]''
| [[Philippe Pinel]]
| with [[Wolfgang Zilzer]] and [[Gene Roth]]; won an [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Oscar for Best One-Reel Short Subject]]
| ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)|The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1945|1945}}
| ''People on Paper''
| The beginning of the comic strips, also known as funny papers.
| with [[Harold Knerr]] (''[[The Katzenjammer Kids]]''), [[Bud Fisher]] (''[[Mutt and Jeff]]''), [[Fred Lasswell]] (''[[Barney Google and Snuffy Smith]]''), [[Frank King (cartoonist)|Frank King]] (''[[Gasoline Alley]]''), [[Chester Gould]] (''[[Dick Tracy]]''), [[Dick Calkins]] (''[[Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (radio)|Buck Rogers in the 25th Century]]''), [[Milton Caniff]] (''[[Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)|Terry and the Pirates]]''), [[Chic Young]] (''[[Blondie and Dagwood]]''), [[Raeburn Van Buren]] (''[[Abbie an' Slats]]''), [[Ham Fisher]] (''[[Joe Palooka]]''), [[Hal Foster]] (''[[Prince Valiant]]''), [[Harold Gray]] (''[[Little Orphan Annie]]'') and [[Al Capp]] (''[[Li'l Abner]]'')
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1946|1946}}
| ''Golden Hunch''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1946|1946}}
| ''Magic on a Stick''
| [[John Walker (inventor)|John Walker]]'s invention of the [[friction match]]
| with [[Paul Langton]] and [[Jacqueline White]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1946|1946}}
| ''Our Old Car''
|
| with [[Jacqueline White]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1947|1947}}
| ''A Really Important Person''
|
| with [[Dean Stockwell]], [[Connie Gilchrist]], [[Clancy Cooper]], and [[Chick York]]
| ''[[Song of the Thin Man]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1947|1947}}
| ''Tennis in Rhythm''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1948|1948}}
| ''[[Goodbye, Miss Turlock]]''
|
| with [[Nana Bryant]]; won an [[Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film|Oscar for Best One-Reel Short Subject]]
| ''[[Fiesta (1947 film)|Fiesta]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1948|1948}}
| ''My Old Town''
|
|
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1948|1948}}
| ''Souvenirs of Death''
| The voice of the Mauser pistol
|
| ''[[Command Decision (film)|Command Decision]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1948|1948}}
| ''The Fabulous Fraud''
| [[Anton Mesmer]] and [[hypnotism]]
| with [[John Baragrey]], [[Phyllis Morris (actress)|Phyllis Morris]], [[Marcia Mae Jones]], and [[Morris Ankrum]]
|
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1949|1949}}
| ''Annie Was a Wonder''
|
| with [[Kathleen Freeman]], [[Howard J. Negley]], [[Ruth Lee]], and [[Hugo-Sven Borg]]
| ''[[The Barkleys of Broadway]]'' (DVD)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1949|1949}}
| ''Mr. Whitney Had a Notion''
| [[Eli Whitney]] and [[interchangeable parts]]
| with [[Lloyd Bridges]]
| ''[[On the Town (film)|On the Town]]'' (Blu-ray)
|-
! scope="row" | {{sort|1949|1949}}
| ''City of Children''
| [[Mooseheart, Illinois]]
|
|
|}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVThemes/themePages/passingParade.html "The Passing Parade (anthology, hosted by John Nesbitt)"]
*[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0626363/ "John Nesbitt (I) (1910–1960)"], IMDb
*[http://randsesotericotr.podbean.com/2008/12/06/the-passing-parade-pgm-10/ "The Passing Parade - Pgm 10"], rand's esoteric otr
*[http://ctva.biz/US/Documentary/PassingParade.htm "John Nesbitt's Passing Parade"], The Classic TV Archive
*[http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/1252542%7C86533/John-Nesbitt/filmography-with-synopsis.html John Nesbitt filmography], TCM

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passing Parade, The}}
[[Category:1930s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1940s American radio programs]]
[[Category:1950s American radio programs]]
[[Category:NBC radio programs]]
[[Category:NBC Blue Network radio programs]]
[[Category:CBS Radio programs]]
[[Category:Mutual Broadcasting System programs]]
[[Category:Short film series]]
[[Category:Films based on radio series]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films]]

John Nesbitt's Passing Parade - Revision history

JJR: 1 revision imported: might be problem

94.27.138.70: /* Parade on film */