Just Imagine was a humorous science-fiction movie musical presented by 20th Century Fox in 1930, directed by David Butler, to console audiences distressed by the Great Depression. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Buddy Gard DeSylva, often credited as Buddy De Sylva, Buddy DeSylva, Bud De Sylva and B.G. DeSylva (January 27, 1895 - July 11, 1950), He was born George Gard DeSylva in New York, New York, USA, but grew up in California and attended the University of Southern California DeSylvas... El Brendel, Circa 1930. ... Maureen OSullivan as Jane in Tarzan and His Mate Maureen O’Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish actress. ... Marjorie White (b. ... Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer (May 3, 1901 - May 17, 1981) was a film music composer born in San Francisco. ... Ernest Palmer (born in Kansas City, Missouri, December 6, 1885; died in Pacific Palisades, California, February 22, 1978) was a Hollywood cinematographer for more than 160 films. ... Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... See also: 1929 in film 1930 1931 in film 1930s in film 1920s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films The Indians Are Coming Madam Satan Der Blaue Engel Academy Awards Best Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front - Universal Studios Best Actress: Norma Shearer - The Divorcee... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn which started in October of 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. ...

Cast (in credits order)

• El Brendel .... Single O
• Maureen O'Sullivan .... LN-18
• John Garrick .... J-21
• Marjorie White .... D-6
• Frank Albertson .... RT-42
• Hobart Bosworth .... Z-4
• Kenneth Thomson .... MT-3
• Wilfred Lucas .... X-10
• Mischa Auer .... B-36
• Sidney De Gray .... AK-44
• Joseph W. Girard .... Commander
• Joyzelle Joyner .... Looloo, Boobo (as Joyzelle)
• Ivan Linow .... Loko, Boko

El Brendel, Circa 1930. ... Maureen OSullivan as Jane in Tarzan and His Mate Maureen O’Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish actress. ... Marjorie White (b. ... Frank Albertson (February 2, 1909 - February 29, 1964) was an American character actor. ... Hobart Bosworth in costume Hobart Bosworth (b. ... Kenneth Roy Thomson, born September 1, 1923 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the 2nd Baron Thomson of Fleet and a businessman and art collector. ... Wilfred Lucas, born January 30, 1871 in the Province of Ontario, Canada - died December 5, 1940 in Los Angeles, California, United States, was a stage and film actor, a film director, and a screenwriter. ... Mischa Auer (17 November 1905 in St. ...

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. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Dirigible can refer to : an airship -- a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ... The city of Chicago, as seen from the sky The main square of the Catalan city of Sabadell during a popular celebration. ... A log bridge in the French Alps near Vallorcine. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... When Martians invade Earth in the H. G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds, they bring fighting machines, handling machines, and digging machines. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676 Government  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area...

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. Fictional representations of Mars have been popular for over a century. ...

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. El Brendel, Circa 1930. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Net migration rates for 2006: positive (blue) and negative (orange) Although human migration has existed for hundreds of thousands of years, immigration in the modern sense refers to movement of people from one nation-state to another, where they are not citizens. ... Dirigible can refer to : an airship -- a lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered and propelled through the air. ... The term Prohibition, also known as Dry Law, refers to a law in a certain country by which the manufacture, transportation, import, export, and sale of alcoholic beverages is restricted or illegal. ... Henry Ford (1919) Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ...

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, a change that in reality has never taken place. (The film 2001: A Space Odyssey makes a similar mistake.) There is also a running gag concerning homosexuality, a reminder that this film predates the infamous Production Code. The sexual revolution refers to a change in sexual morality and sexual behavior throughout the Western world. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not include all significant viewpoints. ... The Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) was a set of industry guidelines governing the production of American motion pictures. ...

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. Frank Albertson (February 2, 1909 - February 29, 1964) was an American character actor. ...

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. Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1935. ... This entry is for the science fiction character Buck Rogers. ... A spacecraft is a vessel, craft or device designed to operate beyond the surface of the Earth in outer space. ...

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 a year later in James Whale's Frankenstein. 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. James Whale (1889-1957) For the British radio presenter, see James Whale (radio). ... Frankenstein is a 1931 horror film based on the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. ... Rear projection effect is an in-camera special effects technique in film production for combining foreground performances with pre-filmed backgrounds. ...

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. Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... See also: 1950 in film 1951 1952 in film 1950s in film 1940s in film years in film film Events Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati Top grossing films North America David and Bathsheba Show Boat tie The Great Caruso and An... Its Great to Be Alive (1933) was a low-budget science-fiction musical comedy, the remake of The Last Man on Earth (1924), which later influenced the novel Mr. ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Flash Gordon is a 1936 film serial which tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. ... The Phantom Empire starring Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy, was a 12 chapter 1935 Mascot serial that combined western, musical, and science fiction genres. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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

External links

• Just Imagine at the Internet Movie Database
• Review by "MovieDiva"
• Moria Video review
• SciFi.com review
• Another on-line review
• NY Times on El Brendel