SEVEN SPLENDORS OF PERSIA

to Jack Douglas true television series an association with Bing Crosby productions across the seven seas combining two different worlds of travel and adventure the fabulous 15 sundown adventure and presenting tonight at home abroad colorful true travels to the four corners of the earth good evening ladies and gentlemen mrs. Jack Douglas several months ago mr. and mrs. Clifford came impossible Akala fornia locked up the old homestead and set sail for Iran or Persia as this ancient land is more popularly known now mr. Kamin took along a movie camera so now he invites us to join him and mrs. came and to see the seven splendors of Persia [Music] [Applause] [Music] and now here to begin this unusual voyage to Persia is mr. Clifford caiman thank you jack over the years bunny and I and our two children who are now grown have journeyed to many exciting and colorful countries and islands throughout the world and some we've had a lot of thrills and excitement others we've learned a great deal in this case from the monks of Athos and Greece and there's still other colors you've had a lot of fun for example in Peru notice how eager I was to battle a brave bulls but in Persia we had found a wonderland of surprises in one giant package and in the process we discovered for ourselves the seven splendors of Persia funny and I traveled halfway around the world to go to Persia our plane landed at Tehran the capital city to find ourselves in what was undoubtedly the most elegant airport in the entire Middle East then came our second surprise it was not hot in Persia we arrived here in the middle of March at that time cold winds off those high mountains made a topcoat necessary every day and the third surprise came with the traffic no donkey carts and camels in these streets many years ago whales were outlawed in Persia but look how the old ways remained that woman's carrying a part of a gun on her teeth the gesture toward modesty we had been invited to visit a mrs. Vaziri and we soon learned that a Persian garden is not just a legend or a myth we had come here to visit mrs. Abbas theory because she offered to help us you see she was a princess of the kadjar dynasty of the sean's and with arraigned we could see the great collection of the Persian crown jewels she took us to the National Bank of Iran were in the vault we found for Nobles of the realm here examining a little wooden box to be quite sure the seal and the court have not been disturbed inside that box was the key to the vault and the vault turned out to be a room there were dozens and dozens of glass cases containing thousands of strings of pearls golden tableware in the background there were diamond tiara's on the right there were jeweled weapons a scabbard on the right set with pearls the middle two golden scabbards mottled with emeralds and rubies here were a half a dozen cases of nothing but emeralds some brightly shining with new modern facets others old dull and rounded stones a half a dozen cases of diamonds among them was the world's largest pink diamond about two inches square Delta net small golden frame behind it the imperial crown of the Shah the coolest on palace was not far away for many years here was the private residence of the shah's this is no longer the Shahs residence has now become a museum and has only used on state occasions and the coolest town palace was the great throne room of the shah's the wild furniture was made of wood covered by thin sheets of gold and heavily encrusted with emeralds rubies diamonds and pearls there's a small chair for the crown prince when you see colored enamel zhan the goal you must remember the coloring also came from precious stones if you want red enamel crush a handful of rubies and use ruby dust mix with clear lacquer as a paint you want to try it sometime it's very very attractive the back of the old throne is white looking for us covered by crushed pearls said with emeralds and rubies a great square cut emerald in the center the greatest treasure of all the great Peacock Throne which was once the throne of india taken from delhi by the persian centuries ago and its foot a green leopard the green coloring came from crushed emeralds the eyes are pink diamonds and those are genuine pearly teeth back of the throne a sheet of gold on which had been mounted enormous emeralds rubies and diamonds that great central emerald about two inches across as a halo of diamonds and rubies around it on state occasions that great throne room is brilliantly lighted at the appointed moment the Shah of Persia will arrive this may be an official ceremony or a national holiday maybe the reception of foreign dignitaries or the awards of honors wall are conducted here in the same throne room which was also known to shah raise up pala be the father of the present Shaw found jewels and the Magnificent throne him of the Shahs of Persia will always remain one of our outstanding memories for our next splendor we went north to the Caspian Shores there along the beaches Bunny and I found groups of fishermen these men are out to catch sturgeon sturgeon the source of caviar they were loading great boats with an enormous dent that boat