New York's Night Club Boom

From intimacy of El Morocco to the raucous floor shows of Sammie’s Bowery Follies, this film entertains and informs in equal measure, taking the viewer on a tour of New York’s night clubs in 1946. From Jimmy Dorsey at the 400 Club and the Inkspots at the Zanzibar, to the 21 Club and the Stork, where celebrities like Orson Welles went to see and be seen, March of Time’s film conveys a visceral sense of a society finding new ways to enjoy the leisure time that came with the postwar economic boom.

Showing the sheer variety of entertainment available to New Yorkers in 1946, this film is enjoyable as much for the expressions on the faces of the nightclub goers themselves, as for the parade of comedians, dancers, singers and musicians. Conveying a vivid sense of a society with the means and time to seek pleasure and relaxation in new ways, the film also goes behind the scenes to reveal the army of employees needed to make a nightclub run smoothly: from the powerful Maitre d’ and the touchy chef, to the cocktail waiter, doorman and washroom attendants, the film shows how the once illicit thrills from the days of the speakeasy were now being channelled efficiently into a multi-million dollar leisure industry.