Traveltalks comes to Arizona and tours the architectural landmarks in Tucson. There is the small mining town Jerome. There is also some natural wonders. There is a cheesy chapel and a rodeo. The rodeo has fun oddities like a balancing horse. It ends with a rendition of Home On The Range. This is nice and I love the horse. It's perfectly fine.
5 Reviews
"Arizona is noted for its excellent highways." Imagine that!
boblipton23 November 2019
This being during the Second World War, travel restriction meant that James A. Fitzpatrick could not send his Technicolor cameras far afield for the MGM TRAVELTALKS series. Although some of them went south of the border to Mexico, most featured US states, in which we are informed of such fascinating facts as above.
Although the pictures, as always are good, and when, as here, well preserved, quite lovely, Fitzpatrick's droning voice makes me want to shout at the screen. Usually he sounds like he is reciting dull facts out of an almanac. Apparently the budget for this one was more generous, since it sounds like he bought a geology textbook and an AAA guide to the state and has pored over the maps and words to find the dullest things to say in the dullest way.
During the War, Americans were urged to avoid unnecessary travel, to avoid wasting rationed goods like rubber for auto tires and gasoline. Perhaps Fitzpatrick was trying to discourage travel. If so, this seems like a mixed success.
Although the pictures, as always are good, and when, as here, well preserved, quite lovely, Fitzpatrick's droning voice makes me want to shout at the screen. Usually he sounds like he is reciting dull facts out of an almanac. Apparently the budget for this one was more generous, since it sounds like he bought a geology textbook and an AAA guide to the state and has pored over the maps and words to find the dullest things to say in the dullest way.
During the War, Americans were urged to avoid unnecessary travel, to avoid wasting rationed goods like rubber for auto tires and gasoline. Perhaps Fitzpatrick was trying to discourage travel. If so, this seems like a mixed success.
According to the self-syled "Voice of the Globe" . . .
cricket3010 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
. . . the grounds of the Grand Canyon State's Capitol in Phoenix are littered with statues to American service men hailing from Arizona who perished in action during the USA's wars. (Perhaps the local history commemorators have relaxed their standards since 1944, and erected a monument to John McCain because he spent a few years as a guest of the "Hanoi Hilton" during the subsequent Vietnam War.) However, as U.S. President #45 always says, we should have no use for such "losers and suckers" who get themselves killed overseas at taxpayer expense, or especially those who manage to get taken alive by America's enemies. Therefore, it's pretty surprising to see such praise being heaped here upon this sort of riff-raft.
Where the deer and the antelope play
nickenchuggets1 August 2023
For some reason, an awful lot of these short films take place in the desert, probably because it's considered a strange land unknown to most inhabitants of the United States (and the world in general). This Traveltalks starts not far south of Tuscon, where we are shown a Catholic church built by the Spanish called San Xavier. The church is unusual in that it is asymmetrical. The right tower was intentionally left unfinished as a law at the time of construction stipulated that only completed churches had to pay taxes. Many buildings in Tuscon have clear influence of spanish colonial architectural styles. However, Phoenix's capitol building looks distinctly American and has a statue outside of it dedicated to Frank Luke; a First World War pilot credited with over 20 German planes shot down. After being brought down behind enemy lines, he was killed at age 21. Near Prescott's courthouse is another statue, this one dedicated to Buckey O'Neill, chief organizer of the Arizona unit of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. He was killed during the infamous Battle of San Juan Hill. Later, we see a town called Jerome built on the side of a mountain. Originally a copper mining town, TNT was used to clear caves for excavation duties which has resulted in the whole settlement moving about half a foot a year. After a fire once destroyed most of the houses in the town (along with all its saloons), the notorious Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa made a huge amount of money by getting mules to deliver water to the village. Arizona also has many high rising mountains all across the state, some of which used to be volcanoes. In northeast Arizona exists the Petrified Forest National Park, where you can actually find trees made of stone. Countless years ago, there existed here a vast forest of pine trees which was then buried by a flood containing large amounts of silica. Eventually, humans unearthed the trees, and while they still resemble trees, they're actually solid rock. Arriving at the popular vacation spot of Wickenburg, we see the Hassayampa Well, which is said to steal from its drinkers the ability to tell the truth. This doesn't stop people from drinking out of it though. Rodeos are also a popular event at Wickenburg, and we witness borderline animal cruelty as cowboys on horseback attempt to lasso running baby cows. However, Fitzpatrick assures us it doesn't hurt the animal and in some cases the calf is tied and released before he even knows he got snagged. Lastly, we see something you don't see everyday: a horse trying to balance himself on a seesaw. Like most installments of this series, many facts are displayed that don't really have any importance, but at least Fitzpatrick doesn't focus solely on geographical knowledge (unlike most other times). They do show nice scenery from this Mars-like landscape, but also how the land has been shaped by modern America and its former colonial spanish masters. It's just odd seeing things so calm at home in america while this was filmed during World War 2.
TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott2 August 2010
Roaming Through Arizona (1944)
** (out of 4)
Weaker entry in MGM's TravelTalks series takes us to Arizona where we visit various cities including Tucson, Phoenix and Jerome. We learn how many cities have a Spanish feel to them and that Pancho Villa made a lot of money by taking water to various towns that didn't have much. We see a statue of Frank Luke, a young man who lost his like in WW1 but not until after many missions flown. If you're looking for many interesting stories or visuals then it's best to look elsewhere and that's what makes this one of the more disappointing entries in the series. Normally you'd be in for at least one great story but that never happens here. The Technicolor is also wasted because we don't get that much to look at and one wonders what the point of this short was because there's just not too much to it. We do get to see a spot where scientists believe use to be a forest until a sea covered it up only to later be turned to stone.
** (out of 4)
Weaker entry in MGM's TravelTalks series takes us to Arizona where we visit various cities including Tucson, Phoenix and Jerome. We learn how many cities have a Spanish feel to them and that Pancho Villa made a lot of money by taking water to various towns that didn't have much. We see a statue of Frank Luke, a young man who lost his like in WW1 but not until after many missions flown. If you're looking for many interesting stories or visuals then it's best to look elsewhere and that's what makes this one of the more disappointing entries in the series. Normally you'd be in for at least one great story but that never happens here. The Technicolor is also wasted because we don't get that much to look at and one wonders what the point of this short was because there's just not too much to it. We do get to see a spot where scientists believe use to be a forest until a sea covered it up only to later be turned to stone.
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