Marching Out of Time
| Marching Out of Time | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Anton Vassil |
| Distributed by | Artist View Entertainment |
Release dates | 1994 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Marching Out of Time is a 1994 comedy film directed by Anton Vassil.
Plot
When a wacky squadron of WWII soldiers are mistakenly teleported to present day California, Fred must convince the police and his family that he is not losing his mind and that the future of the world is in danger.
Summary
Fred Johnson is an average American with a simple life, until he hears peculiar noises next door. His neighbor, Professor Memo, has conducted experiments which have crossed paths with a German time machine from 1942.
Fred and the professor must find a way to stop the Germans from taking vital information back through time, and change the course of history. Fred calls on police officer Butch, a by-the-book cop, who finds this story absurd... until he too finds himself face to face with the outlandish soldiers.
On a roller coaster rescue mission, Butch and Johnson overtake the squadron but it's too late. The records have already been taken back in time, leaving our heroes only one choice.... they must ride the vortex back to World War II.
Directed by Anton Vassil, this outrageous comical adventure takes us from Venice Beach to the bunker of 1942, and with history at stake, our modern day heroes are not just travelling through time, they're also saving the world.
Trivia
- The film was shot in February–March 1992 on location in Palmdale, California, with three days in Long Beach for the bunker scenes as well as Venice beach.
- Prior to the production, director Anton Vassil and first assistant director Francis Lawrence drove around Northridge to do location scouting and get establishment shots (with an Arri II) which were later used in the film.
- To avoid having to rent an expensive "Hollywood" union dog and its trainer, the producers actually bought a dog for the production. The dog was aggressive and bit many cast members. Finally the dog was returned to the owner and a new dog was brought in. The new dog, named "Danzig", was scared throughout the production (and would urinate on the carpet every time he heard the Germans saying "Achtung!"). At the end of the production many crew members would have liked to keep "Danzig" but this one wasn't for sale.
- First assistant director Francis Lawrence brought in director of photography Gred Daniels with whom he had worked on his LMU student film. Most crew members were either LMU alumni or people with whom Greg Daniels had worked with before.
- The Venice Beach scene were shot without permit (with a blanket on the 35mm Panavision camera) and features Harry Perry playing himself. Beyond the $20 paid on the spot to Perry for his appearance, the producers also had to sign a contract with Perry's agent should the film make millions of dollars.
- The end titles show the "FILMED IN PANAVISION" logo, but that is actually a mistake as the film was shot with a 1:85 aspect ratio. The correct title should have said "Camera and lenses by Panavision".
- The original working title of the film was "LUGER 92" but this title was changed to the more catchy "Back to the Fuehrer" during the production (an idea by actor Kevin Eads, who played one of the German soldiers). During the release of the film, UNIVERSAL objected to the title and saw it as an infringement on its trademark "Back to the Future". The definitive title became "Marching out of Time" (suggested by Scott Jones, president of ARTIST VIEW ENTERTAINMENT).
- Sold in all territories except France, this off-beat film soon started to have a cult following in Germany where it keeps being shown on a regular basis on television under the German title "Dr. Memo's Zeitmaschine" (Dr. Memo's time machine).
Main cast
- Frederick Andersen - Fred Johnson
- Heinrich James - Von Konst
- Matthew Henerson - Dr. Memo
- Jeff Rector - Butch
- Robert Z'Dar - Muck
- Jim Boeven - Fürst
Main credits
- Music composed and conducted by David Rubinstein
- Director of Photography: Greg Daniels
- 1st Assistant Director: Francis Lawrence
- Additional Music by Marc Crandall
- Casting by Eric de Santo
- Stunt Supervisors: Pete Porteous and Kent Ducanon
- Miniature Effects by Ted Crittenden