The March of Time

A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort.

On July 10, 1936, the Time Corporation released the seventh episode of the second year of its newsreel series The March of Time, which included a controversial sequence titled “An American Dictator.” This segment, purportedly a journalistic exposé, centered on the rise to power and political career of then Dominican head of state Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina. The content of the short piece accused Trujillo of committing many politically motivated crimes, including murder, and caused a brief diplomatic crisis between the United States and the Dominican Republic. - Naida García-Crespo

This "March of Time" entry examines the many problems, both human and economic, that faced the Allies in their respective zones of Germany -- USA, England and Russia -- following the end of World War II, and the Allied occupation of what was left of the country following the Nazi reign of Adolf Hitler. The Cold War issues had not yet fully surfaced, so this entry, with fleeting glances into each Zone of the time, traced what economic recovery had been made by the end of 1946, and how the average German citizen of 1946 was living...or getting by.

There is a vast increase of youth crime, doubling in the two years since the US entered World War II. With fathers off to war, women are working in the factories leaving children at home for the day or after school, unsupervised and free to get into trouble. Young men and women, some working and making an adult wage, now feel that they have the right to act and do as adults. Others are trying their hands at new thrills, such as smoking marijuana. Young women are getting into trouble by getting involved with the many servicemen that they are attracted to. This film shows how these kinds of subversive thoughts that lead to juvenile delinquency can be broken by having youths selling war bonds and organizing 4-H clubs, among other activities.

This edition of the March of Time series (Volume 12, Number 11) deals with the growing problem of alcoholism ins the USA. It emphasizes that alcoholics are not bad people but have an addiction which is beyond their control. It shows the work going on at Yale University on alcoholism and addiction and tries to dispel many of the myths that surround the subject. It then turn to a relatively new organization that seems to be having great success in helping alcoholics beat their habit: Alcoholics Anonymous. Using their 12-step programs and having reformed alcoholics act as counselors for those in need of help has worked well.

Short documentary film in the newsreel series 'The March of Time'.

Atomic Power! is an American short documentary film produced by The March of Time and released to theaters August 9, 1946, one year after the end of World War II. It is a recreation of the making of the atomic bomb leading up to the Trinity test. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

A film about the Catholic holy year celebration in the Vatican in Rome in 1950.

Part of The March of Time series, this episode (Volume 13, Number 1) deals with the question of whether people are happy. Despite new technology and labor saving devices everywhere, people seem to have no more time on their hands and in many ways seem unhappier. The correspondence with advice columnist such as Dorothy Dix, seems to be growing. Health and fitness advocates, like Charles Atlas, have a booming business as people search for something that will make them feel better. Fortune tellers and self-styled counselors on the radio are popular but, in the opinion of doctors, dangerous.

A look at the rise of the record industry from its primitive beginnings to the unveiling of the formats that would revolutionize the world of popular music.

This edition of the March of Time series takes a brief look backwards at where the world has come in the first 50 years of the century, and then presents a number of prominent people who state their views of the next fifty years of the 20th century. Among those shown are labor leader Walter Reuther, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Omar Bradley, and A-Bomb scientist Robert Oppenheimer. Harry Pollitt, leader of the Communist Party in Britain, predicts that all roads will lead to world-wide Communism.

Part of the March of Time series, this edition (Volume 10, Number 1) from 1945 deals with the issue of Palestine. With World War II at an end, the issue of Jewish migration to the region was again at the forefront. Great Britain was mandated to keep the peace in Palestine and had as far back as 1917 pledged to support a homeland in the region for the Jewish people. At the time, Arabs outnumbered Jews by approximately 2 to 1 but in many areas, the half-million Jews made great strides in turning a desert into a garden with agriculture a mainstay.

A survey of various career opportunities open to young women. Presented by Time Life Fortune and produced by March of Time.