could be gotten past the breakers of the Caspian there and would now be taken in tow by the launch we are riding in and pulled in a great semicircle two and a half miles in diameter all the while paying out net over the stern after two and a half miles of net were paid out the boats came back in near shore again came in through the breakers lines were passed awaiting fishermen and now I learned why caviar was so expensive twenty-five men spent all day long casting a net and getting it back in again they caught a great number of white fish but they only caught one sturgeon - caviar comes only from a sturgeon or an equal arge fish call of Eluga and it must be from the caspian to be of top quality so here is the entire day's catch of the entire caviar industry about 40 fish both a Luger and sturgeon are there [Music] the entire black mass is caviar a sack of eggs the row of the fish a 25 pound surgeon can produce about 10 pounds of caviar but obviously only once after adding a small amount of preservative for American consumer they will add a bit of salt and that caviar is now ready for your table nothing else is done to it and it's expensive that five pound can of caviar would cost fifty five dollars in Persia that much caviar in USA retailing in small quarter or half ounce jars might bring over two hundred dollars one he's very fond of it here she is squandering about five dollars worse to Bunny's way of thinking caviar was certainly one of Persia's greatest splendors let's digress a moment along the caspian shores one may also find the wide rich farmlands of the Turkoman tribes the Turkoman by the descendants of the Mongol hordes who came sweeping out of Central Asia in many centuries past although as you notice electric razors have yet to make their appearance Turki mineral wants very warlike they jealously treasure a fine old jeweled scabbard or a gold inlaid blade when you're among these men you have the constant nagging feeling they'd rather wish the good old days would come back again the tribal warfare has been stopped now now they will satisfy themselves with a traditional Turkmen war dance once in a while their elaborate clothing their fine jewelry are often family heirlooms brought from Central Asia many many centuries ago very frequently among the Turkmen tribes people you will see the Mongol cast of features [Music] we left these shores to go to our next splendor in the city of Shiraz and to fly across the great Persian desert about three-quarters of Persia looks like this huge desert of flat dry lakebeds great mountain ranges resembling our own grand canyon country between these mountain ranges you may often find a rich green valley in one of them the city of Shiraz but we had come to see the making of Persian rugs another of our splendors and here buddy and I were astonished to find nearly all Persian rugs are made by little girls between five and nine years old that's not because persons are mean to children it is because only little girls have small enough and agile enough fingers for the very delicate work just look at her hands flying she will work at that pace all day long the left hand tying a loop of coloured threads right hand with a sharp knife trimming off the ends a skilled worker can make about 2 or 3 square inches of rug per day for which you'll be paid about 25 cents rub these girls are working on is 18 feet by 25 feet in size and just think it will take ten little girls five years to finish that rug is at the top quality will cost ten thousand dollars in Persia when finished at about thirty thousand dollars in USA its quality is in its finest not its thickness a top-quality Persian rug may have up to six hundred threads per square inch think of it six hundred threads per square inch only in Persia Kansas work be done and only by little girls now obviously with years in the making our rug is certain to become dusty and dirty in the factory and so before being sold the rug must be thoroughly cleaned first of all rinsed in the sparkling clear water of the river and the last bit of dirt is scraped out by a metal device like a hoe the man bearing down as hard as he can you think he tried that rug to shreds the rug is then finally dried upon a rocky mountainside in a brilliant sunlight which would fade anything but a Persian rug Oh incidentally if in your home your rug were to become dirty you might spread your rug out in the street so cars driving by will run over the rug and beat out the dust that's really how they do it it makes the rug look older and anybody knows an antique Persian rug is worth a lot more than a new one every little bit helps Persia is one of the world's greatest oil-producing nations as money and I flew over the southern mountain ranges we could often look down to see mysterious flames rising out of these desert mountains these are jets of excess gas from the oil wells it's useless out here and is burnt you may find areas they're called oil seeps here is where a pure crude oil is oozing out of the ground no pipes no pumps no well was drilled and underground gases and the great pressures are squeezing pure crude oil out of the earth this great amount of gas is a great aid to Persia