 CBS sound effects chiefOra Daigle Nichols and George O'Donnell onThe March of Time | |
| Genre | News documentary anddramatization |
|---|---|
| Running time |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Language | English |
| Syndicates | |
| Created by | Roy E. Larsen Fred Smith |
| Directed by | Arthur Pryor Jr. Donald Stouffer Thomas Harrington William Spier Homer Fickett |
| Produced by | Arthur Pryor Jr. Donald Stouffer Thomas Harrington |
| Executive producer | Davidson Taylor (for CBS)[1]: 42 |
| Narrated by | Ted Husing Westbrook Van Voorhis Harry von Zell Henry Gladstone[2] |
| Original release | March 6, 1931 (1931-03-06) – July 26, 1945 (1945-07-26) |
| Sponsored by | Time Inc. |
The March of Time is an Americanradionews documentary anddramatization series sponsored byTime Inc. and broadcast from 1931 to 1945. Created by broadcasting pioneer Fred Smith andTime magazine executiveRoy E. Larsen, the program combined actual news events with reenactments. The "voice" ofThe March of Time wasWestbrook Van Voorhis. The radio series was the basis of the famedMarch of Timenewsreel series shown in movie theaters from 1935 to 1951.
The March of Time had its origins in a 1928 radio series developed atWLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, by radio pioneer Fred Smith, who obtained permission to use material fromTime magazine in his broadcasts. Later, Smith and Roy E. Larsen, the first circulation manager forTime, developedTime magazine's own radio program, which they calledNewscasting. That program evolved intoThe 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."[3]
"The March of Time was the first radio newsreel", wrote radio historianJohn 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."[4]: 435
The March of Time began airing as a weekly series March 6, 1931, onCBS Radio on over 32 stations on Friday evenings.[5] 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,[6] 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.[7]: 19
Time Inc. was the only sponsor of all of the shows; other sponsors includedRemington Rand, theWrigley Company, andElectrolux.The March of Time aired on CBS through October 7, 1937, and was subsequently broadcast on theBlue Network (October 14, 1937 – June 5, 1942),NBC (July 9, 1942 – October 26, 1944), andABC (November 2, 1944 – July 26, 1945).[8]
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 ofTime; another was the Voice of Fate, narrating stories of catastrophe or the death of a notable person. The first Voice ofTime wasTed Husing;Westbrook Van Voorhis was the Voice of Fate. In fall 1931Harry von Zell began a brief tenure asTime, but in October 1933 he moved to the role of announcer and Van Voorhis assumed the leading 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.[4]: 436–437
Written to match the style ofTime magazine, radio scripts incorporated transcripts of statements and comments by the figures impersonated onThe 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 onThe March of Time that he had not uttered, even though they matched his policies. White House complaints continued until 1937, whenThe March of Time stopped imitating FDR altogether.[7]: 14–15
"From the beginning it was known thatThe 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 fromTime's reporters in the field.[4]: 436
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, theHindenburg disaster took place two hours before air time, andThe March of Time created a segment that focused on the history ofairship travel and ended with the news of the disaster in Lakehurst, New Jersey.[4]: 436 Herbert Morrison's recorded radio eyewitness report from the landing field was not broadcast until the next day.[9]
![Sound effects specialists Ora D. Nichols, Henry Gauthiere, George O'Donnell, and Arthur Nichols on The March of Time[10]: 16](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMOT-Sound-Team.jpg)
Unless noted, broadcast information forThe March of Time is drawn from John Dunning'sOn the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio (1998).[4]: 434
The March of Time was inducted into theNational Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.[15]
Radio broadcasts at the Internet Archive