An Egyptian Adventure

Year Published: 1930s

Format: 16mm

Description: Dating to the 1930s, "An Egyptian Adventure" is a comedy travelogue that presents a U.S. Navy sailor's view of Egypt which (as a title card states) was "once the happy homeland of the Pharoahs". The film begins with images of statues, probably of Pharaoh Amenhotep III. At :50 some of the water works near the Nile River are seen, used to move water onto the fields. At 1:10 the Nile is seen followed at 1:21 by images of Cairo with its mosques and busy streets. At 1:35 a U.S. Navy ship is seen arriving in Cairo after a journey on the Canal. At 1:57 a steam locomotive is shown with a train arriving at Cairo, and the railway station is also shown. At 2:10 a motor car takes tourists through bustling streets. At 2:20, a donkey cart full of Muslim women is shown (the ladies apparently do not wish to be filmed judging from their gestures). At 2:41, a woman traverses the traffic lanes with a pot on her head. At 2:50 the Sphinx is seen and a camel ride is shown at 3:00 towards the Great Pyramid at Giza. At 3:50, sailors gaze from the heights of the Pyramid of Cheops. At 4:20, some "shady business" is shown with two sheiks having an argument over a cup of tea. (These men are counterfeiters of fake antiquities and sell them to foolish and gullible American sailors.) At 6:00, the pyramids are seen again with camels in front, and then a journey through the desert in search of "treasure". At 7:40 the "treasures" are uncovered including "diamond necklaces" and "Queen Hotlips" treasure. At 9:30 the men get back on their ship where they decide to hide their treasure in a gun. You can imagine what happens next.

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