John Nesbitt

Passing Parade

Three specific and separate stories of life's passing parade are presented.

We Do It Because

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking hands, kissing, and why ships are christened.

Nursery Rhyme Mysteries

This Passing Parade series short examines the origins of three popular Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

The Great Morgan

Frank Morgan is hired to put together a movie using odds and ends from the MGM vaults. He does so by splicing together a string of completely unrelated short subjects and musical numbers, interspersed with a repeated loop of a scene from some melodrama. (Contains in their entirety the shorts, "Musical Masterpieces," "Our Old Car," and "Badminton," as well as clips from other projects)

Souvenirs of Death

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.

Forgotten Treasure

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.

American Spoken Here

This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short takes a look at the origins of North American slang.

Tennis in Rhythm

A "Passing Parade" MGM short featuring tennis star Alice Marble

Passing Parade

Three specific and separate stories of life's passing parade are presented.

We Do It Because

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking hands, kissing, and why ships are christened.

Nursery Rhyme Mysteries

This Passing Parade series short examines the origins of three popular Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

The Great Morgan

Frank Morgan is hired to put together a movie using odds and ends from the MGM vaults. He does so by splicing together a string of completely unrelated short subjects and musical numbers, interspersed with a repeated loop of a scene from some melodrama. (Contains in their entirety the shorts, "Musical Masterpieces," "Our Old Car," and "Badminton," as well as clips from other projects)

Souvenirs of Death

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.

Forgotten Treasure

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.

American Spoken Here

This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short takes a look at the origins of North American slang.

Tennis in Rhythm

A "Passing Parade" MGM short featuring tennis star Alice Marble

XXX Medico

Highlights a new system that will enable doctors to operate over long distances.

This Is the Bowery

In this somewhat whitewashed documentary on Manhattan's Bowery a newcomer to the area takes his first step toward redemption after a meal, bed, and inspiring talk.

The Woman in the House

This short looks at the illness anthropophobia, the fear of people. In 1901, young Catherine Starr, who lives in a small English coastal town, has an argument with her fiancé. He leaves her house, goes off to serve in the Boer War, and dies of malaria. Catherine blames herself for his death and fears others will also blame her. She does not leave her house for forty years. Groceries are delivered to the house, but no one sees who retrieves them. When the Nazis bomb her house in September 1941, she is forced to cope with the outside world.

Madero of Mexico

This Passing Parade series short chronicles the political life of Francisco Madero, who tried to bring democracy and land reform to Mexico.

Main Street Today

This patriotic short film promotes America's war effort at home. The story looks at a fictional small town's main street, seeing where additional workforce, for increased production of materials needed by the military, might come from.

Annie Was a Wonder

In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short, narrator John Nesbitt tells the story of Scandinavian immigrant Annie Swenson, who worked as cook and housekeeper in his family's home while he was growing up.

That Mothers Might Live

That Mothers Might Live is a 1938 American short drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann. The short is a brief account of Hungarian physician Ignaz Semmelweis and his discovery of the need for cleanliness in 19th-century maternity wards, thereby significantly decreasing maternal mortality, and of his struggle to gain acceptance of his idea. Although Semmelweis ultimately failed in his lifetime, later scientific luminaries advanced his work in spirit like microbiologist Louis Pasteur, who provided a scientific theoretical explanation of Semmelweis' observations by helping develop the germ theory of disease and the British surgeon, Dr. Joseph Lister who revolutionized medicine putting Pasteur's research to practical use. In 1939, at the 11th Academy Awards, the film won an Oscar for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).

Trifles of Importance

Part of John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series, this short shows how three seemingly unimportant things can affect people. The first is how the number 7 affects a student accused of theft charges. The second segment shows that a person's doodles can reveal personality traits. The final segment shows why certain items are on men's suits, such as lapels.

The Story That Couldn't Be Printed

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells the story of John Peter Zenger, who in Colonial New York was tried for sedition based on what he printed in his newspaper.

The Golden Hunch

This entry in John Nesbitt's "Passing Parade" series is about the great moments in the lives of famous men who found found an answer or made a great discovery in the flash of a golden hunch.

One Against the World

This short film presents the story of Dr. Ephraim McDowell, who came under scrutiny for his pioneering of surgical practices.

The Ship That Died

This MGM An Historical Mystery short traces the final voyage of the Mary Celeste, a ship discovered at sea, in December 1872, devoid - for no discernible reason - of crew, passengers and captain. At "the famed nautical court of Gibraltar", investigators propose three hypotheses.

Main Street on the March!

This Best Short Subject Academy Award winning film begins in the spring of 1940, just before the Nazi occupation of the Benelux countries, and ends immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It chronicles how the people of "Main Street America", the country's military forces, and its industrial base were completely transformed when the decision was made to gear up for war. Original footage is interspersed with contemporary newsreels and stock footage.

Kentucky

Young lovers Jack and Sally are from families that compete to send horses to the 1938 Kentucky Derby, but during the Civil War, her family sided with the South while his sided with the North--and her Uncle Peter will have nothing to do with Jack's family.

The Hidden Master

Shows how important luck can be in a person's life.

Angel of Mercy

This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross.

Telephone Time

Telephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The program was directed by Arthur Hiller.

MGM Parade

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.