[Charles Gilbert--home movies] NHF Reels 31-33

Date1928

Donor-supplied NotesReel 31: Trip Around the World #1 Reel 32: Trip Around the World #2 Reel 33: Trip Around the World #3 NHF Cataloguer's Notes for Reel 31-33 : Charles Gilbert Collection: 'A Trip Around the World Part 1'(creator's can notes)

Viewing NotesIntertitle--'C.E. Gilbert presents a pictorial log in ten reels of his trip around the world on the Empress Australia.' Intertitle: 'On Dec. 1, 1928 the great Empress noses her way down the Hudson for ports of flowers and sunshine.' L.S. cruise ship. These reels are lightly tinted. M.S. bow as [tugboat] approaches. Intertitle: 'The first landfall is the island where Columbus wooed his bride, Madeira. (01:03) Madeira, trees and buildings, Empress in foreground. Intertitle: 'Funchal, the Portuguese city rising above this famous old harbor--Madeira.'Funchal. Trees, buildings, people in street. M.S. woman carrying objects on her head. Intertitle: 'Our first footsteps ashore on the cruise 'round the world, Madeira.' M.S. ox drawn, canvas-topped vehicle with people including man smoking. Market including fruit. Intertitle: The islanders have made an institution and an industry of 'skidding' the visitors. Madeira. M.S. passengers in wheelbarrow-like wooden conveyances. People stand in doorways of shuttered houses. An English or American woman [Mrs. Gilbert?] stands with Spanish woman who has basket on head and on arm. [English or American woman] carried through streets in hammock strung on a long pole carried by a man at each end. [English or American woman] walking in hilly, shrubbed, mountainous country. (3:04) Pan. mountains. English or American couple seated in wooden conveyance in outdoor market. Man leading ox through street with stick in hand. M.S. street with cars, people. [English or American women] walking in park. Two soldiers stroll in background. C.U. [English or American women]. M.S. [English or American women] and a couple seated in wicker chairs outdoors. Intertitle: 'I am introduced to one of the famous 'Golden Gate Cocktails.''[English or American couple] seated in wicker chairs at table toasting with beverage. Intertitle: 'Out in the harbor the Empress, our argosy of adventure waits, Madeira.'Street scene. Boy with ox. Building with cupola, palm trees. Intertitle: 'A rock of ages, one of the ancient 'Pillars of Hercules,' Gibraltar.'L.S. harbor with cruise ships and naval ships. Woman talking to man outside stone building with cathedral-like windows [stained glass?] Man has heavily loaded donkey cart. M.S. bearded, elderly man wearing turban. [Looks like a rabbi or teacher] (06:00) Town square scene with people, touring car, turkeys. Stone building in background. Woman and two boys watch turkeys. Extended views of turkeys.. Boy in background twirls long stick as if it were a baton. the following footage is tinted yellow: Intertitle: 'Ashore in Algiers, the city of the piratical Days in the years of long ago. Africa.'M.S. street. Row of slender columns. Man in Arab attire with basket on head walks past. [English or American man] in suit ascends stone steps. Algerians on street. Alley thoroughfare. Arab man ascends steps. C.U. bearded and elderly white-robed man [beggar] sitting in street. Stone building in background. b&w, not tinted: Pan. cruise ship in harbor, stone structures, and wall of Algiers. C.U. Gilberts. Arched stone buildings in background. M.S. Gilberts. Stone porticoes with arches and palm trees. C.U. Gilberts talking near a potted fern. Algerian man sitting cross-legged and rocking back and forth. Laden donkey. Algerian children. Little boy points. Algerians walking down the street. Man carrying something on shoulders. Veiled women wear white. (09:01) Elderly Algerian man walking with cane. Small child sitting in street, crying. Intertitle: 'A famous 'Arabian Thoroughbred' at 'Blidah.''C.U. Arab man holding white Arabian horse by halter. [Algeria] Following intertitle style looks like purchased film, yellow tint: Intertitle: 'Monte Carlo in its splendor looks down on the Mediterranean, Monaco.' Pan. Monaco. Stone buildings and mountains. This section of the film is tinted yellow. Intertitle: 'The casino where the spinning ivory ball spells fortune or ruin on the wheel. Monte Carlo.' C.U. stone buildings, trees in background. b&w, probably back to Gilbert footage: Intertitle: 'The 'Grande Corniche Road' is one of the five most beautiful drives in the world. On the 'Corniche Road' between 'Monaco' and 'Nice' is 'La Turbie' built centuries ago by the Romans. La Turbie.' C.U. 'Lipton' hotel sign. Intertitle: 'Ruins of the old 'Roman Tower of/Victory.' La Turbie.' Stone tower. Grass, foliage on nearby hill. Intertitle: 'The old fountain built by the Romans is still the town's water supply and laundry. La Turbie.' Women washing clothes by hand in still water of fountain. Mrs. Gilbert looks on. One woman beats her laundry. Intertitle: 'Now Naples, city of old glories, looms ahead. Italy.'