1936 Was Weird: A Deep Dive into Crazy Newsreel

Is this worth your time?

Look, if you have a soft spot for grainy, black-and-white curiosities, this is a total blast. If you need a cohesive plot or characters that actually develop, you are going to be bored out of your mind within the first five minutes. It’s for the people who get lost on Wikipedia pages at 3 AM.

It’s not really a movie in the way we usually talk about them. It’s more of a collage of the absurd. Some of these clips are just straight-up baffling.

One moment you’re watching a guy try to teach a pig to play checkers—no, I’m not kidding—and the next, you’re looking at some bizarre architectural marvel that looks like it was built by a toddler with a fever. It has that same chaotic energy you find in Movie Mania, where everything feels like it’s fighting for your attention at once.

The weirdness factor

There’s this one segment about a 'modern' kitchen that is just hilarious to look at now. The narrator talks about it like it’s the peak of human achievement, but it looks like a torture chamber with better lighting. It’s fascinating stuff.

The pacing is entirely nonexistent, which is probably why I liked it so much. It doesn't care if you're keeping up. It just tosses the next weird thing at your head and hopes you're paying attention.

I found myself comparing it to the tone of Going Places with Lowell Thomas, #13, but with way more 'wait, did I really just see that?' moments. There’s no transition, no logic, just vibes.

The audio is crackly as hell, but that just adds to the feeling that you’re digging through an attic. You can practically smell the dust. It’s charming, in a very specific, weird way.

Final thoughts (or lack thereof)

I don't think this was meant to be watched in one sitting. I kept wanting to pause it to Google if half these things were real, but I just let it wash over me instead. 🍿

It's messy. It's loud. It's totally nonsensical. Honestly, compared to the heavy lifting in something like Dudu, ein Menschenschicksal, this is just a palate cleanser for the brain. Definitely worth a watch if you're in the mood for pure, unadulterated nonsense from a century ago.