Yankee Doodle Goes to Town

Dreams

November 1940 •English

This entry in MGM's Passing Parade series looks at the meaning of dreams, including one by Abraham Lincoln that foretold his death.

A Taxi Driver

August 2017 •Korean

May, 1980. Man-seob is a taxi driver in Seoul who lives from hand to mouth, raising his young daughter alone. One day, he hears that there is a foreigner who will pay big money for a drive down to Gwangju city. Not knowing that he’s a German journalist with a hidden agenda, Man-seob takes the job.

The Face Behind the Mask

March 1938 •English

This dramatized short film describes the historical mystery of France's "man in the iron mask". King Louis XIV imprisoned a man who was never identified, but who was forced to wear an iron mask for the length of his captivity, which ended only in his death. Several candidates for the identity of the man are investigated.

Biscut

February 2022 •Hindi

Biscut is a powerful film on the state of politics in Uttar Pradesh and offers a gritty and hard-hitting take on the treatment of the backward classes and their never-ending exploitation in the caste-dominated political landscape of Uttar Pradesh.

Mandela

October 1996 •English

A documentary that chronicles the life of South African leader Nelson Mandela. Mandela is probably best known for his 27 years of imprisonment, and for bringing an end to apartheid. But this film also sheds light on the little-known early period of Mandela's life.

1987: When the Day Comes

December 2017 •Korean

In 1987 Korea, under an oppressive military regime, a college student gets killed during a police interrogation involving torture. Government of officials are quick to cover up the death and order the body to be cremated. A prosecutor who is supposed to sign the cremation release, raises questions about a 21-year-old kid dying of a heart attack, and he begins looking into the case for truth. Despite a systematic attempt to silence everyone involved in the case, the truth gets out, causing an eruption of public outrage.

Our Old Car

June 1946 •English

In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, a man traces his history by the succession of cars his father owned. [This short appears in its entirety during MGM's short feature "The Great Morgan".]

The Story That Couldn't Be Printed

July 1939 •English

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells the story of John Peter Zenger, who in Colonial New York was tried for sedition based on what he printed in his newspaper.

Strange Testament

November 1941 •English

This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Julian Poydras, whose encounter with a girl at Mardi Gras had a profound effect on his later life.

We Do It Because

January 1942 •English

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short explores the origins of various customs such as shaking hands, kissing, and why ships are christened.

No

August 2012 •Spanish

In 1988, Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet, due to international pressure, is forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency. The country will vote ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to Pinochet extending his rule for another eight years. Opposition leaders for the ‘No’ vote persuade a brash young advertising executive, René Saavedra, to spearhead their campaign. Against all odds, with scant resources and while under scrutiny by the despot’s minions, Saavedra and his team devise an audacious plan to win the election and set Chile free.

The Story of Alfred Nobel

February 1939 •English

This John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short tells the story of Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite, and later established the Nobel Prize.

American Spoken Here

November 1940 •English

This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short takes a look at the origins of North American slang.

The Monroe Doctrine

October 1939 •English

The story of President Monroe's response to attempts by Spain to interfere in South America.

Two & Two

May 2011 •Persian

In a drab, anonymous gray school governed by a strict authoritarian regime, an apparently unremarkable day is turned on its head following a seemingly ridiculous announcement. Disbelieving at first, the all male, identically uniformed pupils are informed that what they had always been taught as fact is no longer true. When the incredulous students speak out, what initially seems laughably absurd becomes desperately real as they are forced to question how far they will go to stand up for their beliefs. Two & Two is an allegory for the absurdness of dictatorship and tyranny - and the resilience of the human spirit.

Souvenirs of Death

June 1948 •English

This MGM John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series short tells the story of how a Mauser pistol used on the battlefield by Germans during WWII makes its way into the hands of an American gangster.

Angel of Mercy

May 1939 •English

This MGM Passing Parade series short tells the story of Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross.

Jana Nayagan

January 2026 •Tamil

The Fabulous Fraud

August 1948 •English

In this John Nesbitt's Passing Parade short, we learn the story of Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer, the man who discovered hypnotism.

A Way in the Wilderness

June 1940 •English

This Passing Parade entry tells the story of Dr. Joseph Goldberger (1874-1929), a Hungarian immigrant who devoted his life to finding the cause of pellagra, a disease that killed hundreds of thousands in the southern United States. Although the medical community believed that the condition was caused by a virus, Goldberger proved that a healthy diet was the cure.