Rescue From Shangri-La (1945)

so high in the mountains of dutch new guinea beneath these clouds an american army plane crashed some time ago there are three survivors from the 24 passengers and crew these three in the rescuing paratroopers are now walking over those razorbacks towards the mystical valley we call shangri-la we're flying over the root of their march and when we get to the valley i'm going to parachute in to photograph this rescue now we're coming in over shangri-la from this valley the american air force is going to attempt the rescue of these people by pickup glider as one of the villages there are dozens of them scattered over the length of this beautiful valley never before seen by white men there's another village now the pilot's going to buzz the base camp before i jump here we go now we're down in the mountains with them this is the country they climbed up and down for 40 tough miles in three and a half days they walked down from the crash at 11 000 feet out of these never never mountains corporal margaret hastings lieutenant mccollum and sergeant decker and the paratroopers led by captain walters there's maggie she looks a little tired but she's still walking in spite of the leg burns and mccollum and johnny come lately one last razorback before the base count these are the stone age men we found in this valley the last shangri-la [Music] paratroopers who set up the camp are running out to greet them [Music] how good it feels to get back from a tough well-done job rid of those heavy packs for the last time to get ready for the first wash in days and for maggie to have a mirror and survey max handiwork in the mountains mack had to cut her hair with a pocket knife don't worry maggie it'll grow back now walt talks to the plane overhead to those chaps of the us air force who did such a great job in finding and supplying the survivors walt tells them everyone is well and happy and bring on your gliders and was that first meal good hmm yummy the job isn't finished more medicine clothes and food float in and every day the burns on maggie's legs have to be dressed they were still pretty painful the paratrooper medics did a great job and in the background the people of this lovely valley sit quietly and wonder about the strange creatures from another world the anxious days of waiting for the glider were filled with the excitement of discovering the valley of shangri-la the people never before seen by the outside world gaining their confidence trading with them we saw the strange and varied types of these primitive people we liked them they liked us the queen came charlie but with a welcome smile from maggie she wants maggie to come to her village so off we go to the home of this stone age queen here you see the acres of carefully irrigated land surrounding the villages the women do all the work in shangri-la [Music] there's one of the watchtowers and here's the queen's home a charming little group of clean well-made huts all over this valley you find these villages the people were so shyly friendly the children with their grass skirts are presented happily the queen smokes and chats with maggie to her maggie was our queen [Music] this warrior thinks maggie's hairdo doesn't do anything for her we asked maggie to adopt this one as the shangri-la the village women wondered the visit was most fascinating and the queen asked us to come again the days pass more and more supplies have dropped and over the walkie-talkie walt hears news from the outside world and maggie becomes adept with the local tommy guns there were days of waiting and worrying there's still the glider the discovery of shangri-la went on we explored the valley the natives brought some of their semi-wild pigs and our filipino paratroopers prepared the traditional philippine pig roast the feast of lechon even maggie took a hand at the basting but the fun was eating roast pig stuffed with sweet potatoes and onions maggie gives us a little henry the eighth touch [Music] each day we learn more and more about these stone age people we learn some of their strange language and some of their customs they like to show us their strong physiques we trade with them and bought her with shells one gets a facial mosquito repellent he seems to like it and then came that happy morning when the first plane over told walt the glider was leaving hollandia all hands pitched in the white and colored shoots were spread out to outline our little strip walt says okay bring her in and here comes the long-awaited glider how good she looks we're all a little excited the tow plane is making an upwind run the glider is released he's banking now there's not much wind and he's coming in too fast no now he's starting to fishtail to lose speed yes he's making it nicely oh he's good this boy yes here we are gently does it gently gently oh beautiful landing we all rush out shake hands with the pilot now for the tough part the pilot doesn't want to waste any time the gliders pushed around even the natives helped then the 300-foot nylon rope is stretched out that's where your silk stockings went ladies there's enough there from 50 dozen pairs and the poles for the all-important loop this is where the hook for the pickup plane takes hold pickup plane does a test run maggie arrives at the shangri-la wardrobe and her souvenirs torope is coupled on they're ready everyone is strapped in they take a deep breath and hang on here comes the toe plane low and fast lower and lower now full power bang they're on they're hooked there they go look out wall gals you picked up a chute the glider slews now the pilot picks her up they're climbing now climbing nicely now they circle slowly and easily over shangri-la to gain the twelve thousand feet needed to get out of this valley up they drone over the rugged orange mountains of dutch new guinea that they walked out of just a few days ago the last high razorback before the coast [Music] lovely lake centenny appears in the distance almost in now click the pilot releases they're clear and spiraling over hollandia the miraculous end of this fantastic episode in sight to live through the crash to be found in those unknown mountains walk those terrible miles in spite of their wounds now to be the first ever to come out to tell the story of those stone age men the glider rose to a star their friends who brought them through crowd in to greet them and here they are the three who discovered shangri-la the hard way and came back to tell about it maggie and mac and dad [Music] you