Over the Andes

It being the Second World War, there's no traveling to Europe or Asia. Instead, James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras as far as he dares, to Chile under the supervision of cameraman Winton Hoch. Then it's into an airplane so they can fly from Valparaiso to Buenos Aires, and Fitzpatrick can offer his usual assortment of meaningless facts, like who flew over the Andes first, and how much gold there is in them thar hills.

The images are breath-taking, true enough, and the copy that plays on Turner Classic Movies is among the best preserved, particularly the sections in Chile and over the Andes.

Over the Andes (1943)

*** (out of 4)

One of the better entries in James A. FitzPatrick's TravelTalks series takes us to South America where we learn about various things including the trout and salmon fishing, the year round skiing and the 100,000 Indians still living there. The highpoint of the film is an airplane crossing the Andes Mountains where we learn that this was first done in 1918 and then by a female pilot three years later. From here we end up in Rio de Janeiro where we learn about the lavish sidewalks, the racial tolerance as well as the Royal Palms. I think the crossing of the mountains had to be some of the best minutes that this series ever offered. Looking at the way they were back in 1943 was certainly eye catching and the beautiful visuals brought on by the Technicolor is something fans of the series will love. There are a few shots early on of the mountain tops with the snow that were also quite beautiful to see. Fans of the series should be entertained by this one as the stories were all rather interesting and there's no question that some of the visuals were among the best of the series.

The Andes Mountains, located in South America, are the longest continental mountain range on Earth, and are over 4300 miles in length. In this Traveltalks from 1943, we see the mountains from a dazzling perspective and visit some of the nearby countries. Fitzpatrick starts in Viña del Mar, a city on the Pacific coast of Chile. Many hotels are located along its shores. We also see the Chilean lake district, which extends down the country's central valley and continues into a chain of southern lakes which border Argentina. Fitzpatrick and some others then board a DC-3 airliner to make the journey across the Andes to Rio de Janeiro. He says the mountains have a lot of minerals in them, but due to how much money it would cost to extract them, business ventures to the mountains have stayed away. This didn't stop ancient Native Americans from accessing them, however. After landing in Brazil, Fitzpatrick explains how Rio was greatly updated between 1902 and 1906. Most noticeably, basically every block has a mosaic etched onto the sidewalk. Each one looks different, so if you memorize these symbols, you can find your way around the city. Rio also has an interesting story related to a certain species of tree. After the Portuguese king was exiled to brazil by Napoleon, he brought seeds of palm trees called Royal Palms, which were supposed to be the ceremonial property of the royal family. Over a century later, these trees, originally meant to be regal and few in number, are absolutely everywhere. Finally, we visit a beach and are told that even though brazil is mostly made up of mestizos, the portuguese language is dominant in the country and there's a high level of racial tolerance. Like most Traveltalks, the facts Fitzpatrick spews don't really have any relevance to what's being shown, and would never really be of practical use to anybody. I still place this one above most of the others in the long list of films he's done because it involves an aircraft. The legendary Douglas DC-3 is one of the most iconic transport planes of all time, still flying today over 80 years later, and redefined the word effective during the Second World War as its militarized alter ego, the C-47. I was hoping to see more of the statue of Jesus that Rio is so famous for, but you can only see it far in the background when the film starts talking about the city. Ah well. To summarize, this short is like 90% of all the other Traveltalks, but at least had the decency to end before it got too tedious.

TravelTalks visits the Andes. It means going around South America. Despite some mountain views, they don't stay up top or near the mountains. In fact, they fly all the way to Rio de Janeiro. It may not be the Andes, but it is an impressive city. The sexy exciting city life does not get any screen time. They make Rio look like a sleepy provincial town. That may be a more impressive cinematic act than anything else. Rio is barely Rio here unless someone is willing to claim that this is the reality back in the 40's. I don't know the city back then. This should have stayed in the mountains. That's the best part of this episode.