you see after they dig a well there's no need to pump never it's hard for us to realize that Persia with only about 75 producing wells can still derive nearly a million barrels of oil per day without any pumping a modern oil tanker starts on his journey to Europe and for these women the West has come to meet the yeast for the miracle of a splendor most important to Persia oil we're all familiar with the old saying see Naples and die well I've seen Naples it's an experience no traveler can forget but the ancient city of is found in southern Persia now that's really something to see we'll go there in just a few moments in the valley of central persia is the jewel City Isfahan here is one of the world's oldest communities Alexander the Great talks about fighting to enter this city that was 2,300 years ago but the great beauty of his spawn goes back to a period of around three and a half centuries ago when a great Shah named Abbas made this his capital here's one of his palace buildings it's called the Hall of 40 columns we counted them there are only 20 columns but those Persians they caught the reflections too Isfahan fame has mainly due to these superb domes of the many mosques and universities of that city perfectly proportioned with beautiful tile work are among the most impressive buildings we have ever seen well I've seen a great many fine mosques in many parts of the world but none like these it's hard for us to realize that building is about 20 stories high by our measurements and was built when the pilgrims were landing in our country the tilework is inside and out every bit of tile fitted to its neighbor carefully we were given the very rare permission to photograph inside of a mosque at prayer time these are most unusual pictures on the left-hand side you see a white screen well behind that women are praying they would not mingle with men in public but in the darker part of the mosque heavily veiled they will pray quietly but Isfahan is more than merely a city of mosques and minarets here's a colorful living City directly across from the mosques was the great Bazaar of the shops you zip through that gate where you'll be stepping into one of the few covered bazaars left in the world you'll be stepping back in time four hundred years deep underground was a curious vaulted chamber the ancient camel press here we found blindfolded camels grinding linseed the blindfolded souls not to get dizzy walking in a circle they live underground and might never see daylight and they are turning the identical grinding wheels that were here 500 years ago and cameras been invented when Columbus went west looking for the Indies this identical photograph could have been made grout linseed is put into a press and these men are pulling a long handle it's great leverage compressing linseed into a hard cake the bride shafts of scintillators are often whitened by smoke the smoke of a hundred forges may find a whole street of silversmiths a street of copper workers Capello's made of hides at first the work may look crude but wait until they're finished I watched this man making copper trays for many hours he made a half a dozen at that time and as scallops came out even every single time [Music] more skilled workmen may be hammering brass trays are carving silver the same patterns and methods they might have used centuries ago workmanship is superb and the price is very low that bolon trade might cost as little as seventy five dollars in Persia and about three or four times as much here all these things are the same fine line and form common to all Persian art the great beauty of Isfahan is architecture and its skills were our splendor of Persia our next splendor of Persia came in the sound the Qashqai tribal area bun and I were driving to the mountain country and saw a great cloud of dust ahead of us and behind that cloud of dust on the far distant hillsides we could just make out dark patches that might be trees they might be rocks but by watching we saw that these were moving in foreground and in distant background for thousands and thousands of animals we had stumbled upon the greatest Qashqai migration the Qashqai tribe spends its winter months near the sea in lowland valleys which are green all winter but in summer the other comes round and dry all burned out that's where every spring the Qashqai tribe a hundred thousand strong with millions of animals must migrate northward to find mountain valleys that are high now we'll be green all summer that trip will take them two months it's a 500-mile journey to their summer pastures a too much journey and summer of course a great many babies will be born sometime the roads are too rough the hills too high and the little ones must be carried ordinarily the Qashqai would walk for three days and rest for one if they come to a pleasant Valley with ample water and good grazing they might stop for a day to rest the animals make fresh food supplies repair equipment [Music] we had been warned about the Qashqai we were told they were dangerous and unpredictable but funny and I heard that before we've travelled in many countries often among very very primitive peoples and do you know we have yet to meet