OLD TIME RADIO -
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The March of Time
is an American radio news series broadcast from 1931 to 1945, and a companion
newsreel series shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951. Created by
broadcasting pioneer Fred Smith and Time magazine executive Roy E. Larsen, the
program combined actual news events with reenactments. The "voice" of The March
of Time was Westbrook Van Voorhis. The radio program was later developed into a
newsreel series 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.
The March of Time had its origins in a 1928 radio series developed at WLW in
Cincinnati, Ohio, by radio pioneer Fred Smith, who obtained permission to use
material from Time magazine in his broadcasts. Later, Smith and Roy E. Larsen,
the first circulation manager for Time, developed Time magazine's own radio
program, which they called Newscasting. That program evolved into The March of
Time, the first network presentation of a dramatized "news" format. At Smith's
suggestion, the program included the "10 best radio actors," an "announcer
extraordinary," a "splendid orchestra" and a "clever director."
"The March of Time was the first radio newsreel," wrote radio historian John
Dunning, "dramatized news events, elaborately staged with sound effects and
music, put together like a newspaper — often on deadline, with impact and
accuracy its twin goals."
The March of Time began airing as a weekly series March 6, 1931, on CBS Radio.
The half-hour program aired Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET. In 1935 the program was
trimmed to 15 minutes and aired five times a week, but after a year returned to
its 30-minute weekly format. Suspended in 1939, the series was revived in 1941
with a new format, and lasted until 1945.
Time Inc. was the only sponsor of all of the shows; other sponsors included
Remington Rand, the Wrigley Company and Electrolux. The March of Time aired on
CBS through October 7, 1937, and was subsequently broadcast on the Blue Network
(October 14, 1937–June 5, 1942), NBC (July 9, 1942–October 26, 1944), and ABC
(November 2, 1944–July 26, 1945).
One of radio's most popular programs, The March of Time was described by Variety
as "the apex of radio showmanship." It reached millions of Americans during its
14-year history. The series's promotional value to Time Inc. proved to be
incalculable, although Time had announced that it would discontinue the program
after the first year. It was an expensive production requiring as many as
75 staff and 1,000 hours of labor to get each issue on the air.
The full studio orchestra was conducted by Howard Barlow (CBS) and Donald
Voorhees (NBC). The sound effects team was led by Ora Daigle Nichols, the only
woman who made a living as a sound engineer that time. She and her husband
Arthur started the business of sound effects for radio, drawing on many
successful years of stage and silent film experience. They began to freelance
their talents to radio in 1928, and were put under contract by CBS as the demand
for sound effects increased. After her husband's death in 1931, Nichols
continued to lead the profession and was called the "first lady of sound
effects." The media voted Nichols one of the most influential women in radio;
other women honored included Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and Kate Smith.
The March of Time broadcasts began with the tramp-tramp-tramp of shuffling feet,
to indicate "the relentless impersonal progress of events." The principal
narrator was the Voice of Time; another was the Voice of Fate, narrating stories
of catastrophe or the death of a notable person. The first Voice of Time was Ted
Husing; Westbrook Van Voorhis was the Voice of Fate. In fall 1931 Harry von Zell
began a brief tenure as Time, but in October 1933 Van Voorhis moved into the
lead role. His voice — concluding most broadcasts with a booming, "Time …
marches on!" — became synonymous with the program, both on radio and in the
newsreel series.
Written to match the style of Time magazine, radio scripts incorporated
transcripts of statements and comments by the figures impersonated on The March
of Time whenever possible. When these could not be obtained, writers were
allowed to "re-create" appropriate dialogue. Actors researched and rehearsed
with great care to mimic the precise voice patterns and characteristics of the
people they were impersonating. March of Time creator Roy E. Larsen recalled
that only one person, Franklin D. Roosevelt, ever complained about their
treatment on the program. The President was annoyed because he was getting calls
from political advisors regarding statements spoken on The March of Time that he
had not uttered, even though they matched his policies. White House complaints
continued until 1937, when The March of Time stopped imitating FDR altogether.
"From the beginning it was known that The March of Time would face the stiffest
production challenges that radio had yet known," wrote John Dunning:
When a big story broke at the last minute, a polished ready-to-air show was
reorganized: the entire menu was shifted as events demanded. Newspapers are
accustomed to this … but in radio, a new breed of actor had come to the fore,
players who could deliver superb performances from scripts they had never seen
before going live on the air. Sight reading, they called it: reading always two
lines ahead and acting the lines they had already read. Actors, sound artists,
and musicians worked feverishly to accommodate the bulletins from Time's
reporters in the field.
Seven or eight sketches were featured in each show, varying in length from 90
seconds to four minutes. Newspapers were sometimes scooped by the radio
docudrama. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg disaster took place two hours before
air time, and The March of Time created a segment that focused on the history of
airship travel and ended with the news of the disaster in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Herbert Morrison's recorded radio eyewitness report from the landing field was
not broadcast until the next day.
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EPISODES LIST
The March Of Time 31-03-06 Big Bill Thompson Re-elected Mayor
Of Chicago
The March Of Time 34-10-05 Hugh S Johnson Resigns From The NRA
The March Of Time 37-11-18 Life Magazine First Anniversary
The March Of Time 38-02-03 Mayor La Guardia Makes A Tour Of The Midwest
The March Of Time 38-02-17 Equal Rights Amendment
The March Of Time 39-03-03 Austria Has Pledged Friendship With Germany
The March Of Time 41-12-11 Pearl Harbor
The March Of Time 42-01-01 Every Continent on Earth Lay on the Scales of
Destiny!
The March Of Time 45-03-29 The Kitchen of Tomorrow
This product was added to our catalog on Tuesday 05 June, 2012.