What happened when the future America imagined in 1939 finally arrived?

In 1939, the New York World’s Fair promised a dazzling World of Tomorrow. Sixteen years later, America had emerged from World War II as an economic and cultural superpower — and its movies, music, automobiles, fashions and dreams were traveling around the globe.

In this episode of RetroStory — A Passport to the Past, we travel from the World’s Fair and postwar reconstruction to Paris jazz clubs, Hollywood, suburban America, the birth of the teenager, 45-rpm records and the explosion of rock ‘n’ roll.

Along the way: Christian Dior and the New Look, film noir, Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis Presley, the rise of consumer culture — and the darker realities behind the bright advertisements of 1955: the Cold War, segregation and a rapidly changing world.

Stories you can see ◆ Pictures you can hear.

A Classic Cool Studio production.

The Scorpio Files — Midnight in Pigalle | RetroStory Music Video

Paris, 1952. Midnight in Pigalle. One black Citroën, one missing page — and a secret worth killing for.

Step into the world of The Scorpio Files with Midnight in Pigalle, an original RetroStory music video from Classic Cool Studio.

Inspired by the latest adventure of Sterling Blake and Veronica Vale, this cinematic journey returns to the neon-lit streets, nightclubs and shadows of postwar Paris — where Irina Volkov is carrying a list of Soviet agents operating across Europe, Henri Delatour is playing his own dangerous game, and Zoya Yakova is never far behind.

Blending original music, cinematic storytelling and the atmosphere of 1950s Paris, Midnight in Pigalle turns a chapter of The Scorpio Files into a six-minute musical adventure.

RetroStory — A Passport to the Past
An original Classic Cool Studio production.