HOME MOVIES: 1930s

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1930s

Format: 16mm

Description: This B&W silent home movie dates to the 1930s, and documents a trip made by an unknown America tourist to Sri Lanka and China. Title card: "Colombo to Kandy by Motor - Native Scenes" (0:09). Transit center in Colombo, Sri Lanka (0:14). Busy street—ox-drawn wagons with thatched covers, passerby (0:19). Elephant in chains shakes white man’s hand (0:35). White men riding elephants near local elephant handlers (0:47). Man walks path near trees in Sri Lanka, car briefly visible behind (0:59). Sri Lankan children laugh, play (1:04). Schoolchildren gather near road in Sri Lanka (1:11). Sri Lankan performers in costume (long skirts, beads, hats) dance, play double-sided drums for white tourist audience outside in garden (local dance) (1:24). Elaborate Sri Lankan estate, garden with statues (1:53). Train in Sri Lanka passing road (2:13). Steamboat near harbor (2:20). Man wearing turban walks down sidewalk of quiet road; men carrying bundles. (2:42). Exterior of Temple in Sri Lanka (elaborate small tower, gate, passerby) (2:49). Sri Lankan men in various dress (uniform, skirt) pose for camera (2:54). Handlers stand with oxen, wagon (3:00). Garden on windy day (palm trees, refreshments stand, lawn chairs); white tourists in suits and hats sit down at garden tables, smoke, served by locals (3:07). White couple sitting together smiles at camera (3:25). Hotel Lavina, Colombo, "native boat;" sailboat on beach by crowd (3:37). Beach in Sri-Lanka (3:45). Steamboats in Sri Lankan harbor (3:50). Memorial Auditorium Sun Yat Sen (Zhongshan Memorial Hall), Canton (Guangzhou, Guangdong), China (Lu Yanzhi) (4:00). People under shade (thatched structure) in clearing (4:06). Crowd of Chinese / Cantonese people—all ages, women and men with sunhats, parasols (4:10). White people in coats and hats stand in auditorium, passerby, cars (4:30). Chinese man approaches tourist’s camera (5:00). Crowded street near Canton—men in hats and coats, women in braids (one holding child), men look at camera, boys holding infant (5:09). Man wearing wide-brimmed hat holding farm tool poses for camera (6:04). Man runs with carrying pole / shoulder pole with hanging baskets (6:00). Man carries infant through rice terrace in China (6:05). Alleyway with trees, dog, passerby (6:16). Car, square in front of pyramid-shaped temple building (6:20). Two Chinese men stand with hands on hips in crowd (6:28). Oxen in town (6:33). "Harbor at Chin Wang Tao, Railway Station, Route to Pekin" (6:35). Chin Wang Tao railway station platform, passengers of all ages waiting (fur coats/shawls, hats, uniforms, bicycle, bags, white tourists, train on platform, station sign) (6:40). "North China School of Language, Peking" (7:58). Three-story buildings, Peking; garden next to building, perhaps church (8:18). Funeral procession, Hartman Street; bicycle, children with reeds, carts, buggy, lifted structure (8:28). Sedan chair travel from rail station to Peking Great Wall (8:52). Pack camels rest near Great Wall (8:59). Crowds, structures, tourists near Great Wall (9:02). Fenced town square near Peking, China. People carrying vessels balanced on shoulder rods in quiet town (9:49). Men in coats gathered near town square in China, women laughs with soldier carrying rifle, passerby (10:00). "Forbidden City - Street Sprinkling System" (10:18). Forbidden City / Palace Complex / Imperial City / Beijing (10:24). People in brouettes approach buildings. Restaurants, carts, storefronts, people gathered at tables on busy street near Forbidden City, steaming pot (maybe hot pot?) (10:35). Brouette vehicles, bicycles, carts, gate, pedestrians on road near Imperial city (10:43). "Early morning view, Wagon Lit Hotel, Pekin" (11:00). Peking—park and gazebo, various rapid shots inside dark buildings (mirrors, passerby) (11:20). People in hats, coats walk outdoor sunlit passageway (11:39). Chinese art (11:48). Upturned corners of Chinese roofs; multi-storied building complex; stairs, entryways, verandas, pavilion, likely Summer Palace near Peking (11:50). "Old Buddha’s 3,000,000 Yen Marble Boat" (12:25). Marble Boat (Qingyan Fang, Han Chuan, Land Boat, Bu Ji Zhou, Unmoored Boat, Kunming Lake, Longevity Hill, Summer Palace) (12:31). "Buddha In Llama Temple and My Guests, Two Idaho Buddha Priests" (12:59). Buddha sculpture, Yonghe Temple (Yonghe Lamasery, Lama Temple) (Tibetan Buddhism) (13:02). Monks (13:15). Mountains and ocean near Peking (13:22).

Complete Record: