FitzPatrick Traveltalks: Volume 3

This is the third and final Fitzpatrick Traveltalk shorts release (unless Warner Archive decides to release the earlier black and white Traveltalks from the early 1930s and/or Fitzpatrick's Vista Vision travel shorts he did for Paramount after he left MGM). I'm glad the three volumes all came out this year as WA has dragged it's heels on releasing these for many years. Here are the titles for Volume 3:Disc 11940 Old New Orleans1942 Memories Of Australia1944 Land Of The Mayas1945 Visiting Vera Cruz1946 The Mission Trail1946 Looking At London1946 Over The Seas To Belfast1946 Glimpses Of California1946 Calling On Costa Rica1946 Around The World In California1946 On The Shores Of Nova Scotia1947 Glimpses Of New Scotland1947 Visiting Virginia1947 Cradle Of A Nation1946 Cape Breton Island1948 Chicago The Beautiful1947 Wandering Through Wales1948 Night Life In Chicago1947 Scholastic England1949 Ontario, Land Of Lakes1948 Calling On Michigan1949 Playlands Of Michigan1949 Quebec In SummertimeDisc 21947 Roaming Through Northern Ireland1946 From Liverpool To Stratford1947 Glimpses Of Old England1949 In Old Amsterdam1947 A Wee Bit Of Scotland1947 Land Of Tradition1949 Colorful Holland1947 Pastoral Panoramas1949 Roaming Through Michigan1947 To The Coast Of Devon1947 Touring Northern England1946 Land Of Auld Lang Syne1947 Life On The Thames1950 Egypt Speaks*1950 Voices Of Venice*1950 Springtime In The Netherlands1950 Land Of Zuider Zee1951 A Word For The Greeks1951 Romantic Riviera1951 Glimpses Of Morocco And Algiers1951 Visiting Italy1952 Glimpses Of Argentina*These two titles are not Traveltalks, but are of a short lived Fitzpatrick series People On ParadeDisc 31952 Beautiful Brazil1952 Picturesque New Zealand1952 Life In The Andes1952 Land Of The Taj Mahal1952 Jasper National Park1952 Seeing Ceylon1952 Ancient India1953 Pretoria To Durban1953 In The Land Of Diamonds1953 Calling On Cape Town1953 Land Of Ugly Duckling1953 Beautiful Bavaria1953 Johannesburg - "City Of Gold"1953 Delightful Denmark1953 Copenhagen "City Of Towers"1953 Seeing Spain1953 In The Valley Of The Rhine1953 Looking At Lisbon1953 Glimpses Of Western Germany1949 Mighty Manhattan, New York's Wonder City(not an official Traveltalk, but in the same format and twice as long as a normal Traveltalk)1950 Rome, The Eternal City(not a Traveltalk, MGM release, not produced or directed by James A. Fitzpatrick

My husband and I started watching Traveltalks on Saturday mornings on the TCM channel. New England born James Fitzpatrick, the “voice of the globe”, travelled the world in the 30’s and 40’s capturing beautiful scenery and culture wherever he went. Mr. Fitzpatrick lead a fascinating life and shared it with the rest of the world through his journalism & travel. His voice is soothing, the scenery and music nostalgic. He touches on a bit of history and culture in each location he visited. So, while you are enjoying his peaceful narration and videography you also learn a bit about other cultures, their values, beliefs, arts, traditions, etc. TCM stopped airing Traveltalks (they come and go) and my husband was genuinely bummed. We looked forward to watching this during coffee time on Saturday mornings. When his birthday approached, I did some research and found these on amazon. What a score! I ordered all 3 volumes. I don’t think he has ever been more excited to receive a gift before as he was with these dvds. We can now watch “T-talks” at our leisure. Each clip is about 10 minutes so you can watch as many or few as you wish at each sitting. If you love history and old movies I really think you will enjoy watching Traveltalks. Happy traveling from your own couch!

A huge variety of travelogs in the old style, including bombastic narration almost worthy of W.C Fields, each presented in nine minutes of beautiful Technicolor. 186 short subjects total (inlcuding two somewhat longer pieces) in the three volumes, with three 2.5 hour discs per volume.Because of squeezing 2.5 hours onto each disc, the video quality is definitely only standard def, but the subject matter will soon have you ignoring that; plus, the color is still gorgeous after all these years.The attitudes from the 1930s and 40s are fascinating to view through modern eyes. Europeans and Americans are presented either as "modern" or in terms of traditional festivals and costumes, while other peoples are presented as exotics benefitting from colonial rule. Threats of totalitarianism prior to WWII are blissfully ignored.Besides enjoying the visual experience of another era, it can be interesting to look up some of the locations on Google Earth to see how they have changed.

I've bought all 3 volumes. I'd seen many on Turner Classic Movies, but there is no way to see ALL of these any other way that I know of. They are fascinating. Yes, the dialogue is a bit hyperbolic and corny by today's standards, but seeing places like Tokyo and many other locations before World War II in Technicolor is really interesting. I wish it had been a Blu-Ray set, but I assume the not-always-the-sharpest image quality, while acceptable, is a result of the age of the source material.

While watching Turner Classic Movie channel, occasionally they will insert some of these video shorts, and I have always found them fascinating. They are truly historical documentation, and although there are things said that nowadays seem crude or not politically correct, they present countries as they were then, many post WWII. Many of the sites no longer exist, or the surrounding area has been developed so much. I find them very interesting. I look forward to purchasing the entire series if I can find them.

I love these old nostalgic travel talks. So entertaining, and such a trip back in time. Wish I was there now. The color and quality of the filming is just wonderful and so is the narration. If you like things from this era, you will be very happy with this. Make a big bowl of popcorn and sit back and leave the current world behind for a few wonderful hours.

Truly a slice of our lives in the 30's and 40's - a time when our theaters kept us in touch with the world and allowed us to go places we only dreamed of seeing. Very well done (for the times) and always informative, the travelogues are presented very nicely with good transfers from existing elements. I recommend all three volumes!