This little short greets the audience of the new MGM theatre in Cairo, Egypt. Although it talks about the films of 1940, all of these films were produced in America in 1938 and 1939. I also have to wonder about the Egyptian audience. Host Lewis Stone, who spent the last 25 years of his life at MGM, greets the audience from behind a desk, and his last words to the audience are about enjoying the trailers that are to come and then he says his farewell in Arabic.However, most of the film clips that are shown require an American viewpoint if you are going to enjoy them. They are:
Block-Heads (1938)
Out West with the Hardys (1938)
Idiot's Delight (1939)
Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Women (1939)
At the Circus (1939)
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)
Thunder Afloat (1939)
Broadway Serenade (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
First off, remember that Britain was occupying Egypt at the time, and first the Italians in 1940 would attack, followed by Hitler's army in 1941, with Nazi forces getting 150 miles from Cairo before being beaten back. But at the time, these films were made Hitler had not made his true expansionist intentions known.
Now The Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy have universal appeal because of their physical comedy, but Groucho's verbal barbs would go right over the head of somebody not familiar with English or American culture. "Out West With the Hardys" would require the audience to understand the American west, while "The Women" would require the audience to understand the divorce customs of the American upper class, and why were all of those women who didn't like each other on a ranch in Nevada in the first place? "Tarzan Finds a Son" speaks a universal language of adventure, but non-American audiences might not understand why American puritanism required Tarzan to go find a son rather than just make one with Jane. The British living in Egypt would totally get "Goodbye Mr. Chips", and "Wizard of Oz" speaks to the fantasy loving child in everybody, but the Egyptians would have no idea why Kansas was in black and white and probably wondered if they were experiencing technical difficulties. Any British in the audience would have their feathers ruffled by "Thunder Afloat" as two Americans have to be tricked into serving in the military in WWI. Likewise the British in 1940 would find "Idiot's Delight" offensive as the film -based on a play - makes the build up to WWII sound like a trick to get profits by munitions magnates while the Nazis are just misunderstood bureaucrats. Ninotchka has timeless universal appeal, but then that was just a trademark of Ernst Lubitsch. And finally, I can't figure out why MGM would try to introduce Jeanette McDonald to Egypt with what has to be her worst film, "Broadway Serenade". The pairing of Jeanette McDonald and Lew Ayres had no chemistry to begin with, and if every time Jeanette opened her mouth to sing, American audiences expected Lew Ayres of Dr. Kildare fame to pull out a tongue depressor, I can only imagine what the Egyptians would think.
One more thing - at the end of the previews, MGM summarizes who to look for in their new films as their up and coming stars. Only Lana Turner will be recognizable unless you are the most earnest of film history buffs. Virginia Grey I recognized, but she never made it out of B roles in B pictures at MGM, and left there in 1942. Rita Johnson had even less success, and then tragedy struck when she became permanently brain damaged by one of those heavy old style hair dryers falling on her head, essentially ending her career.
In summary, I don't think MGM thought this through very well since they probably were not used to appealing to non-Western audiences. However, this short is a great time capsule of what American audiences liked in that narrow frothy optimistic time frame post depression and pre-WWII.
Block-Heads (1938)
Out West with the Hardys (1938)
Idiot's Delight (1939)
Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Women (1939)
At the Circus (1939)
Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939)
Thunder Afloat (1939)
Broadway Serenade (1939)
Ninotchka (1939)
First off, remember that Britain was occupying Egypt at the time, and first the Italians in 1940 would attack, followed by Hitler's army in 1941, with Nazi forces getting 150 miles from Cairo before being beaten back. But at the time, these films were made Hitler had not made his true expansionist intentions known.
Now The Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy have universal appeal because of their physical comedy, but Groucho's verbal barbs would go right over the head of somebody not familiar with English or American culture. "Out West With the Hardys" would require the audience to understand the American west, while "The Women" would require the audience to understand the divorce customs of the American upper class, and why were all of those women who didn't like each other on a ranch in Nevada in the first place? "Tarzan Finds a Son" speaks a universal language of adventure, but non-American audiences might not understand why American puritanism required Tarzan to go find a son rather than just make one with Jane. The British living in Egypt would totally get "Goodbye Mr. Chips", and "Wizard of Oz" speaks to the fantasy loving child in everybody, but the Egyptians would have no idea why Kansas was in black and white and probably wondered if they were experiencing technical difficulties. Any British in the audience would have their feathers ruffled by "Thunder Afloat" as two Americans have to be tricked into serving in the military in WWI. Likewise the British in 1940 would find "Idiot's Delight" offensive as the film -based on a play - makes the build up to WWII sound like a trick to get profits by munitions magnates while the Nazis are just misunderstood bureaucrats. Ninotchka has timeless universal appeal, but then that was just a trademark of Ernst Lubitsch. And finally, I can't figure out why MGM would try to introduce Jeanette McDonald to Egypt with what has to be her worst film, "Broadway Serenade". The pairing of Jeanette McDonald and Lew Ayres had no chemistry to begin with, and if every time Jeanette opened her mouth to sing, American audiences expected Lew Ayres of Dr. Kildare fame to pull out a tongue depressor, I can only imagine what the Egyptians would think.
One more thing - at the end of the previews, MGM summarizes who to look for in their new films as their up and coming stars. Only Lana Turner will be recognizable unless you are the most earnest of film history buffs. Virginia Grey I recognized, but she never made it out of B roles in B pictures at MGM, and left there in 1942. Rita Johnson had even less success, and then tragedy struck when she became permanently brain damaged by one of those heavy old style hair dryers falling on her head, essentially ending her career.
In summary, I don't think MGM thought this through very well since they probably were not used to appealing to non-Western audiences. However, this short is a great time capsule of what American audiences liked in that narrow frothy optimistic time frame post depression and pre-WWII.
