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:

Mars | Airplane | Pill | New York | Stowaway

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:

The airplanes were designed and built by an aircraft engineer from the Douglas Aircraft Co. based on what he thought aircraft would look like in 1980.

Quotes:

Single O: Boys, I vouldn't know de old town! Vere is all de automobiles?
RT-42: [pointing skyward] Oh, they're in the upper level.
J-21: Hardly anyone drives a car now. They all use planes.
Single O: Is dat so?
RT-42: Yeah, I drive a Rosenblatt. J flies a Pinkus for his personal use, but all the airliners are Goldfarbs.
Single O: Goldfarb!
[laughs uproariously]
Single O: It looks like someone got even with Henry Ford!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Flash Gordon (1936/I)

Soundtrack:

You're the Flower of My Heart, Sweet Adeline

I couldn't take my eyes off the screen!

Having read some earlier user comments and Maltin review, I wasn't expecting Citizen Kane; rather, that this was one of those "so bad it's good" films. I would comment rather: "so bad it's incredible". It makes Reefer Madness and its like appear as cinematic art. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, since I was sure that matters could not get worse. The futuristic earth scenes from 1980 (!) were not bad despite a trite story, since the sets must have seemed impressive at the time, and are about as good as those in the British film Things to Come. El Brendel was not as poor a performer elsewhere as he was here, given the poor material he had to work with. His hat sequence, probably perfected over years in vaudeville, is the most entertaining moment in the film. Who thought up the Mars sequence? A number of silent filmmakers had already done the alien or primitive world with much more sophistication, and not unbalanced between comedy (Brendel) and adventure (the heroes). To do justice to the cast: they were attractive performers doing their best.