Just Imagine
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| Just Imagine | |
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| Directed by | David Butler |
| Produced by | Buddy G. DeSylva |
| Starring | El Brendel Maureen O'Sullivan John Garrick Marjorie White |
| Music by | Hugo Friedhofer Arthur Kay |
| Cinematography | Ernest Palmer |
| Editing by | Irene Morra |
| Distributed by | Fox Film Corporation |
| Release date(s) | 1930 |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Just Imagine is a humorous science-fiction movie musical presented by Fox Film Corporation in 1930, directed by David Butler, to console audiences distressed by the Great Depression.
Contents |
[edit] Cast (in credits order)
- El Brendel as Single O
- Maureen O'Sullivan as LN-18
- John Garrick as J-21
- Marjorie White as D-6
- Frank Albertson as RT-42
- Hobart Bosworth as Z-4
- Kenneth Thomson as MT-3
- Wilfred Lucas as X-10
- Mischa Auer as B-36
- Sidney De Gray as AK-44
- Joseph W. Girard as Commander
- Joyzelle Joyner as Looloo, Boobo (billed as Joyzelle)
- Ivan Linow as Loko, Boko
[edit] Plot
The film was set in the year 1980, and it depicted the conventional expectations of technological progress associated with that "distant future" date. A large dirigible hangar was used to house a huge, detailed, large-scale model of a modern city, complete with suspension bridges between towering skyscrapers, multi-lane elevated roadways, and a flock of flying machines flitting around above the city as another level of traffic. To modern viewers, the city resembles an implausibly exaggerated version of 1930s New York City.
The plot involves a man from 1930, who is experimentally revived from the dead by a team of physicians who have no interest whatsoever in him after he awakens. Two young men who have observed the process as guests of one of the nurses kindly take him in hand and show him (and the audience) the wonders of 1980. He also gets to travel to Mars, which turns out to be inhabited by friendly humans, each of whom has an evil, otherwise-identical twin.
[edit] Historic overview
The film is clearly a product of its own time. The man from 1930 is played by El Brendel, an ethnic vaudeville comedian of a forgotten type: the Swedish immigrant. The airliners are dirigibles. Prohibition still lingers. Henry Ford's notorious anti-semitism is smiled at through a recitation of the names of the passenger vehicle manufacturers of the age, which are all Jewish.
Instead of having names, the citizens of 1980 are now identified only by an alphanumeric code (the hero is "J21," and the El Brendel character is quickly dubbed "Single Zero," pronounced "Single Oh."). Instead of a sexual revolution, there is rigid government control of relationships between the sexes; marriage partners are chosen or approved by judges of an official marriage tribunal, while the only legal babies come from vending machines. (Quips Brendel's character in disbelief, as he sees a baby delivered, without sex, via a coin operated chute: "Give me the good old days!") J21's trip to Mars is motivated by the fact that he needs to make a spectacular contribution to society in order to be allowed to wed the high-status female of his choice, LN18. One detail interesting to modern viewers is the huge change depicted in the style of men's suits. There is also a running gag concerning homosexuality, a reminder that this film predates the infamous Production Code.
[edit] Music
The many musical production numbers invariably stop the action rather than supporting it, and not one of the DeSylva, Brown and Henderson songs introduced in the film is remembered today. In addition to Brendel, the film stars John Garrick as J21, Maureen O'Sullivan as his would-be wife LN18, Frank Albertson as J21's friend RT42, and Marjorie White as RT42's nurse-girlfriend.
[edit] Art/cinematography
Clips of the cityscape from this movie were later used in the Universal serials Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers; the mock-up Mars spaceship was reused in the former, as Dr. Zarkov's spaceship. Also seen in the first Flash Gordon serial are the strange hand-weapons carried by J21 and RT42 on Mars, which are held under rather than over the fist, and re-used footage of dancing girls cavorting about and on a Martian idol with moving arms.
[edit] Special effects
The sequence in which the El Brendel character is revived from the dead features the first screen appearance of the spectacular electrical equipment assembled by Kenneth Strickfaden, seen again and more famously in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931). In the history of screen special effects, the film is also important for its use of the first practical, very-large-scale rear-screen projection. Indeed, almost all shots of the large futuristic city model seen in the film are rear-screen-projections behind live action.
[edit] Box office response
Contrary to some accounts, this expensive film was not a box-office flop. However, it was clearly a one-time-only novelty stunt, bolstered by the short-lived popularity of El Brendel. By the time it was released, movie musicals had greatly declined in popularity; nor was there a perceived audience for science fiction, especially at the onset of the Great Depression. As a result[citation needed] major American studios would not back another big budget science fiction film until 1951. There was to be only one other science-fiction musical, It's Great to Be Alive (1933), which also failed at the box-office. Film serials were an exception to this general trend, however. The first Flash Gordon serial from 1936 had an unusually large budget for a serial of the time, and Gene Autry's The Phantom Empire from 1935 can loosely be considered a science fiction musical serial.
[edit] Production credits
- Art Direction - Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras
- Set Decoration - Stephen Goosson and Ralph Hammeras
- Assistant Director - Ad Schaumer
- Sound Department - Joseph E. Aiken
- Stager - Seymour Felix
- Musical director - Arthur Kay
- Costumes - Alice O'Neil and Dolly Tree
