Just imagine. . . what a difference fifty years can make!
September 8, 2022 6:04 AM   Subscribe

It's easy to feel nostalgic for the year 1980, when you could park you private plane in Manhattan, grab a bite and sing a romantic ballad accompanied by a full orchestra at the automat, and still have time to catch a flight to Mars in order to attend a choreographed dance number performed by indigenous Martian monkeys. Just Imagine (1930), arguably the first feature length science fiction film with sound and certainly the first big budget science fiction musical, brings it all back. (SL 2hr video)

There are also a wikipedia page, recent reviews, scholarly criticism [likely paywalled], and contemporary reviews. Via The Incomparable podcast.

Note - includes as much casual sexism and racism as you'd expect, including "martians" who look a lot like white people cosplaying a vaguely remembered World's Fair Pacific Islands exhibit.
posted by eotvos (2 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
Such a weird movie. It's sort of Metropolis done as a musical comedy and starring a very un-funny comedian doing a "Swedish Immigrant" vaudeville schtick.
posted by octothorpe at 6:54 AM on September 8, 2022


Eighties nostalgia has gotten out of hand.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:31 AM on September 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


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