BELGIUM - THE BEAUTIFUL

Belgium the Beautiful is a short travelogue from 1932, recorded at Burton Holmes Studios, that shows viewers some of the highlights of Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges, and the small nation’s countryside. The film opens with a shot of a map of Belgium. The film then features footage of Brussels (01:05), highlighting the city’s Royal Palace, the Financial Center, and bustling city streets where trolley cars have replaced transportation by canal. Children crowd around the camera on a street (01:40). Men and women sell newspapers. A woman models Brussels’ famous lace (01:59). The Palace of Justice towers above the city (02:10), and the iconic Hotel De Ville (Town Hall) stands at one end of the Central Square (02:22). People buy and sell flowers on a street in Brussels, and men relax at the many cafés in the city (03:01). The film then takes viewers to Antwerp and the city’s railway station (03:17). Shots of the city show streets and flower baskets atop lampposts. Antwerp is home to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts (03:52), Brabo Fountain in front of City Hall (04:03), and the Cathedral of Notre Dame. Footage shows the city’s harbor and scenes of the city filmed from the point-of-view of being on the river. Next, the film visits Bruges, passing through a stone gateway into the old city (05:16). There are numerous shots of Bruges from the point-of-view of a boat traveling the city’s canals (05:24). Highlights of Bruges include the gothic City Hall in the town center (05:50), the Belfry of Bruges (06:23), and its adjacent marketplace. An old lace maker stands next to a well (07:26). The film concludes with footage of rural Belgium, including a village (07:38), dog-pulled wagons carrying people along dirt roads (07:51), and other common sights of the countryside—grazing cattle and sheep, windmills, and people standing in the doorways of their homes.