(12:00) Slow Pan. Naples. Man leads donkey hauling long wooden twigs on wagon. Three Italian policeman. Mr. Gilbert stands at left. Someone out of view hands Mr. Gilbert a camera. Palm trees surrounding stone building with large column. Hotel, foreground of shot is dark. Horses in public square with stone structures in background. Foreground shadowy. Pan. square and passersby continues. Mr. Gilbert walks by. Pan. street, buildings, cannon, man with basket on head. Shot dominated by horse and wagon passing; man stands holding reins. He smokes a cigarette. [nice shot] Tinted intertitle, probably purchased film, Intertitle: 'Amalfi, of which the poets sing, clings to the rock bound coast. Italy. 'Harbor, stone buildings, trees. Wooden frame looking down on harbor. b&w: Intertitle: 'The famous 'Amalfi--Sorrento Drive' is conceded to be one of the five most beautiful in the world. Amalfi.' Pan. buildings, trees. (15:07) Mrs. Gilbert picks fruit and bites into it. Citrus. Little boy and women walking. Mrs. Gilbert stands at left. Women wave at camera. Stone steps in background surrounded by stone wall, tall-twig bannister. Intertitle: 'At beautiful 'Sorrento' on the Bay of Naples. Sorrento.' Man standing in donkey wagon. C.U. donkey. Mrs. Gilbert stands at left. Man and donkey continue down street. Plump man and Mrs. Gilbert sit talking. M.S. sailor aboard moving ship, smiling, leaning on rail. C.U. sailor. M.S. manhitting golf balls on boat. Intertitle: 'End of Reel 1. Off to Haifa and the Holy Land.' Tintled title: Intertitle: 'In Bethlehem stands the Church of the Nativity--the place where our era began nineteen centuries ago. Holy Land. 'People, donkeys, ancient stone structures. [shrunken film]. (18:00) b&w Intertitle: 'The veiled women of Bethlehem returning from their prayers. Holy Land.' Group of women wearing long white veils and black dresses walking by stone structures. Market place. Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert, tourists, natives in their robes and burnooses. (A burnoose is like a flowing turban. In length, the cloth can descend as far as the waist.) Mr. Gilbert talks with man; he uses a light meter. Women, one has child. Tracking shot. Two women stand at stone wall. Gilberts, other tourists are gathered near a large stone. Some touch stone. Crowded market place. Open-air produce stands. Men wear fezzes. Men bearing items for sale on circular trays enter shot. Intertitle: 'Jerusalem, Holy to millions and the faithful of many faiths. Holy Land.' Group of people, some clad in black, others in black and white. C.U. Arabs with their burnooses, ladies with their white veils. Intertitle: 'A modern daughter of the race of Mary. Jerusalem.'Woman wearing kerchief and long coat, sewing [lace], displays other fine samples. tinted footage: Intertitle: ''The Wailing Wall' has heard centuries of Hebrew prayers. Jerusalem.'Stone wailing wall with many people clustered about. Women wear white veils. Two bearded men walk past. C.U. people in various long robes close to wall. (21:00) b&w: Circle of men dressed in black sitting on ground. One man plays wooden flute. Street scene with donkeys, tourists, children carrying wicker baskets across shoulders. C.U. dark clad woman near stone wall, spinning. Man wearing fez astride white donkey. Car, people, policemen, tourists, Gilberts pass by. C.U. man with wide wooden box on shoulder. Another street. Fewer people. C.U. man astride walking donkey. C.U. lightly bearded tourist who beckons to camera. Man in crowd with a basket of eggs walks to camera. Shepherd in robe and burnoose herds black goats down street. C.U. Mrs. Gilbert standing in archway near fountain with cup on chain? (24:01) Native people drawing water out of well. Small animals drink from trough intersecting street. Mrs. Gilbert, another tourist woman, joined in street by Mr. Gilbert. C.U. Gilberts walking. Mrs Gilbert's shoe has a problem with sole she demonstrates to camera.. Two native children with father. Smiling lad with cattle. Shadowy shot people in street. Stone cathedral on left. Heavily laden camel in street. Man in portable chair sitting near stone wall praying. Black-robed woman leaning against wall. Man with book on left speaks quickly to her. Man in black suit and hat leaning against the wall, back to camera. Two women at opening in wall. C.U. man, stones of wall. Tinted footage Intertitle: 'Sailing the storied Nile as in the reign of the Pharaohs. Egypt.' Tinted M.S. a ship, cruiser or freighter. Egyptian sail boat, or felucca, in foreground. C.U. felucca. (27:01) Intertitle: 'Bound away across the desert to trade at some remote oasis. Egypt.' Pan. line of camels crossing desert. Sparse growth in