HOME MOVIES: 1940’S SILENT

Genre: home movie

Year Published: 1940’

Format: 16mm

Description: Shot by an unknown tourist, this silent home movie contains scenes shot in rural Arizona, at the Phoenix Biltmore Resort, in Nogales and at Picacho Peak State Park. It was filmed during WWII which dates it from the early to mid-1940’s. It opens with a residential home in Arizona with family members pictured outside (:16). Sheep are seen in a large grassy field (:24) as farmers operate machinery in order to harvest their crops (1:03). The crops are loaded onto a conveyor belt by agricultural workers -- probably itinerant Mexican-Americans(1:26). The conveyer dumps them into a truck at the end of the line (1:30). Next, shots of decrepit, small wooden building with a cross on it, and a simple white church or chapel. This is possibly part of a movie set (1:56) or even a ghost town. A similar movie set in Southern Arizona remains, known as "Old Tucson", but this one appears different. Next, scenes at the Arizona Biltmore, located in Phoenix. Hotel guests enjoy pool side relaxation (2:37). The single floor hotel is viewed shortly after (3:02) along with the stately Wrigley Mansion nearby atop a hill (3:16). Historic Morley Avenue in Nogales follows including the border crossing (3:51). The camera pans around the area to captured some of the residential homes embedded in the hilly landscape (4:04). Note the light metal fence at (4:08) which was all that separated the two nations at the time. The Ramirez Money Exchange building appears at (4:18) as 2-6-0 steam locomotive Southern Pacific Lines #2105 passes by (4:33). The locomotive was probably shuttling freight from Nogales, Mexico to Nogales, Arizona. At (5:02) a sign for "military police" gives an idea of who manned the border station in this era. At (5:05) a woman walks past dressed in black, with her head covered almost like a burkha. Footage follows shot from inside a car travels (5:20) as headed towards Picacho Peak. Note at (5:28) the sticker of Uncle Sam on the windscreen and 2-8-2 Southern Pacific locomotive #3317 racing with the car. At (5:55), three of the travelers take a dive into a swimming pool (5:56). They wear nice 1940s swimsuits. They dry off while enjoying pool side refreshments (6:51). Three of the tourists on the trip take a dive into a swimming pool, location unknown (5:56), and dry off while enjoying pool side refreshments and smoke (6:51). Bright red blossoms from prickly pear cacti are zoomed in on (8:24) as the tourists explore Roosevelt Lake. They then head to Theodore Roosevelt Dam (9:46). A shirtless man horses around on camera (10:39). The family collects for a small gathering somewhere in Northern Arizona (judging from the lush foliage). This includes an Corporal in the U.S. Army and his young daughter (11:19). His arm badge indicates (11:52), he is a member of the U.S.5th Army (formed in 1943 so the film likely dates after that). One of the visitors is then pictured holding her dog with the Grand Canyon in view behind her (13:32). A sign for the starting point of Bright Angel Trail follows as they take a horseback ride down the trail for a closer look at the Canyon (14:02). The film concludes as a deer pokes its head briefly over a cliff’s edge while the tourists ride through the trail (14:33). The Arizona Biltmore Hotel is a resort located in Phoenix near 24th Street and Camelback Road. It opened in 1929 and was designed by Albert Chase McArthur.

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