This film is part of Free

Britons on Holiday: Butlins Holiday Camp at Skegness

Private investigations, comedy, and holidays - looking at three rather different industries.

Anthology 1938 19 mins

Overview

It's light and shade in this issue of March of Time. There's a humorous expose of the American comics who write jokes by numbers, and a feature on paid holiday for Britons. First, though, a light is shone on a serious business: the work of New York's police and private investigators in tracing missing people. Stylishly filmed, this leading item implies the moody Manhattan of detective movies.

The variety on offer here acts as a reminder that Louis de Rochemont's films had sponsors in the form of magazine proprietors; specifically, the bosses of Time magazine. The third chapter in this edition may particularly interest a British viewer. As well as documenting the political initiative behind paid leave for "the working class", it features some quaint footage from Skegness, showing the heyday of the Britain's seaside towns.