The Seesaw and the Shoes

May 5, 1945

0h 11m

★ 0.0

Overview

This short shows how two objects led to important discoveries. Children playing with a seesaw inspire French physician Rene Laennec to invent the stethoscope, and a pair of shoes made of caoutchouc lead Charles Goodyear to discover the process for vulcanizing rubber.

Genres

Drama

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

The Seesaw and the Shoes Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Narrator

John Nesbitt

Charles Goodyear (uncredited)

Arthur Space

One of Goodyear's Guests (uncredited)

Helen Dickson

Bit Part (uncredited)

Feodor Chaliapin Jr.

One of Goodyear's Guests (uncredited)

Sheldon Jett

Part of John Nesbitt's Passing Parade series, this short shows how three seemingly unimportant things can affect people. The first is how the number 7 affects a student accused of theft charges. The second segment shows that a person's doodles can reveal personality traits. The final segment shows why certain items are on men's suits, such as lapels.

5.3

You're Not Alone

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Master painter Hans Moll and his wife, the television announcer Ms. Wellinek and her husband, and the German-Russian Jew Yevgenia have many things to live on: food, drink, an apartment. What they do not have is work. They all discover the yearning for a chance to start all over again and bring themselves back to life.

6.0

Madero of Mexico

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This Passing Parade series short chronicles the political life of Francisco Madero, who tried to bring democracy and land reform to Mexico.

5.0

Strange Testament

Nov 15, 1941

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.

0.0

That's Why I Left You

Jun 12, 1943

Young couple Joe and Mary Thompson love each other and their children despite the struggles that they have that are typical of most young couples early on in their married life, such as the basics of trying to make ends meet. But after Joe leaves Mary and their inner city life, she finds an unpostmarked envelope under their apartment door with her name written in Joe's handwriting. It contains a letter explaining why he left. It has primarily to do with his feeling that another part of his life was being left behind for his married life, that other life which consists of a want to travel, especially sail the south seas. The actual impetus to leave was inadvertently fostered by Mary through the birthday present she bought for him. So what actually did happen to Joe and will he ever return to his loving wife?

0.0

Tennis in Rhythm

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A "Passing Parade" MGM short featuring tennis star Alice Marble

6.0

Half Angel

May 22, 1936

Allison Long is acquitted on charges of poisoning her father but then her benefactor is poisoned. Reporter Duffy Giles has faith in her innocence.

6.0

Magic on a Stick

Jan 19, 1946

This MGM Passing Parade series short recounts how English chemist John Walker invented the wooden friction match during the 1820s.

4.0

The Story That Couldn't Be Printed

Jul 22, 1939

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.

7.2

Die Welt steht still

Nov 8, 2021

When the pictures from Bergamo in Italy go around the world in spring 2020, even non-medical people know what the word pandemic means. The previously unknown Coronavirus is spreading rapidly across the planet. Four days later, exit and contact restrictions also apply in Germany. Since then, the life of the Konstanz intensive care physician Dr. Carolin Mellau and her family on their heads. The female doctor becomes a member of the crisis team and is on duty around the clock to prepare the clinic for the impending emergency. As an anesthesiologist intubating those infected with COVID-19, she herself carries a high risk of infection. Meanwhile, her husband Stefan has to cancel his concerts as a musician, is no longer allowed to teach his music students and is suddenly sitting at home without an income. Teenage daughter Luzy is not allowed to see her Swiss boyfriend because the border is closed. She and brother Tim cannot go to school. But the worst case for the family is yet to come.

0.0

The Golden Hunch

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This entry in John Nesbitt's "Passing Parade" series is about the great moments in the lives of famous men who found found an answer or made a great discovery in the flash of a golden hunch.

6.8

The Prisoner of Shark Island

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After healing the leg of the murderer John Wilkes Booth, responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, perpetrated on April 14, 1865, during a performance at Ford's Theatre in Washington; Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, considered part of the atrocious conspiracy, is sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the sinister Shark Island Prison.

0.0

Passing Parade

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Three specific and separate stories of life's passing parade are presented.

6.5

Souvenirs of Death

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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.