any antagonistic people the Qashqai were no difference they were delighted to see us and is pleased and curious about us as we were about them they serve tea in this part of the world a lot of sugar is used and bunny does not cheer for sugar which completely upset the camp they just couldn't imagine a person not wanting sugar madam you'd better have a little sugar nope I won't do it next morning it may be time to go on the march again goatskin bags are filled with water the next water hole might be 2 or 3 days journey away among the tribal people look further the Qashqai are considered to be quite prosperous their wealth of course being in their flocks but you will notice this woman is also wearing gold coins around her headdress as part of her costume she is wearing a family fortune so they're on their way to their summer pastures high in the mountains when the first snow flies they'll turn around and walk back again 500 miles a two months journey to their winter pastures twenty-five centuries ago Darius king of the Persians determined to build the most wonderful palette the man could create he must have done it because though 25 centuries have passed the ancient city of Persepolis senate's palaces are still impressed with their great size and beauty what appeared to be a wall around the city was actually the foundation of the palace alone the foundation itself 58 feet high and 1/3 of a mile long here was a great ceremonial Center only use a few months of the year during the spring equinox but at that time it was the center of the world the known civilized world to the Persians included all civilization excepting little Greece they alone held out against the great Persian armies to this center Rhodes came from all directions you may still look for the Gateway of Xerxes and see a highway reaching off into the distance same road that was there 2500 years ago and as you see modern men have come and left their mark too among them was our own Stanley the man who found Livingstone but most curious to us was the frieze carved around the base of the foundation a carving which represents the people of Persia from the 28 subject countries under Darius bringing a wealth of the land to their king badly eroded now but one part was luckily covered by a landslide in ancient times it's been uncovered and therefore we now can see what this Carvey might have looked like when brand new originally it was a finely carved and highly polished stone think of the enormous task of carving and polishing over a mile of frieze like this in this long procession for example you will find the men who are near the king are erect and formal staring ahead very properly but near the end of the line where men have hours and hours yet to wait before they will see the king there are a lot more relaxed slouching a little bit perhaps even turning and talking to a friend behind them and maybe holding hands as men still do in the near and middle east person's right very much but they often would imprint soft clay tablets with their records and make a little roller called a cylinder seal to mass-produce a signature the imprinted left might have been that of one of the earliest printing presses things of gold are most sought after and fuels remain to be found they have picked up some interesting things like a golden dagger probably for ceremonial purposes for this beautiful golden cup so find a cup might very well have been the private drinking cup of the king himself they found sheets of gold that covered the wooden doors of Persepolis think of the elegant service wooden door was covered by sheets of gold and tall columns fine carving elaborate hangings and what happened to it all well Alexander the Great got here in 331 BC and to celebrate his victory over the Persians he burned down the palace but for which it might be more nearly intact today it was a fitting climax to our wonderful trip to Persia we have seen remarkable things the great throne room of the Shan with the royal furniture and the great crown jewel collection it traveled north to the Caspian to see the most precious fish in the world sturgeon bearing caviar and we have seen little girls making fabulous Persian rugs we have seen gas jets in the oil fields and we had seen the Qashqai migration across hundreds of miles of mountains of deserts we've seen the lovely blue tile domes of the jewel City of Astana in the tall fine columns of Persepolis bunny and I have traveled and filmed in over 50 lands but few if any have had the color and the beauty and a dramatic impact of the strange partly ancient yet partly modern land of Persia [Music] some of our friends who have seen these films in our home have asked me are those crown jewels real well I don't think there's any doubt about it as the value of the collection I don't think anyone knows a modest estimate we'll certainly run into hundreds of millions of dollars it's a very colorful and exciting country this ancient land of Persia and Bunny and I certainly enjoyed it and our journey there thank you very much and now until next week thank you so much and good night ladies and gentlemen boys and girls [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]