Just Imagine (1930)

Director:

David Butler

Writers:

Buddy G. DeSylva (story) &
Lew Brown (story) ...

Release Date:

23 November 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

YOUTH AND LOVE 50 YEARS FROM NOW! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

New York, 1980: airplanes have replaced cars, numbers have replaced names, pills have replaced food...

Plot Keywords:

Space Travel | New York | Marriage Custom | Inventor | Doctor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

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
Mischa Auer	...	B-36
Ivan Linow	...	Loko / Boko
Joyzelle Joyner	...	Loo Loo / Boo Boo (as Joyzelle)
Wilfred Lucas	...	X-10

Runtime:

USA:104 min (FMC Library Print) | 113 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Arcadia, California, USA

Company:

Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

First science fiction film made as a talkie, also as a musical.

Quotes:

Single O: [upon meeting Looloo, then Loko] She's not the queen - *he* is!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Flash Gordon (1936/I)

Soundtrack:

The Drinking Song

Think Fritz Lang's Metropolis as a musical comedy

I finally got to see the film that haunted me since childhood. For years I saw stills from what I was told was a lost film and was amazed at the huge scale of the sets that rivaled what Fritz Lang had done with Metropolis. They were amazing and awe inspiring.

I wish I could say the same about the whole movie.

Made in the early days of sound this movie is terribly dated. The music seems to be only used during the musical numbers and the jokes seem to be a step above okay vaudeville. Its not bad, its just not good, or good consistently.

The plot has a world where everyone is a number some fifty years in the future (ie. 1980). In connected plot lines a man from 1930 is brought back to life and his antics form a ind of comic relief. Meanwhile a young man, unable to win the hand of his lady love ends up going to Mars. Its all a bit madcap and silly.

The amazing thing is how much of this has been stolen from over the years with films like Queen of Outer Space and Sleeper seeming to have pulled off bits of plot for their own.

Is it worth seeing? Yes. The sets are amazing, even today. The problem is that the rest is hit or miss and the film now is little more than a curio and entry in film history.