Magic on a Stick
★ 8 · 1946 · 10m · History
This MGM Passing Parade series short recounts how English chemist John Walker invented the wooden friction match during the 1820s.
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Through Nobu’s Eyes: A First-Person Account of the Great Kantō Earthquake
2023 · ★ 7
The Great Kantō Earthquake is said to be the worst natural disaster in the history of Japan. When disaster struck on September 1st, 1923, a woman called Nobu managed to survive by fleeing desperately all while caring for her two small children. What did she see? What actions did she take? Her decision making during her evacuation is still relevant in present day and can help shed light on what actions to take to save your life should a large disaster strike without warning.
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The Story of Alfred Nobel
1939 · ★ 7
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells the story of Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite, and later established the Nobel Prize.
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The Great American Mug
1945 · ★ 7.2
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short takes a look at the typical American barbershop throughout the years.
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The Film That Was Lost
1942 · ★ 7.5
In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, a look is taken at the problems of film preservation efforts in the 1930s and early 1940s.
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The Inventor
2023 · ★ 6.5
The insatiably curious and headstrong inventor Leonardo da Vinci leaves Italy to join the French court, where he can experiment freely, inventing flying contraptions, incredible machines, and study the human body. There, joined in his adventure by the audacious princess Marguerite, Leonardo will uncover the answer to the ultimate question – "What is the meaning of it all?"
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Forgotten Treasure
1943 · ★ 7.3
This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short highlights the film preservation efforts of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Several scenes from early newsreels are shown.
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The Colossus of Rhodes
1961 · ★ 5.9
While on holiday in Rhodes, Athenian war hero Darios becomes involved in two different plots to overthrow the tyrannical king, one from Rhodian patriots and the other from sinister Phoenician agents.
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Souvenirs of Death
1948 · ★ 7.2
This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short tells the story of how a Mauser pistol used on the battlefield by Germans during WWII makes its way into the hands of an American gangster.
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The Reichstag Fire
2023 · ★ 7.2
Berlin, February 27, 1933. The Reichstag is in flames. A young Dutch unemployed man, Marinus van der Lubbe, was found alone in the building. For Hitler, it was a plot by the "Reds". One hundred thousand communists and sympathizers were arrested during the night and in the days that followed and locked up in the first Nazi concentration camps. In March, the Chancellor obtained full powers. On September 21, the trial opened in Leipzig, broadcast on the radio. For the Nazis and the Communists alike, van der Lubbe was the perfect scapegoat. On December 23, 1933, he was sentenced to death, while his four co-defendants were acquitted.
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The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
1939 · ★ 6.3
Alexander Graham Bell falls in love with deaf girl Mabel Hubbard while teaching the deaf and trying to invent means for telegraphing the human voice. She urges him to put off thoughts of marriage until his experiments are complete. He invents the telephone, marries and becomes rich and famous, though his happiness is threatened when a rival company sets out to ruin him.
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