foreground. Intertitle: 'Here is the heart of Cairo which the Arabs call 'The mother of the world.' Egypt.' Cairo street. Beasts of burden laden with heavy wicker baskets. Funeral procession. Intertitle: 'At Gizeh, where the pyramids guard the centuries and the prides of long dead Kings. Egypt.' Pyramids, palm tree, men astride camels. Intertitle: 'The age old Sphinx is being resurrected from the drifting sands. Egypt.' Sphynx with pyramid at right. C.U. Sphynx. Shot tracks downward door between paws. b&w, Gilbert-shot footage: Marketplace. Kneeling camel rises with man astride. Another camel rises with Mrs. Gilbert astride. Profile shot Gilberts side by side on camels. M.S. Gilberts standing in desert. Gilberts join group of camels and people. (30:07) Mr. Gilbert on camel. Mrs. Gilbert walking. Mrs. Gilbert talks to Arab man. Crowd, mostly Arabs, walking down street in Cairo. Man has little boy by hand. Man on bicycle enters shot. Band of musicians, one has bagpipe, one has drum. Black veiled woman, children appear. Two men and a woman sit atop a horse-drawn carriage. Car, policeman appear. Pan. mountains from boat. M.S. mountains, cables of ship in harbor picnic in swimsuits. Tinted: Intertitle: 'Irrigation at Luxor where old ways and ideas survive the ages. Egypt.' Waterwheel turned by ox power. Waterwheel is wooden with large clay vases attached. Intertitle: 'Port Said, gate to the canal and the spicy world of the East Suez.' Sailing vessels in harbor, sails down. People, carrying wares on their heads, walk down street at edge of harbor. Intertitle: 'A water boulevard links two hemispheres. Suez.' C.U. ship cables. L.S. harbor. Continues tinted: Intertitle: 'Bombay, Home of a hundred races and deep with oriental mystery. India.' Turretted stone buildings of city seen from harbor. Streetcar. People walking, some bearing produce in baskets on heads. Arched porticoes of long building in background. (36:11) C.U. of East Indian children with white turbans and hats. M.S. children, mother holds child. C.U. Indian holy man or Sikh sitting on ground. CUs of people including very close of young girl. b&w: M.S. small outdoor fire surrounded by wall [burning ghat]. Indian man approaches. People gathered near sloping-roofed building. Mostly men wearing white sun helmets. Passersby. Men bear object aloft on shoulders (probably body going to ghat). Scene photographed from behind walls of burning ghat. Walls dominate foreground. C.U. white stone building with long stone steps. Dark trees dominate left. Slow Pan. buildings, trees, balconies, square doorways, arches, statues, guard, Indian people. (39:00) Younger man and veiled woman carry infants. Shadowed shot children. White oxen. Palm trees. Two turkey-like birds in yard. Post at side, high fence in background. Man with stick and large turtle walking in shadow. Pan. leafy tree tops. M.S. lake, Pelican drifts on surface. Pelicans walking down sidewalk. Palm trees in background. Procession of in street. Women in saris, most bear objects on their heads. Procession approaches domed structure, lower structures around. (42:00) Garden. Slow Pan. scene. Vivid silhouette of trees. Men with oxen, trees, wooden fence in background. Another mosque or temple, entrance is pointed arch. Domes at either side. Rear shot temple, pinnacles, shrubbery. Group of domed, columned stone structures. Natives move toward structures. Slow pan. Another pointed arch stone temple, low trees dominate foreground. Tourists, Gilberts included, with natives in temple porticoes. (45:00) Good shadow shot Mrs. Gilbert. L.S. white temple with lighthouse-like domes. C.U. front of temple. M.S. a horse, oxen drawing vehicles with men in them. L.S. native children near high stone wall. C.U. man with dancing bear on leash. Silhouette same. Truck and horse-drawn wagon pass on highway. Man making bear dance on its back legs, wrestle on ground. Snake charmers handling snakes. Young male acrobat performing. (48:02) Tinted intertlte:, purchased footage: Intertitle: 'The Taj Mahal at Agra, from an Indian King to his beloved Queen. India.' Taj Mahal and pool tinted pink and yellow. b&w; C.U. front of Taj Mahal domes and turrets. L.S. Mrs. Gilbert walking on esplanade behind temple. C.U. front again. L.S. same. C.U. then Pan. arches, domes, rear entrance of another building. Overhead shot highway with procession of camels. Mrs. Gilbert sitting in shadows of rickshaw-like device with protective hood on top. (52:08) Pan. domed temples. L.S. temple with arches, another with low trees, surrounding wall. Tracking shot same. Trees in foreground. Side tower with arches. Bench near trees. Herd of cattle led down road. in background, coal fired steam engine emits heavy black smoke. Black oxen and white oxen hitched to heavily laden wagon. Driver leads wagon forward. Another man walks into shot from left. (End)