This is a colored James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalk travelogue about the Mexican port of Vera Cruz. It starts with the Fort Vera Cruz, Church of Our Lady of Assumption, the old city, and the new. It's great to see the old Spanish city and what is considered to be the new living. There is dancing. There is a beach. Of all the things, I oddly love the big fish catches the most. I love the old fishing, the big fish, the people, and life in the old days.
3 Reviews
Faraway Mexico
boblipton20 July 2019
James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras down to Vera Cruz, to offer a tourist guide to that city. The pictures are quite lovely, and the images have a watercolor quality to them, befitting the city on the Gulf of Mexico. Was this intentional or have the prints simply aged that way?
The Traveltalks, which had been a part of the MGM slate of short subjects for the theater manager to select, had been running since 1933. During the War, the destinations had been limited to North America. Moviegoers might be offered a visit to exotic Minnesota, or faraway San Francisco. You didn't care to send the crews through seas where they might be sunk by German submarines, after all. Yet, here we are in March of 1946, and it's still in a location where the crew might get on the train and be on site a day or two later. This was the next of the last of these. In June, audiences might find themselves LOOKING AT LONDON.
The Traveltalks, which had been a part of the MGM slate of short subjects for the theater manager to select, had been running since 1933. During the War, the destinations had been limited to North America. Moviegoers might be offered a visit to exotic Minnesota, or faraway San Francisco. You didn't care to send the crews through seas where they might be sunk by German submarines, after all. Yet, here we are in March of 1946, and it's still in a location where the crew might get on the train and be on site a day or two later. This was the next of the last of these. In June, audiences might find themselves LOOKING AT LONDON.
TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott20 October 2009
Visiting Vera Cruz (1946)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This entry in the TravelTalks series takes us to Mexico where we get to see various parts of Vera Cruz, which James A. FitzPatrick calls the starting point of the Spanish conquest that took them to the Aztec capital (now Mexico City). Once there we see various historic sites including Fort Vera Cruz, Church of Our Lady of Assumption and the Municipal Palace. The Fort is certainly very interesting on the eyes and we get to hear about the various underground torture chambers that were used but we never see any of them. We also get to take a look at the people taking up the spaces and this includes a rather amazing dance known as the "Bow Dance" where a man and woman must keep a rhythm going while tying a bow with their feet. FitzPatrick also describes the city as the "most Spanish". This is another winning episode from the non-stop series. Several episodes were shot in Mexico but the subject here remains quite fresh as we always have something new to learn and look at. Once again the Technicolor is the real star even though the print on Turner Classic Movies has seen better days. A good way to kill nine-minutes.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
This entry in the TravelTalks series takes us to Mexico where we get to see various parts of Vera Cruz, which James A. FitzPatrick calls the starting point of the Spanish conquest that took them to the Aztec capital (now Mexico City). Once there we see various historic sites including Fort Vera Cruz, Church of Our Lady of Assumption and the Municipal Palace. The Fort is certainly very interesting on the eyes and we get to hear about the various underground torture chambers that were used but we never see any of them. We also get to take a look at the people taking up the spaces and this includes a rather amazing dance known as the "Bow Dance" where a man and woman must keep a rhythm going while tying a bow with their feet. FitzPatrick also describes the city as the "most Spanish". This is another winning episode from the non-stop series. Several episodes were shot in Mexico but the subject here remains quite fresh as we always have something new to learn and look at. Once again the Technicolor is the real star even though the print on Turner Classic Movies has seen better days. A good way to kill nine-minutes.
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