The March of Time: Where's the Meat?

The March of Time: Where's the Meat? (1945) blends Documentary elements. Top cast includes Westbrook Van Voorhis. The plot follows a central conflict that grows in scope as the film progresses.

Actor: Westbrook Van Voorhis

Where’s the Meat tells in considerable detail where it is, where it isn’t and why it won’t be. There are glimpses of black markets and worried men in Washington, of sharp practices in stores and on the range, and of the small local butcheries which have crammed quick-freeze lockers with millions of pounds of meat, much of it bought point-free, on the hoof. The obvious conclusion: with the demand for meat almost twice the visible supply—despite the slaughter of cattle not fully grown—the best that can be done is not going to be good enough, for some time to come. The film’s approach to the problem, accordingly, is humorous as well as instructive. Best bits of humor: glaring samples of the sycophantic treatment accorded that “pampered citizen,” the local meat-retailer; almost lascivious shots of steaks and chops in all their old-fashioned glory, which might well be forbidden on grounds of mental cruelty to carnivorous America.