HBO Archives Presents Second "The March Of Time" Marathon On TV

Teaming up again with Turner Classic Movies, the marathon will feature 12 episodes airing on January 1st from 2PM-8PM ET. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) December 23, 2010 - NEW YORK - HBO Archives® and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) wrap-up the year-long 75th anniversary celebration of the groundbreaking theatrical journalism series The March of Time with a six hour New Year's Day marathon on TCM.

The award-winning series The March of Time was produced by Time magazine from 1935 to 1967. The series appeared in theaters nationwide and covered a full spectrum of notable events in news, politics and sports. The March of Time is credited with the creation of documentary newsgathering through the use of reenactments. Footage from The March of Time has recently been restored by HBO Archives.

The 75th anniversary events have included screenings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. of as part of their series "Film and Reality in the 1930s: Roots of the Docudrama;" a 10 day retrospective program at the Museum of Modern Art in New York entitled The March of Time: 75th Anniversary; and a TCM marathon of 8 March of Time episodes on September 5.

The celebration concludes on New Years Day when TCM will air a marathon of 12 The March of Time documentaries from 2PM to 8PM (ET).

TCM's New Year's Day marathon will be hosted by TCM primetime host Robert Osborne. TCM will air several titles including: "Dust Bowl," "Poland and War," "Crisis in The Pacific," "Show Business at War," "Youth in Crisis," "Teenage Girls," "Palestine Problem," "American Beauty," "Problem Drinkers," and "Mid-Century Half Way to Where?" "The March of Time stands as an important piece of movie history, and we're proud to bring the series to classic film fans" said Charles Tabesh, Senior Vice President of Programming for TCM.

As part of the marathon, TCM will debut one of three 1934 experimental pilots. The pilots were produced for Time Inc. to gain approval for the new series. The films were never distributed to theaters and the prints were believed to have been destroyed in a 1977 nitrate fire. Chris Larsen, son of The March of Time co-creator Roy Larsen, lent the only known copies of these pilot episodes to HBO Archives for their inclusion in the 75th Anniversary celebration. HBO Archives has had these fragile films restored.

The TCM marathon will also include "Inside Nazi Germany," the single most crucial and controversial film of the series. "Inside Nazi Germany" was created in 1937, when The March of Time hired a cinematographer with a hidden camera to shoot in Berlin. The film introduced Adolf Hitler to a then-fiercely isolationist America.

David O. Selznick praised "Inside Nazi Germany" as "one of the greatest and most important reels in the history of pictures." Radio City Music Hall ran the film for a record 16 weeks.

HBO Archives has been managing and restoring The March of Time documentary series since 2007. "We are honored to be able to partner with the prestigious organizations of the National Gallery of Art, MoMA and TCM to showcase the rich diversity and deepness of these one-of-a-kind, groundbreaking films," said Barbara Thomas, Senior Vice President, HBO. "Time magazine's goal was to create a new form of pictorial journalism. What they ended up doing is starting the mainstream documentary film movement in the United States."

Professor Raymond Fielding, author of "The March of Time 1935-51," called the series "a cross between controversial journalism and docudrama; it was provocative, amusing, irreverent and sometimes outrageous and critics didn't always know what to make of it."

A fan page has been established on Facebook to keep track of the 75th anniversary events and offer a place for fans to talk about and view clips from the series at facebook.com/themarchoftime.

Turner Classic Movies is a Peabody Award-winning network that presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, from the largest film libraries in the world. Currently seen in more than 85 million homes, TCM features the insights of veteran primetime host Robert Osborne and weekend daytime host Ben Mankiewicz, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests. As the foremost authority in classic films, TCM offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, along with regular programming events that include The Essentials, 31 Days of Oscar and Summer Under the Stars. TCM also stages special events and screenings, such as the upcoming TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood; produces a wide range of media about classic film, including books and DVDs; and hosts a wealth of materials at its Web site, tcm.com. TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company.

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