Up Beat in Music

The opening shots of Captain Glenn Miller and his marching band set the tempo for March of Time’s morale-boosting survey of American music in 1943. Featuring appearances by many well-known personalities, from Duke Ellington and Art Tatum, to Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, the film is an irresistible celebration of American music in all its variety, highlighting the contributions that the nation’s musicians, singers and composers were making to the war effort.

This fascinating celebration of American musical culture in 1943 showcases the inventive ways in which the talents of the nation’s musicians were being harnessed to aid the war effort. Musicians likes Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey worked in the Music Division of the War Department Special Services to create ‘New Hit Kits’ : monthly selections of sheet music, which would be sent, along with musical instruments and V-Discs (vinyl recordings of singers, big bands and orchestras) to US troops stationed overseas. As a counterpoint to this narrative of co-operation and unity, the film also tells the story of the American Federation of Musicians’ struggle to win the rights for their members to be paid royalties.