The March of Time

First Week of World War II

By: March of Time

From December 11, 1941, the classic NBC Radio program The March of Time presents a dramatization of America's first week at war. Created by Time magazine, the program used actors and movie-like scripts to bring news events to life. This episode aired just four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and three days after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war.©2006 Radio Spirits Inc. (P)2006 Radio Spirits Inc.

Critic reviews

"The March of Time was the first important documentary series on radio. With its unparalleled financial and editorial resources, it gave the public a provocative, expertly executed weekly report on current events." (Edward Bliss, Jr., Now the News: The Story of Broadcast Journalism)

Title is a bit misleading, sound quality is good.

The title of this is a bit misleading. It is currently titled "First Week of World War II." The war, by most accounts, started in 1939, not in Dec. 1941, though some might argue that it started even earlier. A better title would be "U.S. Enters World War II."

This program very briefly recounts the events of Pearl Harbor, and the reactions of various Americans as Congress and FDR declared war on the Axis powers. It is a kind of docudrama for radio, with actors portraying various people, both unknown and famous. The events are punctuated with sound effects and bursts of dramatic music throughout. An omniscient narrator weaves the various scenes together into a semi-cohesive whole.

What I found most amusing was how actors depicted the speaking voices of Hirohito, Mussolini and Hitler, speaking in accented English. I also thought it interesting that the program is not really overtly racist. For instance, a would-be army recruit is interviewed and found to be an Italian, but the recruit is quick to clarify that he is an American. The interviewer accepts this without comment. Predictably, the program has an America-first patriotic tone throughout.

One thing that puzzled me was the voice of FDR. It is my understanding that in the early years of The March of Time radio show, FDR's voice was routinely impersonated by an actor. The White House objected to this at some point. So the voice you hear of FDR may in fact be an actual recording of the president.

There is a fascinating discussion of The March of Time radio program and its evolution in one of the early chapters of the book Broadcast Hysteria by Brad Schwartz.