Checking in on the 1936 grind: The March of Time, Vol. 2, No. 5

Is this worth your time?

Honestly, only if you're the type who gets a kick out of old-school newsreels or are weirdly obsessed with the mid-1930s. If you want a slow, meditative watch, skip this. It’s loud, it’s frantic, and it packs a lot into a very short window.

The whole thing feels like a punch to the gut. The segment on unemployment in New Jersey is grim, and it doesn't try to hide that. It makes you realize how desperate things really were, way more than a textbook ever could.

The newsreel sprint

They jump from the Jersey relief crisis to Mussolini and Ethiopia without even blinking. It’s a bit jarring. You almost get whiplash. One minute you’re looking at bread lines, the next you’re being told how the British are sweating over the League of Nations. It’s a lot to process.

I couldn't help but think about how much more simple the presentation was in Hook and Ladder. Here, everything is high stakes and shouting.

• The narrator sounds like he’s trying to win a bet on who can say the most words per minute.
• The transition to the railroad mileage rates felt like a commercial break for trains.
• Some of the footage of the crowds is just… bleak. There’s no other word for it.

It’s not perfect. Sometimes the editing feels like they just threw clips into a blender. It reminded me of the frantic energy in The Non-Stop Flight, but with more politics and less, well, planes.

There’s a moment where they talk about the elections, and it’s fascinating because you can see how much they were pushing a specific narrative. They aren't even trying to be subtle. It’s propaganda with a bowtie.

Anyway, if you like watching how people *thought* about the world ninety years ago, this is your jam. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a time capsule that hasn't been opened in a while. 🎞️

It’s definitely more interesting than the fluff pieces you see in some of the older shorts, like It's a Small World. At least this one has some teeth.