News Parade of 1936!: A Weirdly Hypnotic Trip Through Time

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, it depends on how much you like digging through the digital archives of history. If you're into old-school newsreels, it's a total blast. If you need a plot or, you know, a movie with an actual ending, you'll probably hate it. It's not really a film you 'watch' so much as one you just experience while folding laundry.

The whole thing feels like falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole, but with more hats and static. Some of the clips are genuinely fascinating, like watching the fashions change in real-time. Then, five minutes later, you're looking at a weird competition in a public park that makes no sense. It’s all very random.

The rhythm is all over the place

Sometimes the movie lingers on a speech for way too long. I found myself checking my phone, wondering when we were going to get back to the weird circus footage. Then, right when I got bored, it switched to a race or a disaster, and I was back in it again. It doesn't have a normal flow. It has the pacing of a nervous caffeinated bird.

There is this one shot of a parade that is just too long. You can see the cameraman getting bored, and I think one of the guys in the background actually trips over his own feet. It’s those tiny, unpolished details that make it feel real. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Haji Agha, the Cinema Actor, where you can feel the desperation to capture something 'important' before the film runs out.

Bits and pieces

• The music is loud. Maybe a bit too loud.
• The narration is very '1930s radio guy.' You know the one.
• Some of the footage looks like it was salvaged from a basement fire. It adds character.
• The transition between a serious political event and a dog show is jarring. It gave me whiplash.

It’s a strange little artifact. It isn't trying to be a Peter Ibbetson kind of romantic drama, thank goodness. It's just there. It exists. It’s a snapshot of a world that feels both incredibly far away and weirdly similar to ours. People were just as chaotic then, apparently.

I wouldn't recommend sitting through the whole thing in one go. It’s best as a background item. You catch a bit, you get bored, you walk away, you come back. It’s not trying to hold your hand. It just throws 1936 at your face and lets you sort through the mess. 🎞️